Chapter 719 — Taking Root
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
Beiyila watched Gao Yang with a calm expression.
Though her heart ached so much that her leaves were falling off, she still had to maintain a composed and detached posture—this was the last shred of dignity she could preserve as the final presiding cleric of the Order of All Things' End, standing face to face with an "outland wanderer."
The Ultimate Book, which over centuries had served countless purposes and helped the Order of All Things' End complete countless key projects, had finally ended its long service. Perhaps... this truly was its fate.
The Grand Presider had handed this book to her, along with the legacy of the Order of All Things' End. And now, it was time for this misguided path of inheritance to end as well.
What came next might be the age of the gods, or an age of decline and ruin, or perhaps... truly the age of the outland wanderer and the new order he would create. But regardless, since she had survived in this form, she ought to prepare herself for the fate to come—no matter where that fate... might lead.
She offered a faint smile—she tried her best to smile like a human, but the face mimicked from plant matter lent every expression a touch of stiffness. "So then, shall we consider this a sort of... cooperation?"
"I believe so," Gao Yang nodded slightly. "Within the borders of the Cecil Empire, the Order of All Things' End is no longer a threat, and I don't mind having an extra plant on my land that can heal the earth—so long as that plant is willing to obey the Empire's basic laws. As for you... I hope you'll cooperate with us, with our further investigations into the Order of All Things' End."
"Of course," Beiyila said softly. The wooden structures around her began to writhe; those nimble vines and roots divided once more, branching into countless slender twigs that slowly intertwined, sketching out something bit by bit. "This... shall count as my second gesture of 'good faith,' beyond the Ultimate Book."
The twigs gradually coalesced into an outline, and Gao Yang was astonished to see them form an enormous three-dimensional structure whose area could almost cover a third of the great hall. Within this structure, corridors, rooms, and fragments of broken walls and partitions were all clearly visible.
"This is..."
"The structure of the underground palace as sensed by my roots," Beiyila said with a faint smile. "I know you've found the 'guide,' but Bade doesn't know the full layout of this palace, and this place has suffered collapses and deformation—about half the rooms and corridors are no longer in their original positions, or carry structural risks. I hope this map will help you. The reddish-brown rooms are our laboratories; the grayish-white ones are the archives. All our materials—the most advanced and the most bloody—are in these rooms. Take whatever you wish. As for what to choose... that's up to you."
At last, the most extreme and most advanced biochemical technology laboratory in the human world had opened its doors to Gao Yang.
"I'll put it to good use," he said with a smile.
Amber and the others, who had waited a long while outside the great hall, finally received Gao Yang's instruction and returned. The first thing they saw was the wooden three-dimensional map occupying a third of the hall's area—yet Beiyila, who should have been standing near the "map," was nowhere to be seen.
Amber moved to Gao Yang's side in a couple of strides, swept the surroundings with a wary glance, and only then asked curiously, "Where's the vegetable person?"
Gao Yang: "Vegetable person?!"
"Yeah, the person growing together with the plant..."
Gao Yang: "..."
He had thought Amber had somehow taught herself a word he'd never taught her. Turned out she'd just cobbled it together on the spot.