Why Am I a Priestess When I Reach the Maximum Level? - [Vol. 6] Chapter 37

[Vol. 6] Chapter 37: As Everyone Knows, the Shortest Distance Between Two Points Is a Straight Line

Above the [Tidal Deep Valley], in the Prefect army’s camp.

The violent rumbling and tremors from beneath the earth naturally alarmed the forces stationed on the perimeter. They had tightly sealed off the incident area, serving as the final line of defense.

“What’s happening! What’s going on?! Stay calm!”

Tents collapsed, and the wooden barricades and wall stakes they had erected crumbled under the intense shaking. The tremors were so strong that even the elite warriors of the Spirit Guard Army struggled to maintain their balance, stumbling about like wobbling toys.

Although Prefect Wen Fu managed to stand with the help of Lady Qin Xuan from the [Yin-Yang Division], he shouted loudly in an attempt to restore order. Yet, the panic and chaos brought by nature’s wrath were not something he could quell alone.

The terrifying earthquake lasted for the time it takes to burn half a stick of incense. When the violent shaking finally ceased, the dizzy and disoriented Prefect barely steadied himself and quickly looked around.

Before he could say anything, a series of panicked shouts erupted again from the chaotic army.

“Look over there! B-below!!!”

Wen Fu instinctively turned in the direction of the voices, and his pupils constricted slightly.

The sight before him revealed that over ninety percent of the hundreds of tunnels leading to the inner layers of the [Tidal Deep Valley] had collapsed completely during the earlier seismic upheaval.

Piles of rubble and dust had sealed off the exits, and the few remaining tunnels that were not entirely blocked had drastically changed their forms due to the earth’s violent movements.

While one thing was happening, something completely opposite and dramatic occurred in the center of the basin. A huge, deep hole opened up, and many large cracks spread out from it, reaching all the way to the edges of the basin.

The scene was as if the entire [Tidal Deep Valley], and perhaps even a larger area, was about to collapse. It felt as if some incomprehensibly terrifying entity was about to erupt from beneath the earth, unleashing destruction and turning everything around into nothingness.

“This…”

Standing atop the high slope, Wen Fu gazed down at the basin and ravine below, now utterly transformed. The shock in his heart was almost impossible to conceal.

But as if suddenly remembering something, he turned around hastily.

“Trouble! Quickly, send someone to Yangyuan City to check the impact of this earthquake. If the tremors were this strong… No, I’ll go myself! Lady Qin Xuan, I’ll leave this place in your hands. Reinforcements will arrive soon, please proceed as planned!”

“Understood.”

The Prefect and his entourage of guards hurried away, and the beautiful woman in the Taoist robe watched their figures until they disappeared into the distance before turning her gaze back to the basin below, which had been completely transformed. She sighed several times.

“The signs of a great era are becoming increasingly clear…”

……………………………….

Below the Ravine

*Crash!*

Amid the scattered heaps of rubble, a golden light suddenly flared like the sprouting of a seed, gently pushing aside massive stones weighing hundreds or even thousands of pounds. From within the light, a black-haired girl stepped out, walking at an unhurried pace.

“This is seriously absurd. Don’t tell me all those other guys got wiped out…”

Standing amidst the rubble, Violet looked around.

She had fallen to an extremely deep place.

In this dim cavern, apart from the collapsed piles of rocks, there was absolutely nothing else. The sudden earthquake not only caused the ground they had been standing on to collapse, plunging them into the depths, but it also seemed to have completely reshaped the terrain of the [Tidal Deep Valley].

In other words, the map provided by Murong Yun was no longer reliable.

Still, something felt strange.

When Violet emerged from the rubble, she had already been using her SP to probe the surroundings. Yet, there were no signs of Ling Feng or the others.

If they had merely been separated due to the fall and the terrain changes, the distance between them shouldn’t have been this great.

With that in mind…

The priestess suddenly recalled something Murong Yun had mentioned earlier about his strange encounter with the holy beast, the Qilin.

According to his account, the Qilin didn’t launch any direct attacks after appearing. Instead, it simply flicked its tail lightly, and everything around him seemed to turn upside down. Moments later, he found himself back on the surface of the [Tidal Deep Valley].

If he wasn’t exaggerating, this couldn’t be explained by simple physical displacement. It likely involved some kind of mysterious spatial power.

And then there was Ling Feng’s confident assurance that Yuan Zhi and the others would be fine, that also felt worth scrutinizing.

“Is there truly some hidden secret to this place…?”

No matter what, she decided it would be best to explore her surroundings. While the unknown earthquake had scattered their group, it wasn’t a major concern for the priestess. In fact, this upheaval might have conveniently skipped the need to activate the [Tidal Stone], directly leading her into the true key area of the ravine.

Resolving to investigate, Violet began walking through the collapsed cavern caused by the earthquake.

She walked for a long time, but the surroundings remained eerily silent. Not only were Ling Feng and the others nowhere to be seen, but even the previously oppressive, sinister aura that had permeated this underground area seemed to have completely vanished.

However, in its place was a subtle, almost imperceptible force that radiated an unsettling and mysterious energy. It was faint, something ordinary people wouldn’t notice, yet it exuded an inexplicable sense of dread.

This place wasn’t safe. In fact, it was far more dangerous than anywhere else outside.

Realizing this, Violet paused and thoughtfully ran her hand along a nearby rock wall.

As expected… the walls and floor were dry, lacking the dampness typically left by years of underground river water.

This must be the area where Murong Yun encountered the Qilin. However, it seemed even he had failed to notice the truly terrifying and hidden force present here.

The priestess resumed her journey, continuing along the only visible path.

After walking for another ten or so minutes, Violet stopped again, her brows slightly furrowed.

Something wasn’t right, this was clearly wrong.

Though her pace appeared leisurely, her actual speed couldn’t be measured by ordinary standards. From her starting point to this spot, she had already traveled nearly ten kilometers. Coupled with the wide range of her SP detection, the possibility of such a vast hollow space existing beneath the [Tidal Deep Valley] was absurd.

It defied spatial structure.

Furthermore, even if Ling Feng and the others were also moving due to the earlier earthquake-induced separation, enough time had passed for them to have entered her detection range. Unless they were moving in the exact opposite direction.

At the very least, she should have encountered a few of them by now.

Yet, from start to finish, Violet hadn’t sensed a single living thing, not even a burrowing earthworm. This eerily silent and lifeless space contained nothing except for air currents and that strange, unsettling aura.

“……”

She raised her hand, and the “Mysterious Tree” transformed into an exquisite silver dagger, now firmly grasped in the black-haired girl’s hand.

The silver blade emitted a faint glow, its light behaving like a special directional indicator. As Violet moved experimentally in different directions, the intensity and hue of the glow shifted in a discernible pattern, seemingly guiding her toward a specific destination.

“As expected.”

There was something wrong with this space.

It’s difficult to say exactly what’s going on, but since the replica of [Blade of Hollow Mark] based on the [Simulated Kabbalah Tree of Life] has given a specific response, it indicates that the spatial environment here is undoubtedly in a state of unstable anomaly, with a passageway leading to another region.

Such a phenomenon should have been impossible under normal circumstances.

Abandoning the meaningless effort of moving forward blindly, Violet decisively closed her eyes and chose to follow the guidance of the [Blade of Hollow Mark], advancing in a straight line.

“[Light Protection].”

Since the surroundings were lifeless, she unfolded the barrier of [Light Protection] around her and reinforced it. Ignoring physical obstacles and collisions with the stone walls, she charged forward like a golden battering ram.

*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*

The sounds of collapsing walls, massive debris crashing to the ground, and violent impacts echoed in her ears. Yet Violet ignored them all, moving forward with her eyes closed, heedless of the destruction she caused.

If there was no path ahead, she smashed through with brute force.

If stones fell, she held them back with her barrier.

Even when the ground collapsed again and the terrain shifted, nothing could halt her determined steps toward her destination.

At last, the vibrations from the [Blade of Hollow Mark] reached their peak, signaling that the spatial intersection point was close at hand.

Violet opened her eyes again.

She… was back at the very spot where she had initially fallen.