Chapter 45: Chapter 45: Bloody Mandala The night passed, and dawn arrived. As the sky barely began to brighten, Sunan left the tavern with Amy. Amy’s master, that mysterious wizard, resided in Sharp Stone Valley, located east of Stone Bell City. About ten kilometers out of the city lay a pine forest. Following the dense trees eastward, and crossing two mountain peaks, one would enter the area of Sharp Stone Valley. After entering the valley, the environment grew increasingly desolate the deeper they went, and the terrain gradually became rugged. The ground was almost devoid of vegetation; jagged sharp stones were everywhere. Withered grass and thorns grew from the cracks in the rock walls, creaking as the cold mountain wind blew by. Sunan was puzzled as to why the wizard had chosen such a desolate place to live. However, he then thought that a thousand years had passed since then; perhaps Sharp Stone Valley didn’t look like this back then. Amy quietly perched on Sunan’s shoulder, idly licking her paws. It wasn’t until the sun rose behind the distant mountains that the pair finally reached a stretch of riverbank. "Meow, just follow the river, and you’ll reach the place," Amy pointed ahead and said. Sunan did not immediately set off; instead, he ordered the Hidden Dragon lurking nearby to scout ahead first. This place had long been known to the Starfire Sect. If they wanted to capture them, they’d most likely station people here, so it’s better to be cautious. However, after a round of searching, no one was found hiding nearby. "Looks like those guys haven’t recovered from last night’s battle." Sunan relaxed and boldly walked upstream along the river. Guided by Amy, he quickly found a cave in the middle of a rock wall. Augmented by wind energy particles, Sunan easily climbed the rock wall and entered the cave. The inside of the cave was pitch black, but the passage was quite smooth and spacious, showing signs of human construction everywhere. Sunan casually took out a Luminous Pearl to serve as a light source and stepped inside. The end of the passage led to an incredibly spacious circular hall. Square granite tiles were laid on the ground, engraved with dense, strange patterns, resembling some kind of large array. However, many of the patterns had faded and become blurred, and the array could no longer be activated. The surrounding walls had more than a dozen doors. "Behind that door is the apprentice quarters where wizard apprentices usually rest." "That way leads to the plantation. It used to house a lot of strange magic plants and many spirits, but now they’re all gone." "That way is to the warehouse, and here’s the magic experiment plaza..." Amy thoroughly introduced each door and where it led to Sunan. The entire building was extraordinarily large, with passages leading everywhere and countless rooms, like a castle built inside the mountain. Judging by the remnants of markings on the wall resembling crystal patterns, this must have been a building similar to a wizard tower. Unfortunately, it has since fallen into ruin. Sunan initially thought he might find something valuable here, but he found nothing as he walked through. The Starfire Sect had acted faster than he anticipated, completely clearing out the place, leaving nothing of value behind. "It’s a pity it’s too remote, and the surrounding environment is too desolate; otherwise, it could have been a great spot for an experimental lab and magic plant garden." Sunan thought regretfully. Since there was nothing valuable to be found, he didn’t linger and turned to leave with Amy. Upon exiting the cave, Sunan suddenly remembered something and asked Amy, "The folks from the Starfire Sect mentioned you were roaming around in the north of the city, why was that?" Amy froze for a moment, then exclaimed, "Meow, I almost forgot, there’s something I haven’t retrieved yet!" Surprised, Sunan asked, "What is it?" "It’s the Bloody Mandala. Those bad guys stole this magic plant and then for some reason, placed it in a big house. I wanted to retrieve it, but there was a very powerful evil spirit guarding it, I couldn’t beat it!" Bloody Mandala! Sunan was taken aback. He remembered it being an ominous magic plant that fed on the fresh blood of living people. As it matured, its roots and stems grew redder, eventually becoming as red as blood. Once fully matured, the Bloody Mandala would emit concealed psychic waves, creating illusions to lure nearby creatures in and devour their souls. After consuming enough souls, a dreadful evil spirit would be born inside the Bloody Mandala, starting to kill nearby living beings and devouring souls to strengthen itself. Because of this trait, areas where Bloody Mandalas are cultivated usually have a corresponding restraining array set up. Otherwise, it would eventually lead to disaster by evil spirits. Recalling the ghost stories he’d heard at the tavern, Sunan immediately understood. The big house Amy mentioned was very likely Kubero’s estate. "It seems the Starfire Sect designed to have the Bloody Mandala placed in that estate, but what could be their goal in doing so?" After thinking it over briefly, Sunan quickly realized the connections. Stone Bell City is the central city of Silver Moon Territory, and Viscount Silver Moon happens to be one of the nobles opposed to Marquis Golden Rock. If an evil spirit appeared in his domain, Viscount Silver Moon would surely have to find a way to resolve it. Otherwise, if left unchecked, the harm caused by the evil spirit would soon expand, ultimately threatening the entire Stone Bell City. And relying solely on the strength of knights to eliminate the evil spirit would likely require many lives to be sacrificed. Even if they finally succeed in eliminating the evil spirit, Silver Moon Territory would definitely be greatly weakened. At that time, Marquis Golden Rock and the Starfire Sect could take advantage of the opportunity. This evil spirit incident is most likely another step in Marquis Golden Rock’s conspiracy to seize control over Golden Rock Province! "This guy truly never stays quiet," Sunan secretly cursed, but his mind soon livened up again. Though the Bloody Mandala is highly dangerous, it’s also an exceptionally rare magic plant with a wide range of uses. For example, the recipe for the Evil Illusion Potion that can increase spiritual power, which Sunan found in Anger MacLaine’s journal—the main ingredient is the juice of the Bloody Mandala. What Anger MacLaine had spent decades searching for was now found by him in such circumstances; it’s truly fate’s trickery. "Among the ingredients to make the Evil Illusion Potion, the Bloody Mandala is the rarest; the other ingredients can be completely synthesized using magic. As long as I get this Bloody Mandala, I can continuously produce the Evil Illusion Potion." Sunan was instantly excited but quickly calmed down. "Evil spirits are not easy to deal with; it’s best to prepare more trump cards before going." Sunan thought of the two half-damaged magical artifacts he had acquired last night. If he could repair these magical artifacts, dealing with the evil spirit would undoubtedly be more assured. Besides, he shouldn’t solve Silver Moon Territory’s problem for free; he still needed to obtain the appropriate compensation.