I, the wizard, the foolish Buddha

These dried-up leeches, each as big as a person, were like sheets of sheepskin piled up into a small mountain.

Looking again, the cocoons in the main hall were all empty, with half the corpses missing.

Roland looked strangely at the busy servants, watching as a nun pulled a dried-up leech from a cocoon—they were all people!

These leeches were all people!

Roland grabbed a passing nun and asked, "What are you doing with these things?"

The nun gave Roland a look—Prison Seeds.

Roland's expression immediately turned somewhat ugly.

He was still planning to eat Prison Seeds, and while Roland could accept eating leeches, these leeches were people!

They were people!

How could he… Wait, he didn't seem to need to eat Prison Seeds at all. He needed to have his clone chop them up!

Roland breathed a sigh of relief.

He thought to himself, "So, I don't need to eat these leeches at all. I just need to find a way to revive them and then kill them again."

There were many strange ways to 'eat' Prison Seeds. Roland had used the coral sword to chop up Little Roland in Straw Town. That counted as feeding them to the clone.

Little Roland's Prison Seed was different from the Holy Blood Heraca's Prison Seed, so he definitely couldn't 'feed' it like that. But it definitely wasn't about eating it.

According to the contents of the books that Instructor Ushak had given Roland, it was possible to satisfy the clone through rituals.

But the specific method of operation required studying the 'Path of the Holy Blood Heraca' first.

Picking up a dried-up giant leech and examining it, Roland suddenly understood.

Rather than Prison Seeds, these were cages containing Prison Seeds!

Roland thought to himself, "It seems that half the people in this hall are sacrifices. And the Madam is probably planning to sacrifice them and then make use of their corpses to turn them into Prison Seeds."

Roland told the servants to hurry, and he went to the altar. Here, he found Duncan's enormous robe, which contained his storage bag.

After rummaging through it, Roland revealed a look of surprise.

The Big Fatty hadn't brought many things with him on this visit, but he had brought some of his most handy self-defense treasures.

After all, this was wartime, and he didn't feel safe going out without a few treasures. Moreover, he was visiting the vampire's lair this time, so he was wary.

Although he didn't bring much, he had quite a few good things. There were three top-quality curios alone!

In addition, there was a strange magic wand—it looked like a half-hard, half-soft rotten bread, with many disgusting maggots inside.

And a set of carving hammers and chisels.

This thing faintly had a mysterious aura, and seemed to be a true secret treasure!

After checking the Big Fatty's notes, Roland picked up the hammer and injected magic power into it. After pouring in most of his magic power, the hammer and chisel flew up crookedly.

Roland was overjoyed, and he thought to himself, "According to this situation, even if I inject all my magic power, I won't be able to exert even two or three percent of its power! But even so, it's far more powerful than a curio!"

He scanned the hall and his gaze fell on several withered blood wizards.

Half of the spider silk on their bodies had been peeled off, their upper bodies were exposed, and they were shaking wildly, not knowing whether they were alive or dead.

Roland said, "Fellow Daoists, I'm here to send you on your way. May you be reincarnated soon and transcend, so that you don't have to suffer in this world any longer!"

As he spoke, a fierce look appeared in Roland's eyes, and he chanted a spell pointing at a first-tier early-stage wizard.

Then, the small hammer and chisel flew over with a whoosh and tapped him. Then, this formal wizard turned into a Heraca statue!

After circling around, the statue turned into a gargoyle.

Then, the hammer and chisel lost their magic power and fell to the ground. But the gargoyle flew up!

It seemed that because Roland hadn't re-refined the hammer and chisel, the gargoyle flew towards Roland ferociously after flying up.

Several nearby nuns hurriedly tried to stop it, but the gargoyle dodged the crowd's magic spells in the sky and pounced directly at Roland.

Roland was overjoyed. His figure flashed, but the gargoyle chased after Roland with a whoosh.

Just as it was about to pounce on Roland's back, Roland swung the hammer back, and then the gargoyle shattered into a pile on the ground.

It turned out that Roland wasn't escaping just now, but going to pick up the hammer.

Looking at the pile of rubble on the ground, Roland was ecstatic: "Amazing! An amazing treasure! As expected of the leader of a small school, the things in his hands are good. This set of secret treasures can kill someone with just one swing."

After drinking a piece of magic potion, Roland ate a piece of fire vine root, and then came to the side of those 'Fellow Daoists'.

He tossed the small hammer and chisel in his hand, hesitated for a moment, and picked up his long sword to end their lives.

Roland said, "This set of small hammer and chisel is really easy to use. No matter what protective curio you have, it can't stop it. But it consumes too much magic power."

"With my little bit of magic power, I can only create such a fierce gargoyle. If the Big Fatty Duncan had such a strong magic power, I don't know what he could hammer out!"

This kind of secret treasure seems to require a Philosopher's Stone to be fully driven. This kind of thing is a 'seed of magic stone'. They are used as alchemy magic stone currency templates by those universities with magic crystal veins, and cannot be bought.

But some high-level black market auctions occasionally have Philosopher's Stones—they are all alchemized by second-tier wizards!

Roland couldn't get this kind of thing for the time being, but he felt that if he advanced, he might be able to raise a first-tier dragon!

Duncan carried several magic books with him, and the insights in the notes were also invaluable. Roland carefully collected them.

In addition, there were many magic potions in his bag.

These magic potions were just some meditation or combat potions for Duncan, a second-tier wizard.

But for a first-tier wizard, they were extremely precious treasures!

Taking out any bottle at random could be used to help a first-tier early-stage wizard advance!

There were many odds and ends, in addition to more than thirty medium-grade magic stones, and some low-grade magic stones, which seemed to be carried as change.

He didn't plan to buy anything on this trip, so he didn't bring much money. But this was also three or four thousand magic stones!

After putting away these things, Roland sighed, "Tower Master Duncan, with your methods, it's really a waste to die here."

At this time, two servants walked over with two storage bags. Roland opened them and saw that they seemed to belong to the two Holy Virgins.

After reading them, Roland's expression became extremely strange.

Roland said, "Duncan, Duncan, you didn't die in vain! This group of lunatics has made so many preparations to deal with you!"

There was a small doll woven from 'hair' in each bag. The small doll was exactly the same as the Big Fatty, and there were some traces of Duncan's blood on it.

Not only was the doll tied tightly, but it was also full of curse needles.

Judging from these curled hairs, the withered blood witches must have hooked up with Tower Master Duncan a lot in the past. I don't know how many times it took to accumulate so much hair little by little.

Roland suspected that the withered blood family had used dozens, or even hundreds, of witches. Then, they slowly collected enough things over several years.

The withered blood family was probably very familiar with Duncan. They probably created many targeted magic curses.

Today, no matter how Duncan escaped, he probably couldn't escape. As long as the three Holy Virgins started casting spells on the doll, Duncan would have to obediently run back to Withered Blood Fortress as soon as he ran out!

In addition to these dolls, there were also seven top-quality curios prepared specifically for Duncan in the two Holy Virgins' bags.

The reason they prepared these seven curios wasn't that they only prepared so many, but that they put the other curios in the hands of the followers.

With the Countess, the three Holy Virgins, plus a dozen or so priests, Duncan couldn't escape.

The two Holy Virgins and the dozen or so priests had a lot of things in their hands. And from one of the Holy Virgins' bags, Roland saw a booklet.

The booklet contained a list of names. After checking it, Roland's expression became serious.

The people on the list seemed to be withered blood wizards, and their identities were probably tower masters and city lords of the withered blood family in various places.

Judging from some of the content, the Countess seemed to have planned for these people to come together a long time ago. Or rather, these people were originally scheduled to come last night.

So, even if there was no problem in the laboratory last night, the Countess would have created other reasons to get them to come.

Judging from the corpses in the church, there weren't many tower masters and city lords. So most of the people were outside.

"The Countess should have made two preparations. Once there was a problem with the ritual, then the people in the church would die. But if the ritual was successful, Baron Withered Blood would need the help of the family, and the tower pillars and city lords in the castle would come immediately."

Roland discovered that there were probably far more people in Withered Blood Fortress than expected.

"Among these people, which ones are crazy and dead, and which ones are not crazy and not dead? Will Senior and Anna be chased?"

"As long as they take the Prison Seed, they will definitely die. There shouldn't be many people."

Looking at the time, there were twenty minutes left. Roland put away the things and joined the ranks of the servants, speeding up the collection of spoils with everyone.

In this process, Roland discovered some problems.

Judging from the items, some of the people who turned into leeches seemed to be sacrifices prepared in advance. Their strength was very low, and most of them were apprentices who were still chaste—they were very pure sacrifices.

These people probably took something like Ancient God's Blood beforehand, or they were deeply infected by the mysteries through some method. Therefore, after being sacrificed, their corpses would turn into Imprisoned Seeds.

However, some who turned into leeches were formal wizards.

They weren't considered elite wizards, but they were responsible for assisting the priests in holding rituals, carrying a lot of messy things. This indicated that they weren't planned sacrifices.

Yet, they unexpectedly turned into leeches.

Roland specifically checked the notes of several of these leeches and discovered that without exception, they had all consumed Imprisoned Seeds.

And those who hadn't turned into leeches had even more and better items, seemingly all descendants of various tower masters and city lords within the family. They were here to witness the mysteries.

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These people were all elite wizards and hadn't consumed Imprisoned Seeds.

Ordinary wizards consumed Imprisoned Seeds, using external forces to enhance themselves.

While elite wizards seemed to rely on their own power to delve into the Path of Withered Blood, attempting to forge a path not constrained by the Baron of Withered Blood.

They succeeded. It was just that they encountered Heraka.

These people were inside the church, facing the deepest level of pollution, but they didn't turn into leeches; instead, they went mad and died.

Then, what about those city lords and tower pillars who weren't in the church, but outside?

Roland originally thought that these people had all consumed Imprisoned Seeds, so they might all die, but now it seemed that the elites of the Withered Blood family didn't consume Imprisoned Seeds!

They were walking a different Path of Withered Blood, a Path of Withered Blood unique to wizards, not as closely related to the Baron of Withered Blood.

Therefore, even if their strength was somewhat affected, it wouldn't lead to death.

Senior apprentice-sister definitely can't deal with so many people!

Now, most of the elite wizards should still be alive!

If senior apprentice-sister uses the Path of Truth to lure the monsters, everyone will probably chase after her with all their might.

At this time, no one will consider whose daughter she is.

If the Withered Blood Fortress is found to be colluding with the Baron of Withered Blood, once the King of Thousand Eyes finds out, their clan will be exterminated!

Therefore, whether considering leaving no survivors or the issue of the Path of Truth being leaked, everyone will go all out.

Originally, Roland thought there wouldn't be any problems on senior apprentice-sister's side, but now it's a situation with a slim chance of survival.

Roland frowned and thought to himself, "No, I have to think of a way."

Now, the team's spoils have been almost completely scavenged, and about an hour has passed.

The Withered Blood wizards should have run far away with senior apprentice-sister.

As long as he can find a way to lure them back, both he and senior apprentice-sister can escape.

Roland couldn't help but look at the statue of Heraka.

These Withered Blood wizards are chasing senior apprentice-sister because of the Path of Truth and the issue of keeping survivors.

As long as he lets them know that keeping survivors is no longer meaningful and informs them that there is an even more incredible Path of Truth here that needs to be transferred immediately, some people will definitely return.

But that's not enough. Roland still needs to create a huge commotion to scare them into abandoning senior apprentice-sister and returning to save the 'fire'.

At that time, the so-called survivors will no longer be important. Immediately returning to grab the treasure and run away will be the most important thing.

Roland planned to do three things.

"You guys spread all the extra spider silk throughout the church, ensuring that anyone who comes to snatch the statue has to deal with these threads first."

After giving some instructions, Roland looked at the time. There were still more than ten minutes left.

He repaired two statues. Then, he took out the small hammer and chisel and remodeled the 'Old Heraka Statue'.

With the help of the small hammer and chisel, Roland quickly turned the Old Heraka Statue into the New Heraka Statue.

But he paused and pondered for another ten minutes, then modified the statue again.

After finishing, Roland wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Now, this Heraka Sutra has been left with many hidden traps, ensuring that anyone who glances at it will know it's the real deal, but once they try to comprehend it according to the contents, they'll go mad!"

Roland still had a great talent for driving people crazy.

Putting away the 'True Heraka Statue', Roland searched through the madam's skirt, finding the storage bag but not the thing he wanted.

"Hiss, where's that magic ring? It couldn't be gone too, right? Impossible, that's a magic ring personally forged by the King of Thousand Eyes, and the goddess didn't eat it."

Suddenly, Roland remembered something and took out the True Heraka Statue again.

He floated near the statue's arm and saw a ring on the tip of a finger pointing upwards with six fingers.

Roland breathed a sigh of relief, removed the ring embedded on the statue's fingertip, then put away the statue and studied the ring.

"Hiss, the scene inside the main hall will definitely be recorded, but someone has to stand here. Wouldn't that mean the whole world will know that I did this bad thing?"

The sweat on Roland's face couldn't help but pour down.

"Let the servants record it? The result is the same. Everyone will eventually trace it back to me. Damn it, even if I don't send it to everyone, as long as the Twilight Council comes to investigate, the whole story will be clear."

"Might as well go all the way!"

"If I'm going to be famous, I'll be hugely famous!"

Saying that, Roland took out a Fire Vine Cage and checked the Shepherd Tree sapling inside.

"This thing can't be planted here. The Withered Blood wizards must have a chance to desperately fight to snatch the statue."

Roland took out a map and checked the escape route, deciding on the location to plant the tree.

Afterward, he put everything away, took out the magic ring, recorded a random video, and adjusted it.

In an instant, Roland felt an anomaly in Fatty Duncan's storage bag—the councilors should have all received it.

At the same time, the crystal balls on many corpses in the main hall also flickered—the Withered Blood wizards should have all received it too.

Roland took out Duncan's crystal ball and used divination to scry, and then the scene inside the church appeared in the crystal ball.

After watching for a while, Roland shook his head a little dissatisfied.

He took out the comb Catherine used to give him and combed his hair, then threw the magic ring to the servants. He stood under the statue.

The servants chanted a spell, and then Roland bowed slightly to the magic ring.

He didn't explain the ins and outs of the matter, nor did he make any explanation about the statue. He only said three sentences in total.

"Gentlemen and ladies, the Black Abyss is responsible for this horrific incident."

"Scholars, grand scholars, tower masters, and city lords of the Withered Blood family, before you is the 'Holy Blood Heraka' statue that you created at the cost of betraying the King of Thousand Eyes. You probably don't have time to chase the Twilight Princess anymore, because this statue and the entire Withered Blood Fortress will be destroyed in an hour."

"In an hour, I will give the Withered Blood Fortress another gift. Whether you can snatch this statue before it grows up depends on your abilities. Hurry up."