The territory Caroline wanted wasn’t too big, but its nature was the same. Whether they wanted to seize this land from Evernight or the empire, they would still need to beat them in order to obtain recognition. The small nations on the empire’s borders had to have a middle-ranked divine champion overseeing them, at the very least. The more independent ones who cared little about the empire were all led by high-ranking divine champions. Those countries would usually vanish quietly after the fall of their divine champions.
With the alliance settled, the next objective was to search for that so-called Martyr’s Palace.
The summit wasn’t that big, and the entire peak was a flat land except for the ridge at its center. If the Martyr’s Palace did exist here, it should be in that mountain ridge.
Exchanging glances, the two flew toward the mountain ridge but found only rocks and soil after going one circle around it. The row of giant stone pillars resembling bone spikes was quite eye-catching, however, there were only rocks on them.
But according to the Pointer Monarch, the Earth Dragon’s remains had to be here. Qianye raised East Peak and stabbed at the highest peak. The blade cut through the soil like it was piercing through tofu, sending rocks and gravel flying in all directions. But the sword struck something about half a meter in, eliciting a metallic sound and failing to push further in.
Filled with delight, Qianye swung East Peak about and swept away the soil on the surface, revealing a patch of silver underneath. He attempted a couple of slashes and found that it took a full-force strike to even leave a white trace on the silver foundation. This unknown material was neither metal nor wood. It was actually Caroline who knew more about this subject. She reached out to knock on it, saying, “This is probably the void colossus’ remains and this stone pillar is one of its vertebrae.”
Qianye was speechless as he looked up at the mountainous stone pillar. Wouldn’t the Earth Dragon stand thousands of meters tall if it were alive? Compared to the Void Colossus, Chaos, however, the Earth Dragon was a mere kid.
After confirming that the Earth Dragon’s remains were indeed here, Qianye stabbed East Peak hard into the ground. His origin power burst forth, sending rocks and soil flying with the force of a dozen exploding grenades. In mere moments, a large pit—ten meters in diameter and several meters in depth—had appeared around Qianye. Even so, its base was still filled with gravel not bone.
Qianye stood up. Looking up at the mountain ridge that was hundreds of meters tall, he couldn’t help but shake his head. He knew that this route wasn’t feasible as the rock and soil here were simply too thick. It would take a hundred years if they wanted to clear out everything. That little hole Qianye had blasted out was nothing compared to the entire ridge.
He glanced back at the stone hall. If there were any clues regarding this matter, it had to be in the stone hall.
Caroline also felt that clearing the rocks away wasn’t a good idea, so she followed Qianye back to the stone hall. The furnis.h.i.+ngs inside the building were rather crude and simple—the only things of note apart from the table were the four perpetually burning braziers. Caroline hadn’t completed her observation back then, so she crouched down to study them once more. Qianye arrived in front of a brazier and gazed at it for a long while, but to no avail.
The brazier was over a meter in height and made of stone. Its surface was mottled with a few damaged areas that had fallen off. Even though there was no wind or rain inside the hall, the corrosion of void origin power was unavoidable. However, the patterns on its surface didn’t look like origin arrays, either.
Qianye’s eyes lit up with a blue radiance. After activating True Sight, he could now see wisps of void origin power converging into the braziers to serve as its fuel—there was indeed a mysterious mechanism within. Qianye flicked the brazier with his finger and found a line of silver under the broken stone sh.e.l.l.
After peeling more of the stone material, he saw more of the silver bones as expected. It turned out that these four stone braziers were made from the Earth Dragon’s bones. As expected of the favored children of the world, the bones of the void colossi were inherently capable of absorbing void origin power. Both the dark races and the humans had to go through long periods of cultivation to reach such an outstanding level.
Since the four braziers were like this, all that remained were the stone table and walls.
There was a shallow groove on the table caused by the erosion of origin power where the gun barrel had lain for many years. Qianye reached out to touch the groove and sensed his origin power being absorbed into it. An idea popped up in his mind. He didn’t resist the suction and even sent a steady stream of his Venus Dawn origin power into the stone table.
The stone table was like a bottomless abyss absorbing Qianye’s origin power without end. Only when he had expended half of his origin power did the world around him transform into that vast, unicolor realm.
Lofty yet lonesome, the Pointer Monarch stood at the very center of the heaven and earth, his momentum filling every inch of the realm. This time, he turned around and glanced deeply into Qianye’s eyes. In that brief moment, Qianye’s entire existence was seen through from inside out—there was no room to hide any of his secrets!
This feeling was like being doused in icy water. The chill would sink deep into the bones—it was inexplicably difficult to bear and filled one’s soul with inherent apprehension. And that was only an illusion of the Pointer Monarch, a remnant will.
Fortunately, the monarch only shot him a glance before retracting his gaze. He nodded briefly at Qianye. “You’re good. Your daybreak origin power is only one step away from the apex of purity. Not many in the empire’s thousand-year history has managed to do this. You’re qualified to inherit the thing I left behind.”
Qianye tried asking, “Senior Ji, do you mean this gun-barrel? I’ve received it. My current power is limited. In the future, I’ll definitely put together a set of worthy components and produce a Grand Magnum.”
The Pointer Monarch smiled faintly. “Actually, her spirit has already dispersed at the moment of failure. It’s just that I couldn’t let go. No matter how powerful the weapon is, it won’t become a Grand Magnum without a soul. The only thing with any hope of reaching the peak is the Wings of Inception inside your body. The item I left behind, no matter how powerful it is, will only be a medium for the wings.”
Qianye was astonished. The Wings of Inception was his greatest secret, a hidden ace that had enabled him to turn the tables in many a battle. It was unfathomable and ethereal—even Qianye wasn’t clear regarding its principles. If it wasn’t absorbing darkness origin power every day, Qianye would’ve thought that it was a non-existent illusion.
Who would’ve thought that the Pointer Monarch would see through this secret in a single glance?
Qianye suddenly recalled the time when he had met Zhang Boqian and Lin Xitang. No one knew what level of cultivation his foster father was at. Due to the Art of Heaven’s Mystery, he was already standing at the peak of the world and no one could even probe his rank. The only way to find out his cultivation realm was to fight him.
Zhang Boqian, on the other hand, was a bona fide heavenly monarch. Additionally, he was highly talented and the favorite human candidate to surpa.s.s the Pointer Monarch in the future. If even a remnant-will left behind by the Pointer Monarch could see through Qianye, how could Zhang Boqian not have done the same?
The Pointer Monarch sighed. “Back then, I ran into a projection of the Black-Winged Monarch’s will. Young and impetuous, I exchanged a couple of blows with him across s.p.a.ce. Later on, he told me about his plans for the Wings of Inception. Who would’ve thought I would see the real thing one day? Only after failing the refinement did I realize just how much of a genius concept the Wings of Inception was.”
The Pointer Monarch appeared somewhat sad, but an indifferent smile appeared on his face as his gaze pierced through the illusory realm and landed on the engine. “So many years have pa.s.sed, but those people still haven’t given up. They really did produce this thing. Are you here for the Martyr’s Palace too?”
Qianye said truthfully, “Actually, I don’t even know what the Martyr’s Palace is. This engine is something I seized from the military people.”
The Pointer Monarch nodded. “You’re quite honest. Fine, this thing is bound to come into being someday. Why would I interfere with something that’s destined to be so? Handing the Martyr’s Palace to you is much better than having it land in the military’s control. Remember, use the power of the Martyr’s Palace to protect humanity when necessary.”
Qianye grasped the detail in those words. “Humanity? Not the empire?”
The Pointer Monarch raised a finger, indicating the entire world. “The world is so big. The neutral lands, the empire, and Evernight, there are humans everywhere. The land on which the empire rests is but a small corner of the world. The empire can be replaced, but humanity must not be eradicated. As long as humans exist, another empire will rise after the fall of this one.”
These words would be considered rebellious if spoken in the empire. The Pointer Monarch was of imperial bloodline. Who would’ve thought he would have such a view of things?
“Time is short, I’ll take you to see what exactly the Martyr’s Palace is.”
With that, the Pointer Monarch waved his hand. The scenery in front transformed, and the stone hall appeared once more. The Pointer Monarch walked in with Qianye close at his heels. Within the hall, Caroline was still studying one of the braziers, completely oblivious of Qianye and the monarch.
Ji Wentian walked over to the wall on his own. The stone table moved to the side of its own accord, revealing a door and, behind it, a deep, dark tunnel.
The Pointer Monarch and Qianye traveled along the tunnel and soon arrived in a large s.p.a.ce. This area was propped up by a giant skeleton, the exterior of which was covered in several layers of rock. Some basic structures had been constructed inside the chamber and a part of the deck had been laid out. However, the construction work was clearly incomplete, almost as though a ma.s.sive engineering project was stripped of workers as soon as it had begun.
At a thousand meters long and hundreds of meters in height and width, the chamber could be considered quite grand. Judging from the foundation, it really was a battles.h.i.+p undergoing construction here. The scale of this airs.h.i.+p far surpa.s.sed the largest mothers.h.i.+ps of the empire, perhaps comparable only to the personal airs.h.i.+ps of the great dark monarchs of Evernight.
There was a large silver heart beating slowly at the forepart of the chamber. This heart was ten meters tall and looked much like a wriggling ma.s.s of silvery metal. Just looking at it gave Qianye a stifling feeling.
Countless tentacle-like silver threads stretched from the heart and crept out in every direction. These threads were like spider webs that held all the construction plates and stones together, forming the framework of this s.p.a.ce.
There was an obvious defect in the heart, but its borders were unusually smooth and clearly the work of humans. Judging from its size, the hole was just big enough for the engine.
The Pointer Monarch walked about rather emotionally. “Back in the year, I left the empire in dismay and hid in the neutral lands to construct the Martyr’s Palace. Who would’ve thought so many changes would occur later on?”