Bizarre Realm-Chapter 441 - 50: The Builders of Candlefort (Part 2)

Chapter 441: Chapter 50: The Builders of Candlefort (Part 2)

Shawn said casually, "Equivalent exchange."

The aged face of the sculpture continued, "Exchange knowledge for knowledge. Where is your ticket for entry?"

Shawn gently raised his palm, and five books appeared, the topmost bearing "Calculus". Most of these contain knowledge from Earth, organized into volumes by Shawn revisiting his memories. These are the tickets to enter Candlefort.

Candlefort is a unique space, with its own Law Domain within.

"Hmm... Knowledge from Otherworld!..."

The statue’s eyes seemed to be reading these books, a hint of longing for knowledge in its expression. Soon, it said deeply, "It’s new knowledge that Candlefort hasn’t collected. You can enter Candlefort."

To enter Candlefort, you must provide a book, and it must contain knowledge that Candlefort doesn’t have.

If you can’t accomplish that, you can only try to infiltrate, but Candlefort is protected by a powerful Maze Lock, and infiltrating is as difficult as a direct assault. The Maze Lock not only prevents others from entering, it also prevents nameless delusions from escaping; they can only be summoned through special rituals, with their true forms sealed within Candlefort. As for a direct assault, well, suffice to say, you’ll face the Golem army that guards Candlefort—if you can win, you may come and go freely.

Initially, entering Candlefort wasn’t difficult, because when the Dark Era ended, the threshold for entering Candlefort wasn’t as high as it is now.

But the problem is that as time progressed, the knowledge preserved within Candlefort grew increasingly abundant, making entry exceedingly difficult again, because most known knowledge is already housed within Candlefort. Shawn’s Spirit Library adopted some of Candlefort’s design philosophy—exchange knowledge for knowledge.

"It’s kind of like Candlefort on the Ferren Plane; there, to enter Candlefort, you must also provide a new book," Ugly Monkey said calmly.

He now suspects the initial builders of Candlefort might be Otherworldly Souls from the Kingdom Celestial Universe, and possibly one of Candlefort’s administrators.

A profound and dark door opened.

The Butcher glanced at the others, then walked directly to the front of the group. Quinn-Toll fell back by two steps, slightly tense as he put his hand on his weapon. Candlefort’s name had long spread throughout the Bizarre Realm, and even Celestial Legends might fall within. Shawn stood in the middle of the group, protecting the Insectoid Empress behind him because she was a healer; more importantly, she was also Shawn’s top-tier BUFF. Empowered by the Fusion Technique, Shawn’s Challenge Level would soar above 25.

As for Ugly Monkey, he was already out of sight, and as a Transcendent of the Shadow Sequence, merging into shadows was as simple as breathing to him.

After passing through walls over ten meters wide, Shawn and the others were greeted by a beautiful garden, with a magic fountain in the distance encircled by a faint rainbow glow. Many lush bushes and shrubbery were trimmed into shapes of various animals, emitting a slight sense of Life, but as long as they hadn’t activated, there was no need to mind them.

——Garden Guard [Activated Plants] (Challenge Level 8+)!

——Living Statue [Mechanical Body] (Challenge Level 10+)!

"The air here flows with the scent of knowledge," Shawn murmured.

The garden spanned roughly a hundred acres. The inside of Candlefort was larger than seen from outside; in fact, it was equivalent to a Half-Plane. After using the Folding Space Spell, the space inside expanded layer by layer outward.

This garden had cobblestone paths paved throughout, and not far away, the mysterious knowledge engraved on an auto-cleaning broom flowed subtly.

——Activation Tool (Challenge Level 3)!

Upon noticing Shawn and the others, the activated broom hovered in mid-air, its runes emitting a hint of blood light. In the next second, dozens of spikes shot out, and Shawn, emotionless, opened the Energy Shift Force Field. With a light lift of his hand, Arcane Missiles completely shattered it.

"Detected Activation Spell!"

"Digesting!"

Shawn’s fingertips touched the broom’s remains, and several runes directly transformed into micro lights and vanished, consumed by the mysterious knowledge within his brain.

Ugly Monkey’s voice arose, filled with gravity: "There’s a row of statues ahead."

"Be cautious to avoid Garden Guard."

The adept Wanderer had already scoped the area. With the ease of a Thief, scouting nearby was effortless, unlike them who had to methodically fight their way in.

Shawn activated the Mind Network.

He exchanged a glance with the Butcher beside him, then said, "First, clear the outer passages, head to the storeroom, and keep battle noises low."

"This whole castle is activated."

The journey had almost no living beings; at night, only scholar phantoms appeared according to their different statuses during life. They were respectively: Archives Guardian, administrator, reader, Chanting, Pathfinder, etc.

By the side of the magic fountain, Shawn and the others progressed along the path, and soon sighted a row of majestic statues measuring about twelve meters high.

These statues hadn’t been activated; most were Sages from the Dark Era.

The statue foremost showed an elderly human in a gray robe, holding a Magic Staff, the other hand gripping a scroll, gaze deepened upon the distant horizon, expression solemn and worried. A plaque beneath the statue bore engraved characters.

——Archives Guardian-Gleian.

Shawn had no recognition of this name, but it appeared he might be one of Candlefort’s founders. After the Dark Era ended, many Sages vanished, leaving only places like Candlefort where their names may be seen.

Ugly Monkey’s figure emerged from the shadows, and he fixedly stared at the statue before them, his expression incredibly grave, seeming to recognize the statue or the name engraved upon it.

The usually reticent Butcher suddenly asked, "Do you know who Gleian is?"

Ugly Monkey paused briefly, then slowly replied, "I do."

"He was a powerful Mage of Candlefort, once holding a high status on the Ferren Plane’s Candlefort."

At this point.

Ugly Monkey took a deep breath, solemnly stating, "In the era of Saint Calamity, he was the adoptive father of a Slaughter Divine Son and died from the treachery of another Slaughter Divine Son."

What?!

Upon hearing Ugly Monkey’s words, the others present were shocked in expression.

Slaughter Divine Son’s adoptive father?

Shawn gazed at the statue before them, slowly saying, "Otherworldly Soul."

Ugly Monkey softly said, "Regarding the Saint Calamity period, I don’t know much either. Gleian’s name frequently appeared in historical Secret Scrolls documenting Slaughter Divine Sons."

The group lingered briefly at the statue, then soon approached the storeroom direction.

Concerning the Sages of the Dark Era, historical records were very scarce, and even Lady Hecate probably knew little, able only to confirm many powerful Otherworldly Souls arrived during that period, some during life were Great Mages, others mythic beings like Angels, Demons, Giant Dragons, etc.

Slaughter Divine Son’s adoptive father.

Just that identity was enough to instill unease. After Candlefort was polluted, no one knew how many indescribable delusions were born within.

The journey’s fights weren’t troublesome, as Activated Items still couldn’t stop them.

However, these Activated Items couldn’t be entirely killed either, as they would be re-created over time. Shawn did collect quite a few Activation Spells along the way.

Passing through a corridor engraved with countless ancient Secret Scripts, Shawn suddenly shivered, as if seeing a deep darkness overlapping here with space, shadowed eyes opening within, quite similar to when he used Soul Resonance with the scene being eerily similar. Yet, he didn’t feel the presence of the great detective-Morty Laine, but glimpsed an indescribable gray-robed figure in the dark curtain, from whose dragging black robe countless rune knowledges gathered into dim tentacles waving with curtain’s sway, as if perpetually changing between 3D and 2D worlds.

The phantom figure gazed at Shawn, and its profound eyes seemed to be peering into Shawn’s soul, and the Child of Slaughter’s Power fluctuated slightly, inexplicably waking inside Shawn under this indefinite phantom’s emergence.

A calm, aged sigh, as though echoing across the river of time, arose: "Chaneum."

"You’ve finally arrived..."

.........

(PS: My wife’s grandfather is old. 88 years old, passed away peacefully. Tomorrow is the vigil, taking a day off. Originally had a day’s manuscript left, but mistakenly posted two Chapters yesterday. That’s all there is.)