Chapter 451: Crown
After purchasing her ticket, Dorothy entered the Pure Flow Church to tour the exhibits. To showcase its growing collection, the Pure Flow Church had undergone several expansions, making the interior quite spacious. Holding the guidebook, Dorothy moved from one exhibition hall to another, viewing the precious artifacts displayed in glass cases.
The origins of these artifacts were diverse, including relics from Iwig and abroad, as well as exquisite works by artists. However, to Dorothy, who possessed a spiritual vision, these items held little value despite their authenticity; they lacked any spiritual traces, meaning they were mundane objects.
Looking at the series of exhibits before her, Dorothy couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.
‘The divination tool that Azamu possesses is undoubtedly an extraordinary item. But if he donated it to this Pure Flow Church for display, it could be easily exposed by the Emmanuel Crown, revealing its abnormalities. Even if the divination tool was lucky enough not to be exposed during transportation, the church staff might still detect something unusual during inspection. In other words, under normal circumstances, this church museum would be the least likely place to exhibit extraordinary items.’
‘Yet… even so, Azamu still chose this place as the donation target. This indicates that he is confident the divination tool will not be discovered by the church.’
Standing inside the exhibition hall, Dorothy pondered the matter of Azamu’s divination tool while looking at the numerous exhibits. She believed that the only reason it wouldn’t be discovered here was that it currently lacked extraordinary power and wasn’t an extraordinary artifact yet.
‘Beverly once mentioned… the divination tool requires three years after each use before it can be used again. This means that before the divination tool regains its function, it remains a common object.
‘During the three-year cooldown period, the extraordinary traits of the divination tool might become so faint as to be undetectable or turn into a common item. Only when the cooldown period ends and the tool regains its function can it be detected by the Lamp’s power. It’s similar to my Puppet Mark; drawing it on someone doesn’t show any extraordinary traces, no matter how much the Radiance Lamp is used. But once I activate it, it becomes an extraordinary mark, detectable by the Radiance Lamp.’
Rubbing her wrist, Dorothy thought. With her experience manipulating the Puppet Mark, she quickly realized this crucial point.
‘Azamu might have chosen to donate the divination tool to the Pure Flow Church because it is on church territory, where Garib dares not act rashly. During the period when Azamu’s curse caused his strength to decline, he was under surveillance and imprisonment by Garib. He couldn’t guarantee whether he would survive to escape, so he specifically sent the most important divination tool to this place when donating.
‘Azamu must have planned it this way: If he successfully escaped, he would reclaim the donated divination tool as a donor from the Pure Flow Church. If he failed and died at Garib’s hands, the divination tool would remain here forever, waiting for the three-year cooldown to end, and then be discovered by church personnel, leading to its immediate recovery. He preferred giving this to the church rather than to Garib…’
As Dorothy walked through the halls, observing each exhibit, she realized that among the many exhibits in this vast church museum, there was the divination tool she sought. However, at present, it lacked any extraordinary qualities, and she had no way to confirm which one was the hidden treasure using extraordinary methods.
Every exhibit could potentially be the divination tool, but now Dorothy had no means to verify. In her spiritual vision, none of the exhibits showed any abnormal traces; they were all mundane items.
‘Sigh… Azamu has done such a good job keeping it secret. The characteristics of the divination tool haven’t leaked out, leaving me completely clueless about where to find it.
‘If I want to find it now, I can only wait a few more days until the three-year cooldown period ends and the divination tool regains its extraordinary traits, allowing me to locate it with extraordinary methods. But at that time, will I find it first, or will the church discover it first?’
As she pondered, Dorothy continued walking forward. Unknowingly, she arrived at a wide-open door, and the light emanating from within made her pause.
Dorothy stopped and looked into the large room beyond the wide doors. She saw a grand domed chamber with a spherical dome adorned with splendid religious paintings. Below the dome, a luxurious carpet led to a series of display cabinets arranged in concentric circles.
At the center of the dome’s apex was a faintly flickering beam of light. Dorothy recognized this light; it was the same glow she had seen earlier from outside the church, coming from the top of the church.
This beam of light was refracted from the Light-Resistant Jewel embedded in the Emmanuel Crown, reflecting sunlight. The top of the grand chamber’s dome was connected to the opening of the church roof. The Emmanuel Crown fixed in a small pavilion on the roof could also be seen inside the room. The Emmanuel Crown served as the centerpiece of the dome, illuminating both inside and out, acting like a ceiling light for the large room.
‘Wow… the light from above can reach into this room… What a strange design…’
Muttering to herself, Dorothy quickly stepped past the wooden door of the domed chamber, avoiding being illuminated by the light inside. For ordinary people, the light from the Emmanuel Crown was merely a reflection of sunlight. But in Dorothy’s spiritual vision, the Emmanuel Crown continuously emitted dangerous detection light.
Next to the domed chamber, avoiding the detection light, Dorothy checked her guidebook and found the name and purpose of this room on the map.
“Crown Hall, a domed hall exclusively for displaying the Emmanuel Crown. The Emmanuel Crown is placed at the top of the dome, connecting the inside and outside. Within the Crown Hall, it shines like the sun. Artifacts exhibited alongside the Emmanuel Crown in the Crown Hall are the most valuable treasures.”
‘So, this Crown Hall is exclusively for displaying the Emmanuel Crown… No wonder…’
Reading the guidebook, Dorothy nodded in understanding. Suddenly, she realized another issue.
‘If Azamu donated the divination tool to the Pure Flow Church to ensure it would fall into church hands and never reach Garib after his death, he must guarantee that the divination tool would be immediately discovered after the cooldown period ended. If the divination tool were displayed elsewhere in the church, even after the cooldown, it might not be promptly discovered, as even church personnel probably wouldn’t constantly check mundane collections.
‘Therefore… if Azamu wants the divination tool to be immediately discovered after the cooldown, it must be under constant spiritual scrutiny. And this state can only be achieved in the Crown Hall!
‘If the artifact is displayed alongside the Emmanuel Crown in the Crown Hall, it would immediately be exposed as abnormal once the cooldown period ends!’
Thinking this, Dorothy’s gaze towards the wooden door ahead became more eager.
At this moment, on the other side of the Crown Hall, near another entrance, stood two men in trench coats, trying to avoid the light from inside as they covertly observed the scene within the Crown Hall.
