After going into the sea, I met the witch.

"Boom--!"

Smoke and dust rose up, forming billowing mist that intertwined with a large amount of pale golden spiritual energy, making it difficult to see the center of the battle.

As the smoke and dust cleared, only one proud figure remained standing in the center of the battlefield.

Ryan hoisted the Greatsword Ferocious Ice onto his shoulder, glanced at the nick in the blade, frowned, and then looked at Misar, who was thirty meters away in front of him.

The "Iris Knight" looked quite disheveled at this moment—a huge gash had been cut into the pale gold armor on his shoulder, and blood mixed with faint ice crystals was constantly flowing out from between his fingers as he covered the wound.

A highly transparent, cracked protective shield appeared on his body, then crumbled into fragments and fell to the ground. Just as Ryan's powerful slash was about to hit him, the ring on Hansal's finger had created a strong shield. Although it shattered instantly in the face of the slash and broke through his armor, it bought Hansal time to retreat.

Ryan's breathing became somewhat rapid; the consecutive use of two special sword techniques had taken a terrifying toll on his "blood energy."

In that brief moment, he had already revealed two of his trump cards, but he was still one step behind and failed to defeat Hansal, which made Ryan's eyes show regret.

But he quickly composed himself.

Although the "Iris Knight" Missar was wounded, the battle was not over yet.

……

Misar glanced at the wound on his shoulder, his expression extremely grave.

He was actually injured, and by a first-tier professional at that. No one would believe it if word got out.

Such an absurd thing actually happened to him.

From the rapid breathing of "Son of Blood" Ryan opposite him, Hansal could tell that Ryan, who had used an unknown "special secret technique" to withstand his [Sword of Brilliant Light], was now extremely exhausted and in low spirits. Although he was injured, it was at most a minor injury and not yet to the point of being crippled. If the fight continued, Hansal was confident that he could defeat Ryan.

But what's the point?

It's really too ugly for a Tier 3 hero to have to rely on injuries and attrition to win against a Tier 1 regular professional...

He understood that he had already lost this battle.

"Ta Tata..."

Just then, hurried footsteps came from afar.

Ryan's expression changed.

With the "Iris Knight" Hansal blocking his way, if a few more Libra Knights came to pursue him, or even third-tier professionals of the same level as Hansal, then his chances of survival would be slim.

Thinking of this, Ryan's heart sank to the bottom.

To Ryan's surprise, Hansal frowned upon hearing the approaching footsteps and said coldly, "If you don't want to be captured by the Libra Holy Church, come with me."

After saying that, without waiting for Ryan's agreement, he turned around and walked towards the north gate.

In that instant, Ryan's mind raced.

"...The Iris Clan...the Chief Knight Commander...the energy greatsword deliberately deviated from its trajectory before falling during the previous battle..."

All indications suggest that this "Hansal," a third-tier Grand Knight, is not a member of the Libra Holy Church and does not harbor any murderous intent towards him.

Based on the above considerations, Ryan quickly made a decision—to follow Hansal first.

Right now, he doesn't know what "tricks" the Libra Church has done to him, and his "trace" has been locked. Under these circumstances, going back to meet up with Freya and Cecilia is undoubtedly a very bad choice.

The fact that the two Libra Knights dispatched were both second-tier elite professionals suggests the immense size of the Libra Holy Church. It's not impossible that there are third-tier or even higher individuals within the church.

Even with Freya and Cecilia by your side, there's no chance of winning a direct confrontation against a religious organization of this size.

Rather than dragging the two women into trouble, it's better to follow "Iris Knight" Hansal first.

Ryan always felt that Hansal's appearance in front of him and his preemptive interception seemed to have some ulterior motive.

Between two evils, choose the lesser; at least so far, Hansal has not shown any obvious intent to kill him.

Before the footsteps in the distance could get any closer, Ryan dashed forward and caught up with Hansal's retreating figure.

As soon as Ryan rushed out of the north gate, he saw Hansal standing in front of a slowly rotating spiritual vortex gate: "Come with me."

After leaving those words, Hansal walked directly into the vortex gate.

Ryan paused slightly, sensing the increasingly imminent presence behind him. He gritted his teeth and rushed in after him.

The moment Ryan's body was swallowed up, the gate to the spiritual vortex collapsed, leaving the entire area empty except for the footprints left on the ground.

A deep silver streak of light shot out of the city gate and arrived at the spot where Ryan had disappeared. He reached out his hand, touched the air, and closed his eyes as if sensing something.

Soon, several more Libra Knights emerged from the city gates. They approached Deep Silver Shadow from behind and bowed respectfully: "Third Arbiter..."

The young man, wearing a light silver armor and with three weights etched beneath a pale gold "scale" mark on his chest, slowly opened his eyes: "A one-time teleportation artifact, and he even specially created methods to prevent tracking and shield against the 'Holy Eye'."

"There seem to be more and more interesting 'little mice' in Santos lately..."

……

His vision blurred for a moment, then brightened again. When Ryan's vision returned to normal, he found himself in a dimly lit underground temple.

Several brass lamps hung on the surrounding walls, their orange-red candlelight burning quietly, illuminating the dark metal table in the center of the room and the six chairs neatly arranged on either side of it.

Hansal, the "Iris Knight," walked to the seat marked with the number "4" and sat down. At that moment, a figure was also sitting in the chairs marked with the numbers "1", "5", and "6" on both sides of the long table, while the chairs marked with the numbers "2", "3", and "7" were empty.

Ryan's eyes showed a serious expression.

He sensed a spiritual fluctuation from the person sitting in the chairs numbered "5" and "6" that was inferior to that of "Iris Knight" Hansal, but still belonged to the third rank.

This means that all three of them are Tier 3 Heroic Professionals!

Because of the dim light, he could not see the specific faces of No. 5 and No. 6, but judging from their physique and attire, No. 6 was a strong man whose physique was no less than Hansal's, while No. 5 was relatively slender and seemed to be a female knight.

Ryan's gaze swept over the three of them, landing on the slender figure wearing a mask at the end of the long table, sitting in "seat number 1".

"who are you?"

The sound, neither too loud nor too soft, echoed through the underground hall, causing the candlelight in the corner to flicker a few times.

His response was a warm, magnetic female voice:

"The Blood Son, Ryan Rayland."

"Welcome to the Overturned Palace."

-

(Guguzi still has a low-grade fever today and is not fully recovered, so I can only update 5,000 words for now. I will make up for the rest later when I am better. Dear readers, please take care to keep warm in the coming days, and remember to wear masks when going to crowded places. Don't catch a cold and get a fever like Guguzi, boohoo~)

My daily book recommendation: "Global Sailing: I Can Do Whatever I Want with Superpowers"

[Recommendation]: A fantasy adventure story of the eldest disciple of the Wind Spirit Moon Shadow Sect in the endless sea. The background is Sea of ​​Thieves, and the content leans towards D&D and incorporates elements of various classic games. Those who are interested can check it out.

Chapter 113 The "Pirate" as the "Core" (Combined Chapter)

The gentle and magnetic female voice is like the first breeze after the rain, making people instinctively feel relaxed.

Ryan's expression grew increasingly serious.

Because after entering this so-called "Hall of Overturning", the spirituality of "Iris Knight" Hansal ceased to emanate in the slightest, as did the other three. As a result, the gray character panel only displayed information for Hansal, who had already received a notification, while showing no information for the other three.

Ryan had encountered a similar situation before, with Caius, the owner of the Seagull Tavern in the Whirlpool Islands and an "actor" in the "circus."

When one uses a special secret method to gather one's spirituality to the point where it does not leak out at all, the gray text will not display relevant information.

This may be related to the fact that the [Nameless Ship Sculpture] is still in a state of "damage".

Even without seeing the relevant information, Ryan could sense a threat far exceeding that of the "Iris Knight" from the slender figure sitting at the head of the long table.

A Tier 3 ultimate professional? Or perhaps, Tier 4?

Ryan couldn't be sure, but he was certain that this person was someone he couldn't possibly contend with in his current state.

The gentle yet magnetic female voice continued to narrate:

"The Overturned Palace is intended to overturn the shackles that bind people."

"Work with us."

"Lian Rayland".

"The strength and talent you have demonstrated qualify you to become a member of the Overturned Hall."

"After joining us, you will not only receive a lot of intelligence assistance, including but not limited to the 'key factors' for achieving 100% compatibility in the low to mid-level through common means, but also be able to escape the pursuit of the Libra Holy Church. Furthermore, there will be a monthly 'exchange meeting' between the Overturned Temples, where you can exchange potions, arcane arts, rare items, and so on."

The soft voice echoed, carrying with it a light mist that permeated the entire underground hall.

Ryan noticed that the "Iris Knight," the No. 5 female knight, and the No. 6 strong man, who were sitting on either side of the long table, did not seem to hear the voice, and could not even see him.

"This fog..."

Ryan's expression was serious.

"Don't worry, this is the Temple of Overturn's protection for every new member. Apart from Number 4 who brought you in and me, no one else knows your name, and they can't hear or see you now. Number 4 has also made a blood oath to never reveal your name, appearance, or related information to anyone."

After a moment of silence, Ryan finally spoke, "It sounds very good, but what price would I have to pay if I joined in?"

"Rights and obligations go hand in hand. I never believe in seemingly wonderful unconditional help."

"There is a price to pay, of course." The gentle female voice chuckled softly: "Members of the Overturned Temple need to carry out missions, which are divided into daily missions and special missions."

"Daily tasks may be issued by members of other temples or summoned by other temples of collapse. You can get rewards if you choose to participate, and there will be no impact if you don't participate."

"Special missions are different. Members of the temple must participate in them once every three years, or they will be labeled as 'traitors' and hunted down by other members of the Overturned Temple."

Ryan frowned even deeper: "Never be able to quit?"

"of course not."

"Once you complete five special missions, it is up to you whether you choose to leave or stay. If you choose to stay, you will not only be free from the obligation to perform special missions, but you will also enjoy all the benefits brought by the Overturned Temple."

The magnetic, gentle voice paused here:

"So, what is your answer, Mr. Ryan?"

"If you choose to refuse, the Temple of Overturning will erase your memory of our conversation, erase all knowledge about the Temple of Overturning, and you will return to the position you were in before entering here. The interference and shielding of the 'Holy Eye' will also be canceled."

"By the way, the 'Holy Eye' is a mid-level artifact in the hands of the Libra Holy Church. Once it locks onto an individual through some factor, the lock will remain unless the individual can escape the island."

“You’ve put it this way, do I have a choice?” Ryan lowered his eyes: “I… join.”

"A wise choice." The magnetic female voice held a hint of sincerity: "You won't regret your decision today."

"Next, please sign this blood oath contract, swearing by your true spirit that you will never reveal any information about the 'Overturned Temple' to anyone. In addition, there are some simple terms that you can take a look at."

An open parchment appeared before Ryan, its edges adorned with exquisite and intricate patterns. On the front of the parchment were several lines of rules, with his signature at the bottom.