Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2284: Chapter 2285: Path of Light

Angel found it hard to believe that the World Will of the Tidal World would appear in the Void.

But the facts were laid out before him, leaving him no choice but to believe.

”What does the presence of the World Will in the Treasureland mean? Did Feng know about it when he arranged his layout, or was it an accident?”

Angel recalled Nami Midori’s description of the Treasureland. Nami Midori had never mentioned the presence of the World Will. Given her capabilities, she would have sensed the World Will, but since she didn’t mention it, it indicated that the World Will hadn’t appeared six hundred years ago.

This analysis sounds very familiar: the Spatial Tempest also didn’t appear six hundred years ago.

Could there be some connection between the two?

The World Will was born after the Spatial Tempest. Or perhaps, the Spatial Tempest itself was the handiwork of the World Will?

As Angel considered this, suddenly many thoughts became clearer in his mind.

Previously, he had always felt uneasy about why the Spatial Tempest could last so long, and why its intensity varied. At the time, due to insufficient information, it was difficult to obtain a definite answer. But if the World Will was introduced as an external factor, everything seemed much more reasonable.

To keep the Spatial Tempest in existence definitely couldn’t be done by ordinary means. Moreover, the Spatial Tempest’s regular expansion and contraction further indicates that those who arranged it had definitely come into contact with rule-level power, and this rule-level power was no ordinary rule; it had to involve the rules of the Void.

Such power is beyond the reach of ordinary people, yet the World Will, which is a collection of rules, has the ability to achieve this.

Therefore, if the source of the Spatial Tempest is attributed to the World Will, then many logics become coherent.

However, despite logic being coherent, it still cannot explain why the World Will would appear here?

Or perhaps, Feng’s so-called treasure was actually aimed to create an intimate encounter between Angel and the World Will?

Angel couldn’t answer it. However, if Feng’s setup indeed involved the World Will, then he believed there should be answers left here.

Angel set aside various floating thoughts and speculations in his heart and continued forward.

On the path ahead, besides contemplating issues about the World Will, Angel also thought about Wang Wang.

Was the aura that Wang Wang said made it fearful referring to the World Will? The oppressive power of the World Will is indeed strong, but making people fear, Angel thought it was not too bad.

Wang Wang could withstand the pressure of the Strange World, yet it couldn’t withstand the pressure of the World Will, which seemed odd.

Or was the aura that Wang Wang felt fearful of, not the World Will? Or did the World Will specifically target Wang Wang?

Perhaps because of loneliness, or other reasons, questions kept popping up in Angel’s mind one after another. However, this did not last long, firstly because the external pressure became increasingly strong without allowing him to indulge in wild thoughts; secondly, he drew closer to the light sources, and reality clearly became more important compared to unfounded doubts.

As Angel delved deeper, he saw not just tens, but hundreds, even thousands of light points, and it seemed there was still no end in sight.

When the light points increased, Angel also began to feel a familiar sense of déjà vu with these shimmering light points in the Void.

Initially, Angel didn’t understand where this sense of déjà vu came from, until when he was less than ten miles away from the nearest light point, he suddenly understood.

Angel stood still somewhere in the Void, then started adjusting his viewpoint continuously, finally Angel found a very suitable angle.

From this angle, looking afar—

Far away, those light points gathered according to certain rules, like a twinkling galaxy, stretching from some distant depth to the very center of his sight.

This glowing galaxy was like a luminous path in the Void, extending from some unknown distant place to the vicinity.

”You walk in darkness, with a luminous path beneath your feet.” Angel stared blankly at the distance, murmuring softly: ”This is... the scene Hua Que and Dororo saw in their prophecy.”

The prophecy illuminated reality.

Not only the prophecy of the two prophets of the Baiyuan Clan, but Angel also saw in the painting studio in the White Cloud Village, an oil painting exactly identical to the current scene.

And the author of that oil painting was Feng.

Angel had imagined countless times that the Path of Light in Hua Que’s prophecy might be a street in the dark lit by street lamps on both sides.

But unexpectedly, this path of light was not in reality but existed deep within the vast Void.

”What does the Path of Light signify? Is its end your Treasureland... Feng?” Angel gazed at the distant Path of Light, feeling a bit peculiar.

Since Feng had painted the related oil painting, then undoubtedly, even if the Path of Light before him wasn’t Feng’s creation, it’s definitely related to Feng.

Long after, Angel gently exhaled and continued onward.

He began to somewhat anticipate what kind of scene awaited at the end of the Path of Light.

It took about five minutes or so, Angel finally reached the beginning of the Path of Light. Once here, he understood the truth of the ”light points.”

It was a massive heap of Void Algae.

Void Algae is actually a variant of Void Floating Algae. Void Floating Algae is a very special Demon Plant, with characteristics of spatial void as well as plant characteristics. It absorbs free spatial energy to meet its survival requirements.

The reason Angel’s bracelet space could contain living beings is because it contained Void Floating Algae inside. Absorbing spatial energy on one hand, while releasing oxygen that living beings rely on for survival, on the other.

As for Void Algae, it can also absorb spatial energy, but instead of releasing oxygen, it converts it into light energy through a special structure, allowing Void Algae to continuously emit soft light in the Void.

Many predators in the Void collect Void Algae, like deep-sea Anglerfish, wearing a hat made of algae on their heads. As most Void Creatures have a tendency to move towards light, these algae become tools for trapping.

For Wizards, although the preciousness of Void Algae is not comparable to Void Floating Algae, it is not entirely without use. Void Algae can be used to produce many items related to light energy, but to meet the production standards, the quantity of Void Algae needed would be extremely large, often making its use somewhat uneconomical.

But if you have a large amount of Void Algae as a base, choosing self-luminous Void Algae is still a great choice.

It’s just that the scarcity of Void Algae is even less than Void Floating Algae, so Wizards rarely use Void Algae to make light energy items.

However, the usually scarce Void Floating Algae are terrifyingly abundant here.

Along this Path of Light, Angel saw at least tens of thousands of light points, each composed of tens of thousands of Void Floating Algae...

Angel wondered if this was Feng’s handiwork, and if it truly was, it was quite the grand gesture.

Even though the application of Void Floating Algae is limited, it’s worth noting that in the Wizards’ Realm, these algae are sold by the ”grain,” each requiring quite a few Magic Crystals, sometimes even reaching a hundred crystals for a wizard in desperate need.

And yet, right before him, any light point contained tens of thousands of grains.

In essence, these aren’t just light points; they’re piles of Magic Crystals.

Of course, the true price isn’t calculated this way, as demand for Void Floating Algae among wizards is low, with many shops unable to sell even one grain over six months. Therefore, you can’t equate Void Floating Algae directly to Magic Crystals.

Still, the sheer quantity of Void Floating Algae is astonishing.

Angel stood before a heap of Void Floating Algae, feeling the itch to pack them up and take them away... But after careful observation, Angel suppressed his Desire and didn’t touch these light points.

Even when looking at these light points individually and finding nothing unusual, nor discovering any danger upon deeper investigation, he still made this decision.

It’s not that Angel found any danger; he was simply being cautious.

The light points were arranged in a meticulous pattern, paired like two streetlamps beside a road, stretching all the way to the end.

Angel always felt this orderliness was infused with some kind of significance.

Perhaps it was a symbolic arrangement in Ritual Studies.

The procedures in Ritual Studies often seem ordinary, but even an accidental touch could cause the whole system to unravel.

Therefore, to avoid any issues, Angel, despite his cravings, ultimately restrained himself.

Ignoring everything around him, Angel kept his head down and walked onto the Path of Light.

Stepping onto the Path of Light, Angel initially didn’t feel anything special, but as he progressed further along the path, he sensed something unusual.

—The pressure exerted by the World Will slowed its acceleration.

Based on Angel’s calculations, by the time he reached this area, the pressure’s increase would be terrifying, and he might have to employ some abilities or even the green Pattern to withstand it.

But the reality differed from his imagination.

The pressure continued to grow, but its increase was not significant, minimal even, and Angel was able to cope in his current state. In fact, even if it doubled, Angel could barely hold on.

Angel couldn’t believe the pressure’s increase naturally diminished; there must be some external mechanism slowing the increase.

At this thought, Angel’s gaze involuntarily shifted to the ”streetlamps” flanking the road.

”Is it because of them?” Angel wondered, reaching out with his spiritual power to probe beyond the Path of Light. As his spiritual power ventured outside the path, an overwhelmingly heavy pressure instantly fed back through his Spirit Tentacle.

From this feedback, it was apparent the pressure on the Path of Light was much less than outside.

On the Path of Light, the most suspicious parts were the neatly arranged and abundant ”streetlamps” formed by Void Floating Algae on either side.

”It seems it really is related to the Void Floating Algae,” Angel mused. In his memory, Void Floating Algae didn’t have the effect of reducing pressure, so Angel leaned more towards his initial guess that the Ritual Studies procedures were at work.

The neatly aligned ”streetlamps” might indeed be some kind of ritual procedure.

Moreover, Angel believed if his conjecture was correct, this was likely another of Feng’s mischievous setups.

If Angel hadn’t resisted the temptation of the Void Floating Algae and took some, it might have caused the ritual here to fail, dramatically increasing the pressure.

Perhaps he could withstand the current pressure, but with its increase, he might ultimately never reach the true Treasureland.

At that point, Angel could even imagine Feng’s smiling face saying mischievously, ”I’m not denying you the treasure; you chose to take the Void Floating Algae. If you can’t enter Treasureland, who can you blame? The Void Floating Algae are valuable; if you can sell them, it’s not a loss, right?”

Though this was Angel’s self-imagined scenario, he had an inexplicable gut feeling that if he really did take the Void Floating Algae, this might occur.

However, Angel understood Feng’s behavior fairly well. Feng might have some mischievous tendencies, but he wasn’t truly ruthless.

Feng originally left his hint at the Gentle Breeze Uranus, likely his clue.

There was no need for him to specifically leave a painting of the ”Path of Light” there. Since it was left, it surely implied to future visitors that this Path of Light held some significance.

Couple that with Hua Que’s prophecy and Dororo’s prophecy, both connected to the Path of Light, Angel was thus highly alert and cautious of it.

It seems now, though not yet definite, that his choice was the correct one.

With a bit of relief, Angel continued deeper along the Path of Light.

Throughout the journey, the pressure on the Path of Light increased slowly, remaining within Angel’s tolerance.

Angel occasionally extended his Spirit Tentacle beyond the Path of Light to test the pressure outside. Each test exceeded Angel’s expectations.

Earlier, Angel thought that using various methods, he might still manage for dozens of miles. But the reality was, without the Path of Light, he might not have made it this far.

Eventually, Angel stopped testing because the Spirit Tentacle, once extended, was immediately overwhelmed and unable to retract.

Obediently, he continued forward on the Path of Light.

Walking along this Milky Way-like Path of Light for about two hours, Angel finally saw the dawn at its end.