Chapter 1041 - 432: Bronze Tree

Chapter 1041: Chapter 432: Bronze Tree

The communication on the altar did not last long, and as the flames in the fire basin extinguished, everything returned to normal.

"We should leave now," the Hunter reminded.

Wu Chang nodded, following the Hunter out of the secret space, but in his mind, he was still recalling the conversation on the altar.

The speaker was just a silhouette, making it impossible to discern a specific identity, but judging from the way they spoke, the World Dungeon seemed to take place during a feudal period.

Earlier, he was curious as to why the stone altar was surrounded by Talismans.

Talismans and Daoist Techniques, among other practices, focus more on combat and self-improvement. For instance, Wu Chang’s Thunder Technique is more about tactics against enemies, whether for attack or support, with humans as the targets.

From the perspective of inter-plane communication, Mystical Ceremonies are more stable and should take the lead. However, the stone altar was led by Talismans.

Now he understood. The Bright Society did so because the Plane Rules of the World Dungeon were more compatible with Talismans. Using Talismans made it easier to open passages between the two worlds.

The two withdrew from the ceremony connecting to the World Dungeon without rushing out of the secret space, opting instead to explore further within the space.

The ceremony was set in a deep forest. They kept moving outward to the edge of the woods, where they found a large number of heavily armed soldiers, solemnly guarding the forest and forbidding any idlers from approaching.

From the style of the soldiers’ armor, it was apparent that the secret space the Bright Society was in resembled ancient Xia Country.

The soldiers were on high alert, but entry and exit were not restricted to all.

Not far from them, they could see a specifically built pathway leading straight into the forest.

A long convoy lined up to enter the forest, with each vehicle meticulously checked by soldiers before being allowed through, under very stringent control.

The two intended to lurk on the side, trying to eavesdrop on some intelligence, but found that regardless of the transport convoys or the soldiers on guard duty, the atmosphere was extremely serious. Their faces were full of reverence, with hardly any smiles visible, let alone discussing the events within the forest.

Helpless, the two could only locate a departing coachman and gained control over him.

Subsequently, Wu Chang employed the long-unused "Mind Resonance" to exert Spiritual Control over the driver.

With the increasing difficulty of the Dungeon, the opportunities for "Mind Resonance" to come into play were becoming rarer. Slightly more important targets in the Dungeon were challenging to control spiritually, but a common coachman’s mental firmness was still insufficient to resist Spiritual Control.

The coachman’s pupils dilated briefly before recovering, becoming thoroughly informative, sharing all he knew without reservation.

Unlike the Hunter’s method of managing under the radar, Bright Society’s presence in this secret space was virtually godlike.

According to the coachman, Mercury was regarded as a True Immortal among the populace, merely coming to the mortal realm out of discontent with worldly suffering.

The forest they were in was known as Immortal Residence Forest; normally, without an immortal’s invitation, ordinary people were not allowed within ten miles of it.

Starting a year ago, Mercury and his companions began to build temples and altars everywhere, collecting Power of Incense.

A month ago, they ordered the collected Power of Incense from various places to be brought into the Immortal Residence Forest, hence the convoy resembling an endless dragon.

In conclusion, the coachman added an extra note, saying the dense convoys have lasted for a whole month. Initially, the incense transported came from all over the country for the first three or four days, after which the convoys specifically headed toward the Imperial City.

"Perhaps it’s because the lords of the Imperial City have more sincere hearts and donate more incense money, thus producing such a large amount of incense," he speculated.

The so-called incense is another term for the Power of Faith.

By the size of the convoy, one can tell that the volume of Power of Faith being transported is not small.

As for the coachman’s final words, most of the Power of Faith coming from the Imperial City, it was likely not generated in this Plane but rather from other secret spaces controlled by the Bright Society.

The accumulation of such a massive amount of Power of Faith here can’t simply be for the purpose of establishing contact with the World Dungeon.

Furthermore, they had just observed that connecting with the Dungeon Plane did not consume much Energy.

The true purpose for amassing this Power of Faith might only be revealed during the World Dungeon.

Wu Chang made the coachman forget this segment of memory, then let him go.

The two then stealthily boarded a carriage transporting incense, riding it deeper inside without a trace.

Inside the carriage, numerous sealed wooden boxes were placed. Wu Chang casually opened a box and discovered it was packed full of white incense ash.

If not for the different texture and the accompanying smell of ash, one might mistake it for transporting contraband in another setting.

He grabbed a handful of incense ash, crumbling it in his hands, able to sense some Power of Faith from it.

Roughly estimating, only one hundred carriages’ worth of incense ash was needed to convert its Power of Incense to Power of Faith enough to replenish Erin’s full Divine Power.

Over the past month, the incense ash brought into Immortal Residence Forest numbered in the thousands if not tens of thousands.

Even accounting for wastage across Planes, it was still a monstrous volume of Power of Faith.

What exactly is the Bright Society planning to do with such an enormous amount of Power of Faith?

The Hunter’s stealth techniques were such that even Mercury couldn’t see through, let alone the ordinary soldiers inspecting the carriages.

The two thus openly entered the Immortal Residence Forest while aboard the carriage.

The carriage traveled along a designated route, penetrating deep into the forest, stopping in front of an enormous tree.

The tree’s surface appeared with a bronze-like metallic texture. Within the bark’s patterns, there were red vein-like patterns, with red light flowing through them.