To his own surprise, even Shui found himself transported to the field of flowers, where he could feel the dirt under his feet and the wind blowing against his skin. However, he could figure out why he was here after recalling what happened.
"So this is a spiritscape?"
Though low-rank spirits weren't able to speak, all spirits used a special means of communication known as heart bonding through which they could share their thoughts and feelings. Heart bonding was not affected by distance and could work between any two spirits that were in the same world. Although the Spirit Nest was a separate space, spirits could relay images from inside the Spirit Nest because the Spirit Nest and Silver City were still part of the same world.
Low-rank spirits could also combine their heart bonds to create a spiritscape which was effectively an illusory domain similar to the domain that the evil spirit inside Nathan trapped Shui in. Though Shui's soul was powerful, he was still a way off from being able to automatically resist being pulled into a domain. The spiritscape itself couldn't harm him, but his body would be defenseless, so he quickly used his spiritual sense to rouse himself awake.
Meanwhile, the middle-aged man, Guest elder Kerr, looked at the only awake member of Kate's group and lowered his head in reverence.
"Exalted Spirit, I have come for you."
Spirits could freely enter and exit spiritscapes formed by lower ranked spirits, so Kerr's trap did not affect the red humanoid spirit. However, since entering the palace, the feeling that she was forgetting something important was increasingly troubling her, so she was in a poor mood for conversation.
"Human, do not my block my path."
The red spirit was clearly upset, but Guest elder Kerr didn't back down.
"I have no intention of being a hinderance to the Exalted Spirit. I will offer all that I am to aid you in regaining your former power."
"Hmph! Do you really think you can imagine the extent of my true powers?"
"Naturally I'm not so arrogant. However, for a spirit of your stature, if you had your true strength, then I wouldn't even be able to approach without your permission."
"You know that and yet you still plead your case? Do you really think you can be of any use to me?"
"Of course. With my knowledge and resources, I can serve you much better than these children. If you would come with me, I will certainly not disappoint you."
The red spirit wasn't quick to respond this time. She stared at Guest elder Kerr with a solemn look before eventually sighing.
"Enough."
Suddenly, Guest elder Kerr's coat caught fire, so he hastily took it off, but he could only watch helplessly as it turned to ash.
"Precious resources born from nature are indeed enticing to spirits, but you're quite the jester if you think some herbs and rocks can meet my standards."
Just as the red spirit pointed out, Guest elder Kerr's coat was made from mutated herbs and elemental crystals, but against her flames it wasn't able to put up any resistance. Though Kerr's love of wealth was part of the reason for using these materials, it was mainly because these items easily attracted spirits. Losing the coat was a setback but not enough to make Guest elder Kerr give up.
"No no, that was just-"
"I said, enough."
With a snap of her fingers, a red brand appeared around Guest elder Kerr's neck, creating a mark similar to a ring tattoo. The branding barely hurt, but once it was completed, Guest elder Kerr felt as if a shackle had been placed on him.
"These children don't seem to have any complaints about their treatment, so I'll let you keep your life, but make no more contracts if you wish to stay alive."
"You!"
"What's happening here?"
Having finally awakened from the spiritscape, Shui saw Guest elder Kerr's ugly expression as he tried to cover the red mark around his neck. He could see that the mark was some form of seal, but it was too advanced for him to gleam much more.
"Nothing worth mentioning. I'll have the little ones release the others, so hurry and continue your journey."
"What?! You think you can-"
"Silence."
Unable to voice his protest, Guest elder Kerr watched as his spirits disobeyed his commands and closed their spiritscape. He did not need to speak to order them again, but even the mental connection between them was being blocked.
"!"
Feeling more helpless than he had ever felt in his life so far, Guest elder Kerr dropped to his knees. Like Shui, when the others woke up from the spiritscape, they were confused by the sight of Guest elder Kerr groveling before them.
"What happened here?" Kate asked.
Shui looked at the red humanoid spirit, but she seemed disinclined to answer, so he combined the pieces together himself.
"Considering his control of spirits, I'm guessing this is the guest elder?"
"Yes, that's right," said Reinhart.
"Then, it looks like he was too greedy for his own good."
Seeing Shui purposely glance at the red spirit, the others could guess that Guest elder Kerr tried to make a contract with her but was firmly rejected.
"So what now?"
"He won't make any more trouble, so let's go. We've already wasted enough time."
Everyone agreed with Shui and passed the miserable guest elder to continue down the hallway. Meanwhile, Mater's group of eight had reached the end of the hallway. They had also found it strange that there were no decorations inside the passage, but that wasn't the case for the room at its end.
Around a mysterious combination of symbols on the floor were three identical statues, each in the shape of an angel. If lines were drawn to connect the statues, a triangle of equal lengths would be formed, but the statues faced different directions.
"What's your opinion, Luis?"
Upon Mater's request, a young man with messy hair and a pale face approached the statue in the middle that was also closest to the entrance.
After a brief inspection, he responded, "It appears to be a locking mechanism. My guess is that you have to turn the three statues at the same time in a certain way for the lock to open, but there's a problem with that approach."
"And what is it?"
"It looks like too much time has passed without maintenance, so the mechanism doesn't work anymore."
"Hmm, that is problematic. Check to see if we can break through by force. Though our cultivations have been suppressed, there are still means to forcefully use our powers."
"Yes, young lord."
Two among Mater's group flinched when they heard Mater's last comment, but no one paid them any attention. While they were part of Mater's faction, they weren't highly valued and could barely stay for the second day, so they had to prove their worth one way or another. While Luis investigated the mechanism, the others looked around the hall, but there was nothing else to find, so all they could do was watch their backs and wait for Luis to complete his analysis. If Mater was an impatient man, then this period would have been nerve-wracking, but Mater was tolerant of those who were competent.
Approximately twenty minutes after he started, Luis completed his investigation and informed Mater of the results.
"Under the mechanism there seems to be a winding staircase, so it's possible to break through the center, but there's a fail-safe. If we bypass the mechanism using force, the entire palace will collapse starting from this hall."
Most of Mater's group grimaced at this news, but Mater was the opposite.
"Good. In that case, let's use this fail-safe to our advantage."