by <unknown>
"In the history of the demon race over the past ten thousand years, the mainstream opinion has been that Chaos was a mortal enemy for Pangu. These embossments can refute such an opinion."
Another research said coldly, "Of course, Chaos was not Pangu's enemy because he was the rightful heir of Pangu! It was because some ambitious, crazy demons betrayed God Chaos that the public opinion about him ended up like this today! What we need to do is excavate everything inside the Mausoleum of Chaos and set the truth to public exactly as it is!"
Chu Zhengqing smiled and walked forward.
A lot of explorers had gathered in the front and established the most basic illumination system.
With the help of the rays, Li Yao was able to see an indescribable object standing at the end of the temple. It looked both like an integrated cockpit and like a weird-shaped, magnificent throne. A bright golden skeleton more than ten meters long had been embedded into the object.
The skeleton must have worn a certain kind of armor, but after such a long time, the armor had already melded with the body.
The upper half part of the body, except for being slightly larger, was no different from that of a human being.
However, starting from the hipbone, the skeleton suddenly shrank and condensed into a thick dragon bone. At the end of the tail, the bone was split apart into more than ten parts, protruding out like the claws of a crab.
Back when the skeleton was alive, it had probably been an existence that was half human and half snake, or half human and half dragon.
Dense spiritual stripes could be found on the bones that were not covered in armor, especially the skull, which was relatively intact. The circles of stripes attracted Li Yao's eyes and soul like a mysterious swirl.
Quite a few paleontologists and archeologists were already busy working around the skeleton throne. They were cleaning the dust that fell off from the skeleton and scanning every fracture of the skeleton.
"The appearance of the armor and the seat of the skeleton is completely out of place with the style of the building around us and the development level of the civilization forty thousand years ago to our knowledge. It carries an intense air of technology, especially in the zone right in front of the skeleton that looks like a 'dashboard'. The complexity of the spiritual stripes is extremely hard for us to understand even today.
"It can be assumed for now that the skeleton and the seat it was embedded to were not built inside the Mausoleum of Chaos but moved to this place from somewhere else.
"Its coordinates inside the temple are exactly the center of the golden cut. Based on the architecture rules in the era of ancient Cultivators, it is the most divine position.
"We may assume that the skeleton was the 'god' that Chaos believed in!"
Chu Zhengqing circled around the skeleton throne and made his speculation casually.
Chapter 891: The Massacre Forty Thousand Years Ago! |
Dozens of specialists of the Blade of Chaos all analyzed the skeleton throne.
Li Yao vaguely sensed that many rays were shot out of the organs of the specialists that resembled eyes as they tried to penetrate the shell of the skeleton throne and pry into the structure of the 'god'.
Even Li Yao could not help but release part of his telepathic thoughts, hoping to invade the armor through the gaps, but to no avail.
The armor that was worn outside of the 'god' looked vintage and intimidating. Li Yao had browsed through all the ancient armors recorded in the Hundred Smelting Clan forty thousand years and still failed to find any structure that was remotely close.
The usage of the throne was even more mysterious. On the dashboard that was against the face of the 'god', there were only several buttons. It was safe to infer that the machine was operated not with the hands but through telepathic thoughts directly.
"The Blade of Chaos firmly believes that God Chaos rose when he was needed forty thousand years ago and excavated the legacy of the Pangu Clan from the primeval era, thereby creating the modern demon race," one of the specialists said solemnly. "The 'god' inside the skeleton throne is probably a member of the Pangu Clan!"
His deduction was agreed upon by most of the specialists, but it raised a number of gasps, too.
The warriors standing at the edge almost could not hold themselves from worshipping the skeleton throne.
The vast temple was caught in a weird and yet solemn vibe.
"Such an assumption does have a point," Chu Zhengqing said. "If we consider the Pangu Clan as a tribe or a civilization that expanded across all the three thousand Sectors billions of years ago, and someone, or some organization, named 'Chaos' found the relics of the Pangu Clan in which they retrieved the precious legacy and eventually built an enormous base with the legacy as the foundation, then the skeleton throne was probably the only well-preserved body of the Pangu Clan inside the relics. Chaos treated it like a 'god' and enshrined it in this place for sacrifices."
The specialists all nodded. Such a theory was reasonable enough.
Right then, exclamations echoed in the southeast of the temple.
As it turned out, another squad had detected new corpses.
Very soon, the scraps of dead bodies were discovered everywhere in the great temple.
After being scanned with mystic rays, almost a hundred piles of bodies were displayed on the retina of every specialist.
Li Yao received the information, too.
Most of the dead bodies were demons between 1.5 meters to 3 meters. After forty thousand years of decay, the only things left were dry bones and empty shells.
A lot of the dead bodies were strangling each other and crushing each other's bones in the most violent methods, as if they were going through a great battle.
Judging from the structure of some of the corpses, one of them was biting the spine of another one hard, as if they had been mauling and gnawing each other.
A lot of flying swords and sabers were scattered around the dead bodies, most of which had been broken in half.
Remarkable combat ability.
Li Yao discovered that almost twenty flying swords had been stabbed into a dead body that was no taller than two meters, but the dead body had still tackled another dead body and even crushed its shoulder bone. The tusks of the first corpse had even pierced through the skull of the second corpse.
Li Yao pictured what happened forty thousand years ago.
The first corpse was pierced through by more than ten flying swords, and its internal organs were entirely wrecked. But he—or 'it'—maintained a rather shocking combat ability and tackled the opponent before it shattered the scapula of its target and extended its own head to the enemy's.
It was biting the enemy's face.
What a nightmarish massacre!
Huh?
After scanning the surface of hundreds of corpses, Li Yao suddenly discovered something weird.
Amid the bizarre-shaped corpses of demons, there were also dead bodies of human beings.
Although the only things left right now were dry bones, Li Yao was pretty sure that they used to be standard human beings, judging from the form and structure of the dry bones!
Some of the dry bones were emitting bronze, bright green, and dark golden colors. It was a sign that the bones had been nurtured by spiritual energy for a long time.
It meant that the owners of the dry bones used to be high-level Cultivators!
In the meantime, the specialists of the Blade of Chaos noticed the corpses of the Cultivators, too.
"What has happened?"
"A batch of Cultivators attacked the Mausoleum of Chaos, which resulted in such a gory massacre?"
"Unlikely. According to our research, when Chaos rose up, the force of the Cultivators was already very weak. It is not possible that they attacked the base of Chaos actively."
"Besides, such brutal methods are more befitting lunatics who have gone mad. It is definitely not the combat style of the ancient Cultivators."
A few arch
eologists moved to the corpses and retrieved the robes, armor, and scraps of magical equipment left around carefully.
Those corpses had all been killed forty thousand years ago. Although their flesh had rotted, the robes, armor, and magical equipment that they carried had not been entirely corroded. There were still scraps that could be studied.
Li Yao stood at the edge of the circle and observed with great interest.
The magical equipment that those corpses utilized had the unique style of the ancient Cultivators, which gave a strong feeling of familiarity.
Odd.
Very soon, the preliminary analysis on the scraps of the robe was out.
The Cultivators and demons lying on the ground were all wearing robes of the same fashion. The magical equipment they used was mostly the same make, too.
Besides, if it had been an invasion of the Cultivators, the dead bodies of the Cultivators and those of the demons should be attacking each other.
But the reality was that the corpses of many Cultivators were mauling other Cultivators, and the dead bodies of the demons had also engaged in fierce battles with other demons.
The scraps of the robes of both the attackers and the victims were very similar. They were made of the same materials in the same style. Even the spiritual stripes on them were identical.
It was safe to say that there had been no intruders; they simply attacked and eventually killed each other until everybody was dead.
"What happened in this place?"
The number of the corpses found inside the temple had already surpassed a thousand, and that was merely the tip of the iceberg.
The gory massacre that took place forty thousand years ago made the weird Mausoleum of Chaos even more mysterious.
All the researchers were baffled and whispering to each other.
Right then, after a hum, sighs seemed to echo in every direction in the darkness, as if a force that had slept for forty thousand years had awoken. The entire temple was trembling slightly.
The next second, mild rays of light sprayed down from the top of the temple like a waterfall, bathing all the researchers in an ivory ocean of brightness.
The warmth of the bright ocean drove away the darkness and made all the explorers less anxious.
Yuchi Ba, leading the majority of the exploration team, strode close.
"We have just activated the power rune array of the Mausoleum of Chaos. It is truly unbelievable. Such an enormous underground palace is actually driven by solar energy!
"The sky of the White Silver Death Desert is cloudless and boasts the most scorching sunlight. The energy of the sunlight is absorbed by the sand and transmitted to the Star Swallowing Sea in a way that we cannot comprehend. Then it is stored in the lake!
"The entire Star Swallowing Sea is in fact an enormous pool of solar energy. By the rising and ebbing tide every day, the energy is incessantly released to the Mausoleum of Chaos, keeping the underground palace functioning normally during the past forty thousand years.
"The strength of God Chaos is too immeasurable and incredible!
"Master Chu, what are your thoughts about our discoveries so far?"
"It's been too long a time," Chu Zhengqing replied. "I'm afraid that nobody knows what exactly happened here forty thousand years ago. We can only speculate based on the evidence we have found.
"First of all, the Blade of Chaos regards 'Chaos' as a god. But in my eyes, Chaos was perhaps an organization or even a human being. A regular human being."
Chu Zhengqing paused for a moment. Before the members of the Blade of Chaos burst into fury, he quickly continued. "However, regardless of whether Chaos was a god, an organization, or a person, he must've had a lot of subordinates in order to establish such a huge base.
"If Chaos was an organization, the organization certainly had members. If Chaos was a god, he certainly had a lot of believers. Right?"
Yuchi Ba pondered for a moment and nodded. "Yes."
Chu Zhengqing continued. "We have already found almost a thousand dead bodies that are wearing the robes of the same fashion and carrying magical equipment of the same make. Thus, is it not reasonable that we can assume them to be members of the organization named Chaos or the believers of the god named Chaos?"
"There's another possibility," Yuchi Ba said. "They were all intruders, and they were slain by God Chaos when they were invading the Mausoleum of Chaos!"
Chu Zhengqing shook his head and said, "Not very likely. If they were intruders, where were the believers of Chaos? Besides, after the intruders were killed, their bodies were simply left in the sacred place where sacrifices were offered. Isn't it very strange?"
"But there were a lot bodies of human beings among the corpses," Yuchi Ba said.
Derision quickly flashed inside Chu Zhengqing's eyes. "So what? Who says that human beings cannot be believers of Chaos? Or rather, who says that Chaos was a demon? What if Chaos was but a regular human being?"
"You—"
Before Yuchi Ba was outraged, many specialists of the Blade of Chaos rose up and glared at him.
"The facts are very obvious," Chu Zhengqing said casually. "Before Chaos appeared, there had never been real demons as we know today. The monsters and uncanny creatures recorded in the notes of the ancient Cultivators are simply too vastly different from modern demons.
"You all claim that Chaos created the demon race. Then, if you think about it more carefully, it is impossible that Chaos was a demon. How could he have created himself?
"Hehe. If he was not a demon, is it not obvious what kind of existence the so-called 'Chaos' once was?"
Chapter 892: War. War Never Changes |
After Chu Zhengqing expressed his opinion, yells and curses echoed nonstop. The excited believers of Chaos were even trying to approach Chu Zhengqing and challenge him.
The guardians, including Li Yao, hurried to block the frantic crowd.
Li Yao more or less understood why Yuchi Ba had asked a newcomer such as himself to protect Chu Zhengqing.
Judging from his boldness in making groundbreaking declarations, if an avid believer of Chaos were to work as his guardian, it would certainly have been difficult for the guardian to refrain himself from punching Chu Zhengqing's face.
"Master Chu," Yuchi Ba said coldly. "Let's focus on the issues at hand for now. If the corpses really belonged to the believers of Chaos forty thousand years ago, what is your opinion about the cause of their death?"
"Loss of rationality for some reason and self-harm," Chu Zhengqing said. "Many poisons, venomous gases, and even soundwave attacks that I know can achieve the result.
"However, as to whether the poisons and the venomous gas were released from the outside world or generated inside the Mausoleum of Chaos, it cannot be decided for now."
Right then, a researcher in a white robe approached Yuchi Ba and whispered something into his ear. Yuchi Ba nodded in approval, apparently greatly relieved. "We haven't detected the constituents of any poison or venomous gas in the air, the soil, or the corpses."
"Not yet." Chi Zhengqing smiled and said, "Master Yuchi, it seems that our preliminary assumption was right. Judging from the scale of the first floor of the Mausoleum of Chaos, the vastness of the building is unimaginable for us.
"Both in the official history books and in folklore, Chaos never seized the supreme power to rule over all the three thousand Sectors. Then, the purpose of such an underground must've been much more than to offer sacrifices or to demonstrate his power.
"In other words, this place was probably a research center or a secret base for Chaos, with both military and experimental purposes.
"Right now, our biggest questions include: what was Chaos exactly? Who were his enemies? What kind of magical equipment, weapons, or soldiers had he been studying in this place to deal with those enemies?
"Right. Perhaps the Blade of Chaos is only interested in the last question.
"However, before we move to a deeper level, I feel obliged to remind
you one more time.
"Both the Blade of Chaos and Elder Nether Spring are doing everything you can to crack the secrets of Chaos. But as you can see, such a gory massacre has already been unfolded before us when we have not really gotten close to the secrets yet.
"Are you really ready to get your answer, one that might not be what you really want right now, or even is completely opposed to what you have believed in?"
Yuchi Ba took a deep breath and declared, "Yes, we are ready. Let's go to the second floor."
While they were studying the skeleton throne and the dead corpses, the specialists of ancient architecture and rune arrays had basically determined the rough structure of the second floor. As rune arrays were activated one after another, the center of the temple trembled slightly, and running gears could be heard deep below the ground.
Suddenly, enormous black pillars rose up from the ground.
They were the lifts leading to the second floor of the mausoleum of Chaos.
Judging from the overall structure, the Mausoleum of Chaos could be divided into three to four planes. However, the second floor took up even vaster space than the temple. The terrain inside the second floor was extremely complicated and had been split into different zones.
"Master!"
While the specialists were testing the lifts, Li Yao could not help but ask Chu Zhengqing, "You mentioned that 'Chaos' might have been a human being, didn't you? What is that all about?"
Chu Zhengqing and his daughter glanced at him in surprise. Seeing no fascination or frenzy typical of a believer of Chaos, Chu Zhengqing pondered for a moment and asked back, "Have you ever heard the story of mankind regarding the birth of the demon race?"
Li Yao blinked, not sure whether he should give a positive reply or a negative one.
Chu Zhengqing mistook his hesitation for confusion. He explained quickly, "According to the history of human beings, forty thousand years ago, a Cultivator invented a type of gene drug named 'Demon God', which could accelerate the evolution of normal animals and transform them into strong demon beasts.
