Chapter 883
Tower of Ruin
Although Eivass fell into contemplation with these two jewels in hand, no one dared to snatch them directly from him. However, in the end, Eivass did not disappoint.
“I do have some ideas,” Eivass said. “I read in a book… this World has a total of three suns. The first sun withered before life was born and no longer rises; the second sun was killed by sacrifice and language, shattering into countless stars in the silent night; and the third sun was born from a three-legged crow, which is the child of Hengwo and Hengwo.
“The sun in our world is the third sun, and the more scorching sun outside should be the second sun.”
“I know, it’s the ‘Grimoire of the Morning Crow,’ right! I was fortunate enough to translate that book back then…” Hearing this, Encyclopedia suddenly became spirited. “The second sun… that is the Amon god we worship!” For a Horus person, being able to translate, or even just read, knowledge about the sun was an honor. Once such knowledge was read, it was impossible to forget.
Eivass continued, “Since the second sun could be ‘killed by sacrifice and language,’ it means that language must have existed when the second sun existed. And it possessed a special power, comparable to ‘sacrifice’… What can you think of?”
There was only one answer.
—These ancient runes!
Eivass looked at Master Amber. “You are so eager to develop this ruin… is it to explore the mysteries of the runes?” After all, as an Extraordinary of the Twilight Path, the motive to open this ruin did not align with the path’s principles. It was already well-preserved; instead, Amber had liberated this preserved space-time. There must be a motive that could change his mind. For a Twilight Path Extraordinary who was indifferent to fame and fortune, what treasure could move them?
“—No,” Amber shook his head. “I do want to find something, but it’s not them.” Saying this, he walked forward. “Let’s go inside and take a look first.”
Seeing the old man slowly walking away, the Vagrant was startled. He went to support Master Amber, scolding him as he did so, and settled the old man behind him. “Hey, wait, wait, oh my god… Boss, move back…”
Eivass first handed the jewels to Professor Bard and then steadily followed behind the Vagrant. The fingers of his right hand moved slightly as he braced himself and stared intently at the Vagrant, ready to heal at any moment. As a survival master, the Vagrant not only had danger intuition but also various instinct-based escape abilities. Even if his eyes couldn’t see or his ears couldn’t hear, he could evade based on intuition. Even if the opponent bypassed his senses, the Vagrant could ensure that fatal injuries avoided vital areas—this was how he dodged the illusion-enhanced guardian puppet before. This made the survival master the strongest scout. After all, even the strongest defender might be instantly killed by traps and ambushes. If such an important profession were to be injured, the entire team could be at a disadvantage during a formal engagement… and the survival master’s combat power was less important. Coldly put, it wouldn’t matter if he died. He wasn’t supposed to deal damage anyway. And another function was something a defender couldn’t achieve…
Suddenly, the Vagrant stopped and gestured for everyone to halt. Instantly, everyone stopped walking. The interior of the Sky-Piercing Tower was brightly lit, so even Professor Bard, who lacked night vision, could see the Vagrant’s gesture. The Vagrant closed his eyes slightly, seemingly sniffing something in the air.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes. “Little Cat, come here for a moment. Disarm the trap.” He then pointed in a direction on the wall. Little Cat, who had disappeared from the crowd at some point, silently appeared in that spot. Her hands, wrapped in tattered white bandages, touched the wall, but did not trigger the trap. It was as if she were a dead person or a ghost. Little Cat touched it, and her hands passed directly through the wall, sinking into its interior. She couldn’t observe with her eyes and could only perceive the details through touch and hearing. After a while, with a crisp sound, several stone slabs on the ground suddenly cracked, and four rune stone slabs rose from the ground. Runes resembling eyes were etched on the slabs. As they rose, they lost their flowing azure blue and gradually faded to black. Little Cat nimbly picked them up one by one, then returned to the front of the crowd with light, silent steps and presented them to Eivass as if offering a treasure. Eivass tried to examine them but also saw no attribute panel. He ordered them to proceed cautiously and continued to move forward, discussing with the others.
“What kind of trap is this?” Eivass asked Little Cat. Little Cat shook her head, and the Vagrant, still scouting at the forefront, replied, “No life danger… but I sensed a premonition of ‘farewell’ and ‘helplessness.’ So I suspect this is either some kind of trap that locks people away, or it teleports people to a certain place… like a prison.”
“A teleportation trap…” Eivass became slightly solemn. “In a sense, this is the most lethal crisis.” Although teleportation might not mean death, if a lost teammate couldn’t be found in a short period, it was equivalent to being instantly killed from another perspective. Even Eivass couldn’t revive them.
“However, conversely…” Zhu Tang mused, “since there are traps here, does it mean there’s a place where treasures are hidden ahead?”
“I’m afraid there might not be any treasure,” Professor Bard shook his head. “The Sky-Piercing Tower… it’s essentially a mage’s tower; there won’t be any gold or precious jewels. It’s unlikely you’ll even find any lost ancient books here, as the writing of this era might not have been widely used yet. And there are definitely no books—even if we obtained any rune stone slabs inscribed with ancient secrets, they likely wouldn’t fetch a high price. The knowledge of ancient runes is unknown even to ‘Encyclopedia,’ let alone others. In this situation, only a few people are qualified and capable of deciphering their secrets… and they are all top powerhouses. Even without direct snatching, there’s no one else to sell them to. Since payment can be made at any time, the buyer has the final say… Their greatest value might just be as cultural relics.”
“And we also have to consider another possibility,” Zhu Tang added, “perhaps when we take them out, they’ll turn to dust. In my hometown, there’s also a legend of ‘preserved space-time.’ It’s said that a woodcutter strayed into a strange space while chopping wood and met some children playing chess. Someone gave him some food, and he ate it while watching them play. When he prepared to return home, he found that the handle of his axe had rotted, and many years had passed. Before, I thought he had entered the ‘Fey Realm’ and eaten Fey food. But considering the woodcutter was an adult… he might have accidentally entered a preserved but unstable old space-time and was preserved along with it.”
“…So, you mean,” Little Cat said with some fear, “when we go back, many years might have passed?”
“It’s possible,” Zhu Tang nodded.
But Amber, who had been speaking little, suddenly opened his mouth. “No. Because this space-time is very stable…”
“Spell…” Sin said, posing a crucial and professional question. “Shouldn’t it wear out?” Amber clearly understood and nodded. “So this spell is continuously effective.”
“What do you mean?” Little Cat and the Vagrant in front didn’t understand. Encyclopedia shook his head and walked over to explain. “It means this Preservation Technique is continuously effective and being recharged, not just used once in the past.”
“Meaning… there’s some kind of energy source here, right?” The Vagrant’s spirits lifted, and he turned back with a smile. “That might also be considered a treasure!”
“It’s indeed possible,” Encyclopedia nodded. “When we entered, I specifically measured the angle of the door. We walked straight ahead, and the distance we traveled is very close to the radius of the Sky-Piercing Tower. This means we have approached the center of the first floor of the Sky-Piercing Tower. If there’s anything valuable…”
[It should be here.]
His voice suddenly echoed in the air. No, rather than “echoing,” it was directly imprinted in their minds. Along with his thoughts, faint greed, vigilance, hesitation, and curiosity also came through. Everyone was stunned for a moment.
The next moment, they heard a new voice:
[Damn it! What the f**k?!]
It was the Vagrant’s voice. He was clearly startled—the more he relied on his “danger avoidance instinct,” the more timid he became in the face of unexpected fright. His fear, along with subsequent anger, shame, and other thoughts, also spread:
[What the hell… is this my thought?]
[Mom, I don’t want to die… what…?]
Little Cat’s sobbing echoed thunderously and loudly in the empty corridor. But her eyes widened, and she instantly became still, as if she had lost connection. Amidst the Vagrant’s continuous stream of curses, Encyclopedia was the first to react and suddenly retreated two steps. The “inner thoughts” constantly echoing in the air suddenly decreased by one. The Vagrant and Little Cat immediately realized this and scrambled backward, retreating further than Encyclopedia.
“What is this?” the Vagrant said uncertainly.
“…I get it,” Professor Bard’s eyes suddenly lit up. “This is how people communicated in an era without writing… or rather, when language was not yet widespread!”
“Indeed…” The “Puppet,” who had been silent, suddenly spoke, emitting a clear and cold voice. “I saw things that looked Atlantean on the way, but the main inhabitants of the Sky-Piercing Tower should be the Winged Ones. Because the ‘Wing Heavenly Envoy’ was promoted to the Dream Realm from here… I’ve heard that animals within the same species have ways to recognize each other’s intentions. But if there were multiple species here, people could only rely on this method to communicate…”
Encyclopedia mused, “Is it because language was not yet widespread at this time? Or in other words…”
“—This is the ancient [Language],” Eivass said, looking ahead and continuing softly. “No barriers, no ambiguity, no need to learn, no need to understand… returning to the most essential use of language: transmitting information. In the most efficient way.”
Professor Bard became excited. “If this is true—then it means that current archaeological discoveries might be reversed! Perhaps when the second sun still existed, the Amber Era was not a time when language had not yet been invented or popularized. Instead, ‘language’ was not used for communication at this time!” The ancient people of that era were naturally not barbaric animals who could only grunt. The Atlanteans could invent Star Crystal Person technology, and the Winged Ones developed the Sky-Piercing Tower, which led to many ancient spells; even one fragment developed into a profession today. How could they have been foolish beasts who couldn’t even speak in ancient times? Not to mention… the “Beast” Heavenly Envoy hadn’t even been born yet!
But people could not understand why the second sun would be killed by language, and why people did not use language to communicate before that.
“—It’s because before [Language] was invented, people had something better.” Eivass said. “At that time… [Language] was not for communication at all; it was a mystery that directly pointed to the Origin River, a lost path of power. That’s why it could be used to kill the second sun!”
After that, the Sky-Piercing Tower collapsed, and people scattered to various places. Having lost this ability that could be used for communication, people used the incomplete inheritances they obtained to communicate with each other. Because people were accustomed to connecting their consciousness at any time, the inheritances scattered across different regions were incomplete—they could originally supplement each other through others, but after the Sky-Piercing Tower was destroyed by lightning, this became impossible.
“—From then on, language gradually shed its mystical component, became increasingly widespread… and eventually became a ‘language’ for communication!”
(This chapter is finished)
