High Above

  Chapter 675 is like a star (6700)

  —People in the world often say that dragons are long-lived, almost immortal, and even immortal.

  It is not surprising to have this impression, because dragons do live longer than ordinary people. A real dragon occupies a place, and maybe a dozen generations of people will coexist with it.

  But the latter is actually an illusion.

  Everything is born and then dies, and everything that exists will die. Mountains will overturn, oceans will dry up, and even the stars will have an end, and will turn into final black stars.

   Not to mention dragons?

Although Solstner (Steel Dragon) has a long lifespan compared to those villains on the planet, without the help of special methods, he will experience a complete life span within five hundred years. Life cycle, from birth to death.

   Not much, not less.

  This time is just right, to be able to witness a cycle of the civilization cycle, but it will not cause a change in mentality due to an excessively long lifespan, lose enthusiasm and love, become indifferent and numb, and be unable to observe everything objectively and realistically.

   Let them better complete their tasks.

Solstner, as the third-generation true dragon, once heard the second-generation true dragon as a mentor guess the origin of his family: they are not ashamed to admit that they are likely to be created by some kind of advanced civilization Artificial life, on the contrary, they believe that they are created by a higher civilization, which represents a certain kind of lofty meaning.

  Observing civilization may be one of their natural missions...and after the five hundred years of life cycle is over, dragons as observers should also return to their creators.

  At that time, they will usher in a complete transformation, promoted from a dragon to a higher form of life.

   A truly eternal life.

  His Teachers thus guessed.

But other instructors have other guesses: for example, dragons are a kind of fighting life form, and they don’t need so much lifespan; The service life; for example, the dragon is the body of the creators walking in the world, but the creator is no longer in the world, so the body once again gave birth to the soul, and then they have them.

   There are different opinions, each with its own evidence and logic.

   But no one dragon can convince another.

  Dragon's personalities, ecology and abilities are so different that no dragon can fully understand another dragon. They seem to be the same, but completely different creatures.

  Dragon is such a contradictory existence: their essence core is exactly the same, and even the skin is mostly similar, but the flesh and soul under the skin are very different from each other, diametrically opposite.

  So contradictions were born. With the birth of the third generation of dragons one after another, the dragon group was completely divided, and even fell into civil war.

   Solstner has not experienced the dragon battle that claims to destroy the stars, but his mentor has.

  He and his mentor are dragons with a little 'commonality', so they can understand each other's thinking. This is the only relationship among dragons that can reach a tacit understanding.

  Of course, with the emergence of the fourth generation of true dragons that can give birth to offspring, the gap between true dragons has gradually become smaller...but in a sense, this is also the process of true dragons beginning to transform into real mortal things.

  The instructor firmly believes that the ultimate lifespan of their real dragons is definitely more than a mere five hundred years. It is the creators who artificially limit their "use time" in order to ensure that their workflow is controllable.

  There must be some device, somewhere, that can release the dragons from their confinement...and make them truly immortal beings that can walk with the Creator.

  【Will it be so great? Creator? 】

   Solstner sometimes thinks this way. When he was young, he would always feel disapproving. If they are indeed the creations of a powerful civilization, then why would the creator allow these powerful tools to have eternal life?

  Tools are supposed to be replaced when they are used up. Why add an extra one so that they can live forever?

   But there is nothing wrong with immortality.

   Anyway, go try and find out.

   This is His mission.

  So the dragon spread his wings and set sail in the dark.

  He flew in the direction of the bright star, all the way.

  In the end, they arrived at a prosperous land.

  —Ian felt the memory of the steel dragon Sol Steiner.

  It was a very old, very long ago memory.

  At that time, Qiganglong hadn't known human beings, hadn't become a dragon god, hadn't sheltered the mountain people for hundreds of years, and hadn't found the fragments of the spaceship falling from the sky in the Baisen Mountains.

  With the wish of a mentor, he set out from the unknown dark place, crossed the void, and came to Terra, looking for things related to the real dragon and eternal life.

  This is the beginning of Sol Steiner's life in the true sense.

  Ian is thinking.

   "Sure enough, the real dragon is also guessing its own origin?"

At this moment, Ian detached himself from the memory of the real dragon, and thought about the information in the memory from the perspective of a bystander. The more he watched, the more certain he was in his guess: "Sure enough, the real dragon is some kind of extraordinary Natural ultra life forms—they are too perfect from beginning to end, but they have many flaws that normal creatures don't have."

   "However, a cosmic life form... If the real dragon is really a created life, what kind of task do they need to complete?"

   "Moreover, this memory does not have the scene of Solstner's birth—instead, it seems to have been extracted deliberately, and told me, who can watch the inheritance, why he came to Terra."

   "There must be a follow-up."

  The spirit continued to deepen, and the retrospective vision and the power of the silver chip worked together, and Ian excavated the past of the dragon **** stored in the holy mountain.

   Soon, a brand new scene appeared again, but what appeared this time was not the memory of when the Iron Dragon first came to Terra.

   It is the scene when His time is approaching and He is about to usher in death.

  —Hundreds of years ago, the top of Qigang Mountain.

  Winter clouds lingered around the horizon, and an unusually fierce snowstorm swept across the entire mountain range. Only the Sacred Steel Mountain still had warm sunshine because of its height and the protection of the Dragon God.

  Under the golden light, a silver-gray dragon crawled in the middle of the holy mountain.

  He is old. Although the carapace and crystals on his body surface are still solid, they are not as bright and shiny as they were when he was young. The original bright silver dragon pupils may appear dull because of drooping eyelids.

He can make himself look younger, but it is not necessary. Solstner has no fear of death. Throughout his life, he lived a full and perfect life. Some people love him, some people fear him, and some people believe in him , someone respects him.

  Even a dragon is satisfied in this aspect. Although he did not complete his mission, he has lived his own life.

   Enjoying the warmth of the sun, the old Baisen Dragon God sensed that a person had come to him.

  It was a tall mountain dweller with brown hair and light purple eyes, with lightning flowing from his body, and a large sword with a flashing arc on his back.

  He humbly bowed to the old dragon on one knee and bowed his head deeply.

"Your Majesty, there is a vision in the northeast. There is a cold disaster on the Canaan Moore side, and the air on the mountain side is getting colder... The blizzard has swept through the settlements of hundreds of tribes, big and small. Next, we will do our best to rescue the disaster. , there may be fewer people serving you..."

  The leaders of the kingdom of dragon gods are also children in His eyes. Solstner remembered the other party's name, Mingshan Xuanfeng. He was the leader of the Xuanfeng Department's generation. This group of villains was always tall and loud, so he was chosen to report to him about the situation in the country. important matters.

   But in fact, the old dragon can even clearly hear the rubbing sound of the ant's antennae, so why does it need such a loud voice? But in the final analysis, it was the villain's good intentions. Solstner had long been used to such a voice after listening to reports from Xuanfeng's family for more than a dozen generations.

  In his long life compared to humans, the dragon can't say that he likes humans very much, but he certainly doesn't hate these energetic guys.

  He saw with his own eyes that the ancestors of the people in front of him followed his footsteps and opened up the first piece of wasteland in the mountains. In order to be able to keep up with his tracks and catch up with his flying speed, he tried his best to hunt and kill Thunder's monsters.

   Not only that... but many, many others...

Many figures suddenly appeared in Solstner's mind, and he thought of the ancestors of the many tribes of the mountain people: the ancestor of the Xuanfeng tribe was a taciturn, tall man who was good at manual work and carved the first wooden statue for himself ; The chief of the Avud Department is a gentle woman, but she is good at using a pair of knives. Whether it is tearing up the enemy's flesh or chopping vegetables, she is the dream lover of all the mountain people at that time.

He still remembers the chiefs of the Snake Rock Department and the Yan Rock Department, with their long pointed noses and big fleshy ears. Old Boka and Bofu are a pair of good brothers. They followed him very late, but they helped him find the vision At that time, he tried his best and was the shrewdest. One of them took the potion of steel rock snake, and the other took potion of crouching rock bear lizard, just to be able to walk through the mountains and explore the clues of those subtle places for themselves.

   There are many, many people, themselves, and the faces of their descendants flashed before Dragon God's eyes.

  They have long since died, returning between the heaven and the earth and the mountains.

  The long-lived dragon doesn’t feel sad, because this is a human’s life, and they have never regretted it, so why should He feel sad?

   However, it is also time.

  As he got older, Solstner felt that his heart began to become indifferent, and he began to be unable to recall those faces.

  Yes, the mountain people he helped at that time almost established a kingdom. Except for the very beginning, He did not give them any protection at all.

  Of course, if you have to say it, letting these mountain people live in their own territory may also be regarded as a kind of shelter... But isn't it also very interesting? Watching the little people being born and dying, building their own homes on this land, offering sacrifices and praying by their side, praising the name of Him and the mountains.

   Such a life is also quite good.

   But now, in Solstner's heart, there is no longer an inexplicable satisfaction and pride, a kind of pride in being their "mountain dragon god".

  Now, in His heart, there is only a faint sense of overlooking, an unspeakable alienation.

  Time turns too much familiarity into indifference.

  The wooden statues have decayed, the rock gods have been eroded by the wind, and the steel dragons are also stained with rust.

-Yes.

   Solstner suddenly had a realization in his heart: this is the lifespan of a dragon.

Five hundred years is the deadline for enthusiasm. After five hundred years, the dragon will gradually lose its understanding of the subtleties of this world. If it does not transform into a higher life form as soon as possible, it will have a more eternal thinking mode , then He will gradually lose emotion and empathy.

  In the end, it becomes a life like a machine.

  So... He should go too.

  【Don't worry, Mingshan·Xuanfeng】

  At this moment, He spoke: [That is not a cold disaster, but another old dragon that is dying]

  【My kinsmen come here longing for the secret treasure in my hand, intending to make the last fight before death】

Mingshan Xuanfeng raised his head in astonishment, which was extremely disrespectful, but the Dragon God didn't care about these etiquettes at all, and he was also shocked because the Dragon God took the initiative to speak to the mountain people for the first time in decades: "Your Majesty?! you…"

  —You remember my name?

  Although he didn't say this sentence, Long could fully guess what he was thinking—why was it him? If the dragon chooses, he can remember the names of all those who respect him as the dragon god.

   So He always knew.

  【This is not asylum, just to protect my property】

  At this moment, the blizzard is coming towards the holy mountain, and the towering icy cloud mountain is like the wave of a tsunami, wrapped in biting frost and snow, trying to overturn the dragon's lair.

  The old dragon slowly supported his limbs, he was still powerful, and still had the power to influence the world. Even though the steel dragon has slowly rusted, he can still display 100% of his strength before death.

   Spreading its wings, the Dragon God raised his head and stared at his fellow race in the endless snow and ice in the distance—he could hear roars and threats, as well as naked greed.

  【—Sol Steiner, hand over your treasure! 】

  The battle between dragons and dragons always revolves around treasures.

  People in the world often say that dragons love gold and silver, and all valuable treasures... This cannot be said to be wrong, because what dragons desire is indeed the most precious wealth in this land, this planet, and this star field.

   Just like the fragments under him, those fragments in his kingdom.

   and those in His kingdom.

   That is the real, priceless treasure that cannot be measured by value.

  So, it's time to flap your wings for one last flight—

Under the stunned gaze of Mingshan Xuanfeng, in the eyes of all the mountain people who endured the blizzard, on the towering peak of the towering holy mountain shining with bright silver flames, the giant dragon that has gone through a long period of time rises up, incredible. The power dispelled all the haze and snow clouds in the entire mountain range in an instant.

  The sun is like a sword, piercing the sky and the earth.

   Immediately afterwards, the steel-colored light went up against the sun and flew straight to the center of all the ice and snow!

  The dragon battle begins.

   This is the end of memory, the end of the true life of Solstner the Iron Dragon.

  Ian finished reading everything, and the memory of the fifth-level true dragon flying straight into the depths of his soul. He let out a deep breath, and rows of ancient and scribbled subtitles appeared in front of his eyes.

  【People of later generations, no matter who they are, dragons or people. Come here, pass the verification, restart the cradle, and get my inheritor]

  【You will get my greatest wealth】

  【My treasure, technology, country, mountains, dreams...and my people】

   This is the last message left by Qianganglong before leaving his dragon lair to start the final dragon battle with Ice Menglong.

  He came to Terra with a mission, stepped into death for his own wish, spent a fulfilling and satisfying life, and ended everything in the battle he longed for.

   Solstner, Qiganglong, Bison Dragon God. These are His names.

  Even when he died, he did not find out the truth behind the secret of the real dragon, and he did not fully discover the secret of the legacy of the spaceship falling from the sky.

   But it's not that he didn't work hard, it's just that he didn't get the silver chip.

   Now, four hundred years later, the holder of the silver chip came to this ancient mountain range and stood on the top of the majestic holy mountain.

   Take it again, an unfulfilled dream.

  Ian opened his eyes in reality, silver-blue light shining in his eyes.

  He felt that his body was filled with strength, not because of the blessing of source quality from outside, but after purification and treatment, the stabilized physique tended to be perfect, releasing more powerful and harmonious power than before.

  The information about the 'Cradle of Twilight' and the results of the research on it by the steel dragon Solstner also surfaced in Ian's mind one by one.

As Ian knew through the silver chip, the Twilight Cradle is the "fire storage device" of the skyfall spacecraft, whether it is psionic energy, biological, computer hard disk, or any form that stores information and contains the essence of civilization, it All can be saved through the internal 'static storage device'.

   It is not that time stops, but the use of source matter to create an etheric vacuum, which fixes the movement of every molecule, and keeps the interior at a temperature near absolute zero—this is the best way to preserve it.

  However, due to the fall of the Skyfall spacecraft, the energy system was destroyed, and the most heavily defended cradle system fell off, fell into the Baisen Mountains, and was embedded in the mountain.

  The Qigang Dragon solidified the mountain with its own power, and transformed the entire Qigang Mountain, using the natural spiritual energy of this mountain to recharge it.

   But it is a pity that many of the 'fire seeds' stored in the Twilight Cradle have been lost, and even the Qianganglong has not found those traces.

Ian is also extremely sorry for this point—every kindling, in a sense, contains a civilization, and even all the ecological information of a planet. The rich ecology and environment of Terra today may be the result of many twilight cradles. Mixed products caused by the leakage of the kindling.

If I have to say it, the current ecology of Terra is likely to conform to a conjecture called "Gaia Planet"... This planet can perfectly meet the ecology needed by any kind of creature, or help any kind of creature in the world. It finds a suitable place to live inside.

  However, there is another very important function in the twilight cradle system.

  It can analyze the information contained in any fire, no matter what kind of creature it is, whether it is carbon-based, amino, sulfur-based, iron-based or even psionic, phantom, virtual, sub-entity, gaseous, and light state creatures.

  Whether it is a hive cluster, a mechanical gestalt, a psionic group, a true social life, or a society of division of labor and cooperation...

  Any life, any spark left by civilization, no matter how strange it is, how many times it has been encrypted, the Shimmer Cradle system can analyze it, extract and store its information.

   This function is obviously designed by the civilization behind the Skyfall spacecraft to better preserve civilization information. It is a universal decryptor.

  After all, some fires of civilization may not be kept very well, so they can only be absorbed by the Skyfall spacecraft and then recreate a stable one by itself.

  The moment I saw this function, Ian's heart skipped a beat.

  Perhaps others may feel sorry for the loss of Tinder, and feel a little funny about this function—even if Tinder is gone, what is the function of extracting its information?

  It’s because they don’t have fire in their hands, and they won’t get fire in the future, so they feel so emotional.

  But Ian knows that there are at least a few fireships in the South China Sea Labyrinth!

  As an alien research base specializing in the study of alien ecology, the sparks in the Sequoia base are kept inside the major ecological parks!

  Although some may have been leaked, it has become a very different ecology inside the Great Labyrinth and the outside world, and it has also created the situation of polymetallic life around the Baisen Mountains...but the body of Tinder must still be in the Great Labyrinth!

  Just take it out, and then store it in the twilight cradle...It will be completely extracted and analyzed by the technology of the spaceship that fell in the sky...

   "I have an entire metal-based planet, all biological ecology and even civilization information?!"

  —This is undoubtedly the most precious treasure in the cradle system!

  Thinking of this, Ian's heart beat slightly.

Even if he is always as calm as him, he can't help but start thinking about the future: "In this way, I don't have to worry about biological technology storage... As long as I can build Xiahui's biological laboratory, there will be a With your assistance, all of this will develop rapidly... I can even use these materials to optimize the structure and potions of many bloodline true form inheritance!"

  Even if it is an immovable fortified city, it may not be perfect, Hilliard also admitted.

He has been telling Ian that if Ian has a chance to improve Fudojian City in the future, then go ahead and change it. As an experimental inheritance, it is his genius that he can succeed, but his path may not be suitable for Ian. Grace and others.

  Ian thinks so deeply. For example, the Lord of the third energy level stone is too defensive in his opinion and does not meet his requirements.

In order to match the high-sensitivity and high-information acquisition brought by the fairy blood and the silver chip, his immovable fortified city must have a strong enough firepower pouring ability and high mobility... If I have to say, the mobile fortresses he saw in the imperial capital , which is very in line with Ian's requirements.

   An incomparably strong steel sky fortress, this is the future he wants.

   It's just that there are too many things needed to improve the inheritance, even Ian can only take one step at a time... But now, the opportunity is close at hand!

   This is something only Ian can do.

"but…"

   After calming down, Ian sighed: "The laboratory must be built first—and the rebellion on the mountain people's side must be settled first to ensure the stability of the territory before the development can be accelerated."

   "As of now..."

   Slowly walking down from the altar on the top of the mountain, Ian came to the edge of the platform on the top of the mountain.

  On the top platform of the Chenggang Holy Mountain, the black altar is the dragon's nest of the former Baisen Dragon God, and the surrounding buildings are towering towers and rock pillars used by the mountain people for sacrifice.

  These ancient altars and totem poles are erected on the top of the mountain, straight into the sky. Now that the mountain people have weakened, they still boast of their former glory to everyone.

  Ian stood on the edge of the mountain, overlooking the surrounding area of ​​the holy mountain.

  The bright silver sacrificial fire is located behind him, shining with pure color, and under the holy mountain, at the bottom of the long cliff, there are dense golden and red two-color fires all over the mouth of the gorge and around the foot of the mountain.

  Many faces, hundreds of thousands of mountain people's faces looked up at the mountain where the sacred fire was ignited again. They shouted excitedly, making a sound like a mountain roar and a tsunami.

   Those are the mountain people of Avod's tribe. They are the closest, and they came here immediately to face the rekindled holy mountain.

   Waiting for the arrival of the 'Dragon God Messenger'.

For a moment, the memory of Xi Ganglong flashed in Ian's mind, his blue eyes fell, and he scanned all the people down the mountain, many faces, the faces of the ancestors and descendants of the mountain people overlapped, giving him a sense of happiness. A feeling of familiarity and strangeness.

   And they were all shouting, chanting, and praying a word in unison. The boy on the top of the mountain couldn't hear these voices, but for some reason, Ian could understand what they were talking about.

   "Dragon God! Messenger!"

   "Dragon God! Messenger!"

   "Dragon God! Messenger!"

  The messenger of the dragon **** stands on the top of the holy steel mountain, like a **** with his back against the sun.

  Thousands of torches gathered into the ocean, surrounded by the surging holy fire, and the mountains roared like a tsunami.

  The eyes of the mountain people reflected the brilliance of the sacrificial fire in the dark night, shining with earnest hope.

   Those lights, those longings...

  —Just like the stars.

  (end of this chapter)