It was a ruin!
The finding was just as shocking as when they found out the planet had two layers of crust and that the surface was a petrified canopy of a group of giant trees. Hao Ren zoomed in on the image to determine the authenticity and approximate size of the ruins. I was located almost on the other side of the planet. Driving would not be practical. So he let the MDT teleport them to the site.
The MDT shone in blue light, and they all disappeared. Almost immediately, they emerged at the other side of the planet where the ruins were.
Likewise, there was a magnificent prairie scenery here.
Hao Ren reached out his hand and grabbed the probe that was flying toward him. He tucked the little probe into his dimension pocket before climbing up a higher ground. He gazed at the towering buildings not far away while enjoying the breath-taking scenery a little.
The vast grassland with its undulating landscape stretched almost to the end of the horizon. It was as beautiful as a painting. An ancient city of stone on the prairie had the architecture that resembled the Aztec style though most of the walls had collapsed. In the center of the city and on the high ground, there were large and small, flat-topped pyramids, and between the pyramids were wide boulevards paved with boulders that divided the city into several well-arranged zones. Each zone had stone houses lined up in rows. Other than the pyramids, most buildings were no more than three stories high, which further accentuated the imposing presence of the pyramids.
“Unbelievable…” Hao Ren muttered to himself, “There are such ruins here… I thought when the First Born made Heaven’s Pillars the earthquake might have destroyed everything.”
He looked into the distance. Approximately a dozen kilometers from the city ruins, there was another spectacular black giant pillar connecting the grassland with the sky above and on the other side of the horizon, there was another pillar. Thanks to the excellent air quality in this underground world, one could always see at least two Heaven’s Pillars at any one time. The great pillars were so massive that it extended all the way up to the solid dome above. And, they were visible from any angle.
The nearest Heaven’s Pillar was just a dozen kilometers away from the city. The city was still standing. It must have been a miracle, Hao Ren thought. He had seen how massive the giant trees were; the aerial roots that were up to a kilometer high in the form of a mountain range, and the earthquake that happened when the tentacles rose up from the earth to form the giant trees must have been devastating. Even if the First Born had been cautious, the crack of a dozen kilometers wide in the ground could have destroyed the city. It seemed to defy the law of physics. So there was only one conclusion.
The city was only built after the heaven closed.
However, judging from the crazy Third Borns on the surface, the planet should have undergone a complete reset of its ecosystem. So who built the city on the original crust after heaven closed? Was it the mortal? Did they escape the great cleansing of the First Born? Or could the great purge not happen at all?
The questions were bothering Hao Ren. And, the answers seemed to lie in that city ruins.
They arrived at the ruins. The quaint stone city was desolate. If Heaven’s Pillars and the canopy dome were the ‘great power of nature’ made by the First Born, then this city was a ‘human miracle’ built by the mortals. Even if it was pale in comparison to the canopy dome, it was still mind-blowing. Even Lily had become serious now. She did not bother to collect the stones as a souvenir but rubbed her hand across a square pillar and said, “It looks hand-made; there are traces of ax works on the edges. A massive workforce would be needed to move a huge amount of stones to build the city.”
Stone buildings had been standing silently on both sides of the roads for thousands of years. Moss and vines had eroded the gaps in the structures, leaving behind mottled green marks in the cracks. Many buildings cracked; some had even collapsed. In the pile of stone, stubborn grasses and green vines grew out of the gap between the rocks and fluttered in the wind.
There were some traces of colors on some of the ancient stone walls. These were the paintings and writings of ancient times, but they had somewhat faded. The ancients who left behind this ruin were skillful. They produced pigments that could last so many years of weathering. These things had caught Hao Ren’s attention.
He bent down in front of a broken stone slab. This slate seemed to have come off from a high platform before him. The elevated platform looked like a ceremonial place that exuded a solemn atmosphere. There were mottled paint and some reliefs on the slate.
The reliefs seemed to be depicting some natural phenomenon. On the reliefs, a sphere was at the top and some undulating wave lines at the bottom. It was not sure if the undulating lines represented the sea or the grassland; this underground world did not have oceans, only a large number of lakes and rivers. Also, no one knew whether the ancient people had the concept of the ocean.
Hao Ren noticed something at the bottom part of the slate. He wiped the moss and weeds off the slate with his hand, revealing the cuneiform-like symbols.
“MDT. Translate them.”
The MDT came up and scanned, then went to aside. “I need more characters to form a complete sample library. There should be other writings nearby.”
Lily stood before a huge stone tablet. “Here! There are more here!”
The MDT went up and scanned the writings, and linked the character sample library with the reliefs, and returned to the slate. “It means: praise the sun, which once brought light and heat to the earth. We firmly believe it still burns in the sky of the hometown, and its light shines in our spirit.”
Then it found another slate next to it, which had many plant and animal reliefs, as well as curved symbols between the plants and animals. The slate also had the following words: “Praise to all living beings, the goddess’ outstanding creation. The souls that live among the livings, the dead who have never died, the livings who live in death. We are with all the living and the dead.”
“These are religious slabs,” Hao Ren got to his feet and went up to the stone monument that Lily had found. “What is this?”
“A spell, prayers that have no clear meaning,” the light of the MDT swept across the stone monument. “Calling for the power of the wind, calling for the power of the cloud, calling for the power of the earth, the water, the plants, and the stones. And, a large paragraph that sings praises of some natural phenomenon. It looks like something that a magical ritual would use. According to the style of prayer, it is a bit like Druidism or a natural totem belief.”
Hao Ren nodded. He knew little much about magic and was even more ignorant in totem. At this time, Nangong Sanba seemed to have found something. He took out a small bottle from under his cloak and said, “Wait a second. Let me test it.”
As he spoke, he poured some grey-white translucent viscous grease from the bottle, applied it to the surface of the stone, and then pressed his hand there to inject magic into it. A pale green shimmer appeared on the stone tablet with a soft humming sound. The light resonated with the stone benches and slate in the surroundings. The resonance continued even after Nangong Sanba took his hand off the slate until the magic oil suddenly burned into ashes.
Lily did not know what it was all about. “What are you doing?”
“Checking if there is a residue of magic.” Nangong Sanba wiped his hand. “Items that once carried magic power would leave behind its mark. It will react with the magic potion. These slate and stone monuments were not only for ritual use; they were magic-activated.”
“That is to say, the builder of this city was a magical civilization,” Hao Ren said. “No wonder they could build such a magnificent thing, they had the assistance of magic power.”
Suddenly, there was a scent, the smell of an outsider. They had smelled it. It was not far away. As they realized it, something was piercing through the air coming into their direction. Lily immediately grasped it with her hand; it was an arrow with a tip that glowed in green.
They looked into a direction and saw a tall and burly humanoid shadow swept across the top of a collapsed wall!