Chapter 171 Soul of the Wild Beasts (1/2)

As Bolso was considering the situation at hand, a Sumeer wearing four feathers on his head entered briskly, and dragged Bolso back from the group. He whispered quickly into the man's ear. Bolso's face bloomed with surprise, and he addressed Yang Ling. ”Sir Yuri, the prophet of our tribe invites you to make a trip to the divine temple!”

Prophet?

For many of the native tribes, prophets were the most respected tribe members, despite not having official authority. They often lived deep in their tribes' territory, and rarely deigned to meet outsiders. Yang Ling did not understand why he would be invited by the prophet. He had just set foot in Stone City.

Could it be that he had attracted the attention of the elder when he unintentionally absorbed a portion of the energy from the Black Obsidian?

Yang Ling thought to himself, observing the strange stone walls. Then he quickly followed Bolso outside, with Yuna right behind him.

They walked in silence across the snowy ground and through a stand of trees. Not long after, the three companions arrived at a heavily guarded area.

As they approached, Bolso produced some kind of token, and showed it to the guards. They waved the trio through. As Bolso guided Yang Ling and Yuna forward, the latter two noticed strange stone sculptures placed here and there among the landscape. Some carried axes; some were missing limbs. There were a few without heads. Yang Ling wondered why they would display such strange sculptures along the path.

Yuna quietly cast an agility boosting technique over Yang Ling while Bolso's attention was elsewhere. ”Brother Yang,” she whispered, ”this valley is filled with unidentified power. Please keep your wits about you!”

”It's alright,” Yang Ling answered. ”You need not worry. Remember to stay close to me, no matter what happens!”

Yang Ling had sensed that the valley was filled with an obscure energy the moment they entered. That feeling was a little like the ripples of the fire element Magical Elements, while also feeling similar to the ripples of energy in the Black Obsidian.

But, despite not being clear as to why the prophet of the Sumeer people would be looking for him, he was not as worried as Yuna. The other party had no conflicts of interests with him, and thus would not have any reason to plot or scheme against him.

He reflected on his recent Wizard Power improvements, and had only a little more to go before he reached mid-level Earth Wizard. If something were to go wrong later, he could at least quickly recall Yuna into the space of the Wizard's Pagoda and retreat to safety using the teleportation-like Earth Evasion Technique to escape.

At the far end of the valley was a large stone building, piled together with rectangular Black Obsidian blocks, each the size of a dining table. Each stone was embellished with pictures carved into their surfaces. There were boundless grassy plains, countless Magical beasts, and priests depicted prostrate, grovelling on the ground.

”Sir Yuri, this is the divine temple of our tribe. Legend has it that it is over eight thousand years old!” Bolso introduced proudly. As it turned out, the Sumeer people had lived on the Wilderness of Siberia since ancient times, staying in Stone City for thousands of years and leaving behind the ancient divine temple.

A tribe with eight thousand years of history, and a divine temple that's eight thousand years old. I wonder if there are any clues to the Ancient Wizards! I wonder if there's anything I need.

Yang Ling quickly recalled the Ancient Wizards that had vanished thousands of years ago. The more ancient a tribe was, the more isolated they were, and the possibility that they had kept a few ancient relics or records was higher.

After bringing the two of them to the temple entrance, Bolso said a few words to a man in black robes with five feathers on his head. The latter nodded, saying nothing, and walked into the temple, turning back and signaling for Yang Ling and Yuna to follow.

Seeing as the divine temple was built from giant Black Obsidian stones, Yang Ling had thought that it would have the same properties as the stone buildings outside: cool in the summer and warm in the winter. But as soon as he entered the temple, he realized that that was not the case. Other that the fact that there was no snow, the temperature in the temple was not much higher than outside, where cold winds howled. In fact, it got colder the deeper into the temple they went. Yang Ling wondered where the energy within the Black Obsidian had gone.

Inside the divine temple there was nothing on the ground, but there were many pieces of gray cloth draped over the roof. Other than pictures of ferocious beasts, there were also a few rows of small tadpole-like words. Looking at it, the words looked a little like ancient Chinese characters, but felt a little different upon closer inspection.

An obscure ripple of energy, an entire area covered with cloth, a bone-piercing chill…

The deeper they went into the divine temple, the more unusual it felt to Yang Ling. As a precaution, he grabbed a few Wizard Amulets with his left hand and formed a hand gesture with his right, prepared to summon his Magical Beast army at any time.

Whoosh…

As a cold wind blew past, the cloth in the divine temple flapped noisily, the fierce beasts etched onto them sometimes being hidden from sight. Faintly, Yang Ling thought he could hear the roar of beasts, as if the lifelike Magical Beasts on the pieces of cloth were about to spring to life. There was even an instant when Yang Ling felt the pagoda-shaped mark between his brows throb in agitation, his protective Wizard Power quickly circulating, as if he was going to be hit by a surprise attack.