Swallowing the Stars: Analyzing All Things

It was late at night, and all was quiet.

A secret room deep within the royal palace.

"Whoosh~"

The heavy stone door opened, and the king of the kingdom walked in alone. The stone door slowly closed behind him, shutting out all the noise and disturbances of the outside world.

The secret chamber was not large, with walls made of black rock. In the center of the chamber stood an altar made of an unknown material, upon which was enshrined a statue of a god.

The statue is only the size of a fist, and is silver-white all over. Its surface is covered with fine patterns and emits a faint light, like a solitary lamp in the darkness.

Before the altar

The king of the kingdom stood there for a long time, his figure casting a long shadow in the silvery-white light.

"Tap!" "Tap!" "Tap!"

Suddenly, footsteps approached from outside. As the door to the secret chamber reopened, a young Stone-Skinned Clan member walked in.

"Father."

The young man stepped forward, his eyes filled with worry as he looked at the kingdom's ruler. "Those elders..."

"They will not offer sacrifices." The king of the kingdom had his back to him, his voice calm, as if he were talking about something that had nothing to do with him. "No one will offer sacrifices, even if death is imminent."

"Cha Yan..."

The king turned around and looked at his son, his most talented son and his most prized son.

He reached the Domain Lord level at a young age, even faster than I did back then. If it weren't for this sudden disaster, this young man should have been the heir to the kingdom and the hope for the future of this continent.

He will grow under the guidance of the elders, be tempered under the protection of the king, and when the time is right, take over the scepter of the kingdom and rule this land.

"Father!"

The young man knelt there, head bowed, hands clasped in front of his chest, respectfully preparing to listen to his father's teachings.

"Take these and leave this place." The king took a stone lamp from his robes and handed it to his most valued son.

Cha Yan was stunned. "Father, that temple—"

"The temple has long been out of reach and cannot be relied upon." The kingdom's ruler interrupted him, his voice tinged with bitterness. "It couldn't be contacted for over ten thousand epochs, do you think it can still be re-established?"

He inherited the kingdom from the previous ruler and knew far more than the other elders.

Temple of worship...

It was probably destroyed long ago by those powerful beings from beyond the realm.

The stone lamp in his hand had an extremely vast interior, containing the kingdom's accumulated heritage and treasures over countless years.

The people of the kingdom have become corrupt and decadent, shrinking back in the face of war and no longer even possessing the resolve to sacrifice themselves.

People have become corrupt.

But civilization cannot decay.

Kingdoms may perish, and the Stoneskin tribe may be wiped out, but the knowledge, wisdom, and memories passed down through countless years cannot be forgotten with their deaths.

"Father, what about you?" Cha Yan tremblingly took the stone lamp and hugged it tightly to his chest.

The king of the kingdom did not answer.

He turned around and faced the statue again. The silvery light shone on his face, and on his tired face, there was no fear, only a resolute calm.

"Let's go."

His voice was very soft.

The young man knelt on the ground, tears falling to the floor. He solemnly performed a farewell ceremony, then stood up and turned to leave.

The stone gate slowly closed behind us.

In the secret chamber, only the king of the kingdom, the statue, and a long, lingering sigh remained.

……

Under the night sky, the dark red dome of the Lanqi Continent hung low like a canopy, and the blurry halo had dimmed to the extreme, leaving only a faint yellowish ring at the edge.

A deep, dark red enveloped the land, leaving only blurry outlines of distant hills, forests, and rivers.

"Whoosh~"

A streak of light silently streaked across the sky.

Lin Yan's figure landed silently on the edge of a desolate valley.

The ruined valley in the west.

According to the information given by the native in the illusion, this is the place where he found the complete skeleton.

"This is roughly the location!"

Lin Yan looked down at the desolate valley below, where the ground was covered with gray-black pebbles, interspersed with withered grass roots and some unknown plant remains.

The air was thick with the smell of decay, as if some ancient corpse had been rotting underground for countless years, its stench of death permeating every inch of the soil.

As the squad leader, Lin Yan does have a little bit of authority compared to ordinary team members who are at the cosmic level.

For example, in non-combat situations, he can leave the squad a certain distance on his own, as long as it does not delay the mission and the legion does not issue any emergency orders, he can act freely.

This permission is not very extensive.

But that was enough for him to do some private investigations.

"Buzz~"

Lin Yan's mental energy spread in all directions, like invisible tentacles, and soon covered the entire valley.

Gravel, withered grass, debris, rock strata—

He used his mental power to search every inch of the valley, looking for every possible hiding place, leaving no corner unchecked.

"no."

A moment later, Lin Yan frowned slightly.

His mental energy found no trace of any bones in this ruined valley.

The valley is empty.

Or rather, the ruins that once existed have long been emptied, and there is no trace of any recent fighting or other activities here.

I thought about it.

Lin Yan took out a miniature detector from his world ring. This was a detector he had purchased from the Virtual Universe Company when he returned to the extraterrestrial battlefield.

The importance of detectors in extraterritorial battlefields is self-evident. Whether it's tracking, counter-tracking, detecting trails, or locating treasures, these technologically advanced detection instruments are far more effective than telekinesis.

After all, mental power has a certain range and cannot be spread out to explore at all times.

"Did I come to the wrong place?"

Half an hour later, Lin Yan turned off the detector, a question rising in his mind.

"wrong!"

Lin Yan immediately realized that he had not looked in the wrong place. This ruined valley was the only ancient ruined site in the western continent that he had explored, and there was no way he was wrong about the location.

But the valley was empty.

He wasn't sure if the skeleton had been moved or if the native had lied to him in the illusion, but under the influence of the mental illusion at the time, the probability of the latter lying was extremely low.

"Looks like it was a wasted trip."

Lin Yan muttered to himself, his gaze sweeping over the desolate valley. Although he felt a slight regret, he stopped dwelling on it.

He wasn't absolutely certain of success; he came here merely to see the complete skeleton the natives had described. If he found it, it would be a pleasant surprise; if not, he would have to give up for the time being.

"Whoosh!"

Lin Yan's figure rose from the ground, transforming into a streak of light and disappearing into the dark red night sky.

……