Segman did not leave the outer resting area of the Tower of Trial. Following Jiang Qiao's hint, he headed straight to the NPC marketplace formed by Enforcement Master Yirui and the fairy merchants.
Jiang Qiao informed him of where to find a method to quickly become stronger. Segman appeared skeptical, but the players gathered there still caught his attention, and he moved towards Enforcement Master Yirui's location with a probing attitude.
Now, Jiang Qiao and the old Mage stood alone… more accurately referred to as the Tower Master of the Tower of Trial.
The old Mage's pupils had turned pure gold. His golden pupils stared at Jiang Qiao, who felt an indescribable sense of oppression, as if the old Mage were holding not a Magic Wand, but a katana ready to be unsheathed at any moment.
Jiang Qiao lightly grasped his Fire Spirit prayer in his hand. This was the first time Jiang Qiao faced a divine being, and he wasn't yet sure about the specific abilities of this ancient Tower Guardian.
While Jiang Qiao pondered, the old Mage made a move. Jiang Qiao prepared to release his skills and unleash Hai Lan.
The old Mage stepped forward without expression. Then Jiang Qiao heard a 'thud' as the old Mage kneeled in front of him with the speed of lightning, even placing his hands on the ground and his forehead against the back of his hands.
What?
Jiang Qiao looked at the remarkably skilled kowtow, at a loss for how to respond for a moment.
"Honorable Devouring God, please spare me!" The old Mage's voice, dry and aged, took on a uniquely feminine sobbing tone, making Jiang Qiao feel uncomfortable all over.
The name of Devouring God was that terrifying? Jiang Qiao looked at the invisibly lurking Hai Lan beside him, who had her hands on her hips at this moment.
"You seem to be female. Can you stand up and speak?"
Jiang Qiao glanced around. Outside the Tower of Trial, over twenty players had surrounded the fairy merchant and started to sing and dance. This was the only way Jiang Qiao could describe it.
In the Holy Spirit battle auxiliary system, Jiang Qiao had added some additional content, like a dance assist feature. Players chose a dance move, and the move assist system would help them perfectly replicate it.
More frighteningly, dance moves in Holy Spirit were even a… collectible feature.
Beside the fairy merchant, a player had successfully exchanged for the hardest-to-get rainbow unicorn headgear. When he put on the headgear, the surrounding players congratulated him, calling him awesome and referring to him as a heavy grinder.
The player then celebrated by putting on the rainbow unicorn headgear and performing a Michael Jackson dance, complete with background music.
To outsiders, this celebration looked like some ancient tribal sacrificial ritual, with the weak and pitiful fairy merchant surrounded by players being the sacrificial offering…
The old Mage's actions drew the attention of the surrounding players. It seemed they might run over to sing and dance around Jiang Qiao if the old Mage continued kneeling.
Hidden missions ranked very high on the list of things players would never miss.
"Gr… great Devouring God, you must first promise not to eat me." The old Mage's voice still trembled without stopping.
"Even if you kneel, it won't stop me from eating you." Jiang Qiao now shared the divine status with Hai Lan, barely qualifying as a half-Devouring God.
The Tower Spirit residing in the old Mage thought for a moment and realized Jiang Qiao's words made a certain sense. So, under Jiang Qiao's watchful eyes, he lay flat on the ground, face down.
He probably couldn't come up with a more reverent form of worship than kneeling, so he could only think of this full prostration.
"Alright then, if you stand up, I won't make you Hai Lan's dinner." Jiang Qiao didn't know what else to say. In his mind, he wondered if all the gods in the multiverse were missing a screw.
The old Mage stood up immediately, twisting his waist in the process. Jiang Qiao clearly heard the bones cracking in the old Mage's waist, but the Tower Spirit residing in the old Mage was oblivious. He still looked at Jiang Qiao with a nervous expression, like a student staring at a strict principal in the office.
"First of all, I have no interest in turning you into Hai Lan's dinner. We came here simply to clear the Tower of Trial." Jiang Qiao felt a bit guilty when he said this. If the Tower Guardian in this dimension were weak enough, Hai Lan might take the opportunity to feast when Jiang Qiao wasn't paying attention.
But this dimension was different from the last invaded dimension. The previous one was like fast food, while this one was more like a vegetable garden, with players responsible for harvesting and the Tower Guardian for planting.
In short, there was potential for continuous development.
"You are speaking the truth." The Tower Spirit seemed to have a mind-reading technique; she paused for a moment, glanced at the hovering Hai Lan next to Jiang Qiao, and then mustered the courage to say, "I… I can actually allow your creations to continue… exploring this Tower of Trial, but… but… but I have a request."
Here it comes… the mission!
"What request?" Jiang Qiao asked.
"Don't eat me."
"..."
Jiang Qiao guessed this Tower Spirit must be like a broken record.
Hai Lan, hovering beside Jiang Qiao, was already showing great restraint. At least she wasn't drooling too much.
"No… no, what I mean is… I… I'm about to be devoured, that is… the aura of the Devouring God is… is approaching me." The Tower Spirit struggled to further explain. Hai Lan looked bewildered, but Jiang Qiao suddenly remembered something and took out the system book.
The system book was an invisible and untouchable item for players, so Jiang Qiao had no problem taking it out in front of so many players.
This thick book, heavy enough to be used as a street brawl weapon, opened up, and the star map projected before Jiang Qiao.
On the star map, the dimension of Hai Lan's Divine Fragment started to… 'move.' It slowly floated toward the high tower dimension where Jiang Qiao was, as if called by some force.
Beyond the high tower dimension was the main world of Holy Spirit, and further beyond that, Blue Star.
"My followers must have sensed my presence and are coming to pay homage to me, right?" Hai Lan said.
"Pay homage, my foot. They want to invade this dimension and through here, directly invade the game world of Holy Spirit." Jiang Qiao lightly tapped the dimension mark of Hai Lan's Divine Fragment, marked with a crimson enemy icon. "Monster Siege? This event update is too fast. No, the estimated time of arrival is fifteen days? Shouldn't we be able to directly counterattack after fifteen days?"