The two silhouettes moved cautiously near the gorges under the rays of the rising sun, constantly examining the terrain. Fabian sometimes stopped and stared at some rocks and places where there was a strange relief.
- Look, if we assume that the place described in the ancient records existed several tens of thousands of years ago. Is it even possible to find anything here? - Looking into the gorge asked Kai.
Fabian was now crouched near the abyss and was looking at its walls, trying to find any clues.
- I don't think we'll find the remains of a settlement. But perhaps at least some traces..." Fabian said thoughtfully as he continued to look at the chasm, "If I can find even minor evidence, I will make a new discovery. If I discover the oldest writing, then the whole idea of the history of the world can be reconsidered. - Fabian explained dreamily.
- And what would that do for us? What difference does it make... - Kai said thoughtfully.
Fabian slowly stood up and shook the dust off his robe.
- You see, as we see it, intelligent races began to evolve about 20-30 thousand years ago. At the same time, they began to cultivate energy. And subsequently, they began to invent and perfect various cultivation techniques. - Slowly, Fabian began to explain the story to Kai.
- Yes, I've heard about it... - Nodding his head, Kai said.
While teaching him all the basic knowledge, Old Man Mo had briefly told him about the continent's history as well. Right now, Kai was digging around in his head.
- My teacher told me that we live on a large piece of land that is surrounded on all sides by endless waters... - Kai looked up and remembered, "I think they are called the Sky Continent, and the waters that surround us... What was it called... - Kai started to remember.
- The ocean. - Interrupting Kai's thoughts, Fabian replied, "We do live on the Celestial Continent. It's incredibly huge, and the Shadow Sect's lands and the beast lands are only a small part of it. - He quickly explained.
At this moment, they began to move towards another gorge, talking along the way.
- So, in our view, civilization began to develop 20,000-30,000 years ago. And in that time, it has developed to the level that we have now. Giving birth to incredible powers, like our Shadow Sect. - But if it turns out that there was a civilization much older and stronger... - Fabian said enigmatically.
- Then why hasn't anyone heard anything about it? - Kai asked in surprise.
- I can't know, but if we assume that such a hegemon existed, but then suddenly disappeared.... And our civilization simply developed on the ruins of their world... - Fabian paused and seemed to come to one of the options, - Then maybe our world had an incredible catastrophe in the past! - Fabian said, seemingly not believing it himself.
Kai's eyes glistened as he listened to this, and he began to think quickly and make assumptions.
"My Invisible King Torture Technique and the Essence Sphere are definitely very strange. As if they don't belong to the system by which everything in modern times works... Perhaps they could be related to our predecessors?" - Dazedly suggested Kai.
"I won't jump to conclusions just yet... Although, now I have some explanation for my cultivation technique and sphere... But what confuses me is that by cultivating the Torture of Kings, the essence of my energy became not like the energy of our world at all. I think that if there was a civilization that preceded ours... It would still have to have evolved with the same energy as us. I have it different at all though, very strange, too many questions..." - Kai's head began to ache again from all these thoughts. He felt like he didn't understand anything at all.
Thinking it all over, he looked towards Mr. Fabian, and said:
- I don't know how to explain it, but I believe in your assumption. I don't have any objective reasons, but you can put it down to my gut. Hehe. - Kai said cheerfully.
But in fact, he was really leaning toward the assumption that their world had begun to develop not 20,000-30,000 years ago, but in much older times. He had good reasons to believe that, but he couldn't tell the others about them.
- Thanks for cheering me up Kai, haha. - Fabian said with a laugh.
- Alright, let's keep exploring! We need to rub the other researchers' noses in it. They'll be surprised when they find out that the world isn't what they thought it was. - Winking, smiling said Kai.
Walking near Fabian, Kai considered the surroundings, and began to examine the essence of energy around him. At that moment, he began to notice that the bulk of the energy was flowing into one of the crevices. Seeing this, he didn't say anything, but made a note in his head.
"Something strange is going on there, why is so much energy being channeled there?" - Right now, Kai was staring purposefully at one point.
- What's over there? Did you notice something interesting? - Looking at Kai, Fabian asked.
- Uh, no. It's just a beautiful sunrise, so I looked at it. - Kai said smiling.
He didn't want to say anything now. He liked this group, and all the guys in it were really good people. But realizing that somewhere around here there might be something mysterious, and possibly related to his secrets, it was better to find out for himself first.
"We'll be here for a few days, on my next night watch I'll go and check it out carefully... It would be bad if I accidentally reveal my secrets" - Reasoned Kai.
He decided that tonight he would sneak into the crack that absorbed the most energy and investigate everything there. If there was no potential threat to his secrets being revealed there, he would tell Fabian that he had found something tantalizing.
Though Kai over the past few years, had met all sorts of people and even made a true friend. But at his core, he remained a loner. Not even to his Master did he reveal his hidden secrets. Sometimes there are things worth taking to the grave with you! Here's how Kai felt.
"Don't underestimate human greed... Sometimes even a brother will betray his brother for gold..." - Pondered Kai with a serious face.
Together they walked around for a few more hours, exploring the area. Fabian kept stopping and looking at things, sometimes he would get into his notes. As they talked, they didn't notice that several hours had passed and they heard shouts from afar.
- Hey! We made breakfast, come on over! - Solina's voice was heard.
Sometimes along the way, coming across edible game, they would save some of the meat and then cook it. Cooking, like duty, was on each member of the team. They also took turns changing each day.
Solina cooked the tastiest, and when they heard her voice they immediately started drooling. Quickly turning around, they walked towards the camp.