Chapter 180: Truth (2)

Chapter 180: Chapter 180: Truth (2)

The second second after the question, the text in front of them appeared again.

[According to your definitions, this is indeed the place you call a ruin. As for that trial, it’s nothing more than a guardian spirit - formed from the souls of the final group of living beings that died on the Mialans continent. Those who are acknowledged, under their guidance, will receive the buried treasure. Those who are rejected will be expelled and lose all memories of that time period.

As for the guardian spirit of this place, it is exactly me. My trial for you began the moment you stepped into the seabed palace. Furthermore, I have acknowledged you, and am also willing to let you pass. What you will receive, you will know once you leave this place.]

It turned out the original name of this continent was Mialans.

Evelyn asked the second question: "Are you a descendant of the Mermaid royal family?"

[Correct. I am the only king of the Mermaid royal family. Also the last Mermaid of this continent. The magic array set up in the undersea tower is the aggregated power of survivors belonging to multiple races, built at the price of our entire cultivation and souls. That is why it could last for over millions of years.]

Hearing this, Leon asked directly: "Was the orb of light in the undersea tower that day a virtual form of your soul, or an array spirit?"

[Both are correct. My soul fragment and the array spirit have fused, becoming one entity. But before you activated the magic array, I was always in an unconscious state, only relying on intuition to guide those who intruded, to see if anyone could awaken me. And you are the only existence in nearly a hundred years capable of doing that.

The scenes you saw in the magic array that day were all scenes of the future. Consider it a greeting gift I gave you.]

"..."

Remembering the price they had to pay after finishing watching those fragmented images - being blind for several days straight, blood bleeding from the corners of their eyes - the five fell into a simultaneous silence, momentarily very reluctant to reply to this person.

The Demon Emperor’s current state was only a remnant thought, so he couldn’t sense that atmosphere either. Text continued to appear steadily, mechanically.

[Letting you borrow other people’s identities in the illusion and complete tasks was because I wanted you to truly feel the chaotic tragedy of that year. Unfortunately, my power was insufficient. I could only temporarily seal the independent consciousness of two among you, while only affecting the other three at a shallow level.

Later on, I couldn’t even maintain that much. I was forced to let you out-of-body, observing the overall situation from a third-person perspective. Everything afterward could only be fast-forwarded. I hope from the documents and everything you have seen, you understand the origin and the conclusion of this tragedy.]

Before they had time to ask further, text appeared line by line, like a dying testament.

[My original wish was to erase the sins the Mermaid race committed. Unfortunately, I did not succeed.

The several generations of destined ones I chose over the years were all bloodlines of a few survivors who fled from Mialans to Sylvanor. Unfortunately, none of them could reverse this tragedy.

Also because bearing the curse of the Fallen God along with the forbidden arts those madmen left behind, no one could bring anything from Mialans - including information - over to Sylvanor.

And the final destined one I chose in the past few decades - Ymir Prometheus - also because of trying to change all of this, trying to reverse time and space, ultimately failed. He suffered heavenly punishment, his soul shattered. The family he established in Sylvanor was also implicated and annihilated.]

Even though it was only text, one could still read the helplessness in every line.

And just like every time, the amount of information stuffed inside was so massive it was hard to digest.

Jeremy didn’t expect the Prometheus family - the name Griffin belonged to - was actually the bloodline left behind by Wasteland survivors.

I fear no one would expect either, that an ancient family praised by the entire continent as Divine Sorcerers would be annihilated merely for wanting to reverse time and space.

No wonder that day Griffin said even he himself didn’t know the reason.

Or perhaps he knew, and didn’t want to say.

Jeremy suppressed his shock, reading further.

[The soul fragment I left behind is also about to dissipate due to multiple failures. I originally thought everything would end there. I didn’t expect you would rely on a bloodline coincidence to remove the restrictions those mad dogs left behind, awakening me.]

Without needing to think, he knew who the "madmen" and "mad dogs" he mentioned were.

The feeling of fury almost overflowed from the text.

Evelyn asked: "Does that restriction mean you can only be awakened by the Mialans bloodline?"

[Correct. But that forbidden art has also gradually worn away through the river of time. Although you do not carry the Mialans bloodline, the five different Sylvanor bloodlines you carry on your bodies happen to have a few similarities with those who cast the forbidden art that year. Therefore, you accidentally neutralized the remaining restrictions, broke the bloodline barrier, and awakened my remnant thought.]

Jeremy recalled: Phoenix once said at the undersea tower that opening the Heavenly Orbit Array required five types of bloodlines. He said he read it in an ancient tome.

Looking at it now, that book was very likely the research result of the Mialans who had fled to Sylvanor themselves.

Because even if they couldn’t proactively speak it out, conveying information through a different medium wasn’t an impossibility.

However, the probability of someone accidentally knowing that, then accidentally forming an exact five-person team with exactly five bloodlines, then accidentally stepping into the undersea tower...

Was so small that calling it a coincidence felt forced.

While Jeremy was reminiscing, Leon asked further: "What does the sentence ’bestow upon you the Ashbloom blessing, and the destined path’ mean?"

In Sylvanor, the Ashbloom Flower was the symbol of death. But in Mialans, it didn’t seem to be so.

To the Demon Emperor, it was just a normal blessing. He didn’t understand why he was stuck on that point.

[The Ashbloom Flower is the holy flower of our race. Symbolizing new life blooming at the pinnacle of despair. The nirvana blossoming after destruction. As for the destined path, it is the blessing our race gives to the younger generation, implying walking towards the light.]

Jeremy and Evelyn, back when they were researching in the Mermaid royal palace library, had also read about this flower, so they grasped it quite well.

The Mermaid race’s record of it had only one sentence: born from despair, blooming in fragile light.

The Ashbloom Flower had two uses.

The first type was what all of Sylvanor knew: an extremely toxic flower, anyone who touches it loses their life on the spot. So people called it the flower of death.

But what they didn’t know was that exactly on the first day it bloomed, what it brought wasn’t death.

But a miracle drug in a desperate situation.

Blooming against the laws of heaven. Consuming it can heal all wounds.

Even if the soul is severely injured, even if the physical body has been chopped into several pieces, as long as a single breath remains, it can still forcefully defy heaven to change fate, granting a person a new life.

However, it must be combined with a few specific spiritual plants and other special materials to have that miraculous effect.

The Ashbloom Flower in Sylvanor was already so rare that only one bloomed every hundred years. So until now, no one had discovered the second use.

Let alone the fact that it went extinct a hundred thousand years ago, no longer existing. Even fewer people had the chance to research it deeply.

Remembering that the recorded materials for the nemesis medicine of the first-generation Aberrants included the Ashbloom Flower as a main ingredient, Jeremy asked:

"Currently, the Ashbloom Flower in Sylvanor has gone extinct. In the Wasteland... in Mialans, is it still there?"

[Of course. After leaving this space, whether it’s the Ashbloom Flower, or the ruin’s treasure you speak of, or the totem inheritance - I will bestow them all upon you. As for the totem currently binding your souls, it will also dissipate after you finish receiving the inheritance.]

That sentence was no different from a dose of tranquilizer.

Jeremy did not inquire further.ℴ