Chapter 1342
Preservation
Treasure Hunting and Engraving
The moment Amber fell, all the “Preservation Techniques” established throughout the Material Realm instantly failed—
The ancient buildings of Wanning that had stood for ten thousand years, the royal palaces of Avalon and Star Antinomy, and even the giant tree body of the Eternal Holy Kingdom all shed their dim yellow hue, resembling old photographs, losing the protection of the Preservation Technique at the same instant.
Under the influence of the Preservation Technique, these structures could resist “change,” thereby ignoring the decay brought by the passage of time—be it from insects, dampness, wind erosion, external abrasions, or the impact of earthquakes, none could inflict damage on the building’s core.
It was precisely because of this that the world could boast numerous ancient buildings that remained as new as if built yesterday, even after thousands or tens of thousands of years. For long-lived races like dragons and elves, it meant they wouldn’t be forced to repeatedly rebuild their cities and houses during their lifetimes.
—And to what would the complete failure of the Preservation Technique have the greatest impact?
There was only one answer.
That would be the Spirit Tower.
The former—now the former former principal, Mathias Grunewald, was the only lich in this world.
His phylactery was preserved in the Spirit Tower’s preservation room, and the overflowing power from it formed a special barrier capable of freezing and preserving everything.
Just as the fall of Supreme Heaven signified the destruction of the Warrior’s Path; the fall of the Silver Crown Dragon symbolized the loss of power for extraordinary skills centered around Law Spells. Without lowering their energy tier by half and joining a new path… they would lose all their power.
Like the Prince of Giants who was once imprisoned by Avalon, or like those sea monsters deep within the sea.
For ordinary extraordinary individuals, this wasn’t much of a problem. After all, it wasn’t just them who dropped half an energy tier; everyone did. If everyone dropped, it was equivalent to no one dropping—at most, it would only be an impact like “this path has collectively weakened.”
It was akin to the power struggles at the top of a company; for the bottom-rung workers, it wouldn’t matter much. Regardless of who emerged victorious, they’d still be toiling away.
—However, for a lich, the situation was quite different.
Liches were long-dead souls, who could only persist in the Material Realm by relying on the Preservation Technique.
And the negation of the Preservation Technique itself meant the negation of the very foundation of a lich’s existence!
At this moment, chaos had erupted within the preservation room.
Two petty thieves were squatting beside a massive treasure chest. One was gleefully scooping gold coins, watching them trickle through his fingers, while the other was meticulously polishing a pure ruby the size of a quail’s egg with a handkerchief.
A man in a hood, whose presence was almost nonexistent, sensed something amiss as he took a step forward. He instantly melted into the shadows, a technique of shadow stealth he had imitated from Shadow Demons.
A Child of the Moon with silvery-white hair, upon manifesting, suddenly showed a look of shock and weakly knelt on the ground, clutching her throat.
She felt as if all her power had vanished from thin air, her vital energy continuously evaporating… an intense sense of suffocation enveloped her, leaving the Child of the Moon feeling as helpless as a fish out of water.
An old mage with white hair was chanting an unknown spell.
The surrounding mana manifested physically, flowing through the air—the boiling mana was so potent that its color could be seen with the naked eye, and merely hearing the incantations caused one’s skin to show signs of burns.
A strong premonition of death instantly enveloped everyone in the preservation room. Everyone looked towards the old mage who was casting the spell, with half of them astonished at when he appeared, and the other half at when this statue had been revived.
Those who dared to enter the Spirit Tower… especially those who could reach the preservation room, were naturally not fools or weaklings.
They quickly realized the truth: the frozen time had been restored.
Perhaps they themselves had been frozen by the Preservation Technique for a long time, and they hadn’t even realized they had become grubs trapped in amber—
To prevent the old mage from chanting, an assassin instantly appeared behind him. But immediately after, the assassin, along with the old mage, was pierced from behind by a colossal arrow of light, like a ballista bolt, and flung against the wall.
The hunter who shot the arrow was then sent flying by a large hammer in the next instant.
These Fourth and Fifth Tier powerhouses fought without restraint, and the preservation room descended into chaos.
However, just then.
An invisible, colorless wave swept through.
—[Withering Aura]!
These arrogant old powerhouses were as if their souls had been snatched away. Their hair instantly turned white, their faces became wrinkled, and their knees buckled, causing them to collapse to the ground.
As their bodies heavily struck the ground, their flesh and skin dissipated, turning into withered yellow skeletons.
Without any means of resistance, their lives were nonchalantly taken by this instant-death spell!
“…Noisy.”
The old lich, Grunewald, spoke slowly, and with a vortex that spun and twisted like a black hole, he instantly appeared at the entrance of the preservation room.
His worn black robe billowed without wind, and his skull, which previously burned with a dim yellow flame, now ignited with a dark blue glow.
An extremely powerful oppressive force surged forth—Miss Child of the Moon could easily feel that this power was even stronger than the great Red Phase!
“Lord Black Phase! That, that is…”
The sole surviving Miss Child of the Moon, relying on the Child of the Moon’s tough life force and lifespan, was immune to this instant-death spell.
In extreme fear, she gazed at the old lich in astonishment and let out an ineffable shriek: “Sixth Tier?!”
That was a noble energy tier that only the Eternal Pope could reach!
It was her “father’s” lifelong ultimate goal!
Reaching this energy tier undoubtedly meant one had become the King of the World—
But for some reason, the old lich seemed annoyed upon hearing her shout.
“Dust of the old days… return to an era where miracles do not exist.”
He raised his skeletal finger and lightly flicked it towards the Child of the Moon with the silvery-white curly hair.
No incantation was needed, and no runes appeared.
A stream of dark green light, about the thickness of a willow branch, struck the Child of the Moon instantly without making a sound.
She vanished into nothingness before she could even utter a word!
It was like an incense stick burning out at hundreds of times the speed, turning into countless flecks of white ash.
A heavy death aura spread out, dyeing the surrounding floor dark, like a wall after a fire.
“…You are worthy of pride.”
The old lich muttered, slowly retracting his finger, “Souls lagging behind the era…”
—That was [All Things Perish].
This was Mathias Grunewald’s most powerful spell.
This attack, amplified by the Spirit Tower, could even break through the defenses of a Fallen Heavenly Envoy and heavily injure them instantly!
This spell, cast by the Fifth Tier Grunewald, could create a volleyball-sized hole in the chest of a Descending Heavenly Envoy… while facing this mere Fourth Tier Child of the Moon, it turned her to ash before she could even feel pain.
Even though the Child of the Moon herself possessed extreme resistance to instant-death spells, it was meaningless against absolute power.
Now, with the alteration of the rules of the Veil of Balance, Grunewald had broken through to the Sixth Tier.
What once required long incantations, he could now initiate with a mere flick of his finger.
In this world, besides those who possessed Heavenly Envoy Fragments, no one else could withstand such a casual flick from him.
From this perspective, Grunewald had indeed become the King of the World.
However…
The old skeleton waved his hand, and his phylactery flew over.
It was a small box crafted from emerald, with three keyholes corresponding to the three keys hanging from the old skeleton.
He gently touched the phylactery with his skeletal fingertips, which were visibly yellowing and drying, sinking into a long silence… or perhaps into memory.
Now, the Twilight Path had ended.
It had been replaced by the Winter Path.
The creed of Winter was silence and death, but it also encompassed remembrance and the end. It was quite similar to the concept of Twilight, merely at a lower echelon, becoming more direct and shallower.
The Ninth Origin River once had the most Heavenly Envoys; now, only the Winter Envoy and the Rock Envoy remained.
The mission of the Rock Envoy was to be the world’s ultimate weapon. Or rather, the self-destruct switch.
If all efforts failed, as the “anti-civilization” entity, the Rock Envoy would be responsible for “restoring the world to factory settings.” He would kill all order, all truth, all civilization, all differences, and reduce this world to a wilderness devoid of intelligence and life.
—Much like the Earth before any life existed.
—Much like countless ordinary planets scattered throughout the vast universe.
At the very least, they must not let the void consume and assimilate this world—if the end was inevitable, then this world would choose to die with defiance rather than surrender.
Mutual destruction was better than becoming a puppet!
Therefore, in the absence of the Rock Envoy ascending, the only candidate for Pillar God was the Winter Envoy.
However… the Winter Envoy ultimately lacked the merits to become a Pillar God.
This meant that even if she were promoted to the position of Pillar God as a Heavenly Envoy (candidate), without any other Heavenly Envoys competing with her, she would still require a relatively long transition period to gradually master the power of the Ninth Origin River.
This was similar to the long transition from the Beast Path to the Path of Love in the past.
As the former master of the Spirit Tower, Grunewald had long known that the Winter Maiden, as Amber’s chosen successor and having received the inheritance of “Remembrance” and “Treasure Hunting Technique” from the Amber Heavenly Envoy, would eventually become the new “Pillar.”
That was why they had chosen the Winter Envoy and had their students gradually shift the foundation of their necromantic spells to the Winter Envoy’s system.
Everyone had prepared in advance.
Only Grunewald was an exception—
He alone could not prepare.
As a “lich” whose life depended on Amber’s power, Grunewald would also face his end along with Amber.
The technology of the “phylactery” originated from the Star Crystal People created by the Scaled Ones; and the Star Crystal People could attain eternal life because Ai Shiping had borrowed power from “Amber” to create a Preservation Technique that could store souls in gemstones.
And now, with the foundation of the Preservation Technique crumbling, his power would also gradually dissipate.
“The era of Preservation Technique… is over.”
Grunewald sighed silently, pulled the keys from his chest, and inserted them one by one into the phylactery: “We have left too many inheritances for future generations… After the era of inheritances ends…
“…it will be the era of exploration and treasure hunting.”
It would be… an era without old men like us.
With all three keys inserted, Grunewald opened the box.
Inside the emerald box lay a small pomegranate.
It was neither preserved as a specimen nor stored in crystal, yet it remained vibrant.
As if it had just been picked, it had a soul-stirring aroma.
But after the box was opened, it began to shrink and yellow at a visible rate.
Grunewald held the pomegranate with his hand, which had turned into bone.
This was a gift from his son… and also his memento.
He didn’t even dare to touch it, for a slightest touch would annihilate it.
Grunewald could only stand still, watching it.
Watching it turn from vibrant to dry, from dry to withered, and finally to dust.
A day and a night had passed outside.
He stood there like this… standing motionless for an entire day.
Then, Grunewald slowly walked to the window.
He did not teleport or float. Instead, he moved clumsily, like a skeleton warrior, slowly walking over.
At his mental command, the window opened itself. He raised his hand, letting the wind blow the pomegranate dust towards the lightless night sky.
“If only there were a sun.”
Grunewald gazed at the lightless sky and suddenly spoke.
Alone, talking to himself.
At this time, the Spirit Tower had long been cleared by him. Apart from him, there were no living beings within this tower—if he could be considered living.
And at this moment, the energy core of the Spirit Tower… the giant spines of the Abyss Heavenly Envoy and the Amber Heavenly Envoy, began to glow with a dawn-like radiance.
The Ouroboros Ring ritual array, which he had long engraved on the tower walls, thundered and activated at this moment.
“I wonder if it will meet the conditions…”
Grunewald muttered softly, “The Path of Stillness…
“…Can I, who has always lived in the past, become the greatest sacrifice for this.”
My near-death self.
My collapsing and disintegrating self.
Can I also… become part of a greater destiny?
The essence of Necromancy is Treasure Hunting Technique. It is the art of utilizing waste.
And he, undoubtedly, was now that “waste.”
…If only he could become the vessel for a Ring Heavenly Envoy.
To bear all the evil in this world with this decaying, death-is-imminent body.
That would be the greatest Treasure Hunting Technique.
But… the Ouroboros Ring ritual could not respond.
“…Did it fail?”
Grunewald whispered.
Because he lacked “love”… even though Twilight and Stillness were very similar, he ultimately lacked that little bit of drive to move forward.
But at this moment, Grunewald’s own voice echoed in his mind:
[—Do you plan to become a Heavenly Envoy in the future, Eivass? I mean, after you are able to become a Heavenly Envoy and after you have done everything you wanted to do… do you plan to become a Heavenly Envoy, or a Pillar God?]
The words he had once asked Eivass suddenly rang in his heart.
“I don’t know. Because from the very beginning, I felt that becoming a Heavenly Envoy wasn’t a good path. It’s one thing after death… if I could live, I’d rather live and enjoy life.”
Eivass had replied at the time.
[—Then if this world needs you to become a Heavenly Envoy, are you willing to abandon everything in the Material Realm?]
“Of course.”
Eivass said without hesitation: “At most, it’s just death. I’ve already prepared for death, so why would I fear entering the Dream Realm prematurely? These two things are the same… But why do you ask?”
[—Someone asked me to get an answer from you.]
The old lich, Grunewald, replied.
That person was Grunewald himself.
[—If you were to become a Heavenly Envoy, what do you think your honorific name would be?]
“…[Radiance]… it would be, Radiant Heavenly Envoy. Light, shining, radiant… brighter than all the surrounding light, brighter than the sunlight people are accustomed to, so that people can see the shining light.
“I… want people’s attention. I want people to see me shining.”
Eivass had replied at the time.
Grunewald sighed.
He was so jealous of the vitality of youth.
So jealous of these fresh souls filled with hope and ideals.
So jealous… of being able to shine so brightly.
So jealous that Eivass could walk on a path recognized by everyone.
“I believe [He] is also jealous of you.”
Grunewald muttered, “I believe… he will also be jealous of you.
“So radiant… shining like the sun…”
—The Grunewald family was a lineage that passed down forbidden spells.
That was why he was the only necromancer in the world who mastered the lich’s phylactery technique.
The name of this surname meant “green forest.”
Because their ancestors were elves who lived in the giant tree region during a time of war.
In search of more forbidden spells, these elven mages settled in the Ancient Kingdom of Anxi, using this surname to commemorate their noble origins.
And later.
The bearer of this surname committed an unforgivable act.
That was Grunewald’s youngest son.
Of course, what exactly he did… Grunewald no longer remembered.
He only knew that he was ultimately erased from existence.
No one knew what he looked like, no one remembered his name.
Even his surname, his voice, his creations, the texts he left behind were gradually disappearing…
To combat the White Punishment, Grunewald researched the “Amber Condensation Technique,” trying his best to engrave the memory that was being erased.
—He succeeded.
With infinite death power, Grunewald successfully engraved that information, which was supposed to be turned into void, into the depths of his bloodline. In this way, each of his descendants would be remarkably similar to him, inheriting his talents and abilities.
Grunewald wanted to resurrect his erased son, at any cost.
And fortunately or unfortunately… before their experiments succeeded, these descendants managed to escape their mad ancestor, fleeing to Hrasal, and changed their surname according to the local language. Although Grunewald eventually pursued them, he did not find any trace of their hiding place.
From “green forest” to “white fortress.”
And this new surname is still passed down in the Iris Flower region, called…
—Vendome.
“Add this jealousy—”
The old lich raised his head, motionless, letting the purple sacrificial array engulf him.
—Is it enough for me to fall into the void?
(End of this chapter)
