Mages, Adventurers, and Women

"Teacher Li Wei, it's nice to see you again."

Pato, who is nearly forty, shamelessly said.

When Clayke approached Levi at Baron Della's castle, he was the first to run away.

Li Wei nodded perfunctorily, focusing his attention on the stone statue in the center of the lake.

This time, the spying eye saw it very clearly.

She was a human woman, naked, with her head tilted to the side and her arms crossed over her shoulders in sorrow. Li Wei felt a wave of sadness wash over him at just one glance.

The stone statue is entirely white, with meticulous details.

Upon closer inspection, the "snow-white" exterior reveals a hidden world.

It was actually drawn from a series of "combined arcane characters" and "single arcane characters"!

The true color of the stone statue is "black"!

Li Wei saw the "secret combination characters" again.

Now he was quite certain that the slight fluctuation in the lake's magic was related to the stone statue.

"Ah—it's a statue of a devout sinner!"

Not far away, Klek walked over with the freckled-faced, big-breasted princess Sylvie. Sylvie exclaimed in surprise as she looked at the stone statue in the center of the lake.

I haven't seen you for a day.

Klecker is in terrible condition.

Of the seven wealthy clients he brought along, six had their hands tied.

Then they lined up in a row and walked over like zombies.

He saw Li Wei and said weakly:

“Li Wei, I think we should put aside our grudges for now—look, I’m in big trouble.”

Klecker was having a good time with his clients on the outer circle when the six people behind him suddenly went berserk, their eyes glazed over as they knelt down towards the center circle, then uncontrollably tried to snap their own necks.

Startled, Clay quickly used "physical" means to stop them.

If the "illnesses" of the six clients are not resolved...

Klek had already foreseen how the Eternal Heart Airship Merchant Guild would cause him trouble.

He's overthinking it.

Levi wouldn't kill Klein in front of Sylvie.

"You mean the stone statue in the center of the lake is from the Pious Sinners sect, one of the pastoral denominations?"

Li Wei asked Xiwei.

Sylvie nodded firmly, her face still showing a deliberate attempt to alter her appearance.

The pink freckles were painted black, but five tiny pink freckles were visible under the right corner of the eye, making the disguise incomplete.

His disguised appearance was unremarkable, but he wore a well-fitting white silk top that accentuated his tall and slender figure. His chest, second only to Samantha's, was eye-catching and sparked much speculation.

Before Sylvie could speak, Clay, the priest, spoke first:

“How could it be a pious sinner? Although the expression is the same, the statue of the pious sinner is black, while this is a white statue.”

Sylvie said softly:

"You're talking about the pious sinner statue in the Duchy of Mad Sand. Of the three kingdoms, only there does the Pious Sinners sect serve as the sole religious sect."

"Therefore the statues were dyed black so that people would think the statues of devout sinners were black."

“Outside, the statues of devout sinners are white.”

Li Wei estimated that the "outside" Sylvie was referring to was outside Golden Island.

As a princess of the Golden Kingdom, she possessed far greater knowledge and experience than others.

"Then tell me, why did the damned statue of the devout sinner turn my client and the sawtooth fishman into this state?"

Klecker was in a very bad mood.

He was clearly unaware of Sylvie's true identity and vented his frustration about his client's accident to her without any restraint.

Sylvie gazed at the stone statue in the center of the lake, displaying remarkable composure, and did not hold it against Clack for being one of the clients.

She frowned and guessed:

"The stone statue in the center of the lake has the mystical characters 'pipi, ai-lili, huyu' branded on its chest."

“All three characters are the sixth combination tone. Pipi means facing, ai-lili means offering sacrifice, and huyu means the dead. The meaning of this occult character is ‘offering sacrifices to the dead in front of the statue of the devout sinner.’ Perhaps their behavior is a kind of sacrifice?”

Klecker interrupted:

“I am a pastor, and I have never heard of the ‘Pious Sinners’ cult requiring suicide for its sacrificial rites.”

Sylvie was stumped by Klecker's question.

This is indeed an inexplicable point.

Klecker turned his hopeful gaze to Livy, believing that Livy, who had deconstructed the coffin of the Necromancer General, was the only one who could provide the answers.

Li Wei finished observing with his Peeping Eyes, combining this with the knowledge he had recently gained from studying the fusion of necromantic and fire elements.

Having reached a conclusion in his mind, he corrected himself:

“There is a ‘momo’ before ‘pipi’. It is the sixth tone combination that represents dissemination and praise. Judging from the meaning of the characters alone, it means ‘to praise or spread the act of offering sacrifices to the dead at the stone statue of a devout sinner’.

"But in this context, this arcane character should be deconstructed as..."

"—Embrace death."

"In the minds of the six clients of the Sawtooth Fishman and Klecker, committing suicide facing a stone statue is a glorified act of embracing death."

"You're wrong to think it's a statue of a devout sinner."

"The statues of the Devout Sinners in the Duchy of Mad Sand are indeed different from those in the Grand Continent. This is clearly mentioned in the book [Appreciation of the Priest Cult]: The 'Devoted Sinner' betrayed the Light Element, chose to bear 'repentance,' lost his rationality, and became the first 'Devoted Sinner' statue in the Grand Continent, leaving behind the 'Devoted Sinner' cult."

"The book 'Appreciation of Stone Statues of the Priest Cult' records that the stone statues of true pious sinners have the 'gr-ppp' cryptic character engraved on their foreheads, marked with the second monosyllable, representing 'atonement', while the stone statue in the center of the lake has the fifth combination of syllables marked on its forehead, representing: innocence."

“Look at its surface, which is covered with white arcane characters, concealing the black body inside.”

“I can confirm that this is not a statue from the Pious Sinners Priests sect.”

"It is a statue of a branch of the 'Necromancer' sect, which is hostile to the 'Priests Sect'."

"—The Immortal Statue."

……

……

Chapter 44: Madness, Immortality, and the Dark Age

"The immortals..."

Sylvie looked at the naked stone statue in the center of the lake, her expression revealing an undisguised disgust.

Klek observed the stone statue in the center of the lake with his Peeping Eye, and a crazy idea began to sprout in his mind.

"Isn't immortality a good thing?"

"Why are they acting like their parents have died?"

The bone asked sincerely.

Klek glared at him, his scarred face contorting in a grotesque manner, and said, word by word:

“If I ever hear another rude word escaping from the mouth of you, you green rat from the sewers, I’ll burn you to ashes and throw you into…”

He looked at the dwarf Duron beside the skeleton and said, "...between the toes of that damned shorty!"

"A green-skinned rat?!"

"Damn it?!"

Bones and Duron were immediately enraged and picked up their weapons, ready to fight Klek to the death.

Li Wei stepped forward, blocking the way between Bones and Duron, and said to the increasingly frenzied Klein:

"You bastard, do you even care what others say about your parents?"

"And... do you really think I wouldn't dare kill you here?"

He was brewing a fiery explosion, looking ready to fight at the slightest provocation.

Sylvie, on the contrary, showed no emotional fluctuation. In her education, orcs were known to be so unrestrained in their speech, and as fellow beings of the Grand Continent, she should accept the orcs' "rudeness."

Klek continued to observe the immortal statue with his spying eyes, his expression becoming increasingly distorted. He directly tore off his disguise and said:

"Li Wei, I know you've begun to touch upon elemental fusion. According to the monsters, your talent has advanced from the White Dragon level to the Black Dragon level. Do you think you can kill me with that?"

“I admit that among the six of us, your talent for arcane languages ​​is not only among the top three, but also the highest.”

"But... in terms of overall strength, I am the strongest!"

It seemed that Levi and Klecker were about to clash again.

The fire mage Pato, who had been following behind Li Wei and trying to get closer, promptly slipped away.

Like a wild dog that has caught the scent of tiger urine, he led his teammates in a desperate escape.

Klecker faced off against Levi and his three companions single-handedly without flinching, a stark contrast to his earlier act of begging for mercy by the campfire.

He didn't care about the lives or deaths of the six wealthy people behind him who were controlled by the immortal statues, or the lucid Sylvie.

The change began when Klecker learned that the statue in the center of the lake was not that of a devout sinner, but that of an immortal being, and this sparked his mad idea.

Levi, who was originally tense, guessed Klek's foolish idea of ​​courting death by observing the madness he displayed after focusing on the statue of the immortal.

He suddenly smiled, deactivated the Flame Burst, took a step back, and said casually:

"I wish you a speedy death, and I'll piss on you at your funeral as a way of remembering you."

Every magic-based professional who first encounters elements and magic will receive a piece of advice:

"Please always remain rational."

Klek's attention was entirely focused on the immortal statue in the Eye of Peeping. His face was cold as he muttered:

"Li Wei, I will die after you."

"Walk."

Li Wei, along with Julia, Bones, and Duron, turned and left.

As the dwarf Duron passed by the corpse of the jagged merman on the shore, he was about to gouge out a heart when Li Wei grabbed him by the collar, gave Bones a look, and Bones clamped Duron under his armpits and walked away into the distance.

Dulong flapped his limbs, puzzled, and asked:

"Quest... the Serrated Fishman Quest..."

Li Wei glanced at the jagged fish-man constantly committing suicide in the center of the lake and said:

"This mission is destined to fail. The sawtooth fishmen in the center of the lake are all 'sacrifices' corrupted by the immortal statues. They did commit suicide, but the corruption remaining on their bodies will not disappear. If you dare to cut out their hearts, your fate will be the same as..."

Li Wei gestured towards the distance ahead, where the five Pato members who had just escaped stood frozen in place, their faces bearing foolish smiles. Suddenly, they turned around, crossed their arms over their shoulders, and mimicked the pose of the immortal statue in the center of the lake, walking towards the center of the lake.

"...They are the same."

Yulia was so frightened that she grabbed Levi's arm and said in terror:

"Li Wei... what's going on? Isn't it the Cult of Immortality? How did it become a suicide cult?"

"The Immortal Stone Statue is the most disgusting thing on the continent of Grande!"

Sylvie caught up from behind and said.

Seeing Julia looking at her, she explained:

"It all started with 'Sati'. In order to deconstruct the light element, he was willing to abandon rationality and transform into the 'Holy Light Codex,' which records all of 'Sati's' deconstruction of the light element."

"Later, rumors spread that whoever found the 'Holy Light Codex' would be able to merge with the 'Sati's' understanding of the light element and thus become the supreme priest."

"No one knows where the 'Holy Light Codex' is, but Satie's actions inspired other powerful priests to follow suit. They voluntarily abandoned reason; some turned into stone statues; some became crowns; some became scepters; some merged into the priests' precious books of knowledge; and some became a mural in the church..."

“Unlike the ‘Sati,’ these powerful priests passed down their deconstruction and ideas about the light element through their embodied objects, forming many sects with different ideas but the same purpose.”