Having been fooled by Angel once, Dox didn’t want to pursue who Olao was paying attention to anymore.
After all, it’s not him or Kaier.
As for which of the remaining three it was, Dox couldn’t be bothered to think about it. But his intuition told him that Angel was the most likely, even though Angel denied it, Dox still didn’t rule out his suspicion.
"By the way, Olao and Adanis seemed to mention... Infant Spirits earlier." Dox: "It seems that the information Angel received was correct, it really is an Infant Spirit. Moreover, judging by their tone, this Infant Spirit might indeed be as difficult to deal with as Angel said."
Vay also nodded: "And before Olao left, he mentioned it was a flower-holding Infant Spirit?"
Dox: "Flower-holding... a flower? Generally speaking, shouldn’t flowers have a scent?"
"That’s obvious. If a flower has no scent, why call it a flower..." Vay initially responded with irritation, but halfway through, he seemed to realize something: "You mean the scent the Lord is smelling is floral?"
Dox nodded lightly.
As everyone thought about it, it seemed to make sense, and they all looked towards the Black Earl for an answer.
The Black Earl had been pondering this question since Olao mentioned ’flower-holding’, but he still had no clue: "It’s hard to determine for now. However, this hypothesis is reasonable."
"If the ’flower-holding Infant Spirit’ is indeed the source of the scent, we should be cautious."
As for what to be cautious about, Black Earl didn’t need to elaborate; everyone understood. As undead beings of chaotic will, it’s impossible for Infant Spirits to hold flowers for no reason. Since Olao used "flower-holding" as a prefix for the Infant Spirit, it’s very likely that the flower it holds is of utmost importance.
In the Wizards’ Realm, there is no shortage of plant-type magical creatures. In the Wunong Duchy, known as the ’Fairy Kingdom’ by wizards, there are many plant-type magical creatures. Among them, in the Evernight Forest, there are many flower-type magical creatures nurtured by the Forest of Night Whisper.
The characteristics of flower-type magical creatures often involve poison and vines. The ’poison’ generally refers to the scent of the flower.
The floral scent permeating the air is very likely a form of attack by the Infant Spirit.
Although up to now, the Black Earl has felt nothing special from the scent, who knows if it’s a lure tactic? Once engaged in battle, the scent might immediately transform into a weapon of attack.
Thinking of this, both the Black Earl and the others turned their gaze towards Angel.
Angel, when manipulating the Moving Mirage earlier, also created a Purifying Field, which proved very useful at this time.
Angel understood what everyone meant, so he directly called out Earl Mi and constructed the Moving Mirage again with Earl Mi as the core.
Although Angel could directly release the Purifying Field, he decided to construct it together with the Moving Mirage. Since the Infant Spirit is also an undead, and part of the Mirage, which mainly isolates energy, can affect the undead, perhaps the Moving Mirage might also work against the Infant Spirit?
When everyone was once again bathed within the Moving Mirage, the Black Earl appeared to be the most relieved.
Even though this journey held no foul odors, the musty smell from dampness wasn’t pleasant either. With the Purifying Field acting as a barrier, the air instantly became incredibly fresh.
However, the Black Earl didn’t forget to show concern for Angel: "If anything goes wrong, don’t force it."
The issue the Black Earl mentioned wasn’t about the Moving Mirage or the Purifying Field.
It was about Earl Mi.
While the Black Earl didn’t know all the specifics about Earl Mi’s situation, he did hear Laplace’s words. Furthermore, Angel’s attitude towards Earl Mi has subtly changed since the beginning.
Angel nodded: "I understand."
Earl Mi indeed had some anomalies, but they were still manageable, and Angel could feel that Earl Mi seemed to have grown closer to him. Conversely, Angel was cautious about getting too close to Earl Mi.
However, at least for now, there’s no immediate concern regarding Earl Mi.
After setting up the Moving Mirage, they didn’t delay further and continued on their journey.
Soon, they reached the previously split path for ascending and descending.
At this point, the downward path had disappeared, leaving only an upward slope, and this slope showed no signs of collapse. But when one looked ahead, it was pitch black, with no end in sight.
"Let’s continue. According to Olao and Adanis, they probably won’t appear again until we reach the Qingkong Poetry Room... We should have only one last test left," Angel said.
Everyone nodded, at least now they didn’t have to worry about suddenly stumbling into the Mirror.
While looking from below, the pitch-black slope seemed endless, stepping onto the slope revealed it wasn’t as straightforward as they imagined, but rather wound around many bends.
It was like traversing through steep mountain paths, sometimes high, sometimes low, sometimes wide, sometimes narrow, and occasionally a sharp turn.
During this ascent, they also saw several collapses, but it seemed someone had cleared the way, leaving passages despite the signs of collapse.
After such a "twisting and turning" upward journey, they finally understood why they hadn’t smelled the scent the Black Earl mentioned. The scent’s path was even longer and more "arduous" than they imagined.
The fact the Black Earl could smell it only demonstrated... the Black Earl’s level is indeed different from theirs.
Finally, when they emerged from a side path slightly larger than a dog hole, the road ahead was no longer sloped but was replaced by a normal, wide passageway.
After experiencing the narrow and oppressive slopes, seeing the wide road again seemed to open up their mood significantly.
Only Angel and the Black Earl remained less optimistic.
Angel felt uneasy and slightly curious because he recognized the familiar path and knew they were close to "that wall."
But the Black Earl’s attention differed from Angel’s. Though he had constantly been within the Purifying Field, he was still fixated on the scent, calculating its distance from them throughout the journey.
Now, the Black Earl could basically confirm that the source of the scent was within a hundred meters or so of their location.
Perhaps, at the next turn, they would uncover the source of the scent.
If the source of the scent truly comes from the Infant Spirit holding the flower, then they are very, very close to it...
The Black Earl pondered and shared his findings with everyone.
"...Under normal circumstances, if the opponent is truly powerful, they might have already discovered us. However, we’ve been here for a while now, and they still haven’t appeared, which indicates that Angel’s Illusionary Realm has had a certain effect on this Infant Spirit." Black Earl: "It probably hasn’t noticed us yet, but if we continue forward, getting within a hundred meters of it, that’s another story."
Of course, it’s also possible that the source of the scent isn’t the flower in the hands of the Infant Spirit, which is why the opponent hasn’t appeared. But, this possibility is minimal... because Angel knows that this place is not far from that wall, which is the door to the Qingkong Poetry Room.