Chapter 1678: Chapter 1678: Carmen Field
By nightfall, Xu Huo finally reached the end of the Nine Great Divine Paths, located at the center of the city. Although the city was shrouded in gray fog, making its full appearance impossible to see from any angle, time-traced fragments reveal that the city’s overall layout is circular. The Nine Great Divine Paths, where the entrance is located, are directly in front of the Central Divine Temple, forming a fan shape, broad on the outside and narrowing towards the inside. The end of the paths is the Central Divine Temple.
Although the nine avenues convene in front of the Central Divine Temple in a narrowing manner, the temple is large enough that it doesn’t feel crowded in front of the gates. Besides, the Central Divine Temple is far larger than the contiguous temples along the Nine Great Divine Paths.
The temples along the Nine Great Divine Paths are merely palace-like buildings not too tall for people, but the Central Divine Temple seems to be built with the aim of holding the title of the world’s tallest building, with an indescribable grandeur. Of course, in a game world where even floating cities exist, it’s hard to define a height limit for ground-standing structures, but the fog enshrouding the Central Divine Temple amplifies this imposing grandeur invisibly.
The entrance to the Central Divine Temple consists of nine gates, which retract to the sides in sequence. The central gate, which is also the foremost, is the largest among them. The eight flanking gates stand side by side in four rows, and from descriptions heard in time fragments, the entire front of the Central Divine Temple protrudes outward.
Even at the doorway, it’s impossible to capture the entire gate in one view. The visible portion of the gate pillars is carved with eyes of varying sizes, yet some of the larger ones have been slashed open, and the gate pillars bear scars as if they’d been torn by sharp blades.
The ground between the pillars is no better off—it’s as if it’s been plowed over repeatedly, totally unrecognizable from its original state, now covered in a thick layer of dust.
The situation inside the temple is even worse than outside. Not only are the floors and walls broken, but even the high and distant dome has been shattered. After the building was destroyed, the debris remained in place, providing minimal cover, roughly maintaining the shape of the Central Divine Temple.
Some of the floating stone fragments reveal partial carving marks, besides the known eye engravings. The rest are unrecognizable.
However, the Central Divine Temple is far more intricate and luxurious than those unfinished temples. The flooring is made from a milky, glossy stone, which is expensive. The other stones floating in the air are also mainly costly building materials, suggesting that some parts were likely inlaid, though none have survived.
Heading deeper into the temple, through a partition "assembled" from massive stone slabs, Xu Huo discovered a stone pedestal that hasn’t been completely destroyed. This pedestal was built with the Central Divine Temple, possibly serving as a seat for the Divine Envoy.
Nearby, he found a Spatial Ray. With a wave of his hand, he set time in motion. Seconds later, he saw the undamaged Central Divine Temple from the time fragment.
The first sight was that undiminished stone pedestal in front of him, encrusted with large and small red and green gemstones. Even the steps leading up were paved with gemstone surfaces. The pedestal, over ten meters high, was decorated with an estimated tens of thousands of various gemstones, topped with a broad chair forged directly from gemstones.
On the chair sat two men wearing tall hats, their faces obscured by masks.
The man on the left spoke, "...People cannot escape death forever. Each time we see our skin grow more aged, our fear of death deepens. Since humans cannot evade death, it’s natural to plan for the afterlife. What’s wrong with building a city as a tomb?"
His gaze was on the base of the stone seat, prompting Xu Huo, standing in the middle, to turn around.
Appearing in their sight was a surprising figure, the blue-eyed man he "encountered" in the time fragment of the residential area, now with a flower basket bought from a child at his feet.
Unfazed by the Divine Envoy’s slightly resentful words, the blue-eyed man replied nonchalantly, "Build your tomb; no one’s stopping you. But if you make it too grand, you can’t stop others from wanting it."
"Nonsense and fallacy!" the left Divine Envoy scolded.
The blue-eyed man looked at him with a smile, "You try to secure eternal afterlife worship through religion, and that’s fine. Why can’t I do the same? After all, your Divine Eye was also seized. You can’t expect to be righteous when taking from others and act like it’s unjust when others take from you."
The right Divine Envoy stopped his companion, speaking in a gentle tone, "Aren’t you afraid of death? Aren’t you afraid that by troubling us today, you’ll face divine retribution and have your tombs unearthed one day?"
"You two are amusing," said the blue-eyed man casually, "If I’m dead, I’m dead; I won’t feel a thing. I’d have no problem if my corpse were fed to chickens, if only for recycling."
The two chairs’ occupants, enraged by his rogue statement, began to tremble. Before they could express their anger, they heard him continue while stroking his chin, "But you’ve given me an idea. Burying treasure in tombs only means it can’t go with you... Here’s what: since you’ll already be feeding chickens, why not hide it in the chickens’ bellies? Want me to help?"
"You’re too much!" The two Divine Envoys flung their wide sleeves, each producing a milky-white round stone in hand, akin to the Primeval Stones spoken of by believers, as mentioned by the blue-eyed man.
Merely looking at the Primeval Stones offered no clue about their power, but the next second, the distant blue-eyed man raised his hands, fingers plucking as if tuning unseen strings. Simultaneously, the two Divine Envoys were in shock, desperately clutching their Primeval Stones.
"Primeval Stones are good things, but you can’t wield them properly." With the blue-eyed man’s actions, ten exceptionally fine lines appeared under his hands. The lines connected each of his fingertips, threading through space, linking the two Primeval Stones separately.
Based on earlier events, the two Divine Envoys seemed capable of harnessing the Primeval Stones’ powers, but now they could only hold onto them to prevent the blue-eyed man from seizing them. Their own Primeval Stones seemed more like the blue-eyed man’s possessions, resonating with him despite the century-old time gap.
In fact, the next second, a faint glow appeared on the two Primeval Stones, the glow traveling along the ten fine lines controlled by the blue-eyed man, seamlessly reaching his fingertips.
The seemingly irreversible situation left the two Divine Envoys dumbfounded and furious, shouting in unison, "Carmen Field!"