Chapter 992: Bronze Citadel
“Pop!” Li Qiye, who had sunk into the bronze ocean, finally reached the bottom. The moment he made contact, it gave a unique state of mind — one free from anxiety.
Looking up, one would see a bronze-tinted brilliance flashing in the distant horizon. It seemed that horizon was made of the vast bronze ocean.
Looking around, one would find a certain citadel. It was gigantic enough to house millions of people.
Pavilions were packed together with floating temples. The roads were wide, capable of holding ten carriages side by side.
But on careful observation, one would find that many of the buildings inside this city had collapsed. This was not due to the erosion of time but an external force. It appeared that something had happened here; perhaps a war or a natural disaster...
What was even more shocking was that the entire citadel was built from divine bronze.
All the close buildings, wide roads, and majestic walls were made from bronze without exception. This was a world of bronze. It seemed that there was nothing here aside from bronze, not even the pebbles!
This bronze citadel was very quiet, creating a melancholic atmosphere. This sensation was accentuated from the passing of time within these buried bronze structures.
If an outsider could see this now, they would be jolted and astonished. This was because the city looked exactly the same as the strange images that appeared above the Godwar Mountain a few days ago.
The only difference was that the city ahead was dead. There were no signs of busy pedestrians or the prosperity accompanied by the hustle and bustle of the main streets. None of the bronze inhabitants seen inside the strange images could be found here.
Li Qiye slowly walked inside this vast citadel. This was not his first time here, so he knew all the ins and outs.
Outside of Li Qiye, there was no other living creature here, making it seem like a city of the dead.
This place was full of mysteries. No one knew where it came from or what it was. Even the creator of this bronze city was unknown...
“An incredible piece of work. Even gods and emperors wouldn’t be able to create this masterpiece!” Li Qiye said with emotion while walking along the silent paths.
In this world, it would be difficult to find someone who knew about the existence of this city. However, in the distant past, many Immortal Emperors had searched for this city, especially during the Ancient Ming Era. Numerous Ancient Ming emperors had spent tremendous efforts trying to trace back to this city.
This was because of the secret hidden in this city, a secret everyone wanted to know. Even Li Qiye, as the Dark Crow, thirsted for this ultimate secret.
Eventually, he made it to the highest point. There was a bronze palace in this place — grand and towering.
It seemed to be the dwelling of gods or the rulers of this place!
A sacred aura permeated this palace. Although millions of years had passed and many parts in this palace had been tarnished with rust, it still gave off a holy and untouchable air!
“Clankkk—” Li Qiye slowly pushed the heavy bronze gate open to enter.
It was enormous and had many supporting pillars. Each of them had a different engraving, including flying dragons and dancing phoenixes, a war between deities, and a scene of millions of worshipers...
There was no divine throne at the end of the palace as one would expect. There was only a big bronze tablet. It had stood strong for countless years, the vicissitudes of time unable to touch it.
Li Qiye walked up to this tablet. It shimmered with a faint bronze light, but this light was not what attracted his attention. All of his focus was on the text carved on the tablet.
There were more than ten thousand words. Each word seemed to have its own sentience as they floated on the tablet like swimming fish.
The words were ancient to the point that no one could recognize which era they belonged to.
“Finally coming back to life.” Li Qiye murmured while staring at these ancient words: “This day is long overdue. How many people and emperors waited for such a day?”
The words continued to move without any pattern. Their chaotic nature would leave readers completely confused.
Li Qiye gently rubbed it and smiled: “The legendary bronze runes... how many in this world know of your existence? Not to mention the nine worlds, perhaps there are only a few in that place that can recognize you, let alone have the mastery to read!”
These archaic words dated back to a time before the Desolate Era. They were prevalent during the mythical Legendary Era! Not to mention the current nine worlds, few people could read this text even back in those ancient times.
Coincidentally, Li Qiye was one of the people who knew this language. He had spent many years and great effort to learn these words. He traveled to many places along his journey of learning — the blue sky above and the underworld below!
“Omm—” Space suddenly trembled. As Li Qiye moved the words, the tablet exuded an even more dazzling bronze light.
At the same time, the others words became more lively just like carps in a pond that were being fed. Eventually, he finished arranging all of these words into a complete inscription. This caused the palace to light up and emit waves of sad hymns.
These hymns would drown listeners in grief. It seemed to paint a tale from long ago, the fall of a supreme existence. His billions of citizens attended his funeral.
This funeral music would put one’s heart at ease and seemed to retell the majestic feats of this supreme existence.
“Om—” The firm tablet turned into a bronze door. It was simple, without any decoration, but this did not take away from its stately appearance. Others couldn’t help but revere it.
“Clank—” Li Qiye opened the door and entered without any hesitation.
A boundless starry sky appeared before him. He could only see the vast space above that contained rivers of stars. It was a beautiful celestial scene in the middle of the night.
However, what stupefied others was that there was a gigantic bronze statue of a man lying among the stars! Anyone would be shocked to see this bronze man.
It was difficult to describe its enormity with mere words! If this statue was lying down on the southern Barren Earth, then it would occupy more than half of that land!
It quietly lied in this space with eyes closed as if in an eternal slumber. Or perhaps it could have been buried here after death.
No one knew how it was created or if it was once a live bronze man.
“Endless life yet it still disappeared within the river of time.” Li Qiye murmured while looking at the statue among the stars.
After analyzing the statue, he finally climbed on top of it. He felt as if he was walking on top of a vast land of bronze. It was hard to visually discern this place since the bronze shimmer was quite distracting. People would find themselves insignificant while traveling on this vast land.
The statue had both of his hands placed on his stomach. It was a very peaceful sleeping pose.
After walking for a very long time, Li Qiye finally reached the stomach, where the two hands met. At this place, he found that the hands held a bronze box.
The chest was already quite large, but compared to the bronze statue embracing it, it appeared to be incredibly tiny, like a speck of dust!
This bronze box was playing music. One could even feel that it was jumping around, as if it was not a box but a living being.
“Tens of millions of years of waiting, the time is finally right.” Li Qiye felt the rhythm of the box and smiled.
This box was the item coveted by the Ancient Ming and their emperors. However, because time was not on their side, they couldn’t retrieve it successfully, not even the peerless Immortal Emperor Tian Tu! [1. I wonder if Tian Tu is comparable to Hong Tian or Jiao Heng.]