Chapter 121: The power of the Origin 2

Daphne, however, felt no sense of despair. On the contrary, a sweet warmth spread through her heart. She followed closely beside Kent, carefully making her way along the passage with him, and secretly wished that the path would go on forever.

“Turn left.”

“Go down.”

“Take the third passage on your right.”

“Keep going straight.”

...

Kent felt as though they had been walking for an eternity. Yet the farther they went, the more puzzled he became.

The passageways formed an incredibly complicated maze. Every junction branched into several different corridors, and Kent had long since lost count of how many intersections they had passed.

He felt as though he were wandering through a labyrinth with no end in sight.

But what was the purpose of all this?

Kent did not ask. Instead, he continued mechanically following the mysterious voice’s instructions, while his mind worked furiously to make sense of the situation.

There were probably two possible explanations.

The first was that the so-called old fellow was an extremely suspicious creature.

This would also explain why there were no guards anywhere in such an enormous castle. Powerful beings often sought out secluded or heavily fortified locations when cultivating their strength, especially when attempting to break through major bottlenecks. At such critical moments, even the most formidable experts could become exceptionally vulnerable. Any disturbance might ruin their efforts or even cost them their lives.

The second possibility was that the old fellow had suffered severe injuries and feared that his subordinates might rebel against him.

Such things were hardly uncommon among creatures that lived in groups. Whenever a leader was seriously wounded, those beneath him might seize the opportunity to rise up and challenge his authority. This was true not only in human society but also among packs of wild beasts and groups of magical creatures.

However, judging from the sheer intensity of the mental power that had swept over him earlier, the second possibility seemed highly unlikely.

That left only the first explanation.

Kent grew even more cautious.

A creature that was both powerful and deeply suspicious was the most difficult kind of opponent to deal with.

“Open the door immediately to the left of the middle one. Once you’re inside, close it behind you.”

Hearing this instruction, Kent finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He had been walking for so long that his head was spinning, and the immense mental pressure had left him feeling utterly drained, as though not a shred of strength remained in his body.

Before him stood five identical metal doors.

Each radiated powerful magical fluctuations, making it obvious that none was an ordinary door. Given the old fellow’s apparent obsession with security, Kent could only imagine how many magical traps had been hidden throughout this place.

And now, he was being told to choose not just one particular door out of five, but the one immediately to the left of the middle door.

What an absurdly elaborate arrangement!

Kent could not help sweating at the thought.

Without the mysterious voice guiding them, anyone who had managed to reach this point would probably have been either killed by the traps or left severely injured.

“Hiss!”

Kent pushed open the designated door and immediately drew a sharp breath at the sight within.

The chamber was saturated with an astonishing abundance of life energy.

Looking more carefully, he discovered that the enormous hall contained almost nothing apart from a gigantic altar.

The chamber covered nearly a thousand square meters, and the altar alone occupied roughly a third of that space.

Yet neither the size of the hall nor the sheer scale of the altar was what truly shocked him.

What mattered most were the nine enormous Life Stones embedded in the altar.

Kent treasured the fist-sized Life Stone mounted on his own staff above almost everything else he possessed.

But compared with these colossal stones, the one on his staff was practically worthless.

The Life Stones embedded in the altar were each roughly the size of three fists, and all nine were remarkably uniform in size. They radiated a hazy green light, forming a luminous barrier that enveloped the entire altar.

Besides these nine Life Stones, dozens of fist-sized magic cores, each a brilliant azure blue, were also embedded in the altar. They were Water-element magic cores, a type of treasure produced only by high-level magical beasts. Kent, however, had no idea what exact level of beast these cores had come from.

The magical radiance emitted by the dozens of Water-element cores mingled with the green barrier formed by the Life Stones, illuminating the entire hall in a dazzling display of colors.

There was also a source of light near the ceiling, but Kent could not make out what it was. The illumination was simply too intense, and the magical fluctuations were so overwhelming that even his perceptive abilities were rendered useless.

Clearly, the altar was in operation.

“Welcome, you vile and cunning human mage, and you lovely elf girl. I am delighted to have you here. You are the first living beings to set foot in this place in ten thousand years. You should feel proud and honored.”

Just as Kent and Daphne stood there, stunned by the magnificent sight before them, a voice suddenly rang out.

It was exactly the same voice that had guided Kent through the labyrinthine passageways.

“Who are you? What do you want from us?” The unexpected voice startled Kent so badly that he nearly jumped out of his skin. He hurriedly looked around, but the hall was not particularly large, and no matter where he looked, he could not see a single living creature.

Unable to contain his curiosity, he finally blurted out the questions.

“Heh, heh. I’m right in front of you. I brought you here—not both of you, actually. More precisely, I wanted to meet you, the multi-element mage. Fire, Water, Light, and Necromancy... What an existence that defies the natural order!”

The voice rang out again, tinged with unmistakable envy.

“Uh...”

Kent failed to catch the jealousy in those words. Instead, he was so horrified by what he had heard that cold sweat immediately broke out across his body.

What kind of being was this old fellow?

How could he possibly know so many of Kent’s secrets?

Beside him, Daphne was also staring at him in astonishment. After all, Water and Fire, just like Light and Necromancy, were opposing magical elements. For someone to wield all four kinds of magic was practically unheard of.

Did this old fellow intend to dissect him or torture him to uncover the secrets behind his abilities?

As Kent imagined one horrifying method of torture after another, a chill ran down his spine.

“If I’m not mistaken, you’ve already obtained the power of the Origin, haven’t you?”

As the voice spoke, a translucent face suddenly materialized at the center of the altar. It resembled a mask suspended in midair, and the mysterious voice was coming from it.

“The power of the Origin?” Kent asked in astonishment.

He was shocked not only by the revelation itself but also by the strange state of the being before him. Judging from its appearance, the old fellow seemed to exist purely as a soul. Otherwise, why would a face suddenly emerge from the center of the altar?

More importantly, Kent had never heard of anything called the power of the Origin.

“Heh, heh. Since you won’t be living much longer, I’ll tell you. Anyone who possesses the power of the Origin is called a god.”

The mask-like face answered in an almost casual tone.

“A god?!”

Kent and Daphne exclaimed in unison.

Gods were beings of legend, entities that most people believed existed only in ancient myths. Daphne’s eyes widened as she stared at the translucent face, finding it almost impossible to believe that the being before them could actually be a god.

Could it all be a bluff?

Her mind raced as she struggled to make sense of what she was hearing.

“However, I’m not saying that you yourself are a god,” the face continued. “What I mean is that every god possesses the power of the Origin.

“In truth, everything in this world, whether it be magic or battle aura, is merely a manifestation of the power of the Origin. Only those who possess this power can achieve immortality and live as long as the world itself.

“Comprehending the power of the Origin is the most difficult threshold any cultivator must overcome. But once that threshold has been crossed, one becomes a god.

“And a god can wield any kind of magic, any martial technique, and any form of battle aura at will.”

“However, most gods choose to specialize in a single discipline. Usually, this is the element or field with which their bodies have the greatest natural affinity. It might be battle aura, or it might be magic, and the specific discipline varies from one individual to another.

“After all, these people develop the power of the Origin by cultivating different types of energy. Generally, they begin studying other disciplines once they reach the Legendary Realm. Only by doing so do they stand a chance of comprehending the power of the Origin and ultimately ascending to godhood.

“But you can wield magic from several different disciplines, including elements that directly counter one another. There can only be one explanation: you possess the power of the Origin. Although I cannot detect it directly, I have absolutely no doubt that this is the truth!”

The more the mask-like face spoke, the more excited it became, as though it were the one who had successfully cultivated the power of the Origin.

“Then why did you bring us here?” Kent finally recovered from his astonishment after a long silence and asked in confusion.

“An excellent question! The reason I brought you here is that I want your body. Just imagine it! A low-level mage who possesses the power of the Origin—how could I possibly pass up such an extraordinary opportunity?

“Do you have any idea how long I have been trapped here? It has been so long that I can no longer even remember how much time has passed.”

The mask-like face answered, its voice brimming with longing and excitement, along with a faint note of anticipation.

“Why?” Kent pressed on.

Although he maintained a calm expression, terror was already spreading through his heart.

“Because I want to return to the surface!

“You see, in my former body, I had already been on the verge of cultivating the power of the Origin. But one day, a war suddenly broke out. I can no longer remember what caused it. All I recall is that I was struck by a god.

“When I finally regained consciousness, I knew I had little time left. The god’s power had devastated my body, leaving it beyond recovery.

“Fortunately, I managed to find this place. I established the magic arrays I needed and forcibly extracted my own soul from my body. But what I never expected was that the same divine power had somehow remained within my soul.

“With no other choice, I was forced to remain here, relying on the Life Stones to sustain my disembodied existence and prevent that divine power from devouring my soul.

“Even so, my soul was still damaged. And the power responsible for that damage was divine power of the Light element!

“So, if I can take possession of your body, then, with the power of the Origin at my disposal, I will never again have to fear the Light-element divine power lurking within my soul!”

The mask-like face grew more and more animated as it spoke, its excitement almost impossible to contain.

At last, Kent understood the whole story.

Even so, he tried to argue his way out of the predicament.

“But I’m not the person you’re looking for. I don’t possess the power of the Origin you speak of...”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry!” the mask-like face interrupted reassuringly. “The Origin of my soul belongs to the Necromancy element, whereas the power that damaged it was divine power of the Light element. So, as long as you can wield both Light magic and Necromancy magic, that is all the confirmation I need.”