Chapter 689: Mark
In a dim room, ancient relics emitted a bluish glow, illuminating scenes that had long since faded from the annals of history. Doro gazed at the gradually appearing miniature city model, which could hardly conceal its grandeur, and could not help but murmur.
“Land of Divine Revelation… Heoperis… is this the name of the city? Is the secret to ascending to the Golden Tier hidden here?”
Placing the Guiding Key on the table, Doro slowly began to stroll around the room, carefully observing the city model from various angles. She had seen many ruins from the First Dynasty, most of which were merely remnants of walls and broken structures. This was the first time she had seen such a complete and magnificent city from that era, even if it was only an illusion.
“Heoperis… is it called the Land of Divine Revelation? If I remember correctly, the people of the First Dynasty proclaimed themselves as those enlightened by the Judge of Heaven, revering them as ‘Holy Master.’ Divine Revelation must have been a word of profound significance to them. The fact that this city holds such a name speaks volumes about its status in the ancient First Dynasty.”
“If this is the case, this Heoperis is likely a holy site of the Judge of Heaven, a venue for sacred rituals within the First Dynasty. So the secret to ascending to the Golden Tier must indeed be hidden in such an important place.”
As she contemplated the city model, Doro finished her inspection and turned to the Guiding Key on the desk, asking, “What is the specific location of this city?” After her question, the projected city model suddenly began to distort and transform, ultimately changing entirely into a massive flat map.
On this map, Doro immediately recognized it as the map of the Northern Ufeiga region. A small area was circled and labeled. Upon seeing this, Doro recalled what she knew about the current standard map of this world and identified the corresponding area.
“This location is… it seems to be called Busairite, the neighboring country to Adus, and a large kingdom of Northern Ufeiga. It’s quite prominent on the map. However, beyond that, I don’t have much more information.”
“According to the Guiding Key, this city called Heoperis is located somewhere within the heart of Busairite, but the marked range is still a bit broad and not particularly precise…”
Doro thought to herself, and then she spoke to the Guiding Key again. “Can you provide a more precise marking? I want to know the exact location of this city on a larger scale map.” However, this time, the Guiding Key showed no signs of change. The map it projected remained a vast map of Northern Ufeiga, with no intent of enlarging to display more detailed information. Seeing this, Doro couldn’t help but frown slightly.
“Is that it? Is the Guiding Key only capable of displaying maps at this scale? Can it really only attain this level of detail? No, the accuracy of the Great Library’s positioning is extremely high. It can pinpoint even the exact location of the crystal within Frederico’s body. Given the capabilities of the Great Library, it shouldn’t be unable to locate a more precise position.”
“The emergence of such a situation… should not be a problem with the item’s capabilities but rather a matter of permission. Could it be that this Guiding Key lacks the authority to more precisely locate Heoperis? Or is there another reason?”
Doro pondered over the current situation with the Guiding Key for a moment. She could only confirm that Heoperis was generally located in a certain area of Busairite, but the specific location within that area remained uncertain. The marked point on the map appeared merely as a small circle, but in reality, it covered a vast area. If she had to search for it without guidance, she couldn’t even imagine how much effort it would require.
“It seems I’ll need to exert myself a bit more once I get there…”
Looking at the map before her, Doro murmured to herself. She then extended her hand to close the Guiding Key. After storing it back in the Magic Box, she returned to her seat.
Having initially reviewed the significant gains from this operation against the Dark Gold Society, Doro began to seriously calculate her specific losses from the mission, which were primarily the consumption of spirituality.
In summary, Doro had expended quite a bit of spirituality during this venture. The most significant drain came from creating the spirit body of Thief K to attach to Neve. Thief K, transformed Neve, had engaged in two rounds of combat with the Dark Gold Society, and during the second round, she had continuously constrained Frederico, the enemy’s most powerful combatant. The loss of spirituality was considerable; however, fortunately, while relying on the spirit body, Neve could also contribute some spirituality, allowing Doro to save a bit.
Throughout the lengthy battles, Doro had consumed 8 points of “Shadow,” 2 points of “Silence,” and a considerable amount of “Enlightenment” to sustain Thief K’s existence and its abilities.
Aside from summoning Thief K, Doro’s primary expenditure was from using electromagnetic cannons. She launched two shots, one strong and one weak, with an output corresponding to the Red Tier and the White Chalk Tier, which collectively consumed 9 points of “Stone” and several points of “Enlightenment.”
There were also some miscellaneous expenses, such as transferring injuries from Neve during the battle and utilizing Illusion Scales to enter the Dream Realm. In total, Doro spent 1 point of “Cup” and 2 points of “Shadow,” so now her current spirituality stood as follows:
30 Cups, 6 Stones, 14 Shadows, 19 Lights, 18 Silences, and 46 Enlightenments.
“This expenditure… seems a bit large. Even though I had avoided many unnecessary combat losses through careful planning, it still amounted to a substantial amount of spirituality in the end. Indeed, it’s unrealistic to expect to save spirituality while facing a Red Tier opponent…”
“In this wave against Frederico, I primarily utilized electromagnetic cannons and spirit bodies, which is why I incurred heavy consumption of ‘Stone’ and ‘Shadow.’ Speaking of ‘Stone,’ let’s not even mention it; my ‘Shadow’ was nearly overflowing before, and now there’s barely any left. Spirit bodies are powerful, but they consume quite a lot. I just wonder how long it will take for me to get more…”
While analyzing her spirituality, Doro thought to herself. After completing her analysis, she took out her “Navigation of the Literary Sea” and placed it on the desk, flipping it open to the communication page with Beverly.
Now, it was time to report back to the behind-the-scenes supporter of this operation.
“The operation was successful; Frederico is dead.” Doro wrote directly on the page, and soon after, the familiar neat printed response appeared.
“Done already? Oh, that was quick! I thought it would at least take until tomorrow. With the hardness of the Gold Stone Demon, I never expected you to finish so swiftly. I guess I underestimated you a little. By the way, what about his stronghold?”
“His stronghold was buried by a collapse he caused himself, along with all his subordinates. There were no survivors on site.” Doro confidently wrote in response, and Beverly’s text quickly followed.
“All buried? Then I guess I have an idea of the situation on your side. Being able to forcibly k*ll a Red Tier ‘Stone’ while leveraging home-field advantage, you definitely have a handle on things. Speaking of which, have you collected enough evidence to prove your victory?”
“You can rest assured. I have more than enough evidence to show that guy is completely dead. I will find the nearest Artisan Guild to deliver it to you. You can take your time verifying it.” Doro continued writing on the page, and Beverly promptly responded.
“Alright, I’ll arrange for the verification on my side. But based on your credibility, I believe you have truly achieved your goal. So the verification can be done later; you can tell me what you want now. As a reward for successfully eliminating a Red Tier member of the Dark Gold Society, what would you like?”
Beverly asked Doro. Previously, when Doro consulted Beverly for information on the Gold Stone Demon, Beverly promised that if Doro successfully killed Frederico, she would give her a significant gift, allowing Doro to choose whatever she wanted—be it a certain precious Extraordinary Item, a rare Secret Transmission, or privileges from the Artisan Guild.
Looking at Beverly’s response on the page, Doro paused slightly. After a moment of contemplation, she picked up her pen and wrote.
“As for the reward… I haven’t thought of anything specific yet. So could I save this opportunity for later? When I decide what I need, I will bring it up with you.”
Doro wrote to Beverly. At present, she didn’t have anything particularly urgent that she needed from the Artisan Guild. However, in the future, that might not be the case. Each of Doro’s promotion ceremonies involved nearly all types of spirituality, requiring items from different fields of spirituality. Black Earth was like this, White Chalk was like this, and Red Tier was like this… surely, it could be expected that Gold would be the same.
When Doro was promoted to Red Tier, she already utilized a Divine Blessing Object, a very precious item. Who knows what she might need when it comes to Gold? Although she hasn’t even obtained the Gold ritual yet, she must start preparing ahead. She intended to save this opportunity until she learned the method for promotion to Gold, to request help from the Artisan Guild to fulfill her needs for “Stone” in the Gold ritual.
“You want to save it for later… hmm, that’s fine. Anyway, as long as the verification is completed, this opportunity is yours, and you can use it whenever you want.” Beverly replied to Doro. After reading this, Doro nodded and continued to write.
“That’s great. In that case, please help me remember it.” After finishing that, she thought for a moment and began to write again.
“By the way, while I have you here, I have another question. Do you happen to know about the specifics of the country Busairite?”
Doro inquired of Beverly, and before long, Beverly’s response appeared on Doro’s page once again.
“Busairite? You’re actually starting to take an interest in that place. As for this location, I’m not particularly familiar with it; I’ve only heard some things in passing. Strictly speaking, you can’t really call it a country; it’s more of a region.”
“Can’t call it a country? Why not?” Doro wrote back, a little confused, and Beverly quickly explained.
“Because the Kingdom of Busairite has long since fallen; it ceased to exist over a decade ago.”
“The kingdom fell… Was it due to rebels? Like in Adus?”
“Well, rather than saying that the kingdom fell due to rebellion, it collapsed following its historical trajectory. Busairite is quite remote, even within the Northern Ufeiga region, and is almost beyond the influence of the Church’s power.”
“Unlike Adus, which has had a stable dynasty for hundreds of years, for over a thousand years, Busairite has lacked stable order. Various forces converge there, often resulting in disorder and constant warfare.”
Beverly wrote this for Doro, and after reading it carefully, Doro continued to write with her brow slightly furrowed.
“Various forces mixed together there; do you know what kinds there are?”
“There are quite a few. I can only give you a rough categorization. The most prevalent are the native desert tribes. These tribes are divided into countless alliances and are in constant warfare. Besides the tribes, there are also treasure theft societies and desert robbers from Northern Ufeiga that are active there. Due to the lack of stable order and law, their activities are more rampant than in other parts of Northern Ufeiga.”
“In addition, there are troops from nearby countries that have stationed themselves there under the pretext of protecting their caravans. The leading Church, trying to expand its influence, is almost openly present there for missionary work, and the Eternal Life Cult of the southern Amniotic Sac also extends its reach there. In recent years, it seems the Church has been deploying more personnel to that area.”
“In short, the situation in Busairite has always been chaotic and complex throughout history. Warfare is commonplace, and most of the time, these numerous forces can’t really do much to each other. Even if one force manages to suppress the others for a brief period to achieve overt unification, it typically doesn’t last long. It has been over a decade since the last ruler here was overthrown.”
