Gou is a dark elf in Warhammer

"interesting."

After watching for a while, Dakota muttered something under his breath, his voice carrying a faint sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a feeling of mixed emotions, often including regret or nostalgia).

"Put it away."

As soon as he finished speaking, he sat down on the ground, supporting himself with one hand and his chin with his right, his eyes fixed intently on the ninth mural.

Seeing his deep contemplation, his companions exchanged glances, but ultimately none of them uttered a question. Although they had gleaned some clues about the ninth mural from comparing the map, they chose to respect his silence.

He simply sighed softly, his voice faint, as if he were bored, or perhaps lost in thought. He continued to gaze at the mural, trying to unearth the buried answers within it.

The ancient artifacts beneath the Temple of Asuyan and Middenheim are known as the "Heart of Creation." However, Darkus felt that this name was too limited and superficial, and he preferred a more macroscopic title—"Heart of Marus."

The "Marus" in question does not refer to the Marus Blackblade, but rather to the name of the planet itself.

Or rather, these eight devices, known as the Heart of Creation, will eventually converge into one, forming the true Heart of Marus.

Yes, eight.

There are eight creative hearts, like the power of the eight winds, like the support of eight pillars, like an eight-sided cube, all interlocked.

Prior to this, he already had two anchor points.

One is located in the Temple of Asuyan, and the other is in Middenheim.

With these two anchor points in place, and by combining them with the constellation structure on the mural for positioning, the locations of the other six points gradually came to light.

His earlier conjecture has now been confirmed, and the result... is not entirely correct: the Pyramid of Dawn, the Temple of Asuyan, and Middenheim are not on the same axis as he thought.

One of the points was indeed in the Isthmus of Lustria, in the area of ​​Hesiota. But he didn't believe the device was actually buried in Hesiota itself, but rather beneath the Pyramid of Dawn.

This is the only point in the entire New World, which happens to connect Nagalos and the continent of Lustria, becoming a key node connecting the north and south.

Ausuan, however, has two points. Moreover, these two points are very close to each other, almost perpendicularly distributed along a meridian.

He believes that one of these points is not Death Island—but rather the Valley of Eden further north.

There is no other reason.

He already possessed the Heart of Marus as an anchor point and understood that the eight Hearts of Creation each represented one of the eight winds.

He used the process of elimination and comparison.

After confirming that the point in Middenheim represented the Wind of Guel, not the Wind of Giron, the point north of the Temple of Asuyan naturally corresponded to the Wind of Giron.

That is, the life realm of the next era!
He was convinced that this judgment was without any problems, flaws, or logical loopholes.

The astral dragon, the zodiacal dragon—Draxion—discovered that faint glimmer of light amidst the desolation of the universe. Soon after, he captured Sigmar, who carried the remnants of the Old World, and placed the remains beneath the dome of Heaven.

That remnant of the old world is the Heart of Marus, the core of eight creative hearts.

Thus, the story of the next era slowly began.

Otherwise, apart from this point, the other points won't match.

Because one of the points was located in the distant southern country of Nehekhara, the kingdom of the Tomb King, but he judged that the exact location should be below the legendary black pyramid.

This is Nagash's lair and slumbering place. Nagash... may have already discovered some secrets, which is why he chose to build the black pyramid here.

There are only two winds associated with Nagash—the Wind of Shash and the Wind of Urku, and the other one is Deha.

It can't be the style of Ji Lun, can it?
Is it in this river?

Based on previous speculations and clues from the murals, Dakos concluded that the location of the black pyramid most likely represents the Shash wind.

The remaining Urku Wind should be located in the Dark Lands, with the Bone Plains being the most likely landing point.

It can't be Zal Nagrund, the stronghold of the Zal dwarves, can it? If it really is, it should be the Wind of the Pious.

Thinking of this, Darkus narrowed his eyes slightly, a meaningful smile curving his lips. The moment the map and the star chart overlapped, he vaguely sensed that some grand destiny was slowly unfolding.

But this is still just the beginning.

To the northeast of that point, there is another point.

Although nominally located in Northeast China, it spans an extremely long distance, almost traversing the entire Mourning Mountains, and pointing directly to the distant land of Aurora.

Weijing?

No.

Dakos shook his head slightly, thinking it was unlikely to be Wei Jing.

After recalling his memories and Ms. Genevieve's numerous vivid accounts, he concluded that Nangao in Aurora was the most likely candidate site.

Nangao was the heart of Aurora's weapons manufacturing, a land of iron and fire, a synonym for divine craftsmanship. It was a gathering place for artisans, where furnaces burned day and night, and the sounds of machinery were deafening.

Firearms from Aurora were called "Nangao Crane Guns," and various grenades, shields, and even armor were often prefixed with "Nangao." Manufacturing in Nangao was not only an honor, but also a guarantee of practicality and power.

The rocket launchers widely used in the Zhen Dan army were operated by Nan Gao soldiers.

He remembered that the blind master Shi Hong was one of the "Nine Venerables of Nangao," hailed as the greatest craftsman in the history of Aurora. Despite being blind and disabled, Shi Hong still collected and improved a large number of strange and unique weapons and explosives. He not only researched and designed them himself, but also distributed these powerful creations to the Nangao Legion, making them a nightmare on the battlefield.

He was also the father of the "Sky Boat," the famous war airship "Fengxu Yufeng," which he personally built. Beneath its elegant, poetic exterior lay countless experimental weapons and unique armaments. He often sailed this vessel from Nangao to the battlefield, where thousands of troops would flee in terror wherever it passed.

These details, these foreshadowings, all point to only one answer.

This spot likely represents the spirit of Qianmen, quietly standing beneath Nangao, dormant in the heart of the furnace of steel and fire.

If this point truly is Nangao, then the last point becomes clear—it's located southeast of Nangao, in the distant beyond. Using the process of elimination, this last point most likely corresponds to the Wind of Aigil.

By comparing the geographical structure, he made a judgment.

This point is very likely located in the Lost Islands of Iretis, on the left side of the Zhiyuan Sea.

The distant sea is the world's "Pacific Ocean," vast and unfathomable. It would not only be reasonable for the winds of Egil to reside here, but they would also perfectly align with it.

But this place is special not only because of the ocean.

He remembered that the Tower of the Rising Sun at the northern end of the archipelago was quite special. He had heard his uncle talk about this tower back on the continent of Lustria; it was a distant night when they sat around the dinner table, reminiscing about the past. His uncle, Dulias, told him that the Tower of the Rising Sun was built next to a ruined pyramid, whose ancient stones still radiated heat around it.

The reason his uncle mentioned this to him when they were on the continent of Lustria was because the ruined pyramid next to the Tower of the Rising Sun was no different from the pyramid of the lizardmen; their structure and shape were the same.

In retrospect, this was not a coincidence. Rather, it was an imprint, a signal, a legacy.

His thoughts gradually became clearer, and logic slowly coalesced into a coherent thread. Dakous took a deep breath, stood up, and walked towards the end of the stone wall.

The tenth mural?
No.

He paused for a moment, his brow furrowing slightly. Before him lay nothing but emptiness; the stone walls were smooth, devoid of both paintings and incantations.

There are only nine murals.

Returning to oneness?

“Let’s go,” Darkus said calmly.

if not?
Should we send troops now? Or do something else? Mobilize the entire elven fleet and lizardman army to set up defenses at every suspicious location?
He didn't think it was necessary.

From the beginning until now, these creative spirits have quietly existed in the depths of the world. They slumbered there, like the bones of the world, like the pulse of time, until the very end, when they were truly stirred.

On that day, Archaon broke the seal beneath Middenheim, detonating the Heart of Creation and tearing the world apart, leading it to its end.

Now, with his arrival, things have changed.

He discovered a blank stone tablet in the folded space of Aldorf.

The existence of this stone tablet is itself a measure, a backdoor, one of the ultimate mechanisms left behind by the Old Ones. Darkus once believed that as long as it was inserted into the core of the Old One's creation in the Middenheim Chamber, even without Archaon, the world could be forcibly 'formatted'—stepping on the gas pedal and directly entering the next era.

This was his previous understanding.

But now, he doesn't think so anymore.

As new information pieced together and the mysteries in the murals were gradually revealed, he realized that the stone slab was "wordless" not because it lacked content, but because it required a series of preconditions to be unlocked before it could be activated. Every pattern, every gust of wind, every path was a "fingerprint" and a "key" to activate it.

And this, perhaps, is the true essence of the ancient sage design system.

This is not a button, nor a trigger, but a convoluted and lengthy flowchart. You can't format it without completing the entire process.

Moreover, this stone slab is now extremely safe.

It's as safe as it gets.

It was placed in the palanquin beneath Master Ma, or to put it bluntly, under Master Ma's large buttocks. Aside from Dakos himself, only the lizard priests serving Master Ma could get close to him; others…

What is Master Ma? He is Master K's disciple, the inheritor and guardian of the Ancient Saints' Plan, and the temple guards around him are not mere decorative sculptures.

Is there any safer place in the whole world?

might have.

For example... the subordinates of the two resurrected first Srand priests.

Are the four chaotic gods, who are about to overturn the table, going to force a format in another way?
"That probability exists," Dakous admitted.

To put it abstractly, the four Chaos Gods are currently playing a game that has entered garbage time, or rather, a completely unsolvable game. They don't want to drag it out any longer and are starting to consider switching menus, changing rooms, and starting a new game. However... the probability of this is not high.

Even more eager than the Four Chaos Gods to start a new game was the Great Horned Rat. Unfortunately, no matter how much the Great Horned Rat wanted to, in this era, He was destined to be a clown, willing but powerless. His existence was like a rat waiting for an opportunity in a dark corner, only able to climb onto the stage by relying on the mistakes of others.

Starting a new game isn't as simple as just snapping your fingers and saying "I've figured it out," nor is it as easy as pressing ALT+F4.

If everything can be solved by violence, then why did the ancient sages design such a complex and sophisticated system?

We must figure out what the true function and positioning of the Creation Heart really are.

It slowly absorbs magical winds, but also releases excessive magical winds, operating like some kind of cooling device, as can be seen from the reactions of the Temple of Asuyan and Middenheim.

It does resemble a guiding stone, but it is not a guiding stone, and it does not belong to the main system of the Great Vortex and guiding stones. It is more like an auxiliary module, a dedicated device serving the next era, a womb before the world begins to move, the mother.

How did Archane use the Heart of Creation to detonate the entire world?
Dakos reviewed the timeline again.

The continent of Lustria sank; Malekith emerged from the sacred fire, and the Isle of Flame sank immediately, causing the two primordial hearts of Ulthuan to become unbalanced; Sauron gradually fell; the Fire Thief, the 'Fire Thief,' stole the White Wolf's sacred fire and shut down the Old Ones' devices in Middenheim.

The entire ecosystem began to collapse, and finally, the vortex could no longer withstand the multiple pressures.

This is no coincidence.

This is a typical 'unlocking process'.

The Heart of Creation is like a bomb hidden deep within a system. It must be destabilized through a series of steps before its true destructive process can be activated. Before reaching the critical tipping point, even if it is attacked, it can only cause localized incidents, such as the sinking of Flame Island, which is a small-scale tremor and far from a global catastrophe.

If only one of the Creation Hearts is destroyed, it can be repaired by repaving the guiding stones and adjusting the energy flow. In other words, even after suffering a devastating attack, the Order still has the ability to compensate for mistakes and repair itself.

As for the eight realms of the next era...

However, once multiple Creation Hearts and the Great Vortex Guidestone system become unbalanced, the entire system collapses, and there is no turning back.

Of course, these are all just speculations.

A bold, almost terrifying conjecture.

He knew that all of this required more evidence, more verification, and more opportunities to access ancient artifacts to verify each inference.

But at least now, he has a direction.

He currently has no plans to send troops, even though he has a direction and has mastered some key technologies and coordinates. The reason is simple: his primary task is to rule over Ulthuan and establish a foothold, not to expand his battle lines. He does not have sufficient troops, nor the resources to launch a large-scale world-class expedition.

Moreover, the security of these Creation Hearts is already extremely high, so there is no need to be reckless.

They are either guarded by lizardmen, elves, and humans; or they are personally overseen by powerful beings—dragons.

Dragon, yes, dragon.

If the Heart of Creation in the Darklands is indeed located in the Bone Plains, then it is perfectly safe. Because residing there is the Nightmare Dragon known as the "Fearmaker"—Omdra, a being even the combined forces of Tamur Khan and the Zhar Dwarves could not subdue.

The existence of Omdra further confirms that the Heart of Creation lies beneath the Plains of Bones.

Soon, led by Dakous, the group arrived at the destination of their exploration—the area where the stone tablet was located.

It's very empty here, there are no murals, no installations, nothing at all.

Only two sets of stone slabs lay there quietly, as if they had been waiting for thousands of years to be discovered by them at this moment.

"The Arcane Orb." Darkus made his judgment after just one glance.

"Quash version".

After he finished speaking, he laughed, a smile playing on his lips, a smile that was both teasing and complex.

Upon hearing this, the three spellcasters looked astonished.

“Unlike the previous Arcane Orb, the Quish version of the Arcane Orb requires the Eight Winds, not Deha,” Darkus added, his tone carrying a deeper meaning and seriousness.

The three spellcasters almost instinctively gasped in unison, exchanging glances filled with awe and shock.

After saying that, Dakota stepped aside and slightly raised his hand, indicating that they could study it on their own.

The three of them couldn't wait any longer and surrounded her eagerly.

As Darkus said, the contents of the tablet are indeed related to the Quesch version of the Arcane Sphere, but the focus is not on how to make it. Rather, it is similar to the tablet he found in Aldolf's folded space, which describes how to construct a "black box" to mass-produce the Arcane Sphere.

However, unlike Aldorf, there is no actual black box here, only stone slabs.

But this is not important.

Because the lizardmen have mastered the manufacturing process of the black box.

This means that as long as the contents of the stone tablet are decipherable, they can create it.

The contents of the second set of stone tablets are much more obscure.

It took Dakota a considerable amount of time to process the information, but he eventually came to the conclusion that the slabs described how to make guide stones.

To be precise, it explains the construction techniques of the complex patterns inside the guide stones.

This guide stone is not the super-large and specially structured main anchor type guide stone he is currently in, but a conventional type of guide stone, which is widely distributed in the Ausuan region and is used as a node guide stone for conduction, stabilization and monitoring.

However, this "routine" is actually not routine at all.

Just like artillery.

The Urban cannon, which blasted Constantine XI away and has yet to return in a lightning-fast manner, and the Gustav railway gun from World War II—both are called cannons.

The muzzle-loading cannons of the era of firing squads and the modern 152mm howitzers—also called cannons.

But is that the same thing?

The content on this stone slab is about the process of mass-producing 152mm howitzers.

As he continued reading, he gradually pieced together the entire process in his mind.

If this guiding stone is likened to a 152mm howitzer, then the shell is like the Quesh version of the Arcane Orb, and the cannon body is a single large piece of high-purity crystal.

In summary, you first need to prepare an exceptionally large crystal, the purer and more complete the better, and its size must match the standard module of the guide stone. Next, use the method on the stone slab to precisely cut the crystal and carve dense magical patterns inside it.

Subsequently, the center of the crystal was hollowed out to create an inner cavity, specifically for embedding the Quix version of the Arcane Sphere.

Once successfully installed and the external texture and internal wires form a closed-loop resonant circuit, the entire crystal is placed on the node and activated through magical infusion.

The guide stone is now complete.

An unprecedented, structurally complete, and replaceable and upgradable guiding stone!
A guiding stone whose core can be replaced at any time!

The overall process is to first create it, and then transport it to the node for activation.

Manufacturing – Transportation – Placement – ​​Activation: This order cannot be disordered, and no step can be omitted.

As for the old guiding stones? Except for those from Ulthuan, the ones from other continents can be thrown away and rendered completely unusable.

If the previous guiding stone happened to be of this version, then that's a different story. It can be dismantled, transported back to the place of manufacture, and its structure evaluated by the spellcasters. Then, the arcane orb can be relocated as a reserve or continue to serve in other new nodes that have not yet been laid.

In this way, the system was established: standardized manufacturing, modular installation, regional deployment, and unified command operation.

Now, we have the manufacturing technology and the shells.

As for the cannon barrel... it will be ready soon.

After understanding everything, Darkus sighed softly and put down the stone slab.

This is not the answer.

This is the key to unlocking the problem.

The problem-solving process has only just begun.

It is also the settlement of King's Landing in Ulthuan, of course, one of them.

He didn't continue to imagine what a magnificent sight it would be when the whole world was covered with these guiding stones, nor did he conceive of how that exciting network would cover the earth's surface like a star map, nor did he fantasize about how this system would change the future energy structure, or even try to predict how much of a change in the overall landscape this transformation would bring.

He felt that he was a little tired.

From the moment I arrived on Death Island until now, my brain has been constantly working, never stopping.

He was a little hungry, and his stomach was starting to rumble.

He shook his head, temporarily setting aside his somewhat heavy thoughts. Then he stepped aside and beckoned to Rein and Springtwin to come over.

The three sat in a circle.

He gently put down his backpack, skillfully untied the knots, and took out the food and drinks inside.

The familiar fragrance immediately spread, not strong, but warm, like a long-lost comfort.

He ate while secretly making plans.

Eat something, clear some space in your backpack so you can put the stone slab in when you leave.

Who told him he didn't have a magical item like a spatial ring? (End of Chapter)