Chapter 1 The Ancient Secrets of the Cursed Valley

Suren hadn't expected that the ancient ruins of the Cursed Valley would involve such ancient secrets, possibly related to the collapse of the Dawn Epoch.

If this was truly what Mr. Mirror called the "Burial Ground of Gods," aside from the danger, he was genuinely interested in seeing it.

Without delay, Suren and Yuta climbed the hundred-meter-high broken wall, immediately taking in the silhouette of the giant tree.

Suren had already seen it through the shared vision of the black crow, so his expression remained normal.

But Yuta was stunned. "This... is really the Burial of Gods!"

The canopy of the tree blotted out the sky, like a huge island in the air.

Sunlight shone down from above, illuminating a dreamlike scene.

From an unknown source, a white waterfall hung on the giant tree. The water cascaded down thousands of meters, and the roar of the water could be heard from afar. The light refracted beneath the waterfall, creating a rainbow like a ribbon.

Suren's gaze sharpened as he watched the flying creatures occasionally flitting across the canopy.

Those weren't "birds," but grotesque, mutated monsters with wings as large as airplanes.

Looking at the giant tree, Suren had a strange feeling: the tree was at least five hundred years old and had obviously formed its own ecosystem. Would the perennial dense aura of death hide some terrifying monsters?

But as his thoughts were racing, the mist rolled in again, obscuring the clear view, and once again, a hazy mist filled his eyes.

"Let's go. We'll go take a look."

Suren called out.

Yuta nodded.

The two leaped down from the city wall.

The giant tree looked like a mountain, and they were now on the south side of the tree, while the Lu Ying Royal Legion was on the north side.

Although the Burial of Gods was a divine spell and not easily broken, Suren planned to see how far those guys had dug.

...

After the two crossed the city wall, the terrain became slightly sloping. It looked like a dirt surface, but it had entered the coverage area of the giant tree's roots.

Here, ruins and broken walls were everywhere, and they were all enormous.

Suren roughly estimated the proportions of the buildings, guessing that the average height of the "aboriginals" who once lived here must have exceeded five meters.

That was significantly taller than the current Icefield Giants, on average.

Because of the previous encounter with the Man-faced Rot Flower, Suren became very cautious, scanning almost everything with the All-Seeing Eye.

The two encountered no danger.

But as they walked, Suren suddenly stopped.

He noticed that Yuta's gaze had been slightly strange since they had come down from the city wall, as if she were often lost in thought.

Suren thought that she had been affected by the increasingly dense aura of death and had been unknowingly corrupted, so he asked, "Yuta, have you noticed anything wrong?"

Yuta glanced at him, knowing what Suren was asking, and shook her head.

"I'm fine. On the contrary, I feel much better than before."

She seemed to be experiencing some feeling, and hesitated for a moment before saying in an uncertain tone, "It seems that entering the range of this giant tree is like being protected by the ancestors of the clan. Those negative influences are getting weaker and weaker..."

"Getting weaker and weaker?"

Hearing this, Suren realized that he did not have this feeling.

Thinking that this giant tree was transformed from the ancestors of the Dalu tribe, he felt that what Yuta said seemed reasonable.

Out of caution, Suren carefully checked Yuta's condition again. It was indeed better than before, so he didn't worry too much.

...

The two continued to advance, discovering more and more scattered buildings among the tangled roots.

In the dirt and grass, there were also some rusty giant weapons, such as axes, shields, helmets, and armor, but most of them were corroded beyond recognition.

Suren also collected some valuable metals that could be refined and reused.

Reclamation did indeed yield good results.

On this trip alone, the metal scraps were probably worth several million Leso.

The two planned to bypass the periphery of the giant tree's roots and go to the north side to see what the Lu Ying Sacred Judgment Legion was doing.

But along the way, a relatively complete building caught their attention.

...

"Mr. Suren, look over there!"

Yuta spotted the stone pillar hidden in the tangled roots.

Then, they approached and discovered that there were many huge stone pillars, twenty or thirty meters high. The ruins also had a distinctively styled dome. It didn't look like a civilian residence, but rather like a temple.

Suren and Yuta happened to pass by, so they went closer to take a look.

The entrance was overgrown with vines. Yuta took the magic lamp and nimbly squeezed in first, followed closely by Suren.

The space inside was not small, but because of the tangled tree roots and the lack of light all year round, the hall was cold and damp.

Suren sensed that in the dark corners, there were some not-too-strong flames of souls. Judging by the occasional shadows darting past in the darkness, they seemed to be mutated lizard-like monsters, about twenty or thirty of them.

The monsters didn't come looking for trouble, and Suren didn't plan to bother cleaning them up.

Part of the hall had collapsed, and the remaining part was about the size of a soccer field. The magic light source could illuminate most of it.

Suren also saw several incomplete statues. As he had guessed, the images of these statues were mostly of simple bull-horned helmets and weapons, and the exposed upper bodies with knotted muscles. That should be roughly what the giant tribe looked like back then.

He was studying the statues when Yuta discovered something and exclaimed softly, "Mr. Suren, there are reliefs here!"

"Reliefs?"

Suren followed the direction Yuta was pointing and saw several large stone slabs with patterns in the collapsed corner.

He had been wanting to find some written records to see what the situation was with these giant city ruins.

Unfortunately, he hadn't found any.

He also guessed that the ancient giant civilization of this city might be similar to the current Icefield Giants, without their own writing.

Now that he heard there were reliefs, Suren was also looking forward to it. He was proficient in archeology and naturally knew that some ancient civilizations might not have writing, but reliefs were an important means of recording events.

The two walked over, and Suren looked at the content on the reliefs.

As he had expected, these were the reliefs that this giant city used to record events.

Because of the humidity for hundreds of years, the reliefs were severely corroded, and many places were blurred.

The reliefs were scattered everywhere, but Suren's current brain domain development allowed him to process this fragmented information very efficiently. Even if he couldn't see everything, he could guess the general content.

He saw that it recorded some incidents of strong giant tribesmen slaying monsters.

"It seems that this giant tribe knew very early on that this place was sealed as the 'Burial Ground of Gods'?"

Suren looked at the images on the murals, which were obviously not creatures of this plane but more like mutated monsters or undead, and guessed something.

But another question was:

The Dalu tribe had once suffered a near-extinction disaster here.

Long before that, how did this giant city, once located underground, perish?

...

"Mr. Suren, there's another one here!"

"There's one here too..."

"And here..."

"..."

In the dim hall, Suren looked around, and Yuta also helped him find many stone slabs hidden in the roots and vines.

Originally, he thought the reliefs were mostly realistic stories.

But later, he saw some "mythological stories."

For example, a giant with a glowing body slaying a sun monster in the deep sea;

Or, for example, the birth of the giant race from the blood dripping from the knee of a supreme deity...

The story plots seemed absurd, like listening to mythology.

But Suren was not surprised.

The giant race had a deity belief.

With belief, there was the possibility of mythologizing certain things.

Alchemists were a very special group of people. They had no deity beliefs. Therefore, they usually took a neutral attitude towards ordinary deities, even with some critical eyes.

Some preachers collected beliefs in order to create gods, using some spells or alchemy to create some "miracles" to deceive the beliefs of ordinary people.

Therefore, many myths that are now circulating are partly true and partly false, and it is not certain that they actually happened in ancient times.

Suren originally thought that he would not see any important information from the content of these murals, but as he watched, he was attracted to the content of a fragmented relief.

This was obviously another mythological story on the stone slab, but Suren's eyes couldn't move away.

Because this experience felt strangely familiar to him!

...

The relief depicted a man with a halo behind him, riding a horse.

Probably a deity.

He found a "spring" guarded by a giant tribe.

The two were pointing at the spring, as if they were discussing something.

Then the content of the mural was cut off.

The content on the other half of the mural was very bloody. Only one eye was left on that haloed man, and it was still bleeding. Then he was hung upside down on a tree, suffering the punishment of being pierced by a spear.

Then, something like a "symbol" seemed to fall from the tree, and he showed a face of joy as if he had found a treasure?

"This..."

Seeing this one-eyed image, Suren unconsciously thought of the scene where he had sacrificed an eye in Stormwind Manor and obtained the All-Seeing Eye.

Although most of the mural's content was missing, a strange guess emerged in his mind at this moment: "Could it be that the god in this mural sacrificed an eye, and then something fell from the tree as an exchange?"

Suren also found the "symbol" falling from the tree somewhat familiar.

It looked a bit like a rune?

He now had a considerable understanding of this world, but he had never heard of a second type of ritual that required sacrificing an eye.

Could it be that this mural was related to the All-Seeing Eye?

Unfortunately, the relief was blurred and incomplete, and no other useful information could be found.

Thinking of this, Suren frowned slightly.

If he could find the complete mural, perhaps he would know what this "myth" was all about.

...

No other useful murals could be found in the dilapidated hall, so Suren and Yuta planned to leave.

But unexpectedly, at this moment, they heard hurried footsteps outside.

It sounded like someone was running quickly.

There were also some subtle sounds of armor clanging.

Yuta's hearing was more sensitive than Suren's, and she was immediately startled: "There's someone nearby!"

The two looked at each other and tacitly stopped talking, quietly摸(mo - groped) out and hid in a patch of vines.

Before long, they saw the source of the sound in the distance.

It was a team of more than ten armored soldiers, chasing several huge gray wolves.

"Warriors of the Gray Wolf tribe?"

Suren immediately recognized that those gray wolves were not magical beasts, but兽化(shou hua - therianthropic) Dalu tribesmen.

Yuta, who was next to him, changed her expression, and her fangs and claws immediately became兽化(shou hua - therianthropic).

However, she did not act rashly, but stared intently at her surroundings. She naturally knew that there was a very powerful human legion nearby, and rashly acting would not solve the problem at all, but would only be sending them to their deaths.

Several gray wolves were being chased in a sorry state, two of them had blood holes pierced by spears in their bodies, and even with the help of the complex terrain, they could not run fast. The other few were unwilling to abandon their companions and escape, and it seemed that they would be caught up by the soldiers behind them sooner or later.

Suren was not in a hurry to attack, but focused his attention on some details.

"Strange, what's the meaning of wrapping red cloth around their arms?"

He found it very strange that the armored soldiers all had a piece of red cloth wrapped around their arms.

Suren thought it had some special effect, but when he appraised it, it turned out to be just ordinary [Stained Cloth]?

Although he couldn't figure it out, he didn't think too much about it since he couldn't see anything unusual.

Killing and searching the soul was more direct.

He was a descendant of the Isaac lineage, and he couldn't just watch the Dalu tribesmen being killed.

The black crow flew in the sky and saw no other pursuers.

Suren was relieved and gave Yuta a look, and the two rushed out very tacitly.

...

The team of pursuing soldiers were all royal elites, and they were obviously wary of being ambushed.

As soon as Suren and Yuta moved, they were immediately discovered.

Moreover, looking at the combination of a man and a white wolf, the leader's expression changed, and he immediately shouted: "Send a signal!"

Suren knew he had been recognized.

He had killed that hunchbacked old man in the Gray Wolf tribe before, and had left some survivors.

Obviously the news had already been passed on.

So as soon as this team of soldiers saw him, they immediately prepared to call for reinforcements.

But Suren wouldn't give them the chance.

He stepped on the air with his Void Steps, creating a series of "啪啪(pa pa)" explosive sounds, and also used Space Displacement.

Dash + Space Displacement made his whole person look like a ghost, and he rushed into the enemy's squad in the blink of an eye.

Although the leader was only a third-tier major, his armor was standard equipment of the Royal Legion, and his defense was super strong. It was almost impossible for Suren to kill them instantly.

But he couldn't just watch these people send out a signal.

Just as he was rushing over, Suren pinched his術士印(shushi yin - warlock seal), and at the same time released his colonial equipment.

"It's a good time to test my new殖装(zhi zhuang - colonial equipment) ability!"

He grabbed his hands in the void, and said to himself, "Mental Alchemy · Shadow Assassination Technique!"

...

The elite squad had obviously received intelligence that Suren had the means of Space Displacement.

Therefore, with a tactical gesture from the leading major, more than ten people immediately dispersed and fled. They had no intention of fighting head-on, and at the same time took out signal launchers.

As long as any one of them could send out a signal, a high-level professional would immediately lead a team to provide support.

If they could hold on for a moment, the dangerous situation would be resolved immediately.

However, a scene that they never expected happened.

They only saw the figure suddenly teleporting into the crowd, and just as they were preparing to defend against the battle...

Suddenly!

Without any warning, everyone's bodies froze there!

As if they had suddenly lost control of their bodies, they found that they could not perceive the existence of their bodies.

Everyone was horrified.

"Not good, it's mental control!"

The leader discovered something and wanted to use his willpower to break free from the control.

However, how could Suren give him a chance?

The魔女发丝(mo nu fa si - witch's hair) could drill in if there was a gap, and this set of super strong armor was useless.

He had tried it many times on Yuta on the way here, and he was already very familiar with the use of [Mental Tentacles].

He struck out with the intention of killing.

At the same time that he rushed into the crowd, a bizarre scene happened.

At the same time that the soldiers in armor were stiffening, one by one they unhesitatingly drew out their short knives. Then, they actually stabbed into the gaps in their helmets.

The next moment, the sharp blades pierced into their brains from their eye sockets without any resistance.

More than ten people, without any resistance, instantly became more than ten corpses.

The third-tier captain was still struggling to resist, his trembling arms trying to prevent the sharp knife from piercing in.

Suren slapped the end of the knife handle, sending him on his way.

On the other hand, the remaining few enemies who were far away were also entangled by Yuta and the few returning gray wolves, and had no chance to send out a signal.

...

Before long, the battle was over.

Suren harvested the soul fragments of this team.

Only then did he know what the red cloths wrapped around the arms of these people were for.

Yuta's previous feeling was correct.

This giant tree would indeed protect the Dalu tribesmen.

Other races that trespassed would be strangled by the ubiquitous vines, treants, and monsters. The group of Lu Ying Royal Legion had suffered a great loss before.

And the strips of cloth stained with the blood of the Dalu tribe had the effect of temporary protection.

And Suren's previous guess was also correct. Because of the great war in the past, many cursed spaces had been generated here.

Those Lu Ying royals had broken many of them, and had also discovered that this city sealed some "ancient secrets".

And now those people had brought a [Sealed Object] and were breaking through the last, extremely large cursed space that had caused them heavy casualties.

Suren guessed from the intelligence that the super-large cursed space was likely related to the truth of the war that year.