Chapter 56: Deliberate Concealment: The Sealed History

An afternoon in the Celestial Court of Varmere, sunlight piercing through the colossal dome crystal, refracted into countless sacred pillars of illumination that cascaded upon the flawless starcore-stone corridors and solemn architectural clusters.

The air was permeated with a tranquil ambiance blending the fragrance of stardust blossoms with the antiquity of ancient stone.

Karl strolled alone through this sanctuary of the angelic civilization, like a curious speck of dust accidentally wandering into a brilliant galaxy.

He remained clad in his signature blue-and-black cloak, his pale golden short hair appearing exceptionally soft in the light. Upon his youthful face, his star-clear eyes currently shimmered with the pure radiance of thirst for knowledge.

He walked past the grandiose council hall, traversed the technological corridors flowing with liquid energy brilliance, his gaze greedily capturing every single detail—those ancient runes engraved upon the walls, those holographic projections suspended in mid-air displaying the glorious military history of the angels, those starlight-tears flowers blooming quietly in the gardens and radiating a faint glow...

For Karl, spanning over ten thousand years of life, the vast majority of time had been immersed in the boundless knowledge heritage of the Zilean civilization, and within the fathomless ocean of wisdom belonging to his mentor, Supreme Time.

The shadow of the Zilean destruction was too heavy, and the reconstruction of Deno too rushed; he had almost never experienced, as he did at this moment, the sensation of being a genuine "tourist" feeling the pulse and sediment of another glorious civilization.

Such an experience was both novel and intoxicating.

imperceptibly, he arrived at an extremely spacious open-air plaza.

At the far end of the plaza stood three towering statues that reached the heavens, shining brilliantly under the stellar light and exuding an incomparable majesty and sacred aura.

Karl involuntarily held his breath, slowed his pace, and tilted his head upward to gaze.

The Central Statue: A female angel clad in silver armor, draped in a wide, magnificent crimson cloak patterned with golden threads, holding the Kingly Blade (its tip slanted toward the earth, symbolizing protection rather than conquest).

Her visage was peerlessly beautiful, yet her expression was as resolute as ten-thousand-year glacial ice, her golden long hair tumbling down to her waist like a frozen waterfall of sunlight.

She raised her head slightly, her profound gaze directed toward the endless stellar dome, as though contemplating the truths of the universe and the future of civilizations.

Beneath the base of the statue, inscribed in ancient and elegant angelic script, were the words:

Blade King—Keisha
Creator of the New Order and Terminator of the Heavenly Palace
Banner of the Light of the Varmere Uprising
Eternal Guardian and Guiding Star of the Angelic Civilization

"In the name of order, guard the light of life."

The Left Statue: Exhibiting a more flamboyant posture, attired in queen-grade bright-silver battle armor, with massive angelic wings unfurled boldly behind her.

One hand rested on her hip while the other was raised high, her palm facing upward as if supporting a twisted, shadowy sphere composed of countless struggling souls.

Her face bore a haughty smile that looked down upon the world, her gaze as sharp as a blade, brimming with aggression. The base inscription:

Apocalypse King—Liang Bing
Pioneer of the New Order and Shatterer of Evil
The Blood-Iron Blade that Expanded Territories for the Angelic Civilization
The Most Steadfast Guardian of Free Will

"Freedom is intended for doing whatever one pleases!"

The Right Statue: Possessing an utterly distinct temperament.

She wore a silver-white, remarkably streamlined and minimalist robe-like research uniform; behind her were not wings, but countless gigantic halos composed of flowing data chains and intricate geometric structures.

She lowered her head slightly, her hands held gently upward before her chest, palms floating above a complex, slowly rotating celestial model constructed from innumerable fine rays of light.

Her expression was serene and focused, carrying a wisdom that perceived all things. The base inscription:

Heavenly Foundation King—He Xi
Lighthouse of Civilization's Wisdom
Pioneer of Female Angelic Wisdom, Architect of Angelic Technology and the Future

"Knowledge is the sole beacon that dispels eternal darkness."

Karl’s gaze slowly swept across these three magnificent statues, alongside the reverent and definitive inscriptions below them.

Before coming here, he had naturally learned of the achievements and orientations of the Three Angelic Kings through Deno’s intelligence systems.

Yet at this moment, witnessing firsthand the unadorned, near-deification of their leaders within the angelic civilization—particularly in the core area of the Celestial Court—he still felt a powerful impact within his heart.

This was the writing of history by the victors.

Portraying the uprising against oppression as "forging a new order of justice," framing bloody conquest and expansion as "pioneering territories," and treating technological development as "founding the future."

Every title, every inscription, was like a meticulously polished gemstone, stripped of all potential controversy, sacrifice, error, and those "costs" trampled beneath their feet.

Leaving behind only the most dazzling radiance that best suited the needs of the current "order."

Deep within Karl’s clear eyes flickered an imperceptible, scholarly and calm scrutiny.

He did not negate the greatness of the Three Kings toward the female angels, but instinctively realized that behind this grandiose narrative inevitably lay deliberately folded creases.

His gaze crossed the base of the Three Kings' statues and projected slightly further back.

There, in solitary isolation, stood a statue that was noticeably smaller and possessed a much more archaic style.

The sculpture depicted a male angel with a dignified visage, dressed in classical angelic royal robes.

One hand held a scepter symbolizing royal authority, while the other rested upon an open, massive codex.

The expression of the statue appeared somewhat complex, carrying a barely concealed fatigue and... conservatism beneath its majesty? The inscription on the base also appeared far more "objective":

Huaque
King of the Old Angelic Civilization
Maintainer of the Old Order
During his reign, he preserved the superficial stability and territorial integrity of the civilization, yet failed to effectively curb the separatist warlords, laying the groundwork for subsequent turmoil.
Following the ascension of his son, Huaye, the order completely collapsed.

"Neither praising nor condemning, balancing merits and faults..." Karl murmured softly.

Compared to the almost blazing flames of praise surrounding the Three Kings ahead, this statue resembled a cold historical boundary stone recording the past.

It acknowledged Huaque's "merit" in maintaining stability, yet mercilessly pointed out his "fault" of conservative incompetence and sowing the seeds of disaster.

Such a relatively "objective" evaluation instead made Karl feel it was closer to the true thread of history.

The historical writing of the angelic civilization seemed to possess a certain subtle "fault line"—for the distant former dynasty, it could provide a relatively calm commentary.

Whereas for the era that had just passed and been personally terminated by themselves, it was fraught with sanctified passion.

***

Curiosity drove Karl to continue walking deeper into the plaza, toward the dimmer corners where the light was more subdued.

Footprints were clearly scarce here, and the pristine starcore-stone ground was even covered by a thin layer of dust.

At the intersection of the shadows cast by several massive pillars, he beheld two... wrecks that could hardly be called statues.

They were casually piled in the corner, resembling forgotten architectural waste.

The material was likewise starcore-stone, yet the color was ash-grey, riddled with profound cracks and massive missing chunks.

One of them vaguely permitted the recognition of a male angel's figure, yet the head was almost entirely shattered, leaving behind merely half a twisted jaw and neck.

The armor upon him was ornate and intricate in style, yet full of fractures, one mutilated arm raised upward in a posture that appeared grandiose yet powerless.

The base... no, it possessed no base at all, merely being brutally discarded upon the ground without any textual identifiers.

The degree of damage to the other statue was slightly better, though only relatively speaking.

It similarly lacked a head, the area above the shoulders being a fractured jagged edge.

The posture of this statue was much more erect, clad in concise and powerful battle armor, one hand seemingly once gripping a longsword (now reduced merely to a wrist), while the other hung by its side.

Its spine was held rigidly straight; even in its dilapidated state, one could still perceive an unyielding sharpness that seemed intent upon piercing the vault of heaven.

The armor's style leaned more toward practicality, its lines cold and hard.

This statue was likewise discarded at random, devoid of any explanatory markers.

Karl’s heartbeat accelerated slightly of its own accord. He approached these two abandoned, nameless ruined statues, a potent curiosity mingled with an inexplicable thrill surging to the fore.

He reached out his hand, his fingertips cautiously brushing against the cold surface of the upright, ruined sculpture.

The texture conveyed through his fingertips was rough and chill, yet deep within that coldness, Karl’s acute spiritual perception seemed to capture a trace of extremely faint, nearly dissipated... residual energy?

Just as Karl was immersed in this discovery, attempting to capture more information—

"Hey!"

A female voice carrying playfulness, laziness, and formidable penetration sounded without warning at extremely close range behind him!

Karl started violently like a startled rabbit, leaping almost straight up from where he stood! He retracted his hand like lightning, turning around with his heart pounding wildly.

Impending his vision was an exquisite visage carrying a teasing smile, hovering mere inches away.

Liang Bing!

She had silently appeared behind Karl at some point, so close that Karl could even smell the unique fragrance emanating from her—a blend of gunpowder, strong liquor, and a chillingly ethereal scent.

She remained attired in that form-fitting, queen-grade light bright-silver armor.

At this moment, those pupils of hers, which seemed capable of captivating souls, were appraising Karl up and down with keen interest, her red lips curving into an aggressive arc.

"Little brother~" Liang Bing prolonged her tone, carrying a sweet cooing quality akin to coaxing a small animal, "Your name is Karl, right?"

Knowing the answer perfectly well, she leaned her body forward yet again, almost pressing against Karl's chest.

Karl could clearly perceive her long eyelashes and the undisguised amusement within her eyes.

"My name is Liang Bing," she extended a slender finger tipped with dark red lacquer, gently tapping her own full chest as the bright-silver armor plates made a soft clinking sound, "A daughter of the angels."

This self-appellation carried a trace of subtle sarcasm, seemingly mocking her relationship with Keisha while simultaneously emphasizing a rebellious sense of belonging.

Without waiting for Karl's reply, her gaze swept across the grandiose and sacred architecture surrounding them, her red lips parting: "Well? Do you find our angelic civilization beautiful?"

Her tone carried an almost boastful sense of pride, yet deep within her eyes lurked a trace of imperceptible scrutiny, "Much better looking than those cold, rigid metal lumps of yours in Zilean, and that rural backwater of Deno, aren't they?"

Before her voice had faded, Liang Bing's hand had already naturally seized Karl's wrist!

Her movement was as swift as lightning, carrying an irresistible force yet singularly failing to cause pain.

"Wow!" Liang Bing feigned a low gasp of surprise, the fingers of her other hand already caressing the back of Karl's hand, her fingertips stroking his white, smooth skin with a sensation verging on sacrilege.

"Your hands... are so tender!"

She raised her head, staring unblinkingly at Karl's instantly flushed face as if discovering some rare treasure, "So white... so smooth... tsk tsk tsk, spending all day facing those data plates and the Great Clock in Deno is sheer waste!"

Karl felt a rush of blood roar straight to the crown of his head!

Such unprecedented intimate contact, the aggressive aura exuding from the other person, and her direct, unvarnished words impacted his virgin neural network like a violent tempest.

He attempted to pull his hand back, only to discover that Liang Bing's seemingly casual fingers were as firm as iron pincers.

He was embarrassed to the point of near suffocation; beneath his pale golden hair, the tips of his ears burned crimson red, and his gaze darted about in panic, utterly lacking the courage to look at the Liang Bing standing inches away.

"You... how old are you?"

Acting as though she failed to notice his awkwardness, Liang Bing "pursued relentlessly," leaning her body forward once more so that her warm breath practically sprayed against Karl's neck, tinged with a faint trace of alcohol (she appeared to have just been drinking).

"Looking at this little face of yours, have you even grown up yet?"

"Hm? Call me 'Sister Bing' and let me hear it?"

"Big sister has candy for you to eat~"

As if performing magic, the fingertips of her other hand were indeed pinching an energy crystal candy radiating seven-colored flowing light, looking extraordinary at a glance.

(Scholar Karl at this juncture was not yet the callous River Styx Death God of countless years later; he seemed... utterly subdued...)

"I... I..."

Karl felt his mind go completely blank; all precise logical thinking, complex spatial models, and profound Zilean knowledge suffered a total system crash at this moment!

He could merely utter a few meaningless syllables, his body stiff as a block of wood, his fair face flushed the color of a ripe tomato.

For over ten thousand years, all his emotional experiences had been limited to reverence for his mentor Supreme Time and a thirst for knowledge; when had he ever encountered a female as sultry as fire yet formidable as a tempest like Liang Bing?

This utterly transcended his cognitive and processing capabilities!

Observing Karl's innocent, almost foolishly pure expression, the amusement within Liang Bing's eyes deepened, accompanied by a trace of triumph from a successful prank.

She appeared to thoroughly relish the joy brought by this "teasing."

"Alright, alright, I won't tease you anymore."

Liang Bing finally showed mercy and released Karl's wrist, though her body remained extremely close.

Following the direction Karl had been staring at earlier, she glanced sideways at the two dilapidated statues in the corner, her red lips curling in undisguised contempt: "What? Interested in our angelic 'historical garbage dump'?"

She strode forward on long legs, her black cloak sweeping an elegant arc behind her as she took the lead toward the two ruined sculptures.

Karl was granted an amnesty, hurriedly taking several deep breaths in an attempt to calm his frantic heartbeat, though the burning temperature on his face lingered for a moment.

Hesitating briefly, he followed after her, albeit intentionally maintaining a distance of two paces from Liang Bing.

Walking up to the two statues, Liang Bing crossed her arms, adopting a lazy and haughty posture. She first casually kicked the fragmented, grandiose-looking statue with its shattered head using her toe.

"Hmph, this one," Liang Bing's tone was filled with disdain, akin to describing a vile piece of filth, "is that infamous, stinking-for-ten-thousand-years Huaye."

"A decadent ruler who founded the Heavenly Palace Order—promiscuous, cruel, foolish, arrogant... every evil attribute of a monarch you could possibly imagine, he possessed them all, and then some."

"His father Huaque at least barely maintained a shred of decency; as for this one, heh..."

She emitted a short, cold snort of derision, "Just a maggot who knew only how to roll around in piles of women and think with his lower half!"

"The Battle of Anguish was the graveyard for this maggot and the heavenly scum under his command! Served them right!"

Liang Bing's appraisal was like a poison-tipped dagger, every word striking home without mercy.

Karl listened in silence, forming a severely negative preliminary cognition of Huaye's image—though one that matched part of Deno's intelligence records.

This appeared to be an undisputed "villain."

Subsequently, Liang Bing's gaze shifted to the adjacent statue that stood erect with only its torso remaining.

Her eyes underwent a subtle transformation.

It was no longer pure contempt and spurning, but rather held a complex, hard-to-define nuance—resembling aversion, yet also caution, and even... a trace of faint, deliberately concealed... pity?

"As for this one..."

Liang Bing's voice lowered slightly, her tone turning somewhat erratic, no longer as cut-and-dried as her previous introduction of Huaye, "His name is Hefeng."

"He was once Huaye's foremost commander; naturally, no good egg either."

"Hoh, capability... certainly knew how to fight."

The corner of her mouth twitched into a trace of mockery.

"During the Battle of Anguish, Huaye and Sumali both became prisoners, yet only he..."

Liang Bing paused, her gaze casting toward the profound cosmic expanse beyond the plaza, "Led a band of remnant forces and forcefully shattered the inescapable net we wove together, then... plunged straight into the cosmic restricted zone—'Boundary Sea'."

Upon uttering the words "Boundary Sea," Liang Bing's tone noticeably deepened, carrying a gravity that even she herself failed to notice.

"That ghost place, easy to enter, but to leave?"

"Hmph! For several millennia, our angelic patrol fleets have never ceased monitoring the fringes of the Boundary Sea, and we haven't found even a single hair."

"Communications severed, space chaotic, known physical laws capable of failing right there... it's simply a graveyard!"

Retracting her gaze to rest once more upon the ruined statue, she employed a tone that approached a final verdict while being deliberately dismissive: "Over four thousand years, not a single trace of news."

"Not to mention a third-generation super warrior, even a divine body trapped in that ghost place for millennia would have long since been torn into cosmic stardust."

She shrugged, causing her black cloak to sway, "So, he died, naturally."

"Left no bones behind, thoroughly dead and gone long ago."

"Such a person is better off dead, saving him from coming back out to plague the universe."

Liang Bing's introduction concluded there.

Without elaborating on his "crimes" as she had with Huaye, she merely emphasized his identity as a "minion of Huaye," heavily rendering the terror of the "Boundary Sea" and his inevitable outcome—death.

She seemed to be intentionally evasive, wrapping everything concerning Hefeng within the ultimate death trap known as the "Boundary Sea."

Attempting to employ this cold, irrefutable "fact" to terminate all potential discussions.

Yet, it was precisely this deliberate evasion, this dismissive "death verdict," that poured a barrel of boiling oil upon Karl's acute thirst for knowledge!

The more Liang Bing skirted around the issue, the thicker the clouds of suspicion grew in Karl's heart!

A "God of War" capable of breaking out of the desperate trap of Anguish under the joint encirclement of the Three Kings?

A commander capable of escaping pursuit with remnant troops?

An enemy whom Liang Bing evaluated with complexity, even faintly tinged with caution?

A "loser" whose name was completely erased from official angelic history, leaving behind only a ruined statue?

If Hefeng was truly as Liang Bing claimed, merely a simple "minion of Huaye" who was "thoroughly dead," why would Liang Bing's eyes and tone reveal that complex, hard-to-define emotion when introducing him?

Why did her sense of gravity far surpass her contempt for Huaye when mentioning the "Boundary Sea"?

More importantly—the trace of faint yet peculiar will-fragment lingering on Karl's fingertips!

That was definitely not something possessed by a mediocre individual! That was the will of a strong person who had traversed mountains of corpses and seas of blood, bearing a heavy mission, holding their spine straight amidst despair!

This will formed a sharp, irreconcilable contradiction with the breezy conclusion of "he died" delivered by Liang Bing!

"Boundary Sea..." Karl silently recited this name fraught with taboo colors.

Liang Bing's description cast it as an absolute death zone.

Yet Karl's mind operated like the most precise instrument, instantly beginning to churn: Known physical laws failing? Chaotic space? Severed communications?

Was this not precisely the manifestation of certain extreme distorted states within spacetime theory?

Part of the Zilean civilization's research on the Great Clock also pointed toward the existence of similar "abnormal regions" within the universe.

If Hefeng truly entered the Boundary Sea, and... survived? Even granting merely a theoretical possibility...

A bold, even somewhat wild notion germinated in Karl's mind: The Boundary Sea might not be an absolute dead zone!

It could harbor a vastness of the universe surpassing current cognition, and that "undefeated" individual named Hefeng—his fate.

The information he might hold concerning the Boundary Sea... this in itself constituted an immensely alluring, major topic touching upon the ultimate secrets of the universe!

Liang Bing's deliberate evasion and dismissal, far from extinguishing Karl's fire of curiosity, acted instead like fuel cast upon dry tinder!

The name Hefeng, alongside that mysterious Boundary Sea, instantly ascended in Karl's heart from a forgotten historical footnote to an urgent academic summit awaiting exploration, brimming with challenge.

He raised his head; deep within his star-like eyes, the pure and blazing flame of a scholar's thirst for knowledge burned silently and fiercely.

He refrained from asking Liang Bing any further questions regarding Hefeng—judging by her attitude, this was clearly an unwise choice.

He required answers.

An authoritative answer closer to the truth of the universe.

He must return.

Ask his mentor.

Ask Supreme Time!