Chapter 1055 - 870: Philosopher’s Stone

Duke’s gaze passed over Earl and fell on the trembling believers in the plaza.

The middle-aged woman with a broken forehead was still crying softly, her child was squeezed among the crowd, only a dust-covered little hand could be seen desperately waving.

The corpse of the male believer shot dead by an arrow still lay at the edge of the plaza, dark red blood continuously seeped from the wound, slowly flowing along the grooves of the rune stone slab, already touching the edge of the nearest rune engravings.

At the moment the blood touched the engraving, the originally dim engraving suddenly lit up, not a reflection illuminated by a torch, but a dark red glow as if from embers seeping from inside.

Duke was silent for a breath, then turned back to look at Earl and said word by word, "Perhaps there’s no need for this ritual. I have some research on ritual formations, I can help you examine what’s wrong with this rune plaza."

Earl’s smile slightly froze for a moment. Then he slowly shook his head, his hoarse voice carrying a trace of regret, "Too late, the ritual has already begun."

As if responding to his words, all the runes in the plaza lit up at the same moment.

Countless dark red lights quickly spread along grooves as thick as an arm on the stone slab, gathering from the periphery to the center of the plaza like ignited blood vessels.

The entire cave was illuminated by this sudden light as if it were daytime, the eye sockets of the giant statue of God, two blue gemstones suddenly exploded with dazzling light, no longer the previous gentle blue, but a nearly violent deep blue, like something was desperately struggling inside the statue trying to break free.

The believers in the center of the plaza erupted in one last desperate cry, but the sound was swallowed by the increasingly bright rune lights beneath their feet as soon as it was uttered.

Those lights were not merely light, they had temperature.

Dark red light strands emerged from the engravings in the stone slab like countless thin tentacles, wrapping around the believers’ ankles, calves, waists, firmly fixing them in place.

Duke’s spiritual power captured a crystal-clear energy flow the moment those light strands touched the first batch of believers, life force was being extracted.

The life force extracted from the believers was concentrating along the rune veins at the statue’s base, forming an ever-expanding energy core.

Duke’s gaze turned cold. He no longer attempted to persuade Earl, his right hand suddenly opened wide, numerous dark golden sand particles poured out from his sleeve.

The metallic yellow sand reflected a cold light under the cave’s dark red glow, the grains rapidly coalesced under his mental command, transforming into a giant dark golden palm, fiercely striking the rune light net that was continuously extracting the believers’ life force from the side of the plaza.

At the same moment he struck, without looking back, he shouted to the believers behind him who were crying out, "If you don’t want to die, get down!"

When the giant palm of metallic yellow sand hit the rune light net, the dark red light net only trembled violently and did not directly shatter as he expected.

Dense rune patterns appeared on the surface of the light net, each pattern was crazily absorbing the life force drawn from the believers, converting it into energy to resist external impact.

The force of the palm strike dispersed across every node of the entire rune array, the light net caved inward by an inch but never broke.

Duke’s brow furrowed slightly, the ritual’s defense structure was far more intricate than he had anticipated, relying solely on the physical impact of metallic yellow sand to tear open this light net in a short time would require several rounds of continuous bombardment.

But those believers entangled by the light strands clearly couldn’t wait that long, the most peripheral elders and weak individuals were already ghastly pale, their bodies trembling.

He didn’t hesitate for long, the metallic yellow sand quickly recombined above the light net, this time the surface of each grain no longer exhibited a pure dark golden metallic luster but showed a thin and bright layer of continuously shifting colors.

Dark red, earth yellow, cyan-white, deep blue, the lights of four rules simultaneously ignited on the surface of each grain, interweaving into a dizzying four-color halo.

After the completion of the four-color divine light attachment, the entire giant hand was no longer just a simple tool for physical impact, it transformed into a complex attack bearing four kinds of rule power.

Duke’s right hand suddenly pushed forward, the four-color giant hand boldly struck toward the core node of the rune light net.

This time the defense of the light net no longer worked, the four-color divine light pierced the same wound from different angles simultaneously like blades, the entire rune light net issued a piercing shriek upon contact.

It was the energy lament produced when the ritual structure was forcibly crushed at the rule level, the light net shattered layer by layer from the central point to the sides, fragments of light splashed in all directions like a downpour, riddling the cave’s rock wall with countless holes.

The dark red light strands entwined around the believers snapped instantly when the light net broke, the believers collapsed to the ground like puppets with their strings cut, their faces pale, their breaths weak, but their chests still rising and falling.

The cave plunged into a momentary silence, those believers who had closed their eyes waiting for death lifted their heads in bewilderment, unable to believe they were still alive.

The middle-aged woman with a broken forehead touched her child’s face with a trembling hand, confirmed the child was still breathing, and collapsed to the ground in exhaustion, tears silently flowing over the dried blood marks on her face.