Chapter 1084 - 884: Level 4 Witchcraft Artifact (2)

The Duke crouched by the spring, scooping up a handful of water to splash on his face. The icy stream trickled down his cheeks, washing away the fatigue and scent of battle. He took a couple of sips and felt invigorated.

This spring water could be considered a healing holy medicine, effective for restoring both physical body and Spiritual Power.

He then sat cross-legged beside the World Tree Seedling, retrieving three dark golden Space Rings from a severed hand and began inspecting their contents.

The first ring held resources Audric had scavenged from the first level, including a large amount of high-purity Magic Metal Ore, numerous Magical Beast Crystal Cores of varying quality, several Antique-level Magic Items seized from native nobles, and a few Magic Stone Cards.

The Duke picked up the cards, scanning their value with his Spiritual Power and raised an eyebrow slightly.

Among these cards, one had a value of a billion on a Second-level Magic Stone Card, which equates to one hundred billion Level 1 Magic Stones.

With the additional, lower-value cards, the Magic Stone reserves in this ring were a considerable haul.

The contents of the second ring were even more valuable; the Duke’s Spiritual Power first detected an item emitting extremely subtle energy waves—a Witchcraft Artifact.

This was a Level 4 Witchcraft Artifact.

The artifact was a bracelet composed of six small discs all the size of copper coins, crafted from an unrecognizable dark silver metal. The discs had jagged edges and were interlocked through precise mechanical structures, each engraved with a unique ancient rune.

The Duke attempted to probe them with his Spiritual Power but was instantly repelled by complex restrictions upon touching the discs’ surface.

The restrictions were layered and intricate, evidently set by someone with significant prowess; with his current Spiritual Power strength and understanding of Dragon Language Runes, breaking it by force was not feasible.

However, the mere existence of a Level 4 Witchcraft Artifact already pointed to its significance. For the Blood Gold Clan’s direct descendant to bring such an artifact to the Path of Divine Revelation meant it was not ordinary defensive or offensive equipment.

During the battle, Audric didn’t use this artifact, perhaps feeling overly confident in his Dragon Language spell defenses or maybe because it wasn’t a defensive item, unable to withstand the direct blast of the Six-Color Divine Light.

In any case, the artifact now belonged to the Duke. Once he returned to the Wizard Plane and sought a master to unlock the restrictions, its true purpose would be revealed.

The third ring contained Magic Potions, food, and other supplies, likely what Audric prepared for the Path of Divine Revelation, all now in the Duke’s possession.

Finally, there were the three treasures from the Osseron Kingdom that the Duke had previously stolen, items Audric originally coveted.

The Duke took them out one by one and placed them on the grass before him.

The first was a star-blue pendant the size of a pigeon egg, its interior sealed with a rotating fragment of a miniature nebula. The pendant’s surface shimmered with starlight that emitted faint spatial waves.

This was a defensive treasure, capable of automatically activating a layer of Starlight Shield in the face of lethal attacks; its strength equaling that of a Demigod-level Mage’s full defense.

The second item was a dark golden wand less than an arm’s length, engraved with densely packed Thunder Runes and topped with a fist-sized deep blue Thunder Crystal.

This was an offensive treasure, capable of unleashing a wide-scale thunderstorm attack, possessing the power equivalent to a Demigod-level Thunder Element Mage’s full strike.

The third item intrigued the Duke most; it was an extremely thin robe woven from Shadow Silk, cool as water to the touch, its surface rippling with fine spatial waves that left fleeting thin fissures in the air wherever they passed.

This was an exceedingly rare spatial treasure; wearing it allowed crossing barriers between most different spaces even without mastering Spatial Rules.

In the treacherous environment of Path of Divine Revelation, such a spatial treasure promised access to many hidden areas sealed by Spatial Rules, offering strategic value far exceeding the sum of the other two treasures.

The Duke speculated Audric might have been primarily after this item, with the others merely being extras.

It seemed similar to the Shadow Cloak he possessed, yet fundamentally different.

The Shadow Cloak fixedly entered the Shadow Plane, whereas this robe allowed traversal and entry into most different spaces, penetrating various spatial barriers.

The Duke named it the Void Gauze Robe, expecting it would prove quite convenient moving forward.

Having reviewed all his acquisitions and confirmed there were no hidden traps among them, he commenced resting on-site, consuming several Level 3 Potions to rapidly restore himself.

The Duke sat cross-legged at the Spring of Life’s edge, feeling the warm potion permeate through his Magic Circulation, steadying the trembling Rule Branches within his Spiritual Sea under its nourishment.

Together with the restorative power of Life Rules, his overall state trended towards stability.

Once he finished appraising all the items in the three rings, he suddenly noticed something amiss.

When acquiring the Philosopher’s Stone from Count Cadwell’s Treasure Vault, his points suddenly surged by over ten thousand.

From seizing the statue from Victor, his points shot up by twelve thousand.

Stealing the three treasures from the Royal Plaza added another fifteen thousand points.

Each leap in points resulted from him personally capturing high-value items from forces native to Elderlands.

Yet after acquiring the vast resources and Level 4 Witchcraft Artifact from Audric, the Divine Revelation Mark remained unresponsive, with points staying unchanged.

The Divine Revelation Mark’s judgement was more precise than he’d previously surmised, tallying only items directly secured from Elderlands’ locals.

Items he personally unearthed or extracted from the indigenous Lords, ritual battles, or royal vaults counted towards points.

While battle spoils from Audric, regardless of their worth, were second-hand.

Items counted as points when obtained by Audric, and not recalculated merely by changing hands.

Otherwise, competitors could infinitely exchange items previously tallied for points, leading to the entire point system collapsing instantaneously.

The architect of Wizard Council’s system had already considered this.

The aim of the Path of Divine Revelation was nurturing promising young Mages capable of forming Divine Status within the window period, not fostering feeders.

The core logic of the point system was shifting competitors’ focus from mutual plunder to exploring the land itself.

Understanding this, the Duke set aside the emptied Audric rings, resuming focus on his recovery.

During this rest period, he glanced at the Divine Revelation Mark’s leaderboard.

A translucent light screen unfurled silently before him, his gaze drifting slowly down from the top of the list.

First was the Duke, total points twenty-eight thousand.

Second was Audric Bloodgold, points static at pre-escape transmission levels, indicating his total resources scavenged from the first level were indeed considerable. Yet now nobody knew the second on the list with Golden Dragon Bloodline lay with half a shoulder shattered, barely clinging to life somewhere on the second level.

Third was Valentine Bloodgold, fourth was Helena, fifth was Rodrick, sixth was Annabelle Bryan, seventh was Jonathan Seville, and the eighth to tenth were names unfamiliar and hailing from the Golden Continent and Scavi Continent.

All five demigods ranked within the top ten, the Duke slightly nodding as the Path’s competitive landscape proved more defined than anticipated.

In the latter half of the first level, demigods likely had each located their respective keys, their point accumulation markedly outpacing typical Level 3 Mages.

Individuals like Audric, with tier-three high-stage talent, could compete well independently, but without sufficient ace cards, always risked being overwhelmed in a demigod’s crushing ambit.