Chapter 2336: How boring
The cultivation world was far more complex and developed than Lex had imagined back when he was a mortal, which is why the sheer simplicity of finding a message in a bottle stunned Lex. It seemed that certain classics just never got old.
He approached the deep green bottle, and swept it with his spirit sense to investigate it thoroughly to make sure that it wasn’t some kind of trap. As far as he could tell, the bottle was a treasure with only two functions. The first was to preserve the message inside, so that the dauntless flow of time did not render it unrecognisable and illegible. The second function appeared to be one that completely suppressed the bottle’s aura, karma or anything of the sort. It seemed that whoever had put the message inside was trying to hide it from someone or something, but that also seemed unlikely. After all, the bottle was still easily identifiable and detectable, not to mention the contents could be easily seen.
Just to be safe, Lex created a basic golem using some nearby materials and had it open the bottle cork. Yet nothing happened - there was no attack, no sinister plot or curse. The golem took out the letter written on a very high quality parchment, and read it on behalf of Lex.
Surprisingly, the words on the paper were from the Soul script - a certain language that anyone with a soul could read without issue, regardless of cultivation level!
’To all survivors,
If you are reading this, then you fit into one of two categories. Either, like me, you have become stuck inside the Gilded Hollow, unable to exit for one reason or another. Or enough time has passed, and the Gilded Hollow has opened once more, allowing you to enter anew.
Actually, I just realized that you could also be a descendant of two or more of either of those groups who was born inside the Gilded Hollow. Damn, I can’t erase this. Just forget everything I said before. In essence, as long as you are alive, and inside the Gilded Hollow, this letter is for you.
My name is Romulus Valecar, and I have taken it upon myself to establish a bastion for all. You may already know this, but the Gilded Hollow is not as straightforward or simple as it appears. The more resources you take and absorb, the more positive karma you will accumulate within our universe. Unfortunately, not only is that positive karma useless within the Gilded Hollow, it will actually make you a target of the Hollow itself!*
I have tentatively taken to calling my self created bastion Fortune city, wishing good luck and fortune upon its residents. Why this matters to you is because I have established ways in which you may survive in Fortune city, even if you are being targeted by the Gilded Hollow.
All are welcome to Fortune city, and whether you wish to merely survive, or contribute to the city is entirely up to you and won’t be forced on anyone.**
The question, you must now be wondering, is how you may find Fortune city. I have prepared two means of achieving as such, though which one works for you is based on your own luck. The first is a teleportation character at the base of this letter. You only need to channel your energy into it, and the character will teleport you to its destination, which is Fortune city.
If, for any reason at all, the character fails to work, then you will have to rely on the second, slower and more dangerous method of locating the city. Basically, the message bottle this message came in can be used as a compass. Any time you spin it on the ground, it will point directly towards Fortune city.
That’s about all I can offer you so good luck on your journey. Since you have had the opportunity to encounter this bottle, may you also have the fortune of meeting me.
Best Regards,
Romulus Valecar.
*In case you have not realized yet, the Gilded Hollow, whatever it is, seems to have a will of its own. That will is locked in a fierce competition with the laws of the Vaelûn, and we all have become unwitting pawns in that competition. The more you take from the Hollow, the more Vaelûn will reward you, and the more the Hollow will hate you. That hate is the primary source of danger with this realm, so beware!
**Naturally, the city will have some basic laws to maintain civility and stable operations. Those who break those laws are not welcome, and may be punished with any number of punishments including, but not limited to, docking of pay, loss of food rights, lack of worker protection, the cone of shame etc.’
Lex blinked, and then used the golem to hand himself the letter as he read it again just to be sure. This letter seemed to provide him with great insight into the Gilded Hollow, answering some of his questions while raising even more.
It was his understanding that the Gilded Hollow was a remnant of the Pentagal universe. If that was the case, it made sense that their universe was trying to absorb it, while this remnant was trying to resist.
By bringing people from the universe into the Hollow, they allowed Vaelûn to gain the advantage at the risk of provoking the will of Pentagal - if that’s what this truly was. Actually, this explained why things got so dangerous here, for the dangers he’d encountered so far were quite manageable.
Just how many resources must one devour to be targeted by this place or realm? If that was the case, the higher the cultivation level, the more likely one would be targeted by the Hollow, for they’d be more effective at taking resources.
Also, it seemed that it was possible to meet others in this place - if that weren’t the case, then the letter would not make sense. How could Romulus build a city and populate it if he was alone?
The question now was, did Fortune city still exist? He could not estimate just how old this letter was, for he had no accurate idea for how long it had been since the Hollow last opened. If that was the case, the chances that Freedom city had ceased to exist were pretty slim.
Lex rubbed his chin for a moment, and then tried to activate the teleportation character. As he expected, the character failed to work.However, when he spun the bottle, it consistently pointed in a certain direction.
Since he was just traveling randomly while harvesting resources, it didn’t matter to him if he started to follow the compass’ directions. In fact, if Freedom city still existed, or even just the ruins of it, then the chances of encountering resources above his current cultivation were pretty high.
Also, he was quite curious about why certain people had been unable to exit the Hollow. He did not want a repeat of that happening to him. Thus, he began flying while following the direction the bottle pointed.
While traveling, he did not reduce his flying or resource harvesting speed, though he wondered if the remnant will of Pentagal was still active. He’d taken quite a lot, but he didn’t feel like he was being targeted at all.
Still, he did not lower his guard.
The repetitive monotony of his harvesting situation made it so entire months went by without anything notable happening, causing him to feel like time was passing him by too quickly. It was like water, slipping through his fingers, escaping no matter how he tightened his grip.
Yet that monotony was accompanied by the feeling of progress and growth.
The necklace continued to grow stronger and sturdier every day, right up until one day, Jack succeeded. He managed to send a piece of divine metal through his soul - using up a fair bit of divine energy!
But Jack had a tremendous amount of divine energy stored up in various treasures, so he didn’t mind utilizing it like this either!
Lex smiled, and fused the divine metal into the necklace, causing it to gain just the slightest bit of weight. Yet that seemingly insignificant amount of weight strengthened the necklace immeasurably, increasing the necklaces’ threshold to accommodate miracles within itself!
At that moment, Lex could not help but lament that he didn’t have the system to help him at that moment. He didn’t require the system for the Midnight Inn. Rather, he was beginning to miss its ability to bring him a tremendous amount of trouble - or more specifically, he missed its ability to bring him face to face with the greatest opportunity in his vicinity.
The Gilded Hollow hid a lot more secrets than just Fortune city and the clash between two wills. If only he had the system to get him into trouble like that randomly, then his gains from this place would be so much greater. As it was, he was stuck swallowing up resources without any significant interruptions or unlikely challenges. How boring.
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