The flight was smooth sailing.
They had successfully reached the southernmost turning point and were now sailing northeast. Dragon Island was faintly visible in the open sea ahead, and with time to spare, Yun Wei began to consider whether to make a short stop at Dragon Island.
After all, once the initial novelty wore off, the monotony of not being on the ground gave rise to unease. After each long voyage, he would always go down to the ground with Isaac and wander around.
Two things are worth mentioning.
The first thing is that Yun Wei has finished reading Gerhard Babylon's two books these past few days.
Gerhard was a magician who lived almost the same time as Alh, but he was extremely reclusive and low-key.
This white-haired mage, obsessed with arcane magic, left behind two advanced spellcasting techniques: Mirror Image and Elemental Mastery.
Elemental mastery is easy to understand; it basically means that a mage uses elemental power to modify their body, making them more compatible with specific elements.
Many high-level spells in the Seven Elements Magic involve temporarily transforming oneself into a pure elemental body. To achieve this goal, one must first master the skill of elemental mastery.
The mirror image is quite magical.
Since most spells have a certain casting range, and mages' frail bodies make it difficult for them to move at high speeds on the battlefield, their initial positioning is extremely important.
Standing at the back is safe, but it also limits the casting of spells.
Positioning yourself at the front will make you a prime target for enemy fire, and when you're struggling to protect yourself, it's difficult to focus on consistently channeling powerful spells.
However, the mirror image can directly ignore such effects.
By continuously consuming mental and magical energy, one can directly change the coordinates of the magical source on another level, thereby shifting the center of the spell's casting.
Although it sounds quite complicated, Yun Wei had actually seen examples like this.
For example, when Victor used "Shock and Mind" in the academy, even though the opponent was in the Red Moon, they could cast the spell remotely through the mental imprint left at the Tower of Ten Thousand Laws.
However, unlike low-level spellcasting techniques, these two high-level spellcasting techniques are difficult to master.
At least for Yun Wei, on an airship a hundred meters above the ground, neither splashing water all over the cabin nor changing coordinates at high speed while moving was a wise move.
Her other book, "A Brief Analysis of Kirchhova's Laws of the Soul," is even more remarkable.
In the solitude of long immersion in magic, the magician heard whispers from gods of other planes.
The whispers Gerhard heard most often came from the goddess of life, Kirkhova.
Kirchhova views the soul as the smallest and indivisible element, and elaborates on the connection between spirit, soul, and Tokie.
Yun Wei was unfamiliar with divine arts, and he couldn't quite understand the long passages of praise and hymns that followed, which were clearly filled with fanaticism.
He only vaguely understood why Richard had said earlier, "To eternal remembrance," that it could not bring others back to life.
According to Kirchhova, souls cannot be created out of thin air; they can only be exchanged one for one.
The only explanation for his ability to resurrect Al is that a soul was originally imprisoned within "The Dead's Tale"—
He sacrificed that soul, thus resurrecting Al.
Who is that soul?
If one continuously sacrifices the souls of others, can one gain eternal life?
This thought sent a chill down his spine; the elusive past seemed like a thick fog, obscuring the path to the future.
Even after sharing this terrifying story with Isaac, the heaviness of the suspense in his heart was still not relieved.
He felt, in some mysterious way, that there was a connection between "The Dead Say" and Kirchhova and Arkh.
And that will be the answer to everything.
Fortunately, at that moment, a second event occurred just in time, rescuing him from his anxious delusions.
By then, they had left the Golden Plains behind and returned to the familiar heart of the Red Moon Kingdom.
However, the land was devastated after the Corpse Puppet Mage's rampage, and the lifeless soil turned a rotten grayish-brown, like a rotten apple that had been decaying for a long time.
Only the distant Moonflower City remained unharmed, shining brightly like a pearl.
Hundreds of meters in the air, the two silently watched the tragedy unfold below.
However, Yun Wei noticed the thick fog in the valley not far away. Even though it was bright daylight, the fog looked like gray clouds that had fallen from the sky, condensed and lingering, eerie and unsettling.
It reminded him of the cloud of corpses he had seen outside Apperfield.
Clearly, this thick fog was also created by the Corpse Puppet Mage, and countless ferocious Corpse Puppet and zombies lurked within it.
"Isa, I want to eliminate them directly." Yun Wei pursed his lips and finally made up his mind.
Since they already knew that the Corpse Puppet Mage was colluding with the Abyss, he didn't need to know what was in the thick fog anymore.
Isaac glanced at him but didn't say anything more, only asking, "Should I lower the cloud boat's altitude a bit?"
“Yes, move a little closer to them.” Yun Wei nodded.
He planned to use the large-scale fire magic he had previously recorded to completely obliterate the ugliness within the cloud.
“I’m going right now.” Isaac immediately stood at attention and walked towards the helm, but then suddenly stopped and added, “Don’t be afraid, Cloud, I’m with you… You’re doing a righteous and good deed, you’ll be rewarded.”
Upon hearing this, Yun Wei raised the corners of his mouth, but it turned into an ugly smile.
As the cloud boat silently descended and approached, Yun Wei's spiritual power also quietly spread outward, enveloping and locking in all the evil within the entire cloud of corpses.
He lowered his eyes and slowly began to chant an obscure incantation:
"The eerie fire ignites, the calamity burns, the invisible wildfire gathers into a sea, and the rage scorches the hopeless souls..."
As he chanted, the space locked by his spiritual power seemed to tremble slightly, and countless crimson fire elements tore open the cracks and surged out, illuminating the gray mist with a bright red light from within.
A commotion of fear and unease suddenly arose from within the fog.
But it was too late. Unbeknownst to them, the level six fire magic had already quietly taken shape.
Suddenly, a huge red magic circle appeared on the ground. As the light flowed, countless magma spewed out, burning everything it touched into charred smoke.
"Destroy yourselves in the 'Blazing Sea of Flames,' you unforgiving sinners..."
Under Yun Wei's indifferent gaze, the illusory sea of fire instantly solidified into a tangible form. The surging fire waves swept back and forth like scorching hellish magma, pouring into and incinerating the entire space.
All evil was burned away.
All the living corpses were released.
After a while, the spell ended, and the crimson fire element gradually dissipated, leaving only a patch of charred oil stains on the spot.
...
The airship hovered quietly for a moment, as if paying silent tribute.
Soon after, the cloud-like airship finally departed silently, continuing the two's journey.
The charred earth stirred, and a charred corpse child crawled out. It was terrifying in appearance, like a monkey with its flesh peeled off, and was squeaking and groaning.
But the next moment, it was suddenly picked up by a thin man in a monk's robe who appeared out of nowhere.
"Little one, are you all alone now?" The voice was androgynous, yet it carried a compassionate and merciful tone.
"Squeak!" The corpse child suddenly bit fiercely at the man's delicate wrist.
The man trembled slightly and let out a muffled groan.
The bright red blood meandered downwards, while the black aura representing the abyss rapidly climbed up the wrists towards the torso.
But at that moment, countless pure white divine runes lit up on the man's skin.
A surge of powerful divine light suddenly appeared, and the man's hood slowly slipped down, revealing his golden hair and his fair and beautiful face.
His expression was so dignified and holy, yet his eyes were cold, like the snow that never melts on Mount San Moriti.
The domineering abyssal black energy was almost instantly burned away by the surging divine power of light. The gruesome teeth marks also quickly healed, scabbed over, and fell off, restoring everything to its original state.
The corpse child seemed to be afraid of the dazzling holy light and immediately quieted down, curling up in the man's arms.
“It’s an anomaly…” The man seemed to have suddenly discovered something. He rubbed the embers on his fingertips, and black dust rose with the wind, like a wisp of mist or a beautiful finger, guiding the unfathomable mystery.
The blond man couldn't help but look up at the distant sky.
There was clearly calm and peaceful there.
"Alright, little one, it seems we'll have to travel together for a while. You'd better behave, okay?" After a long while, he lowered his head and murmured patiently.
"Squeak!"
“Very good.” The blond man lowered his eyes, but took out a white cloth from his pocket and skillfully wrapped the corpse child in swaddling clothes.
He hummed an unknown tune, as if he were in a good mood.
Amidst that off-key humming, the Corpse Child seemed to finally calm down, but then it suddenly let out a strange roar in a low voice.
"Squeak squeak squeak?"
Logically speaking, this chilling tone is not human and no one should be able to understand it.
But the blond man paused for a moment, then whispered, "What? You're asking me my name..."
It was like muttering to oneself.
He suddenly fell silent, as if lost in memories.
“I have many names.” Finally, he spoke slowly, his voice like the gentle song of a nightingale, “But now, you can call me—”
"Joshua."
...
Yun Wei sighed and stood blankly by the porthole, gazing at the sunset glow.
“Isa, let’s go see Richard,” he suggested in a hoarse voice.
In the end, Yunwei decided to stop at Dragon Island for a while.
Life is so fragile.
After the fire, only charred embers remained.
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