We agreed to set sail, so you'd become the ruler of the deep sea?

Chapter 335 [Ember Sanctuary] [Mysterious Ice Coffin]

"...Only the power of gods can fight against gods?"

Xia En repeated Jane's words, his expression slightly strange.

Theoretically speaking, he did not actually believe in any particular deity.

Whether it's the Lord of Radiance or the Sovereign of the Deep, their connection only arose by chance.

As for the Seven Seas' conventional beliefs, such as the [Goddess of Storms] and the [God of Steam and Steel], Shane had only come into contact with them through his own crew members.

and so……

Does the "divine power" that Jian mentioned refer to the Great Dark Heaven itself?
But this power was clearly something Xia En comprehended through his own efforts, so how could it be related to gods?
Or perhaps, the "gods" Jane refers to are...

Xia En shook his head, dismissing the absurd idea from his mind.

Nearby, Joey overheard Jane's words and pondered, "The power of the gods? Let me give it a try."

After saying that, Joey softly chanted a mysterious and ancient incantation.

At the same time, her divine aura became more and more obvious, and her fair face was faintly glowed with holiness.

"Hmm? This aura..."

Lewis and Nana of the Dragon Pirates couldn't help but change their expressions.

As pirates who roamed the seas, they had certainly come into contact with the deep-sea church that worshipped the goddess of storms.

Before almost every voyage, Lewis would go to the church of the Deep Sea Church to pray.

It could be said that they were all potential followers of the Storm Goddess, at least hoping to return safely under her protection.

However, as Joey continued chanting, the expression on his face became more and more like that of the statue of the Storm Goddess.

Standing in front of her, Lewis even had a feeling of... standing in front of the statue of the Storm Goddess!

Was she the ship's chaplain on the Black Swan?

"By the way, her voice... that singing voice from before, that was also her doing!"

Lewis suddenly recalled the singing from earlier and was secretly alarmed.

The Dragon Pirates are now weak, but they had a golden age in the past and even produced legendary powerhouses.

Therefore, as the current leader of the [Dragon Pirate Crew], Lewis still feels a little proud.

Upon seeing its counterpart, the Black Swan, Lewis inevitably began to make comparisons.

However, the little girl, Xian Ge, who appeared earlier, had taken Lewis by surprise.

The methods and demeanor that Joey is currently displaying are truly extraordinary.

As for the rational and wise old woman next to him, dressed in a black gauze dress, Lewis couldn't understand her at all!
"The Black Swan is indeed full of hidden talents..."

Lewis sighed inwardly, glancing at his sister with some concern, not quite approving of her idea.

Nana is already considered exceptionally talented within the Dragon Pirate Crew, and her strength has improved remarkably rapidly.

But if you go on the Black Swan, it will probably seem quite ordinary.

However, Nana wasn't thinking about any of that at the moment; she was just watching Joey's spellcasting process with a look of amazement.

Invisible waves seemed to surge in the air, rushing towards the incapacitated ice crystal monster.

The ice crystal monster's body stiffened abruptly the moment it came into contact with the invisible waves.

Visibly, the rate at which the broken ice crystals began to coalesce began to slow down.

Not only that, but a strange change also occurred on the smooth face of the ice crystal monster.

The ice crystals shifted and writhed like flesh and blood, eventually revealing a human face.

"Ok?"

Xia En frowned, staring intently at the face.

It can be seen that this is an ordinary-looking adult man, but his facial features, made of ice crystals, are twisted together, making him look extremely ferocious.

Then, it opened its empty mouth and let out a silent wail.

Despair and pain were intertwined on its face.

Just by watching this scene, everyone seemed to empathize with the torment he had endured for thousands of years.

"These monsters are actually transformed residents of the Great Yan Kingdom!"

Daisy's eyes widened, and she murmured, "This torture is more cruel than any other form of torture."

A hint of reluctance flashed in Alessio's eyes as he said indignantly.

"Why would that person do such a thing? It's unforgivable!"

Unfortunately, it was not a human who did this, but a god!

Xia En silently kept these words in his heart, while observing the changes in the ice crystal monster more closely.

In his perception, as he came into contact with Joey's divine mystic power, the filthy mystic power within the ice crystal monster seemed to be constantly decreasing.

Clearly, that was a sign that the power of [Hui Si Ming] had been eliminated.

The phrase "only the power of the gods can fight against the gods" that Jian said probably means the same thing.

Presumably, if Feiya were here, she could also purify this corrupting power with the steam magic blessed by the God of Steam and Steel.

Although [Hui Siming] is an outer god from the [Secret Sea], his rank seems to be slightly higher than that of the native gods.

But this is, after all, the Seven Seas World, and the native deities should still be able to hold their own in the contest of secret power.

However, it will obviously take some time for Joey to completely eliminate the power of [Hui Si Ming] and kill this ice crystal monster.

This was in stark contrast to how easily Shane had crushed them earlier.

Realizing this, Shane became intensely curious again about his ability to completely kill the ice crystal monster.

suddenly.

A thought popped into Xia En's mind.

Ultimately, what is the difference between the power of gods and the power of ordinary esoteric practitioners?

In Xia En's opinion, the difference between the two probably lies in... levels!
The level of divine power is far above that of ordinary secret power, so under the same level, ordinary secret power is simply no match for divine power.

To use an inappropriate analogy.

If ordinary magical power can shatter a large rock and change its physical properties...

The divine power could directly turn a large rock into a pile of ice, changing something at a much smaller level.

That's the difference between the two!
This is why ice crystal monsters that are shattered by fists, kicks, or ordinary spells will regenerate again and again.

Because ordinary secret power is simply unable to eliminate the corrupt divine power within the monster's body; it can only damage the outer shell.

The fundamental reason why Xia En was able to kill them was clearly...

[Void Secret Power]!
In the last advancement ceremony, the test that Xia En underwent was to complete the transformation of his secret power, thereby breaking through the [world barrier] around him.

That promotion was arguably the most dangerous experience Xia En had ever had.

Fortunately, in the end, Shane successfully advanced and also mastered the powerful and unique [Void Secret Power].

It can imitate and assimilate most of the world's secret powers;

It subtly transcends the Seven Seas World;
They can lurk inside the enemy's body without being detected...

These characteristics have already proven the extraordinary nature of the [Void Secret Power].

It could even be said that the [Void Secret Power] already possesses the rudiments of divine power!
Only in this way can we contend with the corrupt divine power.

Once Xia En understood this, everything became clear to him, and many of his doubts were answered.

Then another question came to mind—

Since the level of divine power is above that of ordinary divine power.

Does this mean that the sublimation of secret power is also one of the prerequisites for becoming a god? Before Xia En could continue to think deeper, the ice crystal humanoid in front of him changed again.

As the filthy secret power dissipated, the face of the ice crystal humanoid became more and more concrete, and some human emotions finally emerged on that face.

It's as if reason, which had been lost for many years, has finally returned to this body, temporarily.

Seeing this, Nana exclaimed in surprise, "He seems to want to say something!"

The man, now frozen in ice, opened his mouth, though he made no sound. However, the crowd could vaguely discern his words through lip reading.

He was saying...

Please... kill me!

Everyone fell silent.

For these souls imprisoned within the ice crystal monsters, the long years had already caused their minds and bodies to become distorted.

Even if the remaining filth and secret power are eliminated, they cannot be restored to normal.

Or perhaps, these people's souls have long since merged with the filthy, mysterious power, becoming one with it, no longer separate.

Only death can bring them true liberation.

However, with Joey's mastery of the Storm God's power, he was not able to kill this ice crystal monster directly in a short time.

So, Xia En stepped forward and gently touched the man's forehead.

The [Void Secret Power] easily seeped into the cracked ice crystals, quickly spreading throughout the man's entire body, erasing the remaining filthy secret power along with his soul.

Click... click...

As the ice crystals shattered, a look of relief and acceptance appeared on the man's face.

He opened his mouth again and mouthed the words.

"Thanks……"

next moment.

The ice crystals were scattered all over the ground and showed no sign of coming back together.

However, the atmosphere among the crowd did not become more relaxed; instead, it became even more somber.

People vaguely sensed that the truth and bloodshed buried beneath this ruin were probably beyond their expectations.

After a moment, it was Xia En who spoke first.

"let's go."

Led by Shane, the group began to venture deeper into the ruins.

Upon entering the building, Shane discovered that its structure was quite different from what he had imagined.

The building does indeed resemble a tower, but it is an inverted spire.

The area becomes narrower as you go down, resembling a wedge embedded in the ice.

This structure is actually very illogical; it's hard to imagine how it would stand on the earth without the ice layer.

But with the solid ice layer, the inverted spire was firmly embedded in the ice.

"Could it be... that when they were building these spires, they anticipated the possibility of a freezing event?"

A guess suddenly popped into Xia En's mind, and he muttered to himself.

"So, this place is actually a sanctuary prepared by the Great Yan Kingdom for its civilians?"

"But why did the people in this shelter turn into these ice crystal monsters?"

Soon, as the group moved forward, what they saw along the way confirmed Shane's guess.

The walls and ceiling on the next level of the ruins were made of materials very similar to those that Xia En had seen in the [Ember Treasure], also known as the [Ember Sanctuary].

It also exudes an indescribable sense of technology.

"What material is this wall made of? It's so peculiar..."

Daisy touched the silver-gray wall beside her in surprise. The touch from her fingertips was cold and hard, as if it contained a unique secret power, which made her sigh.

"...It's simply not a product of our world."

The erudite Jane explained, "It is said that the Lord of Cinder in the past seems to have obtained an extremely rich legacy from another [Secret Realm] with extremely advanced technology."

"This led to a rapid increase in the technological level of the entire [Great Yan Kingdom], far surpassing that of other kingdoms at the time."

"This special wall must be a product of that advanced technology."

Hearing this, Xia En was also somewhat surprised.

An old man on a boat is a treasure!

Such secrets are not so easy to discover unless Shane personally goes through the vast collection of books in the [Federal Grand Library].

On second thought, it makes sense. Since Jane knows the teleportation ritual between the [Secret Realms], the Federation officials have also found the entrances to other [Secret Realms].

This indicates that the Secret Pathfinders began their research and exploration of the [Secret Realm] a long time ago.

It's not particularly strange that the Lord of Cinder was able to obtain a legacy from a "secret realm" by chance.

This also explains why the Great Yan Kingdom was able to become the world's strongest nation in just a few decades.

"So that's it."

Alessio nodded, but soon his gaze was drawn to a nearby room with an open door.

"This is……"

Xia En and the others looked into the room and were all slightly surprised.

The room was quite spacious, with a large area of ​​land resembling farmland covered by a glass dome.

Those fields should have been planted with all kinds of crops, but now they were just a cold, desolate wasteland.

Upon seeing this, Xia En suddenly realized what was happening.

Unlike the Ember Sanctuary, this sanctuary also has fields for self-sufficiency.

It's clear that this shelter is probably even more comprehensive in its functions than the [Ember Shelter].

Unfortunately, they ultimately did not seem to play their intended role.

Subsequent observations also confirmed this point.

In addition to the "planting room," Shane also saw areas for recreation and fitness, as well as rooms for storing books.

All of this indicates that the shelter was designed from the outset with the intention of long-term survival inside.

Compared to this place, the former [Ember Shelter] seems like a hastily constructed, unfinished product.

Along the way, the group encountered some more ice crystal monsters.

However, with Shane present, these monsters posed little threat.

Shane granted them merciful release.

"Have you guys noticed that it seems to be getting colder around here?"

At this moment, Joey exhaled a puff of white breath and asked somewhat strangely.

"really……"

Daisy nodded: "And for some reason, I always have a feeling of unease."

Not only them, but Shane also sensed that something dangerous seemed to exist deep within the spire.

Soon, they arrived at the last level of the inverted spire.

Before everyone's eyes appeared a smooth and hard ice coffin.

A woman of unparalleled beauty lay peacefully in that ice coffin…

(End of this chapter)