Chapter 167 The Dark Side of the World

"Dark creatures and aberrant creatures?" Gune looked at Murand Elklie.

"Mm." Murand Elklie nodded slightly and then slowly elaborated.

"Our world is currently in the midst of a Source Tide."

"And the Source Tide is a very strange and rare phenomenon in the Transcendent Starry Sky."

"To be more specific, the Source Tide appears within a certain region, and now our transcendent world, following the 'Source Star'—that is, the sun above us—has happened to intrude into this very world."

"And this has caused our transcendent world to emit starlight that is easily visible in the starry sky, a starlight different from that of the Source Star."

"Those transcendent beings with special abilities, upon seeing it through certain means, will know that this is a living transcendent world."

"That is why those evil gods have come."

Murand Elklie spoke, and Gune listened quietly.

This was roughly the same as what the Old Man of the Ghost Sea had said.

As he spoke, Murand Elklie looked at Gune.

"Come with me; we'll talk as we walk."

"Mm!"

Gune nodded and followed Murand Elklie forward.

"In our world, as you must have felt, is the source energy much richer than before?"

"Yes." Gune could clearly sense this.

"Moreover, the increase is accelerating." Gune added.

"Yes, because our world is moving closer to the core of the Source Tide. After waiting for decades, when we reach the most intense core layer of the Source Tide, the source energy in our entire world will be more than ten times richer than it is now."

"During this period, our transcendent world will continuously produce geniuses of the Starry Sequence."

"And it will also be possible for other powerful evil gods to invade our world one after another."

"If you understand the cycle of our transcendent world cluster, you will discover one thing."

"That is, in twenty thousand years, the sun above us will gradually enter a state of solar eclipse, like the moon."

"And over a period of forty thousand years, the right solar eclipse will last about ten thousand years, followed by a dark age lasting about twenty thousand years. At that time, the power of the dark side projection of the entire transcendent world will be much stronger than that of our world. Source energy will seep through, creating prosperity on the dark side of the world."

"In its place, our world will then enter a terrible dark ice age."

"The last dark ice age led to the decline of the goblin race, which once dominated the Oya Continent, while our human ancestors survived that cold dark ice age."

"However, at that time, we humans were still struggling to survive under the rule of dark creatures."

"After the dark age passes, there will come a left solar eclipse recovery age lasting about ten thousand years."

"At that time, darkness recedes, light reappears, and all things revive."

"Then follows a light age lasting about one hundred and forty thousand years."

"We are now in the late period of the light age, about to enter its final phase. But there is no need to worry, as there are still twenty thousand years left." Murand Elklie smiled.

"Things twenty thousand years from now are indeed too far off." Gune said.

"Indeed." Murand Elklie nodded.

As they talked, the two had already passed through the Transcendent Gate.

As soon as he passed through the Transcendent Gate, Gune felt as if he had suddenly entered outer space.

Before his eyes lay a vast floating island in the void.

It was enveloped by a peculiar force.

Looking out, Gune could see the boundless and infinite Transcendent Starry Sky.

And when he looked back, he saw the enormous transcendent world occupying nearly two-thirds of his field of vision.

"So this is the transcendent world where the Oya Continent lies? Truly breathtaking." Gune murmured softly.

"This is a tiny void demiplane outside the Oya transcendent world. Originally a barren land, I later transformed it into this forward outpost for observing the void." Murand Elklie said.

"Your methods are truly astonishing, senior." Gune couldn't help but praise.

"Heh... it was built slowly over time." Murand Elklie was clearly quite satisfied with this void demiplane.

The two continued along the corridor toward the castle complex ahead.

"Originally, only during the dark age would source energy periodically enter the dark side of the world, making the dark world prosperous."

"But..." Murand Elklie's pace slowed, and he spoke carefully and earnestly.

"Our world entered the Source Tide a long time ago, probably forty or fifty years ago or even longer. The exact number cannot be determined, but it is certain that our world entered the Source Tide before the evil gods came to our world."

"And this has caused the dark creatures on the dark side of the world to begin flourishing decades ago."

"Now, the dark side of the world has already given birth to many very powerful dark creatures."

"After all, you must know that the dark side of the world directly faces the Abyss."

"At the same time, the appearance of the Source Tide will also attract some powerful dark creatures to enter the dark side of our world and establish their own forces."

"In fact, my preliminary speculation is that there are at least three very powerful forces on the dark side of the Oya Continent. They have built dark castles and, in the nutrient-rich soil that has lain dormant for over a hundred thousand years, have begun cultivating dark creature legions."

"In the past history, if such a situation occurred, our world would face an invasion by dark forces."

"But now, the threat of evil gods is clearly greater than that of dark forces."

"Dark forces only want to enter our world to occupy land and resources. Those transcendent wastelands that we humans cannot occupy—they can freely take them."

"After all, on the Oya Continent, we humans only occupy a part; most of the wilderness regions are untouched by humans."

"Not to mention many other races, such as the serpent race in the western continent separated by a mountain range like a natural moat, and the ice wolf beast empire in the northern wilderness."

"And in the far south, the primal witch race, who have built their own special transcendent system in the desert gobi, sandy mountains, and rugged terrain."

"Once dark creatures appear and encroach upon their territories, they will naturally fight."

"On the contrary, those terrifying evil gods—many of them, unaware of the horror of evil gods, have even begun cooperating with them."

"Fortunately, we humans know their true intentions: they want to completely destroy all humans and intelligent beings, and ultimately destroy our world."

"The relative importance is clear. Therefore, our main focus now is on the pressure from the evil gods and the Southern Church. As for the invasion of dark forces, when I mentioned it at the meeting, I demanded that it be suppressed and not allowed to spread."

"Not spreading it may not be a bad thing; it can also avoid causing panic."

Murand Elklie was very clear about the interrelationships between dark creatures, evil gods, and so on.

"Of course, our world currently faces not only dark creatures and evil gods, but also the gradually approaching bizarre aberrant lands."

"What exactly is in the aberrant lands, we do not know, nor can we see."

"An invisible force completely blocks our view. What meets the eye is darkness; even light is distorted by the aberrant lands and avoids them."

"And some very strange creatures emerge from the aberrant lands. Using the power of the Source Tide, they sniff the world's scent and continuously swim toward our world."

"If you could see them, you would find them drifting in the starry sky, as dense as ants."

"Many have already arrived in our world. Some have fallen into the dark side of the world, some have entered various layers of the shadow plane."

"Others have fallen into our material plane. Fortunately, our world barrier can block their active entry."

"But these aberrant creatures also possess intelligence. They can sniff out the weak points, passages, and special nodes of our world barrier. Then they gather together and continuously wash these places with their power."

"Fortunately, their power is not strong enough. Most are low-rank, a few are mid-rank, and high-rank ones are very rare. Currently, cleaning them up is not too difficult."

"But as their numbers continue to increase and more aberrant creatures keep entering, there may appear aberrant creatures at the level of Transcendent Masters."

"At that time, our world may have to face an aberrant war from the bizarre lands."

Listening to Murand Elklie's exposition, Gune's expression grew increasingly grave.

"The Oya Continent is truly beset with calamities!" Gune thought to himself.

"Can I take a look at those aberrant creatures?" After pondering for a moment, Gune spoke softly.

"Of course. Enter the castle ahead, and you will see those grotesque aberrant creatures." Murand Elklie said softly.