Chapter 1648: On the Way to the Ruins
After saying goodnight, the mage waved her wand and flew out into the air outside the tower. She walked on air towards her lab atop the tower.
Once Rheia left, Nangong Sanba uttered, “Hah, I did not expect Ms. Rheia to be an atheist.”
“Strictly speaking, she’s a blasphemer,” Vivian said. “Atheists do not believe in the existence of God, while Rheia does not care if God exists. This is normal among mages who are religiously indifferent. They study the laws of nature and seek the truth of the universe. Naturally, they are not willing to ascribe everything to a god, as that would not be in line with the thinking of researchers.”
“That’s dramatic,” Hao Ren said as he looked up at the sky. The planet fragments had now left the highest point of the night sky and were slowly moving to the west, disappearing into the sea of stars. “The location where the kingdom of god has plunged into and the place where the goddess of creation has the most influence have now bred a scholar like Rheia. No wonder Raven 12345 once lamented that the gods are like landlords; when there’s no water leakage for even just a couple of months, the tenants would forget the existence of their landlords.”
Nangong Wuyue’s mouth twitched. She said nothing about the metaphor that the goddess used. She and Hao Ren looked up at the celestial ruins and asked, “Mr. Landlord, do you think those are really ruins of the Star of Creation?”
“I am just guessing,” said Hao Ren. “After all, we have no idea how many celestial bodies were dragged into the Umbral Realm when the Star of Creation exploded, nor do we know if the other celestial bodies that were dragged in together with the Star of Creation have shattered. So, those fragments could be of the Star of Creation, or they could be of something else. The biggest problem now is that Nolan cannot leave the atmosphere or send out probes. What we can observe through the optical instrument are limited.”
Nolan, who had been quiet since the beginning, was on the communication channel again. “Boss, I have just observed using the optical instrument and found artificial objects on the side of the planet fragments facing L’Haronne. They seemed to be some kind of pedestals, which have been severely damaged. I have also found some building debris that look like part of the goddess of creation’s temple in the space between the planetary chunks.”
Hao Ren was silent for a moment before he said, “Well, this has further confirmed my suspicion. We can first assume that the broken divine realm floating above L’Haronne is the ruins of the Star of Creation.”
Nangong Wuyue waved the tip of her tail and said, “Is the surface of the Star of Creation not covered with the red sea? Has it evaporated?”
Y’zaks nodded. “It is hard to tell. The massive energy released in the explosion has torn the entire planet apart, it is highly probable that the sea has evaporated. But then, the Sea of Origin was not a real liquid sea nor of standard lifeblood. Who knows what it consisted of?”
Hao Ren thought for a moment and then began to assign tasks. “Nolan, please keep launching probes into space and collect the physical parameters of L’Haronne. Find out why you cannot get out of the atmosphere. Keep tracking the planet fragments’ trajectory relative to L’Haronne to get a rough model of the celestial movement. The other people proceed with the original plan to follow Rheia to the Great Pit and see if we can find the historical reasons why this world has evolved into what it is today.”
The night passed without event.
When it was time to set off, it was already noon the next day.
Everyone had a non-sumptuous but delicious lunch in Rheia’s wizard tower before gathering in the open space in front of the tower. Rheia took a delicate brass carriage model from the pocket of her faded old robes. She threw the model on the ground as she cast a spell. The model that was only the size of the palm squeaked instantly transformed into a real size carriage.
In front of the carriage was a copper horse assembled with gears, remontoirs, springs, and levers.
“Awesome, isn’t it?” Seeing the surprised look on the faces, Rheia said proudly. “I made it myself by restoring it from the ancient literature found in some ruins. Hey, those idiots who laugh at my research works have no idea how much valuable knowledge is waiting for them in the ruins.”
No, no, no, Ms. Mage. Those guys were just laughing at the risk you took and your asking price.
Hao Ren suppressed his urge to retort and watched as Rheia skillfully inspected the gears and remontoirs of the alchemy copper horse and embedded a new mana crystal on the back of the copper horse. After a few minutes of fiddling with it, the copper horse neighed as the connecting rods and bearings in its belly sprang into action.
“Let’s roll!” Rheia climbed onto the carriage and reached out his hand to invite Y’lisabet to come onboard. “It can still fit one more person. Kid, come with me!”
Y’lisabet was pissed. “You are a kid! You are a kid all your life!”
“Well, up to you. But you guys do not have to worry that you all have to walk all the way to the destination. We will first go to the carriage shop in the west. There, I will rent each of you a horse. The place we are going is far.”
The mage was in a good mood. It was as if she wanted to show off that she had a team of people behind her, she showily drove the carriage to the mercenary union and sprinted in a circle in front of the entrance while blaring the whistle of the carriage. Hao Ren was quite skeptical if this lady could make out 10 meters before getting trampled by people.
After a while of clowning around, Rheia only got down to business and got Hao Ren and the rest horses. She had also gone into the store to get a supply of common casting materials and food for the journey. At last, Rheia and her carriage team left before the eyes of the cheerful crowd.
The mercenaries at the union waving goodbye to Rheia all had an undisguised you-better-die-and-don’t-ever-come-back look on their faces.
It was unbelievable how Rheia could become the most hated person in town.
The walls of White Marble Leaf Town gradually disappeared behind them. The group had turned off the main avenue shortly after leaving the town and began to follow Rheia to set foot on the trails where travelers rarely took. The route seemed to be running in parallel to Longwind Peak.
The alchemy carriage of Rheia showed its incredible capability here. It might look cumbersome, but it ran smoothly on the rugged terrain. The copper horse driven by gears and remontoirs worked even better than a real horse.
“This is an indispensable tool for me to travel the world.” Rheia dropped the overhead canvas so that it was more convenient to talk to Hao Ren who was riding next to her. The mage smugly patted the baffle of the carriage. “I have ridden this thing to Longwind Peak, the hinterland of the great plains, and even across the tunnel to the Hekluwel tribal kingdom on the other side of Longwind Peak. Ahh, only when you go out there will you realize how big the world is. What we read in the books is just a drop in the ocean. Those stubborn fellows who lock themselves in the magic tower all day long will never know.”
While speaking, Rheia glanced at Hao Ren with a smile. “Of course, adventurers like you all have more say than I in this respect.”
Looking at the innocent smile on the face of the magician lady, Hao Ren could not help but think of her arguing with a bunch of people in front of the mercenary union.
Rheia was a changed person.
It seemed that other than when the magician lady was cheesed off, she was approachable.
The ruins that Rheia was looking for was for sure not located anywhere near to places with people. It was even farther away from White Maple Left than Rheia had described.
The group had traveled in the wild for two days.
At noon on the third day, they finally arrived at the entrance to a forest.
It was a dense jungle next to the Windy Mountains, where the mountains took a turn to form a bow-shaped safe haven and the towering old trees thriving. Many trees were as old as 100 years old, and their crowns blocked the sunlight, making the forest always as dim as during the dusk even though it was noon right now.
Soon, they came to a place where even the horses found it hard to pass through. The vines and rotten leaves were blocking the way. So, instead of riding on horseback and getting stuck, it was better to get down and travel on foot.
After all, those who had come here were no ordinary people.
Nangong Sanba used the Letta runes to set up an enchantment to prevent the horses from running way or other beasts from coming in preying their rides. Meanwhile, Rheia had transformed her carriage back into the size of the palm and tucked it in her pocket. Before leading everyone to continue to move deeper into the jungle, Rheia said, “Moving forward, there will be dangers laying around. As the ruins are not completely underground, there is likely that some magical energy might have escaped from the exposed part. So, the creatures in the forest could be aggressive.”
Lily mumbled, “The same old setting.”
“What?” Rheia did not hear clearly what Lily said.
“Ahh, I am saying we are an experienced bunch.”
Hao Ren said nothing as he concentrated in looking out for any movement in the forest.
It was not known whether it was his illusion, Hao Ren began to feel something amiss. But he could not tell what it was.
It was as if he was suddenly disoriented albeit slightly and wondering why he was here and having an inexplicable feeling about what happened in the surroundings. It seemed that some energy was blocking his mind and stifling his thinking.
But this instead had made him even more alert.
