Starfall 839, March 29th, Ten Thousand Realms Sacrificial Site, Salt Sea Plain.
This is a desolate place without any geological features. A natural disaster-level magic strike in the past war completely wiped the large magic building built here, [Hainamut Prophecy Hub] from the surface, and the aftermath was It melts everything, and eventually cools and condenses into a plain covered with highly toxic crystalline salt.
However, the 'Hainamut Prophecy Hub', which originally collected multiverse-level information and then calculated and even predicted the future, had no warning for this.
Not to talk about the details of the past wars, the Salt Sea Plain has undergone great changes today. When the Starfall Mycroft civilization began to re-develop the Ten Thousand Realms Sacrificial Site more than a year ago, several legendary powerhouses took action. , forcibly degrading all the toxic substances on the plains. The natural mentor and the Elf Queen teamed up to exert the blessing of natural divine power on this place, causing a special extraordinary plant that can live in a high acid-base environment to begin to sprout on this land. .
A year has passed, and green has spread on the plain reflecting the glitter of crystallized salt. Judging from this growth rate, it will only take a few decades for them to spread throughout the entire Ten Thousand Worlds Sacrificial Site.
However, behind this green, there are deeper secrets buried.
Just below that small patch of vibrant green plants, three kilometers deeper than their roots, there is a strange, completely artificial underground cavity. It is a perfect hemisphere, with a flat ground and The dome has a spectacular arc, and layers of dark green plant roots support this huge cavity with a radius of five kilometers. Countless rattans can be seen hanging from the plant dome, forming a roof that is stronger than iron. column.
This is the base used by the Natural Master to transform the natural environment of the entire Ten Thousand Realms Sacrificial Site. It is a super giant natural realm located deep underground - in other words, the inside of the cavity is actually the Natural Master's 'body'.
"Be careful, and you may break some roots or vine pillars."
Joshua walked into this cavity guided by the force of nature. He heard Garan Nord's obviously joking voice: "Otherwise, I will be in pain."
"I will pay attention." The man replied seriously - which made the natural teacher quite bored. After her will chatted with the warrior for a few words, she returned to her true body in Mycroft's world.
Joshua walked towards a huge wooden research institute in the center of the underground dome.
With Joshua's speed, he quickly entered the research institute and could see many elf scholars hurriedly walking through various laboratories and information libraries. They didn't even notice the arrival of the soldiers - Joshua headed directly towards them. Walking towards the large practice center No. 2 located in the center of the research institute, he opened the door without hesitation, and then directly asked the people inside: "What was the result?"
Everyone in the practice had known about Joshua's arrival when he entered the cavity, so they were not surprised. They could see that the spiritual master William and the psychic legend Stanley were whispering to the soul model suspended in the center of the room. While talking about technical issues, a young man with black hair, Wuming from the world of Siberia, was in front of the model, carefully reading an analysis report.
After hearing Joshua's words, Wuming, who was now his employee, was the first to raise his head. He nodded first, and then shook his head: "It's hard to say."
"Is there still no way?"
Hearing these words, Joshua couldn't help but frown and walked to the soul model: "The problem of the guardians of the big information library... is it really that serious?"
It can be seen that the ghost model of the soul placed in the center of the room does not look like a normal human being. Each part of it has shown various strange changes. Some places have grown, some have shrunk, and some have expanded excessively. Completely obliterate other parts of the soul structure.
"Their souls have indeed been completely, almost irreversibly distorted and alienated..."
Wuming raised his head from the report. Several weeks of intense work had made his body a little tired, but his eyes were still full of energy.
He did not exchange greetings with Joshua, but directly raised the report in his hand and handed it to Joshua: "It is really unimaginable that someone would transform his soul and body into such a terrifying appearance - I thought Soul puppet is the limit.”
"Moreover, even soul puppets were forced to be transformed by others, but these people took the initiative to attack themselves. This level of determination and ruthlessness is really shocking."
"But this situation is not incurable."
The First Practice Office is responsible for the environmental transformation and planning of the Wanjie Sacrificial Site. The second practice office that was later opened was responsible for the rescue and follow-up treatment of the guards in the unified information library.
More than half a year ago, after the Black Mist Mother Body was sealed by the gods Mycroft and many legends, they discovered the entrance to the demiplane in the black hole accretion disk of World No. 1. After a lot of effort, the gods and gods found the entrance to the demiplane. Finally, the large information library was moved back to the Sacrificial Site of All Realms, and existed as the 'moon' of the sacrificial site plane.
After opening the information database, everyone who was preparing to welcome their compatriots who had been away for thousands of years was surprised to find that in order to survive in the extremely harsh environment around the black hole, the guards of the large information database resolutely inflicted many terrors on themselves, and even called them... The twisted transformation allows them to maintain 'survival' as much as possible while maintaining a certain degree of sanity and inheriting knowledge, which is just survival. There is no doubt that this transformation even comes close to making them almost no longer human.
In order to save these compatriots who have sacrificed too much, the major forces rarely have any differences. They decided to join forces for treatment, reversely contact the consequences of various transformations, and restore the guards of the large information library to normal humans. However, this work has changed from one They encountered a big problem at the beginning, that is, after thousands of years of continuous long-term transformation, this twisted soul and body shape have been fixed. They were 'born for this', not the result of subsequent transformation. Faced with these The descendants of the original big information library guards, even legends, can hardly guarantee to save them while maintaining the opponent's original will.
The original nameless technician, now the nameless 'Lotram', was originally a high-level technician specializing in soul puppets. He also read through many soul science classics of the Hyborian civilization. In the past six months, he has been supported by Joshua. Having absorbed the knowledge of soul science and necromancy from Mycroft's world, he is now regarded as an authority in this field, so he was invited by the Second Practice to carry out rescue work as a technical foreign aid.
"Can it be treated?"
After hearing the answer from Wu Ming—others called him Lotram—Joshua couldn't help but feel a little excited. He said, "What should we do specifically?"
At this time, William and Stanley, two spiritual and psychic legends who were originally communicating on the sidelines, ended their communication with each other. There was no politeness and everyone went directly to the topic of conversation. Among them, William was familiar with Joshua, so he took a step forward, pointed at the soul model and spoke first: "To be honest, this solidification transformation of connected souls is very scary. In essence, it is similar to the most extreme The 'blasphemous curse', and then distorting the body of the transformed person, this kind of courage is really amazing - you see, even the core of the soul has been eroded."
After that, Stanley, the psychic legend, an old man with meticulous appearance, serious and majestic face, took over the conversation. He frowned and said: "So we think that we need you to join forces with us and start with the stairs and the soul at the same time. Through the connection between the two, the self-healing instincts of the body and soul are reactivated when the body is transformed, and the body grows into a complete soul.”
On the other side, Wuming also nodded and said: "But this is just the beginning - after the souls are roughly repaired, we have to give them a new body to warm up the souls that are generally healed but are very fragile. , the original body has been transformed too badly, and is very unsuitable for a normal human soul to live in."
"Based on what I'm good at, I personally recommend creating a puppet body for them. Although the flesh and blood body is full of vitality, it is not stable enough... I hate this technology, but it does have advantages."
With that said, the three people began to discuss various characteristics of the soul again. Joshua could only shake his head and reminded them: "You are experts. I will not discuss the specific treatment process, but continue. In the next few days, I have an incarnation that will be at the Ten Thousand Realms Sacrificial Ground, and you can summon me if you need it."
After speaking, he didn't care about the thanks from several people, but looked at the twisted human form on the other side of the soul model.
That is the model of the current body of the guards of the large information library - a soft ball of flesh that roughly looks like a human, but actually has no bones.
Thousands of years ago, the unified information database was knocked out of its own world.
Among them, the surviving guardians used the most extreme methods to transform their bodies and souls in order to adapt to the harsh environment of year-round no light, strange gravity, ultra-high radiation, and very few material resources.
They use almost a curse, or even a curse, to distort their bodies and twist their souls. They engrave all the knowledge and common sense they need in their blood and souls, and in the memories of themselves and their descendants to ensure that they can survive almost forever. Maintain this knowledge to repair damage and errors in the large information database and maintain its existence.
But because of this, their bodies have turned into amorphous ooze monsters, because there is no need for bones to support them under low gravity, and there is no need to consume a lot of mineral resources. The surface of their bodies is covered with sarcomas, ganglia, strange tentacles and fungi. They don't look like humans at all. This form even makes them forget about 'walking', 'seeing', 'listening' and 'eating'. What is common sense anyway, because they already have no legs, no eyes, no ears and no mouth.
They squirm and float, adsorbing themselves to the ground. They rely on energy perception and mental communication to observe the world, and absorb nutrients from the bacterial bed through the pits and sarcomas on their skin.
What a grotesque, ugly, twisted and disgusting shape.
So great too.
"If we don't find it at the beginning, we really have nothing to do."
Staring at this ugly and majestic form, Joshua whispered: "But it has been found, so we must do our best to treat it - this is one of the few things we can do for these defenders of civilization."
Joshua left the underground cavity.
The laboratory located in the body of the Natural Teacher can use the power of nature to simulate various natural ecological environments and conduct various practical experiments. It is a dream place for all relevant technical personnel. The Natural Teacher himself often uses his own power characteristics to improve himself. Evolution, the only pity is that this ability is not suitable for fighting in other worlds. Garan Nord, located in the mainland, is the most powerful. The only thing that can barely reverse this disadvantage is that it can only create underground cavities. In this way, a large range of natural areas are condensed.
Joshua walked out of the natural teacher's body and walked in the long vine passage. He did not speed up deliberately and walked like an ordinary person.
As he walked, he raised his head and looked at the flat top of the passage with somewhat scattered eyes.
Starfall 839 is another new year. In this year, many major events happened.
The world of Alpha Sanctuary has been taken out of the mother body of the black mist by the gods. This world is now located in the center of the space-time realm where the original black mist was, floating in that small galaxy, and the original life inside the world of Alpha Sanctuary is under special care. Protection, this is one of the few world-class laboratories that can understand the birth and evolution of life in the early days of a high-magic world. It is an extremely precious source of research information and an ecological protection site.
The world of Alpha Sanctuary rebuilt by Black Mist is almost a brand new world. The high concentration of energy brought by the Great Demonic Tide accelerated the cohesion and development of those primitive organisms. Microorganisms that are exactly the same as the ancestors of the Sanctuary Civilization have already begun to take shape.
Black Mist cannot create the Creator's civilization, it reproduces the entirety of the Creator's race.
Starting from microorganisms to the final prototype of the Creator, it has arranged everything—under the shell of complete destruction, there is a new world full of hope.
An incarnation of Joshua has been stationed there for a long time. If necessary, he will quickly transfer his will and wake up around Alpha Sanctuary.
As for the black mist.
According to the observations and predictions of Nostradamus, after everyone sealed the black mist mother body, there may still be some scattered black mist in the multiverse, such as the black mist that was sent to distant places to explore, and the black mist that was defeated and sealed by other civilizations. Wait, this black mist is likely to continue to wander in the void, posing a threat to various worlds and civilizations. He proposed to take the initiative to find the existence of these scattered black mists and eliminate them all.
However, by analyzing the original program and structure of the Black Mist mother body, everyone found that it is difficult for the daughter Black Mist to survive alone after losing the mother body's database and energy reserves. Because there is no self-storage structure, the daughter Black Mist cannot survive without high magic There is no way to move freely in the world, or around the Void Vortex. They need regular replenishment of energy. The most important thing is that they have lost the ability to divide. One less group will always be less, so they are not used as Advanced threat plans were implemented.
What's more, even if the child bodies mutate and become a new mother body, it will take more than a thousand years for these child bodies without a database to grow to the level of the Black Mist Mother Body today.
In addition, the Empire's External Exploration Department launched two more exploration missions, and the luck of these two was good. The eighteen worlds explored were all safe, without any special circumstances, and there were even two primitive life forms among them. One world has just developed to the point where primitive amphibious marine life has set foot on land, and the other has developed to the point where there is excess oxygen and giant arthropods roam the world.
However, because it is too primitive, except that the giant arthropods are more delicious, it basically has no colonial value. In other words, it is not suitable enough. Maybe the fishmen will like it more, at least Joshua looked at the fishman high priest at the time. Godard's expression was obviously moving, but what's strange is that the Golden Dragon King also showed a thoughtful expression at that time... Could it be that it likes to eat grilled crabs
Speaking of which, Joshua has confirmed one thing, that is, the current empress of the empire, the main palace of Emperor Israel, in terms of seniority, is actually the niece of the Golden Dragon King of this generation, but it is not surprising at all, because she was with the goblin last time When the Queen was chatting, the warrior unexpectedly learned that the entire Diamond royal family could be regarded as direct descendants of the Queen. Of course, spiritually, the mark of the fairy was still condensed in the soul of the royal family.
The bloodlines in the magical world are really messy. Are there no normal humans like my Radcliffe family? Joshua thought so.
After walking out of the underground cavity and into the woods of the Salt Sea Plain, Joshua did not choose to go home directly—recently, Firefly and Rin were leading the students of Winter Castle Academy to organize the college's winter sports meeting, and also There is a practical assessment at the beginning of the year, and the two referees are responsible for hosting the event and arbitrating various matters.
No. 3 was also invited by the sage Faina, Nostradamus, Barbarossa and others a few days ago. He used his special existence to quickly analyze and integrate various encrypted data in the large information database, and artificially Most of the smart girl's computing power will be used in this area.
Nowadays, when a warrior goes home, the most he can do is eat and walk with Hei and Xiaoguang. But in fact, these two playful brats may have sneaked out to find Ivan, Amira and others while he was away. Or he went out with Lisa, Syndicate and others to do missions or go somewhere to play. Joshua believed that he was not a devil and couldn't bear to interrupt their entertainment, so he planned to wait until the game was over to settle the scores and increase the amount of training.
So now Joshua feels like he has nowhere to go.
At this moment, an invisible spirit and indescribable will emerged from the other side of the void. Only Joshua could see and sense it, and then gradually condensed into the image of a silver python.
The steel python Kallis appeared next to Joshua, and it slowly wrapped around Joshua's shoulders and asked with some confusion: "What are you thinking about, friend."
"I originally planned to wait for you to enter the void before looking for you, but I noticed that you have been in a daze here, so I came here on my own initiative."
After Joshua noticed the Steel Python, he did not stop him from becoming more humane and intimate. He slowly walked across the salt sea, walking among the gray crystals... After a long time, the warrior spoke in a low voice. Said: "Karlis, I have a question."
"Huh? Just ask." Kallis shook his head indifferently: "If I can answer, I will definitely answer."
Joshua's eyes were not focused at all. He looked straight ahead - the empty and unrippled crystal plain, and then said lightly: "Have you ever resented us?"
This question was obviously not in Steel Python's imagination. It couldn't help but be stunned for a moment and repeated: "You guys?"
"Yes. Sage, the Mycrov civilization of the Era of Glory, we, the Mycrov civilization of the Starfall Era."
Joshua almost never hides his thoughts, and this time is no exception. He stepped on pieces of salt crystals and whispered softly: "To be more specific, you will hate and resent the place where the evil god was brought - the Ten Thousand Worlds Sacrifice. —And the Mycrof civilization that created the Ten Thousand Realms Sacrificial Site and opened the Door to the End?"
There was a long silence, and only the rustling sound of Joshua crushing the crystal could be heard.
A gust of wind blew up, kicking up countless sand and dust, and the Steel Python Kallis finally broke the long silence.
"Hate... resentment... such a human word."
It muttered in a low voice: "Having paid attention to civilization for too long, I can also say that I understand the human will of the world very well... But how to put it, maybe you can't understand it."
Kallis tilted his head slightly and looked at Joshua, who also tilted his head. It said in a strange and heavy tone: "Sages and the Era of Glory, you who are the successors may not understand it, or you only understand it. It's one-sided, but as someone of the same generation, I know and know many things about him."
"He has helped many worlds and saved many worlds." Kallis said one word at a time, very seriously. It seemed to be remembering, and even its eyes were a little distracted: "Joshua, just like you are now In doing so, the sages are always trying to help the world around them as much as possible."
"But in that era, the world's galaxy was not as bleak as it is now. It was prosperous, and countless dynamic worlds communicated and communicated with each other - naturally, there were many worlds in trouble, and sages traveled in the peaceful world, helping those who encountered difficulties. world."
"During that period, he had a great time and met many very interesting friends. Of course, he also encountered many very ordinary difficulties and encountered very difficult and terrifying enemies."
"He fought against Chaos and the Evil God more than once, and even saved many worlds several times without almost everyone knowing, but he didn't take it seriously, thinking that this was something everyone would do, and it was nothing more than normal. Little things.”
Steel Python's tone was heavy. It tightened its body and closed its eyes: "Even when he built the Ten Thousand Worlds Sacrificial Site, it was to better help other worlds... He even devoted all his strength to help the entire multi-dimensional world. All civilizations in the universe.”
"Is he a villain? Of course not. The Saint is the most perfect, pure, kind-hearted, and powerful existence I have ever seen in my long life. He seems to exist to save this dark multiverse. Born with countless good intentions and authority in the world, his power has almost no selfish motives - anyone who tries to accuse him morally has either an ulterior motive, or his heart is so dark that he cannot see such pure light."
Joshua listened to Kallis' words in silence. At this time, he had stopped and stood in the middle of the Salt Sea Plain. Looking around from here, there are endless plains, a vast plain with no end in sight. Standing here, there is no road, no direction, and even the boundaries between heaven and earth have disappeared.
And Kallis continued: "Of course, the fact that I say so many good things and boast so much about the glory of the saints does not mean that I don't hate him."
It opened its eyes, and its red snake eyes were filled with pure, burning light: "Of course I hate it."
There was a trace of sadness in the tone of the Steel Python. It whispered: "The Kallis people are my children, and I will never forget their extinction. No matter how many times the sages have helped me, this one mistake is enough to make me regard them as For enemies.”
Hearing this, Joshua's hands relaxed slightly, and then clenched slightly. The soldier raised his head high, unable to see his eyes, and unable to know his expression and thoughts at this time.
"but."
Kallis and Joshua raised their heads together, and after another period of silence, it whispered: "But...
But Joshua, my flame-rekindler.
You know, no matter how unforgettable the hatred is, it is just dust, an insignificant ripple in the multiverse. The more you witness the rise and fall of civilizations, the birth and destruction of worlds, the more you should understand this.
Sticking to this point, sticking to this dust-like hatred, and then starting to harbor malice towards everything around you, rejecting, destroying, and frantically trying to destroy everything in existence - in this case, what is the difference between being an evil god
If I stick to this and cannot be freed, I will never be able to move forward and take revenge on the evil god who really destroyed my child. "
The steel python circled its body and came to the warrior's arm. It lifted the warrior's hand and looked at Joshua who lowered his head. The will of the world, Kallis, said so sincerely and calmly: "Rekindle the flame. Sir, don’t get hung up on this. You don’t need to care whether I feel self-blame or hatred, or my attitude towards the sages and the Era of Glory.
You just need to keep moving forward, keep getting stronger, and do what you are doing now—helping the world in need, destroying the conspiracy of Chaos—that is enough, enough.
I will do my best to help you, we will do our best to help you, and all the great wills will watch you together, just like they watched the saints back then, watching you embark on your own path. "
Kallis' head gradually moved closer to Joshua's forehead. It stopped talking, and a gentle, majestic, calm and magnificent will extended towards Joshua.
—This is a contract without words, a promise without words—
From forehead to forehead, colorless light began to rise in the center of the salt sea plain.
-please-
Kill all the evil gods
Destroy all chaos
Those who rekindle the flame, fulfill your covenant with steel and fire, burn away the darkness and evil, and become a light in this hopeless multiverse.
Just like a torch, light us up and light the way ahead.
——
The inconspicuous light dimmed.
Joshua and Carlisle's foreheads parted.
"I see."
The warrior said softly. He raised his head and looked at the end of the world. Joshua put the Kallis wrapped around his hand on his shoulder.
Very heavy—
It clearly has no mass, just a pure spiritual body.
But still very heavy.
It was incomparably heavy, as if the cause and effect of the entire world was placed there.
But this feeling is not unfamiliar.
Because behind the warriors, there are many worlds.
Kallis, Ilgona, Blood Moon Abyss... one illusion after another appears and dissipates. Grandia, Cronus, Hyboria... one after another, entangled with cause and effect.
They turned into long chains and turned into heavy rocks, which were dragged forward by Joshua. An unknown amount of time has passed until now. But now, it's just a shelter civilization and black fog. This doesn't affect anything, because the warrior's goal has never changed from beginning to end. He clearly knows what kind of land and road he is stepping on. .
"Listen, I didn't decide to eradicate all evil gods because of you."
"I went because I wanted to go."
Joshua said lightly, causing Kallis to laugh quietly, and at the same time, he stepped forward.
This is a step that has nothing to do with any cause and effect, any guilt, any burden and responsibility. Joshua takes this step only for himself, and the warrior will continue to take this step until the end that no one knows.
Yes.
He's going to do something.
And these things will change the world.
Then, what will happen
That, is the story after that.
Those who can do things do things, and those who can speak out speak out. There is a certain amount of heat and a certain amount of light. Even like a firefly, it can shine a little light in the dark.
No need to wait for the torch. If there is no torch from now on, I will be the only light.
I like this sentence of Mr. Lu Xun very much. From here on, the volume of Light of Eternal Darkness is completely over. By the way, the title should be I am the Torch, but I typed it wrong.
In each volume, I want to express some thoughts and elaborate some spirit, and I have carefully written those thoughts and introductions in the volume introductions. I just don’t know how I write them and how readers will understand them.
I will try my best to write what I want to write, so that I can feel the spirit of burning, and this is one of the original motivations for the book Soul of Burning Steel.
Please vote.
(End of chapter)