Breaking the Jar, Taking the Spirit

The fat man spoke quickly, but Li Wei could still understand the gist of what had happened.

After jumping into the pool, they suddenly found themselves in another tomb chamber. There, they encountered hundreds of Sacrificial Maiden, were forced into a passage, and discovered the large stone coffin. Finally, they found the 'Earth Spirit Remains'.

"If it weren't for this, I would be dead." The fat man held a severed limb in his arms as if it were a treasure.

After a pause, the fat man continued his story.

"There was a white-haired monster in that stone coffin. It was incredibly powerful, and I was no match for it. I wanted to return to Shadow Street, but I discovered that the 'Mage's Tomb' seemed to be sealed by some kind of force, and the passage couldn't be opened at all. At that moment, I jumped out of the stone coffin with this thing in my arms. The monster chased after me, and I don't know how I ended up running around. I just stumbled through that stone wall. Can you believe how unlucky I was? Who would have thought that behind that stone wall was an underground lake? Luckily, I can swim, or I would have drowned, if not killed by that monster." The fat man spoke quickly, but Li Wei understood what had happened.

"The strange fish in the lake didn't bite you?" Li Wei suddenly remembered that there were strange fish in the water that could eat people without spitting out their bones.

The fat man shook his head, claiming that he had swum all the way up smoothly and hadn't encountered any strange fish.

Afterwards, Li Wei guessed that the strange fish's refusal to attack was probably related to the severed limb that the fat man was holding.

Li Wei looked at the severed limb in the fat man's arms with his Eye of Perception, and a look of delight appeared on his face.

"The Earth Spirit Remains, the remains of the Archmage Mordor, contain powerful earth magic and are accompanied by the 'Earth Control Magic'. By collecting all the remains of the Archmage Mordor, one will obtain the Archmage's legacy."

The Eye of Perception saw more than the fat man did; the 'Earth Control Magic' was likely the main reason the fat man could pass through the wall. It's quite possible that the fat man unintentionally activated this magic, allowing him to pass through the stone wall and escape.

"You're really lucky," Li Wei said sincerely, patting the fat man on the shoulder.

Based on the murals in the labyrinth, the glazed paintings on the jars, and the carvings on the stone coffin, Li Wei roughly understood the history of the Mage's Tomb. Apparently, the mage buried here was named 'Moldo,' who also had another title, 'God of Magic.' A very powerful title. This person, revered as the God of Magic, was dismembered into six parts after his death, each containing a magical element, and buried in six different tomb chambers.

From the pool where they started, the fat man reached the 'Earth-type' tomb chamber and, by chance, obtained the 'Earth Spirit Remains'. Li Wei said he wanted to study the object, and without hesitation, the fat man handed the 'Earth Spirit Remains' from his arms to Li Wei.

"This thing is a treasure, Brother Li, please handle it with care. Of course, it would be even better if you could return it to me in the end," the fat man said pitifully.

Li Wei understood that the fat man thought he was greedy for the treasure and wanted to keep it all for himself. However, Li Wei did indeed have that intention, but a single fragment wouldn't grant any special skills. According to the information obtained from his Eye of Perception, he needed to collect all six fragments to obtain the power of the 'God of Law'.

But why is this instance world sealed off again? If, as I analyzed before, there are true and false 'Mage's Tomb', then this place, which might be the real Mage's Tomb, might have been sealed off from the start, and the seal would only be lifted when 'some' purpose was achieved.

Now it seems the only possibility is to gather all six pieces of the corpse and put them together; this is very likely the ultimate 'goal'.

"Collecting all six pieces of the corpse grants access to the mage's legacy. This is clearly a reward, or perhaps a 'bait,' as such a tempting offer is enough to drive anyone mad. After all, the mage's legacy represents supreme power." Li Wei pondered quickly, then looked at the corpse in his hand, another thought arising in his mind, "But this doesn't explain why there are two Mage's Tomb, one real and one fake... It must still be what I analyzed at the beginning—to conceal something from someone... That person can't be a reincarnator, because there's no need, and it can't be me either. If that were the case, Fatty and I would have entered the easier fake tomb. So, the real target of this concealment is probably someone else entirely—the 'disciple' who fought the mage in the final battle?"

Li Wei thought the answer was almost obvious, but he still wanted to confirm it again. So he asked the fat man beside him, "Among the Mage's Tomb you know of, are there any like the ones we encountered today? Also, have you heard any other reincarnators mention the existence of two ' Mage's Tomb's sites?"

The fat man wasn't stupid; of course he knew what Li Wei was talking about.

He understood that the Mage's Tomb he was entering this time was not the same one he had entered before, the one where he could simply fight and kill monsters to "farm equipment".

The fat man stated definitively, "I swear on my life, this is the first time I've ever been to this Mage's Tomb, and I've never heard of a second Mage's Tomb..."

Li Wei nodded, already having made up his mind.

"It should be a Reincarnator or Destroyer with S-rank combat power. They will be teleported to the real tomb after entering the Mage's Tomb. The purpose is to have them collect all the remains and then piece them together."

To encourage people to do this, those murals were left behind, stating that 'collecting all the remains will grant great power.'

Li Wei swallowed hard; he suddenly had a strange feeling.

This all seems like a 'trap'.

After carefully examining the 'Earth Spirit Remains' in his hand, Li Wei found nothing special. Apart from the powerful earth elemental magic contained within, it had no other function, and he didn't know how to activate the accompanying 'Earth Control Magic'.

Looking at the expectant fat man, Li Wei smiled helplessly and handed the severed limb back to him.

The fat man looked as if he had received the most precious treasure; his expression was as lewd as could be.

Li Wei simply ignored him and shifted his gaze back to the jar not far away. Li Wei knew that if the story depicted in the mural wasn't a lie, then the severed limb containing the spirit should be in the jar.

Furthermore, there must be a 'Corpse Keeper' in the surrounding lakes as well.

After greeting the fat man, Li Wei jumped onto the jar.

The jar was full of water. Li Wei carefully stepped on the edge of the jar, squatted down, and began to observe the water. Soon, he discovered some problems.

This water is very viscous.

However, the water was very clear, and through the surface, one could see a severed limb placed in the center of the jar.

With his Eye of Perception, Li Wei saw the information about the severed limb: ' Water Spirit Remnant, the remains of the God of Magic, Mordor, containing powerful water magic and accompanied by the 'Water-Control Technique' spell. Collecting all of Mordor's remains will grant him the God of Magic's inheritance.'

Sure enough, the information matched the markings on the Earth Spirit Remains.

As a precaution, Li Wei took out a low-grade longsword and inserted the blade into the water.

As if plunged into a large puddle of mud, the longsword encountered great resistance. Not only that, the blade also melted rapidly, emitting pungent white smoke, and was quickly corroded clean by the strange water.

"Is it a strong acid?" Li Wei was stunned. This was going to be difficult. Although the corroded longsword was of poor quality, it was still made of metal. The fact that it was dissolved so quickly showed how corrosive the water was.

Although I have been enhanced, I am still a physical body, how can I compare to metal?

"The only way is to break this jar and take away the Water Spirit Remnant," Li Wei decided, and jumped down from the jar.

The fat man saw Li Wei jump down and came to greet him.

"So, are there any severed limbs inside?"

Li Wei nodded and explained about the strong acid, "To retrieve the Water Spirit Remnant inside, we have to break the jar. Stay away from it in a bit; that strong acid is extremely potent."

Upon hearing this, the fat man quickly hid more than ten meters away.

Seeing this, Li Wei also channeled his inner energy and unleashed a 'Shockwave Fist' at the jar.

'Click'

The sound of air and shattering jars rang out simultaneously. Li Wei's Shockwave Fist was incredibly destructive; it could shatter not only ceramic jars but even steel.

With a loud crash, the jar shattered, and a large amount of that strong acid flowed out from the crack, falling to the ground like molten steel and corroding some of the gravel.

Li Wei threw another punch, shattering the jar completely, and strong acid gushed out like a flood. Even as Li Wei used his Sword Control Technique to fly up, seeing that the fat man was still standing there dumbfounded, he grabbed him.

The entire island was now covered in strong acid, and within moments it was corroded and riddled with holes. From above, it looked a thousand times more disgusting than any so-called "puffy breast."

Amidst the shards of the jar, the Water Spirit Remnant lay quietly. Li Wei changed his sword technique, controlling the Beast Soul to descend, intending to take the remains. But at that moment, a burst of water suddenly erupted from the lake, and a dark figure swept past at incredible speed, taking the 'Water Spirit Remnant' first.

"Don't even think about it!" Seeing that the dark figure seemed to be trying to escape, Li Wei threw a punch that shattered the air around the escape route.

The shattered air created powerful resistance, trapping the dark figure within. Only then could Li Wei see the figure clearly; indeed, it was also a monster covered in white fur.

"Damn it, this is the monster!" the fat man shouted as he saw it.

"Corpse Keeper, monsters that only exist in tombs... Combat Power A3... Health 12000."

Li Wei glanced at it and smiled dismissively.

Perhaps for the fat man, an A3-level monster is an unmatched existence, but for himself, a monster of that level is simply a joke.

Li Wei raised his fist, ready to throw another punch, but the white-haired monster raised its head, revealing a face that terrified Li Wei.