...

Ye Chen glanced at the man with surprise, then nodded, stepping aside.

Bai Long's expression grew solemn as he approached the stone pillar, his gaze fixed upward on the inscription.

Time flowed slowly as he alternated between frowning in deep thought and showing fleeting moments of sudden comprehension.

After about thirty minutes, he raised his head and addressed Mo Feng beside him: "The first character means 'deity' or 'god'; I'm unsure of the second; the third means 'soul'; the fourth is..." He pointed out every character he recognized, and Mo Feng silently took notes. "There are twenty-four buttons in total, each engraved with text.

I recognize nine of them.

Six others are somewhat blurry, so I'm not entirely certain, and the remaining nine are complete unknowns," Bai Long sighed in frustration.

Although he had graduated with a liberal arts degree from Qinghua University, most of his studies involved modern texts from various countries; he had only occasionally delved into the scripts of earlier eras and didn't possess extensive knowledge.

Mo Feng nodded and walked over.

With his exceptional memory, he absorbed every ancient Greek character Bai Long had identified.

After a moment of deep contemplation, he pressed the very last button in the sequence.

Instantly, there was a thunderous rumble, and a golden radiance shot out from a small aperture in front of the button, floating before the group.

It coalesced into a line of small characters, their brushstrokes vigorous and sweeping, like dragons dancing and phoenixes soaring—each character seemed alive.

What is life? The group stared at the small inscription, momentarily stunned, then frowned.

It was clear this was the riddle posed by the mechanism; solving it correctly would activate the device. "What is life?" Yue Heng muttered, bewildered. "Isn't life just life? What else could it be?" Zhuge Fan offered a wry smile. "Who knows if it's asking for the allegory or the scientific theory? If it's the allegory, life is simply the process from birth to destruction.

If it's scientific—say, the species name for life, or its code—that's considerably harder." Mo Feng spoke coolly. "From the perspective of the law of conservation of energy, destruction and birth do not truly exist.

Take water, for instance: when it evaporates, it becomes gas; the gas gathers and becomes water again; water can solidify into ice.

In losing one thing, you gain another; only the form and magnitude change." "I see now," Yue Heng realized, enlightened. "No wonder we have that saying, 'A blessing in disguise.'" "Let's not wander off topic; we need to figure out the answer quickly," Bai Long urged.

Ye Chen's thoughts stirred.

After a brief pause, his eyes suddenly brightened, and he said to Mo Feng, "I guess it's most likely the first one: 'Deity.'" Yue Heng looked puzzled. "Why?" Everyone turned to look at him.

Ye Chen explained his reasoning. "Deity represents immortality, eternal existence.

In scientific terms, life is something that is perpetually born and eternally present; destruction is birth, and birth is destruction." Bai Long nodded thoughtfully. "Stating it that way, perhaps it could be 'Soul' as well.

Everything possesses a soul.

A soul can be understood as a kind of jing shen [spirit/essence], a will, a fundamental law.

Consider 'ghost possession': when possessed, the body is controlled by the ghost.

The 'ghost' can be understood as the other party's soul, their jing shen; being influenced by their essence causes the body to imitate them involuntarily.

It’s the same principle." The others found this reasoning compelling, and they immediately fell into a dilemma.

Which one to choose? "I agree with both perspectives," Yue Heng admitted with a bitter smile.

Mo Feng nodded. "Then we'll choose both." Saying this, he turned and pressed both buttons simultaneously.

Rumble~~~ The stone pillar shuddered slightly, and then a large fissure cracked open at its mouth.

A mysterious field enveloped the enormous water sphere, and the water began to flow inward.

This flow was no ordinary water; it contained a special energy capable of completely isolating whatever was inside—be it a creature or an object—from the outside world. "It actually worked?" "Damn it, you can select two answers at once?" Yue Heng and Bai Long were taken aback, feeling as though they had been toyed with.

Zhuge Fan shook his head in awe. "Being too naive when coming out really won't do.

If we had picked just one, we'd be in serious trouble." Then, as the water continued to pour in, the figure of the woman slowly emerged from the liquid.

Her body trembled briefly, and then she slowly opened her eyes.

Her water-blue irises seemed to reflect the entire starry sky, flawless and beautiful.

Immediately, she registered the presence of those near her and looked up, spotting Ye Chen and the others.

Her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly.

She rose, her rounded, full breasts rising high, her skin like water, her long hair trailing down her back.

Once all the water had retreated into the pillar, she floated in mid-air, completely untouched by moisture, and asked with curiosity, "Did you save me?" Bai Long and the others looked utterly bewildered, unable to understand a word she spoke.

Ye Chen nodded and replied in the language of Atlantis, asking something to the effect of, "Are you the intelligent goddess of this city?" "I am," the woman smiled radiantly. "My name is Elvira.

I am the ninth-generation intelligent system, production serial number 03, responsible for overseeing this Sacred City of Qilun." Ye Chen studied her for a moment and stated, "We are from another civilization.

We came to this city solely to seek powerful weaponry to fight the Dark Creatures.

Can you assist us?" "Dark Creatures?" Elvira paused, showing shock. "Surely those filthy monsters did not become extinct during the Holy War?" The term 'Dark Creatures' was not a label invented later out of boredom.

It appeared in descriptions found in many ancient civilization ruins, referring to a host of terrifying and powerful monsters that resided in the Abyss of Gloom. "Holy War?" Ye Chen frowned. "What Holy War?" Elvira glanced at him and sighed. "The fact that you could find this place suggests you are from a civilization of a later age, so your ignorance is understandable.

The Atlanteans were colonists from the Orion constellation, innately possessing the power of light, known as the Civilization of Light.

Through relentless research by generations of prodigious talents, their technological prowess became extremely advanced.

Alas, when the Gates of Darkness opened later, they were massacred by those evil, savage Dark Creatures.

Their territory rapidly shrank, and finally, guided by the Seven 'Saints' and numerous 'Sages,' they opened up a realm of life and retreated into another world to hide." Ye Chen was momentarily stunned.

In his previous life, he had heard many rumors, but he hadn't paid much attention to these details.

He only knew that many prehistoric civilizations had been destroyed by monsters called Dark Creatures, and the resulting great war had triggered natural disasters on Earth—volcanoes, ice ages, and floods—that wiped out the remaining structures left by those civilizations.

In reality, however, these civilizations had already been slaughtered by the Dark Creatures before the natural disasters struck, fleeing to another world.

Yet, due to their sheer numbers, some remnants were left behind.

It was similar to the current viral crisis.

If resources were sufficient, various nations could organize their people, board aircraft carriers and spacecraft, and leave Earth to find other habitable planets.

But Earth's population was too vast; the number of people who could be taken away was extremely limited.

The remaining populace continued to struggle, and many years later, these people would all perish under the claws of the monsters, leaving Earth entirely under the dominion of the Dark Creatures.

However, upon discovering that Jihua [Transmutation/Biochemical Enhancement] could increase their strength, humanity found a path to survival and saw hope, naturally refusing to simply abandon Earth.

First, this was their homeland.

Second, where could they flee to if they left Earth? At least nearby, there were no planets suitable for habitation; otherwise, humans would have migrated a portion of their population long ago.

It was often said that humanity would migrate to the Moon, but in reality, that would require a very long time.

Current technology was insufficient to establish large-scale oxygenation systems on the Moon, and besides, without an atmosphere, any incoming meteorites from space would have to be withstood with their bare heads. "With your technological power, you couldn't defeat the Dark Creatures?" Ye Chen's eyes held a trace of gloom.

The creatures that became zombies on Earth following the viral outbreak were only man-made, semi-complete Dark Creatures; neither in number nor in strength could they compare to the true Dark Creatures, which were sealed deep within the Darkness Abyss and could be slain by entering the dimension through transfer channels located in various Earth ruins and secret realms.

Elvira shook her head, a hint of sorrow coloring her expression. "Many prehistoric civilizations, some with technology more advanced than Atlantis, were all destroyed by these monsters.

The Gates of Darkness open once every Solar Age.

When those Gates open, countless Dark Creatures surge out.

Even with the technological might of the Atlanteans, coupled with the assistance of many powerful allies they revered, they were still defeated." Opens once per Solar Age? Ye Chen felt a sudden weight in his heart.

Although he had often entered ruins and secret realms in his previous life to slay true Dark Creatures and improve his physique, he never imagined these creatures were so terrifying—the very culprits behind the destruction of numerous prehistoric civilizations. "Oh, right," Ye Chen suddenly recalled. "Can the mass of Earth withstand the battles involving so many Dark Creatures?" As far as he knew, some people or technological weapons in those ruins were incredibly powerful; if a battle erupted, it could cause severe damage to the planet.

Elvira shook her head. "Earth is the source of life; those beings would never dare to trample upon it.

The only reason the Dark Creatures fight with such ferocity is to seize control of Earth.

Therefore, the wars are conducted in alternate dimensions, where spatial tunnels can be opened between the realms." "I see," Ye Chen nodded, clenching his fist slightly.

If the situation was as terrifying as she described, given current modern technological capacity and human resources, an outbreak of war against the true Dark Creatures would surely result in extinction.