"But," Ian pursued, "why was it renamed the Lifeladder Tree?"
"I remember..." Frozen Fish recalled and slowly said, "It seems it’s because the power of that outer god coincidentally resembles a part of the previous epoch’s ’Sky Ladder Project’—the Calamity of Heavenly Fall destroyed the first to fourth layers of the ladder, causing frequent natural disasters. It was during that time that I was born."
"And since the Storm Stairway’s ability to manipulate the atmosphere could repair the ladder, the Sethariel people used it as a material source, continually spreading its power through the strength of the Imperial Capital, gradually normalizing the planet’s climate."
Ian nodded slightly. Besides the Planetary Shield, he was already aware that the Imperial Capital also served as a weather controller, but he remained very curious about the Sky Ladder.
The Sublimation Path originates from ’The Sky Father’s Creation Ladder.’ In the Avak laboratory, Duke of Solin had once fully described the ’Sky Ladder’ to Ian and Yatabert.
The movement, condensation, brilliance, and authority of all things. These are the first four layers, while the last three are the ’Iron Summit,’ ’Star High Court,’ and ’Distant Horizon,’ from which the Fifth Energy Level ’Master Throne’ derives its name.
And now, the identity of the Heavenly Father has been proven to be none other than a ’Star God.’ This Star God had sealed the Thousand-Star Beast causing chaos on Terra and then guided the primitive Terra People towards civilization, truly deserving the title of Heavenly Father.
What then was the Sky Ladder Project created by later Terra People?
Thinking about it led to questions, and Ian asked, which Frozen Fish answered—having high hopes for Ian, it naturally didn’t mind answering these questions: "The Sky Ladder Project... Hmm, it’s difficult to answer using the words of this epoch, so I’ll explain it using the previous epoch’s terminology."
"First Layer Heaven Ladder. Terra civilization described it as ’the movement of all things’... that is, the foundation of the so-called ecological cycle, a device controlling the river basins, ocean currents, and the flow of underground lava, even capable of controlling the movement of tectonic plates."
"Second Layer Heaven Ladder, the condensation of all things, celestial controller, planetary defense mechanism, functions quite similar to the current Imperial Capital of your Empire, or rather, the capital itself is a core node of the Second Layer Heaven Ladder, becoming its main structure after continuous renovations post-Heavenfall."
"Third Layer Heaven Ladder, the brilliance of all things, atmospheric controller, once used to adjust sunlight zones and cloud covers. It’s long since broken, but its functions have been replaced by Terra’s current atmospheric ecosystem. The Lifeladder Tree primarily repairs this layer. Its power catalyzed the birth of Terra’s atmospheric ecosystem, and many of the atmospheric creatures you’ve seen were species restored after being analyzed by the Sparks within the Lifeladder Tree."
"As for the Fourth Layer Heaven Ladder, the authority of all things, the planetary magnetic field control device, it’s still relatively intact, located at Terra’s poles—currently, one is controlled by Yanjiang, and the other is overseen by Far Sword Port and several nations."
At the first mention he remained calm, but by the second, Ian’s expression grew serious; by the third, his face changed slightly, and by the fourth, he could hardly maintain his composure.
He hurriedly spoke, incredulous, "Can these things be divulged? And the truth of the Sky Ladder is actually ?!"
"Huh?" Frozen Fish asked in confusion, "Why can’t it be said? This was common knowledge in my era, right?"
"Oh, I forgot you humans have been through over a thousand years since then, so that’s indeed about lost—after all, this information isn’t much use anymore."
"No wonder... The Heavenly Father accomplished the task by crossing four steps. Everything needed for action, souls, foundations, and origins is already in place." Ian nodded slightly. Even now, he was still a bit astonished and enlightened: "This truly deserves to be called a Sky Ladder." Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on novel~fire~net
"Only a civilization that can completely master its own planet can have a solid foundation to soar toward distant horizons... this is the foundation of an interstellar civilization!"
"Then what about the last three layers?"
He asked expectantly.
"Iron Summit," said the orca-shaped fae, pointing with its tail above, and although obstructed by the World Tree City, it was midday, but Ian understood clearly that the reference was indeed to the ’moon’ obscured by the sunlight: "It’s a planetary orbit shipyard and outer space threat countermeasure base."
"Star High Court," the tail turned to point towards the farther asteroid belt: "Solar System resource development center, not yet completed. At that time, our seniors and previous epoch civilization planned to construct an interstellar colony hub between the asteroid belt and Deus Star (Terra’s sixth planet). I believe you, Ian, can understand gas giant planets, and you should also know that there are plentiful nuclear fuels within them, right?"
"The previous epoch civilization planned to build an ultra-large colony circle centered around the fuel extraction point over there, and they had already launched many rockets and spacecraft in that direction, but I don’t know exactly how it was progressing; anyway, the foundations hadn’t been laid."
—I roughly guessed why I in the Extinction Star Path would go directly to plunder planetary resources... and why it was so fast to plunder!
At this moment, Ian thoroughly understood that he could obtain the truth of the Sky Ladder from the fae, along with the preparations for developing Terra’s other planets by the previous epoch civilization back then?
No wonder the Extinction Star Path developed so smoothly, thanks to the foundation laid by the previous epoch civilization, no actual waste involved!
"Distant Horizon," the fae’s tail turned again, unaware of Ian’s mental activities, pointing this time to the sun: "Hyperspace vortex testing ground... I genuinely don’t know what that is, as it was an extremely classified secret of the previous epoch civilization, I have absolutely no idea what it specifically represents, but it’s certainly powerful, just knowing the name tells you that."