The Oathkeeper forcibly suppressed his inner shock and anger, striving to keep his mental frequency stable so as not to be seen through by Han Xiao.
He observed Han Xiao's expression and mental fluctuations, but could not detect any probing or playful intent in Han Xiao; he could only sense Black Star's curiosity.
--Black Star inquired about the Sanctuary, whether he understood the Sanctum's plans or had heard the term from elsewhere, as very few people in the entire universe knew of the Sanctuary.
The Oathkeeper felt as if he were riding a turbulent spatial current, his emotions surging and fluctuating wildly. He tried his best to remain calm and pretend to be casual.
"Where did you learn about the Sanctuary?"
Someone told me.
Han Xiao made up a lie on the spot; naturally, he couldn't be telling the truth.
"Who said that?" the Oathkeeper persisted. "Very few people in the entire universe know of the Sanctuary's existence; even advanced civilizations may not know of Sanctuary existence."
Since Black Star mentioned the name "Sanctuary," the Oathkeeper understood that Black Star possessed certain information. If he pretended not to know about the Sanctuary, he would lose his trail. He was eager to know just how much Han Xiao knew.
"Well... would you believe me if I said it was inspiration and Tu Shu?"
Han Xiao had no choice but to resort to his usual excuse to deflect criticism. Although it wasn't very credible, he was just using it as a pretext and had no intention of persuading the other party.
But to his surprise, the Oathkeeper nodded slightly and raised no further objection, as if this was the correct answer, and said:
"This is indeed a simple way to perceive the Sanctuary, but it is uncontrollable and extremely vague. Only beings who have reached a certain level of spiritual attainment can possibly establish a faint connection with the Sanctuary in the unseen realm—occasionally catching a glimpse of its blurry outline in a moment when inspiration intersects with the universe. However, your perception is separated from it by endless dimensions of time and space, making it forever untouchable in your spiritual sense. At most, you might hear whispered murmurs, speaking in an ancient language..."
Han Xiao was stunned by what he said.
Hey bro, what's wrong with you? Why did you suddenly veer towards a Cthulhu style?
Hearing the Oathkeeper's mysterious words, Han Xiao was also unsure. He genuinely didn't know what the Sanctuary was. He had only asked today to see what would happen. It seemed that the Sanctum Organization really knew the details of the Sanctuary.
"Stop arguing, can't you just say something I can understand?"
Han Xiao couldn't help but interject.
The Oathkeeper paused for a moment, seemingly hesitant about revealing the information. After thinking for a while, he decided to say some harmless basic information and slowly said:
"The Sanctuary... is an ancient existence. No one knows when it appeared; it may be even older than the Three Universal Civilizations. It can only be perceived or approached at special times or by specific means."
Han Xiao's eyes lit up.
Having finally caught someone in the know, he naturally couldn't miss the opportunity to question them.
"What exactly is that Sanctuary? And where is it located?"
Upon hearing this, the Oathkeeper gave Han Xiao a strange look. Seeing that Han Xiao's behavior did not seem to be fake, he asked in return:
"You do not know?"
"If I knew, why would I be asking you?" Han Xiao narrowed his eyes.
His understanding of the Sanctum Organization was superficial; he was unaware of the connection between the Sanctum Organization and the Sanctuary. He didn't realize that his question had inadvertently hit the nail on the head, giving the Oathkeeper quite a fright.
Upon hearing this, the Oathkeeper breathed a sigh of relief and felt a surge of joy.
It seems Black Star genuinely didn't know about our plan, so was I mistaken? There wasn't actually a mole; Black Star simply obtained the information from elsewhere...
Thinking this, the Oathkeeper didn't stop and continued:
"The Sanctuary does not exist in the material world, nor in Secondary Dimension. It has no concept of geographical location, and I don't know how to define the nature of the Sanctuary. I think it should be considered a phenomenon."
"A phenomenon?" Han Xiao asked curiously.
"Yes, that's the phenomenon."
He waited for the Oathkeeper to continue, but the Oathkeeper showed no intention of explaining.
The two stared at each other, and an awkward silence fell over them.
Seeing this, Han Xiao knew that the Oathkeeper did not want to continue discussing this matter, so he changed the subject:
What's inside that Sanctuary?
"..."
The two continued to stare at each other.
"How many Sanctuary there in total?"
"Six," the Oathkeeper finally answered.
Han Xiao was slightly taken aback; this answer was somewhat unexpected.
He then asked several more questions, such as "How do we find the Sanctuary?" and "How do we open the Sanctuary?" Without exception, all the Oathkeeper said they did not know.
'This guy definitely knows more, but he's not revealing any crucial information, so the Sanctuary must be something extremely important... although I still don't know exactly what it's for.'
With this thought flashing through his mind, Han Xiao realized that he couldn't extract any more information from the Oathkeeper for the time being, so he ended the topic of the Sanctuary and returned to the transaction between the two parties, re-establishing the time, place, and method of the transaction.
Having achieved their goal, the Oathkeeper's figure suddenly exploded, transforming into swirling black flame flowers that vanished without a trace.
After sensing for a while and confirming that the Oathkeeper had left, Han Xiao pinched his chin with his fingers and fell into thought.
"The Sanctum Organization seems to know a lot of secrets. Perhaps I should try to extract some information from them. Right now, I'm only being able to get the Oathkeeper to contact me, which is a bit passive. During the transaction, I could try to track down their messengers... By the way, there are six Sanctuary?"
Han Xiao was puzzled. This was different from his guess. He had originally thought there would only be five Sanctuary, so why were there six?
Unfortunately, the Oathkeeper was ambiguous, and it's unclear whether he was telling the truth or lying, as he was unwilling to reveal any further information.
A thought suddenly occurred to him:
"Once the deal is finalized and we've secured the benefits, we can consider exposing their intention to revive the First Ones. Perhaps we can use this to obtain information about the Sanctuary, which can serve as hush money."
On the other hand, in the secret shrine of the Sanctum Organization's base, the Oathkeeper, who was sitting cross-legged in mid-air, released his mind projection, and the clusters of star-like flames around him returned to his body.
"How's the situation?"
Luo and Fei waited below, looking up at their boss.
"Black Star is easy to talk to. The deal is re-established." The Oathkeeper spoke slowly, "Prepare our chips. The transaction method will remain the same as planned, to prevent Black Star from tracking us."
"Understood." The two nodded.
The Oathkeeper nodded, his tone both solemn and expectant, and said in a deep voice:
"Due to the Information State Disturbance revealed by the Child of Destiny, the appointed day has been brought forward. After obtaining the Holy Light Particle, let's prepare to open the Third Sanctum and conduct the Awakening Ritual. Manison's ability is the foundation for the synthesis; we don't have time to wait for him to completely complete the transformation, we must finish it off."
As he spoke, the Oathkeeper began to gaze into the distance.
"It is time to fulfill my vow and welcome the return of history."
"The mole..."
The two of them were deliberately bringing up topics they didn't want to discuss.
The Oathkeeper was interrupted, gritted their teeth, and muttered:
"Hmph, stop looking for it now, maybe I made a mistake."
Secondary Dimension World, the Netherland Dimension.
The broken black floating islands were pieced together to form a black landmass with a texture like a flowing desert, sometimes with towering hills and sometimes with deep valleys and cliffs, its landscape ever-changing.
The sky was a hazy gray, with thick, dark clouds covering the horizon, their varying shades creating a gradient of colors. In the center of the sky hung a pale white orb, like a full moon, its soft Moonlight illuminating and penetrating the surrounding clouds. Silvery-white specks of light sprinkled across the earth, creating a tranquil and peaceful atmosphere.
With the dimensional energy replenished by Hila, more than half a year has passed, and the broken spatial walls here have been repaired. Spatial turbulence has been blocked outside, and it is no longer the desolate place riddled with holes. Now it is the true appearance of the Netherland Dimension.
In the very center of the Netherland, there is a red lake that rises and falls without wind, creating a turbulent scene. Upon closer inspection, it is revealed to be energy condensed to a near-liquid state, the death energy controlled by Hila.
At this moment, the dazzling crimson was tinged with a faint black aura, the aura of the Netherland. Through the Netherland Brand on Hila, the connection between the two gave her power a huge boost.
This is the legacy left by the previous Death Ability user, which Hila has inherited, significantly increasing her combat power.
Above the crimson lake, Hila sat cross-legged in mid-air, her body surrounded by a faint red aura. Her eyes were closed, her eyelashes trembled, and she was releasing her own energy to replenish the source energy of the Netherland.
At that moment, the figure of Onicelu, the Earth Goddess of the Netherland, appeared beside Hila.
"Our connection is growing stronger."
Hila opened her eyes, her face expressionless, and said, "Having absorbed my energy for several months, how much have you recovered?"
"About three percent is enough to withstand the spatial storms of Secondary Dimension World."
"Only this much?" Hila frowned.
"The source energy of the Netherland comes from two different abilities. If a life ability user reaches Beyond Grade A and replenishes the source energy of the Netherland with you, a resonance reaction will occur, greatly accelerating the repair speed of the Netherland. Now that there is only you, the efficiency is naturally not as high." Onicelu smiled.
"I see..." Hila hummed in agreement, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, now that the Netherland has stabilized, can the spirits of the fallen heroes stored in the dimensional core be released?"
"It's possible, but it's too early now. I suggest you don't do it." Onicelu head. "This is the burial ground of heroic spirits, with a large number of dead souls. Their free movement consumes the energy of the Netherland, and the more powerful the soul was in life, the greater the energy consumption, further reducing the repair efficiency... After the Netherland has recovered to 30% and activated its constant soul-soothing function, it's best to keep them in a state of slumber."
So you mean the power is insufficient right now?
"That's one way to explain it."
Hila sighed. Although the Netherland was powerful, it was still a long way from returning to its full strength, and she didn't know when she would be able to summon warriors reborn as heroic spirits like her predecessor.
At this moment, Hila suddenly became curious about this and asked:
"Speaking of which, the Netherland can temporarily revive the spirits of the dead and bring them back to the world. Besides that, are there any other ways to bring back powerful figures who have died?"
Upon hearing this, Onicelu recalled for a moment, then said uncertainly:
"When my masters Nigos and Aios were still alive, I seem to have heard them talk about a peculiar phenomenon, which seemed to be related to the resurrection of the dead."
"Really? What is it?" Hila pressed.
"It seems to be something called Sanctuary... The two masters once quarreled over it, but they rarely mentioned it afterward... It seems someone invited them to participate in an operation related to the Sanctuary, but the details are unclear, and they declined."
"So what exactly is the Sanctuary? Is it based on the same principles as the Netherland?"
"I don't know. I don't know much about it either. I only overheard their conversation, but it's said that the Sanctuary has great power, and reviving the dead is just one of its effects." Onicelu shook her head.
"I see..."
Hila nodded; it was just a casual question, and she didn't take it to heart.
But Onicelu thought for a moment and said, "If you're really curious, some of the First Ones Heroic Spirits in the Netherland might know something, but once you awaken them, you can't force them to continue sleeping."
"Let's leave it for now. We'll talk about it after the soul-soothing function is restored. There's no rush."
Hila shook her head.
She secretly noted down the information about the Sanctuary, intending to go back and tell Black Star to discuss it.