The earth crevice gradually closed, burying the embracing skeletons into the ground. Above the scorched plain where the flames were gradually extinguishing, the sun appeared in the sky, and bit by bit, life began to manifest on the desolate earth. However, this had nothing to do with Shard and Miss Higgins in the Black Mist Camp.

The crack at the top of the bell tower disappeared, yet the Black Mist Camp remained the same Black Mist Camp.

"Did this Old God know from the very start when making the trade with the knight that it would end this way?"

Shard thought silently to himself, but this time he didn’t ask. The story ended in a relatively satisfying way, and being too curious about the hidden processes would annoy everyone.

As for himself, Miracle - Charisma, Desecration - Indifference, Enlightenment - Bell Tower Lovers, Whisper - End, the entire set of four Spirit Runes for the Six Rings was complete, and he was only one step away from advancement.

But he still needed to wait, wait for the Maze Lock of the Six Rings to appear because of the touch in his heart, to wait for the Maze Lock to realize the physical fusion due to love and reluctance, becoming part of "Fairy Tale Town."

The effect of physical fusion combined with the effect of "Love God’s Sting," once Duality is achieved, regarding the choice of the Chosen of Space, he will have brand new options.

The mortals’ transaction ended completely here, and Shard’s purpose for coming to the Black Mist Camp was fully fulfilled. The remaining time for this adventure was not much, and it was again the time for farewell.

Sighing softly in his heart, the deity had already pointed to the burning bonfire:

"Depart, I am very satisfied with this transaction. Cherish your last 365 days. When you walk hand in hand to the endpoint of death, I will be there to ask if you think this transaction was worth it."

Mrs. Miles and Mr. Jackman’s souls once again bowed to the deity. In the flames, the open door was the direction of departure, and this time the deity did not charge them a price again.

"Thank you."

Then the two souls bowed to Shard in thanks, and Shard gently shook his head:

"Your story also answered my doubts. I wish you happiness, although the wasted life cannot be recovered, please cherish the last 365 days."

"No, it was definitely not a wasted life."

The knight said to Shard, and Mrs. Miles also nodded with a smile. They thanked Shard one last time, then hand in hand walked toward that door.

The figures of the two souls disappeared, and Miss Higgins slowly picked up her backpack from the ground before saying goodbye to Shard. She seemed genuinely reluctant:

"Indeed, if someone like you truly exists, the Witch Empresses might launch a full-scale war because of it."

She said to Shard, her face very serious:

"I learned a lot from this adventure as well. Not all men are horrible; that boy who wanted to kill me lost his heart due to hatred, but Mrs. Miles’ lover proved that sincere feelings are not limited by gender. When I have money, I might try to push for less discrimination against men among the witches..."

This is certainly difficult, because this "discrimination" does not stem from cultural and psychological factors, it is a real curse. However, since she wants to do something, she might really bring about change for the world:

"Then goodbye, Mr. Shard Hamilton."

Because Shard had just mentioned his name, she could also pronounce Shard’s name in the language of this era. She waved at Shard, tightened the strap of her bag. Then, the witch did not forget to politely bid farewell to the deity, looked at Shard one last time, was about to step into the fiery door, then turned back to say to Shard:

"You have many witch lovers, right? You’ve mentioned it, and I can also feel it, you would be very popular with witches."

Shard nodded:

"Yes."

"The concept of love among witches is different from that of ordinary girls."

She winked at Shard:

"Although people always say that witches’ love is short-lived, if a witch truly falls for someone, loves her body, and is attracted to her soul, then her love will become very persistent, not any less than Mrs. Miles."

She gave Shard her own advice:

"If you can gain the love of the cursed witches, please cherish it. But at the same time, never hesitate, if they choose you, they definitely won’t regret it. If you hesitate instead, you will be laughed at by the girls."

After saying this, she waved to Shard again, then walked into the fiery door. What lay on the other side of the door Shard couldn’t see at all, but before the door disappeared, he could hear phrases like "They are back" "Quick, the Empress will be happy to hear this news, possibly her injury will heal a bit."

"I wish her health."

Shard spoke softly, knowing there was not much time left, and on top of the bell tower, only he and the Deity remained.

The black Balance had floated to him, but the God asked at this moment:

"If I offer you two choices now: first, take away this ordinary Balance; second, take the most important rib from the fused bones, which would you choose?"

If viewed from the perspective of maximizing benefits, of course, the second option is the best. The significance of that skeleton now almost equates to the Original of the Ancient Fairy Tale "Lovers of the Bell Tower."

But Shard shook his head:

"Choose the first one; it was the decision I made when I first arrived here. After all, how suitable is it to give an eighteen-year-old girl human bones as a birthday present?"

The golden apple he obtained from the Darkmoon Circus and the Balance before him were his planned birthday gifts for Iluna.

"See, since you made this choice, what have you been lost in all along?"

The golden God asked, and Shard asked in surprise:

"What do you mean? Wait, speaking of which, the cost of Miss Higgins’ deal should have shifted to me earlier, and that was your doing, wasn’t it? May I ask, what is your intention in targeting my views on love like this?"

To be honest, he was indeed angry at the time, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he got, after all, not only was he scolded by the girls, but he also almost fell, never to rise again. But the Deity was willing to give that pair of lovers a relatively perfect ending, even indirectly helping him gain the power of the "Twin Lovers," and the cost was merely answering a simple question, so he wasn’t angry anymore.

"Wait, isn’t this also a kind of trade trick?"

But the God just smiled, gently pressed the Balance pattern on the front of his robe with his right hand, completely ignoring his question:

"You are also about to leave. I promised you a gift just now; now you can choose. My believers are very fond of the power called the ’Midas Touch.’ Are you interested in it?"

Shard wanted to agree but then thought of something else Luviya had mentioned:

"’Midas Touch’ seems related to the trait of the ’Philosopher’s Stone’ to transform objects into gold. If possible, I would rather you provide me with some knowledge about making a ’Philosopher’s Stone.’

The God of Wealth and Trade’s smile grew deeper:

"Greed, you are indeed greedier than I thought. I cannot give you the method of making the Philosopher’s Stone, but if you do not wish to pursue power, I can prepare another gift of knowledge for you."

The gigantic Bronze Bell leaning against the wall floated up, then quickly shrank to the size of a palm. The rust on its surface peeled away, revealing rows of golden inscriptions. The small bell came to Shard, who scrutinized it and found it actually inscribed with the uses of the Philosopher’s Stone.

Three uses were recorded here: the first was making the Elixir of Immortality. Of course, that potion couldn’t actually grant eternal life and immortality. The specific effect depended on how much Philosopher’s Stone was used, but even just a fingernail-sized piece would result in a quite remarkable potion effect;

The second use was to employ the Philosopher’s Stone as a one-time item to assist in Spellcasting, making the effect during the casting reach an unimaginable max effect;

The third use described how to use the Philosopher’s Stone to transform gold. Although this use was extremely wasteful, the knowledge was absolutely precious.

Though this little bell inscribed precious knowledge, it was still an ordinary item, so it could be taken by Shard. Thus, Shard accepted the Balance and the small bell, and thanked the Deity again.

White mist had already wrapped around him, and the Black Mist Camp’s last adventure had also come to an end. Reflecting on it now, the Old God encountered in this adventure was indeed unusual. Shard knew very well that the opposite was not a standard Benevolent God, yet he felt no malice towards this Deity.

With such thoughts, before leaving, Shard asked the God standing by the bonfire one last question:

"May I ask, do you know ’Desire’?"

The God finally spoke for himself this time:

"That was, a story from long ago."

White mist filled every corner of his vision, with only the giant, illusory tree seemingly connecting the sky and Earth, rustling in the windless environment.

Not counting the Black Time Key leading to the Bygone Era, the "Fifth Era 1576 - Black Mist Camp" was the eleventh Time Key that Shard had fully experienced so far. Having witnessed so many stories, and gone through so many adventures, when he saw the giant tree symbolizing the "Shadow of the Father of the Infinite Tree" appearing before him, he still felt endless melancholy.

This time’s Time Investigation, compared to the past, had its unique elements. The boy who was killed counted as the first person in the past targeted and died because of Shard, while the remaining old man and Witch Miss Higgins both met with a good ending.

He had always been pondering the significance of these past stories to himself.

At first, he thought the Father of Trees wanted him to witness past stories and remedy historical gaps. Later, he realized these adventures would bring him tremendous benefits and unforeseen power. And now, the more he knew and understood, he realized the Father of Trees seemed to want to rely on him to connect and integrate the non-continuous Fifth Era and Sixth Era.