The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　"Quick victory!"

　Professor Sylph made a decisive move and issued the order to attack.

　"Wind Spirit King Sylph" pointed her finger. Instantly, a gust of wind gathered and condensed into a "Wind Elemental Spear" at her fingertips.

　With a loud "boom," the rapidly spinning "Wind Element Spear" vanished instantly.

　Immediately afterwards, a hole appeared in the dragon's chest and abdomen, running from front to back.

　But the dragon did not fall.

　It didn't even bother to glance down, merely roaring and opening its blood...

　With its mouth wide open, it spewed out scorching dragon breath!

　In an instant, the black and red flames filled the entire cave, and the stalactites on the cave ceiling were instantly melted.

　As the light source disappeared, the cave instantly went dark.

　But Abbot Grantham simply stepped forward, and the radiance emanating from his body blocked the dark dragon breath.

　"Wind Spirit King Sylph" narrowed its eyes, and the bluish-white light emanating from its body became even brighter. Its long hair, which was exactly like Professor Sylph's, fluttered behind it. Its five fingers suddenly spread open, and five wind vortexes appeared at its fingertips. In the blink of an eye, they transformed into five "wind elemental spears" and were fired again.

　The attack range of the five "Wind Element Spears" almost covered the entire body of the dragon.

　The dragon lunged forward after exhaling its breath. However, its body, which was soaring in the air, was completely pierced by the five "Wind Element Spears" and instantly turned into a burst of black mist.

　"Holy light shines as bright as day!"

　Emily Grantham suddenly raised her staff and sword, and holy, pure white light emanated from them, illuminating the bursting black mist.

　Darkness was driven out by light, and evil was purified by holiness.

　The vast expanse of black fog vanished in the radiance.

　The last remnant scurried back to the dark orb as if fleeing. Professor Kazel waved his hand, and the "alchemist beast" strode out and grabbed the dark orb.

　Although the dark orb resisted by emitting a needle-like black light, the "alchemy beast" forced its way into its body, and it fell silent.

　"It seems this is our final result."

　Bishop Sabrina Melville put a detection magic card back into her card pack and spoke.

　"It seems so."

　Professor Sylph also looked away, and said with some regret.

　It took more than three hours from entering the cave to finding this place, but unlike with the "Flower of Demeter," we did not obtain the "Blood of the Gods" and the golden key.

　This is undeniably a pity.

　Moreover, that dark orb seemed to have nothing to do with the "Heavenly Court".

　Neither the academy nor the sacred scriptures contain any information about a connection between the "Heavenly Court" and the "Underworld".

　So finding such a dark orb exuding the aura of the underworld within the Mountain of the Gods might truly just be a pure accident.

　In short, it doesn't seem to help with entering the "Heavenly Court".

　Fortunately, the cave is located to the north, so the two-hour journey wasn't a complete waste.

　Next, all you need to do is return to the ground to continue your journey towards the "Heavenly Court".

　“Let’s rest here and let Kazel see what the specific function of that orb is,” Professor Sylph said.

　Professor Kazel summoned a pair of gloves and put them on, then retrieved the dark orb from "Alchemy's" body and examined it carefully.

　About fifteen minutes later, he completed his examination of the orb. "First, it should indeed have originated from the Underworld—though I've never actually been there," Professor Kazel said. "Second, it seems to maintain a connection to the Underworld. Although that connection is extremely small, it does seem to be able to draw some Underworld energy from it. It was that Underworld energy, accumulated over thousands of years, that gave birth to that demonic dragon."

　Dark suddenly remembered something and frowned, saying, "It can connect to the 'underworld'."

　Professor Cazell shook his head and said, "While it cannot directly connect to the 'Underworld,' it can be used as the core for opening the 'Gate to the Underworld.' It not only makes the 'Gate to the Underworld' easier to open but also provides a beacon."

　Dark said, "Wouldn't that be extremely dangerous?"

　Professor Kazel glanced at the three members of the Holy Church and said, "The Holy Church once opened the 'Gate to the Underworld,' so they should know this best."

　Bishop Sabrina Melville said, "I think you should know what happened."

　Professor Kazel shrugged and said, "But you did summon the 'Gateway to the Underworld.'"

　Of course he knew what was going on.

　Ultimately, it was Professor Dee Dee Maxwell who pierced the "Gate of the Underworld," briefly connecting reality with the underworld.

　It was because of that incident that the "Fire of the Underworld" was leaked.

　In fact, Dark was a beneficiary of that incident.

　Unfortunately, the Netherworld energy of this Dark Orb is ultimately different from the "Netherworld Fire," and cannot be absorbed and digested by the "Death Coffin."

　Professor Kazel took out a "Sphere of Truth" and said, "Since it's useless for now, I'll seal it away first."

　Professor Sylph and Bishop Sabrina Melville had no objections. Professor Cazell then sealed the dark orb within the "Orb of Truth."

　Without even asking Sabrina, he put away the "Orb of Truth" that sealed the gem.

　But Bishop Sabrina Melville, having grasped this point, suddenly said, "Since the previous golden key is already with you, then this jewel should be kept with us for the time being."

　“One for each person, that makes sense.” Professor Kazel nodded, and then… he took out another “Orb of Truth,” opened it, took out the golden key stored inside, and tossed it to Sabrina.

　Bishop Sabrina Melville reached out and took the key, slightly surprised, but she quickly put the golden key away.

　Professor Cazell said, "Remember to open the door when the time comes."

　Bishop Sabrina Melville nodded quickly and said, "If there is a door."

　Although Dak was puzzled by Professor Cazell's decisive action, it was clearly not the right time to ask.

　On the surface, it simply appears that Professor Kazel chose the "Netherworld Orb" from the dark treasure... the "Golden Key".

　So either the "Netherworld Orb" has other functions that he hasn't mentioned, or he has already deciphered the "Golden Key" and thinks it's not important.

　“It’s about time we went up,” Professor Sylph said, standing up. Dark looked up at the cave ceiling, calculating the distance between here and the ground, and casually remarked, “If Professor Lily were here, that would be great.”

　Professor Sylph nodded and said, "If Lily were here, she could simply pass through the ground and return to the surface. Right now, the only options are to use teleportation, or to break through the barrier directly!"

　“Forget about breaking it open,” said Bishop Sabrina Melville. “We can drill a hole.”

　“I’ll do it,” Dark said.

　He then summoned "Gabmon" and used "Greed i3" to evolve it into a five-star Ground-type Magical Spirit - "Drill Ratmon"!

　The "Drill Rat Beast," possessing the "digging" skill, can dig tunnels at an extremely fast speed, allowing it to travel freely underground.

　After giving the order, Dark and the others boarded the "Storm Carpet" and followed the "Drill Rat Beast" through the land, successfully returning to the surface.

　Then they continued their journey north.

　During this period.

　Professor Midia and her team have entered the fragrant "flower garden maze".

　The flowers and plants inside the "flowerbed maze" don't actually obstruct the view. But wandering through them can easily lead to disorientation, causing you to end up going around in circles.

　After turning around, Professor Mitia suddenly came to her senses, immediately opened her "Silver Moon Eye," re-established her direction, and moved straight ahead.

　At first, she would be careful to avoid the low walls formed by the flowers and walk through the gaps.

　But later they swept through the flowerbeds, breaking through the "walls" to advance. The Holy Knights of the Holy Church were on guard, so they all raised their holy light to surround the group, and together with the "weather angels" of the North, they shut out all the fragrance of the flowers.

　There were no monsters hiding in the flowerbeds, and without being affected by the fragrance of the flowers, the maze that allowed them to "pass through walls" could not stop their progress.

　They continued forward at a very fast pace, but after a full half hour, they still hadn't managed to cross the flowerbed.

　"This flowerbed is absolutely enormous."

　Professor Mitia looked up into the distance, but all she could see was an endless expanse of flowers.

　It's a flower, it's a flower, and it's still a flower!

　Although colorful and diverse flowers are very attractive, they can only evoke feelings of disgust at times like this.

　That feeling is very similar to being in the desert, thirsty, and looking up to see only barren land ahead.

　But once you've entered this "flower garden maze," there's no turning back—and the half-hour journey has become a sunk cost; nobody wants to go back that way.

　Therefore, we can only move forward.

　But after walking for another half hour, they were quite certain that they had not been misled by the fragrance of the flowers, but they still could not get out of the flowerbed.

　—Is this flowerbed really that big?

　Professor Mitis directly denied her own guess.

　There could not possibly be such a vast flower garden in this mountain of the gods. The only possibility now is that they have already been unknowingly exposed to the fragrance of the flowers.

　While they thought they weren't being confused, they were actually already confused. They appeared to be moving in a straight line, but in reality, they were still going in circles in the flowerbed.

　As for the traces left during the spinning, they have naturally been erased without a trace. However, just as this awareness began to emerge, a change finally occurred ahead.

　They found a statue in this "flowerbed maze"! The statue had never been in the flowerbed before.

　This perfectly dispelled their suspicion that they were spinning in circles amidst the confusion of floral scents.

　Everyone who saw the statue was drawn to it, and they all gathered around it, staring at it closely.

　Professor Mitia, however, raised the crystal ball, choosing to observe indirectly through it.

　But upon closer inspection, she suddenly frowned.

　The appearance of the statue, which she observed indirectly through the crystal ball, was completely different from the appearance of the statue that she saw directly with her naked eye!

　She wasn't mesmerized by the statue and turned directly to Ollie beside her, asking, "What does the statue look like in your eyes?"

　Auli narrowed her eyes and said, "No need to look. The appearance of that statue is a reflection of everyone's inner self. Only those with a firm heart can resist being captivated by it. Well, it seems to have a lot to do with the strength of one's mind."

　With a quick glance, she saw that even the resolute paladins were captivated by the statue, standing around it in a stunned circle.

　Even the paladins couldn't hold on, and naturally, many people in the North were also captivated by the statue.

　Professor Mitia, however, was still pondering why the statues seen through the crystal ball looked different from those seen with the naked eye.

　If, as Ollie says, the appearance of the statue is a reflection of each person's inner self, then no matter what method is used, the appearance of the statue should be the same for the same person.

　However, that was not actually the case. She was completely baffled.

　But then she saw Professor Lily flap her wings and fly over the statue, then suddenly pull out a giant hammer bigger than herself and smash it down on the statue's head!

　In that instant, those captivated by the statue rushed to stop her. But Professor Lily was simply too fast.

　With a loud bang, the statue's head shattered into pieces.

　Professor Mitia's lips twitched, thinking to herself that the statue's appearance in Professor Lily's eyes should be the appearance of someone she cared about.

　But after Professor Lily smashed the statue, she looked quite pleased with herself. She casually wiped away nonexistent sweat and said smugly, "Nothing special."

　The people who were captivated by the statue were struck as if by a blow; they staggered, their faces pale, and they were on the verge of collapse.

　It seems that the collapse of the statue also traumatized their spirits.

　“Brute-force attacks are not an option,” Professor Mitis said, feeling extremely troubled.

　Fortunately, those who remain in the team are still in good spirits and have not truly collapsed because of this psychological trauma.

　They gradually recovered after only a period of rest.

　The group continued onward... and just ten minutes later they encountered another statue.

　Those who were previously captivated were still not immune. Professor Lily pulled out her sledgehammer once more…

Chapter 957 [The Goddess of Love and Beauty] Aphrodite (4k)

　"Don't!"

　Gavin North quickly spoke up to stop him.

　His team members were the weakest and were more deeply affected by the statue. Naturally, the psychological trauma they suffered after the statue was smashed was more severe.

　I could bear the first emotional trauma, and I could barely endure the second, but what about the third, fourth... and even the fifth?

　If this happens several times, even a Holy Knight of the Holy Church would probably not be able to withstand it.

　Moreover, as their spirit continues to be damaged, their very soul will also be harmed.

　But if the statue isn't smashed, how can the people captivated by it be awakened?