I reign supreme in the Western fantasy world for eternity.

Ji Tian and the others followed the pale golden creature deeper into the maze.

The passage narrowed, and the rock walls on both sides became uneven, as if they had been cracked from the inside by something.

The little "gurgling" beasts huddled around their feet, and a few of the bolder ones even clung tightly to Ji Tian's boots, as if they had taken a liking to this two-legged creature.

Legolas ran his hand across the rock face, his fingertips collecting a fine layer of silvery-blue powder. "This path doesn't look like it was carved out by the elves themselves; it must have been formed by some kind of force eroding it from underground."

Ophelia picked up the conversation, releasing the strands of silver-blue light again. The light trembled slightly in the air, pointing towards the depths of the passage. "The aura is getting stronger. That demigod might be just ahead."

After walking for an unknown amount of time, a huge underground cave appeared after a bend in the road.

The dome is inlaid with countless tiny silver-blue lights, simulating an inverted starry sky. The surrounding rock walls of the cave are densely covered with murals, with simple and bold lines, exuding an indescribable sense of solemnity.

The murals begin at the cave entrance and extend clockwise along the rock wall, like a silent epic.

Lilith instinctively gripped Ji Tian's clothes, her other hand pointing to the side with her staff, "How come there are murals depicting demons here?!"

Ji Tian approached the first mural.

In the center of the image is a person enveloped in a halo, surrounded by various ferocious demons—a winged demon, a bone demon covered in bone armor, a shadow demon twisted like smoke…

The humanoid figure was kneeling on one knee, its hands seemingly struggling to grasp something.

"The hero has been summoned." Ophelia murmured the ancient Elvish inscription in the lower right corner of the mural. Her gaze fell on the complex runes at the humanoid figure's feet, but unfortunately, the contents of the runes were not clear.

Lilith raised another question, "Then what do the demons surrounding him represent?"

"Perhaps it refers to the demons wreaking havoc on the human world. Let's keep reading; there might be an explanation."

In the second mural: the man has stood up, holding a radiant longsword in his hand.

Beside him stood a man in a long robe, whose face was depicted as extremely ugly, with sinister eyes. The man held a thick book in his hands, the cover of which was printed with a clear image of a holy emblem.

This is clearly a church pastor, though he appears to have been deliberately portrayed negatively.

The most striking feature is the densely packed titles at the bottom of the mural:

[A truly noble person, the savior of all living beings, the one who changes the world, the perfect protagonist in stories and picture books, the origin of children's heroic fairy tales, the epitome of virtue, the nightmare of villains, dragons, and evil monsters, the first master of the holy sword, the first hero—he was officially born, along with a lousy priest assigned to him by the church.]

It's not hard to see that the artist and the church pastor had some personal grudges.

After studying the hero's title, the group continued on their way, and the third mural that appeared next clearly excited Legolas:

In the center of the image is a slender female elf with cascading long hair and a face so exquisitely beautiful it's almost perfect. Pointed ears peek out from her hair, and the longbow in her hand gleams with a moonlit glow. She stands beside the hero, her gaze gentle, and a priest follows behind them.

There were no annotations below the mural. Ji Tian looked at the elven archer, and Legolas, understanding, began to explain the possible identities of the people depicted in the mural:

"If the mural depicts the first hero's party, then this person is most likely the elven archer Elune. It's a pity she died in the Demon King's castle, leaving behind not even a single painting. I never expected to see one here!"

Elena moved closer to the mural, gently stroking the textures on this much more refined piece. "It's beautifully painted. This beauty transcends the realm of record; it's more like...admiration?"

Upon hearing this, Ji Tian commented sharply, "I personally think it's narcissism."

Why?

"This is clearly the place where the 'Sleeper' rests. How could the oldest group of elves, the third elven demigod, admire an elven archer who is completely unrelated to them? They are most likely the same person who, for some reason, began to use a completely new identity..."

As Ji Tianzheng was speaking, he suddenly felt that something was familiar.

"Isn't what I'm doing now similar to that? Does that demigod also know how to transform into mortals? Or is he just bored and has nothing better to do?"

They were clearly stunned by Ji Tian's bold conjecture, and only continued walking towards the other murals after Ji Tian reminded them.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth murals were revealed in succession:

The dwarf, carrying a giant axe, and the mage, wielding a staff, joined the party. The five of them were cheered in the streets of the human capital and received blessings under the giant tree in the elven royal court.

The monsters in the scene grew stronger and stronger, including giant dragons that breathed fire, liches that controlled the undead, and tentacle monsters that crawled out of the abyss... In every battle, the hero charged to the front, the light of the holy sword cleaving through the darkness, while the ugly priest always hid at the back of the team, flipping through his tome and chanting incantations. At first glance, it seemed as if the priest was cursing the rest of the hero's party.

Bottom right corner note:

Led by heroes, they adventured, fought, and punished evil, and the name of heroes began to spread across the continent.

"This narrative perspective is quite interesting," Ophelia remarked thoughtfully. "The hero is the hero, the elf is the companion, the dwarf and the mage are the comrades-in-arms, and the priest... is he an opportunist?"

The murals continued to extend, gradually darkening in color. The last complete mural occupied two entire rock walls:

In the center of the scene is a magnificent black castle. At the top of the castle is a huge summoning circle, the same array from the opening mural. A figure shrouded in shadow sits on the throne of the castle, while the hero stands below the throne steps, his holy sword stuck in the ground beside him. He is not in a fighting stance, but rather looks like... old friends talking.

In another corner of the scene, an elf and a priest are arguing about something, while a dwarf and a magician stand a little further away, one with his arms crossed and the other with his chin resting on his hand, clearly observing from a neutral position.

The annotations along the edge of the mural are chilling:

The Demon King summoned the Hero, who ultimately chose the Demon King's castle, thus shattering the original Hero's party.

"That's it... nothing more." Lilith pointed to the end of the mural, where there was a clear blank space, the rock wall smooth as new.

Ji Tian turned to look at the small, pale golden sphere. The little creature was quietly sitting beneath the mural, its black bean-like eyes reflecting a silvery-blue light. "Do you know what happened next?"

"Coo-choo?" the little ball chirped softly, its voice filled with confusion, clearly not understanding what the other was saying.