Translator: AnubisTL
After a moment of silence, Jieming abruptly changed the subject:
"Speaking of which, where's David?"
Jieming's gaze swept across the group, finally settling on Kaelen and Anya. He recalled hearing earlier information about "Kaden."
"That village warrior... is that him?"
Seraphina frowned slightly and shook her head. "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure either, but one thing's for certain: that David guy is definitely not dead."
"Oh?"
Hearing this, the other three leaned in closer, their ears perked up.
Seraphina smoothed her hair. "David's main specialization is alchemy, but his secondary focus is puppetry. Plus, his mentor is the Noren Workshop's foremost Human Transmutation Alchemist. Even I don't know how many spare bodies that guy has."
"Then it seems that Kaden isn't David after all. But judging by his actions, he's likely a wizard."
Jieming felt a pang of disappointment. David's situation remained a mystery.
However, the most pressing matter now was to activate the magic formation as quickly as possible.
Soon, they had turned into the depths of a long-abandoned sewer network.
Jieming led the way, his scouting eye beneath his cloak operating at full power, vigilant for any potential enemies.
"It's just ahead," Rex's voice echoed from behind, tinged with rare excitement.
Shedding his scholarly composure, his eyes now gleamed with calculating light as his fingertips traced faint rune patterns in the air, guiding them toward the final path.
Based on the magic formation's location, they were now deep beneath the royal capital's cathedral district.
This was the heartland where the entire royal city's faith power converged—a nexus of countless underground tunnels and ancient ley lines, forming a natural energy convergence point that could truly be called a Faith Nexus.
The three large-scale magic formations that Jieming had previously modified and optimized radiated outward from this core, encompassing the entire royal capital.
As they advanced, the energy fluctuations grew increasingly pronounced. Near the formation's core, the damp air even carried a palpable sense of faith power, detectable by wizards.
"The concentration is astonishing," Kaelen remarked, adjusting the lenses before his eyes and reading the data displayed on the lenses. "This place must be the most concentrated area of faith power in the entire plane, second only to the Divine Kingdoms."
They soon reached the end of the sewer network.
Calculations showed that their final target—the core where the three magic formations converged—lay just 20 meters ahead.
"Well, no choice but to dig," Jieming said, shrugging and stepping forward to begin excavating with alchemy.
"Forget it, we'll dig ahead. You set up the final formation nodes," Kaelen said, patting Jieming on the shoulder and pulling him back.
Jieming didn't argue, nodding silently as he began arranging the runes under Seraphina's protection.
Before long, the group had advanced to the core region, digging and setting up the formation nodes as they went.
"The formation is complete, and the energy flow matches our predictions perfectly," Rex announced, lightly touching the rune nexus at the center of the altar. A flicker of admiration flashed in his eyes. "Jieming, your optimization of the runes is truly remarkable. It has greatly enhanced energy compatibility and transmission efficiency."
Jieming chuckled softly, offering no further comment.
"Let's begin," Seraphina said, her voice soft yet brimming with barely suppressed excitement.
She turned to Jieming, her eyes burning with the characteristic fervor of a wizard. "Thanks to you, we can finally go mad together."
Without another word, the five members positioned themselves at the five cardinal points of the core rune formation array.
"Activate!" Jieming whispered, his fingertip's glow sinking into the altar. The runes of the three core formation arrays erupted in dazzling light, flowing across the ground and walls like living creatures!
The entire underground space was illuminated, emitting a deep, resonant hum. The flow of faith power shifted dramatically, converging toward the core formation arrays.
In the next moment, the five wizards simultaneously extended their hands, injecting their prepared pollution mediums into the center of the magic formation!
Jieming took a deep breath, sinking his consciousness into his inner space. Gazing at the overflowing Mortal Dust Qi, he couldn't help but smile.
This was the pollution medium he had prepared to corrupt the divine beings, the source of his confidence in influencing them.
Though Mortal Dust Qi was relatively easy to obtain, it was far from a low-grade substance.
Even an Immortal could lose themselves within it if their will faltered or if they were suddenly exposed to a massive quantity.
Of course, the amount of Mortal Dust Qi he had gathered in such a short time couldn't achieve that level of corruption.
However, given its inherent properties, Mortal Dust Qi possessed a natural advantage against faith gods.
Taking a deep breath, Jieming carefully activated the magic incantation, drawing upon the vast and chaotic Mortal Dust Qi within his inner space.
This was a complex mixture of emotions—fear, anger, greed, and religious fervor—generated by millions of people caught in the throes of war mania.
Guided by his will, this invisible torrent surged toward the core of the magic formation.
Upon contact with the faith power concentrated at the core, the ethereal Mortal Dust Qi instantly dissolved into the formation's sacred light like black ink, corrupting and distorting its radiance.
Seraphina gracefully waved her hand, scattering invisible motes of "dust of vanity" from her fingertips.
These were exquisitely crafted sixth-tier spell constructs. Injected into the formation, they silently merged with every energy fluctuation of the faith power, subtly amplifying the selfish desires, fears, and distortions within the faith itself.
Kaelen slammed his fist against the ground, unleashing a primal, untamed energy from his body.
This was the deepest savagery and chaos of the orcs, collected through the chaos blood pact.
Like a raging flood, this force surged through the formation and violently crashed into the faith network, disrupting its orderly flow and destabilizing the energy currents.
Anya gently pressed her hands against the formation nodes, her eyes flashing with an eerie green light.
The immense life affinity within her body was inverted and amplified, transforming into countless "seeds of decay."
Driven by her power, these seeds of decay rapidly spread like insidious vines, parasitizing the life foundations connected to the faith network. Slowly and relentlessly, they drained the life essence from within, causing the network's core to wither.
Meanwhile, Rex activated a miniature alchemical device in his hand. The device whirred coldly, spewing forth countless microscopic runes that glowed with faint light.
These precisely injected runes were Rex's meticulously crafted "logic paradox runes." They embedded contradictory commands and algorithms directly into the faith network, causing internal conflicts within the originally coherent faith system. This forced the network's power to consume itself, leading to its gradual disintegration.
Five distinct methods of corruption, synchronized through three interconnected magic formations, converged like five raging rivers merging into the sea. In an instant, they fused with the royal capital's vast faith network.
Rumble!
The entire underground space trembled violently! The light emanating from the altar was no longer purely sacred; it had become kaleidoscopic, tinged with a nauseating, ashen decay.
The lights writhed and churned, as if enduring immense agony.
Then, the corruption spread from the depths to the surface!
Fine cracks began to spiderweb across the ground in the church district. A wave of murky, luminous energy, like an invisible shockwave, erupted from the earth!
In an instant, the entire church district exploded with blinding light!
This light was no longer holy; it carried an eerie, chaotic quality, like a vast canvas splattered with garish paints, both filthy and dazzling.
The light surged skyward, illuminating the night sky with unnatural brilliance, briefly overpowering even the magical streetlights of the royal capital.
Within the royal capital, vigilant guards and priests immediately noticed the sudden anomaly.
Piercing alarm bells shattered the night, and countless figures began converging on the church district.
"It's done!" Rex's voice trembled, but his excitement was palpable.
"The Divine Power Faith Network is a remarkable creation," Kaelen remarked, unable to suppress his admiration. "Its energy transmission efficiency is astonishing. Without it, our ambition to corrupt this entire plane using only the Faith Nexus of the human kingdoms would have been nothing but a pipe dream."
Among the five, Kaelen was the only one besides Jieming who had studied the Divine Power Faith Network. Though his research had been brief, he had gained a solid understanding of its fundamental characteristics.
Jieming remained silent. While the others marveled, he had already slipped away unnoticed.
Their massive disturbance would undoubtedly alert all the high-ranking officials and powerful figures in the royal city. This was the cathedral district, after all. If the enemy managed to summon angel-class beings, their escape would be impossible.
Without hesitation, the five moved like streaks of black lightning, swiftly following their pre-planned escape route toward the outer layers of the sewer system.
Their figures vanished into the darkness, while the chaotic, skyward-shooting radiance above the cathedral district continued to flicker across the night sky, like a colossal, distorted beacon signaling that the "corruption" of this sacred land had been completed.
The effects of the pollution were not yet apparent. For a time, the divine beings remained unaware that the foundations of their faith were being undermined.
Their power continued to maintain its superficial strength in the short term.
Jieming understood perfectly that only when the wizards next tore through the planar barrier and clashed fiercely with the divine beings of the Elosia Plane, under the strain of massive energy expenditure, would the divine beings instinctively draw upon faith power to replenish themselves.
At that moment, the polluted and impure faith power would erupt like poison, instantly unleashing its full effect!
The divine beings' judgment would be severely impaired, and their power might even turn against them.
Coincidentally, the planar barrier would already be breached. The high-rank wizards of the Noren Workshop outside the plane would immediately sense this "opportunity" and launch their follow-up actions without delay.
Thus, Jieming and his group retreated decisively. Now, all that remained was to wait patiently.
(End of the Chapter)
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