"Do you get the feeling this isn't just a dire wolf-dragon den?"
Having stripped the den bare down to the bedrock and converted all excess resources into essence, Yaxiu—eco-friendly master of cleanup—suddenly posed an odd question.
Sonia asked, "What are you getting at?"
"Actually, I've had doubts about the manufacturing machinery in these resource points since last night. The bizarre design of these ancient contraptions could drive any engineering sorcerer mad, but there's no way knowledge creatures built them, right?"
Leaning against the hood of the sports car, Yaxiu showed zero concern that the mechanisms beneath his rear might pop out blades to kiss his feet. "Even the most nimble knowledge creature doesn't have claws as dexterous as an ogre's pinky finger digging for boogers."
"It's not like they secretly play instruments or write cursive with their claws in private, only to hide their tools the second we show up just to keep us from finding out they have a civilization, right?"
Diya let her thoughts wander as well. "Speaking of which, what do knowledge creatures do when we sorcerers aren't around?"
"There aren't any recreational facilities inside, and they don't need to hunt, so the only thing left for them to do is... I know! Hide-and-seek!"
Yaxiu remarked, "Actually, it could also be inter—"
"Hey!" Sonia chopped Yaxiu on the shoulder. "The Witch doesn't have much experience socializing with others! Don't go cracking dirty jokes in front of her!"
"Does that mean I can crack them around you? Besides, I was going to say 'interacting'! It's your own dirty mind projecting onto me!"
"What's a dirty joke?" Diya asked with innocent curiosity.
Yaxiu asked, "Don't the White Queen and Black Butler know?"
"Nope. We just have different personalities, but our knowledge is shared. If I don't know something, they won't either." The Witch adjusted her glasses. "Though the White Queen says she has a rough guess, and she'll explain it to me once we're back in reality."
"I could give an example. For instance, the Sword Princess—whoa, hold on! No need to waste time-element sorcery spirits, is there? Your finances can't be that flush, can they, Sword Princess?"
Sonia gave a cold snort and canceled One Day of Sword Sharpening, which she was in the middle of activating. "Watcher, are you suggesting that the production machines in the resource points, and the crumbling ruins here in the dire wolf-dragon den, are all the work of another civilization?"
"That's the only explanation," Yaxiu said. "Could ancient sorcerers have built a civilization on the Time Continent in the past? Though judging by the abstract aesthetics of those production machines, maybe ogres are the pureblood lineage of sorcery, and the rest of us are just Mudbloods stealing sorcery power."
The theory carried some weight, but Sonia still shook her head. "Still, time on the Time Continent moves along with the Flowing Gold River. Take this spot—in about two hours, it'll turn into the Domain of Stillness where all things wither. Only knowledge creatures can survive there; we sorcerers would be frozen in time, turned into history. How could anyone have built a civilization here?"
"Could knowledge creatures have been able to become sorcerers?" Diya chimed in. "I read about it in a picture book called New World. Among the human race that elven sorcerers treated as inferior creatures, a human sorcerer suddenly emerged. That human sorcerer launched a counterattack, destroyed the elven kingdom, and founded a new civilization. Maybe knowledge creatures used to rule the world, and when sorcerers of other races rose up, they destroyed the knowledge creatures' civilization."
"Can a story like that really be put into a children's picture book?" Sonia couldn't help remarking. "Personally, I think sorcerers of the past might have invented a miracle that allowed them to survive in the Domain of Stillness, and established a sorcerer empire right here on the Time Continent."
They turned to Yaxiu. "Watcher, what do you think?"
"Well, the Witch's guess is full of imagination, and the Sword Princess's idea is very grounded. Both have merit," Yaxiu stroked his chin and said. "Still, I think you're thinking too small. Since we're guessing anyway, why not guess on a global scale?"
Yaxiu looked up at the sky veiled by reverse golden rain and gazed toward the distant giant hooves of the White Ox. "Maybe in the distant past, there was no Ox of the Sky Carriage, nor any Flowing Gold River. What if the Time Continent was just an ordinary, habitable continent, and a flourishing civilization once existed here?"
Sonia opened her mouth to object by instinct, but Yaxiu waved a hand. "I know what you want to say—maybe the Ox of the Sky Carriage was already here a thousand years ago, two thousand years ago, or ten thousand years ago. But what about thirty thousand years ago? A hundred thousand years ago? Given enough time, any monumental upheaval will become accepted as a self-evident law of nature.
"Maybe one day in the future, the Ox of the Sky Carriage will grow tired, stop walking, and the active area of the Time Continent will solidify permanently. Sorcerers down the line will find it unbelievable that their predecessors had to chase after a white ox just to move around."
The red-haired Sword Princess had to admit the possibility. "Still, does discussing an unprovable hypothesis have any practical point?"
"It's just casual chatter after work. Besides, don't you find it rather romantic? Unraveling the mysterious veil of the Void Realm together, exploring ancient history, just like protagonists in an adventure story." Yaxiu glanced at Sonia. "Plus, you have high-intensity training during the day and have to explore the Void Realm with us at night. I was worried you might burn out, so I wanted to steal a moment between tasks to help you relax."
"I'm not that fragile!"
"Then who was it that just activated a sword-sharpening miracle, ready to take a swing at her teammate?"
Just then, Yaxiu noticed the Witch's thoughtful expression. "Do you have an idea?"
"No. I was just thinking about how in fairy tales, the standard adventuring party has two guys and one girl. There are all kinds of romantic dynamics among the three, but in almost every ending, the second male lead makes the ultimate sacrifice so the male lead and female lead can live happily ever after..." Diya said. "Though since we're two girls and one guy, it doesn't quite match up."
Aren't your fairy tales covering way too many genres...?
Yaxiu continued, "Another thing: if a civilization truly existed, then besides resource points, shouldn't there be ruins left behind by that ancient civilization on the Time Continent?"
Ruins!
The Sword Princess and the Witch's eyes lit up simultaneously.
Whether in fairy tales or fantasy films and shows, some lucky soul stumbling upon the inheritance of a predecessor sorcerer or the ruins of an ancient organization and embarking on the path of a sorcerer to become a legend was a timeless classic trope. After all, getting something for nothing and picking up free treasures was a temptation no one could resist.
Although sorcerer civilization generally advanced in an upward spiral—meaning new-era sorcerers were simply stronger than old-era sorcerers—sorcerer resources remained universally valid across all eras. Sorcery spirits, gold, and silver from ten thousand years ago were still usable today, and even ancient factions and schools could sprout anew and rise once more. The only things truly obsolete were outdated ideas.
Furthermore, because sorcerer legacies naturally existed within the Void Realm, let alone the Time Continent, even if someone claimed there were sorcerer ruins at the bottom of the Sea of Knowledge, few would be surprised.
Yaxiu looked at Sonia, who shook her head. "I haven't found any relevant records. I can ask the professor tomorrow, but don't get your hopes up."
"Why? Did your blatant arrogance finally earn you the professor's spite?"
Sonia glared at him. "You... actually guessed half-right, but I haven't been arrogant! The main issue is that I have to hide that I've stepped onto the Time Continent, so I can only ask the professor under the guise of 'previewing coursework.'
"Besides, I suspect even the professor doesn't know much about the secrets of the Time Continent."
Chapter 237