Chapter 1 Dream Plane Secrets

The Dream Plane hid too many secrets.

Events involving gods and distant history were the greatest obstacles preventing mortals from glimpsing the truth. Whether it was the goddess's fall ten thousand years ago, the sowing of life that began tens of millions of years ago, or the even more distant war between the goddess and the Mad Lord, which even the guardians had not experienced, these events had been submerged in the endless river of time. How many lost histories, buried ruins, and evil spirits that had not yet dissipated existed in this space-time, perhaps even the resurrected Creator Goddess could not count them.

Hao Ren looked at the dim sky outside the temple. This world, called "Kolo," might also be one of those submerged secrets, and a rather special one: it was located on the largest crack in the Wall of Reality. Did this have any special significance?

He recalled what he had heard from Raven 12345. He knew that the crack in the Wall of Reality here had opened about three thousand years ago. At that time, the Creator Goddess had already fallen, and the epic disaster of the Dream Plane had ended. From Veronica, he also learned that the Chaos War here had lasted for at least eight thousand years (after converting the calendar), or even longer. So, theoretically, this space-time called "Kolo" was already in this state before the Wall of Reality collapsed.

The people living in this space-time did not know about the existence of the great rift in the outside Wall of Reality—although it seemed that this space-time was "covering" the traces of the great rift in the material universe.

Hao Ren didn't quite believe this was a natural phenomenon in the universe.

The light in the temple was dim, but it was a hundred times better than the desolate wilderness outside. The remaining power of order in this sacred place brought a sense of peace and tranquility. Those exhausted knights got valuable rest even in this uncomfortable environment. However, despite the rest, no one became blindly optimistic: they just quietly recovered their strength in the dim temple, but the expressions on their faces were still obviously tense.

Because they had already discovered that this place was not the sanctuary and supply point they had imagined, but only a "safe house" for temporary shelter. The divine grace in the sacred place had long dissipated, and the precious holy objects had been corroded. The remaining power of order could only ensure that chaos could not spread to the top of the mountain. They were like being trapped on an isolated island here, temporarily at peace, but sooner or later they would be exhausted.

What they had expected most from this place were the supplies in the temple—not food and water, but more important holy crystals, golden banners, order amulets, and goddess statues. The greatest hope for those lost in the wilderness after finding the temple was these things. Veronica had the same idea at first, but now, looking at the empty hall, it was obvious that they would be greatly disappointed.

Hao Ren didn't know much about the rules of the Kolo world, but he could see the frustration and disappointment of the Knights. He looked around and frowned, asking, "Do you need water and food?"

"Water and food are not the problem," Veronica patted a gilded pouch at her waist. Her dimensional bag contained several days' worth of food and water for everyone. Originally, these supplies were not enough, but the loss of personnel along the way had made these materials abundant. "What's crucial are the order amulets and golden banners—the magic power is exhausted, and it cannot be replenished in the Land of Chaos. The consumption of fighting outside the Order Barrier is more amazing than I imagined. Originally, I expected that this ancient temple could recharge the protective devices on our bodies, but now it seems... the plan has failed."

The knight princess spoke frankly about her predicament, and then she looked at Hao Ren curiously:

How would this newly awakened "Ancient Guardian" deal with such a situation?

Ancient people were also people, and they also needed to live in an orderly environment. The power of chaos was also a deadly threat to them. It didn't matter when this guardian was asleep, but now that he was awake, he would definitely consume something. Could he stay here without eating or drinking?

"Guardian," Veronica no longer used "hermit" to refer to Hao Ren. Instead, she changed to a more solemn title, "Do you know if there are any other places in this temple where holy objects are stored? We have already checked the adjacent towers, and they are also empty."

Hao Ren felt that his new title sounded strange, but in this case, it was obviously more appropriate to get a formal identity among the locals, and he had already worn a lot of fancier titles, so he adapted quickly at this time—he shook his head: "I've already checked just now. There's nothing left in this place, and you see that big hole above."

Hao Ren pointed to the top of the hall. Because the temple was cut in half, all the buildings were a circle of walls without a roof. The upper part of the building was missing (actually floating in the material universe), and only some broken fragments were floating weightlessly in the remaining empty space: "The lower level of the temple is for ordinary believers to gather and worship. Those are all mortal objects. The upper level is the place where holy objects are placed, such as the pulpit and statues. Now those things are probably swallowed by the space storm."

Veronica had already seen this fact, and her face gradually darkened.

"If you find the 'holy objects' you mentioned..." Hao Ren certainly didn't intend to be trapped here together. He immediately changed the subject, "What are your plans next?"

A glimmer of light flashed in Veronica's eyes. She thought for a while: "Beyond the desolate wilderness is the more dangerous Dark Swamp. Another kingdom of order—the Beaconfire Kingdom is on the other side of the swamp. There are many semi-polluted monsters in the swamp, which are more difficult to deal with than pure Chaos Servants. Even if we have enough holy objects in our current state, it is difficult to challenge this road. My original plan was to turn back—replenish the power of order in the sacred place, and then return to the Shadow Jungle, and finally return to Taros. Although the Shadow Jungle is also very dangerous, the Kingdom of Taros has set up many forward outposts in the jungle. Although small hearths are not as good as the Beaconfire Tower, they can weaken the power of chaos. I am familiar with the location of the hearths and can find a relatively complete route."

Hao Ren thought for a while and felt that he didn't understand...

But it didn't matter if he didn't understand. Anyway, he would understand things like worldviews as he pondered them. The key was that he knew that the princess in front of him could take him to other places where humans lived, where he might be able to find out where Lily was.

With the dog girl's ability, it should be no problem for her to survive in this desolate wilderness for ten days or half a month after transforming. The lack of food and water was a problem, but the "werewolf's" powerful vitality was there, and even if she was howling with hunger, she could actually last for a month or two.

While these thoughts were running through his mind, he stood up. Morian Knight looked over curiously, and Hao Ren waved his hand: "You rest here, I'll go down for a small test."

"A small test?" Veronica raised her eyelids, "What do you mean?"

Hao Ren just waved his hand: "Ancient stuff, I don't know if it can be used now. I'll be back in a while, don't follow me."

After speaking, he stepped out of the temple. Veronica and several knights followed curiously, but saw Hao Ren walking straight down the mountain. A young knight couldn't help but step forward: "Princess, he is..."

"We'll wait here," Veronica stopped the knight, "He is a guardian who has experienced the ancient holy war. The knowledge of the ancients is beyond our understanding now."

Morian Knight just turned his head silently and glanced at her when he heard this. At this time, he didn't know whether he should remind his princess whether the knowledge in books and adventure novels was credible. The old knight was a little dazed when Hao Ren, such a strange and unknown lifeform, rushed down from the holy mountain. He decided not to speak for the whole process...

In fact, Hao Ren didn't go far. He just came to the mountainside.

The thin layer of mist lingered at his feet, as if encountering an invisible wall, it was blocked outside the temple's coverage. Even just looking at it, people could feel the unusual dangerous aura in this mist.

Hao Ren began to take out all kinds of things from his portable space that he thought would work:

The few pieces of paper he signed the contract with, the cardboard box that once held the golden apple, the nib Raven 12345 used (with the goddess's tooth marks on it), the water cup, chopsticks, memo paper, and small decorations he stole from the goddess, he even found a few bright silver strands of hair—that was Raven 12345's hair...

After taking these things out, he put them into the mist one by one for testing. As he put them in, he felt like he was a late-stage fetishist. If Raven 12345 saw these things, she would probably shout "Pervert, stop" while waving the ship-slicing sword to give himself a head full of blessings... Of course, there might be no reaction, after all, the goddess was mentally ill.

Hao Ren was doing experiments while thinking wildly, while the princess and knights who stayed on the mountain were soon dumbfounded.