It took a full month for everyone to emerge from the vast dead forest.
The traces of the path underfoot gradually became clearer.
More and more gigantic architectural ruins, sunken into the black earth, appeared on both sides.
Towers that once soared into the clouds, adorned with dragon sculptures, now remained only as twisted skeletons, leaning towards the sky.
Evidently, they had reached the peripheral ruins of a once magnificent city.
"We're here."
She tugged at Liu Qian's ash-covered sleeve, reminding him in a low voice.
During their time together, Liu Qian's High Valyrian had progressed rapidly, allowing him to communicate.
Liu Qian stopped, following Jelena's direction, and gazed intently into the depths of the thick fog ahead.
The first thing that caught his eye was a colossal gate, rising like a mountain from the ground.
It was constructed from countless massive black stones, each bearing spiral vortex patterns, and each stone was unimaginably huge.
The stone gate was grand and majestic, with the erosion of time leaving deep black stains on its pristine white surface.
Huge cracks crisscrossed it, and some areas were covered with thick, sickly green moss, adding to its eerie and dilapidated appearance.
On either side of the colossal gate, ancient city walls, also built from massive black stones, extended endlessly into the mist.
The walls were covered with enormous impact dents, charring from fire, and terrifying gaps left by magical explosions.
Many sections had completely collapsed, forming huge slopes of rubble.
But the remaining parts were still tall, thick, and continuous.
Was this the entrance to Teria?
Liu Qian was deeply shaken.
Just a city gate, as tall and mighty as the Wall.
And this was merely one city in the northern part of the former Valyria Freehold.
The power and glory of Valyria at its peak were simply unimaginable.
Jelena's purple eyes, visible through the slit in her helmet, glanced at Liu Qian's astonished expression.
She said nothing, merely raised her hand and pointed to an arched entrance at the base of the colossal stone gate, just wide enough for a few people to walk abreast.
That entrance was embedded in the magnificent gate's foundation, like an insignificant wound on a giant beast.
"Welcome to Teria,"
Jelena's voice, muffled by her faceplate, was cold and unruffled.
Her tone gave no clue whether it was a welcome or a declaration.
Stepping out of the oppressive gate tunnel, the view suddenly opened up.
A wide, massive street stretched straight into the city's depths, its surface paved with countless meticulously cut white marble slabs.
The slabs were as smooth as mirrors, and even though covered with a thin layer of ash, they still reflected a leaden gray glimmer.
On both sides of the street were magnificent buildings made of white megaliths, arranged in a dense, orderly fashion.
They were mostly square and heavy, tens of feet high.
The buildings showed obvious signs of repair, with cracks filled and solidified with lime, and walls where bricks had been replaced.
The apocalyptic catastrophe had destroyed this place, but the people of Teria had rebuilt it.
As everyone walked towards the city center, the scenery changed dramatically.
The originally tall and majestic square buildings were gradually replaced by crumbling ruins.
Countless massive blocks of white marble were haphazardly strewn and stacked together, forming daunting hills of rubble.
Walking among them, Liu Qian felt as if he were traversing a giant's graveyard, silently narrating the horror of the catastrophe that buried a glorious civilization.
"Why aren't these buildings rebuilt?" Liu Qian asked.
Janice explained, "These are all temples. The former clergy of Teria would pray and praise the gods here."
"Temples? Do they worship the gods of Valyria?"
"Everything. Valyria was a free city-state of faith. All the gods in the world could find a place here. Besides the Valyrian gods, there were also the Lord of Light, the Seven Gods, the Weaver of Fates, the Three-Headed God, the Night Lion, and the gods worshipped by the Forest Walkers, and so on."
Hearing this, Liu Qian marveled at Valyria's inclusiveness. Perhaps this was the confidence of the Dragon Lords.
After some effort, everyone arrived at the end of the Pale Grand Street.
Here stood Teria's Wizard Tower, its body thick and dark, with a diameter of two to three hundred feet.
Its spire pierced the leaden gray sky, disappearing into the mist, its height immeasurable.
A man's voice, carrying a hint of mockery, greeted them.
"Jelena, I didn't expect you to return safely. Are you unharmed?"
Liu Qian looked in the direction of the voice.
He saw an extremely burly and tall man slowly emerge from a squad of guards clad in bronze armor.
He also possessed the iconic molten silver hair of Valyrians, meticulously tied back, revealing a chiseled face. A broad-bladed longsword with an ornate hilt hung at his waist, its scabbard also subtly etched with runes.
Most striking was the bronze full plate armor he wore, identical to Jelena's, its surface also etched with intricate spiral vortex patterns and ancient hieroglyphs.
"Stop your pretense, Teres."
Jelena's voice was like ice: "I encountered an outsider while I was out this time, and I need to report it to Blood Wizard Ossarion."
Teres followed Jelena's gaze to Liu Qian.
His black hair and black eyes, Eastern features, were strikingly conspicuous among the silver- and gold-haired people of Teria.
He sized up Liu Qian with a sneering smile: "Another outsider. Looks like a good hand for work."
"By the way, my warriors found a Chimera to the south, and there's some unusual activity from the Scale Claws. It's best to be careful when leaving the city recently, so you don't die out there."
Jelena said coldly.
Teres's face registered surprise, then he shook his head, his tone caustic: "I'm afraid I'll disappoint you. I won't be leaving the city recently, and even if I do, I won't get injured easily. After all, I won't be bringing my sister with me."
Jelena glared at him fiercely, and the air was thick with palpable hostility.
Just then, a pale-faced young man in a long robe called out from the steps of the Wizard Tower:
"Teria's great Blood Wizard, Lord Ossarion, requests the outsider to enter!"
Liu Qian understood the gist of it and walked up the steps. Jelena, who wanted to follow, was blocked by Teres:
"Blood Wizard Ossarion only wants him to go in alone."
Jelena frowned and stepped back.
Janice gently tugged her sister's arm: "Sister, will he be alright?"
Jelena stroked Janice's head to comfort her: "Don't worry, he'll come out."
But in truth, she also felt some worry.
Teres interjected at this inopportune moment: "After he comes out, he'll have to work hard. There are still many defensive fortifications on the city walls that need to be cleared, and we can't do it alone."
...Following the young man, Liu Qian entered the tower.
Passing through a series of heavy metal doors, Liu Qian arrived in a vast, unsettling circular hall. The stone walls around were hung with glowing gemstones, illuminating everything in the hall clearly.
"Lord Ossarion wants you to wait here for a moment. He'll be right there."
The young man finished speaking and left the hall, leaving Liu Qian standing alone.
Liu Qian began to examine the hall. The entire hall was empty, with no tables, chairs, or decorations.
Only four enormous murals were painted on the black stone walls around him.
Liu Qian looked at the murals.
The black stone murals had a crimson background.
In the first mural, countless people prostrated themselves, bowing and saluting seven figures in the very center. These seven figures were dressed in various colors: pearly white, topaz, sky blue, emerald, and shimmering purple, with an even larger and more robust figure in the middle, composed of two pure colors: black and white.
What were these people doing?
Liu Qian continued to observe the second mural.
In the crimson-backed mural, people's strides were exaggerated, as if they were running or fleeing, with expressions of terror on their faces. Behind them, a massive black square building was smeared with chaotic red, like blood.
He frowned and continued to look at the third mural.
There was a clear gap between the third and second murals, exposing the dark black stone.
The content within was a group of silver-haired, purple-eyed people and a group of people wearing horned helmets intertwined in indecent poses.
Liu Qian carefully studied the poses of these people. Hmm, the silver-haired, purple-eyed ones were all males, and the horned people were all females.
Was this the origin of the Valyrians?
Liu Qian continued to look further. The fourth mural immediately followed the one with the horned people, depicting the silver-haired, purple-eyed Valyrian ancestors beneath a dozen molten volcanoes.
Some used fire magic to cut stone, while others used precise tools to move heavy white marble to construct magnificent buildings.
Towering, topless spires grew like bamboo shoots in the city, and temples as white as jade lay like a giant beast in the city's core. The Dragon Lords' Council, symbolizing Valyria's peak of power, was full. The sky was filled with the circling figures of dragons, and slaves dug ore in the volcanic lava.
It was clearly a scene of prosperity.
Liu Qian finished viewing these four murals. The latter two were easy to understand, but he didn't comprehend the first two.
However, he still noticed a strange detail: except for the gap between the second and third murals, all the other murals were connected to each other.
He ran his hand over that patch of black, night-like blankness. The smooth black stone brought a hint of coolness.
Was there a mural drawn in this blank space before?
If so, what was it?
Liu Qian silently wondered.
"It's the Long Night..."
A hoarse, dry, old voice suddenly sounded directly behind Liu Qian, startling him and causing a cold sweat.