Chapter 1004 (1/2)

Chapter 1004: 312. Dark Death Cauldron_3

He only knew now that the City of Exiles was highly valued by the Shadow Death Magic Realm, and that there was much more higher-level combat power in the city than he had imagined.

The Shadow Deathers aspired to turn the City of Exiles into a public transit hub.

In the Upper City Area of the City of Exiles, the Shadow Deathers had established a stable Teleportation Gate.

This Teleportation Gate was connected to magical kingdoms outside the Ulnas Circle, allowing them to reach the Dark Zone on the Kashel Continent through it.

Because of this, in addition to the one Ten Rings city master, two Ninth Ring deputy mayors, and five Eighth Ring Chief City Guard Wizards, there might also be some high-level Grey Wizards from other magical kingdoms.

It wasn’t impossible that these unknown Grey Wizards were tasked with tracking down Noland Lee.

With this in mind, Noland decided to be careful, careful, and even more careful, lest he capsized his ship in the sewer due to negligence.

…

…

Rumor had it that the City of Exiles stood in the center of the “Shadow Wind Plain,” surrounded on all sides by flat stone grounds.

Viewing this three-dimensional city from a distance, it resembled a giant alchemy crucible emitting black fumes—narrow at the mouth, broad at the belly, with curved walls that sealed the entire town airtight.

This structure, which looked like an enormous cauldron, was the Lower Town of the City of Exiles.

Above the Lower Town, directly overhead, was the inverted pyramid structure dangling from the Ceiling—the Upper City Area.

The Shadow Deathers in the Lower Town only had to look up to see the magnificent Upper City Area suspended in the air.

The inverted triangle facade loomed over their heads like a sharp sword, perpetually aimed at the people of the Lower Town.

This unique layout of urban areas foreshadowed a strict and harshly stratified society both in the City of Exiles and the Shadow Death Magic Kingdom behind it.

The Shadow Deathers were Ethereal Beings, Shadow Dark Souls.

One of the differences between Ethereal Beings and Life Creatures lay in their reproductive abilities.

Life Creatures could proliferate through viviparous, oviparous, or budding methods.

However, Ethereal Beings could not reproduce.

This was the cost of forsaking their fleshly bodies to obtain immunity to physical damage.

To ensure a sufficient source of slave labor, the Shadow Death Magic Realm extensively raided realms of Life Creatures and brought back batch after batch of captives in the flesh.

The Shadow Deathers in the Upper City Area set up Magic Circles that transformed fleshly bodies into Shadow Dark Souls, mass-producing new Shadow Deathers.

These Shadow Death Laborers, abducted from other realms and now residing in the Lower Town, were hence named by the Upper City Area.

Approximately one-tenth of these Shadow Death Laborers displayed exceptional talents during the Shadow Soul transmutation Ceremony.

Such fortunate laborers were at once lifted from their lowly status and received extraordinary enlightenment, becoming Shadow Death Wanderers or even Shadow Death Wizards.

If no exceptional talent was found, those forced to transform into Shadow Dark Souls would toil day after day in the Lower Town.

In the perilous production of magic, they would die and be reborn time and again through the use of Shadow Fragments and Magic Circles.

After more than 10 rebirths, their souls would become too weak to support another renewal.

Unable to coalesce Shadow Fragments after death, they would enter a state of true demise.

Their ethereal remains would be gathered by the Magic Circle, transformed into shadow energy, and supplied to the ceremonies for transmuting Shadow Dark Souls.

All their life experiences, memories, and circumstances, their names, origins, and other identifiers would dissipate in the winds on the plain.

Who would pay any attention to these helpless souls plunging into the abyss of the Dark Zone?

Who would risk being obliterated by the powerful Shadow Deathers of the Upper City Area to save the unfortunate souls of the Lower Town?