Chapter 1088: Ancient Sacred Runes

Lei En stepped out of the meditation chamber, and half a month later entered the Storm Temple again.

Now, this massive temple is fully under giant control; Suo Lim has the Storm Giants residing in each palace, they live in the core area of the temple surrounding the Sky Sanctum, while Frost Giants, Stone Giants, Hill Giants and One‑Eyed Giants form an outer ring.

Even counting the old, weak, women and children, the several major giant clans total fewer than ten thousand; even if they all moved in, they would occupy less than one‑tenth of the temple's area.

Outside the temple, the various vassal races have been gradually migrating in, taking up the Storm Apex.

The newly surrendered wind‑elemental beings are scattered around the Storm Apex; Suo Lim strictly controls their dwelling and activity zones, forbidding them to leave at will.

On the main stair of the Sky Sanctum's front gate, Lei En saw the Titan Elder whose face glowed crimson.

"Your Majesty!"

Suo Lim greeted aloud, his mood extremely pleasant.

"Elder." Lei En smiled and nodded, looking at the powerful demigod; in previous meetings with Suo Lim he always wore a heavy‑hearted expression, but now he waited here in person, the weight swept from his face—truly a man in high spirits when good news arrives.

Yet it is understandable; Suo Lim bears the future of the entire race, a mountain of pressure.

Now that millennia of suffering and humiliation have vanished in one day, the ancestral lands have been reclaimed and revival looks promising—who could not be delighted?

Not only Suo Lim, the entire Giant race is brimming with vigor. For example, A Xina, who oversees the defense and repair of the Eastern Sanctum, has not been seen for half a month.

Hope always endows people with boundless vigor!

Lei En laughed, "Congratulations, Elder, for leading the giants and once again becoming the master of the Storm Plane."

"Hahaha…" Suo Lim laughed heartily, yet without becoming complacent, "Without Your Majesty's aid, we could never have succeeded relying only on me and the giants. I thank Your Majesty again for the strong support; once the Storm Plane's situation stabilizes further, we will hold a grand Giant Celebration, and you, the most honored guest, must certainly attend."

"It is my honor." Lei En gladly accepted the invitation.

Suo Lim nodded; in his eyes, Lei En was no longer merely an ally but a massive, sturdy thigh that the giants must cling to. The so‑called Giant Celebration was really to curry favor with Lei En and tighten the bond.

The two exchanged a few pleasantries, and Suo Lim said, "Your Majesty, please follow me."

The Titan Elder opened a portal.

Lei En followed through the portal into a magnificent palace hall; this palace, likely behind the Sky Sanctum, is the core of the Storm Temple.

Looking around, Lei En found the surroundings similar to the Northern Sanctum's "Furnace Sanctum," only about three times larger, with a higher dome and a spotless transparent glass floor, through which a massive Titan Furnace beneath could be seen operating.

The Titan Furnace's volume is comparable to the super‑giant Titan Furnace on the Augustus, standing over twenty meters tall; surging energy is channeled from the furnace into energy conduits that flow in all directions, powering the entire Storm Temple.

Lei En activated the All‑Seeing Eye, observing the Titan Furnace.

Obviously, this Titan Furnace has not been upgraded; both the source crystal's conversion efficiency and the energy output power are far inferior to those of the Augustus.

Suo Lim, seeing his serious gaze, said softly, "Although Cloud Giants possess a complete inheritance of Titan rune knowledge, their mastery in this field will never match that of the Storm Giants. Moreover, the Cloud Giants have been in the temple for less than a year, merely managing to get the Titan Furnace running and seize the temple. Their rune techniques have seen no real advancement compared to ten thousand years ago."

"I see." Lei En nodded in understanding.

The ages advance, and technology develops.

Even without his own sub‑brain crystal, Elder Suo Lim has spent millennia studying the Titan Furnace, maintaining the Northern Sanctum's operation, amassing vast experience and techniques; his understanding of the Titan Furnace must surpass that of the Giant Empire era.

Of course, in the current study of the Titan Furnace, he is the most brilliant.

Suo Lim glanced at Lei En, sighing inwardly; he naturally knew that Lei En's mastery of Titan rune techniques already far exceeds his own.

Lei En focused his observation, unaware of the Titan Elder's thoughts.

Soon, he discerned a clue.

The energy conduits guided from the Titan Furnace number in the hundreds, extremely intricate, resembling a dazzling spiderweb.

The largest conduit, nearly half a meter in diameter, is hidden among the many pipes; it does not extend to the surrounding temple structures but leads underground.

Lei En's gaze fell on the conduit, following it downward, unsure how deep it went.

Even the All‑Seeing Eye cannot pierce the ground's thickness, at least over a hundred meters; this must be the Storm Temple's secret!

"Your Majesty, sharp eyes!"

Suo Lim noticed Lei En's stare and couldn't help exclaiming in admiration.

Lei En asked directly, "Elder, where does this energy conduit lead?" In fact, he also noticed a problem: the conduit was inactive, with no energy flowing.

"This is the secret I intend to show Your Majesty today." Suo Lim's expression was very solemn, though a hint of bewilderment lingered in his eyes, "This secret concerns the origin of the Storm Giants. Back in the Giant Empire era, many Titan Elders delved into it; our lord An Heluozi also participated, yet no definitive conclusion was reached."

Lei En was rather surprised—could even the deity not have grasped it?

He was instantly struck by intense curiosity and laughed, "Elder, since this secret is so important, is it appropriate for you to tell me?"

"If Your Majesty can unravel it, that would be ideal." Suo Lim's face showed anticipation, "Your Majesty has created so many miracles; if anyone in the world can solve this secret, I think no one besides Your Majesty could."

Hearing that, Lei En felt pressure instead, shaking his head, "Elder, you overestimate me."

"Hehe…"

Suo Lim smiled faintly and said nothing more.

With a 'clap‑bang' sound.

The Titan Elder transformed into a bolt of lightning, soaring toward the conduit, moving along its metallic surface, and in an instant vanished underground.

Lei En also triggered Electric Flash Teleport, following closely.

He throttled his speed, descending along the conduit toward the depths, yet soon reached its end; a flash of light, and the view cleared.

Before him lay a vast underground space, resembling a cavern of the Darklands.

The difference was that this space was clearly man‑made.

It measured as a standard hemispherical volume, about five hundred meters in diameter; the floor was a perfect circle, extremely flat, paved with massive, even stone slabs, while the walls and dome were cut neatly, like an inverted empty bowl.

The underground chamber was oppressively hot, the air thin yet very dry.

Lei En glanced back.

Directly above the cavern's center, a single energy conduit hung down—the only passage connecting to the outside, the very one through which he had entered.

The conduit descended vertically, linking to a massive structure on the ground.

Pyramid!

The first image flashing through Lei En's mind was a pyramid, then he corrected it—not the Egyptian tomb‑style pyramid of a past life, but a Mayan pyramid.

The difference: the Mayan pyramid is smaller in volume, its top is flat, and each side of the tower is built with tiered staircases.

The square tower‑top platform also has a temple.

The pyramid inside the cave differs from a Mayan pyramid in some details, but overall is almost identical; its height is about a hundred meters, and there is also a temple atop the tower, with an energy conduit hanging down from the sky and connecting into the temple.

Lei En's eyes were filled with amazement; the architectural style of this pyramid is completely different from the Storm Temple, clearly not built by giants.

"Elder, where is this place?"

"It is directly beneath the Storm Temple, about twelve hundred blades deep," Sorin replied. The "blade" he mentioned is a length unit used by giants and dwarves, derived from weapon length; one giant "blade" is roughly two and a half meters.

One thousand two hundred blades equal three thousand meters.

"Built so deep underground…" Lei En observed the pyramid and the entire cave, noticing many places etched with a peculiar rune.

The cave floor is laid with a rune formation, and the surrounding walls are the same; the emitted energy fluctuations create a spatial seal with concealment, interference, and camouflage effects, making it impossible to locate from outside or to teleport in.

The pyramid's surface also bears similar runes, even denser; deeper within the tower, however, there is no energy infusion, leaving it in a dormant state.

Lei En has never seen such runes.

He examined it carefully for a while; it is clearly not a Titan rune, with no connection at all. Human scripts also differ greatly. High elf script, dragon rune, Demon script, and so on—none of the dozens of languages and scripts he knows match it.

"Elder, this wasn't built by giants, right?" Lei En asked.

"Of course not."

Sorin hurried toward the pyramid, landing before the temple atop the tower, gently patting the temple's stone exterior, and sighed, "The history of this 'energy altar' predates the giants; my lord Anhe Luozi speculates it was already here before the giants were born."

Lei En, having just landed, immediately sensed an ancient, solemn aura, as if the structure before him came from a distant past.

It has stood unshaken under the erosion of time, up to today, and will continue to exist.

Hearing Sorin's words, he couldn't help but turn pale with shock.

It predates the giants!

It should be noted that giants are among the earliest races born in the Ai Lun E Si world, similar to dragons, appearing in the early First Era, about thirty thousand years ago; even the oldest deities number only a few that have endured such long ages.

The building beneath his feet has a history exceeding thirty thousand years!

It may even be older!

Lei En was astonished: thirty thousand years! At that time, only trolls likely inhabited the Ai Lun E Si world, since trolls are the only race older than giants; the First Era was the age of trolls.

A flash of insight struck his mind.

Trolls!

"These are troll runes!" Lei En blurted out.

The MutatedPhone contains a "translation dictionary" that helps him easily master languages and scripts; after years of gathering data, he is proficient in almost all known languages and scripts, boasting deep knowledge in this field, considering himself second—no one dares claim he is first.

The reason he couldn't identify it immediately earlier was that troll runes have been lost for ages.

The trolls' most glorious First Era lasted nearly ten thousand years and was also the first era destroyed by an Abyss invasion. Archaeologists date it to roughly twenty‑thousand‑five‑hundred years ago, i. e., the prehistoric eighteen‑thousand years.

After that, the trolls never recovered, scattering across the world and many planes.

The trolls not only failed to regain their glory but declined further; their intelligence and civilization regressed dramatically, spawning countless branches, and even their scripts were lost.

Today's trolls, though still an intelligent race, are not considered much better than beasts by humans.

The vast majority of trolls live a savage, blood‑drinking existence, no different from beasts.

Only a few trolls retain the fire of civilization; different troll branches speak different languages, mutually unintelligible, and possess only spoken language, having lost written scripts.

Lei En can speak four troll languages but cannot write any troll script.

He recognized it as troll rune because the script is highly distinctive—a blend of pictographic and phonetic characters; each glyph resembles a picture, the symbols combine intricately, the blocks are nearly circular, the strokes smooth and rounded, and they possess a unique three‑dimensional feel.

Many surviving troll ruins and stone carvings bear this script.

Lei En has seen them, so he has an impression.

The runes before him differ greatly from troll script—more concise and streamlined—but the two styles share about a third of their similarity, likely sharing a lineage, though it's unclear which precedes the other.

Even if they're not troll runes, they're certainly related!

"Your Majesty truly is erudite."

Sorin's face turned surprised; he hadn't expected Lei En to instantly recognize the rune's origin, and explained, "Indeed this is a kind of troll rune, but older than the trolls. My lord Anhe Luozi speculates that trolls learned this rune, which led to their civilization and the start of the First Era."

Lei En was stunned; older than the trolls, so could it be the Prehistoric Era!

Were there species then capable of building such a pyramid?

Was it a deity?

Among the deities that have survived from the Prehistoric Era to today, aside from the Abyssal Four Gods, there are only a few; the Earth Mother is one, but this clearly does not match her manner, and no trace of information linked to her is sensed.

"My lord speculates that the builders of the energy altar were a great race possessing wisdom beyond mortals, even beyond what deities can attain."

"They traversed the distant void, arrived at Ai Lun E Si, and brought the spark of civilization to this primitive world."

"They created many species and taught the earliest magical knowledge."

"But for unknown reasons, before the end of the First Era, this powerful and ancient sage race suddenly left Ai Lun E Si, leaving only the energy altar and this rune system. Whether trolls, elves, dragons, or dragons, every intelligent race's rune system derived from it; it is the source of all magical knowledge."

"My lord Anhe Luozi calls it the 'Ancient Sacred Runes.'"

Sorin's voice was soft, yet to Lei En's ears it sounded like thunder on a plain!

(End of Chapter)