Wasteland Echoer.

Chapter 638 The Call to Choice (Part 2)
"Why is the emperor of the Khitan Lis buried here? And what does the title 'Shangling Emperor' mean?" Dak scratched his head and asked, puzzled.

Following Aiochina's instructions, Adaloni slowly walked to the foot of the massive stone gate. Gazing at the gate, which was carved with the history of the dragon race, and at one of the scenes depicting the dragons' crushing defeat and complete exile at the "Pillar of Drogen," he felt a sense of loss and sorrow from ancient times.

He paused, then replied to Dark:

"Although I don't know why that young emperor was buried here, his posthumous title foreshadowed a catastrophe that would soon befall the entire empire shortly after his death. 'Shang' is the common posthumous title for emperors of the Flame Fire Empire, meaning 'reaching the heavens and being in harmony with the Creator.' A few emperors who lacked virtue were given the title 'Xiao,' and some were simply not given the common prefix 'Shang.'"

"The title 'Ling' comes from the 'Posthumous Title Law' formulated by Yan Dan, the younger brother of Yan Jun, during the First Era. It stipulates that: 'Ling' means to be chaotic but not destructive, to die with one's will fulfilled, to die and see the gods, and to be fond of worshipping ghosts and gods. Based on the character and behavior of that young emperor, this posthumous title is most appropriate."

Seeing that Dark was still puzzled, his mouth moving as if he wanted to ask something more, but his shallow understanding of Eastern culture left him at a loss for words and he could only remain silent for the time being, Aiochina further explained:

"Perhaps the word 'spirit' also comes from 'ancestral blessings,' a sense of relief that the country did not perish in his hands. The Khitans' evaluation of an emperor's life is based on his posthumous title, which is generally quite fair and impartial. After all, except for a very few emperors, the Khitans did not have the absolute authority of the emperors of the Central Empire, who could act arbitrarily and do whatever they wanted."

"In fact, after the death of Emperor Shangling, the political center of Khitanris shifted from the emperor to the prime minister. His successors, starting with Luo Heng, established their own ruling centers in the empire's capital, Yan City, called 'fu', which is generally referred to as 'hegemonic fu politics'. The emperor's voice was gradually lost until the early stages of the 'New Yuan Crisis'. Due to the ineffective handling of the 'heartless virus', the local army rebelled, and its leader, Gu Bing, captured Yan City, briefly establishing the Eastern Republic and using it to establish diplomatic relations with us, the Krusd and the Genie people."

“There’s another piece of history here. That explains why some early Neolithic documents refer to Khitanris as the ‘Flame (Republic) Federation’,” Dark said thoughtfully, looking at the massive stone gate before him along with Adaloni.

"Later, the Eastern Republic, also known as the Flamefire (Republic) Federation, only existed for 78 years before disintegrating. Four thousand years of imperial rule had allowed the Flamefire Empire's royal power to spread throughout the country. Coupled with people's sympathy for the emperor and their recognition of the empire, the Flamefire Empire was able to recover. The new emperor, Yan Xing, regained some power through certain reforms." Aiochina further recounted the history of the Flamefire Empire, saying:
"The name of that young emperor, also known as Emperor Shangling, is now lost to history. Even though this is his tomb, we have no way of knowing his name. When he was alive, he deliberately concealed his name, believing that the emperor was the son of the creator and that no one should be allowed to discover his name, otherwise the majesty of the gods would punish the empire."

"He was saved by a dragon that existed as a spirit when he was a child. After he came to power, he decided to release the dragons by all means, so he created 'Dragon's Celebration'. Of course, as you have seen, the dragons were freed from the Dragon Realm. Although they lost most of their dragon power, they retained their long lifespan and superhuman physique. Although the Supreme Spirit Emperor lost his life due to the meteorite that fell during Dragon's Celebration, he fulfilled his ambition and promise and deserved to be the leader of the dragons after his death and obtain a divine position."

"So, we come back to the first question. Since such a ruler, whose country, though chaotic during his lifetime, suffered no fatal damage, and who achieved his ambitions, deserved to be buried in the beautiful mountains of Khitanli according to its customs, why was he buried here?" Dak asked, puzzled.

"Even during the Steam Age, when the Crusad Kingdom was at its most powerful, the Outer Nabua Mountains were still a desolate border region. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been only one and a half cities, Beiyulei. To the north is the extreme cold zone, and apart from the Ice Demon tribe and some alien beast races, very few people come here. If it weren't for the discovery of abundant oil and gas resources here, I'm afraid that successive Crusad emperors would not have paid much attention to this place."

"Are you asking if the Upper Spirit Emperor was buried here to deliberately conceal something?" Aiochina replied in a mechanical, emotionless voice:
"Indeed. Back then, Prime Minister Loheng, who usurped the throne, did not have absolute control over the entire country. In addition, the two major local military institutions in the west and north had acquired advanced weapons and artillery equipment from Emperor Charles XII of Crusde and were ready to march south to defend the emperor and avenge him."

"In order to maintain the legitimacy of his rule and strengthen the propaganda of the law, Luo Heng had no choice but to portray Emperor Shangling as a madman who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals. Perhaps Luo Heng killed Emperor Shangling with his own hands, but when publicizing it to the outside world, he said that he died in an accident caused by heavenly fire falling to the ground."

"Back then, because of the spirit stone, the hidden floating divine realm in the sky was successfully summoned. There existed there technological weapons that might have been created by a prehistoric civilization, leaving behind a mysterious but harmless divine realm. But Luo Heng's daughter, Luo Sijie, died there." Adaloni turned to look into Dark's gray eyes and explained earnestly:
"However, both the Dragon Realm Gates in the sky and on the ground were successfully opened. The two gates worked together and resonated, thus completely abolishing all restrictions and confinements within the 'Dragon Realm' in a short period of time, releasing the vast majority of the dragon clansmen and allowing them to return to the human world."

"I was imprisoned at the Gate of Karlov back then, and according to the setting, it had to be opened by a god or demigod in person to leave after the main 'Dragon Realm' was abolished. Therefore, I didn't have the chance to see the Dragon Celebration. But the Chosen One told me that when both gates opened simultaneously, a large amount of dragon power would resonate with the fire-type magic source power, guiding meteorites from the universe to fall to earth, causing disaster. No one told the Upper Spirit Emperor about this. Perhaps it was a deliberate concealment, or perhaps he just lacked the knowledge of mysticism. In any case, he is dead."

"Later, as a bargaining chip in the ceasefire negotiations, Emperor Shangling's body was sent to Ankeshan, the then-governor of the Western Territory and the supreme commander of the Western Legion. Afterwards, the local government and the central government of Yan City signed the 'Treaty of Mutiny,' under the witness of the Crusad Empire, the local government submitted to Yan City, and Yan City ceased pursuing any human beings related to Emperor Shangling, including his corpse," Aiochina recounted methodically.
"About 20 years later, a rebellion broke out within the Flame Empire, and various regions began to disobey the command of Flame City and began to establish their own independent regimes. In order to gain political control over the Flame Empire and obtain sufficient dominance in future trade, the then Emperor Ivan XVIII ordered the construction of this 'Nameless Underground Palace' for Emperor Shangling, to bury the long-dead body of Emperor Khitanris, who had been mummified."

"However, the Crusaders ultimately had very limited understanding of the Khitan-Lis culture, and most of the Easterners who were well-versed in Khitan-Lis culture were not friendly to Crusaders and refused to serve Ivan XVIII. Therefore, the architectural style here appears so incongruous. However, what is certain is that a deity and a rank-specific demon related to the dragon race also slept here with the emperor's mummy body."

"Can I get it?" Adaloni blurted out, looking at Iochina and asking.

“Of course, he originally belonged to you.” Iochina’s response surprised the two of them. It was as if everything from yesterday until now, standing at the edge of the underground palace entrance, was the result of the gods turning the wheel of fate in advance and deliberately setting it up.

"The gods in the underground palace also await your arrival. As you know, the Creator binds the various gods of order with destiny, and the gods, in turn, make arrangements for humanity and all intelligent beings through destiny. Since your goal is to leave this place and head east, in fact, the Khitans who brought the body of the Supreme Emperor here also originally wished to leave this place and return to their homeland," Aiochina replied.

"However, at that time, Khitanris was already in chaos, and the Crusad Empire had begun to retaliate against Eventre for unleashing the 'Heavenly Punishment Fire' upon Nebusk. The war halted their return to their homeland, and they remained in Nebusk forever with their descendants, guarding the tomb of the great emperor who released the dragons to the human world. "It's a pity that due to the continuous depletion of magical energy after the Industrial Age, coupled with the complete imbalance of extraordinary power after the Wasteland Era, dragons rarely regain their original massive bodies. Those dragons who can maintain their dragon form in battle have mostly had their minds corrupted by the power dominated by the Lord of the Night, becoming tools to be used by others."

"You mean Serye? The black baby dragon that hatched from the dragon egg?" Dark asked.

"I know nothing about what happened after the underground palace was built. Those celestial beings skilled in divination only told me about the prophecy that the dragon race would arrive. As for what happened afterward, due to the many changes, they couldn't truly understand every parallel universe, so naturally they couldn't make any judgments or prophecies." Aiochina stared at Adaloni's body with her jewel-like eyes and said:

"However, the prophecy says that you will become the dragon warrior who helps restore order. Your mission is to restore order from chaos, and to return everything in the world to its original course. Perhaps now, the Khitan Ris people are waiting for your arrival, just like the gods sleeping in this underground palace."

"Of course, the sacred objects of the gods and dragons are behind this door. Once you cross this door, I will lead you to the most central area, bypassing those mechanisms and traps, so that you will not disturb the peace here out of fear of being harmed."

"So, Iochina, do you have the key to this enormous stone door? Can you open it?" Adaloni turned and looked up at the stone door, asking in a deep, resonant voice.

“I’m sorry, I am the guardian of the outer perimeter of the underground palace. Before your arrival, I was not qualified to enter, and naturally, I did not have the key. However, this stone door does not require a key to open; your blood can open it as well,” Iochina explained in a cold tone.

“I understand. It seems that opening the giant gate of this underground palace is also a necessary step in verifying identity. In that case, I will give it a try.” As he spoke, Adaloni vigorously rubbed the “Khitan Lis Ring” tightly wrapped around his neck.

This time, the "Khitan Lis Ring Jade" emitted a rich red light and a temperature so intense that it was unbearable for normal people.

Immediately afterwards, a burst of flames suddenly erupted from its surface and began to burn fiercely around Adaloni's neck.

Strangely, the flames did not spread to other places along the clothing or hair, as if the power of the "Khitan Lis Ring" confined them to a limited area.

After doing all this, Adaloni's expression suddenly became extremely serious. He asked Dark for a military knife, rolled up his dirty sleeve, and forcefully slashed at his wrist.

Whether it was due to the overwhelming aura of "sorrow" or the temporary interference of the extraordinary power within the underground palace with their perceptions, in any case, thick dragon blood did indeed begin to seep from Adaloni's wrist, flowing out like a gurgling stream.

However, it doesn't flow downwards, but upwards!

The blood instantly twisted and transformed into countless ghostly, mournful spirits that emitted strange, mind-numbing buzzing sounds, much like the noise of a large number of factory machines starting up simultaneously.

These spirits, formed from the twisted blood of the dragon race, began to dance wildly in the air. Their limbs twisted outwards, some even twisted and broken upside down, presenting a bizarre ballet scene.

Ultimately, however, they did comply with Adaloni's will and flocked to the center of the massive stone gate, to the forehead of the dragon king sculpture, where an oriental gem was visible.

boom! boom! boom!
The heavy stone door receded to the sides, and a stench of nausea and suffocating dust assaulted their senses, forcing Dak and Adaloni to hold their breath briefly to avoid inhaling air containing bacteria or harmful substances that could leave them with lasting health problems.

Fortunately, this underground ruin should have multiple interconnected secret passages with the outside world, and the air inside and outside the underground palace was exchanged in an instant, returning to the normal smell of the underground world.

"Please follow me. The god and the sacred object are inside. They lie there quietly, awaiting the arrival of the dragons." Aiochina finished speaking in a cold, mechanical voice, and then walked straight into the underground palace without looking back.