The moment the Light Crystal appeared, everyone’s eyes focused on Tang Qiu. Even the white wolf that had just been lying down silently stood up, staring at Tang Qiu with suspicion.

Under their gazes, Tang Qiu remained composed, feigning ignorance about what the Light Crystal was.

In truth, she really didn’t know what a Light Crystal was; this was the first time she had heard the name from someone else.

As for the white stone in Cynthia’s hand… Kama had given it to her when she found her in the Earth Mother’s temple.

Cynthia played with the Light Crystal, her probing gaze sweeping over Tang Qiu’s face before she lowered her eyes slightly to look at Kama, who was hiding behind Tang Qiu.

Kama was secretly peeking out with one eye to carefully observe Cynthia. Unexpectedly, Cynthia caught her in the act, and she nervously retracted her head.

This combination was so strange, and… for some reason, Cynthia’s expression turned a bit peculiar. She didn’t believe that these two could have infiltrated the Elf Race and stolen the Light Crystal right under Olivia’s nose.

Cynthia tossed the Light Crystal into the air and caught it. She sniffed it, then curled her lips into a low laugh at Tang Qiu. “I think I smell something else. Aren’t you going to take it out and show me?”

To think that Cynthia could actually retrieve items from a bonded Space Gem. Tang Qiu sighed inwardly. Seeing that she couldn’t bluff her way through, she decided to come clean. She took out Cynthia’s Staff and said with a smile, “I know you’ll be surprised to see this, but I can explain. It’s just… a very incredible story.”

Seeing her own staff in Tang Qiu’s hands, Cynthia raised her eyebrows in surprise. She turned to look at the priestess behind her. The priestess, her face a mask of shock and doubt, thought back carefully before slowly shaking her head. “I am certain that your staff was still safe and sound in the Holy See when I left.”

“Truly incredible.” Cynthia rubbed the rough surface of the Light Crystal and silently chanted a spell. She raised her other free hand slightly, and the staff in Tang Qiu’s hand, feeling the summons, broke free and flew into Cynthia’s grasp.

Cynthia held the staff and waited patiently for a moment longer. However, no second staff appeared.

Tang Qiu knew what Cynthia was doing just by looking at her expression. She also waited for a moment, a guess slowly forming in her mind. “There’s no need to doubt. This is indeed your staff.”

There was no need to pretend anymore. When speaking with Cynthia, Tang Qiu naturally reverted to her normal self. “The staff and the Light Crystal are unique. Therefore, in the same space, only one staff and one crystal from different time periods can exist.”

Her words left the white wolf and the priestess looking bewildered, but Cynthia understood. She unconsciously tapped the staff with her index finger, looked up at Tang Qiu, and said in a deep voice, “You’re from…”

“Five thousand years in the future,” Tang Qiu finished her sentence calmly.

Since she had been found out, there was no need to hide it. Cynthia was practically a “god” from five thousand years ago. If Tang Qiu wanted to go back, she might need her help.

The priestesses behind Cynthia exchanged glances. One of them seemed to remember something and said thoughtfully, “Did the sudden rise in the water level of the Slade Sea have something to do with you?”

“It probably did. I was teleported to a sea area.”

“Then I understand. Was it those wizards from the Tzimisce clan who sent you here?” The priestess sneered when she mentioned the Tzimisce clan.

Hearing her words, Tang Qiu’s heart stirred. She pressed, “You know about their clan’s teleportation array?”

“Beneath the Slade Sea lies the teleportation array left by the Tzimisce clan.” The priestess then looked at Cynthia and frowned. “But didn’t you destroy their clan’s teleportation array?”

Cynthia frowned and said nothing. She looked down at Kama and beckoned to her. “Come here, let me see you.”

Kama looked up at Tang Qiu, who nodded at her and said softly, “Don’t be afraid. Just tell her what you know.”

Kama cautiously walked over to Cynthia. Cynthia removed the white glove from her right hand and gently took Kama’s palm. A few seconds later, she slowly withdrew her hand.

The white wolf trotted over and asked curiously, “What did you see?”

She was a little curious about what the continent of Statu would be like in five thousand years.

Cynthia was still processing Kama’s memories. Hearing the white wolf’s question, she replied casually, “The Wolf Race went extinct.”

The white wolf’s body stiffened, the fur on its back standing on end. “Who? Who wiped out our Wolf Race? I’ll go tear them to shreds right now.”

“Her Excellency Cynthia is joking.” Tang Qiu felt she had found the root of the werewolves’ naivety. “The Wolf Race is fine, but their reproductive ability is too poor, and the number of newborns is decreasing year by year, so the population is shrinking.”

She didn’t say anything more.

Cynthia had completely digested Kama’s memories. She accepted the future fate of the Holy See, the Wolf Race, and the Elf Race with great composure. Handing the Light Crystal and the staff back to Tang Qiu, she said calmly, “I’ll take you to find the companions you were separated from.”

From Kama’s memories, it was clear that the future of the Statu continent was inseparable from the person standing before her.

Tang Qiu had been observing Cynthia’s reaction and was somewhat surprised that she asked nothing after seeing the memories. However, this personality suited Tang Qiu’s temperament well. She smiled faintly and thanked her softly, “Thank you for being willing to help me.”

Cynthia shook her head with a light laugh and said something only the two of them could understand, “Establishing the Holy See wasn’t easy, you know.”

Although what happened five thousand years later had little to do with her, since this person had been sent to her, she certainly wouldn’t stand by and do nothing.

The destination of the teleportation array was not random. Tang Qiu, being a werewolf, was thrown near the werewolf territory. Kama, a descendant of the God Race, was sent to her people in Nobi City. As for Lucille, a vampire, and Erin, a Black Witch, it was easy to guess where they had been sent.

In the time period Tang Qiu had been transported to, the Holy War had just ended not long ago. The Vampires had been driven back to the Blood Domain, and the Black Witches had returned to their own territories.

Fortunately, the two locations were not far from each other, so it was on the way.

This was, after all, five thousand years ago. The Vampires had been defeated in the Holy War, but there were still many second and third-generation vampires in the Blood Domain. Tang Qiu pondered for a moment and decided not to take Kama with her, instead entrusting her to the people of the Holy See.

For the journey to the Blood Domain, Cynthia only brought the white wolf and two priestesses. The white wolf was still preoccupied with the future of her clan, constantly pestering Tang Qiu with questions.

One of the priestesses looked at the backs of the white wolf and Tang Qiu, hesitated for a moment, and tried to probe Cynthia for information about the future of their Holy See. She had felt uneasy the moment she learned that little Kama couldn’t even speak. “…What exactly happened in the next five thousand years? Why can’t Kama, a descendant of the God Race, even use light magic?”

“The population of the God Race is too small. As the Holy See developed and the number of believers grew, its power expanded. If the God Race continued to hold all the power, they would inevitably be targeted by those with ulterior motives. Chloe, this is unavoidable.”

“But…”

“Human greed is beyond your imagination.”

“Moreover, no matter who controls this continent, they will experience a cycle from prosperity to decline. It was once the Gods, now it is the Vampires, and in the future, it will be the Holy See.” Cynthia’s face was serene; she was very philosophical about the decline of the Holy See. “No one can escape this law.”

Even a race as powerful as the Vampires was defeated by them, wasn’t it? And why was the light able to descend? Wasn’t it because the darkness had first fractured from within?

Five thousand years ago, the Witch City was still a dark and gloomy forest. When Erin was thrown out by the teleportation array, she had the misfortune of getting snagged on a tree branch. Little Fur Ball fell from the sky, and she caught it with a quick hand.

The trees in the Witch City were all giant trees over ten meters tall. Their branches were wide, and the edges of their leaves were incredibly sharp, capable of leaving a deep gash on their prey with a single swipe.

Everything in the Witch City was related to darkness. They loved flesh and blood, bones, and rotting corpses.

The already dim light was blocked by the dense foliage. Erin looked down and saw nothing but pitch blackness. She held Little Fur Ball with both hands and looked around, but she couldn’t see Kama, which made her heart grow heavy.

Where on earth was this place? A secret territory of the Tzimisce clan? The dark aura was so thick, could it be the Blood Domain?

The branch beneath her was reasonably thick. Erin steadied herself against the trunk and carefully stood up. She glanced down, pinched Little Fur Ball’s paw, and muttered to herself, “What should I do? Should I go down and take a look?”

She took out a teleportation scroll and tried to unfurl it, but just as she expected, the scroll showed no reaction.

She sighed worriedly. Little Fur Ball, however, was curled up in her hand, fast asleep, completely oblivious to its master’s mood.

Erin stayed on the branch for a while, during which two flocks of black crows came to harass her. She sorted through the items in her Space Gem, placing the life-saving scrolls at the very front. Then, she took out her long-unused bone staff and summoned a skeleton to take her down.

The ground beneath the tree was soft and damp, and the sensation underfoot was particularly unpleasant. Erin chanted a spell to summon a few glowing orbs for light, and by their dim yellow glow, she cautiously searched for a way out of the forest.

The paths in the forest were complex and hard to remember. Erin marked her way as she walked and actually managed to find a small, crude village in the woods.

Erin cautiously approached a small wooden hut. The faint smell of blood in the air made her instinctively tighten her grip on Little Fur Ball. The hut’s door was shut tight. She was about to command the skeleton to push it open when the door suddenly opened from the inside.

A petite young girl in a loose black robe opened the door and was momentarily stunned to see the skeleton. She looked up at Erin behind it and asked, “Why aren’t you at the palace praying to the Dark God?”

Five thousand years ago, Black Witches were not yet divided into white-robed and red-robed factions. They all favored black robes, which made it easy for Erin, also dressed in black, to be mistaken for one of them.

The girl came out of the house, closed the door behind her, and said to Erin, “The Dark God detests insincere believers. Come and pray with me, or I’ll report you to the elders and have you sacrificed to the Dark God.”

When she mentioned the Dark God, her tone and expression were strikingly similar to those of the Garcia Family’s Black Witches. A storm of emotions churned within Erin, but she carefully kept her face impassive. She nodded silently and followed the girl.

Witches… praying… The Garcia Black Witches worshiped the Dark God, but they had no ritual of going to a palace to pray to him.

And what did she mean by palace… the Dark God’s palace? Where in the world had the teleportation array sent her?

After following the girl through the forest for about ten minutes, Erin finally saw the palace she had mentioned. It was upon seeing the palace that Erin had a sudden realization: the place she was standing was actually the Witch City.

The Palace of the Dark God was in the forbidden grounds of the Witch City.

Erin had set foot in the Dark God’s palace twice before and had firmly committed its appearance to memory. She was absolutely certain she wasn’t mistaken.

In front of the palace was a large open space where a statue of the Dark God, dozens of meters tall, sat in the center. Black-robed witches stood with their hands crossed, heads bowed, praying devoutly to the Dark God. Despite there being thousands of them, not a single sound could be heard.

The girl led Erin to join the group of witches to pray. Erin tucked Little Fur Ball into her sleeve, lowered her head slightly, and secretly observed the witches on either side of her. They were completely immersed in their prayers, and no one paid any attention to Erin.

Erin observed several witches in a row and found no familiar faces. A shocking thought slowly began to form in her mind.

Inside the Palace of the Dark God, a red mist and a gray mist floated in mid-air, slowly elongating into two blurry shadows with indistinct features.

The red shadow looked down at the Black Witches below, its clear voice tinged with a hint of disdain. “A bunch of useless trash, beaten so badly by the followers of the Light Goddess that they don’t even dare to leave their own territory.”

“If I had known, I wouldn’t have chosen this family.” The red shadow’s voice was thick with regret.

“The contract has been made, yet they can’t gather enough dark power. So useless.”

“At this rate, how long will it take for me to break the seal and get out?”

After complaining for a long time without getting any response from the gray shadow, she grew a little displeased. “Are you laughing at me, Wolf Fang?”

“No,” the gray shadow denied flatly, its gaze scanning the crowd below as if searching for something.

The red shadow noticed the gray shadow’s odd behavior and also glanced down. “Huh?” she said strangely. “Why do I sense your aura down there too?”

The gray shadow didn’t speak, but its gaze had already precisely landed on Erin, who was hidden among the Black Witches, constantly looking around.