In the game background of "YGGDRASIL," World-Class Items are artifacts condensed from the "leaves" that destroyed the World Tree.
Each possesses power comparable to an entire world.
Of course.
In the game, these were merely exceptionally powerful items, but when World-Class Items appear in a Different World, their original effects are bound to change to some extent.
Especially those World-Class Items that are unpossessed and lost somewhere in the world have a high chance of forming special natural phenomena.
What Tang Zheng needed to investigate.
Was whether there were any special natural phenomena or events beyond normal human comprehension occurring within the "Re-Estize" tribal territory.
The Lionfolk Priest's answer was "no."
This vast grassland lacked complex terrain, and although the 12 tribes were not fully unified, they maintained connections and exchanges.
If any special natural phenomena existed, the Lionfolk Priest, as the strongest tribe's representative, would undoubtedly be aware of it.
There was no choice.
Tang Zheng could only investigate the history of the "Re-Estize" tribal nation, hoping to find answers there.
A tribe's priest held a very special position, and in some respects, knew more about the tribe's ancestral history than the deceased "King" Anriel.
—The "Imperia Kingdom."
Iville Ai had been staying in the decaying Royal Capital for the past few days. Despite the ruins everywhere, it evoked a sense of nostalgia.
"Hiss!"
"Awooo!"
Two Undead zombies, one strong and one thin, both with a grayish-black complexion, occasionally let out low growls and hisses.
Under Iville Ai's controlled "Undead Manipulation," they arrived at a small cave hidden within the woods, located behind the original castle.
The trees here were long gone.
It was completely bare!
In Iville Ai's memory, this was a place where she used to play hide-and-seek with Nastasha when she was young. Although the entire castle had turned into ruins, this small cave had surprisingly survived.
Perhaps because it was just a stone cave.
The space wasn't large, and she was likely the only one who knew about it.
Nastasha was a personal maid who had once served her, and among the many maids, she held the highest position. Their relationship was very close.
Looking at her Father and Mother, who were placed in the stone cave.
"I couldn't find Nastasha. She was originally kept with Father and Mother."
Iville Ai lowered her head, her unadorned, childish tone carrying an inexplicable sadness. "She was probably taken as an experimental subject by that Undead."
"Nastasha was probably my only friend. I wanted to kill that Undead myself to avenge her."
"I just worried that the Undead might still be useful to that Dragon Lord, so I didn't act immediately. But he's dead now, killed by that Dragon Lord."
"Mhm, I met that Dragon Lord by chance a while ago. He's a powerful and mysterious fellow. There's no danger from him currently, don't worry."
"That Dragon Lord said he considered me a friend... I don't know if it's true. After all, races like dragons are always arrogant."
"Oh, right. I've made some friends now too. I joined an Adventurer Team called [Blue Rose]... Lakyus is a..."
Iville Ai's voice was calm as she recounted her experiences over the past 200 years.
The two Undead stood silently in the cave, as if listening intently to her rambling words.
The sun rose and set.
And rose again.
Iville Ai stopped speaking, gazing deeply at the two still figures of the Undead in the stone cave, remaining silent.
Suddenly.
"I will definitely find the enemy who turned you and everyone else into this!" Iville Ai's voice rang out with determination.
Boom!
A huge rock was pushed, rumbling as it blocked the cave entrance.
Iville Ai cast a deep look at this place, knowing she couldn't stay here forever, nor could she take her Father and Mother, who had become Undead, with her.
The only thing she could do was to hide them again.
"I'm leaving now,"
Iville Ai spoke softly and gently, turning to return to the decaying castle. At this moment, she held two items in her hands.
One was an armguard shaped like the claw of some monster.
The other was a transparent short staff, cut and processed from a crystal.
"Lion's Griffin Claw": For a total of 24 hours within a week, you can summon a Lion's Griffin. Even if it is killed, you can summon it again after a week.
"Rainbow Light Fades to White": Stores the faith-type Fifth Tier magic - Raise Dead. It appears to be a short staff, but it is essentially a different type of magic item.
These two magic items are national treasures of the Imperia Kingdom, items that Iville Ai had never managed to find before.
Unexpectedly.
They had fallen into the hands of that undead Cassius Habakkuk.
Iville Ai's gaze involuntarily fell upon Rainbow Light Fades to White; this was the very item she had desperately sought back then.
It was just that she was too weak at the time.
The castle was vast, and she didn't know where Father kept the items, so she never found them.
If she had possessed her current strength back then, she could have found them relatively easily using Magic Detection.
At the time, she naively believed that Rainbow Light Fades to White, with its resurrection abilities, could save everyone. Thinking back now, it felt a little laughable.
"Hoo~"
Iville Ai let out a soft breath, put away the two items, and placed them into her magic belt. The crimson pupils behind her mask flickered slightly:
"The Dragon race has an innate keen sense for valuable magic items. The other party should have also discovered these two items, so why didn't they take them?"
Iville Ai felt a bit puzzled and couldn't come up with an answer for a while, so she decided to put it out of her mind for the moment.
After receiving the information about the Abyss Body, the Crimson Dragon Lord headed to the target location.
She needed to remain in the Imperia Kingdom for now, waiting for the Abyss Body to contact her again, and also to study the Magic Rise Ritual.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side.
A castle built deep within the mountains.
Nine figures sat in their respective seats, each exuding a dense and terrifying aura of negative energy.
These were clearly nine extremely powerful undead. Just sitting there, the negative energy and death qi permeating the air were enough to suffocate ordinary living beings.
These individuals were the nine inner circle members of the Abyss Body.
Fiery candlelight illuminated the corners of the room, preventing it from being dark. In reality, the magic spell Eternal Light would have provided better illumination.
Moreover, even without lighting, everyone present was undead, so there was no issue with their vision.
This was likely a quirk of the castle's owner.
"These are truly terrible times."
The first to speak was Waxy Wraith, its entire body floating ethereally, wrapped in a layer of gray negative energy, an undead of the ghost type.
"You've worked hard."
Red-Eyed Lord sighed softly and spoke in a drawn-out tone, "Next time, I wonder who it will be."
This person was the owner of the castle and the most extravagantly and luxuriously dressed among everyone present.
The others were similarly attired, all wearing simple outfits adorned with various powerful magic items.
Despite being undead, Red-Eyed Lord's attire was exceptionally opulent and meticulous, decorated with gold, silver, and gemstones, which reflected brilliant luster under the room's candlelight.
This was perhaps why the owner had arranged for candlelight in the room.
This person was not an undead born naturally; they were originally a human who had transformed themselves into an undead through some means.
Therefore, their pursuit of aesthetic taste and their desire for wealth were stronger than those of other undead.
"Enough with the complaints."
Abyss Benjeri's voice was stern as he interrupted Red-Eyed Lord's continued lament.
If he hadn't interrupted.
Everyone present would likely have had no choice but to listen, as most undead did not possess an overly strong desire to speak.
He understood the hardships his compatriots felt because he felt the same way.
That guy would summon them from time to time to his underground caves, where they would have to stay for at least several years.
Those who were not summoned were forbidden from going, and any unauthorized departure would incur the wrath of that individual.
"The reason for gathering everyone today is because there has been a more significant achievement and gain."
As soon as Abyss Benjeri spoke, he captured everyone's attention. He didn't hold back anything, revealing the transaction with Tang Zheng and the others in one go.
Everyone present had already reached a consensus and had no need for defenses. After all, if their clandestine actions were discovered by that individual.
They would likely have been killed long ago!
"A ritual?"
"To raise two tiers!"
"You're not joking, are you?"
"Such a ritual actually exists?"
"That person is too generous!"
"Does such a transaction hide some unknown purpose?"
"..."
As "Abyss" Benjeri finished speaking, the previously silent conference hall came alive with exclamations of shock and astonishment.
This was utterly unbelievable for the Undead present.
Some doubted, some rejoiced, but most were overcome with an indescribable excitement!
Pairs of scarlet eyes all fell upon one member at the conference table.
The individual was a female Undead with skin like white wax, adorned in a white veil and white formal attire, presenting a completely white appearance.
It was "White Maiden," one of the Inner Circle members!
She was the first among everyone present to reach the Eighth Tier, and her research capabilities were deeply admired by all.
If that ritual was real!
In the hands of "White Maiden," it would unleash the power of a Tenth Tier magic!
What this meant, no one knew.
But they understood profoundly that if magic of this caliber could truly be used, it would undoubtedly make them akin to legendary deities!
The power of a Tenth Tier magic... should be enough to contend with that guy, right?
Everyone thought this with a mixture of anticipation and nervousness.
"White Maiden," however, remained remarkably calm. Under everyone's gaze, she took the ritual's documentation from "Abyss" Benjeri and began to study it intently.
The air grew still.
They didn't have to wait long; after only a few minutes.
"White Maiden" looked up, meeting the pairs of eyes. Her voice, unlike the grating hoarseness of ordinary Undead, was soft as she spoke: "The ritual is sound. Give me three days, and I will be able to master it."
The spirits of all the Undead present soared.
"Abyss" Benjeri felt even more excited. After exchanging the ritual's documentation, he had also confirmed its validity and knew there were no issues.
"Such a ritual is actually real?"
"As an exchange, not precious magic knowledge or magic items, but rather a piece of inconsequential information?"
"Does this imply some kind of problem? Or perhaps that information hides some precious details we are unaware of."
"Ten Thousand Army Withered Elder's" chilling voice cut through the air, subtly hinting at a degree of concern.
By all accounts, such a transaction seemed unbalanced!
"Abyss" Benjeri pondered, as he too had harbored such doubts.
"There is one point I have not yet mentioned."
"White Maiden" gazed ardently at the ritual documentation in her hands:
"The ritual itself is excellent, but it lacks the core component for its activation. In other words, merely possessing the ritual is useless."
Upon hearing this!
The bewildered crowd felt an inexplicable sense of relief.
"So that's how it is."
"Abyss" Benjeri rasped.
The other Undead nodded in agreement, deeming this to be the normal state of affairs. Their excitement was not diminished in the slightest.
The appearance of this ritual had ignited hope within everyone of the [Abyss Body] to defeat that individual.
Candlelight flickered.
Casting shadows that danced and flickered on the conference room walls.
—Lower Wind Moon.
June 20th.
[Experience Bar: 5300w/188w]
Tenth Tier Magic Scroll Storage (205 scrolls)
Tang Zheng had spent the past few days investigating the "Re-Estize" tribal nation, even visiting the other 11 tribes.
Compared to the significant stir he caused in the Val Tribe, Tang Zheng had acted covertly in the other tribes, causing no disturbances.
Of course.
This was likely also because none of the other 11 tribes possessed any magic items that caught Tang Zheng's eye.
Aside from the magic item "Thorned Mane" of the Lionfolk's sacred clan, the magic items held by the other tribes could only be described as ordinary.
They weren't even comparable to the magic items held by human nations, items that weren't considered national treasures.
In short, the investigation's results were not ideal.
Regarding the history and intelligence of the previous rulers of this vast grassland nation, the information recorded by the various tribes was extremely scarce, let alone the preceding nation associated with the "Buddha God."
There were neither conspicuous natural phenomena or unusual geographical environments, nor any further historical records.
Tang Zheng felt a headache, completely at a loss.
According to the schedule, today was the day the Slane Theocracy and the Holy Kingdom were meant to head to the Abelion Hills to acquire the Integration Potion.
Tang Zheng should have returned by now.
However.
From the Lionfolk Priest, Tang Zheng unexpectedly learned something that was common knowledge to the various tribes, yet highly noteworthy.
Ritual Hill!
Fortunately, just in case, Tang Zheng had already left behind a batch of Integration Potions. Even without him, the Emerald Witch was more than capable of handling matters.
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