Gods

The air was extremely thin, almost nonexistent.

He could feel his breathing efficiency dropping; every breath only provided about half the oxygen of a normal state.

However, with his current 4th-rank life level, this degree of oxygen deprivation was not enough to affect his movements.

“This should be some kind of space structure,” Jiang Lin said, retracting his Space Perception. “The teleportation array sent us into space.”

“A space... structure?” Fenrir’s voice was somewhat dazed. “The ancient archmagi of the elves built a structure in space?”

“I’m afraid it’s more than just a structure.”

Alicia controlled her body to float toward the wall at the edge of the hall. She reached out to touch the smooth, silver-white metal surface, then took a moonlight stone from her waist and held it up to the wall.

The pale blue light of the moonlight stone reflected off the surface, faintly revealing some extremely fine lines.

“This is...” She leaned in for a closer look, her brow furrowing deeper.

“A variant of ancient Elvish,” Elune said, moving to her side. “It predates the Elvish used in the Silver Moon Kingdom by at least tens of thousands of years, but the roots and grammatical structure are still recognizable. It says...”

She paused, translating word by word:

“‘This is the place where our race explores the origin of gods. The gods are not innate, nor are they eternal. Faith is their food, and the world is their bait. Left by the Stargazer.’”

The hall fell silent.

“Exploring the origin of gods?” Fenrir scratched his head. “The ancient archmagi of the elves were studying gods?”

“And they seem to have discovered something.”

Alicia’s gaze fell on that line of carvings:

“‘The gods are not innate, nor are they eternal. Faith is their food, and the world is their bait.’

“These few lines... contain a massive amount of information.”

“Gods are not innate, and they aren’t eternal... they feed on faith and use the world as bait... does this mean the power of gods comes from faith, and the world itself is the bargaining chip they use to attract believers?” Cedric speculated.

“It’s possible.”

Alicia nodded.

Jiang Lin did not join the discussion. His Space Perception had already penetrated the walls of the hall and was extending outward.

Those walls were not just walls, but some kind of extremely sturdy composite material capable of resisting cosmic radiation and micrometeoroid impacts.

They were several meters thick with no gaps inside. Outside the walls was the void, the starry sky, and that boundless darkness.

But further out, hundreds of meters away, he captured another ripple of spatial fluctuations.

“There’s something else over there.”

He retracted his perception and floated out, passing through a corridor at the edge of the hall to continue deeper into this space ruin.

The corridor was narrower than the hall, but still wide enough for four people to walk abreast.

The walls had no decorations, only those ancient carvings that appeared every few steps, recording the research progress of the ancient elves.

“Attempted to simulate god status using the power of faith; failed. The subject’s mind collapsed, transforming into a mindless aberration...”

“Discovered that the essence of faith is not energy, but a more fundamental ‘cognitive resonance.’ The more unified an individual’s cognition of something is, the stronger the resonance, and the greater the power that can be leveraged...”

“Using ‘stars’ as anchors, attempted to establish a faith resonance network. Preliminary success, but the network stability is insufficient; a stronger anchor is required...”

“Observed the existence of a massive and hidden plane deep within the void. Void lifeforms call it the ‘Abyss of Slaughter’...”

Jiang Lin’s gaze stopped at that line of carvings.

The Abyss of Slaughter.

The location in the system quests that had not yet been opened.

He withdrew his gaze and continued floating forward.

At the end of the corridor was another hall.

This hall was even larger than the previous one, with a similarly transparent dome where the starry sky slowly rotated overhead.

In the center of the hall hovered a massive crystal ball, over five meters in diameter. It was entirely transparent, with countless tiny specks of light flowing inside.

Below the crystal ball was a control console, its surface covered in dense runes and several crystals embedded into the panel.

“This should be the core of this ruin.” Jiang Lin walked to the console, his Space Perception seeping into the runes. “It’s observation equipment. Equipment used to observe something.”

“Observe what?”

Jiang Lin did not answer. His gaze fell on a few lines of carvings on one side of the console.

“After the efforts of several generations, our race has finally confirmed: gods are not untouchable beings. They have origins, they grow, they weaken, and they may even die. Faith maintains their status, and the world supplies their power. But the true nature of faith and the world remains a mystery...

“Some gods seem to acquire power through ‘plunder’ rather than ‘symbiosis.’ They do not establish faith networks, but instead directly suck the origin of the world. The status growth rate of such gods is far faster than that of faith-based gods, but the danger is also much higher. Our race calls them ‘evil gods’...

“The growth system of demon gods is similar to that of righteous gods, also relying on faith. However, their faith networks are looser, and individuals have higher degrees of freedom, at the cost of lower status stability...

“That plane deep in the void has a status far exceeding any known god. Its mode of existence is incomprehensible, and its scale of power is immeasurable. Our race speculates it may be the remains of a ‘primordial god’ or some older, more fundamental existence. Observation continues...”

Jiang Lin retracted his gaze and looked back at the massive crystal ball.

“These ancient elves were observing gods.” He paused, adding, “And they truly observed something substantial.”

“So... the ancient archmagi of the elves were here studying gods?” Fenrir scratched his head, his voice a bit airy. “And they even got results?”

“Not just research.” Alicia walked to the console, her gaze sweeping over the dense runes. “They were trying to replicate the power systems of gods. Power of faith, status, cognitive resonance... these are things we’ve never studied at the Silver Moon Academy.”

“Because these things aren't meant for ordinary people to know,” Elune said softly. “Gods would not allow their own believers to study them.”

“The research of these ancient elves has already touched upon the essence of gods.

“But their research doesn't seem to have been passed down to later generations, and there's no record of it in the history books of the Silver Moon Kingdom.

“This ruin was sealed deep within the Starfall Corridor, the entrance hidden inside a stone tablet, with the outer layer of the tablet wrapped in space folding.”

Jiang Lin walked to the other side of the console and knelt down, his fingertips brushing over several lines of carvings that were nearly worn away.

“This is the legacy the ancient elves left for future generations.

“Not weapons, not wealth, but a form of cognition.

“Gods can be understood, they can be studied, and they can even be surpassed.”

Fenrir opened his mouth to say something but found he couldn't make a sound.

Cedric and his two teammates turned pale, their lips trembling slightly.

“If these words... were to reach the outside world, how much turmoil would they cause?”

There was a rare trace of hesitation in Alicia’s voice.

“That’s why they were sealed here.”

Jiang Lin stood up and looked around the hall.

“This ruin, this space, and even the entire Starfall Corridor are safeguards set up by the ancient elves to prevent this information from leaking.

“Only those with sufficient combat power, spatial magic attainment, and a desire for knowledge can make it here.”

The hall was quiet for a moment as everyone remained immersed in the shock brought by those carvings.

“There’s more over there.”

He took the lead in floating in that direction, with Elune following closely by his side. Fenrir shouldered his greatsword and followed, while Alicia took one last look at the carvings on the console before turning to join them.

The walls abruptly ended at the end of the corridor.

In their place was a semi-transparent light curtain, with pale silver light flowing slowly across it like ripples on water.

Through the curtain, they could see a space wider than the previous two halls combined, but the light obstructed their view, making it unclear.

Jiang Lin pressed his hand against the surface of the light curtain.

The moment his Space Perception penetrated the curtain, a surge of energy flowed into his body through his fingertips.

That energy traveled through him, probing his magic essence circuits, his soul fluctuations, his sword intent, and even the apostle mark within him.

The probe lasted for several breaths before the light curtain silently dissipated.

“It accepted you.” There was a hint of unavoidable surprise in Alicia’s voice. “That barrier was screening entrants.”

Subsequently, the group stepped into the space behind the light curtain.

Jiang Lin stopped, his golden eyes narrowing slightly.

Before them was a hemispherical hall with a dome dozens of meters high. It was completely transparent, with the starry sky slowly rotating overhead. In the center of the hall hovered a massive sphere of light, over ten meters in diameter. It was pale gold, with countless tiny specks of light flowing, converging, and exploding inside, as if an entire nebula had been compressed into this small sphere.

The surface of the light sphere was not smooth, but composed of countless tiny, prism-like crystals. Each crystal was slowly rotating, refracting light of different colors.

“This is...” Alicia’s voice was very soft, as if she were afraid of disturbing something. “A legacy.”

She walked to the light sphere and reached out, her fingertips hovering an inch from the surface.

Sensing her approach, the tiny crystals suddenly accelerated their rotation. Pale gold light spread from the point of contact, crawling up her arm and enveloping her entire body.

Alicia’s body stiffened slightly, and then she closed her eyes.

The light flowed across her skin for over a dozen breaths before slowly receding.

When she opened her eyes again, those pale gold eyes were even brighter than before, with faint starlight flickering deep within her pupils.

“I... I saw it,” she said, her voice filled with irrepressible excitement. “The cultivation path of ancient elven swordsmen. From the basic Sword Intent Condensation to the higher level of Sword Intent Manifestation, every step has detailed guidance. These things aren't in the Silver Moon Academy library at all.”

She turned and bowed solemnly to Jiang Lin.

“Thank you, Teacher, for bringing us here.”

Fenrir was the second to approach the light sphere.

He reached out a rough, large hand and pressed it against the surface. The tiny crystals similarly accelerated their rotation, and pale gold light enveloped him.

A moment later, Fenrir retracted his hand, looked down at his palm, scratched his head, and grinned.

“I saw the combat techniques of ancient berserkers. Not those fancy sword moves, but pure, life-for-life killing arts.” He paused, a flash of realization in his eyes. “No wonder I always felt my sword moves were getting stiffer the more I practiced; it turns out my path wasn't on the sword at all.”

“Your path is in your own hands,” Jiang Lin said, glancing at him. “The sword is just a tool, not the goal.”

Fenrir nodded heavily, etching those words into his heart.

Cedric and his two teammates also took turns walking to the light sphere.

The heritages they received were all different—Cedric obtained the ancient elven mages’ exquisite control methods for magic essence circuits, while his two teammates respectively gained ancient knowledge of rune engraving and potion concoction.

Elune was the last to step forward.

She reached out, and the moment her fingertips touched the surface of the light sphere, the tiny crystals accelerated their rotation. But this time, what surged out was not pale gold light, but a silver-white, cool radiance like moonlight.

The radiance enveloped Elune and lasted for a long time.

Longer than everyone else.

When the light finally receded, Elune stood in place, her pale purple eyes reflecting the flowing starlight from inside the sphere. Her entire aura had become distinctly different from before.

“What did I get?”

She looked down at her hands, a circle of extremely faint silver light lingering around her fingertips—the trace of space elements condensing in her palm.

“Ancient elven research on astral power. How to use astral power to temper the soul, how to integrate astral power into magic and swordsmanship, and how to...” She paused, her voice becoming even softer, “How to perceive the status fluctuations of gods.”

The hall went silent for a second.

“Perceive the status fluctuations of gods?” Jiang Lin’s brow furrowed slightly. “You can perceive them?”

“It’s very faint.” Elune closed her eyes, seemingly trying something. “It’s like... like there’s a lighthouse in the distance. I can feel its light, but I can’t see its shape.”

She opened her eyes and looked at Jiang Lin, then sent a mental transmission:

“There are two kinds of status fluctuations on you. One is warm, like sunlight, and the other is cold, like the abyss. They coexist within you without interfering with each other.”

Jiang Lin remained silent for a moment, offering no explanation.

He sent a transmission back:

“Don’t mention this to anyone.”

Elune nodded slightly.

Jiang Lin was the last one to walk toward the light sphere.

He raised his right hand and pressed it against the surface of the tiny crystals. It felt cool but not biting, with a texture as smooth as warm jade.

The crystals began to rotate under his palm, faster than any time before.

Pale gold light surged from inside the sphere, crawling up his arm and enveloping his entire body.

But this time, it wasn't just pale gold that surged out.

Deep blue ice soul power naturally seeped from his body, intertwining with the light of the sphere.

Dark red blood energy also flowed around him. The powers of three different origins formed three layers of halos around his body, arranged in layers like a rainbow.

...