I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

While marveling at Sia's magic, Jost looked at the polluted farmland with some concern. Although these fields were originally cultivated from the Black Forest, it was a pity that they were being polluted again.

"This is one of the reasons why the Black Forest has spread. The corpses of monsters will pollute the land, causing decay and chaos. Even if we can defeat those monsters, after the great battle, land will still fall. The rivers and water sources that originate from the forest will soon become turbid, and the water will carry madness."

The wheat ears that had absorbed the pollution grew rapidly in the wind and began to spread to the surrounding areas. Even though the insect swarm had passed through and left, the mess they left behind was still beyond the ability of ordinary people to clean up.

"...In my time, there were special methods to purify these pollutants, which were also an important means of resisting the invasion of the demonic tide."

Sia was silent for a moment before answering.

"That's a technique called the Spirit Torch, which creates a pure flame by burning the mage's soul. Under the torch's radiance, demons have nowhere to hide. As long as the fire doesn't go out, the demon tide will have difficulty advancing."

"The Soul of the Burning Mage?"

When Jost heard this, he initially showed a surprised expression, but soon he seemed to understand something and nodded to himself.

"Who created this magic?"

"I don't know. As far as I know, the Spirit Torch has existed in the Magic Network. Every mage who signs an agreement with the Magic Network will gain knowledge about the Spirit Torch. Therefore, in times of crisis, every mage can ignite themselves to drive away demons."

Xia shook her head.

Magic is a mage's reprocessing of knowledge. What the person who created this magic went through, and how they made this decision, is unknown to Sia.

Perhaps only in the most desperate circumstances can someone generate such a spark of thought.

In Sia's time, mages did not adopt the aloof and superior attitude of royalty and nobility as they do today. Instead, they truly came from the people and went back to the people. They walked across the desolate land, guarding against threats from the Black Forest, and were always ready to sacrifice themselves.

Being a monk is not some lofty and inviolable profession; it is merely a candle that this world's civilization has to light in order to survive.

"Can you teach me this magic?"

Jost said seriously.

"This……"

Xia hesitated.

Because she couldn't say whether the Spirit Torch appeared in the Magic Network's contract because she had told Jost about the knowledge it possessed. If that were the case, it would be another closed loop of fate.

However, she quickly came to terms with it.

The Spirit Torch has been one of the keys to the Night Kingdom's fight against the demonic tide for thousands of years. Even if Jost did not develop such a spell, other mages must have researched it. The fact that I am standing here means that the appearance of the Spirit Torch was inevitable.

The person who discovered this magic is both the greatest hero and the greatest sinner of the Night Kingdom.

He saved the world, and countless monks dedicated themselves to him.

Since that's the case, why not just tell Jost directly? Maybe there will be some improvement, so that mages won't become the fuel for lighting the torch.

Sia made her decision. She raised her left hand, and a pale flame ignited on the gauntlet.

The flames illuminated the corroded farmland, causing the contaminated crops to wither and the land to look as if it had been plowed over, leaving it in a state of utter devastation.

The flames died down, and Sia turned to look at Jost.

“I just burned a little of my soul to create the flame of the Spirit Torch, but if it burns for too long, the flame will completely devour the soul and become uncontrollable and extinguishable. In fact, only a few mages can control the flame of the Spirit Torch.”

A quill pen and a roll of parchment materialized beside her right hand, and she quickly wrote down the details of the spell related to the Spirit Torch. This spell was not temporarily given through the magic network, but was infused into the mage's soul from the moment the contract was established, so Sia wrote it down with ease.

The magic is actually quite simple; all you need to do is ignite it once, and then let it spread.

Jost took the parchment, and as he read, his expression grew increasingly solemn.

At this moment, Lu Ban, who had just been protecting the Baron, walked over. He looked at Xia, then at the parchment in Jost's hand.

"The flame of the Spirit Torch is very similar to something I know that purifies pollution."

Lu Ban said.

That thing is called Pure Fire.

Chapter 719 When in doubt, go to space

Lu Ban had witnessed the fall of the civilization that invented the Pure Fire in the Brilliant Realm.

He also knew that the Purification Fire itself was an extremely powerful form of pollution, fueled by the soul, will, and intense emotions; once ignited, it would never be extinguished.

Through special means, the shrine maidens of the island shrine can control the sacred fire to a certain extent and use it for their own purposes. All of this originated from the original shrine maiden, the one who transformed into the Divine Cherry Blossom.

Her soul resides forever within the Divine Cherry Blossom, sustaining the Pure Fire by absorbing the despair of the priestesses before their deaths.

Such flames do indeed resemble the spirit torches of the Night Kingdom.

However, the spirit torch itself does not devour everything around it; it only burns on the mage's body, using the light it produces to drive away monsters. The burning flames can indeed affect monsters without harming ordinary people.

In Lu Ban's words, the flames of this spirit torch were more like a controlled purifying fire.

Therefore, Lu Ban was curious about how this spirit torch was created.

However, he glanced at the contents of the parchment and saw that they were all incantations and rituals.

Completely incomprehensible.

Lu Ban wasn't exactly a genius who could apply knowledge to other situations, so he decided to ask Xia directly.

"The spark of the Spirit Torch is indeed the little bit of pollution that is buried deep in the hearts of all mages through the contract. Under normal circumstances, this pollution is suppressed by the magic network, and the release of pollution also requires the intervention of the magic network."

Sia explained it simply.

As for what exactly the pollution was, Lu Ban certainly wouldn't be able to see it with his own eyes.

"I think the flames of the Spirit Torch may have a similar origin to the Purifying Fire, but in the process of evolution, one chose to weaken its power to become controllable, while the other amplified its polluting nature."

Lu Ban vaguely grasped some information about the pollution in the alien land.

Both the Spirit Torch and the Purifying Fire burn souls in the form of fire. Given the exotic setting, the possibility that this coincidence is simply accidental is very small.

The predecessor of the Pure Fire, the Ash Fire, was a flame in that world that burned the corpses of giants to destroy evil spirits. The bones of giants were something that neither the Pure Fire nor the Ash Fire could burn away.

The flames of the spirit torch will also burn the mage.

Lu Ban believed that this was a different spark ignited by some ancient knowledge scattered and projected in a foreign land, which ultimately set off the flames of civilization.

At this moment, Jost suddenly spoke.

"I think that the structure of this spirit torch could perhaps become part of the magic network."

Hearing his words, Xia was puzzled.

"This was originally part of the contract of the Magic Network."

"No, what I mean is, wasn't one of the difficulties we encountered in constructing the magic network because we couldn't find imprisoned gods to serve as the main nodes? And if this spirit torch is applied to the gods, and those gods are ignited by the flames of the spirit torch, then they will find it difficult to escape the magic network and will be bound here in the eternal struggle against corruption."

Jost shook his head and explained.

"The essence of the Spirit Torch is not a purifying flame, but a stronger form of pollution, only this pollution is more effective on things that are more chaotic."

"In other words, this flame is a deadly weapon for gods who are aggregates of pollution."

Hearing Jost's words, Lu Ban also felt a sense of enlightenment.

First, pollution from other regions is always spreading, and stronger pollution can cover weaker pollution.

The torch's mere light can dispel demons; it is a form of corruption far stronger than the demons themselves.

For thousands of years, no matter how rampant the demonic tides have been, they have been unable to resist the Spirit Torch.

Therefore, it can be concluded that the gods of the Night Kingdom were unable to completely eradicate the pollution of the Spirit Torch, and the level of pollution of the Spirit Torch may be comparable to that of these gods.

Imprisoning and binding the gods, turning them into sources of pollution, requires ensuring that they do not output pollution in return when connected to the magic network.

The answer is quite simple.

Use the flames of the torch to burn these deities, so that they may remain in a state of struggle against the flames of the torch for a long time.

In this way, we can use them as a dumping ground.

Working backward from the future to the present, the existence of the Spirit Torch is not a spell derived from the Magic Network, but rather the cornerstone of the Magic Network's construction.

Or rather, Jost considered even more possibilities.

Based on what he learned from the players, a computer network system must have the ability to withstand risks.

Network nodes are a means to ensure the continued operation of the entire network after one or more devices malfunction. Applying this to the magic network, if one or more mages malfunction and suffer severe contamination, how can we prevent this contamination from spreading through them into the magic network and contaminating other normal mages?

The answer is the torch.

When the magic network detects that a mage has been corrupted by a powerful contamination, it will immediately ignite the spirit torch seed within that mage's body.

Similarly, if any imprisoned deity attempts to struggle, the other mages connected to Him will project the corruption of the spirit torches onto those deities through the contract of the magic network.

The Spirit Torch is both the foundation that allows the Magic Network to function properly and the chain that protects the Magic Network from instability.

From this perspective, the Spirit Torch should be Jost's invention.

Sia felt the incomprehension of fate, and she began to wonder how Jost would have been able to decipher the Spirit Torch if she hadn't arrived.

Where does the knowledge of the Spirit Torch originate?

However, Sia thought of more than just these things.

"In my time, the flames of the Spirit Torch burned continuously atop the Gray Tower. I did not know who those flames were burning, but now it seems they were burning the most central deity of the Magic Network."

This means that if Sia and her companions want to complete this mission, they may have to find the sleeping or mad gods of the Night Kingdom and bind them to the Gray Tower.

The mission is called "The Cage," which probably means something similar.

But now, the gods who created the demonic tide have long since disappeared, and the gods who granted magic to mankind are nowhere to be found. Where can we find them?

"If that's the case, then I do have an idea."

Stone then raised his hand.

“We met Master Heming at Stormy Mountain Villa. He told us how to become an Old One. If we can’t find any trace of a god, then we can use a similar method to create one?”

"any solution?"

Drizzt clearly didn't know anything like that, he said, puzzled.

Stone and Sia then briefly recounted Crane Cry Daoist's plan. Of course, they did not know the details of Crane Cry Daoist's ascension to godhood, so this knowledge carried very little corruption.

"Leave your own mark..."

Drizzt muttered to himself, beginning to consider the feasibility.

"The chosen ones find it difficult to leave their mark. We are simply walking in slices of another world, and it is difficult for us to leave behind legends."