Chapter 273 - 259: The Origin of "Yino", Charlatan Jon, and the "Evil Things
Chapter 273: Chapter 259: The Origin of "Yino", Charlatan Jon, and the "Evil Things
’Does the world really get destroyed this casually?’
But no matter what Jon thought or how chaotic his mind was, the information continued to "play."
As the nebula that contained Yino’s world was crushed, time began to accelerate.
From the lingering dust, a tiny, fragile planet condensed and took form.
After that, countless years passed, and several primordial beings were born on this planet. Some had mountains for bodies and the earth for limbs, others spread their wings to cover the sky, and some were simply great masses of living water that formed the planet’s oceans.
Then, innumerable smaller creatures, born from these beings, came into existence. They gathered around their creators, forming tribes of all sizes. They fought, communicated, and merged with one another, developing into city-states and consolidating into an Empire.
An unknown amount of time passed again. These tiny creatures explored every corner of the planet and eventually built starships capable of exploring the cosmos—only to meet with destruction once more.
A mere remnant of shadow lingering in the universe mercilessly tore these starships apart. It then followed their path back to the tiny planet and devoured all traces of civilization.
Just then, a ray of light bloomed, dispelling the shadow and hiding the battered, weakened planet in the void.
After seeing all this, Jon had a good idea of what he had just witnessed—the origin of Yino’s world.
This world had already been utterly destroyed once. The current planet had been recreated by the Yino Goddess. Those primordial beings must be the Ancient Gods Sutton had mentioned, the ones who formed the world’s cornerstone.
The starships that flew from the planet were the "brilliant civilization" Claudio had spoken of. The lingering shadows were the "unknowable things." And the light that ultimately protected the entire planet was probably that former "Enlightener"...
A moment later, the information receded like a gentle tide. Jon returned to his senses and subconsciously glanced at his system panel, where a few lines of notifications were quietly pulsing.
——
[Earth’s Slumber (Ancient-tier Hidden Quest), Complete!]
[You have glimpsed the origin of this world within the "Rainbow Realm," witnessing the birth and fall of the Ancient Gods. Your knowledge has been greatly expanded.]
[Completion Grade: A, reward multiplier: 3.0]
[Completion Reward: 600,000 general Experience Points (200,000 base x 3.0 reward multiplier), 30 Earth Element Affinity (10 base x 3.0 reward multiplier)]
——
He had somehow, without even realizing it, completed a quest Jon thought would take a great deal of effort!
But then again, it made sense. No matter how ancient or long-standing the legacies of those scholars, Druids, or Priests were, how could they possibly compare to a real deity?
The 600,000 Experience Points went a long way in refilling his long-depleted experience pool. The 30 points of Earth Element affinity, meanwhile, gave him a much finer control over the Earth Element, granting him an extremely powerful boost when casting related Skills!
Jon had a feeling that, if he wanted to, he could create an Earth Element version of the Dragon Flame Dance at any time!
After all, an elemental affinity of 30 was something typically only seen in High-tier Elemental Creatures or specialized Advanced Level Professionals. It was completely beyond the reach of a Normal Professional!
In addition, there was a notification in his quest log that had never been triggered before, but which Jon found familiar.
——
[Important Information: "Ancient God," "Unknown Shadow," "Ancient Civilization" have been recorded in the Quest Journal. You can now select one of these entries to trigger a new Lore Quest.]
——
’Lore Quests, huh...’
Jon’s gaze lingered on the entries for a moment before moving on.
These were a type of quest that lore-focused players often encountered, usually triggered when exploring ruins or deciphering ancient knowledge.
And since the trigger requirements were high—not just any common knowledge would do—completing them usually awarded a good amount of Experience Points and reputation with the corresponding faction.
However, he could deal with those later. The most important thing right now was to figure out what the Sun God meant by showing him all this.
Jon looked up, turning his gaze back to the luminous little boy standing beside him, and voiced his confusion directly.
"Why did you show me these things?"
Po Ao tilted his head slightly, fine motes of light drifting from the edge of his golden, gossamer veil.
His gaze remained tranquil, as if reflecting countless twilights of destruction and rebirth. His ethereal voice echoed calmly in the depths of Jon’s soul.
"I cannot say for now, but it will help you understand the essence of this world, its scars, its struggles..."
He paused, his gaze falling back to the pool shimmering with rainbow colors, as if he could see through the water to the world itself, struggling to survive in the void.
Even for a deity, his whisper now carried a barely perceptible trace of ancient, heavy sorrow.
"What I want to tell you, Jon, is this."
"You, I, and those ancient beings who form the world’s cornerstone... all of us, every creature born after Mother Goddess Yino reshaped this world, are one of her attempts."
The flowing rainbow light flickered in his golden pupils, reflecting the vicissitudes of endless time and space.
"She has always been trying... using every method possible to save this world, to break it free from its long-fated trajectory of demise."