novelraw Chapter 38 : Secrets
Chapter 38 : Secrets
Secrets
After waiting in the cabin for about half an hour, Chu Tianxing and the others suddenly felt their bodies drop sharply downward. Following a sinking sensation much like being on a roller coaster, Sword Sovereign Xingyun walked into the cabin with the grace of a scholarly lady.
"We're back in safe territory now. However, none of you can leave just yet. You will need to go through a few procedures.”
Someone raised their hand. “May I ask what kind of procedures we need to go through?”
"Medical examination, disinfection, quarantine observation, and signing an NDA," the Sword Sovereign replied.
Chu Tianxing pondered for a moment before asking, “Those are all reasonable procedures, seeing as we’ve all been in contact with inhuman monsters like the fish-men. However, I’d like to ask, what exactly did we encounter? The place where we met the fish-men before… was that still the Earth we knew?”
The Sword Sovereign Xingyun looked at Chu Tianxing with approval and spoke slowly.
"That's an excellent question. I can tell you definitively that where you encountered those fish monsters was indeed not on Earth.”
"You accidentally stumbled into a newly appeared Gate of Revelation and took a brief trip to another world. Those fish monsters were all beings from that other realm. And now, you've returned to Earth through the same Gate of Revelation."
The moment she said this, the entire group burst into an uproar.
"What?! We actually get isekai’ed?!"
“I knew it! There’s no way monsters like the fish-men could exist in the seas of the Great Ming. So it turns out we went to another world!”
"Holy shit, an actual otherworld! I can't believe other worlds really exist, and we got to be the first ones to go on an interdimensional adventure!"
“If other worlds exist, doesn’t that mean we can go to them and spread the divine might of our Great Ming?”
"Hey, that's not a bad idea! I want to go to another world and build myself a harem, with a beauty in each arm…”
“With the way those fish-men look? You’ve got some strange tastes.”
"Come on, other worlds can't just have fish monsters! There might be mermaids too. Elves, cat-eared girls, who knows what's out there. With my martial arts skills and good looks, I'd probably be quite the catch!"
"Gate of Revelation... I feel like I've heard that term before..."
"Wait, those martial artists who suddenly appeared during the Chongzhen Emperor’s era, the first ones who reached the Inner Force and True Qi realms, didn't they all mention something about 'revelation'? Could the appearance of those first-generation high-level martial artists be connected to these Gates of Revelation?"
“I get it! It must have been the Tianqi Emperor who built the first Gate of Revelation in history! He was a grandmaster of carpentry, so maybe he achieved the Dao through woodworking! Otherwise, why would it be called the Gate of Tianqi? Plus, Emperor Chongzhen was the first to receive this revelation, and he was Emperor Tianqi's younger brother, so he must have gotten the benefits through that connection..."
(TL Note: The Tianqi in the Tianqi Emperor means Heavenly Revelation, the same Revelation in the Gate of Revelation.)
"Your mental gymnastics is something else..."
Amid all the discussion, Chu Tianxing thought calmly before asking again.
"May I ask, Sword Sovereign, is there more than one Gate of Revelation?
"Does each Gate of Revelation connect to a different alternate world?
“What is the attitude and policy of our Great Ming… or rather, of all the nations of the world, towards these other worlds?
"Is the sudden appearance of supernatural martial arts related to the Gates of Revelation?
"And... what kind of world exactly did we visit this time?"
The Sword Sovereign Xingyun smiled faintly. "You certainly have a lot of questions. But I can answer a few of them.
“There are indeed many Gates of Revelation; they have appeared all over the world. And yes, each Gate of Revelation connects to different alternate spaces and worlds.”
“As for our Great Ming and the other nations of the world, the attitudes and methods we adopt towards the other worlds connected to the Gates within our borders vary from world to world. One cannot generalize.”
"The emergence of supernatural martial arts is indeed related to the Gates of Revelation, though we haven't yet figured out the specific details of that relationship yet.”
“This newly appeared Gate of Revelation that you all stumbled into is the first of its kind to appear on Earth. We do not yet understand the situation in that other world; it still requires research and exploration.”
"But what we can say for certain is that it's an extremely dangerous world."
"Dangerous?" one student cried out. "Those fish monsters weren't that big a deal, even a bunch of students like us could handle them..."
The Sword Sovereign Xingyun glanced at the student and said flatly, "You're getting cocky, kid. Think about that ten-meter-tall super giant fishman. When it descended, didn't its aura alone make you all struggle to breathe?”
“If DJ Tathagata had not arrived in time, would any of you still be standing here talking right now?”
The student thought about it and laughed sheepishly. "You're right, Sword Sovereign. I was getting ahead of myself. But didn't DJ Tathagata turn that super giant fishman to dust with one palm strike? For great masters like yourselves, a monster of that level is probably nothing special, right?”
The Sword Sovereign Xingyun replied, "What Tathagata destroyed was only an incarnation. Its true body is hidden somewhere we can't reach yet.”
"When DJ Tathagata faced off against the fish monsters, he used his chanting of the Heart Sutra to shake their will, then employed Mind Reading to invade their consciousness and secretly read the thoughts of several fish monster priests.”
"He learned that the super giant fish monster's true body is the racial god of the fish monsters.”
"And that racial god is merely a subordinate deity under a God of Oceans and Storms in that world. Under that god, there are many other subordinate deities and intelligent oceanic species.”
“Yet, even the God of Oceans and Storms can only dominate the coastal waters and islands at the edges of the landmasses in that world.”
"On the mainland, where the highest intelligent species live in greatest numbers, the God of Oceans and Storms is just a marginal existence. There are many powerful deities who can stand as equals with it, or even surpass it.”
"In summary, it's a high-tier world whose top-level forces could rival Earth's entire global high-end power. And it possesses countless mysterious and unpredictable supernatural methods.”
"So that world is extremely dangerous. Not just dangerous for you, it's full of unknown perils even for us.”
“For now, we will not be making contact with that world. Not only will we avoid contact, but we'll temporarily seal this Gate of Revelation to prevent anyone else from wandering through and bringing danger back to Earth.”
"That's exactly why we need you to sign confidentiality agreements.”
"Once information about Gates of Revelation and their connected alternate worlds spreads, there will always be curious, reckless people trying to break into Gates of Revelation just to see what's on the other side.”
"Those people getting themselves killed wouldn't normally be our concern.”
"But reality never lacks ambitious types. There are always people with grand delusions who want to use alternate worlds to fulfil their personal fantasies. Whether they're seeking power, wealth, authority, or beautiful women...”
"Honestly, whether ambitious people live or die isn't really our business either. But some of them will inevitably let slip information about Earth, which draws the attention of beings from other worlds. Remember, Gates of Revelation work both ways. We can go through, and naturally, beings from the other side can come here too.”
“And that is what brings danger to Earth. This isn't just speculation. It's actually happened before.”
"The most recent crisis caused by an alternate world gate occurred ten years ago. Some fool in Fusang stumbled across a newly opened Gate of Revelation ten years back and instead of reporting it, he decided to explore on his own. Not only did he get himself trapped, but he also leaked the Gate of Revelation's location and information about Earth to malevolent beings from the other world.”
"As a result, one of those evil creatures crossed through the Gate of Revelation and descended upon Kanagawa Prefecture in Fusang, killing tens of thousands of people in a single day.”
"Fusang's only Astral Qi realm master at the time had to sacrifice his own life just to barely kill that evil being. The aftermath of their battle led to over a hundred thousand deaths, hundreds of thousands of injuries, and incalculable economic losses...”
“And it is not only Fusang that has experienced similar incidents; our Great Daming and the various nations of the West have also had them happen.”
"Fortunately, the Great Ming has the world's largest number of Astral Qi realm masters, plus the most comprehensive monitoring system. Every time something like this happens, we can resolve it immediately, which is why we haven't had tragedies on the scale of the Kanagawa incident.”
"But even so, each similar incident still causes at least dozens of deaths, and at most nearly ten thousand. The fact that all of you returned alive this time, with no casualties, is incredibly fortunate.”
"That's precisely why information about Gates of Revelation must be strictly controlled. Those who experience them must keep absolutely silent and maintain strict secrecy, preventing ambitious individuals from learning the locations of the Gates of Revelation and recklessly breaking through them, bringing danger to Earth and the Great Ming.”
"Also, if you ever happen to encounter a newly opened Gate of Revelation again, remember. Don't be like that fool and try to explore it yourself. Report it to the authorities immediately. The Embroidered Uniform Guard and Eastern Depot both offer generous rewards for those who report such discoveries promptly.”
"If the discovered alternate world turns out to be low-risk and resource-rich with great development potential, the discoverer can even get development shares and be set for life..."
The Sword Sovereign Xingyun went on at length.
She was beautiful, her voice was pleasant, and her tone was calm and soothing. No matter how much she spoke, the crowd did not feel bored. On the contrary, they listened with great relish and felt that their knowledge had expanded immensely. They now gained a deeper understanding of the turbulent undercurrents hidden beneath the prosperous times they lived in.
Chu Tianxing listened carefully.
That blood-shadow creature that possessed Feng Yufei back then… could it have been an evil creature from another world that slipped through a Gate of Revelation to get to Earth?
The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
Just then, another student curiously raised their hand. "Sword Sovereign, you mentioned that there are worlds with low-risk and resource-rich development value. Does that mean the Great Ming is already developing similar worlds?”
"And might we have opportunities to participate in developing alternate worlds in the future?"
The Sword Sovereign Xingyun smiled. "Your guess is correct. The Great Ming is indeed developing some resource-rich, low-danger alternate spaces and worlds.”
"As for participating in alternate world development... once you've completed your studies and joined relevant organizations, you might have opportunities.”
"Alright, that's enough discussion about Gates of Revelation for now.”
"Everyone, follow me out. We're heading to the medical ship for examinations, disinfection, and quarantine observation.”
“Rest assured, you will be isolated for twenty-four hours at most. Once the time is up, if there are no problems, you may sign the non-disclosure agreement and then go home.”