The Wizard of Truth: Starting with Analyzing All Things

Pip's message sent a chill down Lowe's spine, which had just begun to calm. The Gray Tower people wouldn't act without reason, especially not when they had just suffered heavy losses and needed to keep a low profile. Their presence near the long-abandoned teleportation hall meant they had something to do.

"An abandoned teleportation hall..." Luo Wei murmured. He had seen scattered records of this place in the library's books. It was one of a batch of long-distance teleportation arrays built by the Darkmoon Academy in its early days, supposedly used to connect allies on resource-rich demiplanes or distant continents. However, with the loss of coordinates of certain planes, changes in spatial structure, and high maintenance costs, these arrays were gradually abandoned and eventually completely sealed off. Now, only the dilapidated foundation and broken runes should remain, filled with unstable spatial turbulence and unknown dangers.

What are the Grey Towers doing there? Is there some unknown secret hidden there? Or do they want to take advantage of the unstable spatial environment there for something?

We must investigate thoroughly! Only by knowing ourselves and our enemy can we deal with the upcoming turmoil.

Lowe did not act rashly. He first found Barton and Lilith and informed them of the situation. Although Barton had not yet fully broken through, his strength had greatly increased, making him a reliable combatant. Lilith provided several potions for concealing one's presence and resisting spatial energy erosion.

"I'll go with you!" Barton said without hesitation. "Those bastards from Gray Tower are definitely up to no good! It'll be a good opportunity to test out some of my newly mastered combat skills!"

Lilith nodded, "I'll go too. My potions and detection spells should be of help. Besides, I'm also curious about that abandoned teleportation hall; I've heard the ancient runes remaining there are very valuable for research."

Looking at his two steadfast partners, Luo Wei felt a surge of warmth in his heart. He didn't refuse; in this unknown exploration, teamwork was far safer than going it alone.

Without making a sound, the three of them quietly left the living area under the cover of night and made their way towards the abandoned area on the west side of the castle, which was marked as "dangerous and off-limits".

The closer you get to the western district, the more desolate the environment becomes. The castle's maintenance seems to have neglected this area; withered vines climb the stone walls, fallen leaves and dust pile up on the ground, and the air is filled with a musty smell and... a very faint, almost electric, residual spatial energy.

Luo Wei quietly activated his [Low-Level Energy Vision], and the scene before him made him shudder. Countless tiny, fragmented remnants of spatial energy, like shattered mirrors, floated in the air, drifting aimlessly and occasionally colliding with each other, creating almost imperceptible spatial ripples. The spatial structure here was indeed extremely unstable!

Following Pip's directions, they carefully avoided several areas with particularly dense spatial remnants, and finally saw the outline of the huge, crouching behemoth-like building—the abandoned teleportation hall.

The portal to the teleportation hall had long since rusted and collapsed, revealing a deep darkness within. Even before approaching, an even stronger sense of spatial disorder and the ancient smell of dust assaulted the senses.

Luo Wei signaled everyone to stop. He concentrated his mind, maximizing the abilities of "Eye of Insight" and "Heart of Analysis," and carefully sensed the situation inside and around the teleportation hall.

**[Environmental Scan: Exterior of the Abandoned Teleportation Hall]**

**[Spatial stability: Extremely low, with numerous microscopic spatial fissures and energy turbulence.]**

**[Energy Residue: Faint traces of recently active shadow energy detected (matching the energy signatures of Gray Tower members), and... an unusually stable and subtle fluctuation in spatial anchoring (not naturally formed, suspected to be artificially created).]**

Someone has set up a spatial anchor here?! Luo Wei's heart skipped a beat. Spatial anchors are usually an advanced technology used to stabilize teleportation coordinates or to perform ultra-long-distance positioning, which is definitely not something an apprentice can master! What is the Gray Tower trying to do? Do they want to restart the teleportation array here? But that is almost impossible, the magic array base here has long been damaged, and the energy source has long been exhausted.

"There's movement inside, very faint, but there's more than one person." Barton lowered his voice, his soldier's intuition sharpened. "And I sense a very unsettling... chilling aura."

Lilith also took out her detection compass, the pointer of which was trembling slightly, pointing to the depths of the teleportation hall: "There is a strong shadow energy reaction inside, and... an energy fluctuation I have never seen before, very subtle, but the level seems to be very high."

The situation is more complicated than expected.

Luo Wei made a hand gesture, and the three of them, using the shadows of the ruins, silently sneaked into the teleportation hall.

The hall was vast, its dilapidated dome revealing the faint glow of the stars and moon in the night sky. At the center of the floor stood a massive, intricately designed base constructed of some kind of black metal, now riddled with cracks and grime, many of the spaces for inlaid runes empty. An atmosphere of decay and death permeated the entire hall.

However, in the vision of the "Eye of Truth," Luo Wei saw something different. In the center of the broken magic array base, an extremely tiny, yet exceptionally stable and exquisite silver rune was faintly glowing! It was that spatial anchor point! It was like a coordinate beacon, continuously sending weak signals to some unknown dimension.

Not far from the base, three figures dressed in Grey Tower attire were huddled together, conversing in hushed tones. One of them was Marco! The other two were also formidable, both being **Advanced Apprentices**. They seemed to be setting something up; scattered on the ground were some shimmering crystals and twisted metal components.

"The Shadow Beacon is activated, and the coordinates are stable," one of the Gray Tower apprentices said, his voice tinged with excitement. "Once we're ready to receive a response from 'the other side' and establish a stable temporary passage, we can send the 'goods' over there."

"Hurry up!" Marco urged, his tone impatient. "The space here is too unstable. Maintaining the beacon consumes a lot of energy and makes us easy targets for patrols. This mission cannot fail; Master Elena personally instructed us to do this!"

Master Elena! That second-circle wizard from the Grey Tower!

Hidden behind a massive, broken stone pillar, Luo Wei and his companions held their breath. They realized that the Gray Tower wasn't trying to restart the teleportation array, but rather using the chaotic spatial environment as cover to secretly set up a small, temporary interdimensional teleportation point! They were conducting some kind of illegal, clandestine interdimensional transaction! What were the "goods"?

Just then, the silver spatial anchor rune suddenly shone brightly! A tiny, almost invisible spatial rift was forcibly torn open above the anchor, revealing a deep darkness on the other side that seemed capable of swallowing all light!

An evil aura, far purer, more ancient, and more chilling than shadow energy, emanated from the rift! Accompanied by whispers like the wails of countless souls!

Luo Wei's pupils constricted sharply! This aura… he had sensed it before on the "Desecrated Core" in the Howling Caverns, but it was far purer and more terrifying! This was… the aura of the **Abyss**?! The Gray Tower was actually making a deal with the Abyss Plane?!

"The passage is open! Quick! Bring the 'offering' up!" Marco roared excitedly.

Another Gray Tower apprentice immediately dragged out a struggling humanoid object covered by a black cloth bag from behind! Judging from its size, it seemed to be... an apprentice?!

They actually used living people as sacrifices to exchange for "goods" from the abyss?!

"Damn it!" Barton's eyes were bloodshot, and he almost rushed out, but was held down by Rowe.

"Don't be impulsive! There are three of them, and who knows what's on the other side of that passage!" Lowe whispered urgently, his mind racing. They had to stop them! But a direct confrontation was too risky!

Just as the Gray Tower apprentice was about to push the "sacrifice" into the spatial rift, a cold glint flashed in Luo Wei's eyes, and he had an idea!

He can't directly attack the people in the Gray Tower or the spatial anchor point, that would immediately reveal his location. But he can attack the fragile environment itself!

He suddenly emerged from his hiding place, his mental energy highly focused, locking onto a section of the hall's dome that was structurally most unstable and riddled with tiny spatial cracks! At the same time, the optimized [Miniature Blazing Flame] he had prepared beforehand erupted instantly, but instead of a fireball, it was an extremely condensed ray of flame with a temperature so high it turned white!

"call out!"

The flame rays hit that area precisely!

Rumble—!

The already fragile dome structure was struck by this sudden energy impact, and coupled with the chain reaction of spatial turbulence, it immediately collapsed on a small scale! Countless fragments of rock, carrying distorted spatial energy, rained down on the gray tower members and the spatial rift below!

"What's going on?!"

"Enemy attack?!"

Marco and his companions were both shocked and furious. In their haste, they erected a shield to block the falling rocks and chaotic spatial energy. The apprentice who was dragging the "sacrifice" was also forced to let go and dodge the falling stones.

It's now!

Lowe gave Barton and Lilith a wink! Barton, like a tiger released from its cage, charged straight at the abandoned "sacrifice," trying to snatch it back. Lilith, meanwhile, swiftly unleashed a large cloud of powerful flash dust and paralyzing mist, disrupting the opponent's vision and movement.

Meanwhile, Luo Wei once again used "Eye of Truth" to lock onto the spatial anchor point that had become extremely unstable due to the collapse of the dome! He intended to take this opportunity to destroy it!

However, just as his mental energy was about to touch the silver rune—

On the other side of the spatial rift, in that deep darkness, a gigantic hand, composed entirely of shadows and negative energy and filled with blood-red eyes, suddenly reached out and grabbed at the "sacrifice" that had temporarily lost control due to the chaos!

At the same time, a thought filled with endless malice and greed swept across the entire hall like a storm:

**"A fresh...soul..."**