## Chapter 879: Ruins of the Sky-Piercing Tower
The morning of April 7th.
Taking advantage of the newly risen sun and the still-cool morning breeze, the ten-person squad shouldered their luggage and headed for the outskirts of Protagonus Territory.
All of them were Extraordinary individuals of the Fourth Tier or higher, so their journey was swift and they were not easily tired.
Before their departure, Eivass had bestowed upon the group the “Far Journey Blessing.” This blessing significantly reduced stamina consumption during travel and even allowed stamina to be recovered through jogging or brisk walking, making climbing mountains feel effortless.
This was a rather common—or perhaps the most common—blessing in the game. It could only be used outside of combat. In the game, its effect was to increase land movement speed by 20%, but it disappeared upon taking damage. The movement speed increase also did not stack with the speed provided by mounts, only the highest value was taken.
In places where summoning a mount was inconvenient, such as dungeons requiring long journeys to gather materials or solve puzzles, or when traversing complex areas for main quests, this blessing could be activated to expedite travel.
Some main quests, event side quests, or profession side quests in the game could be quite convoluted, with the nearest teleportation point being a long distance away. Other tedious tasks involved solving puzzles to find clues or a lengthy chain of interconnected objectives that required much back and forth.
Back in the day, some Priests or Bards would earn extra income by escorting players through quests—applying buffs that increased out-of-combat movement speed and then guiding them along shortcuts to the destination.
Eivass, who was unemployed at the time and had savings, was still considered a “professional player” who relied on gaming for income.
As such, he had experimented with various money-making schemes. He could only say that it wasn’t as profitable as account boosting, and at best, it barely earned enough for drinks.
Meanwhile, Cardinal Galatea chanted an Elven ballad, further increasing the team’s travel speed. Thus, before noon, they had already traversed a mountain and were nearing their destination.
However, it was not what everyone had expected.
It wasn’t some “ancient ruin” or “giant underground tomb,” but merely a mountain village. The village was not small; it even had a clock tower and a church. From a distance, it even appeared to have electricity.
“…Are the ruins nearby?” the Vagrant muttered in a low voice, somewhat disappointed.
This was not his first time participating in an archaeology expedition, and he naturally knew… that ruins too close to villages and towns would essentially have nothing left.
If the risk there wasn’t high, the local residents would have long since cleared out everything. If it were very dangerous, with frequent fatalities, the authorities would certainly have cordoned it off. After bringing in a few archaeology teams, not much would remain.
—This? Just this?
Nine Extraordinary individuals of the Fourth Tier or higher, and there were still signs of human habitation within five kilometers of the supposed archaeological site?
Could this truly be a ruin from the Amber Era?
Cardinal Galatea, however, looking at the surroundings, seemed to recall something. “I remember… this place wasn’t like this six hundred years ago…”
“…Your memory is quite good,” Zhu Tang quipped.
“Encyclopedia” glanced at Cardinal Galatea, intending to speak further but hesitating due to Eivass and Cardinal Galatea’s presence.
As a “Dream Traveling Monk” who had advanced from “Naturalist,” he undoubtedly knew many secrets.
For instance… the Star Crystal People.
Among Dream Traveling Monks, knowledge was uploaded and shared. Thus, even knowledge he hadn’t personally gathered would reside in his “Memory Library.”
Master Diels, however, was unhurried and remained silent. He simply continued to lead them forward.
Professor Bard, on the other hand, mused, “I have heard a theory. There’s a viewpoint in academia that Amber Era ruins are entirely unfindable today, not because they were destroyed or damaged, but because they were hidden through some means.
“A village in Avalon was sealed away using a similar method, rendering it inaccessible to outsiders. Could the ruins here be a similar technique?”
“Mr. Diels,” Little Cat said with some dissatisfaction, “We’ve already come this far and can’t turn back… where exactly are we going, and to what era’s ruins? You can tell us now, right?
“After all, we have important figures in our team now… I believe no one would dare speak carelessly outside.”
“—It is indeed a ruin from the Amber Era,” Master Amber finally spoke. “But not *just* a ruin from the Amber Era…”
As he spoke, he suddenly stopped, bringing the group with him.
This was roughly halfway up the mountain.
Ahead lay an ordinary path, with no abnormalities. Even Eivass himself felt nothing amiss. There were no stone markers, forks in the road, or giant trees as waypoints; they had simply stopped at an unmarked location.
It was akin to a treasure map in a game—providing a bizarre coordinate and requiring the player to stand precisely on that spot to dig for treasure.
However, Eivass suddenly understood. “Is it the Preservation Technique?”
Master Amber nodded.
In front of Eivass, he dropped all pretense. “You must have heard… the legend of the Sky-Piercing Tower, ‘Your Holiness’.”
“…Ah, yes,” Eivass nodded. “It was known as the ‘Tower of Truth,’ the world’s earliest Mage Tower. It possessed the ability to deduce all past and future mysteries and contained nine major categories and twenty-seven minor categories of spells, including Necromancy, Preservation, Astrology, Alchemy, Curse Master, and Ritualist.
“Modern Alchemists, Astrologers, Necromancers, Ritualists, and Curse Masters… all trace their lineage back to the inheritance of the Sky-Piercing Tower.”
He did not reveal everything.
During his recent Ascension Ritual, Eivass had also learned other secrets about the Sky-Piercing Tower…
Upon hearing Eivass’s words, the group held their breath.
If they were to excavate the ruins of the Sky-Piercing Tower—
The origin of all spells in the Material Realm! An Amber Era Mage Tower!
This was the Daffodil Duchy, a country with the most Mage Towers. Everyone knew that Mage Towers were filled with treasures—not just gold and silver, but more valuable were the various occult books, stone tablets, and extraordinary items—products of a pre-civilization at least eight thousand years old!
Not to mention, the materials from Amber Era extraordinary creatures could now be auctioned for sky-high prices. These creatures were now almost entirely extinct… and extinct things were even more valuable!
“…Could the Sky-Piercing Tower be beneath our feet?” Professor Bard frowned in thought. “Is this mountain the remains of the Sky-Piercing Tower?”
Sin scoffed, clearly looking down on mortal intellect. “Foolish! It must be hidden in some spatial rift… It is perfectly reasonable for ancient mages to achieve such a feat. Modern magic could even achieve such a miracle… yet not a single energy fluctuation has been leaked. Perhaps that is why it has been preserved until now without being discovered.”
“Actually, there are characteristics,” Zhu Tang said. “I saw… a fluctuation of ‘water.’ Although it’s on the mountain, water is gathering from the base up.”
The group looked over, only to find that Zhu Tang had opened his eyes!
His eyes were a terrifying pure white, with complex array diagrams etched in black text within them. They were now spinning, causing anyone who looked for a few seconds to feel a chill down their spine.
Zhu Tang only looked for a few seconds before closing his eyes again.
Master Amber then slowly said, “This is why I said… this is not just one ruin. The ‘water flow’ you sensed is the second layer of ruins here.”
“Oh, hurry up and tell us, boss!” the Vagrant grumbled impatiently, feeling that his boss was being exceptionally cryptic this time. “What’s the situation—everyone else, stop asking! If this goes on with this Q&A, it’ll be nightfall!”
Master Amber, however, remained unhurried.
He was so calm that even his breathing was not disturbed, and his gaze was as serene as if he were simply enjoying the mountain air and birdsong.
He was not being a cryptic riddle-teller, merely exceptionally patient and slow-moving.
Seeing the Vagrant gnashing his teeth and stomping his feet in impatience, Master Amber finally began to explain from the beginning. “The preservation Technique is the most complete lineage among the Sky-Piercing Tower’s inheritances. This place was not ‘hidden,’ but ‘preserved.’
“As early as the Amber Era, this space-time was severed and preserved. To open this place, a key is needed…”
“Preservation Technique of at least the Seventh Tier is required to open this sealed space-time.”
“…Seventh Tier?!”
“—That’s impossible!”
“Even the Eternal Pope would—”
The group instinctively wanted to deny it.
But Eivass understood.
—It’s about “priority.”
While not all priorities could be applied to the Preservation Technique—most priorities were for “penetration” or “resistance,” or took effect during “confrontation”—this wasn’t always the case. For example, Eivass’s newly acquired Gold Tier Slot contained an “unconditional activation slot” that directly increased spell priority.
To achieve Seventh Tier spell immunity with Fifth Tier abilities would require two priorities from different sources that could be fully stacked onto the Preservation Technique! And they had to be unconditional activation priorities—effective even outside of combat!
“…Others cannot, but I can,” Master Amber said calmly, reaching out to touch the air.
A phantom amber spiderweb spread from his fingertips, expanding outwards.
In the blink of an eye, the spiderweb covered the entire dense forest.
The next moment, the spiderweb shattered completely.
White mist, appearing from nowhere, enveloped the surroundings.
As the mist slightly dissipated, a sudden burst of light caused them to instinctively shield their eyes.
Eivass did not shield himself.
He simply looked up. In the deep blue sky, the white clouds appeared incredibly clear and three-dimensional. The sun shone several times brighter and was several times larger. The intensely scorching sunlight, even after penetrating the mist in the dense forest, was enough to burn the skin.
At this moment, the Vagrant and Little Cat, as if sensing something simultaneously, suddenly looked in the direction they came from in unison.
Only complete darkness remained there.
And where the village had been, a colossal tower now stood silently.
Its base area far surpassed that of the entire village, and looking up, one could barely see its top. It stood on the mountain peak, and due to its immense size, even the mountain itself seemed to shrink, resembling a cliff.
—It was more like a “giant tree” than a “tower.”
And considering the order of events… perhaps the “giant tree” was more like the “Sky-Piercing Tower.”
However, the reason it was “barely” visible was that the upper half of the colossal tower was incredibly charred and broken off at the waist. With its height halved, it didn’t seem as tall.
It resembled a sharply tapering chopstick, with its charred upper half sawed off. Wisps of smoke still rose from it, looking like some kind of signal fire.
“…Was the Sky-Piercing Tower destroyed by something?” Zhu Tang murmured. “Lightning strike?”
“Encyclopedia,” however, suddenly spoke, providing the answer. “The Sky-Piercing Tower was broken by the Great Philosopher himself, an event that occurred in the Second Solar Era…”
“—This is a ‘preserved’ fragment of the Amber Era,” Sin realized immediately.
His gaze towards Master Amber became respectful and cautious. “May I ask, you are…?”
“—Allow me to introduce everyone. This is Master Amber, from the Hrasal Empire,” Eivass said with a smile, patting the elder’s shoulder. Seeing that Master Amber did not resist but also did not speak, Eivass introduced him simply. “The world’s first Amber Craftsman.
“And also the only… or rather, one of the very few, who can truly bring the dead back to life.”
“You flatter me, Your Holiness,” Master Amber said calmly. “That cannot be considered resurrection… it is merely ‘preserving the vitality of others.'”
“Just like… preserving the destroyed Sky-Piercing Tower, right?” Professor Bard whispered. “Resurrecting a dead space-time in the present… is that not also a form of revival?”
At this moment, the group fully realized the chilling events that had transpired here.
“Without breaking the world’s limits, it is naturally impossible to defy the laws of nature,” Master Amber gazed deeply at Eivass. “In a world with an upper limit of Sixth Tier… Seventh Tier is the prerequisite for ‘calling forth miracles.’
“…And if this world’s limit were to be raised to the Seventh Tier, reversing life and death would require touching the Eighth Tier.”
Hearing this, Eivass narrowed his eyes slightly.
Master Amber… did he know something?
(End of Chapter)
