Chapter 1 The Supposed Disaster

Hao Ren didn't know if his group counted as a jinx to the Dream Plane. People had been living peacefully for tens of thousands of years, but since his group visited, trouble never ceased… And now, this intact Sacred Cave might also be ruined.

Of course, the cave itself might not be ruined, but the magical door that could identify the Chosen One was indeed damaged: anyone with eyes could see that the magic array on the cave ceiling hadn't opened normally, it had simply been blasted open…

Vivian and Lily both looked up at the cave ceiling. Lily, who had read extensively and authored many works, was filled with scenarios from stories: ancient caves left behind by immortals, who, when ascending to the heavens, left behind restrictions and millennia-old prophecies in their abodes, waiting for a destined person to open the cave and inherit their mantle. According to the local worldview, there was nothing wrong with that, but then a group of aliens with a different style suddenly dropped in, unleashing a Boom that exceeded the restrictions, blasting the cave open… blasted open… open…

"See, two things with different styles shouldn't be mixed together," Lily said, patting Hao Ren on the shoulder with the air of a seasoned writer, "You let a bunch of aliens drop into the Middle Ages and see how many myths get destroyed…"

Her tone was quite serious, but it would have been better if her tail hadn't been wagging while she spoke.

Hao Ren raised his eyebrows: "How is it my fault they dropped in! If you want to blame someone, blame those little green men – I reckon the magic array here was already shattered when the spaceship crashed. It's just that the cave ceiling itself was sturdy enough to hold on for so long. Surely the commotion when we worked wasn't as big as when the spaceship crashed."

The few of them huddled together, whispering, afraid of being overheard, but in the end, Vivian looked up at the bearded man and the others: "I think… this won't be a secret for long. They aren't fools, they'll notice the cave's seal was broken by brute force with just a few glances up."

Hao Ren helplessly spread his hands: "We'll talk about it later, talk about it later. Anyway, they’re the ones who said there’s a Chosen One, they’re the ones who said the Goddess is awesome."

Meanwhile, the bearded man and the others had already noticed the broken magic array and rock strata on the cave ceiling. These four respectable and devout believers didn't think much about it at all, clasping their hands in front of their chests and silently reciting the name of the Goddess. The young nun even muttered to the others: "So that's how you open a cave. I'm afraid only the Chosen One can blow it open in the right place…"

Facts proved that Hao Ren and the others really didn't understand the way of thinking of these devout believers. Otherwise, he would have known that this was a group of people who could point to the Bible and justify themselves even if they saw aliens falling from the sky… Can the Goddess be wrong? Even if the whole world looks different, that's because your understanding of the Bible is flawed!

At this time, Gelton, the oldest and weakest member of the team, had also evened out his breathing. The old man had explored the area and finally fixed his gaze on the side of the pool: there, he could see some broken stone slabs and fragments of unknown material, clearly not something originally in the cave. The old man was overjoyed: "This should be part of the church!"

Hao Ren looked up at the huge hole in the cave ceiling. The hole was huge, but obviously not big enough to swallow the entire island. Therefore, the so-called island and church being swallowed by the whirlpool was just an exaggerated statement. The real situation should be like this: the whirlpool caused huge waves, and the collapse of the rock strata at the bottom of the lake caused the foundation of the island to collapse. In the end, the entire island, together with the church, sank into the water during the earthquake. The structure of the church was obviously weaker than the naturally formed island, so it broke away from the island when it was torn at the edge of the whirlpool, and was then swept into the cave below the lake.

He had the data terminal scan with radar and found that his reasoning was basically correct.

Now, a massive amount of lake water was still pouring down from the gap in the cave ceiling. The scale of the water column was unusually large. If everyone present wasn't extraordinary, they would probably be terrified just by looking at this sight—in fact, Becky had been, as she was the only "normal person" present.

As the water column poured down, one could constantly see things being washed down with the current, including broken boulders, silt and lake bottom creatures, and fleeting man-made objects. Only a few of these things were washed to the edge of the pool; most of them should have sunk to the bottom.

The Holy Coffin probably wouldn't float up.

"Only the church should have fallen into this cave," Hao Ren said, coming to Gelton and Aufra’s side. He was playing the role of a "wandering scholar," spouting some well-known nonsense in a useless field. "I reckon all the man-made facilities on the island couldn't withstand the tearing force of the whirlpool, so the Holy Coffin should have fallen in as well. We should search for it at the bottom of the water."

Aufra looked at the terrifying hole in the cave ceiling: "We must find a way to block this gap. If it continues to expand… the consequences will be disastrous. I'm afraid the entire cave will collapse, and we won't survive no matter how capable we are."

"Block it? How?" Hao Ren looked at the hole with embarrassment. "Have the people above throw some stones down to plug it up? This might make it bigger."

Aufra looked at Hao Ren with a strange expression: "... Your way of thinking doesn't seem like that of a normal mage. Shouldn't you be considering using water or earth manipulation magic to fix the hole?"

Hao Ren was immediately embarrassed: "... I've been studying space magic for many years and I'm not very familiar with other schools. And to be honest, the hole is so big, do you think an ordinary mage can handle this thing?"

"If there's enough time, manpower, and materials, it wouldn't be difficult to block it up in a few days, or have Prince Huffman personally take action, he should have this ability," Aufra shook her head. "But there's no time, and the second point is particularly unrealistic."

"This place shouldn't collapse in a short time," the bearded man suddenly said, but did not explain the real reason. "The Goddess will bless us."

"It's fine as long as we find the Holy Coffin before the cave collapses," Gelton said, supporting himself with the bishop's golden staff, and walked to the pool. "With my power, as long as I find the Holy Coffin, I can send it up in time even if the cave collapses."

As he spoke, he walked towards the pool. In front of him, the water surface seemed to give way, actively avoiding a path. This silent phenomenon was different from conventional water magic and should be the so-called "divine magic." Aufra also followed: "Let me help, I'm good at searching."

At this time, the bearded man coughed lightly, and Hao Ren immediately reacted: "We are not good at swimming, so we will go to the nearby caves to check the situation, and strive to find emergency passages or something, so that we have a place to retreat in case this cave collapses."

The bearded man also chimed in: "We will go with these mercenaries. This place is located in the Holy Land, and we may find something related to the sacred heritage."

The bearded man was making up nonsense without hesitation.

"That's the best, we really should find a way out first," Aufra didn't suspect anything, but nodded to the old werewolf who had been walking with her, "Elson, you also go with the mercenaries, so there's someone to take care of you. It's enough for me and the Archpriest here. Also, it's best not to go too deep after finding the passage, come back and join us."

As a result, only Gelton and Aufra stayed in the large cave to search for the Holy Coffin, and the rest of the troops were preparing to explore the nearby caves.

Hao Ren knew that the bearded man was going to lead his group to the core of the Sacred Cave, but he felt a little troubled when he saw the old werewolf silently following at the back of the team. According to the Holy Edict three thousand years ago, only the popes of the past, the selected ascetics, and the Chosen One could go to the core of the cave. Other people were not allowed to explore it, and they were not even allowed to know about it. He didn't know how the bearded man planned to get rid of this tail later.

This underground world was extremely vast. There were seven or eight cave openings around the large cave, and he didn't know where they all led to. Hao Ren and the others pretended to discuss it, and finally, the bearded man glanced at the old werewolf and the distant Gelton and Aufra, and said solemnly in front of the fork in the road: "I will pray to the Goddess to see which way to go."

Then he lowered his head and muttered a few spells, and then threw a small stick: "Well, this way."

Hao Ren: "..."

He knew that the direction the bearded man pointed out with the small stick must be the correct path, but couldn't this uncle make up a more reliable method?!