"The previous Chief is most likely still alive, at least their soul is."
The Split Soul said, "My main body is unlikely to be lonely."
"Speaking of this."
Ian was quite curious, "Since no Chief has ever defeated the Guardian over the years—so why do you insist on opposing It?"
Ian still didn’t know exactly what kind of existence the Guardian was, just that its power was indeed formidable, probably an amalgamation of previous era civilization and Spark Technology. In battle, even soone as powerful as Kerraith, a Fifth Energy Level being, stood no chance but defeat.
"Say no more."
The Split Soul emitted a very lancholic mood, "Just the ’Guardian’ alone isn’t hard to defeat; It’s just a blank slate."
"However, if there were a Grand Master, a Lightbreaker, a Shapekeeper, a Profound Inquirer, a Sunset Priest, a Silent Specter... if so many were to gang up, then indeed, I couldn’t win."
The nas the Split Soul ntioned were titles of past Chief Scholars of the City of Knowledge, along with so powerful Spire Masters.
The aning behind this was obvious.
"So,"
Ian realized, "those sealed souls decided to find themselves a companion?"
"More or less, so souls have dissipated, but their final decision was ’not to let the subsequent Chiefs defeat the Guardian of the Grand Library,’ willingly offering all their wisdom and power—for a while there, the Grand Library was under maintenance, and I thought the Guardian wouldn’t have much power to deal with , but because of you, the Silver Sky Gateway consud too much power, and the Shield System failed to lock the Grand Library, which you invoked to clear the path."
Thinking it over, Ian’s impact on the situation and on Kerraith was indeed significant.
——Oh, so it’s all my fault, is it?
Ian ignored the rather subtle accusation from the Split Soul, frankly stating, "But you also saw, even without , in the original history, you were still defeated by the Guardian."
"Ha, who knows without trying."
Though he said this, the Split Soul didn’t an to bla—on the contrary, seeing a successful example of the Eternal Path (perhaps not entirely perpetual), he was quite satisfied. This proved his research into parallel realities was entirely correct.
And among the possibilities of certain defeat, splitting a phantom soul to observe Ian’s side was quite worthwhile.
After signing the permit, the Cleric Squad left; they had other tasks.
And Ian and his companions proceeded along the Path of Dawn.
The Holy Mountain lay at the forefront of this path, and along the sides were large gathering areas and villages of the Holy Mountain residents.
It was near noon, with harmonious sunlight spilling from the firmant with the cries of eagles over the fields, giving a sense of tranquil serenity through the almost ripe wheat fields and the scarecrows among the woods in the distance.
With the gentle breeze, everyone walked slowly; for the Fae, enjoying such an atmosphere was the greatest joy in their life, and for Ian and Yisen Gard, rare monts to relax their taut nerves were part of resting. Only the Split Soul, though silently witnessing it all, emitted an atmosphere that felt like a sigh.
"Why sigh? Isn’t this environnt good enough?"
Ian asked, and the Split Soul replied, "It is because it’s too good, almost a utopia outside the world, and as a leader of the City of Knowledge, I cannot achieve this, hence the sigh."
"Such an unattainable thing, sothing that even chase can’t be pursued, results only in a sigh, not action."
The Split Soul’s words were simple and understandable, leaving Ian thoughtful.
And along the way, they indeed saw many local living conditions.
Unlike the areas around the Imperial Capital, the South Ridge, Canaan Moore, and the City of Knowledge’s commoners, the residential areas around the Holy Mountain... had a primitive simplicity but not a lack of technology.
In the villages along the sides of the road, there were no tall buildings, only one-story houses. The city center was not any governnt hall, but a clearly multipurpose distribution center for storage.
Primitive and simplistic, because there weren’t even streetlights in the towns, the roads were very plain, just the most primitive stone roads.
But not lacking in technology, because all the roofs of these houses were covered with solar panels.
Yes, solar panels.
Ian blinked and then realized those black sheets weren’t charred cedar or so special tiles but solar panels—in that instant, his mind flashed with thoughts like ’huh?’ and also a sense of ’as expected, I knew the Holy Mountain couldn’t lack all technology even if it seed primitive.’
Because in the Silverpeak Domain, Ian occasionally chatted with familiar faces like the Radiant Nun, listening to stories of her youth and impressions of the Holy Mountain, Ian always had suspicions, wondering if the Holy Mountain was essentially a stronghold of primitivists.
After all, a bunch of farrs who didn’t engage in large-scale production, went to the fields themselves instead of using machines, and whose tools were made by the village blacksmith, seed not to need any technology.
But would the Huai Guang Church really do that? Anarchists might, but primitivists seem a bit excessive.
Now it appears those worries were unfounded.
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