“It was indeed footsteps we heard, but of course, they might’ve belonged to a puppet.” Yuan Shuo couldn’t determine if the source had been living or not. “In any case, we only heard the footsteps and didn’t see their source. But we were ambushed—an existence in the darkness attacked us! It was very strong, I only saw a flash of light before the Sunflare died!
“I quickly ran away and couldn’t divert enough attention to the dangers we’d encountered before. A sharp blade drove itself through my heart. Thankfully, I am a martial master and my internal force can contain itself. I hastily sealed off the hole and was lucky to make it out alive.”
The professor sighed. “I don’t actually want to come back to this blasted place, but I must. The Night Watchers have sent in people over the years, but very few survive and most don’t discover anything. Therefore, they wish for me to help them explore again.”
“So teacher, does this mean you didn’t actually see anything?” Li Hao frowned.
“I saw some things,” Yuan Shuo chuckled. “I saw many things at first. There was even some light for us to see the entire city by! The darkness didn’t appear until later, like someone had turned off the lights. From what the Night Watchers report back, later expeditions were met with nothing but pitch black!
“All of us must be careful. Very, extremely careful.” Yuan Shuo hesitated before saying, “I’ll tell you a secret that you’re not allowed to share with others!”
The group quickly nodded.
“Keep one thing in mind after you head instead, try not to leave the ground!”
Leave the ground? What did that mean?
“Do you mean we should stand in place?” Wang Ming quickly asked.
“Not that,” Yuan Shuo said softly. “I mean try not to take to the air if possible. Don’t fly. I suspect there’s an anti-flight restriction in the ancient city. A lot of people died that day, and the conclusion I eventually reached was that it might have had something to do with the fact that they all flew or jumped. This isn’t to say that you cannot leave the ground at all, but that there are certain limitations in place. Also, take note if there’s the sound of footsteps around you.”
A city that may have prohibitions over its airspace. Any violation of the rules resulted in death, and it was still in operation despite eons of burial. What terrifying technology!
Modern day cities could not do this by far. If there was an anti-flight restriction, it had to be enforced manually. Visual confirmation had to take place. Any that were overlooked would be permitted to carry on.
“Don’t tell anyone about any of this!” Yuan Shuo said meaningfully. “The Night Watchers have gained some of this intelligence, but a lot of the other organizations are exploring the city for the first time! The more the city takes out, the better!”
Everyone nodded again. Such was the benefit of experience. Yuan Shuo had come back with certain gains after surviving his encounter.
“There are many more dangers apart from this,” Yuan Shuo continued. “Threats might appear around any corner. Remember another thing—don’t touch anything. Don’t even touch the ancient weapons and treasures that you see. Danger might come for you if you disturb them.”
“We can’t touch them?” Wang Ming asked with disappointment. “Then what are we exploring for? If any treasures we find have to remain untouched, aren’t we just on a field trip to our deaths?”
What was the point in that?
“Their main target is inside the city! They believe that the key to controlling the city is at its core. It might be the origin weapon that envelops the entire metropolis! Whoever claims the origin weapon will reap all the profits. Therefore, everyone’s primary goal should be the origin weapon!”
An origin weapon that could shroud an entire city and still operate after countless years of suppression beneath the earth—how strong would it be?
Some supernatural organizations lacked a solid base. If they claimed the ultimate prize and could subsequently withstand the Night Watchers’ annihilation level weapons, they would be able to swiftly forge a massive city and migrate some citizens over. That would create a sound bulwark to their rear and truly make their name!
Supernatural organizations were mysterious affairs even to this day. It was one of the reasons why they didn’t dare reveal their headquarters. Solars and Sunflares might be able to escape being locked onto by hot weapons, but the weaker members couldn’t. Once their weaker members were dead, the organization was dead. Without a future and just a few powerhouses, what kind of organization was this?
“Then this means everyone’s going to be gunning for the origin weapon inside the city,” Li Hao thought for a bit. “I understand this motivation coming from the mid-sized organizations, but the small ones? Do Sunflares want to lay hands on it too?”
“That’s not it.” Yuan Shuo shook his head. “Their primary goal is the treasures inside the city. They want a piece of the pie after the larger organizations claim the origin weapon. They don’t know that they can’t touch the other treasures, so they’re all here for a share of the profits. Not only that, but why shouldn’t they fight for a chance to possibly claim the origin weapon?
“If they get it, they can throw everything else away,” Yuan Shuo chuckled. “Who cares about the organizations or their homeland then? Take the origin weapon elsewhere and hide for a period of time. They can show themselves when they’ve grown into their strength. Who will dare provoke them then? Therefore, some are here with that kind of mentality.”
Li Hao was well aware of the benefits of the origin weapon. Take Stellaris, for example. No matter how it was as a treasure, the energy it contained was incredible. Li Hao’s fast rate of improvement and Yuan Shuo setting foot into Summoner of Spirit all had to do with the little sword.
An origin weapon that could protect an entire city was also plainly incredible beyond words. It could withstand endless eons of dirt and rock, holding up against pressure exerted by hundreds of millions of tons of matter. What if that power was used to protect one person? Would it mean that no one in the world could smash such defenses?
Invincible defensive power!
Li Hao thought back to what his teacher said to him last night, that this ancient city might have something to do with the eight families. The professor seemed to recall seeing a turtle on the gates to the city.
There was a line in the folk song of a big turtle kept by the Wangs. Although that made for a forced connection between the eight families and the ancient city, if the eight families had been mighty in the ancient civilization, the ruins were only one thousand kilometers away from Silver City. Would this ancient city have nothing to do with a nearby satellite city?
It was one thousand kilometers now, what if the two cities had been very close in ancient times? If all powerhouses were as fast as the swordsman that Li Hao had seen, what did a thousand kilometers matter?
Modern day flight supernaturals could cross this distance in roughly three hours. Powerhouses of that era might instantly bridge the distance! One thousand meters was no separation at all.
Thus, when his teacher mentioned that the city might have something to do with the eight families and that the origin weapon might be the turtle of the Wangs, Li Hao started pondering what he might be able to do this time.
Stone door, ancient city...
Did the stone door have something to do with this ancient city? His teacher guessed that there were eight stone doors total and that the indentation at the one they’d visited could be filled by either a turtle shell or mallet. It was a round shape, in any case. Could the turtle shell here be the key to opening that stone door?
The car left Silver City as the group conversed. Li Hao had rarely left the city since birth. He’d visited the neighboring city once when his parents still lived, then stayed in Silver City after growing up. He might be least knowledgeable about this world out of everyone in the car.
They continued driving down the road when the car exited Silver City. It was a very spacious road that made for easy driving.
“You look like you’ve never seen this before,” Wang Ming laughed heartily as he knew Li Hao didn’t know anything. “This is a road that Skystar Dynasty built two years ago. The government wished for roads to cross all ninety-nine provinces to better administer their territory, but things have been a mess since the rise of the supernatural.
“Some places are inaccessible as the roads weren’t maintained. Some were repaired, but there’s been a lack of chances, labor, and resources to maintain the rest after all these years. Therefore, many roads are impassable throughout the land.
“Some people even purposefully destroy the roads so they can break free of the dynasty’s control,” Wang Ming sighed. “There are nearly ten billion people scattered over ninety-nine provinces! One province is a kingdom unto itself. The overseers of some places have long wished to be independent.
“Silver Moon is part of the borderlands and it’s rare that we are so quiet.”
The ninety-nine provinces were so vast that they covered more than half of the world. But that didn’t mean this territory ran without end. To the north of Silver Moon and past a few mountain ranges was another nation. However, Skystar citizens rarely paid attention to it.
There was once war between the two sides, possibly one hundred years ago. Silver City had been the heart of Silver Moon then. It was a city of war that could wage battles against their neighboring nation. But after one hundred years, the two countries were nearly completely isolated from each other.
Silver City was no longer a strategic locale and Skystar Dynasty had almost forgotten there was another nation on the other side of the mountain. The importance of the border greatly decreased.
Without enemies, the borders represented nothing but distance. Who cared about a piddling little nation who hadn’t dared attack for one hundred years? Apparently, their territory wasn’t even as big as Silver Moon.
Even Li Hao had only read about the other side in books. His father and grandfather’s generation had had no dealings with them. There was no war. He vaguely recalled that the other side was called Great Li.
As for why it was called thus, what its governing system was, what its population numbered, had the supernatural appeared among them... no one knew. No one cared!
There’d been no war for a hundred years and there were several massive mountain ranges in between. They were nearly two different worlds. The Skystar Dynasty could barely keep ahold of its ninety-nine provinces, so who had time to spare for the other side?
A province on the fringes like Silver Moon was very unimportant these years. If it wasn’t for some of her powerhouses still being active in the scene, the people might’ve forgotten that the dynasty had such a province.