The two proceeded cautiously until they reached the end of the corridor, but found nothing.
"Could it be that they only built a corridor covered in runes?" Daenerys felt this place was completely baffling. Lu Xuan was also puzzled, wondering what he had overlooked. Could there be some kind of hidden chamber nearby?
Lu Xuan took out his silver short spear and infused it with his true energy. The spear emitted a silvery-white light. The next second, the light was suppressed by the surrounding runes. The short spear returned to normal. However, using the faint light from before, Lu Xuan still detected some subtle clues.
The underground was dark, and his enhanced vision wasn't working very well, so he hadn't noticed some details. At the end of the corridor, the wall was covered in a dense network of scars. Lu Xuan stared at the scars thoughtfully. Daenerys also saw this.
"What is this? Has this place been attacked?"
“That’s right, and it’s attacked more than once. Look closely at the runes on this wall. These are different from the ones around here. The runes on this wall are very repetitive. If I’m not mistaken, the runes on this wall only have one effect: to strengthen this wall. Now that you’re standing here, messenger, use your fire magic.”
Daenerys summoned her demonic flame as instructed. But this time, not even a single flame appeared. The spell failed completely.
"Can you feel it? The closer you get to this wall, the stronger the suppression effect of the spell becomes. According to this reasoning, you should be able to cast spells at the end in the opposite direction."
The two immediately ran back to the other end of the corridor. Actually, it wasn't the end; it was just a dozen meters back from where they had entered, leading to a collapsed pile of rubble. This was why they went in the other direction. Standing near the rubble, Daenerys used fire magic again. This time, the flames in her hands lasted for a while before extinguishing.
“That’s true. The further away you are from that wall, the easier it is to cast spells. But what’s the point?” She still didn’t understand. But Lu Xuan had already confirmed it.
"This is a testing ground. A testing ground for magic. And it's specifically for testing stability, range, and even offensive magic. Cast a spell from this side of the corridor to the other side. Along the way, the surrounding runes will continuously suppress the spell model, and the suppression force will increase. The farther it flies, the more powerful and stable the spell is."
Upon hearing this, Daenerys summoned a fireball and released it into the corridor. The fireball flew four or five meters before disappearing completely. At that moment, she was still more than forty meters away from the opposite wall.
"So, those Valyrians were able to use magic to hit the wall on the other side from here?" Daenerys looked stunned.
"Don't be discouraged. Remember, the magic we've learned is just fragments passed down from Valyria. They poured the entire nation's resources into developing these things. Alright, let's not dwell on that. We've gone the wrong way. The real entrance is behind this pile of rubble."
A pile of rubble was no match for Lu Xuan and Daenerys. The two quickly broke through the passage, left the testing corridor, and entered the actual laboratory.
When the Fourteenth Beacon Fire exploded, the entire peninsula was affected by a powerful earthquake. Even with prior precautions, most of the underground structures were destroyed. The vast majority of items were buried under rubble. Clearing them out could take up to a month. The two could only bypass the collapsed sections and try to find the remaining intact rooms.
After leaving the corridor, their magic and spiritual senses returned to normal. They could vaguely sense that something still existed in this underground space, drawing them in.
The two continued until they reached the deepest part of the laboratory. Here, they found the only intact building in the entire underground complex. At the same time, the faint attraction began to become clearer.
Inside the intact room, the first thing that caught Lu Xuan's eye was an iron cage made entirely of metal. He knew almost without guessing that it was 90% likely made of corrugated iron. But that wasn't the key point. The key point was that something was imprisoned inside that cage, which appeared to be made of corrugated iron.
It's hard to describe that thing in words. At first glance, it looks like a fleshy ball about a meter in diameter, floating in mid-air, slowly expanding and contracting like a giant beating heart. But upon closer inspection, you can see some patterns on it. It actually looks a bit like a giant brain.
No matter how you look at it, this thing doesn't seem like anything good. The key point is that it can actually emit a distinctly bewitching power, drawing the two people who approached it. However, it wasn't as powerful as expected; both Lu Xuan and Daenerys were able to easily resist it.
"What is this thing? It looks alive. It's survived for over four hundred years in this abandoned underground laboratory?" Daenerys found it hard to believe.
"If we apply this to the destruction of Valyria, perhaps it's not so unacceptable. Destroying the origins of a race, it's not surprising that they can live for over four hundred years."
Dani: "...Okay, what do we do? Kill this thing?"
"Perhaps, but we should first determine what this thing actually is. Let's look around and see if we can find any relevant literature or something."
The two searched the last room thoroughly, but found nothing. This room was clearly only used to store this item; there were no written records left behind. The other rooms were all buried, and they found very few bodies.
"Okay, looks like we'll have to figure out what this thing is ourselves."
Given that this thing was very likely the source of Valyria's destruction, it meant it could be extremely dangerous. The two dared not approach, much less touch it. They could only circle around it from a distance, observing it carefully. At that moment, Daenerys suddenly blurted out something.
"Doesn't this thing look like an egg?"
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Chapter 323 Refusal
The Valyrians were disrespectful of gods, even harboring hostility towards them. This was also a weapons testing ground, which led Lu Xuan to some speculation about what was before him.
"Okay, I admit this thing is indeed closer to an egg. But we can't see any results from it. Since this thing is alive, what do you think about me communicating with it using a mental link?"
"Not good, too dangerous. This thing is clearly not from this world. Who knows what might happen if we connect to it rashly?"
“That’s true.” Lu Xuan thought for a moment and felt it was indeed a bit risky. So he changed to a safer method. He made a hand seal with his left hand, created a small ball of flame, and gently blew on it, letting it slowly fall onto the egg.
The egg visibly trembled. Then, Lu Xuan felt a sudden change in his vision. When he came to his senses, he found himself in another world.
He didn't connect to that thing, but the egg connected to him on its own initiative, and the connection was so strong that Lu Xuan was completely powerless to resist.
Standing before him was another Lu Xuan. He didn't know why the other person had transformed into his own appearance. Lu Xuan cautiously spoke.
"Who are you?"
"I have no name, nor do I have a physical form. So I can only appear in your image, and I apologize for that."
"Okay, I don't really care about this kind of thing. But at least tell me what's going on, okay?"
"I'm sorry, you won't be able to hear the whole story; time is running out. If you hadn't come, I could have held on for a while longer. But communicating in this way will drain what little strength I have left. My mission is to pass these things down. So I can only tell you the basics of what happened."
This is a secret laboratory in the Valyrian Freehold. The highest level of security. The Valyrians conducted a top-secret study here. They were researching how to fight the gods.
"It seems they have failed."
"No, quite the opposite. They almost succeeded. It was just a pity that at the last moment, the news leaked out. Valyria was plunged into catastrophe in an instant."
"If they succeeded, then why did they have no resistance whatsoever in the face of the Great Cataclysm?"
"This is different. Simply put, they only found a way to fight against the gods, but they didn't actually activate that method. So, in the end, they lacked the power to resist."
"Let me guess, you're the one that hasn't been activated yet?"