There's a big problem with dreams in this world.

.......

"What time is it?" Mo Luni asked the young man beside her, standing in front of the deep pit dug by the soldiers.

"It's 12:48, teacher," the young man said, looking down at the pocket watch in his hand.

This pocket watch was invented by himself. Unlike the magical clock above the cathedral, this pocket watch does not rely on magical power to operate. It only needs to be wound up every once in a while.

Mo Luni turned around, no longer staring at the deep pit in front of her, but turning to look at the pocket watch in the young man's hand, and said, "Your little gadget is quite nice."

"It's just a clever trick; it's actually quite troublesome to use." The young man scratched his cheek somewhat embarrassedly and tightened the mainspring on his pocket watch.

"Don't underestimate yourself." Mo Luni shook her head and said, "This is a key that opens another path. Although it may seem rudimentary now, it will be invaluable in the future..."

Mo Luni shook her head after saying this, and did not continue. The young man seemed to have thought of something and asked, "Teacher, have you performed a divination?"

“Hmm.” Mo Luni nodded and said, “The more complex something is, the harder it is to divine, so last night I only divined information related to the future.”

“Unexpectedly, I saw your masterpiece…” Moruni narrowed her eyes slightly and said, “It’s a collection of countless steel objects that can operate on their own without the power of magic, allowing ordinary people to wield the power of a mage.”

"Is... this really possible?" The young man looked down at the pocket watch in his hand, never expecting that this inconspicuous thing would have such a huge weight.

"I'm tired, that's enough. Since there's nothing else here, let's go back." Shaking her head, Mo Luni stopped discussing the pocket watch with the young man and turned to walk back down the street to the magic house.

"Okay, I'll take you to rest now." After hearing Mo Luni's words, the young man thoughtfully put down his pocket watch and came to Mo Luni's side.

"I'm not so old that I need someone to help me. You can just stay by my side," Mo Luni said, waving her hand dismissively.

"and many more......"

Suddenly, as if she had thought of something, Mo Luni stopped abruptly.

"Beside, next to, error, the trajectory of the stars..." A vast amount of knowledge surged through Mo Luni's mind.

"Damn it, why didn't I think of that sooner!"

Mo Luni turned around abruptly, strode to the cordon of the pit, and asked the patrolling soldiers, "Where is your captain? I need to see him!"

"Greetings, Master. The squad leader is resting at the Wright Tavern over there. He worked a full day last night and then continued working overtime..." The patrolling soldier knew Moruni's identity and immediately said respectfully.

“Okay, I understand. I have something very important to discuss with him,” Mo Luni said quickly.

As soon as she finished speaking, she turned and walked into the Wright Tavern. Using her identity, she inquired about the squad leader's location from the tavern owner and then pushed open the door and went inside.

"Wake up, we're in big trouble now," Mo Luni said seriously, patting the squad leader's face.

"Hello, Master, is there anything I can help you with?" The squad leader opened his eyes and reluctantly sat up from the covers.

"I'm asking you, have you checked any other buildings near that building?" Mo Luni asked the squad leader.

"We checked, but because we were busy burning bodies, demolishing houses and digging pits, the scope of the inspection was much smaller." The squad leader recalled yesterday's events, his expression gradually becoming serious. "Thinking back carefully, we must have missed quite a few places."

"As expected..." Mo Luni rubbed her forehead and said, "Tell your captain about this, and be quick!"

“Those followers of the Guiji sect may have held ceremonies elsewhere. Look southeast of the buildings you found last night, and you should be able to find them.”

"Once you find it, clean it up following the steps from last night. Use explosives or hire a sorcerer, anything goes, but be quick!"

"I understand, I'll get to it right away." Seeing Mo Luni's serious expression, the squad leader also tightened his face and said. He stood up, and without even changing his clothes, disappeared into the tavern.

"I hope everything goes well," Mo Luni sighed.

......

Not long after a large number of soldiers began to move, in a dense forest, Number Two suddenly opened his eyes and said, "It seems that the soldiers in the capital have discovered our true plan."

"Did someone inform on us?" Archbishop Angus asked, his scalp twitching as he stared intently at Number Five.

"It has nothing to do with me. Only the three of us know about this. Even if I were out of my mind, I would never tell anyone," Number Five said, shrinking his neck.

“I was just kidding, don’t be afraid.” Archbishop Angus extended a tentacle from the back of his head and gently patted Number Five’s shoulder.

"Someone must have figured it out, but it doesn't matter. In the remaining time, they simply cannot destroy even one node," Archbishop Angus said mysteriously.

Almost the instant he finished speaking, far away in the capital, Captain-General Sir Salo stared in astonishment at the flesh-and-blood giant that suddenly burst out of a building.

"Form ranks and prepare for battle!" Knight Salo shouted, taking a deep breath.

------------

Chapter 537: Austria

"It's getting foggy?"

Lu Qing looked up at her surroundings, her expression somewhat blank. She didn't know when, but Knight Myron, Hao Meng, Fang Qingrou, and the entire festival procession had disappeared behind her.

Lu Qing didn't know exactly what had happened; she just realized that she was all alone when she came to her senses.

"Phew, calm down first..." Instead of frantically searching around, Lu Qing lowered her head and began to think carefully.

First of all, it's definitely not as simple as just getting distracted and accidentally straying from the group. If that were the case, everyone else would have noticed.

Even though the fog obscured her vision, Knight Myron, who was close behind her, could notice this and would not allow her to leave the group like this.

Secondly, we can rule out the influence of the natural environment. Although the plants and animals in the Elf Forest grow exceptionally fast under the influence of the Sacred Tree, there are many mutated varieties among them.

But she had never heard of any rumors about a fog that could make people lose their way.

"Could it be a hallucination?" Lu Qing looked up and glanced around at her surroundings.

"Vayne?" she called out to Wayne in her heart.

"..."

There was no response. Perhaps Vein was doing something else and didn't have time to reply, but when Lu Qing's attempt to synchronize with Vein's vision also failed, she dismissed this possibility.

Reaching into her robes, Lu Qing pulled out a dark dagger and slowly made a small cut in the palm of her left hand.

She clenched her fist slightly, and a few drops of blood fell down. By virtue of the power of the contract, she summoned Wayne.

When Lu Qing summoned Wayne, she realized that Wayne's condition was somewhat off.

Wain stood quietly on the ground with his eyes closed, his body shrouded in dark spiritual energy invisible to ordinary people. Faintly, behind Wain, Lu Qing also saw a faint black shadow, but she could not make out the appearance of the shadow no matter what she did.

After thinking carefully for a moment, curiosity gradually overwhelmed reason. Lu Qing tentatively opened her golden vertical pupils and looked at the illusory figure behind Wayne.

Surprisingly, her reckless attempt out of curiosity didn't elicit any strange reaction. Lu Qing saw a deep, dark cloud of energy behind Wayne.

The cloud of energy spun slowly, and her gaze followed its rotation, penetrating deeper and deeper... until the very last moment, she saw Him.

"Being too curious isn't good." A voice suddenly rang out, and before Lu Qing could even see the figure inside the cloud of energy clearly, her consciousness was kicked out.

"Ugh... Ugh..."

The moment her consciousness was kicked out, Lu Qing finally felt the consequences of facing the gods, but compared to others, her consequences seemed insignificant.

[Vayne's aura is gradually rising. Recalling what he said three months ago, he's most likely in the process of breaking through to the next level.]

[Lu Qing saw remnants of the ominous and doomed god's power behind Vein. Influenced by the mist, curiosity overcame reason, and she peered into that direction.]

As she delved deeper and stealthier, she saw @#￥%……

【￥%#@%……￥#￥%&&】

[Protected by an unknown entity from the darkness, the symptoms of contamination have disappeared.]

[You have glimpsed a corner of ##￥%, Spirit Attribute +1]

[Occultism LV3-LV5]

[Danger Perception LV10 - Intuition LV1]

"vomit......"

The diary in her mind kept trembling, which made Lu Qing focus her attention on it while vomiting.

"Does the fog here make people more prone to reckless behavior?" Lu Qing wondered, looking at the entries in her diary.

"However, my mental attributes have increased a bit, and my skills have also improved, especially the danger perception, which has actually turned into intuition..." Lu Qing looked at the contents recorded in her diary and a bold idea came to her mind.

"Shall I take a few more glances?"

Lu Qing glanced at Wei Yin, only to find that the vortex behind him had disappeared. Now, no matter what, she couldn't carry out her bold idea.

“Staying here won’t help, let’s go look around.” After vomiting, Lu Qing straightened up and put Wayne on her shoulder.

Using the dagger, Lu Qing made another cut in her palm, smeared the blood on a tree trunk beside her, and then headed deeper into the forest.

[Explorer: By throwing a part of their body out or leaving it in place, they can clearly sense the location of the part that was thrown out.]

Since acquiring this skill, Lu Qing had only used it a few times, never expecting it would come in handy one day.

With that in mind, Lu Qing kept track of her location with her blood as she moved forward.

Because she can clearly sense where she has been before, she doesn't get lost while walking, nor does she inexplicably return to places she has been before.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, a huge building came into Lu Qing's view.

This place looks like a sacrificial plaza, paved with neat, pale white tiles, and on either side of the circular plaza are two arched, white walls.

The enormous roots of the sacred tree came into Lu Qing's view. Perhaps it was because of the power of the sacred tree, or perhaps it was the special ability of the building itself, but this place was not shrouded in mist.

"This is... the Elf Sacrifice Grounds?" Lu Qing looked at the building in front of her and said softly.

Unable to resist quickening her pace, Lu Qing ran lightly towards the elven sacrificial arena, the crisp sound of pendants clattering against each other constantly emanating from her body.

There's really no other way; this festival costume looks beautiful, but it's quite inconvenient to move around in.

Upon arriving at the center of the Elf Sacrifice Grounds, Lu Qing discovered that the walls on both sides were actually carved with exquisite murals.

After a quick look, the mural seemed to depict a time when the world was still shrouded in darkness and filled with destructive forces, when a leaf exuding a sacred aura drifted down from an unknown time and space to this place.

It took root and grew tenaciously amidst the immense destructive power. Its roots penetrated the earth, and its massive branches blocked out the sky. Soon, a vibrant meadow appeared beside it.

This is the content of the first mural, while the second mural depicts the process of the birth of an elf.

The grassland continued to expand, and the area protected by the sacred tree grew larger and larger. It carved out a space inside its own body and stored water there.

The first fruit has ripened, and a nimble figure falls from it.

She has a silvery-white body, legs that resemble a rabbit's but allow her to walk upright, jet-black round pupils, and two long, flat ears.

"This is the world's first elf, and her name is O." Archbishop Angus appeared behind Lu Qing at some point and spoke to her.

------------