I Ascend to the Divine Throne through Arcane Means

Julia increasingly felt that Lis was nothing but a noble young master venturing out to travel, even though he was clad in regular mercenary leather armor, his temperament and skin tone didn't resemble those of mercenaries who had braved the elements all year long.

However, she didn't find it strange. The more nobles who enjoyed seeking new and exciting experiences the better. Hadn't she just seen someone receive a Gold Coin for some of the most common news?

"Oh?"

Upon hearing that Julia had something to say, Lis perked up with interest.

He knew that each place's myths and legends were like the poems recited by minstrels; they were often based on real stories and news and then creatively embellished.

So, quite a lot of these legends and poems actually concealed real secrets.

Julia did not keep him in suspense, but started to recount the tale directly.

"Legend has it that it was a very long time ago when Snow Ridge Town was but a dilapidated little village. The people fought against magic beasts from the Luoxue Mountains, struggling to survive here while enduring danger and hunger, never knowing if they would open their eyes to see the sun rise the next day."

"Later, a divine being descended!" Your next read is at empire

A divine being!

Lis's attention instantly focused on this term.

It shouldn't be so, this was supposed to be the remains of a Legendary Arcanist, how did it come to involve a divine being?

Mr. Stephens's perception couldn't be wrong; could it be...

"That divine being bestowed knowledge upon the people and led them to expel the magic beasts from the Luoxue Mountains."

"He even used His formidable power to move a section of the mountain range, allowing people to build a new homeland on flat land."

"The people established a church for Him, and with the help of the priests, life in Luoxue Town increasingly flourished."

"Until one day, calamity struck, the sky fell, the mountain crumbled, and the divine being, in order to save the people, resolutely walked into that peril and sacrificed His divine soul and body, ultimately halting the spread of the disaster."

"It is said that the purple mist is the remnant of that divine being."

Lis listened intently to Julia's description, but his brows furrowed deeply.

Something was amiss; the divine being in this legend was very strange.

In all tales involving divine beings, they invariably promote the divine beings' magnificent Divine Power and omnipotence, much like the accounts in the holy scriptures of various True God Churches.

The Church of the Gods ceaselessly conveys these things to the faithful, for people to fear the divine beings, to respect them, to become their followers!

In these stories, the divine beings are always powerful, invincible, immortal, yet this legend from Snow Ridge Town is different.

This story actually depicted the death of a divine being!

One must know that even demigods or false gods would not leave such records in the stories they propagate.

Lis fell silent for a moment before looking up and asking:

"You seem not to have mentioned the name of that divine being?"

Julia thought for a bit, then said uncertainly:

"That was a legend I heard when I was a child, not many people know of it now."

"I remember... His name seemed to be the 'Wisdom God Sphinx'!"

The 'Wisdom God Sphinx'?

This...

Lis was certain; he had never heard of this name before, nor did he recall any divine being with such a name.

Right now, there wasn't an existence wielding the Divine Position of "Wisdom," and no one dared to claim they had grasped all wisdom, understanding everything about the Gaia World.

Indeed, there were many divine beings with the Domain of "Knowledge": Lis knew of the 'Fantasy and Knowledge God Azus,' the 'Forging and Craftsman God Gand,' the 'Knowledge and Minstrel God Oghma,' the 'Order and Justice God Tal,' among others.

Because the Divine Domain of "Knowledge" is so powerful, currently, no deity has fully mastered it. Consequently, many gods related to various Divine Domains have more or less ventured into the territory of the "Knowledge" Divine Position.

So, where did this Wisdom God come from?

According to the narrative in this story, the performance of that deity seems more akin to that of a Legendary Strongman.

Could it be the Legendary Arcanist who left behind the ruins?

But that doesn't make sense, if it were really that Legendary Arcanist, they probably wouldn't have taken this path.

To establish a church, spread a god's name, and gather faith.

That's something those Legendary Strongmen who take the most orthodox Path to Divinity would do.

But even Mr. Judgement Flame has confirmed that, basically, all Legendary Arcanists wouldn't choose this path unless they had given up on advancing further in arcane arts.

Lis tapped his right temple and poured all of the ale into his mouth.

The information I've gathered so far is still too scant, blindly guessing is just wasting time, perhaps only by finding those ruins will I get the final answer.

What I can confirm now is that the whereabouts of those ruins likely do not exist within the Gaia World, having been concealed by that Legendary Arcanist.

And when the purple mist rises, that's when the ruins open a passage to the outside world.

But...

"Julia, I came here precisely because I heard about the spectacle of the Purple Mist, are there any precautions I should take?"

Lis looked up at the enchanting female servant and took out a Feis Gold Coin to lightly place on the counter and asked.

Without reaching for the coin, Julia appeared puzzled and hesitantly said,

"There shouldn't be... I guess?"

"Although the color is quite special, it's indeed just mist. The priests of the Church have come here to investigate as well."

"As long as you don't wander off into the Luoxue Mountains, there shouldn't be a problem."

"The mercenaries who specifically came to Snow Ridge Town still set off for the Luoxue Mountain as usual in the early morning despite the dense fog. I haven't heard of anyone encountering danger because of the fog."

"Thank you."

Lis nodded at Julia and then turned and left the tavern.

Watching Lis's figure disappear behind the closing wooden door, Julia touched her cheek, wondering why her Charm had failed.

"What a strange customer!"

"Julia, three more ales, please."

"Coming right up~"

No longer concerned about Lis, Julia picked up the Gold Coin from the counter and, swinging her hips, busied herself with work again.

Outside the tavern, Lis looked up at the somewhat gloomy sky and headed towards the inn within the town.

No danger in the Purple Mist?

That means there are two possibilities.

Either it's difficult for ordinary people to travel through the Purple Mist to reach the location of the ruins, or those people have had their memories erased after leaving the ruins.

There's a point worth pondering here, according to Arcane Master Dracos, he was too weak when he received the inheritance, undoubtedly he couldn't have entered the ruins on his own initiative.

Generally speaking, if that being was selecting an inheritor, shouldn't they cast a wide net?

Unless... entering the ruins is a selection process in itself, only those qualified could enter the ruins!