This city's past

Without making a sound, Wu Qi reached into his robes and, with a thought, took out a light candle from his Soul Tool.

Relying on the flames attached to the Qiangu Changkong Martial Soul, it was easily ignited.

Chen Nan frowned slightly and questioned, "How much junk do you have on you? You've emptied your pockets so many times, it seems like you can't get any more?"

This time, it was Hunter who came to the rescue. "You must have gotten it at the Auction House just now, Team Captain, didn't you notice?"

Hunter and Chen Nan had known each other for a long time in the Lost Land, so the latter was naturally willing to believe him.

Furthermore, Chen Nan had been focused on the treasures and paid no attention to these worthless items.

Wu Qi then remarked, "The sand is dry, so this stuff has remained usable for tens of thousands of years."

He paused for a moment, then brought the candle close to the surrounding pipe wall. Through the dim candlelight, he could vaguely make out that it was a mural.

If it were written language, once the tradition is lost, future generations would find it difficult to decipher.

However, even after tens of thousands of years, the murals still offer glimpses into mysteries.

The first mural Wu Qi saw depicted the king of the Kingdom sitting atop the Imperial Palace, overlooking the entire royal city.

"This painting likely represents the past prosperity of this place and the presence of a powerful king."

Qiangu Changkong was slightly puzzled. "What kind of person would hide murals about the Kingdom's past in underground pipes?"

Chen Ping asked, "Is it possible that the painter was trapped here when the city was submerged, and deliberately left these murals so that future generations would know of the Kingdom's existence?"

Wu Qi immediately denied it, saying, "That's unlikely. If this passage hadn't been buried by sand, the murals would have oxidized and peeled off long ago, making it impossible to see what they depict."

"Moreover, these murals are brightly colored. In such a rush, who would have brought so much paint and deliberately left murals?"

Chen Ping's guess was somewhat reasonable.

The murals here are very likely a record of the Kingdom's history.

As for who painted it, that remains unknown.

Hunter smiled and added, "Perhaps something significant happened in this Kingdom, leading someone to deliberately leave behind this mural to inform future generations of the Kingdom's existence."

Wu Qi nodded, took a few steps forward, and began to examine the contents of the mural.

After viewing more than ten murals, I could generally discern the former prosperity of this place.

Several of the paintings depict the Kingdom, which had five kings, and the construction process of the city's iconic buildings.

The style of the painting changed abruptly with the fifteenth mural.

The city was no longer prosperous; a dark aura enveloped the Imperial Palace, and the king was led to the guillotine.

Wu Qi clicked his tongue slightly.

If this weren't the Douluo Continent, he would have even suspected that a great upheaval similar to the Renaissance had occurred here.

The next mural reveals the truth.

A group of people shrouded in darkness ascended the throne, plunging the entire Royal Capital into a shadowy abyss.

In the city, war raged on, and a century-old foundation was destroyed in an instant.

Upon arriving, Wu Qi noticed that many buildings in the city had collapsed.

At first, he thought that the building had broken and collapsed because it could not withstand the weight of the sand when it was submerged.

Thinking about it now, these remains may have been left behind tens of thousands of years ago.

In the murals, those shrouded in an aura of darkness are synonymous with evil.

Considering the environment of the mainland tens of thousands of years ago, it's not hard to guess that these people were likely Evil Spirit Master.

According to the records inside the Spirit Hall, this place is the city of Evil Spirit Master, which may not be entirely unfounded.

According to the murals, the truth is that this place was originally home to a very prosperous Kingdom, but it was later taken over by Evil Spirit Master.

Putting his thoughts aside, Wu Qi continued looking down.

The murals depict the townspeople as initially showing great support for the rule of the Evil Spirit Master.

It's likely that the Evil Spirit Master promised some benefits, blinding the public.

The next mural depicts a towering building, which appeared in previous murals. This is one of the landmarks of the area— the Auction House, a place Wu Qi and his companions had just visited.

Wu Qi's conjecture was wrong, because the people in the Auction House were not buried to death, but were killed by Evil Spirit Master.

With Evil Spirit Master in power and wanting to fight against even more powerful forces, they inevitably need money.

Wu Qi roughly guessed that these Evil Spirit Master had drastically reduced taxes on the common people in order to legitimize their rule.

Without a source of income, their plans will come to a standstill.

This auction is likely a trap.

Due to space limitations, the mural does not provide specific details.

All that is known is that the entire main auction venue was enveloped in a mass of black energy, trapping the merchants and celebrities inside and causing them great suffering.

In the next mural, the style changed abruptly once again.

In the image below, there is a young girl praying; judging from her attire, she is likely a member of the Royal Family.

At the top of the screen, a woman holding a golden holy sword and with three pairs of golden wings behind her, her enormous figure hovers above the city.

It looks like the Divine Ancestor of the Spirit Hall — the Angel God.

Hunter said, "So it seems the cause of death for those people at the Auction House was still burial under sand."

The Evil Spirit Master may have intended to kill and rob, but clearly, before they could carry it out, they incurred the wrath of the Deity.

Otherwise, how could Wu Qi have found Soul Tool on these corpses?

If the Evil Spirit Master had the time, he would have already taken away the Soul Tool from these people.

The murals only provide a general outline of what happened in history; the specifics remain unclear.

However, Hunter's guess is not without merit.

After a pause, everyone's gaze focused on the last mural.

In the scene, the dark aura is excessively strong, and the Angel God has a wound on his abdomen emanating dark energy.

The Angel God pointed his holy sword at the sky, confronting the powerful dark aura.

Finally, the heavens and earth collapsed, and a vast expanse of yellow sand swept in, completely burying this place and turning it into the desert we see today.

At this point, Wu Qi had a general understanding of the history of this place.

This place was buried because of a battle between the Angel God and an unknown powerful being.

Whether the unknown powerful figure is dead or alive is not explained in the mural.

However, with the future flourishing of the Spirit Hall, it is likely that even if this powerful enemy did not perish here, he would have been killed in subsequent battles.

The only pity is that the Amethyst Scepter in Wu Qi's hand did not appear in the mural.

Chen Nan his arms and sneered, "Sounds grand but isn't it? That woman was clearly the totem of the Spirit Hall. This place was buried because of her; it's inextricably linked to the Spirit Hall."

Qiangu Changkong Chang Kong said in a deep voice, "No matter what, that's all in the past."

"Perhaps at the time, there were too many dark Soul Master in the city, and to prevent these people from harming the continent, the Gods ultimately sent down Divine Punishment. Although it resulted in the deaths of the local people, judging from the current outcome, it was all worthwhile."