Chapter 284

As long as I can win over Kachia, what's wrong with saying a compliment? It's free, so I can say it however many times I want.

Even if they can't handle it, at least this wave has rendered the Arcadia Empire incapable of further invasions. Once the Iron Blood Legion has dealt with the Western Barbarians, the Grand Duke can lead his army eastward, and the Arcadia Empire can still be conquered.

However, things would become much more complicated by then. Considering the possibility of Gate of Janus getting involved, it would be much more difficult for Ryan to secretly control Arcadia again.

In short, try to take down the smaller head if possible, and if you can't take down Ryan, you'll have a backup plan.

However, his immediate priority was to go to the Earth Temple to see if there were any Advancement Fragment inside.

Fortunately, although Kachia didn't give him a complete answer, she still agreed to his promise to enter the Earth Temple. Ryan had a great time in Kachina's room, and then the next day, 'Lin Qi' led Janus's people away from Arcadia to the Northern Federation, and he followed Kachina to the Earth Temple.

"Sigh, I feel sorry for my first wife, running around every day."

"My dearest wife, you should know that I love you the most."

Ryan closed the game interface, looked up and glanced around.

He was currently inside a barrier he had entered from a forest behind the castle. Unlike Wildea, this place only had a temple and no military camp, and one needed the twins' token to enter.

Although it is called a temple, it is actually a small part of an abandoned city-state. The temple of the Earth Goddess is located in the very center of the city-state, supported by a huge stone arm.

The city-state was in ruins, but the temple was relatively well-preserved. It was guarded by rows of stone giants, who wore armor, held large spears, and looked very similar to the Watchers soldiers.

Kachina explained that the Watcher Legion was originally designed based on the appearance of these guards.

After passing through the array of giants, Ryan was greeted by a massive doorway, etched with patterns of the Earth Mark. Kachina channeled her Magic Power into the door, and with a dull thud, the door slowly opened, releasing a cool and ancient aura.

"Rhea, the Earth Goddess, is also the name of the continent." Kachina walked beside Ryan, a slight smile playing on her lips, and told him, "In the history of the empire, the Goddess Rhea has governed the origins of all civilizations, their birth, development, prosperity, and decline—this is the cycle of civilization. Civilization begins on the earth and will return to the earth."

"The people of the Gate of Janus say that Janus is the Creation God, but I don't think Janus could create the earth. On the contrary, it should be the earth that nurtured everything, including time and space. Therefore, Rhea should be the Creation God. What do you think, Rider?"

"This idea is novel and makes a lot of sense." Ryan remembered that Janus was mentioned in the game information, but it didn't seem to say that he was the Creation God. Of course, it's also possible that the expansion pack hasn't been released yet, since the Gods chapter hadn't even appeared by the time he transmigrated.

"But I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that."

"Who would dare?" Kachina scoffed. "With the power of the Gate of Janus, they would definitely seize on the fact that the Creation God is dead, otherwise how would they deceive their believers? But I heard there's a force in the Southern Continent called the Secret Cult. They worship the Earth Goddess and claim that Rhea is the source of everything."

"The Secret Cult?"

"It's normal that you haven't heard of them; they only operate in the Southern Continent."

"I've heard that the Southern Continent is a chaotic place where faiths are fought over."

"Yes. Besides the Four Great Outer Gods' forces occupying that area, there are also some forces that worship various orthodox gods, including those who worship Janus but are not affiliated with the Gate of Janus. As you know, faith is a very low-cost thing; as long as you feel you have faith, that's enough. But to develop into a certain power, you need sufficient strength to support it, otherwise you will be judged as heretics."

Ryan knew exactly what was going on.

To put it simply, faith is a convenient tool for people, while for God it is a convergence of power. Naturally, God is happy to bestow great power upon those devout believers.

Under this trend, after many years of development, the current faith church has gradually formed. The religious power of the five righteous gods and the Four Great Outer Gods has been fixed. The position of the God of Death is still very ambiguous. Some people think that He should also be included among the righteous gods, while others think that He should be Outer Gods.

However, because the power of the Hand of Darkness is too great, and this force does far more bad things than good things, the 'Outer Gods' faction still has the upper hand for the time being.

Following Kachina's narration, Ryan entered the temple. Along the way, he saw many murals, all of which were 'writings' recording the rise and fall of civilizations. When he arrived at a huge hollow area inside the temple, what appeared before Ryan was a Golden Tree made of stone.

This golden tree was enormous, extending upwards to the temple dome and spreading outwards to touch the surrounding stone walls, occupying almost half of the hollow area.

In front of the giant tree, there is a walkway extending to Ryan, with earth guardians still on both sides, but much smaller than those outside the temple.

"This tree is huge! With it, there's probably nothing else in this temple," Ryan exclaimed.

"That's right, this tree is the main object of worship in the temple."

Where is the idol?

"Come with me."

Kachina led Ryan to the base of the giant golden tree.

Ryan saw a horizontal stone tablet under the giant tree, covered with familiar words.

This... Ryan paused for a moment.

This isn't the common language of the Rhea Continent, nor is it any currently known language; it's... Chinese!

Wait, wait, wait... Chinese? A veteran time traveler??

Kachina, oblivious to Ryan's expression, continued, "No one has been able to decipher the writing on these pages yet, but based on historical records, it's speculated that this might be information about the Earth Goddess from one of the earliest civilizations."

"Our ancestors of the Arcadia Empire discovered this place and received a response through worshipping this tree. The gods bestowed blessings upon us, and this is the origin of the Earth Watcher profession. Later, after hundreds of years of research, the Empire deduced that this tree might be the true form of the Earth Goddess, because trees appear very frequently in the temples dedicated to the Earth Goddess throughout the Eastern Continent."

After she finished speaking, she turned to look at Ryan and found that he was staring at the words on the stone tablet.

"What's wrong?"

Ryan wiped the stone tablet and read the inscription aloud in his long-unused mother tongue.

Kachina was stunned. "Rider, you can recognize the words on it???"

"Hmm... I guess so."

"Quick! Tell me what it says on it!"

Kachina's surprise turned to delight. This was an ancient artifact that the empire had been researching for hundreds of years without any results. If they could decipher it, it might just be the key to the empire's rise and a reversal of its current defeat!

"Is this tree the true form of the Earth Goddess?"

"Um..."

Ryan's expression was strange.

He really didn't know how to tell Kachina.

The record here is in Chinese, and Ryan recognizes it, but... the content has nothing to do with the tree in front of him, and there's no description of the Earth Goddess at all.

"... The Night Moon rose in the sky, and from then on, time was divided. The sun represented light, which is daytime, and the moon represented darkness, which is nighttime."

"The god of the Night Moon, He rides in a chariot of pure light to the depths of the world, leaving behind the tails of shooting stars in the night sky."

"The sun god, riding in his golden chariot, passed by them. Whom did these two sublime gods see?"

"..."

The incoherent record mentioned the sun and the moon, but made no mention of the Earth Goddess. Putting everything else aside, Ryan suspected that the stone tablet was not actually here, but had probably appeared by chance for some other reason and was then mistaken by the believers in the Earth as an account of the Golden Tree.

But.

Even if he translated it for Kachina, it wouldn't make any difference. Besides, Ryan felt that the contents of the stone tablet might involve some more important secret... The birth of the Night Moon, wouldn't that be the creation of the world? Is this a stone tablet recording the creation of the world?

"Ahem~ Your Majesty, just as you predicted, according to the records above, this tree is indeed the embodiment of the Earth Goddess," Ryan coughed lightly.

Anyway, the last time he happened to see the Earth Goddess, she was sleeping soundly under a tree.

Who says the earth itself can't be a tree?

How about learning about World Tree?

"Sure enough, the World Tree, is the Earth Goddess on it the Creation God?" Kachina asked expectantly.

If this can be confirmed, then the Faith Path will rise from this point on, which is an absolutely groundbreaking discovery!

"No, not at all." Ryan shrugged. "It only records the origins of world civilizations, how they spread from the World Tree and returned to it, thus creating a cycle of civilization."

"I see... Never mind then." Kachina said with a smile, her eyes full of approval as she looked at Ryan. "As expected of the Chosen of the Earth God, Rider, with you here, the Arcadia Empire will surely become even more glorious!"

"Ha, I'll try my best, I'll try my best."

Ryan is now wondering where the Chinese language came from. Judging from the situation, it must be from many eras ago. Could it be that a time traveler came thousands of years before him?

Unable to figure it out, Ryan looked up at the Golden Tree, but didn't see any Advancement Fragment. This wasn't surprising, as based on his previous two experiences, if there were any here, he would need to use the power of time to unlock them.

"Your Majesty, are there any other records within the Empire written in this script?" Ryan asked.

"This writing? I remember Kachia had a broken stone tablet on her body. Do you want to see it?"

"Hmm, maybe we can get some clues."

"Then we'll go find her when we get out."

Ryan thought to himself, "You can go find her now, otherwise how am I supposed to use my first wife's Character Card?"

Just then, Ryan suddenly noticed that the Sun Mark on his left hand had lit up.

Um?

This thing... He tried touching the Golden Tree with his left hand, and the mark immediately emitted a blinding light.

"Rider!"

Swish!

As soon as Kachina shouted, Ryan disappeared beneath the giant tree in the next second.

The burning flames illuminated the sky, their light a deep, dark black, exuding an ominous and chilling aura.

When Ryan came to his senses, he found himself in a sea of flames. The ground was covered in black fire, which seemed to be alive and was frantically converging in one direction—there, a giant, golden tree was surrounded by flames, and a woman with long, emerald-green hair stood in front of the tree, trying to resist the approaching black fire.

"What's going on? What did they give me?"

Ryan was a little confused, but his intuition told him that he couldn't go any further, or it would be very dangerous.

But soon, he saw something familiar floating behind the woman with the long, emerald-green hair— Advancement Fragment!

Holy crap, it's there?!

Ryan hesitated for a moment, making sure the fires didn't seem to reach him, before slowly moving forward.

He traversed the fiery path and finally arrived at the foot of the giant tree. The shield conjured by the woman with emerald green hair seemed to have no effect on him, so he walked straight in and stood before her.

Beautiful, so beautiful, a breathtaking beauty.

Her delicate face glowed, her eyebrows and eyelashes were long and narrow, and her emerald eyes shone brightly. Ryan looked at her and was surprised to find that her pupils gradually focused and her gaze narrowed, as if she were really looking at him.

This is a gaze exchanged across different times and spaces!

"... My Lord Balshatt, when the trajectories of the stars align, you will fully awaken... The world needs you..."

The woman raised her hand, her slender, delicate fingertips gently touching Ryan's face. In that instant, everything before Ryan's eyes shattered like a mirror, countless fragments rapidly dissolving in his vision. When all the images disappeared, he regained his senses and found himself back under the Golden Tree.

"Rider! Are you alright???"

Kachina breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him appear.

"I... I'm fine."

Even so, Ryan felt a strange sadness welling up inside him. The woman's voice from earlier lingered in his mind, making him feel somewhat depressed.

"Balshatt, are you talking about me?"

This wasn't the first time he'd heard this, but this time the information was much clearer. If that woman was indeed the Earth Goddess Rhea, then he was Balshatt?

The Baalshatt of the Gods, it seems, is a higher level than the gods?

Oh, right, the Advancement Fragment.

His gaze shifted, and he saw familiar fragments appearing on the stone tablet.

However, Kachina cannot see it, indicating that the fragment is still sealed and needs to be unlocked using the power of time.

"You scared me to death! You suddenly disappeared just now. What happened?" Kachina asked, puzzled.

"I don't know either. It felt like I just entered a strange space. There was a lot of information, but I couldn't understand it... Ugh, my head hurts."

"I see." Kachina nodded thoughtfully. "Perhaps it's some kind of hint from the Earth Goddess. Don't rush, Rider. Take your time to absorb and digest it. The things of the gods aren't so simple."

Because Ryan was the Chosen of the Gods, Kachina had no doubts whatsoever.

"Why don't we go back and rest first?" she suggested.

Ryan nodded. The fragment was right there; he could just find another excuse to come in next time. After all, Kachia allowed her free access to the temple.

After leaving the temple, Ryan returned to his room, his thoughts still lingering on the image of the burning flames.

Raising his hand, the Earth Mark had completely faded.

"It seems that I am Balshatt, but I know nothing about him except for the name."

"But it doesn't matter. I don't understand those gods, especially those Outer Gods. They even want to kill me. Great, I'll never go into the Chaos Space again."

He suddenly understood why he had been pulled into the portal by the God of Desire last time.

This is clearly targeted!

Thankfully, it was only the God of Desire. If it were the Blood God, the Spirit of Chaos, or the Lord of the Bizarre, Four Great Outer Gods coming together for a fight, wouldn't this mere Tier 3 super soldier be dead in no time?

"Looks like I need to get more information about Balshatt, but most people have never even heard of him... Oh, right, my little wife!"