[ POV Change ]
The Ancient Orchid Ruins were filled with spherical dome shaped buildings as the entire city of a hundred mile radius was in a square shape along with lotus murals in the city .
The majority of the houses were small and compact belong to commoners .
While the larger homes with courtyards belonged to Noble Families .
The central area of the City was the most safest and well guarded .The City lord's Mansion of the Ancient Orchid Ruins .
The Military Training Grounds was placed on the central axis of the city .
The city had a stone fort made of black marble used as a diaster refugee with a trap area next to it to protect the fort from demon beasts .
In the ancient orchid ruins ,many would occasionally hear the roars of demon beasts roaming around but as Lin Lingtian and Xiao Ning'er walked through the relic of the past there was only absolute silence .
Xiao Ning'er had a melancholy look in her eyes as she looked on at the broken ruins and occasionally broken pieces of armours that told the story of the fall of this one magnificent place .
Lin Lingtian could only gulp as he continued to absorb soul shards of the thousands that died in the last battle before the fall of this place .
Closing his eyes , Lin Lingtian found himself in his soul sea as he looked on at the Spiritual stone tablet . This thing had formed when he had gained the ability to absorb souls , soul shards and soul intents .
The Spiritual stone tablet was a item that recorded the memories from the soul shards he absorbed .
Due to Lin Lingtian continuously absorbing soul shards of hundreds of soldiers that died in the ancient orchid ruins , the Spiritual stone tablet was glowing with mysterious inscription arrays .
Placing his astral hand on the center of the Spiritual stone tablet . It began to glow as like a broken dam , memories began to flow into Lin Lingtian.
Memories and Years of Training and Experiences flowed into Lin Lingtian's mind .
Memories and Experiences of several Alchemists from the Apprentice rank to the Master rank of the Sacred Empire Era .
Memories and Experiences of Inscription Array Masters , Hunters and Demon Spiritualists flowed into Lin Lingtian's head .
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Out of the thousands of memories flowing into Lin Lingtian's head one stood out .
The memory of the fall of the Ancient Orchid City
Lin Lingtian found himself seeing humans walking on the street again without a care in the world , surrounded by a mighty looking city.
All of the sudden, Lin Lingtian saw the peace get broken as a demon beast horde attacked the city, he himself was standing in front of one colossal Demon Beasts horde.
'What in the…'
Lin Lingtian lifted his head and almost couldn't
believe his eyes. A Beast that was 100 meters
big, was killing and destroying everything.
Maybe because this was just a memory , the War God Technique was not reacting .
Some Legend Rank men were taking families to escape, while others of the Demi God rank remained to fight.
Against the Colossal Demon Beast , The Spiritual Gods of Metal , Wind , Darkness and Light fought with everything they had . However, because of the sheer number of the Demon Beasts it was just a matter of time before the demon beasts
won. The entire city was engulfed in chaos .
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Lin Lingtian blinked a few times , as he found himself back walking alongside of Xiao Ning'er .
A smirk made it's way on his face , Lin Lingtian couldn't help but be impressed . The Inscription array masters and Alchemists of the sacred empire era were built different from the present versions .
Masters of the craft of Inscription Arrays and Alchemy each had a way unique was to fight.
Traditionally, there were only two main mediums on which inscriptions would be used, either on equipment like weapons and armour, or on scrolls. But the inscription array masters of old had with their creativity , tedious attitude and years of experimentation had found a way to channel the power of inscriptions in an ingenious way through characteristics of Alderblood wood.
Although possessing only a fraction of the explosive might released by scrolls, the talismans that they had invented were far more versatile and practical for use in regular battle scenarios, easier to reproduce in volume, and required far less soul force by the inscriptionist to create.
On the downside, the intricacy and precision required in the base shapes, paired with the high complexity of others would be able to craft them inscriptions used, meant that not many successfully.
Lin Lingtian's 1000% Increased Enlightenment was comprehending every memory ,every emotion , every brush stroke , every design made by the inscription array master of the Snow Wind Era .
Lin Lingtian couldn't help but lick his lips as he
found the memories of one time use talismans that provided extreme benefits in exchange for crippling effects .
If he recreated those talismans and used them on himself and with the system he might have found a way to greatly increase his strength .
The Alchemists of that Era were no slouch , having many Techniques that used flames needed for pill refinement as offensive attacks .
Memories of thousands of lost extremely powerful pill recipes and their creation methods were currently in Lin Lingtian's head .
Taking a deep breath to stop his excitement , Lingtian and Xiao Ning'er walked towards a dilapidated building .
From the memories he obtained , Lin Lingtian knew this was one of the entrances towards the Ancient Orchid Treasury .
"What are these words?" Xiao Ning'er looked at
Lin Lingtian and asked.
There was a stone tablet below the statue.Lin Lingtian brushed off the dust on the surface and, with the aid of the moonlight, he was able to clearly make out the words on it.
"This is the language of the Sacred Empire," he explained, "It says: Those who follows me, shall be honoured. Those who oppose me, shall be perished. What big words!"
Lin Lingtian felt his blood boil , these tyrannical words were from the Emperor that ruled over this land , Emperor Kong Ming . When his people needed him the most , he vanished . To Lin Lingtian who had experienced and felt the memories of hundreds of soldiers that protected this city , Emperor Kong Ming was not a king , he was a coward who turned his back on the people that he was supposed to lead .
Lin Lingtian causally kicked the remains of the statue completely destroying it as he said ," You have no right to speak these words ."
Xiao Ning'er was worried for Lin Lingtian as her hand clasped his shoulder .
" Lin , what's wrong ? "
" ( Sigh ) Let's just go ."
Lin Lingtian clapped his hand and used the Wood Dao Scripture to control the grass all around them , to break through the entrance and began to crisscross with one another to form a staircase leading downward into the abyss .
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Lin Lingtian took out a torch from his interspatial ring and lit it up. Using the light, he examined the surroundings. It appears that they had entered into the underground palace that lead to the Ancient Orchid Treasury . Just like a deep maze, there were five to six passages they could take, but they did not know where they would lead to. He found a line of text on a stone wall by his side.
"Emperor Kong Ming's resting place," Lin Lingtian murmured, and was suddenly surprised. "This is the tomb of the Sacred Empire's Emperor Kong Ming but how ?!"
All the memories he had collected pointed at the fact that Emperor Kong Ming was alive when the demon beast horde attacked this place , did that mean that he died and some survivors found his body and buried him here .
"Emperor Kong Ming .... oh ! yeah now I remember reading about him in one of the scrolls from the City lord's Mansion " Xiao Ning'er exclaimed as she continued ," He is the most mysterious emperor within the history of the Sacred Empire. As an emperor of the Sacred Empire, he actually used his title as his form of address, which is a very strange thing. This particular emperor left the Sacred Empire in the middle of his rule and passed his throne to his son. It's said that he had already cultivated to a frightening extent, becoming immortalized. Even his descendents couldn't find his tomb. I never thought that he would actually be buried here."
Lin Lingtian looked at the tomb and couldn't help but frown . With the memories of the Soldiers, Alchemists and Inscription array masters , Lin Lingtian could confirm most of things that Xiao Ning'er said we're true . But Emperor Kong Ming didn't leave the Sacred Empire according the memories he had Or did Emperor Kong Ming really leave and this news was never given to the soldiers , Inscription array masters and Alchemists of the Sacred Empire Era ? It was highly unlikely ... but the possibility was still there ... but why did he leave and had that Information hidden from everyone ? ... If that was the case then who the hell buried him ?
Shaking his head out of these thoughts , it didn't really matter to Lin Lingtian as he could feel the fluctuations of temporal vine increase as they get closer to the tomb of Emperor Kong Ming .
"There are five-six passages here, which one should we take?" Xiao Ning'er asked, looking at the surrounding deep passages.
"That's simple, we should be moving towards the north. Because of Emperor Kong Ming's fate, his tomb was built facing the south." Lin Lingtian answered .
Lin Lingtian looked at Xiao Ning'er curiously and asked ," Your not going to ask why ?"
" No , I have read the Book of Numerology .Because that is written within the Sacred Empire's Book of Numerology. Every fate has something that will benefit and harm them.
This includes the location of tombs and so on! People from the Sacred Empire believed in this stuff!" Xiao Ning'er said, lightly smiling.
" RRRRight ."
' Note to self , Read every book , scroll , journal they had stolen .'
Lin Lingtian and Xiao Ning'er casually strolled through the maze as the Mutated Blood Alligator formed a passageway for them.
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Walking into the hall, the scene before them caused the both of them to feel deeply shocked. Bones were everywhere around this hall. There
were bones of adults as well as bones of children. They were densely stacked together. It seemed like they had a painful struggle before they died.
A few soul shards made their way towards Lin Lingtian's second heart .
" What happened here ? " Xiao Ning'er asked with a painful voice as she glanced at the bones of children huddled together .
Lin Lingtian hesitated but after a few seconds , he took a deep breath as memories of the last struggles of the children and women that were trapped within the underground palace began to play in Lin Lingtian's mind .
{ Warning ⚠️⚠️⚠️ : The Following text depicts acts of tragedy , child murder , depression and cannibalism }
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Li Hua , born to a commoner family in the Sacred Empire was always satisfied with her life . Never was she ambitious , getting married and having a child had made her happy with her life .
But now she knew she had to be strong , the military will repel the demon beast and until then she had to be strong .
" WAaaaaaaaaaaaa "
The baby in her arms cried out as she tried to calm him down .
Rocking him back and forth , Li Hua said ," ~ hmm ~ , don't worry Fei "
Looking at the others , Li Hua say children huddled together with the elders and the women trying to calm the children .
She hugged her son , as she hummed a lullaby for her son .
[ Two Days Later ]
" WAaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
" Grrrrr " Li Hua stomach growled in hunger as she tried to calm her son .
In the underground palace , only silence remained as many everyone was hunger , tired and anxious .
The Sounds of Fighting had stopped a few hours ago and many of them were anxiously waiting for the doors to open up yet as time went on their anxiety began to built up .
Li Hua wanted to cry as thoughts of her husband dying filled her head but she knew in times like this she had to be strong for her son .
[ 7 Days Later ]
" Raaaaaaaa !"
" AAAAAAAAAAAA "
Chaos had ensued in the underground palace . Hunger and thirst had over come their senses as people were dying left and right .
Children out of hunger were bitting one another just to satiate their hunger .
Li Hua ran as fast a she could , as fast as her legs could take her .
" WAaaaaaaaaaaaa ! "
" Don't worry Fei , everything is going to be fine . ". Tears flew down her face as she looked back and saw the people killing and eating one another and the expressions of satisfactions on their faces were trauma inducing .
Her foot twisted on a rock as she found herself on the ground . Hunger and Bruised .
" WAaaaaaaaaaaaa ! "
Hearing her babies cry , Li Hua quickly picked him and tried to calm him down but his cried attracted some attention towards them as hungry people were charging at them .
Li Hua tried to muster up every strength she had as she looked at her baby .
Her heart sank as she saw his bleeding head .
In her hunger she couldn't properly check him but seeing her baby in pain , seeing the group of people charging at them . Tears welled up in her , she knew she had to do it .
Placing both her hands on her Prince's neck , in one swift motion .
( ~ Crack ~ )
Her son's body went limp as she a ear piercing scream resounded from her mouth .
She knew this was for the best .
She knew with this her son atleast had a painless death .
She knew she saved her son from being eaten to death by these monsters .
Facing one of the pillars , Li Hua picked up her son's corpse and rammed her head into pillar as pain and darkness engulfed her .
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A tear ran down Lin Lingtian's face as he looked at one of the pillars , the pile of skeletons were there but he only focused on one of them .
In the loving embrace of one , Lin Lingtian saw that Li Hua even in death covered her child's corpse from the others that were trying to eat them .
Taking a seed out of his pocket , Lin Lingtian began to use the wood Dao Scripture as a giant Gingko tree sprouted in the middle of the tomb .
The branches slithered like snakes as they wrapped around skeletons and took the shape of coffins as the wood of the coffins twisted and turned and formed into the names of the dead .
" Guys can you take these outside ." Lin Lingtian said as he glanced at Li Hua's coffin .
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Here lies a mother that even in death protected her son .
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Lin Lingtian bitterly smiled at the coffins as he saw his soldiers picking them up and taking them outside but one strange thing was occuring he was feeling the War God Technique circulating .
Xiao Ning'er clasped his shoulder as she said melancholically ," Death will always come for everyone . "
" Yeah ..... You know I think I found an answer ."
" For what ? "
" Why we choose to struggle on this stage ? "
" What ? "
" ~ Beautiful , I wanted to ask do you think this world is a stage ?"
" ... I guess "
" In this stage , I this life , we struggle , we chase after the things we want but at the end of the day , even if your rich or poor , strong or weak it's just a matter of time before you die so why do we chase after achievements that won't matter in death ? "
" ..... "
" We chase after these absurd achievements for one thing ."
" Freedom ." Lin Lingtian answered and continued
" Freedom to live how we want to live , Freedom to choose what we want , Freedom to feel like we are special . We chase after achievements , after power , after joy ."
" ..... " Xiao Ning'er was deep in thought as she in silence looked at the coffins begin moved one after another , sitting alongside Lin Lingtian who suddenly stood up and began to walk towards a stone coffin in the center of the room .
The Coffin of the Emperor Kong Ming .
Seeing his back , Xiao Ning'er smiled as a thought filled her head as she absentmindedly said .
" Freedom huh ? I guess I should thank you for giving me my freedom. "
Lin Lingtian smiled and answered back ," I should be the one thanking you for always being by my side ."
" I did it out of my own freedom of choice ." Xiao Ning'er replied .
Lin Lingtian took a deep breath as he felt the War God Technique stop circulating as a tab Infront of him opened .
[ Chaos Dao Scripture : ????? => Chaos Dao Scripture : Desolate Arts ]
Hundreds of thousands of letters began to fill his head as he knew that he had met the condition of Chaos Dao Scripture . To find your own interpretation to the meaning of life .