Chapter 168 - 128: Land of Burning, Endless Sea

’No more than a year...’

Hearing Burton’s words, Luo Ge looked over at Noxia.

She understood his unspoken question and shook her head. "I don’t know the exact time the disaster occurred..."

Seeing this, Luo Ge could only look away and turn back to Burton with his next question.

"Burton Mage, let me tell you about the current situation..."

With that, Luo Ge briefly summarized the state of the world for him, also giving a short introduction of himself and Noxia.

After listening, Burton’s eyes dimmed, and he let out a long sigh.

"So the world has shattered..."

Although he had long anticipated this, facing the reality of the situation still filled his heart with a sense of sorrow and desolation.

"...Mr. Luo Ge, if that’s the case, then I don’t recommend you use my time period as a reference," Burton said.

"Why do you say that?" Luo Ge frowned.

"...The Primordial Fire gave birth to life, Spirit, and even the nations and civilizations upon the Land of Burning. It is not only the source of all things but also a crucial node connecting the entire world."

"Once It meets with disaster, it is not only space that will fall into chaos..."

Burton closed his eyes slightly, as if he couldn’t bear to think about what happened after the calamity.

Hearing this, Luo Ge instantly understood what he meant.

’If that’s the case, then "time" really can’t be used as a reference anymore.’

The thought gave Luo Ge an immediate headache.

’If so, doesn’t that mean there are nearly infinite spatial fragments within the Dark Boundary?’

’In that case, how am I supposed to find the Eternal Holy Altar where the Primordial Fire once resided?’

As if guessing Luo Ge’s thoughts, Burton spoke again.

"However, judging from the current situation, time and space have not completely shattered. Otherwise, there would have been countless versions of me trying to break into this world just now."

"Since that didn’t happen, it means time and space haven’t completely shattered. Perhaps the Primordial Fire’s condition isn’t as dire as I imagined..."

...So, no one could say for sure what the Primordial Fire’s current state was.

It might be shattered, or it might not be. A coin toss, then.

"Let’s put that aside for now." Luo Ge raised a hand slightly, cutting off the topic and asking another question. "You should know a lot about this world. Please, tell me about it in detail."

Hearing this, and considering the earlier language issue, Burton realized that the man before him, Luo Ge, was very likely not native to this world.

However, he was in no position to ask. The fact that Luo Ge had saved his life instead of taking advantage of his weakness was already more than magnanimous.

So, in response to Luo Ge’s question, Burton Mage nodded slightly and quickly began to describe the basic state of the world before the disaster...

...

Time, space, life, Spirit, civilization, everything... all were born from the primordial Land of Burning. The first living beings became devout Believers, built the Eternal Holy Altar, and faithfully maintained the world’s order...

Compared to the Land of Burning, the boundless Ocean was so vast that even before the disaster, a complete world map had never existed...

People could only generalize it simply as the "Land of Burning" and the "Endless Sea."

More life was nurtured on the periphery of the Land of Burning and on the islands of the Endless Sea, giving rise to tribes, clans, towns, city-states, and even nations and civilizations—or even... a Divine Capital...

Flame gave birth to everything, so the life in this world came to associate various fire-related things with Power.

Residual Ash, Embers, Molten Slag, Scorching Charcoal, Flame, Dust Flame, Torch Flame, Burning Spirit... and even higher.

These were the Ignition Points of the Life Flame.

And Temperature was the necessary stage for a Life Flame to advance to a High Tier...

Furthermore, on the undisputed central continent of the Land of Burning, conflict and warfare never ceased.

Countless nations, factions, and organizations attacked and plotted against one another.

The great hands of gods could be faintly seen moving among them.

Yet, the Eternal Holy Altar always wielded the greatest Power, guarding the Primordial Fire that gave birth to all.

But, it’s worth noting that it wasn’t that the Eternal Holy Altar was always the strongest, but rather that the strongest faction would always *become* the Eternal Holy Altar...

Therefore, the Eternal Holy Altar was more like a fixed title, a crown. Whoever was strongest took that position.

As for the reason why, Burton did not know.

For a long time, his focus had been more on the knowledge and Arcane Mysteries of Magic; his understanding of the world was merely the accumulated knowledge from his travels and journeys.

He was a scholar, a traveler, not the leader of some faction or a participant in history.

But even so, Burton was exceptionally well-traveled and knowledgeable.

"However, before I embarked on my final journey, anomalies had already begun to appear. I suppose those were the precursors to the disaster..."

Burton sighed.

While regretting not having paid more attention to it, he couldn’t help but wonder... ’Even if I had, what could I have done?’

Luo Ge didn’t care about any of this.

He had finally found a knowledgeable native, and he had no time to lament the world’s shattering.

He quickly asked Burton again, this time about matters related to Noxia, the Campfire, the Pottery Man, and so on.

However, aside from having heard a little about Noxia’s matter, he was just as puzzled about the rest.

"A Witch searching for Firewood... She should be from the Eternal Holy Altar... I’m not sure who the current master of the Eternal Holy Altar is; they always like to bestow themselves with supreme sanctity... But everyone knows the Eternal Holy Altar is not eternal..."

At this, Burton shook his head, seemingly uninterested in the Eternal Holy Altar.

"However... I have heard of the Fire Element Divine Hall."

Burton pondered for a moment, then recounted everything he knew.

"The Fire Phase is the aspect of a flame’s burning. Some scholars try to find patterns within it, while others try to draw Power from it..."

Burton paused for a moment before summarizing.

"...They are obsessed with prophecy and fate."

"..."

Luo Ge fell silent for a while, digesting the information he had heard from Burton.

Noxia also seemed to have an epiphany, her brow furrowed slightly as she tried to recall something.

"Thank you, Burton Mage," Luo Ge thanked him.

Regardless, this information was very useful to him. It gave him a picture of what this world was like... albeit before the disaster.

"He who shelters the fire from the wind shall also enjoy its lingering warmth."

Burton smiled faintly and gave Luo Ge a humble bow, his every word and gesture carrying the gentle and refined air of a scholar.

"Is that a proverb from your world?" Luo Ge asked curiously after mulling over the phrase.

"A proverb?" Burton repeated the word in Luo Ge’s language, then nodded in response. "Yes. Most of them come from well-known stories."

Hearing this, Luo Ge glanced at Noxia beside him.

Seeing his look, Noxia blushed slightly and mumbled, "Sorry, Mr. Luo Ge, I... don’t know much about these things..."

Luo Ge chuckled and patted her shoulder comfortingly.

He wasn’t blaming her, just found it strange.

Turning his attention back to Burton, Luo Ge had to decide on an important question—whether Burton would stay or go.

"Burton Mage, I won’t beat around the bush. Do you plan to stay here?" Luo Ge didn’t waste any time and asked him directly.

’Burton Mage... from what he just described, he’s not only a scholar but also a Grand Mage.’

’In terms players would understand, that’s equivalent to being at least Level 60 or higher.’

’However... he definitely doesn’t have that kind of Power now, because when he entered this world, he was struck by the Spirit Candle Power driven by my Will...’

And the Spirit Candle could only temporarily sustain him, so his Power was far from what it used to be.

But... that wasn’t the main point.

The reason Luo Ge wanted to recruit him wasn’t because he needed an enforcer.

For such a powerful Grand Mage, his most precious asset was undoubtedly his knowledge!

’I can already see countless types of Magic waving at me.’

’As long as I can get Burton to stay, his origins and all that are secondary.’

’Even if he was sent by the Firewood Thieves, I’d take him in regardless. As long as I can get my hands on his knowledge of Magic, who cares about such minor details?’

Burton was clearly an intelligent man as well.

"If you would allow it."

"I am already rootless seaweed upon the sea..." He gave a bitter smile and looked at his palm, where he could clearly feel a Power that wasn’t his own. "If I leave this place, my Spirit and Power will continue to drain away, and in the end, I can only head towards being Extinguished..."

"Alright then." Luo Ge nodded. "Let’s make a deal. I will maintain the integrity of your body and repair it in the future when my Ability is sufficient. I’ll provide you with the ’Spiritual Material’ you need, and in return, you will teach your knowledge to my Warriors. How about it?"

Spiritual Material, meaning the fuel for living beings, was the basic requirement for life to survive in this world. To put it bluntly, it was food.

Some Low Tier, Ordinary living beings could obtain it through daily eating.

But beings who had ignited their Warfire could absorb High Level Spiritual Material through special methods.

Wax Oil, naturally, could be used as Spiritual Material.

"Deal." Burton nodded, agreeing to the transaction, then added with a smile, "I just hope this group of students of mine aren’t a bunch of dullards."

"..." Regarding that, Luo Ge paused for a moment. "There might be some who lack aptitude... or Warriors with none at all. Just reject them directly."

Burton nodded, then said, "Mr. Luo Ge, I have one more request I hope you can grant."

"Feel free to ask," Luo Ge said.

...

「Jinghai Islands.」

Brother Yu had already left by this time, and the two other players he was meeting had logged on.

As for the disappearance of the "corpse" he had fished up—Burton—he was a bit puzzled but didn’t think much of it. He probably wouldn’t realize what had happened until he saw Burton again.

"Tunage..."

Burton recognized the shriveled corpse floating on the sea at a glance. After muttering the name, he raised his hand with a heavy heart and used Magic to pull it before him.

Without a doubt, this was the friend Burton had spoken of.

’No wonder Burton was heading towards the Jinghai Islands, where I was anchored. So this is where his friend died...’

"Mr. Luo Ge." Burton closed his eyes slightly. "I hope to teach my students here. I ask for your permission."

"Alright." Luo Ge nodded.

’Even though this is Brother Yu’s fishing spot, I can just have him move. I’ll be making an announcement anyway.’

’Of course, if Brother Yu wants a large audience to watch him fish while they’re learning Skills, he could still fish here...’

"...It appears every so often," Luo Ge said after a moment of silence.

"This shattered world is still repeating itself in a constant loop."

Burton’s friend’s body wasn’t a monster, so he had no way to remove it completely. It could only be left to drift here at a fixed time each day...

Hearing Luo Ge’s words, Burton’s hands paused for a moment, and he sighed once again.

"It matters not. I will remain here always..."

Burton simply tidied up his friend’s body.

Then, he raised his hand, and a flame ignited, spreading down his arm to turn his friend’s remains into Ashes.

This scene would, perhaps, repeat itself forever...