“Where is it?” the young girls asked, puzzled.

Elaphia said, “The statue, the platform, and the interior beneath all contain metal, shaped into a mechanism probably used to turn the hidden door.”

Li Ang asked, “Can you find the mechanism?”

“The position is right here, but I can’t see the trigger mechanism; some kind of magic is concealing it, so we need to find the revealing conditions, or Li Ang, you find a way.”

“Level 9 can’t break it?” Zoe asked, puzzled.

The little cat couldn’t hold back any longer, reaching around the statue, trying to find the mechanism.

“This is some kind of ancient mechanism,” said Elaphia.

Li Ang explained to the young girls, “Ancient mechanisms typically use not only magic but also Spiritual Manipulation Technique to construct, generally very hard to break.”

“Except for High-tier Curse Masters.” Blondie Douding looked at Li Ang with her arms crossed.

“Let me give it a try.”

Li Ang closed his eyes and began Spiritual Perception.

Beside him, the perplexed group continued various discussions and speculations.

Li Ang opened his eyes again and switched to the Spiritual Horizon, looking at the discordant position he perceived.

On the stained glass above, where the demon was pierced by the goddess’s sword, there was special spirituality attached.

While Zoe was feeling around, she occasionally glanced at Li Ang.

Noticing him looking up, she immediately asked, “Is the mechanism up there?”

“No, but it’s related,” Li Ang said. “Ancient ruins’ mechanisms are often interconnecting traps, taking half a day to solve only to find it’s just the prelude to the actual mechanism.”

“This is crazy!” Zoe said directly.

“I agree.”

Hearing Zoe say this made him feel comfortable.

Having joined the Celestial Group at The Soul Apex, he was qualified to explore various ancient ruins, and his Curse Art abilities played a significant role in unlocking mechanisms. However, he often found the endless chain puzzles incredibly annoying.

Back then, he frequently complained in his heart, wondering why “Nebis Fantasy” was modeled after money-grabbing games, yet some designs seemed to copy large games over-packed with filler content.

In order to cross a bridge, one had to solve Mechanism A to the east, then Mechanism C to the west, followed by Mechanisms B and D to the east and north, and finally flip a switch in front of the bridge.

Having a reasonable amount of puzzles during a game’s progress can serve as rhythm buffers. However, the games where even combat-related titles needed axe throwing for ten minutes to solve puzzles seemed a bit excessive.

Not to mention, some games went overboard, essentially embedding minimal combat within puzzles, rewarding players for indulging in designers’ “whimsical ideas.”

However, it’s highly unlikely the core game of Nebis would incorporate mechanisms. The occurrence here possibly suggests a peculiar synchronization of souls between ancient artisans of this world and otherworldly game designers.

The mechanism before them wasn’t as perilous as those in ancient ruins, but the principle was similar, utilizing inexplicable modern magic combined with Spiritual Manipulation for design.

The key was on the stained glass.

“What should we do, smash it?” Zoe suggested.

“Don’t!” ALulu rushed to say.

“It can’t be smashing. If you had to repair the glass window every time it opened, the costs would be too high, right?” Dorothy shook her head on the side.

Li Ang didn’t pull back from the Spiritual Horizon; he gradually discerned that the spirituality on the stained glass served a concealing purpose, which would lift the cover once conditions were met.

However, what conditions were needed now was anyone’s guess.

Li Ang didn’t always adhere strictly to their terms when unlocking mechanisms in ancient ruins.

He raised his hand and directly eliminated the “cover” part of the spirituality.

Back then, he had to rely on perception to handle it for a long time; now, he saw the spiritual structure of the mechanism in the Spiritual Horizon, allowing him to perform precise operations while enhancing Magic Power output, driving the pressure into critical connection points.

Feeling the magical impact loosen, the cover was lifted, and Li Ang switched back to the conventional view.

The goddess’s statue transformed.

It was as if the statue went from hardened plaster to soft clay, spreading its hands and opening the Holy Scripture at its waist, facing the people present.

On the pages of the book, three lines of words appeared.

You must uphold discipline, restrict practice, and find the truth through a harrowing journey.

You must master self-control, restrain yourself, and not be burdened by desires.

You must guard your heart, discern your way forward, and know what is possible.

Show me your path.

What was uncovered was not the switch to the hidden path but a hint to unlock the next mechanism.

“Is this what interconnecting traps are?” Dorothy was already starting to dread the hassle.

Zoe frowned; these words were quite convoluted, and she was trying to understand them.

“It’s a bit troublesome,” she said.

Elaphia said, “Riddle-like mechanisms are the most troublesome type.”

Li Ang nodded; sometimes, ancient ancestors loved cunning words.

The fact that this statue could move was something he hadn’t anticipated.

From the perspective of the Spiritual Horizon, the statue itself only possessed a faint basic spirituality, merely maintaining its goddess appearance.

Li Ang could discern some clues from the mechanisms in the Dark Night Ancient City, but this statue remained as silent as an ordinary sculpture.

This small chapel indeed harbored many secrets.

“These are words my teacher taught me.” ALulu suddenly said.

Li Ang looked at the pink-haired young girl, “Were those his exact words?”

Xiaoniu nodded in confirmation.

“Since that’s the case, it must be intentional for you to remember.” Elaphia said.

“When he told me these things, I had just mastered the way of the Paladin.”

“What’s special about Paladins?” Zoe said.

Paladins are powerful, but their members have always been few, even in the Wotam Theocracy. Among the many Defender Knights seen along the way, the number of Paladins is far fewer than Warriors and Knights.

“If there’s something special, it’s the mighty divine power gained from their oath.”

They might be more divine than Priests who rely on Magic Power to cast Divine Magic, mainly because of the oath itself.

The various Professions of Nebis are called “skills” because they encompass the way of using Magic Power behind them. They stem from various different ideas, with similar Professions being much fewer than different ones, and thus no one has ever had the energy to practice too many Professions simultaneously.

The oath of a Paladin is like a rule of the world, akin to using Spiritual Traction to manipulate Magic Power, employing Magic Power to interfere with material. Making a firm oath that one steadfastly upholds allows one to comprehend the Technique to summon Divine Power using Magic Power.

“Is it to input Divine Power?” Dorothy said on the side, “Then I can do it too.”

She raised her palm, the faint divine light capable of transforming into the Holy Fire Technique or Shield of Glimmerlight.

The Half Elf touched the Goddess sculpture with her palm. The divine light was instantly absorbed by the sculpture, enveloping her in a circle of light, as if the Goddess had truly descended here.

“Did it work?” Dorothy said happily.

The divine light flickered a few times and then completely extinguished, and the Goddess sculpture returned to its silent and lifeless state.

“Try yours?” Li Ang said to ALulu.

“Your Divine Power is purer than this lazy Priest’s.”

“Hey!”

ALulu nodded, raised her hand, and summoned Divine Power.

Golden light covered the sculpture, producing an effect far surpassing Dorothy’s. Within the glow, the Goddess sculpture began to move, flipping the Holy Scripture in her hand. On a new page, the central part sunk, and a lever rose up.

“It worked!”

Zoe hopped over and grabbed the lever, but before pulling, she turned her head to seek Li Ang’s approval.

Seeing him nod, the little cat smiled and pulled hard.

The mechanism rumbled, the church floor gently shook, and before everyone, the floor in front of the Goddess sculpture moved aside, revealing steps leading downward.

“It seems only pure Divine Power can open it.” Elaphia said.

Li Ang lit the Adventure Lantern, leading the way as he took the group into the underground passage.

“Why can’t I do it?” Dorothy said, unhappy.

“Paladins have purer Divine Power.” The rather silent Andasu suddenly chimed in.

The Beast eared Maiden seemed to be feeling something and said, “It’s truly dazzling, unlike yours.”

“Damn.”

Looking at the Half Elf gritting her teeth, Li Ang felt Andasu wasn’t being sarcastic.

He’s met several Paladins of the Excellence Realm, their strength is outrageously strong, not needing powerful Equipment to achieve great deeds.

Reflecting on Andasu’s response, that overly pure Divine Power might contain Light Element.

The reason for saying it contains is because the attacks a Paladin can unleash are far from the power of those who truly master the Light Element.

Andasu’s reaction seemed like physical discomfort, because Li Ang knew she could unleash Dark Elemental Attacks never seen used by anyone, he speculated it was due to sensing ALulu’s Light Element making her uncomfortable.

Speaking of which, in the Flowing Silver Arena, the Beast eared Maiden sparred with Zoe, since practicing as an Evil Assassin, ALulu hasn’t used Divine Power in front of her.

Li Ang looked at Xiaoniu, due to a pair of ample proportions blocking her view, going down the stairs was more difficult for her than ordinary people, moving step by step, wobbling, also swaying the pair of pink braids behind her head.

“ALulu, what’s your oath?”

“Oath?” Xiaoniu blinked her pure purple round eyes.

“One must swear to become a Paladin.”

“Oh, right.”

ALulu accepted this statement, yet she couldn’t specify what oath she had committed to.

It’s an unintended oath, not consciously maintaining it, yet having done nothing that might cause an oath-breaking incident.

What can be said? A childlike heart?

This is a situation Li Ang has never heard of, only concluding her thoughts are completely untainted.

Descending the stairs, everyone arrived at a stone chamber.

In the center of the stone chamber, four coffins lined up prominently.

“See, I told you it’s a catacomb.” Dorothy said with slight defiance.

“Is the teacher perhaps inside?” ALulu scrutinized the coffins.

“Each is covered in dust, this place has been closed for too long, doesn’t seem like anyone has been here.” Elaphia said.

The blondie Douding’s gaze lingered more on the walls of the room. Unlike the Linden Clan catacombs she previously went to with Dorothy, which contained inscriptions narrating the lives of the family members, here on the walls were panels of stained glass murals, their exquisite beauty far surpassing the church above.

Upon first glance, these murals are also interconnected, fully calling them a series of paintings.

“This place… is definitely not simple.” Blondie Douding’s voice was somewhat unsettled.

Seeing Elaphia, despite often muttering “small fry, small fry”, usually calm, reveal emotional fluctuation, Li Ang was surprised.

Douding stared at a pattern below one of the murals. At first glance, Li Ang saw nothing.

He opened the system map, intending to see how the system labeled this place.

On the mini-map panel, it marked boldly as “Saints’ Chamber.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep