Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 712: Dark Glory Past [8k words]

As Xin Lailai's eyes fell, lines of text that were very different from the languages ​​used by the three major forces of the Dark Glow Continent came into his sight. Fortunately, with the LV.20 Dark Glow Continent language proficiency provided by the Void Tree, the text in front of him was still within the scope of recognition:

……

"Ak Greco"

"The 294th year of Gao Tianji ~ The 176th year of Cang Yaoji"

"The first Cang King of the Cangling Empire, born in the Blue Wind Kingdom, the greatest high-sky sorcerer in history, reached the realm of Qixing sorcerers at the age of 12, became the youngest Yaoling sorcerer in the history of the Farnoget Academy at the age of 15, created his own legendary spell at the age of 19, and led 27 Yaoling sorcerers in the Five Kingdoms Rebellion at the age of 245..."

……

Cang Ling Empire...

Is this the name of a civilization that existed thousands of years ago?

Xin Lailai looked at the words engraved on the base of the statue at the entrance of the hall. His eyes moved slightly, and after a quick glance, he shifted his gaze to look at the statues deeper inside. As his sight moved and the lines of text passed by, the history of this world began to be pieced together in his mind bit by bit.

According to the descriptions on these stone carvings, the Dark Glow Continent... or the Dark Glow Star was actually a powerful world where technology, magic, techniques, and behemoths coexisted. It was unified about three thousand years ago, ushering in a glorious era led by a powerful civilization called the Cang Ling Empire.

Under the leadership of generation after generation of Blue Kings, the Dark Star has not only achieved a leap in world rank, but has even developed teleportation technology capable of crossing the world and fortress technology that can traverse the interstellar environment. It can be said that it is only one step away from breaking through the sky and entering an interstellar civilization.

But fate is often so cruel.

Two thousand years ago, when the entire Cang Ling Empire was only one step away from breaking through the sky, and even the entire empire was ready to cross the border to conquer a nearby fourth-level world, the abyss descended.

There were no signs, no explanation.

Endless darkness suddenly erupted from the sky and the earth of the Cang Ling Empire. Hundreds of millions of people of the Cang Ling Empire were instantly turned into dry bones under the impact of the abyss energy. There was a 90% chance that those who survived would be transformed into twisted abyss creatures under the erosion of the high-concentration abyss environment.

In desperation, the last king of the entire Cang Ling Empire made a decision.

Take the initiative.

In order to give the whole world a chance to breathe from the abyss, the King of Cang at that time used the space teleportation arrays originally prepared to conquer other worlds to exile the entire royal city of the Cang Ling Empire to the mezzanine space. He took the remaining elite troops of the Cang Ling Empire and used the space of the entire royal city as a carrier to set up a huge seal that could suppress the hole in the abyss, so as to curb the spread of the power of the abyss in this world.

Not only that, in order to make the world return to normal as much as possible, the King of Cang also made a decision. That is to use the core of the world and himself with the blood of destiny flowing as the carrier, and take the initiative to lead a group of most capable subordinates to kill into the hole of the abyss. While further sealing the power of the hole of the abyss from the inside, he actively absorbed the abyss energy that eroded to the outside world, and suppressed all the abyss power of the entire world in the core of the world.

As for more... Since these statues simply record the life stories of generations of kings of the Cang Ling Empire, Xin Lailai couldn't piece together too much. The only thing that could be confirmed was that the so-called sleeping place was actually the former site of the royal city of the Cang Ling Empire, and the three major forces on the ground were most likely the new civilization re-established by the descendants of those who survived the cleansing of the abyss.

"Tsk...why do I always feel like there's still a little bit of information?"

Randy looked at the statues in the hall. No wonder he said that. Among the dozens of statues in this hall, the only one related to the erosion of the abyss was the one of the last king of the Cang Ling Empire. Although the text engraved on it was equal to the number of several statues, the information recorded in this kind of epitaph-like text was still very limited no matter how many there were.

"There's nothing we can do. It's been too long and many things have been destroyed."

Xin Lailai spoke, glancing at the scene in the hall, a hint of regret also showing in his eyes.

Judging from the fact that the ancestors of the Gusa Federation were able to pick up the spirit of the ancestral beast and the training methods of the Brilliant Blood Warriors from the sleeping place, the environment here was probably not like this a thousand years ago. If they could get here at that time, not to mention finding a survivor, at least they could find a lot of literature that has not been corroded by time and pyroxene energy...

Huh? Wait, this isn't some anomalous world disconnected from Paradise, why do they have to search for existing data?

Suddenly, Xin Lailai seemed to remember something and looked fiercely at his branding function interface. Looking at the "World Information Extraction" function he had newly loaded, a new idea suddenly popped up in his mind.

Normally speaking, without a local database installed in the brand like Yamu, his world information extraction function can only extract some extremely superficial information from the origin of the world, and it is very likely that it is not as detailed as the world introduction provided by the Void Tree.

But the problem is that they are now in the hidden area of ​​the Land of Slumber, and are only one seal + one abyss hole away from the core of the world. It can be said that they are only a piece of paper away from the information related to the Cang Ling Empire. In this case, as long as the database problem can be solved, there is a great probability that he can use the world information extraction function to extract a new world introduction or similar intelligence!
As for how to solve the database problem...

[Prompt: It is detected that the pioneer is connecting to the academic sect brand database, and the authority is being checked...]

[Detection completed, authority determination passed. Since the Pioneer is currently in the third-order native world layer, this connection requires payment of Paradise Points*300000]

It sure works!

"Tsk, I've been to so many abnormal worlds that have lost connection with Paradise that I almost forgot that I can ask Paradise for help directly in the normal world."

Xin Lailai looked at the test results that popped up in front of him and couldn't help but complain in his mind. He realized that he was simply possessed by the abnormal world this time and almost forgot that the exploration process in the normal world didn't need to be so complicated.

In other words, for more than 99.9% of the people in the Paradise Camp, there is no such problem as having no place to obtain world information.

You have to know that even the most cruel reincarnation paradise for the contractors will at least provide a piece of information corresponding to the mission goal. At the very least, there will be a noun prompt, and as long as a specific event is encountered, the corresponding information prompt or task reminder will be triggered. It is not like the pioneer mission, where there is nothing but the mission name throughout the whole process, and many times you even have to find a way to leave the world by yourself, and you simply forget that the world information should be provided by the paradise.

Of course, Xin Lailai also knew that, in a sense, this was also a training of the pioneers' abilities, or in other words, since the derivative world, their paradise had actually been training the contractors to be self-reliant.

The most classic is the identity hiding effect in the derivative world. In other paradises, let alone using skills that are inconsistent with the division of the derivative world in front of a group of natives, even if you are playing with technology and making nuclear bombs in a pure magic world, no character in the derivative world will suspect your system problem.

But when you get to their paradise, if you dare to use magic recklessly in the high-tech world, the outcome will most likely be that the magic was cast in the morning and the wanted order was issued at noon. If you are not strong enough, there is a high probability that you will end up lying on the dissection table in the afternoon.

[Tip: The application was approved, the academic sect database was successfully linked, and the current usage fee is: 300000 Paradise Points/time]

very good!

"Brother Randy, Brother White Devil, I suddenly found a new way to obtain intelligence. We may need to find a place closer to the hole in the abyss."

"Oh my god? Is this true? Do you have such means?"

"It just occurred to me suddenly."

Xin Lailai said with a smile, looked at the two, nodded, and then flashed to the outside of the hall. Then he looked at the huge dark brown storm in the distance. With a thought, he flapped the dark scales and air feathers behind him with all his strength, and rushed into the huge city quickly amid a series of sonic booms. Finally...

[Hint: Extraction completed. 3027 pieces of relevant information have been extracted this time. They are being screened according to the pioneer search direction. The current screening terms are: Sleeping Land, Hole in the Abyss, Suppression, Seal...]

[Screening completed, Paradise Points*300000 deducted, Unrecorded Information Obtained: Recorder's Diary*1]

A large number of prompt messages rolled past Xin Lailai's sight, and finally, accompanied by a cold prompt sound, rows of neatly arranged and translated texts quickly appeared in front of him:

……

[Viewed but not recorded information: Recorder's diary]

"Cang Yao Ji, 1035, White Wind Season, 24th day"

"This is the first day that the Blue King has led us to leave our homeland. The dark disaster tide has engulfed the entire earth, and the barrier of the world is melting. We have no choice but to choose to continue in this almost self-exile."

"I stood on the city wall and heard the weeping of the people of the empire. I can understand why they are crying. No one wants to see the great empire fall, and no one wants to abandon their hometown and escape into a distant alien space."

"I smelled the decaying breath of the beasts of disaster. It was the black blood dripping from the old guard captain's spear. He, the administrator, and the warden stood on the high wall, seemingly looking at something. The behemoths trained by the warden were crawling there, mourning with them."

"I saw the figure of Lord Cang. This was the first time I saw him with such a silent expression. In my impression, he, who is known as the greatest and most benevolent Cang King in history, should always have a gentle smile that makes people feel at ease and reliable. But at this moment, I saw a strong sense of fatigue and unwillingness in him, as well as a sadness that made me want to speak but didn't know how to speak."

"Perhaps, he is the one who should cry the most."

……

"The Dark Ages, Year 0, Day 1"

"This is the seventh day that we have been hiding in the depths of the world with Wang Cheng. Lord Cang King summoned us and hoped that we would carefully record what happened. He also said that this might become the last trace of the existence of the Cang Ling Empire."

"I discussed it with Shul and the others, and we think that this day should be named the Dark Ages, and we only need to record the number of days, without worrying about seasons. After all, who knows if people in the future will still have the concept of seasons? Haha, maybe they won't even be able to understand our writing."

"Tucker said he plans to build a statue for Lord Cang and record his deeds while he's still alive. Although I think that kind of thing can't record too much history and is too subjective, I think if we can never leave here, maybe those stones that are more durable than paper and spells can become the only proof of our existence, right?"

"The atmosphere in the royal city is becoming increasingly heavy. To be honest, I don't really like this atmosphere, but I know that this is an inevitable result."

……

"Dark Age: Year 1, Day 1"

"Unconsciously, a whole year has passed. We are still drifting in the darkness. The number of people committing suicide in the city has gradually decreased. The administrator and the warden come to the city wall for inspection every day, and the old guard captain has been guarding the city wall named after him for a whole year."

"Every day, disaster beasts would attack us, but under the protection of the old guard captain and his men, these disaster beasts could not cross the walls of the royal city."

"King Cang has been staying in the palace for almost the entire year, and only occasionally comes out to walk around. I noticed that he seems to have a few strands of white hair. This is incredible. As a high-level sorcerer, he is still very young. How could he have white hair at this age?"

"I reported this to the Administrator, but his answer left me speechless. He told me that the Blue King had not rested for the entire year in order to find a way to resolve the disaster and return us to a normal world."

"My king, what can we do for you?"

……

"Dark Age, Year 3, Day 25."

"The first baby was born and lived for only three days. Lord Cang locked himself up in the palace. I know what he was thinking. I saw with my own eyes that he used all the methods he could for the empire's newborn during those three days. But in the end, we could only watch with his parents as this life faded away like a candle in the wind, and watched that tender palm turn into dark brown crystals bit by bit."

"The environment in the alien space is not suitable for the weak to survive. We all know this. But even so, when the fact that no new babies can be born in the empire fell on us, I can feel that the back of Lord Cang has suddenly aged a lot."

"That night, I also met the old guard captain. It was the first time he had left his post in three years. He stood in front of the newborn's grave and looked down for a long time. As usual, he didn't speak or show any other expression, but I felt the same sadness in him as Lord Cang Zhiwang."

"Before leaving, I saw a lot of familiar people. Some of them walked outside the wall, and some walked towards the cemetery. Among those walking towards the wall, I saw the parents of the newborn. I thought, I will never see them again."

……

"Dark Age, Year 12, Day 79."

"Unconsciously, twelve years have passed. Of the thirty million citizens of the empire, there are now less than a million left. Lord Cang Zhiwang has appeared less and less frequently, and so have the old chief of the guards and several other lords. Some say that the old chief of the guards has become more and more terrifying, like a monster that wants to tear us apart. But I feel that the chief of the guards is becoming more reliable than anyone else. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I am a soldier who was transferred to be a record officer?"

"Tucker has already carved the statue of Lord Cang. He told me that this is the pinnacle of his life's work. I went to take a look and it was indeed as he said. The statue perfectly restored the temperament and image of the great and benevolent king in my mind. If it was before the disaster broke out, I think I would have given him a big hug and praised him with all the compliments I could think of, right?"

"But now, when I see this statue, what comes to mind is the appearance of Lord Cang now. When I compare them together, it feels like comparing Lord Cang in his prime and in his twilight years."

"Can we... really find a way out under the leadership of the king?"

……

"Dark Age, Year 15, Day 23."

"Today, Lord Cang Zhiwang summoned everyone and told us that he finally found the source of the pitch-black disaster. It was something very similar to the Devouring Hole mentioned by the astrologers, and the source of the disaster was coming from it."

"This is the first time, the first time in fifteen years, that I have felt my heart beating so hard."

"Finally...finally! After fifteen years of wandering and despair, I finally see a glimmer of hope at this moment."

"I heard crying, people hugging each other and crying, but the mood was completely different from that fifteen years ago."

"I think I should be able to have a good dream tonight."

……

"Dark Age, Year 15, Day 24."

"897645 people. These are all the current residents of the royal city, including the Blue King and the administrators."

"Everyone gathered in the square of the core area. This was the first time in the past fifteen years that such a large-scale gathering had taken place in the royal city. I stood beside Lord Cang and recorded everything. Everyone looked very calm, calm and resolute. In other words, anyone who could persist in this environment for fifteen years could already be called a warrior, right?" "Lord Cang made a declaration to us. When the declaration ended, I heard deafening cheers and shouts. In a trance, I seemed to have returned to that morning a hundred years ago, the morning when Lord Cang succeeded to the throne. I remember that the voices of the residents of the royal city that day were equally inspiring."

……

"Dark Age, Year 15, Day 30."

"The journey has begun."

"Using the coordinates calculated by Lord Cang as the destination, the entire royal city launched the largest charge in history. Lord Administrator's fortress descended from the sky above the royal city. The flag on Lord Guard's spear fluttered with the blood of the beast of disaster, and the giant beast controlled by Lord Warden roared in the roar."

"Lord Cang sat on the throne. Just like the day a hundred years ago, a dark torrent continued to surge towards the royal city. The disaster beasts, which were hundreds and thousands of times more numerous than before, attacked the royal city. The warriors roared and roared together with the royal city towards the dark hole that appeared in our sight."

……

"Dark Age, Year 15, Day 37."

"We won."

"Although we paid an extremely painful price, under the leadership of King Cang and the other three adults, we finally succeeded in killing the most brutal beast of disaster and rushed to the dark swallowing hole."

"But it's not over yet."

"The dark torrent is still pouring out of the Devouring Cave. The disaster beasts that should have been slaughtered by the warriors are reappearing, but we can't find any way to close the Devouring Cave."

"Sealing spells, giant beasts, fortress cannons... all conceivable means have been used, but the Devouring Hole in front of us is like an endless giant mouth, easily swallowing up the attacks that the Blue King and the adults could think of."

"Is it possible that... everything we have done is in vain?"

"No, it won't! With Lord Cang's presence and the three lords, as long as it's not the last moment, everything will definitely turn around!"

……

"Dark Age, Year 15, Day 49."

"It has been twelve days since we conquered the Devouring Cave. During these twelve days, everyone has been trying their best to think of all possible solutions, but the Devouring Cave still cannot be closed. Moreover, we have gradually realized another more serious problem. Even if the Devouring Cave is closed, can this world that has been swallowed by the dark disaster really continue to survive?"

"Have we...really defeated it?"

……

"Dark Age, Year 15, Day 68."

"Today, the old captain of the guards killed another fortress-level disaster beast. Sometimes when I think about it, it's really incredible. He should have been the first to enter his old age, but he gives people a feeling of being extremely energetic, while the younger managers and warden are gradually showing signs of fatigue. Perhaps this is the advantage of the warrior system?"

"We still haven't found a way to close the Devouring Cave. The population of the Royal City is less than 30, and it's decreasing every day. But no one has chosen to retreat. Rather than returning to the darkness where there is no hope, we would rather burn everything we have here."

"Besides, even our king has not fallen yet, how can we possibly surrender here?"

……

"Dark Age, Year 15, Day 134."

"Fight, fight, endless fighting."

"It seems like the beasts of disaster will never be killed. No matter how many we kill today, they will pour out of the Devouring Cave like a tide tomorrow."

"The warden began to study the method of controlling the corpses of the beasts of disaster, and the administrator began to try to use the energy in the dark brown dead crystals. Even though we are reluctant, we all know that if we want to continue the fight, we must use everything we can."

"Lord Cang has been staying indoors all the time. I heard from the administrator that he has been studying the core of the royal city recently and seems to have found a new way to close the Devouring Hole."

"Close the Devouring Hole..."

"Will there really be such a day?"

……

"Dark Age, Year 18, Day 55."

"This is the third year since we conquered the Devouring Cave. The Warden has discovered a way to transform the corpses of the Calamity Beasts into new types of behemoths that can be freely controlled, and the Administrator has discovered a way to use these corpses to build a fortress. As for the old Guard Captain... I haven't seen him for a long time. I heard from them that ever since he guarded the southern city gate, no Calamity Beasts dared to approach there."

"There are only 200,000 soldiers left in the fortress. Everyone's expressions have changed a lot. I met Tucker, and he has also been infected with the dead crystal disease. This means that I don't have much time to spend with him."

"Lord Cang is still looking for a way to close the Devouring Cave. I can sense the huge aura coming from the palace almost every few days. I don't know what method he has found, but my intuition tells me that our king... will definitely be able to change all this."

"Yes, I firmly believe that."

……

"Dark Age: Year 20, Day 34"

"Lord Cang has finally walked out of the palace!"

"He told us that when tomorrow came, he would have something extremely important to announce."

“Could it be…?”

……

"Dark Age, Year 20, Day 35."

"found it……"

“I really found it…”

"But... why is it like this?! Why does it have to be this way?!"

"Bring the core area of ​​the entire royal city into the Devouring Cave, let the Heart of the World merge with myself, and then use the power of the Heart of the World and a specific spell to absorb the power of disaster from the Devouring Cave, and seal the entire Devouring Cave from the inside..."

"I can't remember what I was thinking when I heard this. Maybe my mind was completely blank at that time."

"The administrator and the warden started arguing with Lord Cang, but the old guard stopped them. For a moment, I even hated the old guard. I thought he shouldn't stop the administrator and the warden, and should let them stop Lord Cang's actions. But when I saw Lord Cang's eyes, I suddenly couldn't say anything..."

"Reason tells me that Lord Cang's choice is the right one."

"I have never felt so disgusted with my own incompetence and weakness."

"My king, why do you have to bear all this?"

……

"Dark Age, Year 20, Day 40."

"The plan has begun."

"I stood on the city wall and watched the dark brown storm shatter the core area of ​​the entire royal city. I watched Lord Cang sit on the throne and, under the watchful eyes of the other three lords, he rushed into the Devouring Cave with 1/3 of the royal city space without hesitation. I watched the huge fortress being swallowed by the dark torrent and the towering beast like a mountain let out its final roar."

"Our king... has left."

……

"Dark Age, Year 20, Day 50."

"This is the tenth day of the Qianyuan Project. We don't know what happened in the Devouring Cave, but everything is just as Lord Cang Zhiwang said. The Devouring Cave began to devour the calamity power it released at a speed visible to the naked eye. The originally endless calamity beasts no longer appear, and the original calamity beasts have become as fragile as fish without the ocean after the darkness faded. They even went to extinction without our help."

"The darkness began to lift."

"The originally pitch-black sky gradually faded to a blood-red color."

“Everything is like a dream.”

……

"Dark Age: Year 20, Day 55"

"The Administrator is back!!!"

"I swear... on my life, that when the dark tide recedes, I will return to the surface and rebuild civilization."

"Train a new king, lead people out of suffering, and end the cycle of disaster."

"In this way, can we save Lord Cang who is trapped in the Devouring Cave?!"

"Haha, hahaha! I knew that our king would not succumb to disaster so easily!"

……

"Dark Age: Year 20, Day 56"

"The administrator left, taking the first group of people with him, and took the teleportation array to the surface of the world."

"In fact, his physical condition is very bad. Logically, he should rest in bed, but the administrator just told us that he hopes to make the most of his remaining energy in the last moments of his life."

"Tucker started his old job again. He said he wanted to record all of this on the stone carving, and use the last rays of his life to let future generations remember the achievements and great deeds of the 71st and last Cang King of the entire Cang Ling Empire. I read his draft, and there were many exaggerated and subjective remarks on it, but I didn't correct him."

"Perhaps it's because, in my heart, the king I admire is actually more dazzling than what he wrote in the draft."

……

"Dark Age: Year 20, Day 60"

"Today is the day I leave."

"Except for some of the behemoths and warriors who volunteered to stay and guard the royal city, everyone else has left the royal city. In a sense, I should be the last one to leave here."

"Actually, I should have left a few days ago. After all, according to the news I received, the environment on the ground is terrible and we need more help to survive. But in order to bury Tucker, I can only stay here for a few more days."

"Tucker fulfilled his wish and kept the Lord Cang in his mind forever in the palace."

"According to his will, I cremated him and threw him into the Devouring Cave."

“While I was doing all this, I could feel that I was being watched.”

"My intuition tells me that it must be the gaze of Lord Cang."

"My king, please bear witness to my oath of life. I will carry out your wishes and restore the glory of the empire!"

……

(End of this chapter)