Shepherd Tantra

Chapter 879: The Remains of the Tower of Babel
April 7th, early morning.

As the sun had just risen and the morning breeze was still cool, the ten-man team packed their luggage and headed to the outskirts of Protagoras.

Everyone was a transcendent above the fourth energy level, so they walked very fast and didn't get tired easily.

Before setting off, Aiwass gave everyone a "travel blessing". This blessing can greatly reduce the physical energy consumption when running, and even restore physical strength by jogging or brisk walking, so that you will not feel tired even when climbing a mountain.

This is a very common blessing in the game - it can even be said to be the most common blessing. It can only be used outside of combat, and the effect in the game is to increase land movement speed by 20%, but once you are hit, this blessing will disappear. The effect of increasing movement speed cannot be superimposed with the movement speed provided by the mount, so you can only take the highest one.

In some places where it is inconvenient to summon a mount... for example, in a copy where you need to run a long way to collect materials or decrypt puzzles, or when running the main line in a more complicated place, you can hang up this blessing and then run the map.

In some places, the main quest, activity quest or career quest will be more circuitous, and you have to run a long way to the nearest teleportation point; there are also some very stupid quests that require you to decrypt the code first to find clues, or it takes a long time to go back and forth with one thing after another.

At that time, there were some priests or bards who would earn extra money by leading people on quests - they would put on a status that would increase their running speed in addition to being able to fight, and then lead people all the way to the finish line via a shortcut.

At that time, Aiwass was unemployed and at home. Although he had some savings... he was, after all, a "professional player" who had to make money by playing games.

So I have tried various ways to make money. I can only say that it is not as good as making money by playing for others, and at most I can only make enough money for drinks.

Cardinal Galatea also sang the elven ballad, which further increased the team's speed. Therefore, before noon, they had already passed a mountain and approached their destination.

It may be different from what everyone thinks.

It was not an "ancient ruin" or a "huge underground tomb", but just a village in the mountains. The village was not small, and even had a bell tower, a church... and from a distance, it even had electricity.

“…Are the ruins nearby?”

The Drifter muttered, somewhat disappointed.

This was not his first time to participate in archaeological excavations, so he naturally knew that... any ruins that were too close to villages and towns would basically have nothing left.

If the risk here is not great, the people living nearby would have basically emptied out their belongings long ago; if it is very dangerous, then the authorities will definitely control this place due to the frequent deaths. By then, if they hire a few archaeological teams to come in, there won't be much left.

—That’s it? That’s it?

With nine extraordinary beings above the fourth level, how could there be human habitation within five kilometers of the archaeological site?
Could this really be a relic from the Amber Age?

On the contrary, Cardinal Galatea looked at the surrounding environment and seemed to have thought of something: "I remember... this place was not like this six hundred years ago..."

"You have a really good memory."

Zhu Tang complained.

"Encyclopedia" just glanced at Cardinal Galatea and hesitated to speak.

He clearly wanted to say something, but he didn't dare to because of the presence of Cardinals Aiwass and Galatea.

As a "dream monk" who advanced from a "naturalist", he naturally knows many secrets.

For example...Star Crystal Man.

After all, dream monks would upload and share their knowledge with each other, so even if he didn't collect the knowledge himself, it would be in his "memory library".

But Master Dürer was not in a hurry, and did not even say a word. He just led them forward.

Professor Bader, on the other hand, seemed to be thinking: "I have heard of a theory. There is a view in the academic community that the Amber Age relics cannot be found today, not because they were destroyed or damaged, but because they were hidden by some means.

"There is a village in Avalon that was sealed up using a similar method. Outsiders cannot enter at all. Could it be that the ruins here were also sealed up using a similar method?"

"Mr. Dürer," the kitten said somewhat dissatisfiedly, "We have come this far and there is no way to turn back... Where and from what era are we going to see these relics? I think we can tell you now, right?

"After all, we have some important people in our team now... I believe no one dares to talk nonsense outside."

"——It is indeed a relic of the Amber Age."

Finally, Master Chongbo spoke: "But it's not just a relic of the Amber Age..."

As he spoke, he and everyone suddenly stopped.

This is the location halfway up the mountain.

There was nothing unusual on the road ahead. Even Aiwass himself didn't feel anything was wrong. There weren't any stone tablets, forks, giant trees or other road signs around. It just stopped suddenly at a place without any signs.

It's just like the treasure map in the game - you are given a strange coordinate, and then you have to stand on that coordinate exactly to dig up something.

But Aiwass understood: "Is it the preservation technique?"

Chongbo nodded.

In front of Aiwass, he simply stopped pretending: "You should have heard of... the legend of the Tower of Babel, Mr. 'Pope'."

"...Ah, yes."

Aiwass nodded. "It is the earliest wizard tower in the world, known as the 'Tower of Truth'. It has the ability to calculate all the mysteries of the past and the future. It contains nine major categories and twenty-seven subcategories of spells, including necromancy, preservation, astrology, alchemy, curse, and ritual.

"Today's alchemists, astrologers, necromancers, ritualists, curse masters... all come from the heritage of the Tower of Babel."

He didn't tell the whole story.

During this promotion ceremony, Aiwass also learned other secrets about the Tower of Babel...

Hearing what Aiwass said, everyone held their breath.

If they were to dig up the remains of the Tower of Babel—

The source of all magic in the material world! The Mage Tower of the Amber Age!

This is the Narcissus Principality, the country with the most wizard towers. Everyone knows that there are treasures everywhere in the wizard towers... not only gold and silver treasures, but also various mystical books, stone tablets and extraordinary items of greater value - they are the products of pre-civilization at least 8,000 years ago!
Apart from other things, the materials of extraordinary creatures from the Amber Age alone can be auctioned at sky-high prices today. These things are almost all extinct now... Extinct things are even more valuable!
"...Is the Tower of Babel right under our feet?"

Professor Bud frowned and thought: "Could this mountain be the remains of the Tower of Babel?"

Sine sneered. He obviously looked down upon the wisdom of ordinary people. "Foolish! It must be hidden in some space crack... As ancient wizards, it is reasonable for them to be able to do such a thing. Even modern magic can achieve such a miracle... It's just that there is no leakage of energy fluctuations at all. It is probably because of this reason that it has been preserved until now without being discovered."

“In fact, it does have characteristics.”

Zhu Tang said, "I saw... there are waves of 'water' here. It's clearly on the mountain, but the water is gathering from the bottom of the mountain to the top."

When everyone heard this, they looked over and found that Zhu Tang had actually opened his eyes!
His eyes were all pure white, with complicated battle diagrams engraved in black letters. Now they were spinning, and people felt a chill down their spine after just a few seconds of watching.

Zhu Tang only looked at it for a few seconds, then closed his eyes again. Chongbo said slowly: "That's why I said... this is not just one ruin. The 'water flow' you sensed is the second level of ruins here."

"Hey, come on, boss!"

The wanderer was getting anxious, and felt that his boss this time was simply a perfect riddler: "What is going on? No one else should ask! If we keep asking and answering like this, it will be dark!"

Chongbo remained calm and unhurried.

He was so calm that even his breathing was not disordered, and his eyes were so peaceful as if he was just enjoying the mountain air and the birdsong.

He is not a riddle man, he is just an exceptionally patient and slow-tempered person.

Seeing that the wanderer was already gnashing his teeth and stamping his feet, Master Chongbo spoke up and started from the beginning: "The preservation technique is the most complete lineage in the inheritance of the Tower of Babel. This place is not 'hidden', but 'preserved'.

"As early as the Amber Age, this piece of time and space was cut out and preserved. To open it, you need a key...

"At least the seventh level of preservation technique is needed to open this blocked space and time."

"…Seventh level?!"

“——This is impossible!”

"Even the Eternal Pope——"

Everyone subconsciously wanted to deny it.

But Aiwass understood.

——It is the so-called "priority".

Although not all priorities can be used for preservation... Most priorities are "penetration" or "resistance", or they are effective when "confronting". But this is not all, for example, the golden entry that Aiwass got this time has an "unconditional effective entry" that directly increases the priority of the spell.

If you want to use the fifth energy level to reach the seventh energy level spell immunity, you need two different sources of priority that can be fully stacked on the preservation spell! And it must be an unconditional priority... It can take effect even if there is no battle!

“…Others can’t, but I can.”

Master Chongbo spoke calmly, reaching out to touch the air.

I saw an illusory amber spider web spreading from his fingertips and spreading out to the surroundings.

In the blink of an eye, the spider web covered the entire dense forest.

The next moment, all the spider webs shattered.

A white mist came from nowhere and completely enveloped the surroundings.

And when they dispersed slightly, the sudden light made them subconsciously cover their eyes.

Aiwass didn't cover it.

He just looked up. In the azure sky, the white clouds appeared extremely clear and three-dimensional. The sun was several times brighter and larger. The extremely scorching sunlight was enough to burn the skin after penetrating the white mist in the dense forest.

At this moment, Rurouni and Koneko seemed to have sensed something at the same time, and suddenly looked in the direction they came from.

There was only darkness.

But where the village was originally located, there stood an extremely huge tower silently.

The tower is much larger than the entire village, and you can hardly see the end of it when you look up. It stands on the top of the mountain, and because it is so huge, it even makes the whole mountain look smaller, like a cliff.

——This is more like a "giant tree" than a "tower".

And considering the order of precedence… maybe “Giant Tree” is more like “Tower of Babel”.

However, the reason why it is said that the end is "almost" invisible is because the upper half of this giant tower is extremely charred and cut off in the middle. After the height is halved, it does not look that high.

It was like a chopstick that was gradually tightened, the upper half was burnt and then the burnt part was cut off horizontally. At this moment, smoke was still floating up from it, looking like some kind of signal smoke.

"...The Tower of Babel, was it destroyed by something?"

Zhu Tang murmured in a low voice: "Was it a lightning strike?"

But "Encyclopedia" suddenly spoke up and gave the answer: "The Tower of Babel was broken by Wei Zhe himself. This happened in the Second Sun Era..."

"——This is a 'preserved' fragment from the Amber Age."

Sine also realized it immediately.

He looked at Chongbo with respect and caution: "Excuse me, who are you..."

"——Let me introduce him to you. This is Master Chongbo, from the Helasar Empire."

Seeing that Master Chongbo did not resist but did not speak, Aiwass smiled and patted the old man on the shoulder, and introduced him lightly: "The world's first amber craftsman.

"He is also the only one... or one of the very few people who can truly bring the dead back to life."

"Thank you, Your Holiness."

Chongbo said calmly: "That can't be considered resurrection... it's just 'saving others' lives'."

"It's like...saving the destroyed Tower of Babel, right?"

Professor Bard whispered, "Resurrecting the dead time and space in the present world...isn't this also a kind of resurrection of the dead?"

At this moment, everyone finally realized what a horrifying thing had happened here.

“It is impossible to go against the laws of nature without breaking the limits of the world.”

Chongbo glanced at Aiwass deeply: "In a world where the upper limit is the sixth energy level... the seventh energy level is a necessary condition for 'calling for miracles'.

“…and if the upper limit of this world is to be raised to the seventh energy level, then in order to reverse life and death, one must reach the eighth energy level.”

Hearing this, Aiwass narrowed his eyes slightly.

Amber...does he know something?

(End of this chapter)