Free Web NovelChapter 213: Chapter 206: The Altar is Complete
Ian changed his clothes and walked out of the meditation room.
He first went to the Magic Pharmacy, dealt with some backlogged matters, and refined a few batches of Potions.
It wasn’t until late at night, when all was quiet, that he returned to his small building.
Without disturbing anyone, Ian went to his bedroom.
He crouched down and placed his palm on the floor.
Spiritual Power seeped out, spreading down through the cracks between the stone tiles, penetrating the foundation, and delving deep underground.
Ten meters.
Twenty meters.
Thirty meters.
Ian didn’t stop until he reached a depth of fifty meters underground.
The soil layer here was hard, with no underground rivers nearby, nor any traces left by other Wizards. It was sufficiently hidden.
"This is the place."
A golden glint flashed in Ian’s eyes.
’Gravity Collapse Ball!’
A small black sphere, the size of a marble, formed in his palm.
With a light press, the sphere sank into the ground.
HUMMM...
A low hum came from deep underground.
Centered on the point of entry, the soil and Rock within a twenty-meter diameter began to collapse inward and compress.
It was as if an invisible giant hand had forcibly "pinched" this space into a perfectly spherical cavity.
Ian jumped into the cavity.
The space inside was large—twenty meters in diameter and ten meters high—more than enough room for him to work.
He took out twenty-eight Void Anchor Stones and began arranging them according to the array diagram he had learned from the Soul Weaving Civilization Stone Slab.
The first one was placed in the center of the cavity.
Silver patterns flowed slowly across it as the Anchor Stone emitted stable spatial fluctuations.
The second, to the east, three meters from the first.
The third, to the west.
The fourth, to the south.
The fifth, to the north...
Ian’s movements were slow and meticulous.
With every Anchor Stone he placed, he used his Spiritual Power to carefully adjust its position, ensuring every node of the array was perfectly precise.
This was extremely delicate work; the slightest error could cause the entire array to fail or even trigger spatial turbulence.
Time passed, bit by bit.
Fine beads of sweat formed on Ian’s forehead, but his eyes were focused, and his hands did not tremble in the slightest.
When the twenty-eighth Anchor Stone was set down, placed on the final node of the array.
HUMMM!!!
The entire cavity shook violently.
The twenty-eight Anchor Stones lit up simultaneously with a silver glow. The light connected them, weaving into a complex and beautiful three-dimensional Rune Array in the air.
In the center of the array, space began to twist slightly, forming a stable, one-meter-diameter dark vortex.
The vortex rotated slowly, emitting a deep, cold aura that felt as if it could devour everything.
The Abyssal Altar was complete.
But Ian didn’t stop.
He took out the materials he had long since prepared: Abyssal Rune Stones, Void Dust, Uncertain Iron, Abyssal Crystals...
He ground the Auxiliary Materials into a powder according to a specific ratio and mixed them together.
Then, guided by his Spiritual Power, he carved a series of protective, warning, and information-concealing Rune Arrays on the ground around the altar.
This was to prevent anyone from detecting this place from the outside.
It was also to prevent the altar’s aura from leaking out and attracting unnecessary trouble.
After carving the final stroke,
Ian stood up and let out a long breath.
The final product was far sturdier than the crude altar he had seen initially.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at the altar before him, which pulsed with a dim light. His expression was complex.
Anticipation, vigilance, excitement, and a trace of... apprehension about the unknown.
"Finally... it’s ready."
He sat cross-legged before the altar, closed his eyes, and began to adjust his condition.
The ice crystal in his Sea of Spirit rotated slowly, and a faint golden Spiritual Power suffused his entire body.
The Jade-like Radiance deep within his physical body flowed gently, ready to erupt with terrifying Power at any moment.
Everything was at its optimal state.
Ian opened his eyes and looked at the dark vortex in the center of the altar.
He stretched out his hand, and a speck of golden light appeared on his fingertip.
It was a wisp of his Spiritual Mark, containing the contract Rune of the Phase Soul Weaving Technique.
Ian sat quietly cross-legged before the altar, his eyes fixed on the one-meter-diameter dark vortex spinning slowly.
Time seemed to stretch, each second feeling exceptionally slow.
Inside the cavity, there was only the low hum of the Anchor Stone Array.
And from the depths of the vortex, faint, chaotic whispers occasionally drifted out, like the breathing of the distant Abyss.
Several hours passed. The vortex remained deep and silent, with no response.
Ian’s anticipation gradually gave way to patience.
He was well aware that communication with an Otherworld was fraught with variables and could not be rushed.
Late at night, he checked the altar’s stability again.
He confirmed that the Anchor Stone Array was operating normally and the passage had not closed; it just hadn’t linked to a suitable "target" yet.
"I can’t just wait around," Ian muttered to himself.
He stood up and set up a hidden surveillance Witchcraft around the altar: the Eye of Shadow.
This Witchcraft could transmit any unusual fluctuations from the altar to his residence in real-time and was connected to his Spiritual Perception.
After finishing, he took one last look at the silent vortex, turned, and left the underground cavity.
Returning to his small building on the surface, the night was already deep.
Ian did not rest, instead carrying out his usual evening Meditation and Witchcraft practice.
In the following days, he returned to his usual rhythm.
In the mornings, after spending a small amount of time handling matters at the Magic Pharmacy, he would improve his Potions and practice Witchcraft.
In the afternoons, he studied the details of contracts and the Phase Soul Weaving Technique, and in the evenings, he tempered his physical body.
At night, he would Meditate while splitting off a sliver of his consciousness to sense the fluctuations transmitted by the Eye of Shadow.
One day, two days... a week passed, but the altar remained silent.
Ian would occasionally perceive the dark vortex through his surveillance.
It spun steadily, like a profound eye gazing into the Void, but it had yet to receive a response from the other side.
Disappointment inevitably began to sprout, but it was overshadowed by calm anticipation.
He knew that finding a suitable "supplicant" from an Otherworld required opportunity; it was like fishing in a boundless ocean, where patience was more important than haste.
One morning, half a month later, Ian was in his meditation room practicing the Frost Ash Beam, adjusting the ratio of ice and fire as a purple-white cold light coiled around his fingertips.
Suddenly, his Sea of Spirit trembled slightly.
The Eye of Shadow was transmitting unusual fluctuations!
Ian instantly retracted the Witchcraft, closed his eyes, and focused his mind.
In his Perception, the vortex of the underground altar was no longer calm.
Faint ripples appeared in the depths of the darkness, as if something was "knocking" from the other side.
Immediately after, a faint yet clear mental fluctuation pierced through the Void and reached him.
It was a mixture of despair, pain, and unwillingness...
...and a final, almost instinctual plea, like the outstretched hand of a drowning person.
’It’s finally here...’
A golden glint flashed in Ian’s eyes, and he didn’t hesitate in the slightest.
His long-prepared contract document—the Soul Shackles disguised as an "aid agreement"—was ready.
Wrapped in Spiritual Power, it transformed into a golden stream of light and shot out from his hand.
It pierced through the floor, went straight down into the ground, and plunged precisely into the altar’s vortex.
Suddenly, the mental fluctuations of the desperate supplicant came again from an extreme distance.
Ian "saw" the contract document.
In some distant Otherworld, it was signed by a weak, desperate Soul who still carried a final trace of unwillingness...
The name was branded, the Soul bound.
The contract... was established!
The vortex in the center of the altar shook violently!
A faint but incredibly clear connection extended from the depths of the vortex, linking to Ian’s Sea of Spirit.
That was... the Phase Passage to the Otherworld.
Success!
An unprecedented light burst forth from Ian’s eyes.
He stood up, walked to the altar, and looked at the deep vortex, the corners of his mouth slowly turning up.
"Otherworld..."
"Here I come."
