It was already pitch dark outside, and the moon was shining in the sky, lightly illuminating the entire wasteland. A multitude of stars now dotted the night sky. A light snore could be heard not far away.
Now it was just Kai's turn for night watch and keeping an eye on the surroundings. He sat and quietly looked at the scenery, remembering that just a few years ago the whole world for him fit within a radius of a few kilometers.
"It seems like only a short time ago I was sitting by the river near the orphanage and looking at the stars the same way... It's strange that I'm so far away from where I grew up, but it seems like the sky is still the same." - Dreamily looking up at the stars Kai looked up at the stars.
"The world used to seem very different, I thought the Empire of Lunar Brilliance was immense, but now it just seems tiny. There's even an entire Beast Sect somewhere in the distance..." - Kai pondered, looking somewhere to the northwest.
"One would have to become much stronger to see the whole world. I'm sure there are many more wonders hidden from my sight! At least one such seems to reside in my body... Why can't I sense her?" - Wondering in his head, Kai wondered.
He had tried to explore his body with energy more than once, but he still hadn't found anything.
"Maybe the Essence Sphere has dissolved into my body altogether? Ah, fuck it, if fate wills it, I'll find out... All in good time." - Deciding not to give it a second thought Kai stopped musing about it. But after thinking about time, he remembered something else, also concerning the Essence Sphere.
"The intangibility of Time and Space, is law one. Elusive and unknowable, it seems that it was before everything and will be after.
Hmmm... what a strange law... But time is indeed unknowable. It would seem that in the orphanage, in the mountains with Old Man Mo, that now, looking at the starry sky I don't see any changes. It's as if time has no effect on it. But here I am, during this period of time, I have changed a lot... How does it work? Why does it act differently on different things?" - Philosophized Kai in his head. Things as complex and abstract as time seemed incomprehensible to him even to understand. It was like a bottomless pond in which one could not swim deep enough to see the bottom.
Thinking about all this, Kai also kept looking at the gorges that cut through the entire wasteland. He constantly vaguely sensed that dense fire energy could be felt from the deepest gorges, but even at night, nothing shone from them.
"Strange, not even a small spark can be seen... How can it be that there is dense fire energy coming from the depths of the gorge, yet not emitting any light?" - Looking at the gorge in the distance, Kai thought.
This was how almost every duty Kai went through. He couldn't cultivate the Invisible King Torture Technique in public, and there was no way to hide in the wasteland. Practicing in the dark while learning how to control energy for Array Mastery wasn't very convenient. So he spent his evenings philosophizing about life.
All these questions seemed tantalizing to him, and without realizing it, he was constantly delving further and further into the knowledge of the world. There were too many marvelous things, and he wanted to get to the bottom of every one of them. He was driven crazy by the idea that even one question could be discussed endlessly, going deeper and deeper into it.
"What the hell are the laws on which this world works? Why is it that the more I learn, the more questions I have? And when I find out the answer, it begs more questions in return. Won't I go insane at some point, from the incredible weight of the mysteries?" - Thinking about it was starting to give him a headache.
- What are you thinking about so hard? I feel like I can see steam coming out of your ears even in the dark right now. Heh-heh. - A quiet voice was heard not far away from Kai. It sounded like he didn't want to wake anyone up.
- Ah, it's you, Mr. Fabian. Is it your turn already? - Kai asked quietly.
- Yes, it should be light in an hour or two, I have chosen this time for my duty. I don't want to waste time. - Sitting down next to Kai, Fabian said quietly.
- Do you want to go exploring at dawn? - Looking into the distance, Kai asked leisurely.
- Uh-huh, I'm pretty sure that the materials I've been researching say something about this place. Although I don't see any ruins, maybe there's something in the gorges. - Shrugging his shoulders Fabian replied.
- Listen, Mr. Fabian, there is one thought that has been on my mind for a while... I feel a great concentration of fire energy all the time. It's even hotter here than it is near the Beast's Border City. -It can only come from the depths of the earth, but no matter how I look deep into the crevices, there's no firelight. What the hell is that? - Kai asked frankly, continuing to look at the crevice twenty meters away from them.
- I'm ashamed to say, but I don't have an answer myself. I've thought about it a lot, but I haven't found an answer either. - Fabian shook his head disappointedly.
- What kind of records have you been researching? Is it possible that this phenomenon is connected with them? After all, the coordinates we were looking for coincide with the place where the fire energy is denser. - Suddenly thinking about it, Kai said.
- Hmm, those records were very old, and a lot of them had been erased. And the writing was very strange... - he paused, as if choosing the right words, - The oldest writing on the continent dates back twenty thousand years... And how to say it... - Fabian began to fidget a little, not knowing how to say it correctly.
- Mr. Fabian, if you don't want to talk about it, I won't bother you, hehehe. - Kai laughed awkwardly, he thought he had gotten in the wrong place.
- No, it's okay, that's not the point. I don't know how to explain it properly..." he continued after a little more silence, "In general, the oldest writings found on the continent are only similar to the ones in the records under study. They are even more primitive. It's as if the oldest writings on the continent were based on the ones I've studied..." Fabian said awkwardly, he knew his theory sounded biased.
- But could paper survive that many years? - Looking at the man strangely, Kai asked. It seemed to him to be some kind of nonsense.
- I didn't say the records were on paper. They were written in ancient scrolls, which are made of a strange material, like elastic stone. That's the only reason I'm sure it's not a forgery. Because I've never seen such a material before. - I'm not so stupid as to believe in paper that's tens of thousands of years old..." he said disparagingly.
- I'm sorry, I asked a stupid question. I didn't realize that records are not only made on paper. - Kai spoke very politely to Fabian, as he sincerely respected the man.
- That's okay, basically all of your questions were reasonable. Believe me, as an explorer who often comes into contact with various martial artists while traveling, I've seen a lot of them... And some of them were so stupid that even your question about paper would seem brilliant, hahaha. - Fabian laughed, seemingly recalling a life story.
- Hahaha, that's okay, I'm still young, I have a lot to learn. - Kai said with a laugh.
- The main thing is that you realize that. By the way, do you want to go with me to do some research? Time flies and it will be light soon. - Fabian offered him with a smile.
- Why not? I'm curious about the wasteland, too. Maybe we'll find something really interesting, hehe. - Kai replied with a laugh. He didn't want to sleep, so it was a good suggestion. He was genuinely curious.
After sitting and talking together for another hour or so, the first rays of the sun finally appeared from behind the horizon. Although the glowing circle itself was not yet visible, but the sky was already brightening.
- Wake up Gontas, it's his turn. Let him guard their sleep, and we'll go. - Fabian winked with a smile.
- Okay, wait a minute and let's go. - Kai got up and went to wake up Gontas.