I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 720 - 720 719. When in doubt consult the universe_1

Chapter 720: 719. When in doubt, consult the universe_1 Chapter 720: 719. When in doubt, consult the universe_1 Lu Ban had seen the demise of the civilization that invented Pure Fire in the Splendid Realm.

He knew that Pure Fire itself was a highly potent form of Pollution, fueled by souls, wills, and intense emotions, and once ignited, would never be extinguished.

Through special means, the shrine maidens of the Great Shrine of Harmony Island could control Pure Fire to some extent and use it for themselves, all thanks to the very first shrine maiden, who became the Divine Sakura.

Her soul forever resides within the Divine Sakura, maintaining the Pure Fire by absorbing the shrine maidens’ despair before death.

Such a flame was indeed very similar to the Spirit Torch of Night Country.

However, the Spirit Torch itself does not consume everything around it; it only burns upon the mages, using the light it produces to drive away Demonic Beasts, and its burning flames can indeed affect Demonic Beasts without harming common people.

In Lu Ban’s words, the flame of the Spirit Torch was more like a controlled Pure Fire.

Therefore, Lu Ban was somewhat curious about how exactly the Spirit Torch came to be.

But he glanced at the content on the parchment, which was just some spells and rituals.

He didn’t understand it at all.

Lu Ban was not some genius capable of drawing insights from everything he touched, so he decided to just ask Shia directly.

“The seed of the Spirit Torch Fire indeed comes from a speck of Pollution deeply buried in the heart of all mages through a contract, which is suppressed by the Magic Network under normal circumstances, and even releasing this Pollution requires the Magic Network’s involvement,” Shia simply explained.

As for what this Pollution was specifically, Lu Ban certainly had no way of witnessing it with his own eyes.

“I think the flame of the Spirit Torch might have a similar origin to Pure Fire. In their evolution, one chose to weaken its power to become controllable, while the other amplified its Polluting nature,” Lu Ban vaguely grasped some information about the Pollution of Foreign Domains.

The Spirit Torch and Pure Fire, both manifesting as fire burning souls, under the backdrop of a Foreign Domain, made it very unlikely that such a coincidence was merely accidental.

Before Pure Fire, there was Ash Fire, which in that world was a flame that burned the carcasses of giants and eradicated evil spirits. The bones of giants were something that Pure Fire and Ash Fire couldn’t burn out.

The flame of the Spirit Torch, too, needed to burn mages.

Lu Ban believed this to be a spark of ancient knowledge scattered across Foreign Domains, igniting the flames of civilization.

At this moment, Joester suddenly spoke.

“I think the structure of the Spirit Torch might actually become part of the Magic Network,” he said.

Hearing his words, Shia was puzzled.

“That is already part of the contract of the Magic Network.”

“No, what I mean is, one of the difficulties we encountered when constructing the Magic Network was that we couldn’t find Divine Beings to act as the main nodes, right? If we apply the Spirit Torch to these gods and have their bodies ignited with the flame of the Spirit Torch, then it would be hard for them to break free from the Magic Network. They would be bound here in an eternal fight against Pollution,” Joester shook his head as he explained.

“The essence of the Spirit Torch is not a purifying flame, but stronger Pollution, which just happens to work best against more chaotic beings.”

“Meaning, this flame is a lethal weapon against Divine Beings, which are amalgamations of Pollution.”

Having heard Joester’s explanation, Lu Ban also felt a moment of clarity.

Firstly, the Pollution in Foreign Domains was always in a state of expansion, and stronger Pollution could override weaker Pollution.

The mere light of the Spirit Torch could dispel Demonic Beasts because it was stronger Pollution than these creatures.

Despite the prowess of the Demonic Tide over centuries, it could not become immune to the Spirit Torch.

It could be concluded that the Divine Beings of Night Country could not completely erase the Pollution of the Spirit Torch, so the level of the Spirit Torch’s Pollution might be on par with these Divine Beings.

To imprison Divine Beings and make them a source of enduring Pollution requires ensuring that, once connected to the Magic Network, they don’t reverse the flow of Pollution.

Then the answer is simple.

Use the flame of the Spirit Torch to burn these Divine Beings, making them struggle perpetually against the flame of the Spirit Torch.

In this way, they can be used as trash cans.

Looking backward from the future, the existence of the Spirit Torch was not derived from the Magic Network’s spells, but rather was the foundation upon which the Magic Network was built.

Or perhaps, Joester had thought of even more possibilities.

As he learned from the players, a computer network system definitely requires the ability to resist risks.

Network nodes themselves are a countermeasure for when one or several devices fail, ensuring the whole network can still function; applying this to the Magic Network, if one or several mages face serious Pollution issues, how can further spread of Pollution through them into the Magic Network be prevented, contaminating other normal mages?

The answer is the Spirit Torch.

The moment the Magic Network detects strong Pollution erosion on a mage, it will immediately ignite the seed of the Spirit Torch within that mage’s body.

Similarly, if any imprisoned Divine Being tries to struggle, the other mages connected to it will also project the Pollution of the Spirit Torch onto those Divine Beings through the contract of the Magic Network.

The Spirit Torch is both the foundation that allows the Magic Network to operate normally and the chain that protects it from instability.

From this perspective, the Spirit Torch was likely Joester’s invention.

Shia felt amazed by fate and began to wonder what Joester would have done to understand the Spirit Torch if she had not arrived. Where was the source of knowledge about the Spirit Torch?

However, more importantly than these considerations, Shia thought of even more possibilities.

“In my era, the Spirit Torch’s flame burned continuously atop the Gray Tower, I didn’t know whose fire it was really consuming. Now it seems, it must have been that of the core Divine Being in the Magic Network.”

This meant that to complete this quest, Shia and the others would probably still need to find a Divine Being from the Night Country, whether sleeping or mad, and bind them atop the Gray Tower.

And the name of this quest was [Cage], likely meaning something similar.

But now, the Divine Being that created the Demonic Tide had vanished without a trace, and the deity that granted humans magic was also nowhere to be found. Where should they start looking?

“If that’s the case, I do have an idea,”

Stone spoke up at this point, raising his hand.

“We have come into contact with Taoist Crane Cry at Storm Villa. He told us about becoming an Ancient Overlord. If we can’t track down the Divine Being, then perhaps we could use a similar method to ‘create’ a god?”

“What method?”

Cui Siter was clearly unaware of such things and asked in confusion.

Stone and Shia then briefly explained Taoist Crane Cry’s plan, though they did not know the details of his ascension to godhood; therefore, this knowledge carried little Pollution.

“To leave behind one’s mark…”

Cui Siter muttered to himself, beginning to contemplate the feasibility.

“Chosen by Gods find it difficult to leave behind their marks. We are walking within slices of the Foreign Domain’s world, hardly able to leave behind legends.”

Shia sighed.

“Moreover, these marks aren’t just legends. The actions of the individual must be observed by a higher entity, at least at the level of Chosen by Gods. Otherwise, myths that circulate only among common people cannot generate a deity.”

With only the beliefs of common people, all it would take is to slaughter all those commoners of the Foreign Domain, and naturally, the myth would collapse.

To truly become an Ancient Overlord, one had to leave the same mark in different Foreign Domains, and at least be accurately observed by more than one Ancient Overlord to serve as an anchor. During this process, one also had to figure out how to deal with the Pollution that the body could no longer withstand.

Becoming a god was easier said than done.

As they worried about this, Lu Ban felt something was amiss.

That’s because one of his previous quests was to leave his mark in a Foreign Domain.

So, Shia and the others didn’t have a similar requirement?

However, the marks that Lu Ban had left were only in his own world. If that world were to be destroyed, Lu Ban would ultimately be just a fleeting dream, adrift with the tide.

Of course, Lu Ban at least knew one or two avatars of Ancient Overlords by now. As for how profound his mark was, that he wasn’t very sure of.

Could it be that, in the quest for the Night Country, the “Divine Being” meant to be burned as tinder was myself?

Lu Ban considered this possibility but decided to share his speculation with the others.

“Impossible. If that were the case, your quest would have no chance of being fulfilled. The Silent Lands would not issue such a quest.”

Shia was the first to object.

“Besides, you don’t have enough magic knowledge. If you became the center of the Magic Network, it’s likely we’d all just end up playing the suona,”

Cui Siter even made a jest.

“Our goal should still be to find the Ancient Overlord sealed within the Night Country. Sacrificing a comrade like that…”

Stone glanced at Cui Siter but did not continue.

“If the life of one could be traded for the survival of an entire civilization, then it would be a deal too good to be true.”

Lu Ban wasn’t particularly moved.

As a Chosen by the Gods from the Silent Lands, one day he might face such a situation.

He looked up at the sky. The clouds had dissipated, and the azure sky was restored. Lu Ban knew that beneath this dome still hung a crimson Blood Moon that imprisoned an Ancient Overlord. Every time the planet rotated and the stars returned to their positions, it would face the Night Country, causing a Demonic Tide.

“Hmm? Wait a second.”

Lu Ban thought of something and pointed upwards.

“Speaking of an imprisoned god, isn’t that right before our eyes?”

At least in the years following in the Night Country when Lu Ban faced the Demonic Tide, the Blood Moon had indeed sealed a magnificent being.

When exactly that entity had been placed there, nobody knew.

Now, the Magic Network needed a bound deity to function as a switch, and there was one on the moon.

So the question turned as simple and clear as how to fit an elephant into a fridge, right?

All they needed to do was find a way to bring down the one from the moon or somehow get them to surf in the Magic Network, and that would solve the biggest problem with the Magic Network’s structure.

“So… is the answer to everything to farm our way to the cosmos?”

Lu Ban looked over the neglected fields.

*

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Seems there is a lottery; I wrote a bit more, hence the late update.