Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3320: Chapter 3321: The Gosen Council

Behind the main display platform, upon the Cloud Soil veiled in heavy mist, there stood a Crystal Palace.

This palace had been built by the Crystal Eye Clan for the Singers and the Feather Forest Clan. It could be regarded as the temporary station of the Singer Clan and the Feather Forest Clan.

Inside the palace, a green-skinned woman in a long dress woven of rose vines fanned the two huge drooping leaves hanging from her ears, and drifted down from midair.

She swayed gently as she landed before a mirror that was projecting the scene of the display platform.

Near the mirror stood several Yusen clansmen of her own kind, as well as several Singer clansmen standing like statues. However, the vast majority of the Gosen clansmen were positioned around the perimeter of the mirror, whispering in the darkness and shadow.

Only one statue of an Artist holding a long flute stood in front of the mirror, facing the light source at the palace’s dome.

As for the woman in the rose-vine dress and the statue holding the long flute, anyone who had watched this exhibition would not find their identities unfamiliar.

They were precisely Lady Mei Ye of the Feather Forest Clan who had gone on stage earlier, and the Magic Flute of the Singer Clan.

"How is it?" The Magic Flute looked at the descending Lady Mei Ye and spoke.

The Magic Flute’s voice carried a metallic timbre; combined with the reflection on his black-gold skin under the top light, he truly resembled a living metal statue.

"As you predicted, we did indeed discover an abnormal loophole in a piece of crystal brick on the palace roof. I imagine it was left there to make it easier for that ’Spirit’ to conduct its investigations." Lady Mei Ye’s voice was much gentler, like a breeze brushing the face, exceedingly pleasant.

Lady Mei Ye’s earlier descent from the air had not been for show, but to verify the Magic Flute’s conjecture, to see whether the Crystal Eye Clan had left any back door in this temporary station.

The facts proved that the Magic Flute’s guess was correct; a back door did indeed exist.

Even if it had not yet been activated, the mere fact of its existence meant a risk of intelligence leaking out.

"These remote inferior clans are all despicable. They look as though they are currying favor, yet each and every one is guarding against us." From the shadows of the palace, a Singer’s voice lashed out, and was immediately met with approval from other clansmen hidden in the darkness.

The filthy curses rising and falling in the air were utterly different from the gentle, easygoing demeanor the Singer Clan displayed on the outside.

Just as the interior of the palace was on the verge of turning into a vulgar curse session, an elegant voice, accompanied by a breath that rose and fell, spoke in the chanting cadence of a poet: "Fellow clansmen of the Singer Clan need not take it too much to heart. It is normal for them to guard against us; are we not guarding against them as well?"

The Magic Flute also nodded in agreement. "Indeed, there is no need to worry. Whatever intelligence they manage to pry out will forever remain at the surface."

So long as they did not deliberately spread information outward, the tribes of the Daylight Mirror Domain would absolutely not imagine the significance contained within commodities such as the Song Tower, the Featherkind, and the like.

And any intelligence that could be pried out would be nothing but meaningless.

Just as with their present insults: even if they were discovered by the Crystal Eye Clan’s Scouts, it would be no big deal. At most, they would be judged to be inconsistent inside and out.

"You should not underestimate the people of the Daylight Mirror Domain either." At this moment, Lady Mei Ye paced gracefully to the Magic Flute’s side. "To my knowledge, the Daylight Mirror Domain has no shortage of extraordinary figures."

From the shadows, a Singer clansman asked, "Did you release a Featherkind outside to eavesdrop?"

Lady Mei Ye chuckled softly and shook her head. "No, Featherkind are far too conspicuous. What I released was a Mist Species. With the clouds and mist outside to complement it, no one will notice."

"Even if it is discovered, no one will know what it is for."

The Singer who had asked the question deeply agreed with Lady Mei Ye’s confidence. They were all part of the Gesen Mirror Domain and knew one another well.

The Feather Forest Clan’s seeds fundamentally possessed no decipherable structure; they were the purest of powders, intelligible only to the Feather Forest themselves. Outsiders, even if they obtained them, would have no way to reverse-interpret them.

Lady Mei Ye said, "I obtained quite a bit of interesting intelligence, but as for intelligence related to our present situation, there are two pieces."

"First, that Crystal Eye Clan ’Spirit’ we just mentioned is said to be a Giant City Spirit. In other words, the entire Crystal City falls under the range it governs."

At these words, the murmurs in the shadows immediately rose, and Lady Mei Ye could clearly feel the flavor of concern thickening.

If the entire Crystal City was that Spirit’s body, then even if there were no loophole above the palace, it seemed pointless. So long as they were within the Crystal City, would they not be under surveillance?

"Silence." Hearing the increasingly noisy chatter all around, the Magic Flute stomped upon the ground; a shockwave, accompanied by a sound-dampening pulse, spread through the whole palace.

Lady Mei Ye also spoke at the right moment. "If you wish to discuss it, wait until I finish speaking; it will not be too late then."

She paused briefly, then continued, "Although the Crystal Eye Clan’s guard Spirit is a Giant City Spirit, there is no need for you to be overly worried. That Crystal Eye Clan Elder who built this Crystal Palace, though harboring private motives, was not wrong on one point."

"This palace, composed of special Crystal Shell, can effectively block the invasion of spiritual power."

"Although he did not mention that there were loopholes here, as long as we patch the loopholes, we need not fear being scouted."

The Magic Flute also added at this moment, "What is more, just as I said before, whatever intelligence they manage to pry out will remain superficial. There is no need for concern."

The Magic Flute had originally repeated himself to corroborate Lady Mei Ye’s words, deliberately reiterating them to soothe the others.

Yet it was precisely at this point that Lady Mei Ye reversed the direction of the conversation, responding in a way that undercut him.

"No, Magic Flute, you mustn’t underestimate the Daylight Mirror Domain either." As soon as Lady Mei Ye’s words fell, the Magic Flute frowned and turned to look at her. Lady Mei Ye took no heed, and with a deft smile explained, "I just said that there were two pieces of intelligence related to the present. Aside from the Giant City Spirit, the other piece concerns... the Dog Deacon of the Everything House."

"Everything House? What is that?" A voice came from the shadows.

Lady Mei Ye said, "The Everything House is a power within the Daylight Mirror Domain. It is said that within it are three Deacons—human, ghost, and dog—each with different responsibilities. The Human Steward and the Ghost Steward are of no concern to us, but this Dog Deacon must be guarded against."

"Why? What is so remarkable about it?" the Magic Flute asked.

Looking at the Magic Flute, Lady Mei Ye said softly, "It can pierce the human heart."

Having spoken, she saw that the Magic Flute did not take it to heart, and she could largely guess his thoughts, so she went on, "I know, you believe that a mere Mind Reading Technique cannot penetrate your heart of porcelain tone and clay, so there is no need to care."

"However, according to the information I obtained, its ability to pierce the human heart is different from ordinary Mind Reading. Even the most powerful Eternal Dragon in the Daylight Mirror Domain can have its inner sights and thoughts laid bare to it in a single glance, and the Eternal Dragon itself remains utterly unaware."

To read a person’s heart in a state of complete unawareness?

The Magic Flute frowned deeply. "Is this a Rule-like Ability?"

Lady Mei Ye said, "I do not know. But it is said that the Dog Deacon was once a Hollow Hound."

At the mention of Hollow Hound, the Magic Flute immediately understood.

The Gesen Mirror Domain also had a Sea of Void Mirror, and it also had Scholars who studied hollow creatures. Many hollow creatures that traversed spacetime distances and came through the Sea Eye of the Sea of Void Mirror had a chance of being granted certain abilities by the Mirror Domain Will.

Among the many types of abilities granted directly by the Mirror Domain Will, the most powerful were precisely the Rule-like Abilities.

Although the Magic Flute did not know the Dog Deacon’s past, the fact that the other was a Hollow Hound and possessed a Mind Reading technique that worked without the slightest awareness—was this not a Rule-like Ability?

As long as the Dog Deacon still remains in the Daylight Mirror Domain, it can pierce through human hearts without them ever realizing it.

Thinking of this, Magic Flute’s expression also turned a bit cold and grim.

Lady Mei Ye: "Now you understand, don’t you? Don’t assume that if you hide information in your heart, it can’t be probed. A Mirror Domain that can stand on the same level as the Gesen Mirror Domain is never going to be weak."

The Gesen Mirror Domain can give birth to a great number of strange and brilliant figures, and there are plenty who possess Rule-like Abilities; as a Mirror Domain in the same sector, even if the Daylight Mirror Domain has fewer prodigies than Gesen, it won’t be fewer by much.

Magic Flute said with a gloomy face: "If the Dog Deacon’s Mind Reading Technique is really as powerful as you say, then it will become the biggest stumbling block for us this time."

As soon as Magic Flute finished speaking, voices of agreement came from the shadows, all saying they "must find a way to suppress the Dog Deacon."

As for how to suppress the Dog Deacon, there was basically only one answer, and that was... kill.

Only by completely killing the Dog Deacon, in their view, would they be truly safe.

Magic Flute himself shared this view, but he didn’t say it aloud. Instead, he looked to Lady Mei Ye: "You don’t seem particularly tense. I assume you already have a plan?"

Lady Mei Ye smiled: "My plan is to remember the Dog Deacon’s appearance, then just bypass it."

Magic Flute frowned: "You want us to retreat?"

A wave of curses drifted out of the shadows as well. In a world where Transcendents flourish, whether in Mirror Domains or the Wizard World, the voice of the Dove Faction is forever weaker than that of the Hawk Faction.

Lady Mei Ye shook her head: "The reason I choose to go around it is because we can’t kill it."

Magic Flute: "What do you mean?"

Lady Mei Ye said calmly: "I’ve said it before, even the Eternal Dragon has its heart seen through in front of it. Do you really think the powerful beings of the Daylight Mirror Domain would allow such a Life to exist for long?"

Then, Lady Mei Ye briefly outlined the Dog Deacon’s current predicament.

It is completely trapped inside the Everything House and is almost unable to leave. Even when it moves, it can only move along with the Everything House building itself.

If it were to leave the Everything House alone as just one dog, never mind us visitors from the Gesen Mirror Domain, the big shots of the Daylight Mirror Domain itself would never allow it to exist.

So, if the Dog Deacon wants to keep living, it cannot leave the Everything House; it can only exist as a kind of mascot ornament of the Everything House.

Given that, in this situation, as long as they keep a distance from the Everything House and go around the Dog Deacon, they will absolutely never come into contact with it. Naturally, they won’t be Mind Read either.

Lady Mei Ye’s words sent everyone in the palace into deep thought.

Indeed, the Dog Deacon’s ability is too heaven-defying. Even they have contemplated killing it; how much more so would the native Lives of this Mirror Domain.

Since the Dog Deacon is currently trapped in the Everything House, then as long as they don’t go to the Everything House, they absolutely won’t run into the Dog Deacon.

And the Everything House itself is not a power they must necessarily engage with.

With this realization, everyone who had been clamoring for a fight and a kill just now all silently shut their mouths.

At this moment, Magic Flute also adjusted his thinking: "This matter truly doesn’t need to be pushed to such an extreme. Besides, the Dog Deacon has survived in the Everything House for so many years without being eliminated, which is enough to show that the Everything House’s defensive capabilities are not weak. Therefore, we have no need to make ourselves the ones who stick out their heads."

"We’ll do as Lady Mei Ye said: memorize the Dog Deacon’s face and steer clear of anyone from the Everything House."

As the representative of the Singer Clan, once Magic Flute spoke, the people of the Singer Clan naturally obeyed.

And the people of the Feather Forest Clan were not idiots either. Lady Mei Ye’s suggestion was absolutely feasible and reliable. Since Lady Mei Ye and Magic Flute had both already decided to detour, then they would comply.

After finishing the discussion about the Dog Deacon, the crowd’s topic returned to the Crystal Palace itself and the Crystal Shells.

At this gathering, they had seen many interesting things, and some products that truly amazed them. However, the vast majority of goods could not yet be seen up close, since the exhibition was still ongoing.

The only thing they could approach at close range was the Crystal Shells crafted by the Crystal Eye Clan.

So naturally, their discussion centered around the Crystal Shells.

Lady Mei Ye was also very interested in the Crystal Shells and chatted with nearby clansmen. But out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Magic Flute near the mirror wasn’t speaking with his people; instead, he kept staring at the mirror surface.

The image projected by the mirror was the figure of Echo on the main display stage.

An old woman leaning on a cane was casually introducing the single monocle in her hand.

Seeing this, Lady Mei Ye walked over to Magic Flute’s side: "You’re interested in that so-called Log-in Device?"

Although Lady Mei Ye had been speaking with others all this time, as a Transcendent race, receiving information from multiple nodes simultaneously was still within her capability.

Even though she hadn’t carefully watched the demonstration of the "Dream Mirror," she still understood the introduction of the Log-in Device.

In her opinion, this Log-in Device had nothing particularly eye-catching about it. The so-called Crystal Origin of Dreams was merely a virtual Consciousness Space.

Perhaps, to the relatively remote Daylight Mirror Domain, this kind of Consciousness Space seems rare.

But as someone from the well-traveled Gesen Mirror Domain, she found it nothing remarkable.

The Gesen Mirror Domain radiates across many worlds, most of which lie in the Southern Ten-Thousand-Character Region. That region contains extremely vast civilized worlds, and quite a few of those worlds appear completely desolate on the surface, like dead realms and utter dooms, with not a single person living there.

In truth, those worlds are just fa?ades; the real civilization is hidden up in the high reaches of consciousness.

They upload individual consciousness into an enormous Consciousness Space and build their own homeland within that space.

This is what’s called a consciousness civilization.

From Lady Mei Ye’s perspective, the Log-in Device is roughly a tool for that same "uploading consciousness," and the high-altitude point where the consciousness arrives is a Consciousness Space similar to that used by consciousness civilizations.

It sounds mysterious, but in practice it’s just that. Lady Mei Ye even secretly suspected that this so-called Crystal Origin of Dreams is actually a relic of a fallen consciousness civilization.

She really didn’t see anything in it worth paying particular attention to.

"I am indeed a bit interested." After speaking, Magic Flute glanced at Lady Mei Ye. From the disdain in her eyes, he roughly guessed what she was thinking.

"You think it’s something like the Consciousness Space of a consciousness civilization?"

Lady Mei Ye answered honestly: "Yes."

Magic Flute shook his head: "No. It and the Consciousness Space of a consciousness civilization are in fact clearly different."