Chapter 1355 - The Ancient Experimental Base (1/2)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Master Hymer was reserved and introverted, which could be due to his indulgence in the studies of different magic all these years. Once he talked about the things that he was interested in, the young archmage would immediately become enthusiastic and eloquent as if he had changed into another person. When Hymer was finally done, Hao Ren found the opportunity to interject. “Did you just say that time in the ruins stood still?”

“Umm…” Hymer was a little embarrassed. “I was just guessing. Our research on the ‘time’ element is still superficial. Even the legendary Ancient Magic Empire should have no control over time. When we first entered the ruins, the time there was flowing as usual. So I couldn’t judge what was happening when the ruins were completely sealed. This is just based on the signs after the door opened—”

Long annoyed by Hymer’s non-stop babbling, Becky quickly interrupted, “Well, that’s enough. You don’t have to tell us about that. Now, this person next to me is a professional in demolishing ancient structures. Bring us to the scene now.”

“Of course. We have cleaned out the outer layers of the ruins. Please come with me.”

Hymer selected a few smart apprentices to accompany him, and several senior knights as guards, and took Hao Ren and his team to the entrance to the ruins discovered not long ago.

The entrance was just at the foothill, where a semi-collapsed gray-black hole suddenly appeared not far from the camp. It looked like an ordinary cave from the outside, and no one would have thought of it as the entrance to the ancient ruins at first glance. Vines and black roots covered the mountain walls on both sides of the cave where burning and cut marks left behind by the investigation team were visible. Two knights wearing enchanted armor stood guard at the entrance. Their faces were tense and their swords were planted in the ground.

“How did you find this place?” Hao Ren asked casually before entering the cave.

“The energy field of the Lorissian Wall had interfered with the first energy burst. The investigation team entered and combed the mountains but found nothing. After a while, there were second and third energy bursts, which occurred irregularly but often, giving us the opportunity to lock on the target. After mathematically filtering out the interference from the Lorissian Wall, we finally found this place.”

While explaining, Master Hymer led everyone into the dark cave that looked like the mouth of a fierce beast.

Semi-collapsed, the entrance looked dangerous from the outside. Once stepping into the inside, Hao Ren noticed that the ceiling and walls of the cave were glimmering with magical brilliance. Small magic circles, used by Hymer to prevent the cave from collapsing, seemed to hover on the cave walls at each interval.

After the entrance, it was a long way down a slope before there were forks and turns appeared 100 meters down. More forks appeared as they went as if they had entered into a maze. But the investigation team had explored the place before and left behind signs along the way and even guards at each fork. The magic crystals inlaid in the walls were not bright enough, so Hymer cast a light spell to help illuminate the cave.

There were random broken objects protruded out from the soft soil of the cave. Some part of the cave had traces of human excavation. Other than these, Hao Ren could not find more signs of civilization. “Is here the main entrance to the ruins?” Hao Ren asked curiously.

“No, we haven’t found the main entrance yet. I suspect that the ruins underneath are an enclosed space where there are no entrance and exit, and is only accessible by teleporting.” Hymer explained. “The end of the cave actually leads to a branch another corridor, which was not accessible initially. But a minor earthquake triggered by the energy burst a few days ago had exposed the passage.”

Hao Ren nodded but said nothing further.

After going a distance, the cave in front of them suddenly brightened up by a large number of glowing magic spars on the walls on both sides. Small labs, arsenals, sentry posts, and piles of materials were on the open ground. Several mages and apprentice mages were compiling data in the caves. They stopped their work and greeted Hymer.

“Don’t stop. Keep working.” Hymer did look like an archmage in front of his assistants and apprentices.

After the apprentices and assistants left, he pointed at the crack in the wall at the end of the cave. “There is the entrance. The ruins are right on the other side.”