Chapter 758: Underground Master

With the hazy blue light far away, Natasha observed the surroundings carefully. On one side, it was a spherical hollow, and on the other side, it was the deep, depressing water and all kinds of bizarre monsters. The two sides were so distinctly separated that there was no mix-up at all.

"That part of water seems to have been squeezed out by the qualities of the Blue Gate. There is not the slightest air inside. It will be barely possible to avoid Harex's detection." She drew her conclusion.

With Lucien's assortment of amazing spells, it should've been easy to sneak to somewhere near the Blue Gate without catching any attention. However, according to Doris and the previous priest, Harex was exactly before the Blue Gate. Considering his strength at the peak of legendary and the corresponding intuitions, it would be barely possible to approach him without the cover of water, fish, sea monsters, microorganisms, and plants.

Lucien nodded and checked the environment again. Then, his body turned heavy, allowing him to sink to the bottom of the ocean and on the "ground" that contained abundant minerals.

"You stay here. I'll take a look inside first." Lucien had an idea.

Without any hesitation, Natasha nodded her head. "Alright. If anything happens, I'll fly over immediately."

She knew very well that there was a major gap between her and legendary sorcerers in terms of reconnaissance and stealth. Those unimaginable spells were the perfect choice at a moment like this. Therefore, if she insisted on going together, she would be a liability for Lucien in case of an emergency. For example, he would have to cast two spells in order to cover their traces.

Of course, it did not mean that sorcerers were necessarily better at stealth and reconnaissance than knights. It was just that the blood power of "Sword of Truth", which highlighted charging and pressing the assault, was not up for such a delicate job. Other bloodlines that were adept at those were as good as sorcerers.

Now that Natasha agreed, Lucien activated the magic models inside his soul with a smile. He had fallen in love with her probably because she was always decisive and never too emotional.

Tawny colors arose on the surface of Lucien's body and enshrouded him. Thanks to his advanced skills, the magic waves were barely perceivable.

In the tawny brightness, Lucien's body was suddenly softened. All the items including the Robe of Grand Arcanists and his body turned into a pile of mud!

"A mud monster?" In the telepathic bond, Natasha asked in slight confusion. She had never seen such a strange spell before and could only propose the most approximate guess.

Lucien's mud-like body wriggled and melted into the soil at the bottom of the ocean. His spiritual power seemed to have turned into countless tentacles that spread out into a gigantic web of spiritual power, getting the land around under his control.

"Not exactly. This is a rarely-seen ninth-circle spell named 'Underground Master'. The Blue Gate has merely squeezed out the water without collapsing the bottom of the ocean, so the spell is still usable," Lucien explained to Natasha. "In any case, this is still part of the underground world."

Natasha stopped asking. Holding the Sword of Truth tightly, she was ready for battle, and Lucien sank further deeper into the bottom of the ocean before he snuck toward the Blue Gate without a sound.

The darkness below the bottom of the ocean was even more depressing than that in the ocean, giving the feeling that one could be buried here at any moment. Although Lucien could perceive the environment through the tentacles of spiritual power that were extended to the surface, he still felt that space and time were so chaotic that he did not know which year it was at all.

After moving for almost three hundred kilometers, the projection of Lucien's Host Star of Destiny in his soul suddenly sensed something. The spiritual power that was extended to the surface was recalled, and his movement came to an abrupt halt. He crouched below the soil quietly in a weird posture.

He could not move forward any further, or he would be in the range of Harex's "Absolute Defense"!

The so-called "Absolute Defense" was the area around a top legend that was almost absolutely under their control. The size of the area varied according to the strength and specialties of the legend, but nobody could possibly enter the area without alerting them, not even demigods.

Therefore, the cases where top legends were ambushed were all launched outside of the area, or under the cover of other targets. When the elven queen ambushed the last Prince of Demons, she took advantage of the altar that he set up in person. When the Demogorgon of Darkness devoured the previous Prince of Demons, he had been serving him dutifully and loyally. That was why Lucien thought that he could blend into a school of fish if there were any in the area. There was a chance that he could escape the detection of Harex's "Absolute Defense" if he were distracted by other matters.

Although Lucien's tentacle-like spiritual power had been significantly reduced, there were still many tiny hollows in the middle of the soil and rocks. They were like the secondary eyes of "Underground Master", thus allowing Lucien to catch a fuzzy view of what was outside.

Not far away ahead of him, there was a magnificent palace, one that did not have any walls but was entirely supported by stone pillars.

The palace was not nearly as magnificent as the Temple of Spirits. It was only the size of a Nekso Palace. Also, the stone pillars were mottled and old. Some of them were breaking and collapsing all the time, exactly like other ancient cities that had been drowned by seawater.

The palace was circular. At its center was an open-air altar. There was a vague blue gate above the altar, which gave Lucien an unusually familiar feeling because it was as transcendental, intangible, and unapproachable as the Furnace of Souls.

"They are indeed somewhat similar..." From Doris' narration, Lucien already sensed that the Blue Gate shared certain similarities with the Furnace of Souls. Also, it had something identical to the ever-changing, lofty "God's Glory". "Perhaps... they are the different reflections of the truth of the world. That's why they give a similar feeling.

"The Blue Gate is rather out of the place compared to the altar and the palace. I cannot sense the passage of time on it at all, but the altar and the palace have both been corroded by the passing years. The Chamber of Immortality and the Pathway of Immortality, as well as the Furnace of Souls and the Temple of Spirits, are much more matched than they are..." Lucien identified the unusual environment and drew a preliminary deduction. "The palace must've been built by a certain expert of the sea clans after the Blue Gate was discovered in order to highlight the Blue Gate's status. However, future generations paid little attention to the extra stuff. That's why it is dilapidated right now."

The altar was much more intact than the palace that was full of bricks and fallen pillars. Also, near the Blue Gate and on the eight sides of the altar, new and complicated symbols had been added. Even an erudite arcanist like Lucien could barely tell what they meant. He only sensed that every symbol and every part was simple and time-tested. Infinite mysteries seemed to have been contained in them.

"Are these the words that the experts controlling the Blue Gate like Harex created based on the specialties of the Blue Gate, like the Dark Dialect?" Lucien speculated the reason. In any case, those fundamental "extraordinary words" revealed their function through their influence on the environment, thus giving Lucien a chance to analyze their meaning as well as the effect of the whole magic circle.

Below the eight sides of the altar were the magic circles of blood sacrifice that Lucien was quite familiar with. There were plenty of sea elves, Gipps, more Kuo-toans, mutated seahorses, venomous jellyfish, and deep-sea drakes.

By the time Lucien noticed them, the magic circle of blood sacrifice had been activated. Those poor creatures completely lost their lives and were rigidified like dry corpses. Intense bloodiness and ivory light were condensed around them, brimming with pain, hate, desperation, and other negative feelings.

Above the altar, before the Blue Gate, two strange creatures were standing. One of them was a murloc that was as tall and brawny as a frost giant. The scales on his body were not silver or in the color of blood, but they emitted a brightness that was as blue and clear as gems.

The blue crown on his head covered his upper face with a strange shadow and revealed only a pair of crimson, cold eyes. Together with the tough lips on the lower half of his face, they left a deep impression on whoever saw him. Also, his limbs were not as shrunk as the other murlocs but healthy and strong. He was holding a gold trident in his right hand, and at the head of the trident, a gem that was as blue as an eye released a vague feeling of space-time ripples.

He was Harex, the emperor of the Kuo-toans and the Master of the Boundless Ocean.

Next to him was a creature that was even stranger. His whole body seemed to be made of soft, transparent materials and was wriggling and floating all the time. One moment, it blossomed like a flower, and the next, it stretched out like tentacles. In the meantime, the creature did not have eyes, nose, or lips. He was like a transparent bag that was filled with water.

"The Dark Jellyfish, who ranks the second among the seven sea generals?" Lucien thought to himself.

While watching the magic circle of blood sacrifice to be activated, Harex spoke, "After we open the Blue Gate, we will be rewarded by the ocean. I will regain my strongest status, and you will obtain a legendary material that is as good as the Blue Key."

"Can you really open the Blue Gate in advance by sacrificing tens of thousands of lives?" Dark Jellyfish Tyers vibrated in the air and made a sound.

"Of course, but we still need to join our hands to activate the remaining circles. Otherwise, the power of the blood sacrifice wouldn't be enough." Harex stepped into the magic circle on the left side of the Blue Gate, and Tyers entered the right one.

Lucien was more or less puzzled by that, so he kept on observing.

The weird symbols and patterns glittered at the same time. Their deep blue resonated with the blue gate.

Very soon, a mysterious, complicated magic circle took shape, like a palace of water that covered the altar. From the magic circles on the eight sides, the blood that was mixed with the feelings of desperation, pain, and hate surged toward Tyers!

"You!"

Tyers sensed that something was not right. He unfolded his body in shock and anger, temporarily resisting the surging negative feelings and blood with dark bubbles.

Harex raised his trident and said indifferently, "Don't blame me. You've seen how strong Aglaea was. If I don't find out a way to improve myself, I'll be left behind by her, and that will be the end of the sea clans."

"Hehe. Why don't you sacrifice yourself to fortify me then?" The Dark Jellyfish squeezed out tremendous black liquids.

"It's the old stuff again..." Lucien thought to himself from far away, but he immediately got excited. This was the first time that he had witnessed such a scene in person. They were the rarely-seen "experiment materials"!

Therefore, the magic notebook in his spirit library was opened. He then began recording symbols, patterns, the process of activation, and every other detail.