The sacred and majestic halls spread out in a circular formation. One hall stood beside another, all connected by a long corridor. On the walls on either side of the corridor were murals depicting ancient stories.
Their general content chronicled the process from the Ancient Sun God's awakening to His gradual reclamation of His authorities, ending with the eight Kings of Angels surrounding the Ancient Sun God.
Such scenes were undoubtedly extremely shocking to Audrey and Xio.
The Ancient Sun God was an existence known as the Creator, whose status was even higher than that of the current true gods.
Although Klein knew something about this part of history, this was also the first time he had seen it depicted in such detail. It gave him a deeper understanding of the eight Kings of Angels.
They followed the corridor all the way to the end, where there was no longer any path forward.
Suspended in midair were eight palaces, each surrounded by different symbols. The palaces of the eight Kings of Angels guarded a hall at the very center, where something resembling a sun radiated golden light.
Hastur carefully examined the scene for a while and felt that this was not the place where the Ancient Sun God had truly lived back then, but rather a smaller replica of the palace created by Ouroboros.
After all, the Ancient Sun God had truly resided in the Giant King's Court in the Forsaken Land of the Gods, and they clearly had not entered the Forsaken Land of the Gods yet.
Audrey and the others tried to approach, but there seemed to be an invisible barrier before them, preventing them from taking even a single step farther. They could only remain where they were and look up.
"How are we supposed to leave this place?" Xio asked worriedly.
"Perhaps we can find some clues in the murals."
Klein remembered that when Little Sun and the others had escaped back then, they had destroyed the river of fate on the mural that connected head to tail, allowing them to successfully return to the real world.
But before Klein could find the river of fate left behind by Ouroboros among the murals, all the murals on the walls suddenly vanished.
The sun in the central hall abruptly rose before exploding. Countless streams of golden blood surged toward them like a raging sea!
Xio's small face turned deathly pale. At this moment, there was nowhere for them to hide from the surging flood.
Audrey also instinctively tightened her grip on Hastur's sleeve and pressed closer to him. Klein frowned and glanced at the still-calm Hastur before relaxing as well.
"This is an image from the distant past. It's an illusion, and we're merely observers of history."
Hastur murmured softly, allowing the surging golden sea to pass through his body and spread farther into the distance.
"Is this how the Sea of Ruins was formed?" Klein also grasped the key point.
"The day the Ancient Sun God fell was the day the Sea of Ruins was born."
Hastur confirmed Klein's speculation, his gaze fixed firmly on the center of the shattered sun in the sky.
As the golden blood sprayed outward, something resembling a clear spring seemed to be forming there.
The Fountain of Youth?
A spring formed from the spontaneous gathering of the immense vitality released when the Ancient Sun God fell.
Simply calling it the Fountain of Youth seemed far too inaccurate. It should instead be called a fountain of life belonging to the Ancient Sun God.
Moreover, this process of evolution was far too simplified. It was obvious that Ouroboros had omitted certain crucial details.
Perhaps that was also why this place had managed to survive until today.
If it truly involved matters related to gods, it might draw Their gazes and cause this place to be destroyed.
Hastur and the others quietly watched the scene before them evolve with the passage of time. Beneath their feet, a river of time also appeared, continuously breaking apart and dissipating.
When the river of time completely disappeared, Hastur and the others returned to the black ruins.
There was no golden sun ahead of them, nor could they see the newly born Fountain of Youth. There was only Ouroboros floating in midair with His pure white wings spread open.
"A-An angel!" Xio cried out excitedly. But she quickly covered her mouth with both hands, not daring to make another sound. Only her eyes remained exceptionally bright.
Audrey was equally stunned. Ouroboros at this moment looked almost identical to the angel murals and angel reliefs depicted in churches.
A handsome face, pure white wings, bare feet, a simple white robe, and a transcendent figure suspended in midair.
Sacredness itself had been born because of existences such as Them.
Ouroboros, the Angel of Fate! This should be His true body, right?
Klein trembled inwardly. This was a genuine King of Angels, and moreover, a believer of the True Creator. He was extraordinarily dangerous.
As they observed Ouroboros, Ouroboros's gaze also fell upon them. After sweeping His eyes across the group, His gaze focused on Hastur, but in the end, He found nothing unusual.
He could only tell that the other party was a believer of the Stars and carried the aura of the Stars.
"Leave." Ouroboros spoke indifferently and did not strike to kill them.
His words made Audrey and the others breathe sighs of relief. Being able to leave this place alive was already a miracle.
"We want to find the Fountain of Youth."
Hastur's words immediately made their hearts leap into their throats again. The one standing before them was an angel!
How could he dare speak to an angel like that? What if he accidentally angered Him...
Ouroboros said nothing. He merely drew out a silver-white river, separating Hastur and the others from the ruins.
By the time they reacted, they had already returned to the ship. The ruins before them had vanished completely, let alone the Fountain of Youth.
However, an additional scene had appeared in Hastur's mind. It was the missing portion of the Fountain of Youth's birth that they had just witnessed.
A lotus blooming from the mud, the true birthplace of the Fountain of Youth was the birthplace of the True Creator!
The True Creator had gathered all the negative emotions left behind after the Ancient Sun God's fall, darkness, depravity, filth, and every other foul and disgusting thing imaginable.
And the so-called Fountain of Youth had been born within such an environment. It was rather reminiscent of the concept of a spring of hope blossomed in a land of despair, and a place of corruption became a sacred sanctuary.
No wonder Ouroboros did not want them approaching. In a certain sense, that place was the sacred birthplace of the True Creator.
Hastur smiled. "Let's return."
Audrey and the others nodded simultaneously. As for the Fountain of Youth, they would let it remain a legend.
Late at night, Ouroboros sat cross-legged among the ruins, reminiscing about the past, when He looked at the Vessel of Stars that had suddenly appeared before Him.
"What are you doing here?"
"I merely wanted to come take a look and reminisce about the Ancient Sun God."
Ouroboros said nothing more and remained silently still. The Vessel of Stars likewise simply gazed quietly at the ruins.
When the sun was about to drive away the darkness of night, Ouroboros reached into the river of time and flicked out five tiny golden droplets. They were precisely the spring water from the so-called Fountain of Youth.
"Do not disturb the peace of this place again."
"Only this once."
The Vessel of Stars transformed into a scattering of starlight and disappeared into the sunlight.
...
The return journey passed quickly. When the Hope left the Sea of Ruins and arrived at a nearby port, Klein disembarked and left, leaving behind only an IOU for 1,000 gold pounds.
Seeing this, Audrey sighed sincerely. "Mr. World really is poor."
Despite being mysterious and powerful at the Tarot Club and possessing extensive knowledge of mysticism, in the real world he even needed to write an IOU for 1,000 gold pounds.
If Mr. World were willing to ask, she could simply pay it off for him.
Perhaps this was why Mr. World deliberately concealed his identity. People generally disliked revealing their impoverished side in front of acquaintances.
To celebrate surviving an encounter with an angel, Xio offered to pay out of her own pocket and invite Hastur and the others to drink at a port tavern, but Fors and Audrey both refused.
Even after staying at the port for only a short while, they had already heard quite a few stories about the "three people and one dog" group.
Audrey certainly did not want such exploits, along with portraits of herself, to eventually spread back to Backlund.
To prevent that, whenever she had acted in the past, she had deliberately erased the pirates' memories of her appearance.
If she swaggered into a tavern alongside Xio, someone would definitely recognize her on the spot.
Fors had the same concern. After all, Xio was the one among the three of them who had shown her face most often.
Xio was originally somewhat disappointed, but when Hastur handed her a new bounty poster to look over, she immediately became quiet and obedient.
As the member of the three-people-and-one-dog group who had shown her face the most, the pirates had placed a bounty of 2,000 gold pounds on her!
Such a large bounty almost tempted Fors. She stared eerily at Xio, silently asking whether she might be willing to sacrifice herself for her friend's happiness.
"Don't even think about it!" Xio immediately crushed Fors' delusions.
Fors sighed regretfully. "It wasn't easy waiting until the day you finally became valuable."
"..." Xio fell silent for a moment and began grinding her teeth.
"Xio, actually, I think you could go help Her Excellency the Sage. Isn't she planning to establish a nation? If you follow her, becoming a great noble in the future would be easy. Then you could restore your family's glory."
Fors hurriedly changed the subject to prevent Xio from pouncing on her.
"I'll get back up where I fell. Hmph, sooner or later, I'll make the Loen royal family acknowledge and restore my family's honor!" Xio's voice suddenly grew much louder.
At the mention of the Loen royal family, Audrey, who had been listening from the side, subconsciously glanced at Hastur.
Hastur merely smiled back at Audrey without saying anything.
...
Puning Harbor.
After its long voyage, the Hope once again returned to the place from which it had originally departed.