Chapter 1274: Infiltrating the Temple
The avatar flew toward the tower with the concealment talisman active. It was not long before he finally reached the periphery of the tower area. The tower was located inside the vast temple complex, where the security was extremely tight.
The normal guards here were all Immortal Realm cultivators. He could even sense Immortal Lords patrolling back and forth in several areas. The complex was also protected by an invisible barrier that would send a signal if an intruder attempted to enter without permission.
The only way to enter the complex was through the four gates located on the four sides of the temple grounds.
He stopped right before the barrier and observed the tower. It was a pagoda-style structure, and now that he was this close, he could sense just how special it was.
The tower, which contained a huge amount of faith energy, also contained strong karma connected to the void. Even without deliberately sensing it, he could already feel its presence. The karma could be connected to the other towers, or to the Ninth Heavens where Avergis might reside.
’This tower has been gathering faith energy for billions of years. The amount of faith energy is enough to allow Avergis to maintain his connection to the Second Heaven’s heavenly laws. Once I create my domain here, one of the formation’s foundations will disappear, and Avergis’ control over the Second Heaven’s heavenly laws will weaken,’ the avatar thought.
He then looked at the countless temple members entering and leaving the temple grounds.
All of them passed through without any inspection, as if the guards at the gates were completely certain that everyone entering the temple could be trusted.
Every person who entered the temple grounds passed through the barrier, yet nothing happened.
After watching for a few moments, he finally understood how the barrier worked.
He then turned to look at the barrier in front of him.
’The barrier will detect anyone who does not possess the aura of Avergis’ followers. The barrier also illuminates different layers of space, so my teleportation would be useless unless I use the domain’s teleportation ability.’
The avatar smiled.
’If that is the case, then there is nothing to worry about.’
Without saying anything else, the avatar flew closer to the barrier. At that moment, he released a trace of his aura as one of Avergis’ followers and teleported inside.
At that split second, several Immortal Saint cultivators within the temple sensed the avatar, causing them to look toward the direction where he had entered.
One of them was inside a building located deeper within the temple complex, though it was in the same direction as the avatar’s entry point. A man wearing a white robe and with long gray hair tied into a ponytail sat in meditation. He was a middle Immortal Saint cultivator, and he instantly looked toward the direction where the avatar had entered.
Although he was inside a building, it was as if he could see through the walls and observe the area where he had sensed the disturbance. He frowned.
’Was that my imagination? No, it wasn’t. I clearly sensed it. A powerful aura, just like those from the Higher Heavens. Is someone from the Higher Heavens visiting? But it only appeared for a split second before disappearing. What the hell is going on?’
He spread his spiritual sense, instantly covering the entire temple complex. He could also sense the spiritual senses of the other Immortal Saints, confirming that he was not the only one who had noticed it.
"Did you feel that? Is there an intruder?" a voice transmission reached him.
"I don’t know. I couldn’t sense anything after that aura appeared for a split second. But I think it belonged to someone from one of the groups from the Higher Heavens," he replied.
"Has someone from the Higher Heavens come to visit us? But why would they arrive secretly?"
Silence fell for a moment before another voice joined the conversation. This time, it was a woman.
"I received a report that someone from Lord Zervias’ group has been inspecting the security of several teleportation gates. It seems they suspect the incident in Su City was caused by Tarius’ followers from the Higher Heavens slipping through our security. Perhaps that person was only checking this place?"
"I heard about that as well. That makes sense. It looks like he only inspected the security here before leaving without revealing himself," the man replied.
"Anyway, I don’t think there is anything wrong. Just ignore it," another man said.
As the three Immortal Saint cultivators felt that nothing was wrong, the avatar was already walking through the temple complex. This time, he was using a different face. Although he was still invisible, he wanted to keep his precaution.
This was just in case something went wrong and he became visible at an unfortunate moment. If that happened, people would not see the face of Avergis’ envoy from the Higher Heavens who was inspecting the teleportation gates since yesterday.
The avatar walked alongside the crowd of temple members, most of whom were heading toward the tower. As he walked, he listened to the conversations of the people nearby.
Most of their discussions revolved around matters concerning the temple. He did not find anything particularly interesting, but he did overhear someone mention that the temple master of this city was away on some business.
The temple master of this city was a peak Immortal Saint cultivator. With the temple master absent, one of the avatar’s concerns disappeared. Now, the only thing he needed to be careful of was the presence of the other Immortal Saints, whose exact number he still did not know.
Just now, he had sensed four different spiritual senses belonging to Immortal Saint cultivators, and he did not know whether that was all of them.
They must have sensed his arrival the moment he touched the barrier. But since nothing had happened afterward, they must have judged that there was no problem, which relieved him.
As the avatar continued walking toward the tower, he suddenly noticed someone who caught his attention.
He saw a beautiful woman with long orange hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a green robe. She seemed to be in a hurry as she ran through the crowd. She passed near the avatar, causing him to raise an eyebrow as he continued watching her.
The woman carried with her the fragrance of various herbs, several of which he recognized immediately.
’An alchemist?’
Curious about the woman, he decided to follow her. She ran toward another towering building that was not as tall as the Tower of God’s Sovereign.
The moment he entered the building, the fragrance of herbs instantly filled his nostrils. He was also greeted by a great hall lined with rows of cauldrons.
He saw many alchemists carrying out their alchemy activities with their respective cauldrons. All of them were Mortal Realm cultivators. However, the avatar ignored them and continued following the woman, who was still hurrying as she climbed the stairs to the higher floors.
As she continued ascending, the level of the alchemists also continued to rise. He eventually reached a floor where there was only a single cauldron, with an alchemist sitting in front of it. He could only see the alchemist’s back, but he guessed that the alchemist was an old man.
The man had long white hair tied into a ponytail and wore a green robe similar to the woman’s. His cultivation was at peak Immortal Saint stage.
He was in the middle of concocting a pill, and the woman understood this, so she remained silent despite arriving in such a hurry.
After a few minutes, the old man finally completed the concoction process. He slapped the lid of the cauldron open and brought out two green pills from it into his palm.
The fragrance of the pills spread throughout the hall. When the old man inspected them, four stripes could be seen on each pill.
The old man then placed the pills into a small bottle that he took from his storage ring before returning the bottle to the ring. After that, he turned to look at the woman.
The avatar finally saw the old man clearly. A long white beard matched his hair. Deep wrinkles marked the passage of time on his face. His expression also showed that he was happy to see the woman.
"You look like you’re in a hurry. What happened?" he asked with a smile.
"Master, I received a report that we found the herb we have been looking for, the Celestial White Ginseng. It was discovered in the eastern region on a mountain inhabited by many Spiritual Saint spiritual beasts. Fortunately, the expedition team managed to retrieve it. They are currently on their way back here."
The avatar, who heard the herb’s name, raised his eyebrows. He knew that herb. The Celestial White Ginseng was a rare ingredient used in pill concoction. It could be used to create a pill capable of affecting even Immortal Saint cultivators.
Even if consumed raw, it would still benefit the Immortal Saint cultivators by increasing their cultivation.
Still, although it was a rare ingredient, he possessed many of them among the treasures left behind by his followers.
The old man’s eyes widened, and a joyful expression appeared on his face upon hearing the report.
"That is great! If that is the case, then we only need to find the Seven Color Honeylocust. With that, I can begin concocting the pill," he said.
The woman smiled and nodded. However, she soon sighed.
"I wonder if we will ever find any trace of it. It is the rarest among the ingredients Master is looking for, and we still haven’t found any trace of it across the Second Heaven despite searching for thousands of years."
The old man also sighed, though a smile remained on his face.
"Well, let’s hope we can find it before it’s too late. We can only leave the rest to fate after all the effort we have put in."
The avatar, who heard their conversation, narrowed his eyes.
’Celestial White Ginseng? Seven Color Honeylocust? Is he trying to create that pill?’