The desolate areas unique to the scars of the world are mostly gray earth, dotted with the occasional sprout of tenacious weeds.
Even in this land heavily infested by the Abyss, many tenacious weeds still manage to grow tenaciously.
Some have even quietly evolved the ability to expel the abyssal aura.
Throughout this wasteland, fallen boulders can be seen everywhere, almost completely blending in with the landscape.
Only a few protruding from the earth reveal that the rubble beneath them was once part of a building.
Such ruins are a common landform throughout the world.
After all, an empire once stood here.
Besides this, there are also tombstones and remains.
The boulders reveal the remains of collapsed buildings.
Some broken tombstones bear witness to human habitation in the distant past. As for the scattered corpses, there's too much information to verify.
After all, this place is dangerous.
So dangerous that without Stage 3 strength, it's best not to leave the coastal cities.
Alka and his companions arrived at the area shown on the map.
Their goal was clear: they headed directly to the ruined buildings in the wasteland.
The buildings here were severely damaged.
However, it was clear from the severity of the damage that these structures had been around for thousands of years.
Even dating back to a time before the Saralan Empire was destroyed.
These ruins were scattered across the wasteland, some reduced to bare stone, while others still had faint murals and inscriptions on their exteriors.
Alka and his companions scattered across the wilderness, searching for any potentially useful information.
Alka, with Lusilia on his shoulder, formed a team, exploring and searching around a relatively well-preserved area of ruins.
Lucilia was primarily analyzing the architectural style and inscriptions, trying to determine the era from which they dated.
Alka and Sofia played a secondary role.
Watching Lusilia intently analyzing, Alka found a random rock to sit on.
"It's strange to find no demonic ambush in a place like this."
Hearing Alka's words, Sofia, standing beside him, glanced down at him and rolled his eyes. "Shall I catch a few for you?"
Hearing Sofia's complaints, Alka shook his head. "No, that's too much trouble."
"Is that the point?"
"Don't worry about these little details. It's rare for us to be treasure-hunting without demonic ambushes.
Could it be that the offensive tactics I used during my previous advancements drained the Devouring Mouth too much?"
After all, they had been in the Scar of the World for three years.
Whenever they appeared in the wilderness, they encountered countless attacks and ambushes orchestrated by the Devouring Mouth.
They had become almost accustomed to it, because here, the Devouring Mouth had no use for any trickery.
They could only resort to force against Alka and the others, but the hard tactics they could use to take Alka out weren't enough to carry them to the rear.
They were stuck in a vicious cycle, constantly attacking demons and trying to harass Alka, hoping to see if they would succeed.
This was also why Alka and the others stayed here. Aside from the constant vigilance and the mental fatigue from too much fighting, there was little danger.
This time, there was no ambush set by the Devouring Mouth, and for some reason, I missed it.
"Perhaps it's because the previous ambushes could still cause some harassment. But now your strength has increased, and the border with the Dream Realm has reduced the chaos here.
Those combined factors might have led to their abandonment. After all, these things need to be consumed."
With the border with the Dream Realm and the expansion of Alka's Dream Realm, the corresponding reality naturally became increasingly stable.
After all, even the cracks in the World Scar were shrinking.
Alka's strength had increased again.
Now, it was nearly impossible to inflict fatal damage on Alka and the others from within the magic wall.
Unless the cracks were suddenly widened, it was almost impossible.
Under these circumstances, it was quite natural for the Devouring Mouth to wisely abandon their position. However, this resignation didn't mean he wouldn't target Alka. If he found a flaw, he would strike without hesitation, but he wouldn't resort to any other futile actions.
After a while, when Sofia and the others had all advanced to Stage 6,
Perhaps, despite the risks involved, they could leave the World Scar and sail away.
After all, the excessive increase in power within the Dream Realm had allowed Alka to temporarily raise his strength to Stage 7 or higher. In this situation,
Even within the Devouring Mouth, it would be difficult for him to cause much trouble.
His true form was still within the World Scar, which was his greatest limitation. This also further restricted his power.
This also weakened his ability to extend his power outside.
However, for all his companions to advance to Stage 6, it would require at least a year of meditation.
While chatting, Alka suddenly felt a push on his butt.
Lucelia was pushing his butt, staring at him with her head raised. "Get out of the way, get out of the way!"
Hearing this, Alka quickly stood up.
This state of mind indicated that Lucelia was still focused.
As expected, as Alka moved aside, Lucelia crouched down on the boulder where he had just been sitting, observing something.
It was obvious that Alka had just happened to sit on a stone with information.
This also made the two of them lose their desire to chat. They squatted nearby and carefully watched Lucelia's work.
Luccelia looked around the sphere, then her eyes suddenly rolled back, and a faint soul-like aura emanated from them.
Then she began to mutter a strange language.
The language was low and dark, with a tone that sounded like a howling curse.
The whole language was strange, yet pleasant enough to hear. But as she continued to speak, it became increasingly hazy.
‐‐As these words continued to flow, the soul within Lusilia's eyes gradually drifted out, then entwined itself around the boulder.
‐‐Interestingly, a faint soul aura also emanated from the boulder.
‐‐ These soul auras drifted and intertwined, seemingly conveying some kind of information. But for Alka and the others, being able to detect such a faint aura was already the limit.
‐‐Only Lusilia seemed to be able to discern some of the remaining information from these soul auras.
‐‐Lucilia closed her eyes as if to absorb the information, then nodded and said, "I roughly understand the age of these ruins."
‐‐"Tell me about it," Alkaton asked curiously from the side.
‐‐If the words were truly and accurately spoken, the treasure's information would surely be expanded.
Lusilia nodded and said, "The Saralan Empire lasted for thousands of years from its founding to its collapse. It was an empire of immense duration, and naturally, it experienced countless changes in rulers and power structures.
Chaos, civil strife, and division were inevitable during this period, and not just once.
Around the year 3114 of the Saralan Imperial calendar, a dispute over the throne broke out.
For an empire that long, decay and rigidity had already set in.
Even before that, the Saralan Empire had already been reorganized once due to war."
Listening to Lusilia's account, Alka nodded.
He understood this history.
After all, this was an empire that had existed for thousands of years, and human nature wanted an empire to last that long.
Besides the fact that this world truly possessed gods and its unique geographical conditions,
it was also because people in this world generally had a long lifespan.
Furthermore, there were rarely any real major wars.
The empire's decline was largely due to internal factors.
Due to internal corruption, the state, perhaps unable to continue, collapsed around the year 1500.
After nearly 300 years of warring wars among the feudal lords, the state was reorganized, still bearing the name of the Saralan Empire.
This was an inevitable cycle.
This cycle of division and reorganization had actually occurred two or three times in the decadent nation of Saralan.
Perhaps because the name of Saralan was so important, the state continued to use the imperial name even after its reorganization.
As for the internal power system, it had long since been replaced over and over again.
To put it simply: the ethnic groups remained the same, but the state was no longer the same.
Although they're all called the Saralan Empire, it's perfectly acceptable to consider them as several different states and dynasties, based on this cycle of reincarnation.
It's simply that the name Saralan is so incredibly important to this race and this land, ingrained in their very souls, practically the very core of their people.
"The conflict at this time was caused by the three sons of the then-emperor.
All three of his children were heroes of their generation, none willing to be inferior.
Thus, they split into three distinct factions on the territory that once housed the Saralan Empire.
A chaotic war raged for 160 years, ultimately ending with the victory of the Second Prince.
Ironically, the Second Prince ascended the throne for only ten years before succumbing to age, the trauma, and the stress of war."
"So this relic belongs to the Second Prince?" Alka asked nearby.
"Fool, how could that be? This belongs to the First Prince," Lucilia said.
"According to the division of power at the time, the area we're in should be the capital of the Crown Prince.
These ruins are likely a relic from that era."
After hearing Lucelia's simple explanation, the two nodded in understanding.
After watching their responses, Lucelia nodded in satisfaction.
Then Lucelia began to hop around the ruins again, explaining some of the information she had gathered.
Including what the building was once used for and what led to its destruction.
Then they began to explore other ruins, including those where others thought they might have more information.
After a brief tour, everyone gathered, awaiting Lucelia's conclusion.
After all, Lucelia was the only one among them who would actually observe, analyze, and read the entire Saralan Empire's thousands of years of history in her free time.
They read books for their own benefit, for the specific areas they needed.
Lucille simply loved to read.
While she might not memorize every detail of history, she could mostly remember the key figures and rulers at key moments.
This was the value of Lucelia as a mobile library.
Through Lucelia's summarization of this vast expanse of ruins, she had gathered nearly all the information that could be conveyed.
If they wanted to gather even more, they would have to dig deeper.
After listening, Alka pulled the map out of his hand.
He gazed at the light.
Observing Alka's actions, everyone fell silent.
Although Alka hadn't explained his treasure-hunting abilities in detail, they had spent over a decade with him.
They had gone on numerous treasure hunts.
The scope of Alka's treasure-hunting abilities had already been roughly deduced from his various actions.
For example, for Alka, the size and precision of a map wasn't crucial, but accuracy was essential.
In other words, if you drew a mountain or marked a tree on a map, the corresponding object must exist.
Therefore, overly detailed maps weren't necessarily useful; instead, rougher maps might have been more appealing to Alka.
Because at least the drawings were accurate.
And for treasure hunting, the most crucial information...
For Alka, the key wasn't all the information. Rather, it was the key phrases, or the key points of information.
Alka seemed to be able to use this crucial information to uncover information they had never known, information they hadn't found or understood.
Perhaps this was the Son of God, after all, a child of God.
Indeed, in everyone's eyes, Alka was practically the Virgin Mary's child.
This wasn't just Alka's usual behavior; it also reflected what everyone else learned from their interactions with others.
After all, Alka and his three companions from the Church of Our Lady weren't the only ones on board.
Members from various churches were present.
They even knew rumors about Alka from their own churches.
As people who lived with Alka day and night, rumors that might seem outrageous to outsiders seemed plausible to them.
For example, Alka had received revelations from Our Lady several times, even meeting her in person.
And even after meeting her in person, Alka remained surprisingly unmoved and acted somewhat indifferent afterwards.
Alka never prayed, nor did he offer any sincere prayers to Our Lady.
Yet, the Holy Light energy of Our Lady emanating from him was almost visible to the naked eye.
And for Alka, important rituals always involved Our Lady. For example, a few years ago, when he accepted the allegiance of those ghosts, the Mother even bestowed some blessings upon them personally.
If this isn't the Son of God, then what is it?
But unless Alka reveals it, they won't say anything.
Perhaps this is Alka's secret.
Alka doesn't quite understand what everyone is thinking. If he did, he'd be in a state of confusion.
But it's also true that their thoughts, in some ways, aren't entirely flawed.
At this moment, Alka's attention is completely focused on the map.
[Return]
[Difficulty: Saralan - Historian]
[Popularity: 363]
[Treasure Information: The treasure called Return is housed within a relic that, even within the Saralan Empire, is considered modern history.
To enter the relic and find the correct entrance, this information is hidden in the Saralan Empire's historical records.
In history.
The ruins are the remains of one of the protagonists of the Second Conflict.
They are the remains of a memorial ceremony, and there seems to be more to this ruin than meets the eye. Within, beneath the surface, there appear to be hidden areas.
"Return" means a return to time.
Alka looked at the newly expanded entries for the treasure information. While not yet perfect, they essentially revealed the treasure's location to Alka.
It's beneath these ruins.
As for why Sofia couldn't scan it,
That's because any underground space, especially one of considerable importance, typically utilizes various shielding scans to block exploration materials, or incantations and formations.
For example, the underground area of the Moon Worship Cult's temple.
After all, this world holds countless treasures of all kinds, along with countless spells. There are countless ways to explore the secrets of the underground and the secrets of space.
To counter these tactics, certain hidden areas naturally employ various types of defenses.
Dreams are one such defense.
After understanding this, everyone naturally began to act.
Once they knew there was an underground entrance, it would be easier for others to find it.
The entrance was quickly located.
"Based on the remains here, combined with the surrounding geological conditions, it's most likely there's an underground mezzanine beneath."
Simon stomped his feet and said.
With Simon's confirmation, everyone began digging.
Soon, after some observation and analysis, they discovered a collapsed entrance.
At the entrance, they saw a man-made stone wall and hanging lights.
The entrance was slanted, blocked above by collapsed rubble. The stairs leading down should be the entrance below.
As everyone passed through the entrance, a dull atmosphere emanated from within.
It was unknown how long this place had been buried underground.
They walked down the stone staircase, abandoned for millennia, deeper into the earth.
Several balls of light floated around them, flying forward to explore the darkness ahead.
As they passed through the tunnel and entered the underground area, a voice suddenly rang out from the front.
"You're finally here."