Old Soil

Biodata

Nature and Cosmology

• Old Soil is described as a “second world” or “inner world” connected to Earth Origin Star for unknown reasons. It is also an independent world with native lifeforms and a widely used common language, Old Earth tongue. 16 74
• It is a polyhedral world made up of countless realms and is believed to continuously devour other worlds in the Starsea, incorporating them into itself. Nearly half of present-day Old Soil is said to consist of worlds it absorbed over countless years. 199
• No civilization has discovered a world older or larger than Old Soil. 199
• The connected worlds are hostile toward outsiders, limiting large-scale invasion despite Earth Origin Star's comparative weakness. 16
• Old Soil's natives regard it as the center of the world and consider worlds linked through Bridges to be subsidiary planes. 81

Bridges and Connected Worlds

• Bridges are the connection points between Old Soil and other worlds. Their exits have historically appeared only in sparsely populated regions, never in dense urban areas. 16
• The Great Abyss Bridge was one of the original ten stable Bridges between Earth Origin Star and Old Soil, though it later became largely abandoned because it led only to the resource-poor Forgotten Wasteland. 68 74
• Earth Origin Star had contact with Old Soil more than a thousand years ago; its governments discovered it roughly 110 years before the present and publicly announced it about seventy years ago. 16 67
• Before the mutation, Bridges largely prevented Old Soil creatures from entering Earth Origin Star. Recognition under one of Old Soil's three great contracts could partially bypass those restrictions. 93
• The mutation has caused some Bridges to manifest bidirectionally and gradually lose their barriers. The appearance of disasters on connected worlds is an early sign of this process. 91 102
• If a connected world is fully absorbed, its habitable territory may shrink drastically; some worlds reportedly lose all but one-thousandth of their original landmass. 147

Rules and Environment

Rejection of Foreign Creations

• Objects not originating from Old Soil cannot function normally within it, regardless of their technological sophistication. 79
• Earth Origin Star's early reclamation forces suffered severe losses before learning this rule. 79
• Technology made with Old Soil materials—including vehicles, energy sources, weapons, and Mech-Energy User modifications—can function normally there. 79
• This restriction drove major powers to establish Main Cities in Old Soil, allowing them to secure materials, energy sources, and manufacturing capacity. 79

Source Power and Fortune

• Old Soil possesses a higher concentration of World Source Power than Earth Origin Star, making cultivation faster. 122
• Settlements continuously gather Source Power from their surrounding realms; larger settlements accumulate more of it. 122
• Settlement ownership also provides fortune, an intangible benefit that affects a faction's extraordinary individuals and is sought by nations, churches, royal courts, and other powers. 109 166

Settlements

Calamities and Oddities

Calamities

• Calamities are unpredictable disasters that can arise wherever living beings gather. They include crazed beasts, conflicts, natural disasters, and mysterious domain-related events. 87
• Their danger increases with settlement size, forcing larger settlements to maintain stronger protectors. 87
• Earthbound Calamities can function like dangerous maze-prisons: even High-Ranking War Generals may be unable to escape by force without discovering the correct method to break them. 105
• Following Old Soil's mutation, calamities began appearing on Earth Origin Star with increasing frequency and threat level. 102 196

Old Soil Oddities

• Old Soil Oddities are rare phenomena or objects governed by bizarre rules. Several thousand are known, and several more may appear each year. 106
• Their sequence ranking broadly reflects power, but even low-ranked Oddities can endanger Commander-level beings if their rules are mishandled. 106 135
• Oddities are difficult to counter because their effects can remain lethal even against opponents far stronger than their direct combat power. 135

Inhabitants and Power Structure

• Old Soil contains countless civilizations, races, royal courts, churches, and independent factions. Earth Origin Star is only one ordinary connected civilization. 16
• Primal Humans from connected worlds occupy the bottom of Old Soil's social hierarchy and are commonly treated as inferior to evolved races with inherited racial abilities. 81 121 163
• The thirty-three Domain Kings are among the dominant powers within Old Soil. 199
• Seven publicly recognized Overlord-level Deities rule great worlds beyond Old Soil and spread their faith through churches. 83 199
• These deities cannot normally descend into Old Soil through Bridges, but their churches can still operate there and recruit believers from connected worlds. 83
• The Scarlet Lord is one of the seven Overlord-level Deities. Its Scarlet Church is infamous for blood sacrifice and is widely hostile toward other factions. 83 134 199

Notable Locations

• Forgotten Wasteland — A barren, low-resource fringe region reached through Great Abyss Bridge; it is inhabited by species such as ogres and lizardmen. 74
• Toad King Town — A town protected by the Toad King through a symbiotic relationship with its Toadman residents. 87
• Ba Wu Giant City — A giant city affiliated with the Great Martial Royal Court. It accepted Earth Origin Star and three other Primal Human civilizations as affiliated forces. 121
• Secret-Keeping City — A city entered through the sphinx-like Finderles, where access can be gained through wagers involving secrets. 192
• Cast Iron Tower — The organization associated with Iron Mountain and other Artifact Craftsmen; its influence gives its apprentices substantial protection and status. 181

Relationship with Earth Origin Star

Earth Origin Star's public revelation of Old Soil initiated its Era of Reclamation. Old Soil-derived technologies and methods subsequently shaped most of the planet's extraordinary systems, including Mutants, Mech-Energy Users, Martial Artists, psychics, and Mystic Scholars. 16

Earth Origin Star later established Main Cities in Old Soil, but its lack of a Monarch-level powerhouse left it dependent on the protection and affiliation of Ba Wu Giant City. 79 121

The ongoing mutation has made Earth Origin Star increasingly vulnerable to Old Soil's dangers. Source Power is rising on the planet, but so are calamities, supernatural incidents, and the influence of foreign churches. 91 196 199

Trivia

• The name “Old Soil” was apparently standardized internationally before governments publicly announced its existence. 16
• Many legends of Earth Origin Star may originate from accounts left by people who accidentally entered Old Soil and later returned. 70
• Old Soil's universal currency is Source Stone, which can restore power, forge artifacts, and refine medicines. 156