"What... are you saying?"
Ian Gard had intended to ask the identity of the one whose dragon eyes hung in the sky like six blazing suns, and then inquire about the intriguing riddle.
But he quickly realized the origin of these dragon eyes from the sea of blood.
Suppose the enormous dragon bone was willingly provided by a second-generation True Dragon for human experimentation; then aside from its bones, the other flesh and organs of the True Dragon shouldn’t be casually discarded, right?
Even if they can’t be made into a ’Magic Potion’... these True Dragon organs, containing endless mysteries, definitely wouldn’t be abandoned.
And the sea of blood he now stands in, although devoid of any scent of blood, even smells somewhat like oil and liquid metal, doesn’t need much more explanation.
This is its remnants.
The one communicating with him is exactly that second-generation True Dragon, the original owner of the ’Legacy’ that all Exploration Team members desire!
Facing such a Fifth Energy Level super lifeform, Ian Gard dared not act casually, even though it was just a residue of consciousness clinging to flesh and blood. Still, his urge to know the meaning of the words spoken to him was unstoppable, so he could not help but ask.
"What is the Thousand-Star Dragon? What is the Key of All Things, and the dark end?"
He stepped forward, his steps rippling the sea of blood more gel-like than liquid in nature, carrying human weight.
The golden-haired boy’s lake-green eyes met the brilliant dragon gaze, he summoned courage, asking for the secrets behind all this.
"Ancient True Dragon, please tell me the secrets on my body—what do the so-called origins and ends of all things truly represent?!"
[...You bear the Thousand Stars’ blood. Its blood has lay dormant for millennia, the divine might once contained has completely disappeared... You... you have resurrected with my blood, thus you are the Thousand-Star Dragon]
The six dragon eyes gazed at the exceptionally young human before it, remaining silent for a moment. Its voice began to shift, its tone transitioning from the ancient Terra language, gradually becoming more akin to the common dialect of modern times, even more attuned to Ian Gard’s Imperial Capital speech pattern.
It slowly said: [The Thousand-Star Dragon and the Thousand Stars Spark are the source of ’extraordinary’ of your planet.]
[Ten thousand years ago, during the Ninth Paradise Saint War, the stars fell. The Thousand-Star Dragon and the Thousand Stars Spark traversed space-time, landing upon Terra, marking the first ’Heavenfall’]
[The Creator, after sealing the Thousand Stars Spark and repairing the ecological damage it caused on Terra, determined that this remote part of the Milky Way sat within a stable space-time neutral zone, with stars considerably juvenile. This indicates the quantity of the ’Demon of the Abyss’ would be minimal, even nonexistent, thereby designating this zone of the galaxy, particularly the Terra Starfield, as the ’Cradle Region’]
[The spark of Thousand Stars is the cradle, and the ’origin’ of the endless stars’ spark gathered subsequently, while the unsealed Thousand Stars spark marks the ’failure’ and ’end’ of all things and the cradle.]
[As for you... young human. You are the Key used by humans to unlock the Teyvat Labyrinth of Terra, to release the source of all things, the lineage of Thousand Stars]
[You are the beginning of all things falling to darkness]
To be honest, Ian Gard did not understand.
It’s not that he’s foolish or lacks knowledge, but because he lacked too much information, he couldn’t grasp the critical points.
However, precisely because he isn’t stupid, Ian Gard quickly seized the key pieces of information in this sequence of words.
—The Thousand-Star Dragon is evidently related to the ’Dragon Blood of Light Erosion’ within him, it can even be said that the Eclipsing Light Refining Dragon itself is the result of the degradation of the Thousand-Star Dragon bloodline. As for why it devolved, it likely relates to the Calamity of Heavenly Fall, the Lost Epoch, and even earlier ancient civilization research.
—The Thousand Stars Spark, although unknown precisely what it is, judging by its nature it should be very crucial. Ian probably knows, he seems to have touched on these subjects in conversations with Sio.
—Being sent to the Exotic Species Research Institute was perhaps to acquire the second-generation True Dragon’s blood to activate this Thousand Stars blood without other forces noticing... but this isn’t the case necessarily, it might just be a coincidence. What truly matters is his internal ’Inscription Circuit,’ which should be some key to unseal the rather dangerous ’Thousand Stars spark,’ intentionally bred—artificially—a ’starter.’
And the maker of this starter, quite possibly his maternal great-grandfather... Heisun Inaga II.
Of course, there’s other critical information too... for instance, what is the ’Teyvat Labyrinth’? Does it refer to the large and small labyrinths on the Terra Continent, or the Terra Continent itself... or perhaps the entire Terra Planet?
"...I will cause the End of all things?"
Taking several deep breaths, at this moment, Ian Gard calmed down, he clenched his fist and said: "What does this truly signify? Is it the end of the world or humans’ extinction? From what I’ve heard, it gives no clear understanding of what it means. And I am the Key..."
"Does it mean, if I were to die, then all this chaos wouldn’t occur?"
[The End, refers to the disappearance of civilization on this planet]
The ancient Dragon remnant peacefully replied: [It could be the collapse of the planet, possibly the continent’s disintegration, possibly the evaporation of oceans, possibly radiation devastation... yet the end initiated by the Thousand Stars spark isn’t merely this type of event]