Book 4, Chapter 249: Reconstructing Fragmented Ancient Texts

Liao Donghai and Chen Chuan took the elevator to the top of Enclosed Shore’s branch company. This place had been modified into a large glass dome.

Chen Chuan walked to the edge of the dome. When he looked out, he saw the entirety of Yangzhi City under his feet. This was the first time he looked at his hometown from such a high point.

By just changing his point of view, some buildings gave off a completely different feeling.

Liao Donghai handed a Realm Pass to him. Once he put it on and tapped it, the domain screen in the dome immediately spread out to show him pictures and words.

“Director Chen, our lab analyzed their tissue and clothes to determine that they’re from around 350 to 400 years ago. They should have lived in Rolous before moving to Haixi Road, where they stayed for quite a long time,” Liao Donghai said.

The map of the Eastern Continent and its neighboring territories from four hundred years ago showed up.

Liao Donghai tapped his Realm Pass, and some murals as well as torn leather scrolls with words on them appeared. “We searched through the records from the past. Back then, there were actually a lot of tribes who moved from the Western Continent to Haixi Road. There was even an ode popular among the people. It spoke about an ancient tribal hero going back to his tribe after a hunt and finding it eaten by an Akkala Demon. The ancient gods told him to go in the direction of the sun to find the Akkala Demon, and he did, right up to the beach. That’s where he found the demon.

“The ode stated that they got into a fearsome battle that even the gods sung praises, and wine made of blood descended from the heavens. The sea and clouds were dyed red, and the rivers flowed crimson. In the end, the hero plunged a weapon given to him by the gods into the demon’s chest and killed it. He then cut it into twenty-eight pieces.

“These twenty-eight pieces turned into lesser demons known as Akkala’s Kin. From then on, there was a saying: Those who can hunt down Akkala’s Kin will obtain a part of the divine weapon’s power.”

Liao Donghai flicked at the screen to show another thing. “After the branch company found the two ancient martial artists, they also located the ode and had experts verify it. The ode has several versions, but only one can be the original one. The earliest version can be traced back to more than one thousand years ago.”

“So, is the ode that we have right now just using the framework of the original?” Chen Chuan asked.

“This one, yes. Apparently, it’s to make it easy to spread orally. The contents have been modified a bit to fit the society back then and its style.

“We looked into the files of previous dynasties after that. They also have records of this. While the ode is distorted, exaggerated, and mythologized, this incident did happen.”

“Are you sure?” Chen Chuan pressed.

“Yes, because the one who recorded this matter is Celestial Master Huo of mysticism,” Liao Donghai replied.

Chen Chuan’s eyes widened in surprise, then he nodded.

Celestial Master Huo was a high-ranking leader of the former national religion who had reached a high limit. If such a person left such a record, it should be trustworthy.

Liao Donghai tapped on his Realm Pass, and the screen showed the outline of a large creature next to a hill. The mound seemed to have been placed there to give a better idea of the creature’s size. “Aside from the verbal descriptions, we also obtained a sketch of the Akkala Demon. In the old era, this creature was known as the Land Splitter. It’s a mega creature that crawled out of a gap under the sea. Even in the merged space, it’s a rare sight.”

“A mega creature from the merged space came here?” Chen Chuan was quite surprised.

Mega creatures usually stayed in the depths of the merged space and seldom approached the physical world, because they couldn’t find enough food in it to keep themselves alive. However, he soon thought of a reason why it would have done that. “Did it come for an artifact?”

Liao Donghai nodded. “Yes, you’re right. We reconstructed the situation back then based on various records. An unidentified artifact should have appeared here and drawn the Land Splitter into our world. Then, it got into a fight with the martial arts master of the tribe from the ode.

“Celestial Master Huo lived around eight hundred years ago, which is pretty close to the hero’s time. It was soon after mysticism defeated Zen and became the national religion. Back then, the royal court asked Celestial Master Huo to reorganize Haixi Road. Apparently, with his sword and fly whisk, he managed to purge the entirety of Haixi Road within three years.

“The celestial master must have investigated the battle and found evidence that it really happened. According to it, he believed that the hero hadn’t been alone in the fight.

“Only one person survived, but the hero in the ode wasn’t actually the surviving martial arts master. It was someone created after merging all the martial arts masters in the battle into one.”

As he spoke, many picture scrolls and murals showed up on the screen. The last thing on the list was a map.

“The dynasty before the last dynasty was on the verge of destruction around four hundred years ago, so the royal family’s control over Haixi Road was weak. The Western Continent was also plagued with war, so many tribes migrated here. The two martial arts masters the branch company found should have come with them.

“Ever since the ode started spreading, people have been coming from the Western Continent in search of the divine weapon. Apparently, a part of it is hidden within each of the twenty-eight Akkala’s Kin. Anyone who killed a kin could fuse with it.”

Chen Chuan had gotten a gist of what had happened. “So, the thing hidden within their bodies is the ‘divine weapon’?”

“We believe so,” Liao Donghai stated. “They’re highly likely to have succeeded in their hunt back then.

“They shouldn’t be the only ones either. The ode and the fact that some people gained the divine weapon caused the people from the Western Continent to keep coming to Haixi Road to hunt down Akkala’s Kin. There are reports of sightings of these demons in our records. They only stopped at the end of the old era, before we built the Great Shun Republic. That’s why most people believe that the demons were wiped out.

“The Akkala’s Kin these two hunted down could have been the final two. If we could find the other pieces and remove the divine weapons from these two, we could restore the artifact.”

Chen Chuan nodded. An artifact that could lure a mega creature like the Land Splitter was definitely nothing ordinary. It might even be a Class Two artifact, all of which were highly important to a country. No company could possibly be able to keep it under their control.

If Enclosed Shore had learned about the ode long ago, they would have immediately reported it to the state. This also explained why they were being so cooperative now.

After some thinking, he asked, “Since that mole attacked so decisively, could it be because he already knew about this?”

Liao Donghai nodded. “Our investigation shows that he should be a corporate spy planted among us by Rolous’ state-owned enterprise. We went through all the activities he did over the years and believe that this matter is one of the reasons why he infiltrated the company.

“Haixi Road could have intercepted an encrypted telegram he sent to Whale Tower, so some people or some organization might have learned about this and asked a martial arts master to intercept you. The female martial arts master is a treasure.”

He bowed to Chen Chuan gratefully. “Thank goodness you managed to stop this, or we would have been held accountable for even more things and punished even harsher.”

Chen Chuan remembered something and asked, “You should have read the branch company’s report. I saw a huge footprint at the place where the two martial arts masters were discovered. I asked one of the employees about it, but he didn’t understand it himself. Do you know anything about this?”

“I did read the report, yes, and I asked some experts about it. I also looked through some records, but I couldn’t determine what attacked them. However, based on Celestial Master Huo’s records, we’ve come up with a rather dangerous theory.”

His expression turned stern. “Back then, the Land Splitter was divided into twenty-eight pieces. The artifact was stored in those pieces to make sure that the Land Splitter remained split. If the artifact pieces keeping it apart were taken away, the Land Splitter might just gather back together after some time. While it might not have its original strength anymore, it’s still a dangerous entity.”

Chen Chuan considered it. “If that’s the case, there might be one or two Akkala’s Kin still alive, or even if all the pieces are no longer under the artifact’s control, the Land Splitter can’t return to its original form because this isn’t the merged space.”

Liao Donghai was impressed. “Your theory is close to what our analysts have come up with, but they also have another hypothesis: The prolonged separation could have created a deep connection between the Land Splitter and the artifact. As long as the artifact hasn’t been restored, the Land Splitter won’t return to its original form. If that’s really the case, it might be a good thing.”

Chen Chuan nodded. Many years had passed, so the artifact should have scattered all over the world. Gathering it back together wasn’t going to be easy. “How do you intend to remove the artifact pieces from the two?”

Liao Donghai stared at Chen Chuan. “The simplest method is for a martial arts master to kill them and transfer the artifact pieces into themselves.”

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