919: Vibrations and the Undying Luo
On the seventh floor of the True Knowledge Institute castle, Wizard Turazin was sipping his wizard tea when he heard that Locke had successfully published three papers in Second Ring first district journals; he suddenly nearly choked.
"Cough, cough..."
"All three in Cloud Marsh?"
Wizard Turazin immediately checked with his friend on the editorial board of Cloud Marsh, asking an extra question through the water gourd system.
Locke said, "Two in Cloud Marsh, one in Myriad Phenomena Boundary."
Wizard Turazin looked at Locke with a complex expression and said, "Then I must congratulate you in advance. Three tier 1 articles—to be able to publish so many in such a short time is truly impressive."
"So, do you want to receive your rewards early?"
Locke nodded and said, "I have a special agreement with the Senate. Now I need at least three thousand contribution points to fulfill my agreement with them and enter the Supernatural Purgatory."
Hearing Locke say he wanted to enter the Wizard Secret Realm known as the Supernatural Purgatory, Wizard Turazin frowned but said nothing.
Wizard Turazin said, "Stay safe. I understand; I will go verify if you have earned the rewards. Managing the distribution of contribution points is indeed handled by our Academic Committee. If it were anything else, I couldn't agree, but since I am currently acting with some of my teacher's authority, I can help you get the contribution points a month early."
"As long as no one reports it, it'll be fine. Even if it is reported, it's not a big problem because the achievements are real. Furthermore, since this matter involves a deal with the Senate, it means two of the three major factions of Golden Crown Mountain have tacitly approved of it."
"It should be fine. I will issue the contribution points to you as soon as possible. You can go to the library to verify the points you have."
Locke bowed to him. "Thank you, Senior Brother."
Before Locke could walk out of the office, Wizard Turazin called out to him, took off a magic ring from his left hand, and tossed it to Locke.
Locke caught the magic ring and immediately felt a continuous stream of power being guided toward him. That power transformed into vibrations, and soon his entire body was surrounded by a special vibrational energy.
Turazin said, "This is a Vibration Ring. You see Antoine's hands are covered in rings; many of those are also Vibration Rings. Kineticists can transform their magical power into vibrations. Later, clever Alchemists modified the Vibration Magic Rings so that not only Kineticists but ordinary wizards could use them too."
"You'll need it in the Supernatural Purgatory. This is a Rational Vibration Magic Ring. Only while you maintain a rational state can you transform part of your magical power into special vibrational energy. Usually, vibrational power can only be used to strengthen your physique and increase your body's mobility."
"Absolute Rational Vibration can counter the magic of the Mind School."
"Consider it a loan from me. This is a high-level Second Ring Magic item, and since I've used it for a long time, it carries some of my power."
Locke said to Wizard Turazin, "Senior Brother, if I were to be lost forever in the Supernatural Purgatory, wouldn't your ring be permanently lost there as well?"
Wizard Turazin said, "That is exactly why I'm giving it to you."
Wizard Turazin continued, "Entering the Supernatural Purgatory without carrying a Vibration Ring is simply too dangerous. Once you enter that place, you'll understand why I gave you this ring."
"I will now tell you the activation incantation for this ring so you can use it more comprehensively."
Locke nodded. After listening to Wizard Turazin's incantation, he began to recite it. The magic power throughout his body boiled and then transformed into vibrations, which rapidly enhanced his physical attributes.
This had a similar effect to stimulating bloodline power to strengthen the physique.
But this was magical power transforming into special vibrations, which were then layered onto his own body.
Wizard Turazin waved his hand, and a stream of peach blossoms suddenly attacked him. Before the blossoms could even strike the Rational Vibration on his body, the pale blue Rational Vibration reacted first, providing a physical sensation that surpassed his vision, hearing, and touch, causing him to retreat rapidly.
Then, the torrent of peach blossoms continued its attack, but the blossoms suddenly vanished in front of him.
Where did they go?
Locke's heart sank. The gap between a Sun Ring Wizard and an ordinary Second Ring Wizard was indeed like heaven and earth. A casual spell left him with no way to counter it.
In the next moment, Locke detected the Peach Killing Curse appearing behind him through the vibrations at his back.
He instantly spun around and dodged the attack aimed directly at his back.
"I see, so this is what vibration feels like."
Locke raised his right hand, looking at the layer of Rational Vibration covering it.
"Is Antoine also skilled in Wave Theory?"
Wizard Turazin said, "You certainly adapt quickly. That Antoine from the Senate? Of course. I remember when he fought you last time, he used some elements of Wave Theory. However, Wave Theory doesn't offer much of an advantage at the First Ring stage; only the massive magic pressure of a Second Ring Wizard can support the transformation of such a large amount of vibration."
Locke nodded.
So that was it.
Wizard Turazin said, "We ordinary wizards can also use magic rings to obtain some of the magic that only Kineticists use. The Supernatural Purgatory is composed of vibrations; if you go there without vibrational power, you will find it impossible to move a single step. Alright, Junior Brother, I wish you good luck."
Locke bowed to him and then turned to leave quickly.
Wizard Turazin watched the office door close, and his brow immediately furrowed. The calm expression he had worked so hard to maintain vanished instantly, and he hurriedly wrote a letter to Witch Catherine.
"Damn it, the Supernatural Purgatory is a Wizard Secret Realm where wizards are allowed to die and their souls wander forever. Why did my Junior Brother go there?"
"Better contact Teacher quickly."
Wizard Turazin was in a fluster, then he sighed.
"Young people, after all."
"Truly full of youthful vigor."
Wizard Turazin wrote a letter and gave it to a special magic owl. The fireplace in the office suddenly flared with green flames, and an owl flew out from within.
Wizard Turazin quickly caught the owl and took a piece of parchment from its leg.
"Eh? Do not interfere?"
...
A day later, after learning some basic information about the Supernatural Purgatory, Locke first obtained the historical illustrated handbook Warwick had made, and then he went to the Longevity Peach Orchard with Antoine.
Antoine led Locke to a teleportation array at the back of the Longevity Peach Orchard. "This is the entrance to the Supernatural Purgatory."
"After I open the Supernatural Purgatory, you will take the floating stairs into it. If you die in the Supernatural Purgatory, you will be expelled from it. But remember, there are entities in the Supernatural Purgatory that can intercept souls. If you are killed by them, you will be lost in there forever."
"Furthermore, if you die in certain special regions, your soul will also be unable to escape."
"The only way to leave the Supernatural Purgatory alive is to hunt a [Demon King] within it. Killing one of the Demon Kings will allow you to leave."
Antoine looked at Locke and said, "Because each wizard can only enter the Supernatural Purgatory once every five years, I cannot accompany you even if I wanted to."
"Locke, you must understand that this is very dangerous. Even the wizards of our Senate do not like to enter the Supernatural Purgatory. Originally, the Supernatural Purgatory was not a Wizard Secret Realm, but a place where Golden Crown Mountain imprisoned the souls of enemies."
"A long time ago, Golden Crown Mountain encountered a group of enemies whose souls could not be destroyed. These people were hired by the Pureblood Cult to eliminate us."
"These people were called the [Undying Luo], creatures from a special Great World. We were locked in a long-term battle with the Undying Luo. To contain their souls, Golden Crown Mountain had our Senate build such a Supernatural Purgatory."
"If you still want to enter the Supernatural Purgatory knowing all this... then as you wish."
Locke said, "I understand. Open the entrance to the Supernatural Purgatory."
Antoine nodded and dripped a drop of his blood onto the ground. The stones on the ground, which seemed to possess a weathered history, immediately absorbed his blood. Then, the stones forming the teleportation array lit up one by one, the array began to rotate, and Locke's figure suddenly vanished within it.
Locke felt as though he hadn't been teleported.
It was as if his body had sunk into a swamp, and he had fallen right through.
Locke looked up; it was a blood-red sky, with flames that seemed like they would never stop burning.
This place was a scorching hell.
The ground was made of black, withered stone.
"Wizards of Golden Crown Mountain... fight us, fight us!"
"Fight, fight!"
Standing on a hilltop, Locke looked down. In the black scorched stone hell below, countless people and things were fighting. This was an eternal battle.
A sense of violence and ferocity coiled around his heart.
Locke seemed to see a group of people at the deepest part of the valley below who looked like rats. They had rat-like features but long, thin whiskers that floated in the air like clouds. Their whiskers seemed to be their tentacles, and their hands were small and weak, possessing almost no strength.
However, the tentacles on their faces were full of power, like strong limbs.
Locke had an intuition that those rat-men were the Undying Luo who had been hired by the Pureblood Cult during the Pureblood Era to eliminate Golden Crown Mountain.
This group of Undying Luo all looked toward Locke in unison, then they silently bowed their heads and vanished into the other crowds within this Supernatural Purgatory.
At that moment, a massive eagle with a wingspan of over one meter descended from the sky. "Fight, fight! Compete for resources! Without fighting, there are no resources!"
It was an Eagleman holding a spear. A red vibration appeared on the spear, and immediately, a terrifying killing intent covered Locke.
In the next instant, Locke realized that all his magical powers were being suppressed: Life Magic, Potionology, Archaeology, and Bloodline Studies.
That's right, this was a world composed of vibrations.
In this world, vibrational power was supreme, so all other powers were suppressed out of thin air, unable to reach their full potential.
No wonder Senior Brother Turazin gave him an Absolute Rational Vibration Magic Ring before he entered.
Although he had learned some of this before reading the materials, experiencing it personally was completely different from reading about it on paper.
Bloodlust appeared in the Eagleman's eyes. Holding the spear wrapped in killing intent vibrations, he dove from the sky, lunging to impale Locke.
But before he could get close, Locke's Rational Vibration captured his trajectory, and his body automatically moved to avoid the strike.
"I see. In this Vibration Hell, my physical body is nowhere to be found; I am currently acting here as a soul. Therefore, my Permanent Defense Field shell has been reduced in dimension to an Eternal Defense Field. And because the vibration world suppresses other powers, my Eternal Defense Field is incredibly fragile, like it's made of paper."
This gave the Crystallization-level Eagleman before him the possibility of breaking his Eternal Defense Field and harming him. If he didn't master vibrations, entering this Supernatural Purgatory would truly make it impossible to move a single step.
The Eagleman let out an exceptionally fierce cry. Without retreating, he continued his attack, flying horizontally toward Locke with his spear, aiming to pierce Locke's eyeball and kill him with a single thrust.
But at that moment, Locke grabbed the spear in the Eagleman's hand and violently yanked him down from the air.
Eagleman: "You..."
In the next moment, the Magic Dragon Rose behind Locke erupted with a blast of magic dragon fire, engulfing the Eagleman who had attacked him and completely consuming him.
Locke looked at the other creatures at the foot of the mountain. Seeing the Eagleman die miserably at his hands, they not only showed no fear but instead looked at him with great interest, wanting to fight him.
So that was it. This was the Supernatural Combat Purgatory.
Everyone within it was constantly fighting, constantly fighting...
Constantly dying... constantly fighting...
This had been the mainstream since the Pureblood Era of Golden Crown Mountain, and the masterminds behind it seemed to be not just Golden Crown Mountain, but also the Undying Luo hidden within this Supernatural Combat Purgatory.
Those enemies who had long since vanished.
Although they had been eliminated by the High-Ring Wizards of Golden Crown Mountain on the outside, their undying power still maintained the order here, creating an environment of eternal combat.
*Bang!*
A person with six arms suddenly rushed at Locke, launching a flying kick. His legs were also wrapped in killing intent vibrations.
"Fight... fight..."
Locke waved his hand, and one of the flower heads of the Magic Dragon Rose behind him spat a blast of fire at him. Instantly, the figure of the Six-Armed Clan vanished into the magic dragon fire.
"Fight... fight..."
Waves of killing intent vibrations surged toward him like a tide.
Locke's pupils turned into golden vertical slits, but he quickly suppressed the uncontrollable killing intent.
"I must not forget my purpose for entering this hellhole."
"I didn't come here to fight. I have the travelogue and the historical illustrated handbook in my hands. If there really is a karmic connection here related to Wizard Maxwell, then those entities will inevitably be drawn to me."
...
At the Root Crown Court, Locke's clone walked into the classroom for the Sea Queen Throne's second lesson.
He saw the Sea Queen Throne writing four large characters on the blackboard—
Spirit Macro Modification!