Chapter 35: Artifact

“Has the Church appointed a Saintess?” The old man’s thoughts gradually returned as he continued to ask.

“No,” Mu Xuan shook his head.

Hearing Mu Xuan’s reply, the old man looked at him deeply before asking again, “Does the Goddess exist…”

This time, Mu Xuan didn’t answer right away. He pondered the meaning behind the question before finally replying, “She does exist…”

Upon hearing Mu Xuan’s answer, a smile immediately appeared on the old man’s face. Though the wrinkles on his face bunched together and made him look a bit unsightly, that did nothing to diminish the joy in his expression.

“Your Excellency, this old one would like to apply to join the Church… At the same time, I hope Your Excellency can help me with one matter…”

Mu Xuan should have felt happy upon hearing the old man’s words, but at this moment, he fell into deep hesitation.

The old man’s change was triggered mainly after hearing that the Goddess existed.

He didn’t know the old man’s true intentions, but considering the man’s unfathomable strength, and that strange flock of sheep, Mu Xuan had no choice but to treat this with utmost caution.

What’s more, whatever the old man wanted him to do could be extremely dangerous.

“Your Excellency, I understand your concerns. Allow me to explain about these sheep…”

“Go ahead…” Mu Xuan nodded. He did indeed need to learn more about those sheep.

“As you’ve seen, these sheep are not the ordinary ones from before the Calamity descended. They have all undergone aberrations, and not to a minor degree.”

Upon hearing that the sheep had become aberrant, and to a serious extent, Mu Xuan revealed an expression that said, ‘as expected.’ Though his worry deepened, he didn’t interrupt the old man, continuing to listen.

“But some of these sheep have wool that can be processed into defensive contaminants. The rest of the wool is normal, with no negative side effects.”

“Also, these sheep only transform at certain specific times. At all other times, they’re just normal sheep. Their meat is considered a rare delicacy after the Calamity… The dwarves are especially fond of it.”

When the old man finished, Mu Xuan understood the value of these sheep.

Even putting everything else aside, the fact that their wool could be made into defensive clothing was already extremely precious.

Not to mention…

Mu Xuan also picked up on the old man’s meaning.

Dwarves liked it—Mu Xuan knew exactly what that implied.

The old man clearly knew the situation the Church was currently facing. More importantly, he knew that the construction of the Church’s Sanctuary required the help of the dwarven race.

In other words, before the Calamity, this old man was most likely someone from the Church, and held no small amount of power.

But then why was he here… and why…

Given that, should he accept the old man?

After all, the old man was far too much of an uncertainty. But if he only accepted the sheep and not the man… not only would no one know how to take care of them, but it might also be inviting a ‘wolf’ into the house.

Noticing Mu Xuan’s extreme conflict, the old man chuckled, then said, “Your Excellency, there’s no rush to decide on my matter. If you’re deeply concerned, perhaps you could first listen to my request.”

Mu Xuan looked at the old man and nodded.

“There is a town over there. My request is for you to make a trip to that town…”

A town!?

Before Mu Xuan could ask, the old man added, “That town is very strange… It seems to have some rules that absolutely cannot be broken…”

Again with the rules.

The moment he heard ‘rules that cannot be broken,’ Mu Xuan immediately thought of those bizarre tales about such places.

“Then why must I go?” Mu Xuan asked.

The old man didn’t answer immediately. His figure flickered and vanished for a moment, only to reappear before Mu Xuan.

The instant the old man reappeared, the scepter in Mu Xuan’s hand suddenly trembled violently, as if resonating with something.

Mu Xuan’s eyes narrowed, immediately focusing on the shard in the old man’s hand.

“Because… there’s this…”

“!!!”

The old man’s voice and the Goddess’s voice rang out at the same time, making Mu Xuan freeze for a moment.

What in the world is this?

“The reason the Church was able to stand for so long is because I bestowed three divine artifacts in the beginning. The scepter is in your hand, and what this old fellow holds is a fragment of another artifact!”

Sensing Mu Xuan’s confusion and wanting him to understand its importance, the Goddess immediately explained.

“If you gave out the artifacts, then why are you so surprised?” Mu Xuan wondered inwardly.

“Sigh…”

The Goddess let out a heavy sigh, not quite understanding her little Saintess’s train of thought, but quickly explained anyway.

“The materials for these three artifacts didn’t come from this world. The Church spent three hundred years searching for them, inherited the legacy of the Kanoa Empire from the Imperial Age, and only barely managed to gather enough by destroying the Crimson Empire…”

“Most importantly, this exhausted the energy of the dwarven master craftsmen. That was also the beginning of the conflict between the Church and the dwarves… Now do you understand how important these artifacts are?”

Hearing the Goddess’s slightly exasperated tone, Mu Xuan couldn’t help but purse her lips. With her cheeks puffed out and her silver hair swaying, she actually looked a little cute.

Still, Mu Xuan more or less understood their importance.

Although the scepter hadn’t yet shown any truly powerful abilities, its properties already surpassed the vast majority of items.

For example, unlimited storage of power!

Mu Xuan also knew that she had developed less than one percent of her own power, and less than one ten-thousandth of the scepter’s potential!

“So, you mean that thing is in that town?”

Mu Xuan asked.

He couldn’t deny it—he was tempted.

Even knowing the danger, an artifact was definitely worth the risk.

“Yes, Your Excellency,” the old man replied.

After some mental calculations, Mu Xuan looked at the old man.

“What about Bu Zhaqi?”

Mu Xuan didn’t believe the old man had killed Bu Zhaqi. The stone wasn’t with the old man, nor had its power been exhausted; Bu Zhaqi was definitely still alive.

It was only after confirming that the old man bore no malice that Mu Xuan waited until now to ask about Bu Zhaqi’s whereabouts.

“You mean the young man with the girl?”

“Yes. Where are they now?” Mu Xuan asked.

The old man sized up Mu Xuan and hesitated for a moment before saying, “Are you sure you want to meet them right now?”

Seeing the old man’s smiling face, Mu Xuan froze for a second. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of her own silver hair.

In an instant, Mu Xuan understood the old man’s meaning.

Her face reddened, and she immediately activated the power of Light within her, enveloping herself completely.

When she once again appeared as a black-haired young man, Mu Xuan turned his gaze back to the old man.

“Haha… This old one knows nothing,” the old man said with a smile, chuckling as he did.

Then, right in front of Mu Xuan, the old man removed his own left shoulder and tossed it far into the flock of sheep.

“Baa—” The sheep immediately scattered in fright.

The next second, a cloud of black mist appeared where the sheep had been. As the mist dispersed, Bu Zhaqi and Na’er’s figures were revealed.

“Being tainted physically does have its benefits… It’s just a pity that for them… even their souls have been tainted…”

The old man looked at Mu Xuan, his tone tinged with sorrow.