si-mexico Chapter 633 The Mistress Isn't Here
Chapter 633 The Mistress Isn't Here
Feligis glanced at the ground, where the primal construct was still emitting wisps of smoke.
"Want to go up? It's simple. Just kill me the same way you killed it, and you'll naturally gain my power. Then you can see whatever you want."
Xu Ning was unsure whether the words of the spirit-suppressing person in front of him were true.
If it's as she says, that would be best; but what if the spirit of the town lies and destroys this crucial mechanism, making it impossible to ascend again?
Moreover, as one of the few remaining sentient spirits in the world, Feligis was not something Xu Ning wanted to destroy with his own hands.
"What would happen to her if I destroyed the mechanism she was attached to?" Xu Ning asked Lilupal.
"That way, she can be freed from the shackles of a thousand years, no longer having to sit in cold instruments, futilely recalling the form of the spirit, and walking on an endless road burdened with chains..."
Philigsis snapped, "Shut up! Even so, I'm no more pitiful than you. You betrayed me..."
"...Whom did I betray!?"
Lilupal loudly interrupted Feligis's tirade, "Sister, tell me, whom have I betrayed? King Olmaz? King Ahmar? Or our mistress? Who have I truly betrayed?"
Felicis remained silent.
Lilupal smiled bitterly, "Sister, you knew a long time ago that Ahmar's promises were all lies, which is why you voluntarily abandoned your spirit form and preferred to stay with the sleeping mistress. You don't care about the future of this world, the future of the spirit, or the future of mortals. So why did you have to drive me away and force me to continue walking with cruel hope?"
After a long pause, Feligis finally spoke, "Lilupal, let's go. Don't disturb the mistress's peaceful slumber. There are no answers here, nothing at all..."
Lilupal said coldly, "Don't listen to you. I will witness it with my own eyes. Sister Feligis, please let us pass."
The golden light on Feligis's mechanism began to dim, showing that the battle and the forced awakening had exhausted her remaining energy.
"Why...why cling to foolish obsessions like ordinary people..."
Lilupal turned around and said, "My lord, I beg you to help my sister and give her a release!"
Xu Ning had lost count of how many times he had sighed today. He shook his head and walked to Felicis's side.
"Would you be interested in soaking in the hot springs inside my cave?"
"?" "?" "?"
A huge question mark appeared above the heads of the two spirits and the human around them. Is this how you help people get rid of poverty?
Felicis could barely speak, "You...what are you...talking nonsense?"
Xu Ning leaned against the mechanism of Feligis and laughed: "Whether you are trapped here to maintain the oasis for that guy Ahmar, or Lilupal goes up to find the human king and establish a kingdom, in the end it is just a part of Ahmar's experiment. But he has undoubtedly failed, he failed a long time ago."
"So you're already free. If that's the case, why cling to the promises you made back then..."
Feligis retorted angrily, "What do you know? What we did wasn't entirely for Ahmar, but for the mistress. Ahmar said she...she..."
Xu Ning sensed Feligis's weakness and interjected, "Didn't you just say that Ahmar's words were nothing but a lie? Of course, in my opinion, it was a white lie."
“Nabu Marikata is not asleep here, and Ahmar would never bring her back to life. The hopes of the spirits are destined to be in vain…”
The light on the Feligis mechanism was intermittent, as if it were about to go out.
Xu Ning quickened his pace, saying, "However, the wait was not without value. Ahmar gave you a 'reason' for your existence, even if it was a lie, which allowed you and Lilupal to wait for our arrival, and even guided me here. Don't you want to know what Ahmar left in the Eternal Oasis? Something deliberately stored for a thousand years, waiting for us to discover? Could it be related to your mistress? Can the things inside prove that Ahmar didn't lie?"
The light that was about to go out suddenly flickered on the mechanism that Feligis was inhabiting.
Felicis's weak voice rang out urgently, "You mean..."
Xu Ning took a magic bottle that Qingyi threw out of the gourd. "There's no time. Let's save you first. Jiede, help me open this mechanism."
Jade, who had been idly watching the drama unfold, finally heard that something was going to happen. She rushed over, grabbed the gap in the mechanism with her claws, and with a shout, tore the entire mechanism apart.
There was no complex structure inside, only two petal-like souls floating in mid-air, just like the body of Lilupal in the magic bottle, with the light on them looking as if they were about to go out.
"Infuse elemental power into the runes engraved on the magic bottle, and point the bottle's opening at the remnant soul on the ground..."
The gourd carried the instructions of the True Lord Liuyun Jiefeng, and Xu Ning immediately followed them, gently pouring his elemental power of wine into the bottle.
"I thought she could just crawl into the bottle herself, why did we have to use a talisman?" Xu Ning asked a little embarrassedly.
Lilupal said with a laugh, "I didn't cut myself into seven pieces and then put each piece into one of seven bottles! Back then, only the great sage under Ahmar could use this kind of magic to put the soul into a magic bottle."
Upon hearing Lilupal's words, True Monarch Liuyun Jiefeng sneered, "Just a minor trick. This bottle is nothing more than an empty one left over from when you absorbed the fragments. After I modified it with talismanic arts, it doesn't require the strength of a Great Sage at all. Anyone with elemental power can use this bottle to store and suppress spirits..."
The remnants of Feligis's soul had been completely absorbed into the magic bottle in Xu Ning's hand. After obtaining Feligis's consent, Xu Ning put the stopper in the bottle and then gently held it in his palm.
"Is this your elemental power? It feels like being enveloped in a warm hot spring."
Xu Ning smiled when he heard Felicis's words, "I'm glad you're happy. Rest a little longer, we'll call you when we get there."
Without Philigsis's obstruction, Lilupal floated forward and took over the authority of the mechanism.
Then Xu Ning felt the platform beneath his feet shake, and then the entire platform began to move upwards.
"It's finally started."
Xu Ning opened the gourd and took a sip, thinking to himself that his guess was correct; indeed, the oasis was located right in the center of Dama Mountain.
No wonder Ahmar keeps the sandstorms blowing year after year; it's to keep all the uninvited guests who covet the eternal oasis outside of Mount Dama.
The slight vibration disappeared as the platform filled the gap in the cave.
"This... is a cave? It looks like it was specifically set up to preserve this teleportation mechanism."
Lilupal waved in front of Xu Ning a few times, and Xu Ning could tell that it hadn't heard a word he said.
Now, whether it's Lilupal, Feligis, or even Jade, all three of them are focused on the bend ahead. Beyond that bend lies the slumbering place of Flora, the true eternal oasis.
After Xu Ning led everyone around the corner, he was stunned by what he saw.
He had never seen such a beautiful view before!
Although the flowers are still flowers, the mountains are still mountains, and the lake is still a lake, it seems no different from the scenery outside.
But everything here, from a mountain peak to a single drop of water splashing from a waterfall, is so clean it looks as if it has been wiped clean a thousand times over.
What's even more amazing is that this entire oasis seems to have been forgotten by time, frozen in a moment from a glance back a thousand years ago.
Whether it's wild geese soaring high, fish leaping out of the water, or water splashing onto the rocks, everything is frozen in place by a peculiar force.
"So, this is the eternal oasis!"
Xu Ning sighed, then lightly leaped up, stepping on a line of wild geese with their wings outstretched and heads raised, and slowly walked up into the sky, taking in the entire view of this eternal oasis.
Lilupal, however, did not have the leisure to appreciate the scenery. She carefully used her own power to wander through the entire oasis. After a long time, she slowly descended to Xu Ning's side and said leisurely.
"My mistress, she's not here..."
Xu Ning glanced at Lilupar, but did not offer any words of comfort.
After all, both she and her sister Felicis had already guessed this outcome before they came in.
"But... I have always hoped that my mistress rests here, and that no matter how long I wander outside, as long as I can return here, I can be able to see her face again."
"No matter what I've endured—confusion, anger, despair—it doesn't matter. As long as she can wake up and return, all our suffering, all our waiting, everything will be worth it."
"But now it seems that my mistress is indeed gone..."
Lilupal muttered to herself for a while, then turned to Xu Ning and said with a bitter smile, "Here, besides sensing a fragment of myself, there's nothing. Ahmar's deception invalidated our contract, and it seems I... am free..."
Xu Ning, standing on the back of the lead goose, was surveying the entire space. Hearing Lilupal's words, he asked in confusion, "I don't see anything here related to your fragment. Where did you sense it?"
Lilupal turned her bottle around and pointed towards a small waterfall in a lake in the mountain stream.
"It's right behind the waterfall."
"Ha!" Xu Ning shook his head and laughed in surprise. This is really a big problem for me.
"Let's go take a look first."
Xu Ning jumped off the lead goose and, together with Lilupal and Feligis, headed towards the small ravine.
This mountain stream is quite unique. The water flowing down the stream forms a small waterfall, and after it fills up on the wide cliff face, it flows down again to form another small waterfall.
According to Lilupal's perception, her fragments were inside the second waterfall below.
"If it's inside the waterfall, then it means there's another space behind the waterfall, and your fragment is there. But how can we move this waterfall frozen in time?"
Xu Ning walked to the edge of the mountain stream and jumped in without hesitation.
My toes landed on the clear water, but not a ripple was made, as if the water had turned into an incredibly hard diamond, allowing no change whatsoever.
Xu Ning walked to the front of the small waterfall, and the cascading water became an unshakeable force.
Xu Ning bent his arm and punched the waterfall, making it indestructible!
Gathering the aroma of alcohol at his fingertips once more, Xu Ning snapped his fingers and pressed his burning right hand onto the waterfall's flow.
Not to mention the incompatibility of water and fire, even after Xu Ning burned it for half a day, not a single black mark was left on the veins of the water.
"It seems that without the power to manipulate or break time, you may not be able to retrieve this fragment."
Xu Ning said to Lilupal with regret.
But despite saying that, Xu Ning actually knew there was another way.
That would be to destroy this beautiful oasis, severing its foundation and source of power, so that this state of time stagnation would naturally cease to exist.
When time flows on again, the flowing water will no longer be an obstacle.
Xu Ning knew that Lilupal and Feligis could come up with this idea, even though this was not the final resting place of the Flower Goddess, and the two spirits had no intention of destroying it.
Xu Ning turned to look at Jiede, who hadn't spoken for a long time. The little girl was now walking on the water and had almost reached the center of the oasis.
I watched from a distance as she stopped between what appeared to be a few seats, looked around carefully, and then continued forward, turning behind a large tree.
Xu Ning temporarily put aside the matter of the Lilupal fragments and also headed in that direction.
On a small island in the center of the oasis, three tree stump-like seats face each other in a triangle, with words carved on the thick, bark-like backs of the chairs.
Xu Ning leaned closer and saw that it was another strange script unique to the desert.
"The seat in the middle, engraved with 'Red Earth,' should be the seat of the Red King Ahmar. The seat on this side, engraved with the name of Nabu Marikata, is my mistress's seat..."
Lilupal flew towards the last seat, her words tinged with hesitation, "This last seat, however, should be reserved for the Grass Goddess. Even though she has long since left, it is inscribed with the words 'Tree Goddess'..."
Xu Ning smiled. So, there were still traces of the Great Compassion Tree King in the oasis where time had stopped?
Jade, on the back of the tree, had placed her mother's notebook under the roots and was now untying her father's axe from his back.
Every time she sets off, she takes these two items that were her parents' heirlooms with her.
Xu Ning did not disturb her grief. He went directly into the Hidden Dust Cave and woke up the monk Ji, who was either meditating or sleeping. He then brought him out to see the miracle that was rarely seen in the world.
True Lord Liuyun, who actually enjoys joining in the fun, also came out silently. Perhaps thinking of his small wine table on Mount Aozang, he stood in front of the three seats in silence for a long time.