The Cornflower Witch

Chapter 79: Ancient Ruins

After familiarizing herself with the new abilities of her Fate Card, Sylutia moved through this twisted forest like a fish in water. When the unknown becomes known, fear greatly diminishes, and that was exactly her current state.

Emerging once more from the gray-white world into a colorful forest clearing, Sylutia discovered a strange sight. In the center of the clearing were remnants of a brick structure, including a fountain that welled up from the ground. However, this fountain had been dry for a long time, its basin now filled only with fallen leaves and stones.

Carefully approaching the pool, Sylutia found nothing strange, except that the fountain itself seemed completely out of place with its surroundings.

The brickwork on the ground and the soil were starkly different despite being separated by only a foot, as if this fountain didn't originate here but had been forcibly moved from somewhere else and crashed into this world.

Perhaps, just like me, this was originally a structure from the outside world, Sylutia thought to herself, her gaze shifting to the center of the fountain where a white stone-carved water pitcher stood. Water must have once flowed from this pitcher in the past.

Ignoring this abandoned fountain, she continued forward.

Passing through layers of forest, Sylutia stepped into a new area that clearly held danger. Three panthers with pitch-black and dark blue fur surrounded her, poised to strike.

[Star-Shadow Panther] (First Tier·Alien Star): A panther polluted by Distortion, its starlight dim and unclear, attack method unknown.

"Roar—" The lead panther attacked first, sprinting at incredible speed. Its form transformed into strange colors as if stepping into the folds of the world, disappearing from the vision of normal creatures.

Turning transparent? No, it seemed more like traversing through another dimension, but one separated from the present world by only the thinnest of lines.Sylutia's eyes burned with intensity as she calmly responded. When the panther attacked from the side, she had already prepared to dodge, then swung her sword blade, tearing open a gash on the panther's back.

As the first panther's attack failed, the other two didn't stop either. They accelerated separately, their bodies similarly transforming and distorting as they slipped into strange dimensional gaps.

Unfortunately, such bizarre attack methods proved ineffective against Sylutia. She could easily detect these creatures' traces and precisely strike their vital points.

After several exchanges like this, the panthers were wounded while she remained completely unscathed.

"If it were other Transcendents without observational abilities, they'd probably suffer greatly against you," the young woman murmured softly, her short sword tracing light patterns in the air.

"But then, since we're all 'Alien Star,' there's no need for these fancy tricks."

Seeing they couldn't defeat this young woman, the three panthers lowered their heads and roared, hesitated for a moment, then actually turned and fled at high speed, disappearing into the gray-white world and rushing toward other Colored Bubbles.

"Huh, they actually know how to run away?" This was the first time she'd encountered opponents who would flee after passing through so many Colored Bubbles.

Probably these creatures were more resistant, not completely corroded by Distortion, and retained considerable intelligence.

Chasing them was out of the question. Traversing the gray-white world would consume too much Aspect power—she couldn't afford such extravagance.

After repelling the three panthers, Sylutia wandered around the forest clearing for a few steps, searching for any gains.

"There's still a water puddle here?" She discovered a small water pit in a crack between stone slabs.

The water in the pit was exceptionally clear, like morning dew. Its appearance in this twisted forest was simply incredible.

No wonder those three gathered here, Sylutia thought, taking out a wooden bottle to collect some of the clear water.

She didn't know if it was drinkable, but she decided not to drink it unless she became desperately thirsty.

After finishing her preparations and finding nothing else, Sylutia stood up and continued forward. By now, she wasn't far from the pillar ruins she'd seen from the mountaintop.

...

After much hardship, Sylutia finally reached the architectural ruins within the forest. The area of this Colored Bubble was several times larger than any node she'd encountered along the way—truly vast.

When she actually stepped inside, she realized the buildings here were exceptionally large. Judging from the pillars and fragmentary walls among the ruins, this place must have once been a grand temple, with white stone structures everywhere.

The style was majestic and elegant, quite beautiful. Unfortunately, Sylutia hadn't seen similar architectural styles in history. Additionally, she was curious about which deity this temple had been built for.

This world indeed had beings similar to gods. They were existences above the 'Tenth Tier,' mostly controllers of certain Aspect laws. Such great existences were often overlords across multiple epochs.

The second epoch, the Vault Sea Epoch—its overlords were the ancient True Fish that roamed the celestial seas. Their bodies could reach lengths of millions of kilometers, and their mere swimming could change the flow of the entire Vault Sea, guiding the movement of all its waters.

The third epoch, the Sun-Moon Epoch—the ancient True Fish died from being boiled by the Proud Sun, and the entire Vault Sea was split apart. Light gases expanded and diffused, making this world exceptionally vast and empty.

The fourth epoch, the Star-Beast Epoch—the primordial beasts gazing at the starry sky became the epoch's overlords, and this was also the origin of the 'Primordial Beast' Aspect.

The fifth epoch, the Fairy Epoch—'Verdant Nectar' and 'Insect Moth' reconciled, and fairies were born into the world. They began resisting the 'Primordial Beast's control over other Aspects, cultivated the World Tree that supported heaven and earth, whose roots gathered all True Fish remains to form a complete, unified land. The fairy monarchs began dividing the four seasons, controlling the rise and fall of the sun and moon, and degraded the 'Primordial Beast' into 'Beast Fang.'

The sixth epoch, the Seven Dragons Epoch—the Black Serpent burned the World Tree's roots, was severed by the fairy monarchs, then transformed into seven dragons. They gnawed at the World Tree, devoured the fairy monarchs, becoming the Seven Law Dragons that controlled the seven Aspects of sun, moon, and stars, and split the unified land.

The seventh epoch, the Erosion Epoch—the Star Dragon, one of the seven dragons, summoned the Alien Star to descend, impacting this world. The heavenly paradise fell, and countless living beings perished.

...

Sylutia recalled the complete secret history in her mind while searching for traces within these ruins.

This should be a product after the seventh epoch, because the worlds before that were basically destroyed. Humanity hadn't risen yet back then, so buildings wouldn't have been constructed according to human proportions.

Sylutia estimated in her heart. As she walked through the open spaces within the ruins, pairs of eyes opened in the forest corners, peering at the unfamiliar figure within this ancient site.

Subtle buzzing sounds spread through the forest, transmitting...

Soon, Sylutia's footsteps halted because she saw the only intact large fountain within the ruined structures. Clear water flowed from a white stone-carved pitcher held by a veiled female statue.

Although it was a statue, the woman's light gauze gown was exceptionally detailed. The shoulders and wrists had ties that fastened the long openings in the clothing, both showcasing the woman's slender, graceful figure and revealing the beautiful skin of her shoulders and arms.

The water flowed ceaselessly, with faint, clear mist spreading, refreshing Sylutia's senses and bringing waves of comfort.

This is... the aura of 'Luminous Moon.'

She was astonished to discover the clear water in the pool was all purifying water imbued with the 'Luminous Moon' Aspect. Such precious resources, still containing complete Aspect power—even though she hadn't been in this world long, she could guess how valuable this legacy was.

Why was no one tending to it? Had no one come here? As she thought this, alarm bells suddenly rang loudly in her mind.

Countless buzzing sounds erupted among the trees, the trembling vibration of wings causing agitation. When Sylutia turned around, she discovered swarms of white bees covering the sky like a celestial net, diving down toward her.

[Withered White Bee] (First Tier·Insect Moth): Special bees that suck tree nectar and can enter stone-like dormancy. They are the mortal enemies of 'Luminous Moon.'

——