Chapter 235 Temple of the Water God and the Changing of Eras (8200)

Inside the study, the *Illumination* spell, solidified within the crystal chandelier, flickered with white light. As Elias pointed at the map, explaining bit by bit, Su Zhou gained a general understanding of this world's overall layout.

Tartadis is a continental world composed entirely of mountains, plains, and hills. The further out, the colder it is, and the closer to the center, the warmer it is. Instead of 'sea,' the world is filled with abundant underground water resources.

Currently, Tartadis is on the verge of destruction. The return of the demonic tide is seen as the last burst of glory before the end. Outside of the major sanctuary cities, the land is filled with resurrected spirits, monsters, and rampant bandits of all kinds. Apart from the powerful lone wolves known as Wilderness Wanderers, only large merchant guilds can travel between the major sanctuary cities.

A thousand years ago, before the arrival of the apocalypse, there were four great kingdoms in the world. The Thousand Lakes Kingdom, where the Nesser family resided, was one of them, and also the country with the richest water resources. Throughout the kingdom, rivers and lakes crisscrossed, naturally dividing it into territories.

The Earth Father God is the supreme deity worshiped by all the people of this world. Apart from Him, there are no other gods in the world of Tartadis that can be publicly propagated.

"Oh, not even one?"

Hearing this, Su Zhou couldn't help but be slightly surprised. "In that case, doesn't that mean the being behind that mysterious organization is your Earth Father God?"

He still remembered the curse of the knight before he died—he said they were backed by a god. At that time, Su Zhou didn't take it seriously. After all, whether in games or novels, similar Western fantasy worlds had too many gods. If it were set in Japan, some gods might not even be as strong as he is now.

You know, with Su Zhou's current ability to summon wind and rain and lightning, he could easily get a minor Thunder God position in ancient times.

He couldn't have imagined that there would only be one true god in this world.

"Yes, sir."

To Su Zhou's question, Elias nodded, taking it for granted. "Apart from the ancestral spirits worshiped by some races, which might be considered racial gods, only the Earth Father God is the only true god."

"However, the Earth Father God has not issued any divine decrees or contacted any saints since the world began to head towards its end a thousand years ago... I'm afraid, He has fallen."

Speaking of this, Elias's expression was a little dim. He smiled wryly. "As for the god mentioned by those mysterious organizations, they are likely some false gods that appeared during the apocalypse. In any case, they cannot be the Earth Father God, after all, He no longer has any contact with the people of the mortal world."

"This world is a bit strange."

At this moment, Su Zhou muttered to himself in his heart, and complained to Yala, "Let's not talk about how this world doesn't even have a sea, and there's only one god... how should I put it, it's like a semi-finished product! Does the Lonely Sovereign like worlds like this?"

"Listen on." Yala didn't say much. It nodded thoughtfully, signaling Su Zhou to continue listening to Elias's explanation.

That was the general situation of the world. Next, Su Zhou learned a lot more information about this world.

Especially, information related to the 'Underground Labyrinth.'

The labyrinth is something that only began to appear gradually after the world headed towards its end.

After the Earth Father God lost contact with the church, huge cracks began to appear randomly on the earth, even causing several cities to be swallowed by the cracks, and this crack was the entrance to the underground labyrinth.

The world of Tartadis is not vast. The entire world is only slightly larger than Zheng Country. The borders of the four kingdoms occupy three-quarters of the entire world, and the remaining uninhabited mountains and forests are only used as natural border dividing lines. They have long been explored. The entire world was completely known to humans in the past, without any mystery or explorable areas.

However, the labyrinth is completely unknown. This mysterious underground structure that appeared only after the fall of the gods is layered upon layer. No one knows how deep it is or how vast it is. In that underground area, which seems to be even larger than the entire known world, live many extraordinary creatures that have long been extinct in the outside world. Deep in the labyrinth, there are even many divine objects that were probably created by ancient civilizations.

There is also a labyrinth near Nesser City. With the support of successive Grand Dukes, local adventurers have explored to the sixth floor—at least that is the publicly available information. Perhaps it is deeper. The true exploration progress is only known to the Grand Duke himself and his direct team.

"It is said that in the underground labyrinth, there are secrets related to the apocalypse. After all, the apocalypse and the labyrinth appeared at the same time, and now that the outside world is gradually shrouded in gray fog, only the underground can be considered safe."

Elias didn't know the exploration progress of the Nesser family. After all, he had just returned to the main city, so he could only shake his head apologetically to Su Zhou's doubts about the labyrinth: "I really don't know this very well. I need to wait until I open the family secret vault and read the relevant records in the family before I can have a clear answer—I will check the records later, and if there is any gain, I will tell you as soon as possible."

"Is that so." Hearing this, Su Zhou nodded thoughtfully: "I roughly understand. Then, Elias, you can go ahead and do your work, I will read books here in the study. If there is anything that requires me to appear, just come and call me."

"Yes, Mr. Su."

Elias politely retreated. Although this was his home and he was also the nominal ruler of Nesser City, he understood very well that without Su Zhou, even without the attack of enemies from mysterious organizations, it would be difficult for him to control this city with a population of millions based on his strength alone.

Moreover, with the mysterious organization not knowing when it will launch a second raid, Su Zhou is his only reliance now.

After Elias left, when Su Zhou was alone in the study, he began to summarize the current information.

"Unlike the God Tree World, although I can be sure that the source of the apocalypse is definitely caused by the revival of the Lonely Sovereign, the world of Tartadis does not have such an obvious target as the Pan Rong Undying Tree."

"Secondly, the source of the enemy is also very mysterious. Whether it is the octopus mage, the shrimp knight, or the fishman ranger, they are not common races and creatures in this world, and the god they mentioned behind them is also very concerning... I can hear that it is not a false belief."

Taking out a pen and paper, Su Zhou wrote Chinese notes in a notebook, his brows furrowed as he began to draw various related relationship lines: "The reason for the apocalypse is the stagnation of the speed of spiritual energy conversion. Gray fog is about to shroud the world, and only sanctuary cities and underground areas maintain a normal environment. However, the underground labyrinth is full of monsters, and so far no one has explored to the deepest part, and no one knows the reason for the formation of the labyrinth."

"Interesting, it seems I need to find an opportunity to see what exactly is going on with that 'gray fog' and 'labyrinth'."

Although Su Zhou is still confused about this world and cannot find a point of focus for the time being, he is very clear that as long as he continues to stay in Nesser City, he will always wait for the mysterious organization to attack again—at that time, he may be able to obtain more relevant information.

Moreover, isn't Elias going to look at the family secret vault? He will definitely be able to get more information from him.

Thinking this way, he lowered his head and continued to read the magic books in the Nesser family's secret vault.

A complete magic book is equivalent to the inheritance of a certain mage, and it is also one of their most important magical artifacts. Through the magic book, the viewer can quickly learn the magic recorded on it.

The previous Grand Duke of Nesser was an elite peak, that is, a transcendent peak caster, proficient in water and earth dual-system magic. In terms of level, he was even a notch higher than Su Zhou. His magic book was not in the study, and it was likely stored in the family secret vault, while the magic books placed in the study were mostly common spells, used to lay the foundation for the younger generation of the Nesser family.

Coincidentally, what Su Zhou needed was to lay the foundation.

"The so-called magic power is just another name for spiritual power. Spiritual power is a universal energy that passes through the heavens and myriad worlds, and magic is just another way of using spiritual power."

Flipping through the magic book with his left hand, Su Zhou stretched out his right hand, gathering spiritual power and operating it according to the recorded spiritual power operation method, condensing runes and filling it with power. Soon, a ball of light blue water condensed in his right hand, and this water light quickly transformed into various forms such as frost, water balls, and spears.

Once a method is mastered, all methods are mastered. With the inheritance of the *Mingxing Hualong Fa* (Mystic Dragon Transformation Method), the *Yu Wuji Shenlei Zhen Fa* (Supreme Divine Lightning Control Method) and other inheritances as the foundation, coupled with the Wisdom Fruit, Su Zhou could easily understand some of the essences in the magic book. Correspondingly, his learning speed was much faster than others imagined.

At the same time.

Elias first instructed the maid to send breakfast to Su Zhou later, allowing him to choose both the quantity and the type, sending him whatever he wanted to eat and sending it for as long as he wanted to eat. He himself just hurriedly drank a glass of water and quickly walked towards the rear of the Grand Duke's mansion.

The Nesser family's treasury is located in a secret room under the Grand Duke's mansion, guarded by a strict magic circle enchantment. Even a near-god powerhouse would need to spend some effort to break through it, so even if Su Zhou and the enemies of the mysterious organization demolished half of the Grand Duke's mansion, it would not have any impact on it.

"I hope I didn't misremember."

Standing in front of the secret door of the basement, Elias concentrated on using his soul frequency to resonate with the great formation, proving his identity, and also slowly opened the door to the secret vault according to the secret method.

After doing all this, waiting for the door to open, Elias couldn't help but feel a sense of disillusionment when he thought that the Nesser family now only had him as a single descendant, and that the entire world would be destroyed in a few decades: "What's the point of me working so hard? The enemies are the same, spending so much effort to fight for something they don't know, but in the end they will still die... Why bother killing each other in the last time, and dying so ugly."

This is also the idea of most people in the world today.

More than a thousand years have long made everyone accept the apocalypse. Whether it is self-help or building shelters, people have implemented all the methods they have thought of, and now what they have to do is nothing more than waiting for death in the most dignified manner.

The family secret vault is not as resplendent as the legends say. After all, ordinary wealth is not worth protecting with this level of great formation.

In fact, most of what is stored in the underground secret room is the cultivation experience of past family heads, precious forbidden techniques, and various extremely precious extraordinary materials and divine objects... In general, it is nothing more than a few bookshelves and a few storage cabinets, which look extremely ordinary at a glance.

Elias did not hesitate. He took a deep breath and then walked forward, going to the bookshelf closest to him, which was also the bookshelf that had traces of being taken out and stored recently, and said in a low voice with a secret language: "Please give me the 'Labyrinth Exploration Log'."

As the secret language was spoken, water-like patterns appeared on the seemingly ordinary bookshelf. Then, a log booklet appeared high on the bookshelf, and Elias stood on tiptoe and took it down.

The bookshelf was enchanted with special preservation magic. Only by using the relevant secret language can the books inside be taken out. If you want to take it out by force, it will only cause the entire bookshelf to self-destruct.

[Labyrinth Exploration Log]

Gazing at these neat large characters, Elias skipped the first half and quickly flipped it to the last few pages, starting to read from the last part of the exploration log.

[September 19th - Underground condition - humid - temperature - 29 degrees

Most of the exploration of the seventh floor has been completed, and all three elite-level monsters wandering around have been wiped out. The exploration team is searching for the entrance to the next floor, and everyone is very excited.

The closer to the underground, the higher the temperature and the more normal the conversion of elements. It seems that the saying that "there is a truth related to the end of the world in the labyrinth" circulating throughout the world is really not groundless. At least, even if the surface is really shrouded in gray fog, we can still enter the underground and continue to survive for a while. Live one more day and earn one more day.]

Elias was very familiar with this handwriting. It was the handwriting of the previous Grand Duke of Nesser. He often communicated with the other party through secret letters, and he knew very well that this was indeed the Grand Duke's true handwriting, and not a forgery by others.

"They have actually explored to the seventh floor, and are even looking for the entrance to the eighth floor?" Thinking this way, Elias couldn't help but admire, and then continued to read down: "And it looks like they are about to find the passage to the eighth floor. Father is worthy of being the most talented caster in the family in the last few hundred years!"

Even if he died accidentally during the process of breaking through to the near-god powerhouse, ordinary people don't even have the chance to die like that. It's like some people have been the crown prince for sixty years, which is certainly very tragic, but ordinary people don't have the chance to be the crown prince - the young man thought this way, which can be regarded as finding some fun in suffering.

He continued to read.

[September 22nd - Underground condition - humid - temperature - 31 degrees

We have finally arrived at the eighth floor. The entrance to the next floor of the labyrinth is actually an underground hot spring. If I were not a water-based specialized caster, it would have been really difficult to find. Yaen and I have joined forces to set up a camp. From then on, the seventh floor can also be opened to other adventurers.

However, Yabo said that he seemed to hear some sound calling him, but neither I nor the others heard it - all kinds of strange things happen in the labyrinth, and auditory hallucinations are the least strange. We advised him to rest in the camp for a while, and the vanguard will be temporarily replaced by others.]

[September 23rd - Underground condition - extremely humid - temperature - 30 degrees

Yabo has disappeared silently, and a thick fog has suddenly risen on the eighth floor of the labyrinth. This fog can actually shield magic perception, and the humid water vapor makes me feel like I am in the water.

Soon, we discovered Yabo's footprints. After cautious tracking, we discovered a large area of ​​fantastic man-made palace ruins.

The ruins look like temples, but they are not in the style of the Earth Father God. The patterns are not towering mountains, but a strange wave pattern. The inscriptions on them are also ancient characters that we are not familiar with. This is a style that has never been seen in the previous seven floors of the labyrinth.

We found the unconscious Yabo in the center of this palace. A strange change has appeared on his body, and layers of scales like fish have appeared on his body - Yaen said that this is a bloodline reversion, but Yabo's ancestors have lived with our Nesser family for dozens of generations. When did he have this kind of peculiar bloodline?]

Elias knew both Yaen and Yabo. They were members of the labyrinth exploration team directly under the Grand Duke.

However, with the death of the Grand Duke, the entire Nesser family was almost wiped out, and his direct exploration team was also assumed to be wiped out. Even the family members of the exploration team were killed during the previous great purge by the mysterious organization.

But now it seems that the situation is a bit wrong?

"Scales..." When the young man saw this word, he couldn't help but think of the mysterious organization personnel who invaded the sanctuary. There were indeed fishmen among them. He frowned: "What is the relationship between them?"

Elias continued to read.

[September 24th - Underground condition - extremely humid - temperature - 32 degrees

Yabo has woken up. He looks distraught and keeps talking to himself, 'The time has come', 'This is the call of God'. No matter how we communicate with him, he has no reaction. The scales on Yabo's body are also increasing, and he looks more like a fish-headed fishman than a human.

We have given up on the exploration of the eighth floor and are preparing to return to the surface. If Yabo's condition becomes more and more serious, I am afraid we can only end him underground. This is also for the safety of others.]

[September 27th - Underground condition - humid - temperature - 27 degrees

After returning to the fifth floor, Yabo's condition has improved a lot. He has regained consciousness and tells us in horror that he completely lost control of himself when he was on the eighth floor. He just felt that the bloodline and soul in his body were calling him to go to that strange ancient temple. After arriving at the temple, he fell unconscious and felt that many strange knowledge had been added to his head. He is also very confused about his alienated body, and once he leaves the humid fog, his skin will immediately crack and bleed non-stop.

I can see that Yabo is hiding something. His eyes flicker when he speaks, and he always does this when he lies for decades, but after all, he has followed me for so many years, and I can't interrogate him in front of everyone. After returning to the ground, I must make him honestly tell me all his secrets.]

[October 1st - Cloudy

After returning to the ground, Yabo took the initiative to find me. His previous concealment was not to hide any news from me, but he did not want this news to be known to the others in the exploration team.

He said that the palace on the eighth floor of the labyrinth is the ancient 'Temple of the Water God'. It is the temple of a god that is even older than the Earth Father God, belonging to the previous era. Yabo happily told me that Nesser City is saved, and the entire world is saved. The apocalypse is not a real apocalypse, but the result of elemental rotation. As long as we find the core of the next era's elemental rotation, then we can survive under its protection until the old world is destroyed and the new world is born!

This is too absurd. What is the Water God? The Nesser family has never heard of this word in thousands of years of history, but Yabo is not the kind of person who would deceive people. You can tell from his expression what he is hiding, but this time, I can see that he is sincere.]

[October 3rd - Cloudy

Yabo is dead. The cause of death is elemental disorder in his body. This is an incurable disease... Before he died, he was very regretful that he could not see the new world, but he hoped that I could lead his family to survive until the next era... To be honest, I am still skeptical about all of this, and Yabo's mental state has been problematic since returning from the eighth floor. He has been promoting the Water God-related matters. I cannot believe the words of a near-mad fellow, even if he is my attendant since I was a child.

Before Yabo died, he said that the Earth Father God who created our era has died, but the gods of the two eras before the Earth Era have shown signs of revival - what element is the next era? This is the moment when other revived gods compete with each other. Two ancient gods are about to revive and compete for the protagonist position of the next era, and when the next era dies, our Earth Father God will also revive and compete for the protagonist of the era after the next.

The essence of the labyrinth is the remnants of the civilization of the previous era. The labyrinth near our Nesser City on the eighth floor is the main shrine of the Water God, and Yabo is a descendant of the former inhabitants of the previous era who have remained until now, so he awakened in the temple.

Whether it's true or false, all this news is too unacceptable, but when I think of the ancient temple on the eighth floor of the labyrinth, and the strange transformation that appeared on Yabo's body, I can't help but think about the truth of this matter. What if what he said is true? What should I do then?

In any case, the harvest from clearing the seventh floor of the labyrinth this time is great, and my strength has improved again. After a period of rest, I will probably be able to try to break through to the near-god realm. In this way, no matter what chaotic situation, I will have the power to maintain the order of Nesser City.]

This is the end of the exploration log.

If the previous Grand Duke of Nesser had other related records, they would not be recorded in this labyrinth exploration-related record.

After reading all this, Elias took a deep breath. His face was extremely serious.

"Water God..." The young man closed the booklet in his hand and murmured softly: "Could it be that that is the organization that attacked Nesser City? Believers who are loyal to the Water God? And the god they are talking about is the Water God?"

Thinking this way, both the strange alien intelligent life forms and the inexplicable faith of the other party have explanations.

As for why the Water God's organization would attack Nesser City, Elias felt that it might be related to the Water God's temple on the eighth floor underground - the labyrinth is extremely complex, and the entrances and exits above and below each floor are very secret. If you want to know how to get to the eighth floor of the labyrinth, unless you interrogate the relevant exploration team members, you can only get it from the exploration log.

Obviously, after the Grand Duke died accidentally during the breakthrough process, the Water God's believers did not get any news about the eighth floor of the labyrinth from the exploration team of Nesser City, so they could only try to break through the secret vault of the Nesser family and try to get relevant news from it.

"Things are troublesome."

To be honest, Elias doesn't understand what era change is, what god revival is, and doesn't know what the new world is after the demise of the old world, but he understands that there is probably a god behind the enemy.

Although this god should not have recovered to its peak state, in the final analysis, it is also a god!

"No, I must notify Mr. Su Zhou as soon as possible!"

Thinking this way, the gray-eyed young man with a frown hurriedly left the secret vault and went to the study.

A while later, in the study.

"You said you want me to leave?"

After listening to the gray-eyed young man's hurried warning, Su Zhou closed the magic book in his hand. He was in a good mood after just learning a few basic water-based spells, but Elias's words just now made him a little unhappy.

The young man looked at Elias strangely and looked at each other: "I didn't expect that you would plan to drive me away so soon? I didn't expect that you little guy is quite power-hungry."

Of course, Su Zhou could see that Elias didn't mean it that way. He was just teasing the other party - and Elias did indeed turn red immediately as he thought, and hurriedly explained: "No, Mr. Su, I said, there really may be a god behind that mysterious organization! A Water God with the same status as the Earth Father God!"

"Water God?" Hearing this word, Su Zhou immediately became interested. He didn't continue to tease the other party, but asked curiously: "Didn't you say before that there are no other gods in this world?"

"I originally thought so too, but..."

Elias briefly but completely conveyed the information he obtained from the exploration record to Su Zhou, and then he solemnly repeated again: "The enemy is a believer of the Water God, their organization may be more powerful than we thought, and they are determined to get the labyrinth temple on the eighth floor, and the next time they come, there will definitely be more than just these few people."

"And the essence of the enemy is likely to be like Yabo, a labyrinth explorer who suddenly awakened and reverted to his ancestors." After saying this, the gray-eyed young man concluded: "Nesser City will be very dangerous after this, so please leave."

"What about you."

Su Zhou did not reply immediately. He asked with interest: "I can just leave, but the other party will not let you go."

"I will burn the exploration records and then leave this sanctuary. If it doesn't work, I will commit suicide."

When he said the word suicide, Elias's tone was very decisive, even with a bit of a relaxed tone: "In this way, it will take a lot of effort for the other party to find the entrance to the eighth floor of the labyrinth - after all, they are not familiar with the seventh floor of the labyrinth, and they will definitely be able to delay them for a long time."

Su Zhou's reply to this was very simple,

"I refuse."

He put the magic book in his hand aside. Su Zhou crossed his hands and placed them on his raised knees. He sat on the cashmere chair and said with a calm expression: "I didn't expect that your city is quite interesting - it is worthy of being the center of the dispute. It is decided, I will stay here. I want to see what tricks the Water God's believers can play."

"Huh?"

Although Su Zhou's decision to stay in Nesser City was good news for both the sanctuary city and Elias himself, he still couldn't help but raise his hand, wave it, and advised: "This, this is a private matter about our Nesser family... It has nothing to do with you, Mr. Su, you really don't need to get involved..."

"Tsk, are you looking down on me?"

Su Zhou frowned after hearing this - although this child's words were all well-intentioned, the words he said were very boring... How should I put it? It's like someone going to a bathhouse to ask a master to scrub their back, and politely saying "Master, have you eaten?" It's obviously well-intentioned, but in the master's ears, it's like they are complaining that he is not full and not strong enough.

What can the master do then? Naturally, he will use all his strength to scrub off a layer of skin for him!

Su Zhou was the same. How could he be someone who could be subjected to this kind of anger? Immediately, he decisively replied: "I'm willing!"

After saying that, Su Zhou reiterated once: "I have the strength, the time, and the interest - I am willing to stay here, dangerous? I came here for danger!"

"What, are you planning to drive me away? Let's get the ugly words out in front, according to the comparison of our strengths, it's hard to say who will drive who away."

"Mr. Su..." After hearing Su Zhou's words with hidden threats, Elias was speechless - he could also hear the good intentions and determination behind Su Zhou's words, which made him feel very strange in addition to being moved.

The actions of ordinary people are all for the benefit of the individual or the collective, but Su Zhou's actions have felt from the beginning that they have nothing to do with benefits. Saying that he is following his heart is a bit incorrect, it's simply whatever he wants!

He has never seen such a pure, such an unpretentious person!

But in fact, Elias was thinking too much. Su Zhou has a lot of benefits in fighting the enemy. Not to mention that his purpose in coming to this world is to challenge the strong, he also has evil souls to take when he kills bad people! Not to mention anything else, the three Water God believers each provided a copy of evil souls, a rare harvest.

Speaking of which, he hasn't had time to see what effects those evil souls have.

Although, even without the evil souls, Su Zhou would do the same just for the curiosity of knowing the truth behind this world.

"Tomorrow, I will go to the labyrinth to see the situation."

Saying this, Su Zhou affirmed the course of action for tomorrow in a determined tone: "I want to see what the Water God's temple is all about."

My body is still a little uncomfortable, and the acclimatization is very serious...

First ask for a monthly ticket~