blueteamnovel Chapter 158 [The Stone Tablet of Civilization]
Chapter 158 [The Stone Tablet of Civilization]
Chapter 158 [The Stone Tablet of Civilization]
Roland stopped and turned to look at the high priest with a profound aura.
Moradin gazed at him with his white soul flames and said slowly, "Your talent in energy perception and interaction with ancient creations is impressive."
"While the Empire and the Holy Tower have both cooperation and disagreements, knowledge itself has no boundaries."
"I have something here that might help you decipher these ancient messages, and it can also be considered as a reward for the important discoveries you brought back on this adventure."
He gestured to a priest beside him to bring over a tray covered with dark red velvet.
The priest lifted the velvet cloth, revealing a simple box made of some kind of warm black stone, about a foot long and half a foot wide, with no decoration on the lid.
"This is not a creation of the Empire."
"It was brought back by the ancestors of the Temple many years ago during an exploration of the ancestral lands."
"We have been unable to decipher it, or even open it."
"It seems to have no reaction to pure fire energy or our telepathy." Moradin gestured for Rolin to come forward.
"But seeing how you activated those ancient patterns today—perhaps you could give it a try."
Luo Lin's heart stirred slightly, and he took a step forward.
He didn't touch the box at first, but instead used his left hand, which was wearing the Insight Ring, to press lightly on top and carefully sense it.
The box itself is made of a material that is neither gold nor stone, and has a cool, warm feel. It is hollow inside.
The energy reaction is extremely weak, almost blending into the surrounding environment, but within that weakness lies an indescribable sense of density and weight, not physical weight, but a condensation of some kind of information or presence.
There was no lock, no gaps; it seemed to be a perfectly formed whole.
Luo Lin attempted to slowly inject a wisp of star power, simulating the observer's energy frequency, into the surface of the box lid.
The moment the Star Power touches the lid, it is absorbed silently, like water droplets melting into a dry sponge.
Immediately afterwards, a tiny light quietly appeared in the center of the box lid, quickly outlining a simple geometric symbol composed of straight lines and dots.
Unlike the rune style of the observer, it is more abstract and more fundamental.
As the symbol lit up, the once seamless box lid silently cracked open along the lines of the symbol, then unfolded outwards like flower petals.
Inside the box, there was a black cushion of the same material.
On the cushion, a stone slab lay quietly.
The stone slab is rectangular, about 30 centimeters long, 20 centimeters wide, and about three fingers thick.
The color is a deep, somber gray, and the surface is exceptionally smooth, as if it has been polished with the finest care, yet it has no reflection whatsoever.
The edges of the stone slabs were sharply defined, and the lines were incredibly straight.
At first glance, it looks like a finely crafted but unremarkable stone slab.
However, when Rolin's gaze fell on the surface of the stone slab, his breath caught in his throat.
The surface of the stone slab is not blank.
There are things engraved on it.
It's not a relief, not a dent, but rather a kind of extremely fine dots and lines that seem to "grow" directly inside the stone slab, emitting a very faint milky white light.
These points and lines are so densely packed that they are unimaginable, layer upon layer, forming countless complex and dizzying three-dimensional structures, symbols, charts, and even dynamic energy flow diagrams!
They were so small that the details were almost indistinguishable to the naked eye; all that could be seen was a hazy, milky-white halo that seemed to contain the entire galaxy flowing deep within the stone slab.
Only when Rolin highly concentrated his mental energy and magnified his vision with the aid of the Insight Ring could he barely "see" a very small part of the structure.
It was a fragment of basic energy symbols and logical structure that he had never seen before and could not even understand, describing some kind of rule or principle.
Even a fleeting glimpse of its simplicity and profundity stirred an instinctive tremor in the depths of his soul.
What shocked him even more was the weight of the stone slab.
Out of a researcher's habit, he subconsciously reached out to take the stone slab out of the box for a closer look.
The moment my fingers touched the edge of the stone slab, an indescribable "heaviness" came from my fingertips, not just physical weight.
It weighs about seventeen or eighteen kilograms, which is nothing for a first-ring wizard.
Rather, it is a kind of spiritual stagnation, as if it is supporting a mountain and bearing the weight of a world civilization!
Every gram of the stone slab seems to contain a massive amount of information and existence!
This is no ordinary recording stone tablet!
This is a carrier that compresses and solidifies unimaginably vast amounts of information into a finite material in a way that is almost "materialized" through some kind of technology that transcends comprehension!
It is the crystallization of knowledge, the tombstone of civilization, and the amber of time!
Rowling's fingers froze in mid-air, hesitant to pick it up completely, fearing that his touch might taint or disturb the countless secrets slumbering within.
High Priest Moradin seemed to understand Rolin's shock, his white soul fire flickering calmly: "You felt it? The temple's ancestors called it the [Silent Stele], the [Weight of Civilization]."
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"We cannot read it, or even understand the form in which it exists."
"But it truly comes from an era perhaps older than ours, even than the Silent Eye. Today it reacts to you—perhaps it is waiting for someone who can understand it."
Luo Lin took a few deep breaths, suppressing the turmoil in his heart, and carefully took the stone slab out of the box and held it in his hands.
The weight of seventeen kilograms felt heavier than a thousand pounds at that moment.
It is not just the weight of the stone slab, but also the weight of one or more vanished civilizations that may be contained within it, the weight of the crystallization of countless intelligent lives’ understanding and exploration of the world.
He looked at Moradin, his voice slightly hoarse: "This gift—is too heavy."
"Knowledge is inherently heavy," Moradin said slowly.
"Only those who can bear it can see true knowledge."
"The Empire cannot decipher it, and leaving it in the Temple is merely a waste of its time."
"Perhaps in your hands, through the research of your Shadow Raven Tower, you can unveil a corner of its mystery."
"This also aligns with our shared initial goal of exploring ancient wisdom."
Luo Lin no longer refused, solemnly placed the stone slab back into the box, and closed the lid.
The crack closed up again, restoring the area to a seamless state, with only the simple geometric symbol at the center still emitting a faint light, which slowly faded away after a few seconds.
"Thank you for the gift, High Priest."
"The Holy Tower will study this carefully, and we are willing to share any findings with the Empire within the framework of cooperation," Rolin promised.
Carrying the incredibly heavy [Civilization Stele] and their minds filled with shock, Rowling and Duden left the command hall and returned to the temporary accommodations arranged for them by the Shadow Raven Tower.
Only after carefully placing the black stone box on the research lab table did Rowling feel a slight sense of relief.
He sat at the table, staring at the simple box, speechless for a long time.