Chapter 184: The Builder of Candlekeep

Spirit world, Candle Castle.

As a portal opened, Sean and his group appeared outside Candlekeep.

In the spirit world, Candlekeep is a very eye-catching landmark, because it is located on the top of a towering dark mountain range, and the spire fortress of Candlekeep can be seen from afar. The gray sky is shrouded in mist, and the visibility in the Candlekeep area is often no more than 50 meters. Even spells are useless, and the mist will only slowly dissipate when the dim sun rises.

"I've been to Candlekeep once, but it was different than this."

A thin figure was frowning and staring at the fortress in the distance. Behind him were two heavy scimitars. The mist condensed into frost on the scabbards, and the cold was overwhelming. Xiao En always suspected that the opponent's weapon was the legendary "Ice Death".

Ugly Monkey is also a member of this team. He has been promoted very quickly and has already reached the threshold of legend.

The most eye-catching person in the team is a butcher with a very burly and strong figure, like a little giant. Xiao En hasn't seen him for a long time, but when old friends meet, they don't talk much. They can understand each other with just a glance.

The butcher took Benjamin into the inner world to hunt some time ago. After getting the news about Benjamin Tillion, Sean couldn't help but feel happy.

"Master Xiao En."

"It's very, very dangerous here!" The Insect Queen was a little uneasy, and the tentacles on her forehead were trembling slightly.

Xiao En used telepathic communication to calm her down and said softly, "Don't be nervous. We won't go to the deepest part."

At the end of the team is Quin-To. As a transcendent of the barbarian path, he is born illiterate, so he is not very interested in anything in Candlekeep. If a barbarian wants to learn mysterious knowledge, he needs to pay double the price. He participated in this operation more because he was inspired by Holy Terra.

If there is no Butcher, Quin-Tor is the main tank in the team. The Barbarian has thick skin and strong vitality, which is higher than the life points of the dragon. However, after the Butcher joins, Quin-Tor becomes the team's kitchen knife output. The Barbarian is still very good at chopping people, after all, great strength can make miracles happen.

Once the big rage begins, no one loves it.

Since the Butcher joined this time, Xiao En did not mobilize the members of the Scourge Messenger Group as they had other tasks.

—— Sean (Mage), Butcher (War), Ugly Monkey (Thief), Bug Queen (Healer), Quin-To (Barbarian).

A standard five-man legendary team.

Theoretically, it would be much better to replace the Queen of the Insects with a druid, and even better with a priest, but Xiao En was not that familiar with the Ring of Nature, and there was no suitable candidate for the time being. Fortunately, he had signed a contract with the three sisters of the lake fairy, and he could summon them to heal his injuries when necessary.

The butcher said solemnly: "Are your tickets ready?"

Xiao En nodded slightly and said, "It's ready. It took me a little effort."

The butcher nodded and said nothing more.

If Sean couldn't produce his admission ticket, they wouldn't be able to enter Candlekeep, as they couldn't defeat the guards outside.

It was quiet around Candlekeep.

Creatures from the spiritual world won't approach here easily, so you just need to be careful of the occasional activation spell. Candlekeep has three entrances. Sean chose the outermost north gate, which leads to Candlekeep's storage room, reading room, library and other buildings.

Nearly a thousand years have passed, and it has become increasingly difficult to open Candlekeep. Even Lady Hecate has to work hard to enter it.

soon.

Two extremely majestic statues appeared in front of the group. They were about 120 meters tall and held heavy swords and battle axes in their hands. One looked like a human warrior and the other looked like a dwarf defender. Their huge eyes stared at the mountains in the distance.

——Stone Colossus Golem [Super Giant Construct] [Legendary Golem] [Magic Immune] (CR 25)? !

——Iron Colossus Golem [Super Giant Construct] [Legendary Golem] [Magic Immune] (CR 33)? !

Just arrived at the gate.

Xiao En felt the presence of the "anti-magic force field". These were all colossus constructs from the Dark Ages, created by the alchemical path of the year. Dozens of Destiny Legends joined forces with the demigods of the alchemical path to create a legion of giant golems guarding Candlekeep. The weakest of them had a challenge level of 25, and it was very difficult to attack Candlekeep head-on. Because they could activate the anti-magic force field and were immune to magic, violent output was required to dismantle them.

"If we can transport them out, we can directly smash those evil things to pieces!" Quin-To exclaimed.

Xiao En said calmly: "There will be such a day, as long as we can take back Candlekeep."

There are three entrances, with a total of six legendary colossi, as well as diamond golems, supreme golems, dragon golems, etc. guarding Candlekeep inside. The golem army of Candlekeep almost gathers the power of an era.

If Sean brought the Iron Golem over, it would be tiny in front of them and could barely hold out for a few rounds.

Ugly Monkey said softly: "If we want to deal with them head-on, we'll probably have to use the magic crystal pulse cannon."

"And it would be best if there was also a focusing ring to draw energy from the sun."

Unless the Death Speaker is transferred over, ordinary interstellar battleships really don't have much to do with it because it is difficult to break through its defense.

A heavy gate trembled slightly.

As the group approached the entrance of Candlekeep, an old face appeared on the solid marble wall. It was a living sculpture (CR 15). It stared at Sean and said expressionlessly, "What is the first principle of the alchemical path?"

Xiao En said calmly: "Equivalent exchange."

The old human-face sculpture continued, "Exchange knowledge for knowledge. Where are your tickets?"

Sean gently raised his hand, and five books emerged. The top one was printed with "Calculus". Most of the knowledge in it came from Earth, and was compiled into a book by Sean by flipping through his memory. These were the admission tickets to Candleburg.

Candlekeep is a unique space with its own laws and regulations.

"Hmm... Knowledge from another world!..."

The statue's human face seemed to be reading these books, and its expression showed a thirst for knowledge. Soon it said in a deep voice: "This is new knowledge that Candlekeep has not collected. You can enter Candlekeep."

To enter Candlekeep, you must provide a book, and it must contain knowledge that Candlekeep does not have.

If you can't do this, you can only find a way to sneak in, but Candlekeep is protected by a powerful maze, and sneaking in is no less difficult than storming. The maze here not only prevents others from entering, but also prevents the escape of the indescribable false beings, who can only descend through special rituals, and their bodies have always been sealed inside Candlekeep. As for storming, there is no need to say more, just face the golem army guarding Candlekeep directly, and if you can win, you can come and go freely.

It was not difficult to enter Candlekeep at first, because at the end of the Dark Age, the threshold to enter Candlekeep was not as high as it is now.

But the problem is that as time goes by, more and more knowledge is stored in Candlekeep, and it is very difficult to enter it, because most of the known knowledge is now included in Candlekeep. Sean's spiritual library adopts part of the design concept of Candlekeep, exchanging knowledge for knowledge. "It's a bit like Candlekeep in the plane of Faerun. If you want to enter Candlekeep there, you must also provide a new book." Ugly Monkey said lightly.

He now suspected that the person who originally built Candlekeep might be an alien soul from the kingdom of Tianyu, and might also be one of the administrators of Candlekeep.

A deep door opened.

The butcher glanced at the others and walked directly to the front of the team. Quin-Tor was two steps behind, and he placed his palm on his weapon with a slightly nervous look. The name of Candlekeep had already spread throughout the Weird Kingdom, and even a legend of destiny could fall in it. Xiao En stood in the middle of the team, protecting the Queen of the Insects behind him, because she was a healer, and more importantly, she was Xiao En's top BUFF. With the blessing of the fusion technique, Xiao En's challenge level would soar to more than 25.

As for Ugly Monkey, his figure could no longer be seen. As a transcendent of the Shadow Sequence, escaping into the shadows was as easy for him as breathing.

After passing through a high wall more than ten meters wide, a beautiful garden appeared in front of Sean and his party. The magic fountain in the distance was surrounded by a faint rainbow glow. Many lush bushes and grasses were trimmed into the shapes of various animals. They exuded a faint breath of life, but as long as they were not activated, there was no need to worry about them.

——Gardener Guard [Animated Plants] (Challenge Level 8+)!
——Animated Statue [Construct] (Challenge Level 10+)!
"The air here smells of knowledge." Xiao En murmured.

The entire garden covers an area of ​​about one hundred acres. The interior of Candlekeep is larger than it appears from the outside. In fact, it is equivalent to a demiplane. After using the spell of folding space, the internal space structure expands outward layer by layer.

The garden was paved with cobblestone paths, and not far away was an automatic sweeping broom with runes and spells engraved on its surface, from which mysterious knowledge flowed slightly.

——Activation Tool (CR 3)!
After discovering the traces of Sean and his group, the activated broom was suspended in the air, and the runes on it emitted a trace of blood light. The next second, dozens of spikes attacked. Sean opened the energy deflection field with an expressionless face, and raised his hand lightly, and the arcane missiles completely shattered it.

"Animation spell detected!"

“Digesting!”

Sean's fingertips touched the remains of the broom, and several runes turned into faint light and disappeared, being digested by the mysterious knowledge in his brain.

The voice of the ugly monkey sounded, and his tone was extremely solemn: "There is a row of statues in front."

"Be careful to avoid the gardener guards."

This skilled wanderer had already gone around the area, so it was easy for the thieves to sneak around without having to fight their way in bit by bit like they did.

Sean activated the mind network.

He gave the butcher beside him a look and said, "Clear the outer passage first and head to the storage room. Don't make too much noise in the battle."

“The entire castle here is alive.”

There are almost no living people along the way. Only at night will the ghosts of scholars appear. According to their different status in life, they are - book guardians, administrators, readers, chanters, guides, etc.

On the side of the magic fountain, Sean and his group walked along the road and soon saw a row of majestic statues, about twelve meters high.

These statues are not animated, most of them are sages from the Dark Ages.

The statue in the front row is of an old human in a grey robe, holding a staff in one hand and a scroll in the other. He is gazing deeply into the distance with a solemn and worried expression. A row of characters is engraved on the stone tablet below the statue.

——The Guardian of the Files-Grian.

Xiao En had no impression of this name, but it seemed that he might be one of the founders of Candlekeep. After the end of the Dark Age, the existence of many sages was erased, and only in places like Candlekeep could their names be seen.

The figure of the ugly monkey emerged from the shadows. He stared at the statue in front of him with a serious expression, as if he knew the statue or the name engraved on it.

The butcher, who had been silent all the way, suddenly asked, "Do you know who Grian is?"

The ugly monkey was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "I know."

"He is a powerful wizard of Candlekeep. He once held a very high status in Candlekeep on the plane of Faerun."

Speaking of which.

Ugly Monkey took a deep breath and said solemnly, "In the era of the Saint's catastrophe, he was the adoptive father of a certain Killing God Son and died at the hands of another Killing God Son."

what? !

Hearing what Ugly Monkey said, everyone else present couldn't help but look shocked.

The adoptive father of the Son of Slaughter?

Xiao En stared at the statue in front of him and said slowly: "Soul from another world."

Ugly Monkey said softly: "I don't know much about the Saint's catastrophe period. The name Grian often appears in the historical secret scrolls that record the killing of the Son of God."

The group stayed at the statue for a moment and soon moved towards the storage room.

There are very few historical records about the sages of the Dark Ages. Even Lady Hecate probably doesn’t know much. It is only certain that many powerful souls from other worlds descended on that period. Some of them were great wizards in their lifetime, and some were even mythical creatures such as angels, demons, and dragons.

The adoptive father of the Son of Slaughter.

This identity alone is enough to make people feel a little uneasy. After Candle Castle was polluted, no one knows how many unspeakable illusions were born inside.

The battles along the way were not troublesome, and the animated objects could not stop them.

However, these animated items cannot be completely killed because they will be re-created after a period of time. Sean has collected quite a few activation spells along the way.

While passing through a corridor engraved with countless ancient secret texts, Sean suddenly shuddered all over. He seemed to see a deep darkness overlapping with the space here, and pairs of eyes opened in the shadow curtain, which was very similar to the scene when he passed through the "Soul Echo". The only difference was that he did not feel the breath of the great detective - Motylan, but saw an indescribable gray-robed figure in the dark curtain. From his long black robe, countless rune knowledge gathered into dark tentacles, which seemed to be constantly changing in the three-dimensional and two-dimensional worlds as the dark curtain fluctuated.

This illusory figure stared at Xiao En, his deep eyes seemed to be looking directly into Xiao En's soul, the power of the Son of Slaughter was trembling slightly, for some unknown reason, after this indescribable phantom appeared, the Law of the Son of Slaughter in Xiao En's body became restless, as if awakened by some force.

A deep sigh that seemed to have crossed the long river of time sounded: "Chanem."

"You finally came……"

………………

(PS: My wife's grandfather is old. He died at the age of 88. I have to keep vigil tomorrow, so I'm taking a day off. I originally saved a day's worth of manuscripts, but I made a mistake in the settings yesterday and posted two chapters. That's all.)
(End of this chapter)