Chapter 453 - 451: The Divine King’s Arrangement
"Without the Golden Apple, this Array wouldn’t have been able to keep restraining all the Demonic Qi pollution in the Golden Apple Stone Forest for so long. If nothing else changes, the Golden Apple will keep maintaining the circulation of Demonic Qi for thousands, even tens of thousands of years."
"Won’t the Golden Apple’s energy run out?"
"Of course it will, but during the circulation, the Golden Apple will also be replenished, so it won’t be exhausted. Still, no matter how powerful a Spiritual Object is, it can’t withstand the erosion of time forever."
Rose shook his head. "If you ask me, since it’s an apple, its use is to be eaten. Just leaving it there to rot away is such a waste."
"That’s why we came here..."
Hilia felt the faint, mysterious currents flowing within the Array.
She knew that was Divine Power.
The Golden Apple wasn’t created by the Gods, but thanks to its strange properties, it can also be compatible with Divine Power. Only by nurturing it with Divine Power can it be preserved for the long term—up to ten thousand years, even.
Hilia was using the Array’s permissions to search for the whereabouts of the Golden Apple.
This process would take some time, because the Array was huge—bigger than two Letes Cities put together.
She searched very cautiously, afraid that if she was careless, she would lose herself in the vastness of the Array.
Compared to the Array, she was like a tiny skiff on the open sea, liable to be overturned at any moment by even the gentlest swells.
Yet finding the Golden Apple wasn’t the main point.
The main point was to find a way to solve the pollution.
"The Golden Apple is the keystone of the Golden Apple Stone Forest Array. If we take it away, the Golden Apple Stone Forest Array will lose its ability to circulate; it won’t be able to contain the pollution. At that point, the pollution will spread outward, shrouding the entire Starfall Continent..."
If she wanted to take the Golden Apple, Hilia had to face this problem head-on.
Fortunately, this part was Rose’s job; she only needed to locate the Golden Apple.
Inside this Array, Hilia’s Mage’s Hand was like a little skiff, while Rose was a giant battleship, roaming freely.
If not for being constrained by Hilia’s level of strength, Rose’s Spiritual Power, compared with the Golden Apple Stone Forest Array, would be a cosmic battleship—a cosmic battleship countless times larger than this ocean-like Array.
As she searched carefully, feeling the faint fluctuations coming from Rose’s Spiritual Power, Hilia asked curiously, "Lord Rose, can we really find a way to resolve the pollution inside the Array?"
Rose replied calmly, "We won’t know until we finish exploring. This Array is the work of the Divine King. He has the ability to drive the Demonic Qi back into the Abyss, but he didn’t do that. Instead, he used the Golden Apple to lock the pollution firmly inside the Golden Apple Stone Forest. What exactly is he trying to do? I’m a bit curious."
"So it really was made by the Divine King."
Hilia had already grown used to the fact that all the world-shaking events were either done by the Divine King or by Rose. At this point, she was hardly surprised anymore.
It was as if the whole world was a stage for the two of them to confront each other, with traces of both their arrangements everywhere.
To Hilia, this was a bit too high-level; she couldn’t make sense of it.
So she chose to focus seriously on the search.
The Golden Apple Stone Forest Array was huge and also very complex; Hilia was completely unable to understand its structure.
For her current self, it was far too complicated; she simply didn’t have the ability to comprehend it.
But luckily, she only needed to look for the central core of the Array. Just finding the keystone that supplies Magic Power to the entire Array was actually quite simple.
"Arrays crafted by the hands of the Gods are amazing. The entire Array naturally forms a cycle and doesn’t need Magic Crystals placed at its nodes to keep it running," Hilia sighed.
Rose said, "That’s what a high-tier Array is—relying on a single special item to become an Array in itself. Even if there’s no Crystal Stone providing energy inside the Array, it can autonomously draw Magic Power from nature to replenish itself, and it will even self-repair.
"By contrast, the Arrays you people use now are the most basic kind—only stacking up physical size and the amount of Magic Crystals, and still nowhere near self-updating or self-defense. It’s easy as pie for someone to take advantage of the gaps and slip in."
Hilia pondered for a moment and said, "Then aren’t we also invading the Array right now?"
"Try invading one without permission."
Hilia turned her head away and said nothing.
As they spoke, Hilia slowly sensed a special place.
She drew together the countless threads of Spiritual Power formed by the Mage’s Hand, leaving only a few strands flowing toward that spot.
Very soon, a very strange feeling came through her Spiritual Power.
This feeling couldn’t be put into words; it was like her Spiritual Power was lying on the clouds, drifting along with them, watching all things on the earth revive, watching the cycle of rain, watching living beings be born, grow old, and die...
"Found it?"
Rose’s voice broke Hilia’s immersion.
She snapped out of it and let out a silent breath of relief.
"That was terrifying. I almost got addicted to that strange sensation."
"That’s normal. It’s an effect all special Spiritual Objects have; if you’re not careful you’ll get hooked, especially with your current lack of strength."
From a distance, Hilia sensed the Golden Apple and asked, "What do we do next? Call on the Array’s power to send the Golden Apple over?"
Rose said, "Finding it is enough. It won’t be that easy to take. Remember its location first; we’ll talk after we deal with the pollution here."
Hilia nodded obediently, her Spiritual Power probing curiously.
Rose said, "Get closer and feel it. Let your Spiritual Power immerse itself in the circulation—that will help you improve. I’ll pull you out when you’re about to be swallowed."
"Alright."
Like a cat let off the leash, Hilia immediately approached the Golden Apple, once again following it to experience that wondrous feeling of all things reviving.
Rose glanced over, then stopped paying attention to her.
His Spiritual Power was both analyzing everything in the Array and sketching the Array out in the sky.
Ethel also stopped what he was doing; he wanted to see what Rose intended.
Once Rose had sketched the rough outline of the entire Array, Ethel frowned. "This Array looks familiar... Hm? Isn’t this the Array of the Golden Apple Stone Forest?"
Rose looked at him. "So you do recognize it?"
Ethel snorted. "Of course. I had the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association set up its headquarters there—how could I not recognize it?"
Rose asked with interest, "You made the Golden Apple Stone Forest your sect’s base of operations—what were you plotting? Hoping to get your hands on the Golden Apple?"
Ethel nodded. "Of course. Why else would I go to all that trouble if not for the Golden Apple?"
Unfortunately, it had all turned to nothing in the end.
Rose asked, "What did you want the Golden Apple for?"
Ethel said coolly, "To use it for my revival, of course. I can’t stay in hiding forever. The Golden Apple’s authority can strip the Demonic Qi out of faith."
"So then why did you let Abyssal Demonic Qi contaminate faith and still swallow it? To you, isn’t that basically eating shit?"
"You think I wanted to? That guy Zeus tore open the Abyss and released Demonic Qi into the whole world. One of his aims was to pollute the entire world and then, by his own method, make it so that only he could monopolize the power of faith. If we absorb pure faith power, he’s bound to notice."
"Then why did you all go along with Zeus and throw the world into chaos? You might as well have submitted to me back then."
Ethel looked at Rose coldly. "You really don’t know why you were branded with the title of ’Evil God’, do you?"
Rose: "?"
He truly didn’t know.