Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 922 The Journey, Part Three

[Personal Exploration Log of the Ash World]

"The ninety-second day."

"Start from the Fire Offering Site and head towards the Great Snow Mountain."

"As agreed with Wu Huo, she continued to explain to us the contents of the books we had looted from the library of the Deep Cathedral, as well as the remaining parts of the Deep Prayer Book, on the way."

"Regarding the Prayer of the Deep, the prayers at LV.5 are much more complex than the previous levels, but fortunately there aren't many of them, and it's expected that we can master them all in about a month."

"Regarding protective energy, after verification, it has been confirmed that the strength of protective energy that can be called upon in the blessing rules is directly related to the shield's blocking strength. Furthermore, due to the influence of the blessing rules, the protective energy in this world no longer dissipates directly after activation, but instead consumes stamina. This is why as long as you maintain the shield-raising state, you can obtain continuous damage reduction."

"Hmm, in that case, perhaps it's possible..."

...

...

"The ninety-eighth day."

"We have successfully arrived at the Plains of Exiles."

"Compared to the Pilgrim's Path, there are not many human wandering souls here, and their strength is generally weaker. However, the number of beast wandering souls and undead is extremely large. Among them, the most threatening one is the 'Rotting Blood Hound'. Its bite has a strong destructive effect on protective energy. If you are surrounded by many, you can easily find yourself in a situation where your stamina bar is instantly devoured after you raise your shield."

"Solution: Activate the Deepest Prayer spell and bombard it with continuous spells to prevent it from getting close."

...

...

"Day 105".

"We found a church that worshipped the ancient dragon, but unfortunately it was severely damaged. We only found a few books that were fortunately preserved."

"According to the Nofire, the Elder Dragons are ancient beings that existed on the earth before the arrival of the Kingfire. Because their origins do not come from the Kingfire and they have no respect for it, the belief in Elder Dragons was always regarded as heresy during the time of the first Lord of Cinder. In fact, the first Elder Dragon King was killed by the first Lord of Cinder."

"However, since the fall of the first Lord of Cinder, the weakening of the power of the Lordfire has caused some people in this world to doubt and waver in their belief in the salvation it brings. They have begun to question whether the Lordfire can truly protect them from the darkness, and thus have begun to turn their attention back to the Elder Dragons that existed before the Lordfire. As a result, the belief in Elder Dragons has been revived."

"Those who worship ancient dragons will gradually 'dragonize' their bodies. They will not only grow vertical pupils and dragon scales, but their torsos will also gradually bend and grow. At the same time, their emotional expressions will become increasingly indifferent, until they transform into 'human-dragons' who know no joy or sorrow, no anger or fear."

"The above is what Wu Huo deciphered from those ancient books. Judging from the descriptions, there are indeed many intriguing mysteries surrounding the Ancient Dragon faith."

"Things that existed on earth before the arrival of the Aegis... does 'before the arrival of the Aegis' mean the original inhabitants of this world, or...?"

...

...

"Day 109".

"We found two more small ancient dragon churches. Starting from the latter half of the plain, the number of these churches has obviously increased, but we haven't seen the 'human dragons' described in those books yet."

"The learning progress on the Deep Prayer is going more smoothly than expected. Hmm, perhaps I should say that Wu Huo really has a knack for describing the contents of books. Every time, she can describe the most crucial parts in detail. Is it a talent, or..."

...

...

"Day 113".

"Successfully crossed the Wanderer's Plain and entered the snowy plateau region."

"From here on, the weather's influence becomes significantly more severe. Even with the cold resistance provided by the 'Angel Leg Armor' and the support of the Deep Divine Prayer, it's still impossible to move through the gale that continuously inflicts high damage. We can only advance gradually on the ground."

"This is not good news. Judging from our contact, the gale-force winds covering the ground are clearly not naturally formed. If this is a phenomenon caused by the 'King of Ancient Dragons' himself, it means that the 'King of Ancient Dragons' is probably much stronger than we expected."

"The number of beasts... to be precise, dragon undead and wraiths has increased significantly. Dragon undead, which are almost impossible to find on the Exiles Plains, are now nesting everywhere here like sparrows that don't cost a penny, and even the weakest of them are close to the level of Heroic Ash."

"Hmm... I can roughly imagine what the end of this road will look like."

...

...

"Day 119".

"I saw the dragon-human hybrid described in the records."

"Just like the description in the book, its appearance can no longer be called human, but should be described as merely an ancient dragon wearing a human skin."

"Powerful resilience, terrifying strength, and an empty mind capable of waiting like a sculpture in the darkness for long periods... This is the method the followers of the Ancient Dragon Cult have found to resist the darkness."

"In the ancient dragon faith, neither royal fire nor darkness is eternal. Royal fire brings life and vitality, and brings the mind and wisdom; while darkness brings death and coldness, and brings silence and sedimentation."

"Even if the fire goes out and darkness descends, as long as we wait patiently, a new fire will surely rise from the darkness again, and so on, achieving one cycle after another."

"Therefore, all you need to do is erase your mind and become like those ancient dragons born before the Aegis, turning into a sculpture without joy or sorrow, thus enduring the erosion of your mind over the long years, until the fire rises from the earth once more, and you will be able to revive from the newborn fire, just like those ancient dragons that awaken from the fire."

"The above descriptions are what Wu Huo deciphered from the book dropped by that dragon-human."

"Darkness and fire cycle back and forth, achieving indirect immortality through the power of the Abyssal Fire... Well, compared to pure Abyssal Fire worship and the Deep worship, it is indeed a kind of faith that can be called an anomaly."

"but……"

"I'm a little curious. Is that awakened consciousness the original person, or another bewildered soul that has been reborn from the King's Fire?"

...

...

"The 121st day."

"We have arrived at the Ancient Dragon Cathedral at the foot of the Great Snow Mountain."

"We encountered an attack from multiple dragon-human hybrids. Hmm... Although they only possess the battle-hungry instincts of ancient dragons, their power is stronger than that of ordinary hero-level ash. If these things pile up, dealing with them in some confined spaces will be quite troublesome."

"However, thanks to a few dragons, the books here are much more intact than those in the other chapels, and it can even be said that they have hardly been invaded or damaged."

"Speaking of which, without realizing it, I've already been in this world for more than three months... Assuming that time in the outside world hasn't exceeded three days, does that mean the time difference between the two worlds has reached more than forty times?"

"Hmm... perhaps forty times is a conservative estimate. Considering the extent to which this world has been eroded, if the abyss wormhole that opened in the center of the royal city is a deep abyss cavitation-level abyss hole, perhaps it would be more appropriate to guess at a hundred times or more?"

...

"Day 122".

"Loot the Ancient Dragon Cathedral." "When I saw the library door, I realized that I hadn't encountered any decent mechanisms or traps along the way. It seems that the bastard who designed the Frankish Fortress never came here. That's some good news."

"We found a sacred text that records the prayers of the ancient dragons from LV.1 to LV.5."

"Hmm... Although I can't use the prayers mentioned above for the time being because I don't have an Ancient Dragon Oath, I should still learn them in advance, considering that I might get equipment like the Rosamira Ring later."

"At worst, we can just consider it as learning about the methods the Ancient Dragon King might use."

...

...

"Day 127".

"Set off for the Great Snowy Mountain."

"Perhaps it's because of the experience with the Deep Prayer that I mastered the LV.1 and LV.2 Ancient Dragon Prayer in just five days. However, I personally feel that the greater credit should go to Wu Huo."

"Indeed! Sister Wu Huo looks so delicious when she tells stories. Not only is her voice beautiful, but she is also very serious and looks a little sickly, which makes you fall in love with her at first listen."

"You'd better really be engrossed in listening..."

"In conclusion, although there are many flaws, as Zero said, the nun's reading style is indeed very different. Well... should I say it's completely different from Zero's reading style? She doesn't snack or flip through any strange books. She's quiet the whole time, making you forget her presence."

"Tsk! You naughty girl! How is snacking a bad habit? It's clearly a way to stay perfectly focused... Oops, I forgot to correct a word in the previous paragraph. I'll go fix it now!"

"...Fine, whatever makes you happy."

...

...

"Day 130".

"Unlike the Deep Prayer, although its corresponding spell cannot be directly seen, judging from the literal meaning and effect alone, the most crucial aspect of the Ancient Dragon Prayer lies in 'enhancement' and 'release'."

"Using a portion of one's own flesh and blood as a price to temporarily 'dragonize' and break through the limits of human strength, thus gaining power beyond the limit for a short period of time, is the general content of the enhancement-type prayers that most often appear in ancient dragon prayers."

"Dragon claws, dragon jaws, dragon head, dragon wings..."

"Hmm, based on this, the highest level of enhancement-type Ancient Dragon Prayer might be to transform oneself into an Ancient Dragon temporarily... or even permanently."

“As for prayers of the ‘deliverance’ type, they are somewhat special.”

"According to the interpretation, this type of prayer seems to release a certain power that already belongs to oneself, and its most direct manifestation is the formation of various kinds of dragon breath. Further, it forms various natural phenomena like elemental magic. The highest level of this seems to be dragon thunder magic based on some kind of lightning."

"Phenomenon, Ancient Dragon, Thunder..."

"Could it be that Gu Long's true origins..."

...

...

Day 131.

Crash——!!

A biting wind swept through the cave entrance, lashing against the cave entrance sealed with magic crystal chips, producing a sound like a knife cutting through the air.

"What is Lord Black Sword thinking about?"

Under the campfire, the blindfolded nun, wearing a thick fur coat, looked at Xin Lailai, who was deep in thought beside her, and asked a question with some curiosity.

"It's nothing, I just suddenly became curious about the origins of the ancient dragons in this world."

"What is the origin of the ancient dragons?"

"Hmm, judging from the prayer, the ancient dragons of the past seemed to possess multiple powers such as fire, lightning, and ice, and also had the ability to resist the corruption of darkness. In addition, the description of dragon lightning magic in the prayer seems to have many similarities with a certain creature I know."

As Xin Lailai spoke, she glanced at the prayer book held in the hands of the blindfolded nun and began to speak.

Multiple natural phenomena, resistance to abyssal erosion, and lightning as the core means of destruction...

Looking at it from another perspective, isn't this exactly how a pure elemental being should behave?

Combined with descriptions such as 'dragon blood is extremely polluting' and 'the mind of a dragon-transformed individual gradually approaches nothingness,' it reminded him of something unique he had encountered several times before—

Blood of destiny.

Yes, the Blood of Fate, corrupted by the power of the abyss, perfectly matches all the descriptions of the blood of ancient dragons in the Ashes world, even to the point of being too perfect.

If we base our speculation on this point, we can arrive at an extremely surprising conclusion:

—That ancient dragon faith, which seems to have been born from the abyss, filled with corruption and ominousness, and rejected by the kingfire of the Ash World, is actually... the existence that the world will of the Ash World originally recognized!

To put it more directly, the Ancient Dragon race... is very likely an artificial creation made by the world's will when it first encountered the Abyss's corruption, using a massive amount of elemental power and the blood of destiny to resist the Abyss's corruption!
If this speculation is true, then there are many chilling aspects to the situation regarding the Ash World.

If the Elder Dragons and the Elder Dragon faith are the orthodox beliefs of this world, then why did the Lordfire so reject the Elder Dragons after its birth, and why did the First Lord of Cinder even lead the gods to war against the Elder Dragons?
Was it because the ancient dragons at that time had already gone to extremes under the influence of the abyss and were judged as something that would hinder the continuation of the world?
Or……

Is the true mission of the Ancient Dragon Clan to fight against the Kingfire?
It's worth noting that even the Cult of the Deep, which worships the Deep itself derived from the Abyss, has never been suppressed or hindered by the Abyssal Fire in the Ashes. On the contrary, the Cult of the Elder Dragons, which worships Elder Dragons, has not only been suppressed to the point that it can only develop its faith in remote places like the Great Snowfield, but has even been publicly listed as a heretical faith by the first Lord of Cinder, who symbolizes the will of the Abyssal Fire.

If there is indeed some hidden story here, then the truth it points to...

"..."

"Lord Black Sword?"

"Ah, sorry, I was just spacing out. As for that topic, just consider it me daydreaming."

Under the campfire, Xin Lailai came to her senses, took a deep breath, and answered. She glanced at the blindfolded nun before her, then at the blessing interface at the edge of her vision, and fell silent. After a long while, she finally spoke:

"Your Excellency, Sister."

"What's wrong, Lord Black Sword?"

"According to the book, the 'King of Ancient Dragons' Nameless... was a human who was suspected of inheriting the blood of a god, right?"

"Well, based on Lord Rudolfs's description and what we know so far, it's highly likely that the nameless gentleman is human. Lord Black Sword, have you discovered something?"

"It's nothing, I just suddenly... became a little curious about him."

……

(End of this chapter)