Above The Sky

Chapter 2107 - 52: Tree of Endless Shattering

These organs expand and contract with intense vitality, releasing their own energy. Aina could see that these were not ordinary human organs, but ’Sublimation Organs’!

Ice Wolf Freeze Core, Blazing Spray Sac, Ancient Turtle’s Heart... Within that peculiar and bizarre human carapace, various different sublimation organs existed in perfect health. With Aina’s Third Energy Level vision, he could even see the ’Origin Essence Cycle’ within these bodies, observing the distinct and straightforward origin energy trajectory of each sublimation organ!

"What... what exactly is going on here?!"

The Sunbird, which had not yet dispelled much of Terra’s darkness, halted its steps slightly. At this moment, it had already followed the ’Heart of Terra’ to the vicinity of the Third Palace Gate, and the transparent cultivation chamber surrounding it no longer held any humanoid form.

All around were writhing, sticky and swollen connective tissues and organs, interconnected with various altered nerves, bizarre red and blue lymphatic tissues, retractable tentacles, constantly twitching alien muscles and tendons... These strange yet somewhat human-like, yet clearly Magical Beast-featured ’fusions’ emitted repulsive noises at an abhorrent frequency, rubbing, striking, and colliding with the incubation chamber, instilling a fear that these nightmarish flesh-and-blood entities might at any moment break through the seemingly fragile crystal chamber into the real world.

"Experimental subjects targeting the essence of humans and sublimation tissues."

Hearing Aina’s question, the ’Heart of Terra’ glanced around and then spoke with an indifferent tone: "Although Spirit Wisdom Institute is not this large in scale, it is not far behind."

Noticing Aina’s horrified gaze, the Heart of Terra further explained: [Rest assured, the Duke of Steep Ridge did not capture living people as experimental materials; these are all clones]

Aina wanted to believe what ’Ian’... or rather, what the ’Heart of Terra’ was saying, but he had just traversed a major part of Steep Ridge Fortress, basically not seeing a single living person. How could this not terrify him?

It was not his own safety he feared for, but the madness of the Duke of Steep Ridge and the Heart of Terra.

The Heart of Terra did not mind Aina’s shock, as its existence itself was prepared by Ian to be a window for revealing secrets to the outside world.

At this moment, it looked at the Duke of Steep Ridge, speaking in an almost admiring tone: "You accomplished something I wanted to do but couldn’t—artificially cultivating standard, featureless sublimation organs."

"This is also a way to artificially create Sublimators, and it can even help those distorted ordinary humans or deformed Sublimators to return to the Path of Sublimation."

"It’s just a pity that it requires too much energy, too many resources; without a perpetual motion machine, such creation of Sublimators is simply not worth the cost."

"But Steep Ridge Fortress is different—with the True Aether Furnace and its low population, it might be the most suitable nation to walk this path!"

[Hmm, you guessed right... but it is not as I imagined]

At this moment, atop the Brass Throne in the deepest part of the palace, the silent Duke of Steep Ridge, Bokang Elster, slowly lifted his face, full of mottled rust, looking at the Heart of Terra’s smooth silver dust humanoid form with his dark golden eyes.

The two sides exchanged glances, and the duke said rather disappointedly: [I thought Ian Silverpeak himself would come... didn’t expect it to be just an imitation]

"I also thought the Duke of Steep Ridge himself would be here." The Heart of Terra countered: "Yet all I see is a rigid model."

——What kind of riddles are they speaking?

As for the Heart of Terra, Aina, as a user of Pioneer Space, was aware of its essence.

He knew that the other party was essentially the core Void facility behind the Silverpeak Domain, governing nearly all domestic affairs of the Silverpeak Domain as the ’Void Steward’.

There were many similar servers in the Pre-Epoch civilization, but the Heart of Terra was among the best and strongest of its kind.

Now, the Heart of Terra could even simulate Ian Silverpeak’s personality model for communication... doesn’t this already qualify as strong artificial intelligence!

Instead of calling it an imitation, it might be more appropriate to call it a special ’avatar’, especially since Aina sensed familiar origin essence from the Heart of Terra, undoubtedly indicating that, at a critical moment, the Heart of Terra could directly summon Ian’s true form by transcending time and space through the Aether!

As for the rigid model...

Aina lifted his head, looking at the Duke of Steep Ridge.

The man atop the Brass Throne did not appear old, his gray-blue hair lying smoothly, with dark golden eyes containing flickering golden arcs. Immense energy was throbbing at the center of his chest, this mightiest under the Fifth Energy Level, if piloting the Apocalypse Armament, could be counted as one of the strongest Sublimators of Terra, and was evidently in peak condition.

Yet his body gave an impression of decay, his skin mostly mottled with rust, and one could faintly smell a blend of coal and iron rust as if looming in the air. Although Aina could feel that within this seemingly rusted carapace thrived a powerful thunder pulse surpassing the Fourth Energy Level, nearing the Fifth Energy Level strength.

Nevertheless, Bokang gave Aina an odd feeling... that he was actually already dead, merely an illusion of a living corpse now.

Perhaps not just an illusion.