When in Doubt, Head to Space

Lu Ban had once witnessed the downfall of the civilization that invented Cleansing Fire in the Glorious Realm.

He also knew that Cleansing Fire itself was an extremely potent form of contamination. It used souls, wills, and intense emotions as fuel, and once ignited, it would never go out.

Through special methods, the shrine maidens of Wa Island Grand Shrine could control Cleansing Fire to a certain extent and use it for themselves. All of this originated from the first shrine maiden—the one who had transformed into the Divine Cherry Tree.

Her soul had remained eternally within the Divine Cherry Tree, sustaining the Cleansing Fire by absorbing the despair of shrine maidens before their deaths.

This sort of flame did indeed resemble the Spirit Torch of the Night Country.

However, the Spirit Torch itself did not devour everything around it. It only burned within mages, using the light it produced to drive away demons. The blazing flames could indeed affect demons without harming ordinary people.

In Lu Ban's words, the flames of the Spirit Torch were more like controlled Cleansing Fire.

So Lu Ban was somewhat curious about how the Spirit Torch had actually come into being.

However, when he glanced at the contents of the parchment, he saw nothing but incantations and rituals.

He could not understand any of it.

Lu Ban was not some genius capable of drawing inferences from one example, so he decided to ask Xiya directly.

"The Spirit Torch's kindling is indeed formed from that bit of contamination buried deep in every mage's heart through the contract. Under normal circumstances, the contamination is suppressed by the magic net, and releasing it also requires the magic net's intervention."

Xiya gave a simple explanation.

As for what this contamination actually was, Lu Ban certainly had no way