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“And what makes you think I’m interested in that ‘Soul Essence’?” Angor gazed at the old priest.

The old man simply returned his gaze with those blank, emotionless eyes. Angor felt as if this Krakok wasn’t looking at him, but... something within his body.

“Your soul is special... Like an unpolished gem,” Grand Priest said with a very slow pace, but yet, each of his words could trigger something in Angor’s heart. “Unpolished, but beautiful. Even Lady Isabelle will probably admire your soul if she’s here.”

“What are you trying to say?” Angor quickly got tired of such an unproductive conversation.

“Don’t you want to make your soul... better? That gray energy inside you. It needs nourishment, don’t you think?”

Angor remained silent for a while. He was surprised. Not only did the priest point out his intention, but he also knew about that power that was hidden within his soul...

The master Soul Manipulator Ness needed to plan ahead and a lot of time to find the particular aura. But this mortal old man saw it almost right away?

“Did the Soul Essence tell you about it?” Angor asked while trying not to expose his emotion.

The old man shook his head. “My eyes cannot help me see the world anymore... but I can see into souls.”

Angor snickered—he didn’t believe it. Ness already proved to him that it took more than that to find the sequence of gravity aura.

But he didn’t care. It was natural that they both wanted to hide something.

“You’re right. I do want to purify my soul. But I didn’t come to Hippocrotee for that purpose. I’m here to help... someone. Of course, what you’re implying would be an extra gift for me.”

By saying “extra gift”, Angor was trying to lower the value the priest was providing. “So what do I have to pay in return, if I want to receive this gift?” Angor asked.

The priest shook head again and smiled. “Nothing.”

The words actually made Angor be on alert. He never believed in free lunch in this world. By “nothing”, the priest might be referring to something dearer instead.

“I can purify my soul at no cost at all? Yeah, sure,” Angor said sarcastically.

“You misunderstood me, young mister. I said you don’t have to give me anything because you already did.”

“Huh?”

“You did me a favor by changing the location of the choir member election.”

“... What do you mean?”

“Because the election is used to purify souls.”

...

“If you wish to talk to me, young mister, go to the Souliege Lake nearby. I’ll remain there until the election begins at night,” the priest said before he left the palace hall.

Angor considered their conversation.

He followed Shadow here because he wanted to pursue a possible destiny. Now that he actually found one... he wasn’t sure about this anymore.

He feared that he might offend Dark Castle. It wasn’t about Fiona since they never hurt her for real, and it was mostly Shadow who controlled her.

But he did change the ancient convention established by Isabelle a thousand years ago.

He understood that the Grand Priest was referring to this by “paying the cost”.

And the consequence would be unpredictable.

Would he become an enemy of Dark Castle for real? He should decide whether he would give up this destiny.

He thought about it and decided to check out the Souliege Lake anyway. He still had a lot of questions about the matter, and the priest was keeping a lot of secrets. He needed to learn more before making the final decision.

The lake was right beside the Centenary Palace. When Angor arrived, the old priest was gazing into the lake river quietly.

“Well, you didn’t have to make me decide. Just let the election happen inside the palace, and everything will go as you wanted,” Angor said.

“Ha... I cannot afford to anger you OR the Citadel, young mister.”

“Then why didn’t you report me to them? You didn’t, which means you want something else.”

The old man didn’t reply.

“Why is the election used for purifying souls?” Angor asked his number one concern.

The priest slowly turned his tattered body around. “Do you know the name of our small paradise?”

“A Sorcerer’s Garden, with its law related to souls.”

The priest neither agreed nor denied it. He only stared at nothing as if recalling something in his past life.

“I... used to serve by Lady Isabelle’s side. She told me that this is called the ‘Soul Genesis Garden’.”

Soul Genesis Garden?

Angor didn’t find anything related to that name in his memory, but he did notice the particular name.

“Who was it that you served?”

“Lady Isabelle.”

“Rumor says that Lady Isabelle left the wizarding world a thousand years ago. So she didn’t?”

The old man smiled bitterly. “The rumor is right. She already left.”

“You mean...” Angor immediately thought about Dodoro. “You’ve been alive for a thousand years now?”

The old man sighed and said, “I have, by using different vessels while bearing the title of the Grand Priest. One dead vessel means I simply need to find another one. It’s only my soul and my memory that continues to live on.”

“It’s no easy task to resurrect by putting your soul into another corpse,” Angor commented.

“It’s not a corpse. One thousand years ago, Lady Isabelle fused me within the Soul Essence, which is the core of the law of this Soul Genesis Garden. If Isabelle does not wish for me to die, then I cannot. My soul will never perish. Even if all my bodies rot away, I will keep going through endless reincarnation cycles... You can even consider it immortality. I’ll live forever as long as I don’t leave this garden.”

Angor nodded. Such immortality was achieved at a great price, yet it was totally possible in a soul-related Sorcerer’s Garden.

“Speaking of Soul Genesis Garden... I think you already knew how different gardens possess different laws. The law of Soul Genesis Garden is to keep the absolute completeness of souls.”

Angor widened his eyes a little.

When he saw the old Krakok woman passed away in the streets of Hippocrotee, he already noticed that her soul was very intact. And he just learned why.

Only supernatural beings could keep their souls complete upon death, while mortals would only leave pieces of their souls behind, with the exception of mortals who possessed very strong spiritual power or obsessive regrets. That old woman was certainly not the case, which meant the Soul Genesis Garden helped her soul to stay intact.

This place was a true paradise for Soul Manipulator wizards to conduct their researches!

Souls were always in high demand since they were used in many applications including Soul Manipulator researches, Tooling puppets, and certain potions. There were also spells which needed to consume intact souls.

The priest continued, “Using such a law, our souls always stay complete upon death. However, Lady Isabelle does not need mortal souls filled with unwanted impurity, so she put a treasure inside the Soul Essence. Once enough souls are gathered, we perform a series of steps and remove the impurity by using a certain melody.”

“A certain melody...”

“The Hymns of Fairies, yes.”

“Then why do you have to select singers? Everyone can sing, right?” Angor frowned.

“Not everyone has the correct voice to activate that treasure. Lady Isabelle already put something into our blood. Now, only a small number of our female members possess such power. We have to go through the election event to find who can activate the treasure.”

Angor more or less understood the whole situation now. It was the secret treasure that purified souls instead of the garden itself.

“What does that have to do with me changing the location?”

“... The original location should be around the ceremonial ground where the other half of the treasure is buried. When the two halves join together, the treasure will remove ALL impurities from souls. This includes emotions, memories... After this process, the souls from dead people throughout the last year will turn to pure energy entities. We call them Soul Orbs.”

This meant if the location was changed, the ritual would not generate Soul Orbs.

“Can I use the treasure to purify my soul, then return it to the ceremony to finish the job?” Angor asked.

“No. After each activation, the treasure will enter dormancy and remain that way for 300 days and nights.”