“Great General, can I try?” A voice broke the silence. Wang Chong suddenly stepped onto the raised platform.
“Wang Chong…”
Gao Xianzhi was stunned by these words. He had noticed as soon as Wang Chong had entered, but not even Gao Xianzhi had imagined that Wang Chong would make such a request.
Although the cover of the book on the altar was forged from bronze, the pages were not, and would crumble at the lightest touch. It was precisely because a rebel leader had touched the pages just moments ago that the book was in its damaged condition.
Moreover, both the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars and the Elam Dynasty were the affairs of the Sassanid Dynasty and the rebel leaders. It was rather inappropriate of Wang Chong to interpose himself at a time like this.
Wang Chong said nothing, only shot a glance back at Gao Xianzhi indicating that he could rest easy.
“Great General, may I?” Wang Chong asked.
“This…”
Bahram hesitated. After scanning the surrounding rebel leaders, he quickly nodded.
“Okay!”
If anyone else were making this request, Bahram and the other rebel leaders would all be furious. This sort of request was truly too rude and could even be considered an offense.
But Wang Chong was different. Wang Chong shone over the coalition army like the noon sun, and as its supreme commander, he even exceeded Bahram in status. At this time, only Wang Chong could make this sort of request and not seem like he was overstepping his bounds.
“Many thanks!”
Wang Chong quickly walked up to the altar, which was about half as tall as a man. Without much hesitation, Wang Chong extended a palm and pressed it onto the mysterious and damaged book.
“Stone of Destiny, help me extract this book’s secrets!”
In a domain that no one else could interact with, Wang Chong communicated with the Stone of Destiny. From the moment he had stepped into this place and set eyes on the book, the Riddle of Destiny in his mind had begun to madly pulse and flash. More importantly, while everyone else was focused on the symbol of one of the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars on the bronze cover of this Elamite book, only Wang Chong had spotted that unremarkable symbol of the black eye.
…Exactly the same as the one he had seen outside.
“Translating the Book of Paimon requires 10000 points of Destiny Energy. Does user confirm?” The voice of the Stone of Destiny rang out in his mind, devoid of emotion.
Wang Chong’s heart thumped. Although he had already received indications from the Stone of Destiny that this new ability, the Riddle of Destiny, consumed exorbitant amounts of Destiny Energy, Wang Chong had not expected it to be this much.
______________1. In the 72 demons of the Ars Goetia, Paimon is a King of Hell who commands two hundred legions. He is depicted as a man with an effeminate face and riding a camel. Notably, he teaches arts, philosophies, sciences, and can reveal the mysteries to all things in the world.↩
Chapter 1195 - : The Mysterious Symbol!
Chapter 1195: The Mysterious Symbol!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Confirm!” Wang Chong declared without hesitation.
A moment later, as the crowd watched, Wang Chong’s hand began to exude a hazy light that shrouded the entire book.
The Stone of Destiny once more spoke. “Translation of the language of the ancient era has begun. Prepare to receive information. Does user wish to pay 100 points of Destiny Energy to receive the information?”
Wang Chong nodded. A moment later, within the ball of light, the book’s pages began to turn, yet they showed no signs of falling apart.
The Book of Paimon!
This ancient book from the Elam Dynasty opened its doors to Wang Chong and brought Wang Chong into this long-vanished civilization.
As page after page of this book turned, more and more information appeared in Wang Chong’s mind.
After some time, the last page turned, and the Book of Paimon was completely translated. Wang Chong opened his eyes and immediately noticed that Bahram and the other rebel leaders were staring at him in complete shock.
“Wang Chong… you…” Bahram stammered as he stared at Wang Chong.
There was simply no one that could translate the ancient book on the altar, so when Bahram had walked up to the altar, he hadn’t even considered whether Wang Chong could unlock the book’s secrets, since Wang Chong was not a Khorasani. However, based on the circumstances, it seemed that Wang Chong had actually succeeded in translating those words.
Wang Chong nodded. Seeing the expectant looks from Bahram and the rebel leaders, he did not keep them in suspense.
“This book was the work of the State Teacher of Elam, someone called Muawiya. It records the entire history of the Elam Dynasty, from its rise to its fall. But because the book is damaged, I can only combine what remains to conjecture at a part of the truth.”
Wang Chong’s words immediately made him the center of attention. The rebel leaders and Bahram all stared intently at him, frantically breathing, no calm to be seen on their faces.
The Elam Dynasty!
This had been an ancient civilization much stronger than the Sassanid Dynasty. This dynasty had accomplished many miraculous deeds and engaged in immense engineering projects. What people praised about the Elamites the most was that they had broken free of the earth. Each of them was able to fly through the sky like a bird.
In addition, they had developed many martial arts and ritual tools. Yet all these dazzling accomplishments had vanished in the space of a single night.
As Sassanids and descendants of the ancient Elamites, the people in the hall couldn’t help but pay attention.
“As the State Teacher of the Elam Dynasty, Muawiya was greatly trusted by the Kings of Elam. Moreover, he singlehandedly brought about the rise of the Elam Dynasty. He nurtured six Kings of Elam and personally watched four of them die natural deaths from old age…”
Halfway through Wang Chong’s explanation, everyone in the hall exclaimed in shock. Although Wang Chong was just repeating the words of the book, all of them understood what these words implied.
“How could that be?” a rebel leader cried out in shock. “If this is the truth, wouldn’t he have lived in the Elam Dynasty for more than two hundred years? How could a person live that long?
“And based on what he said, the Elam Dynasty was able to reach such a prosperous level entirely due to his efforts, but how could that be? How could such a powerful individual not leave any mark on history? I’ve never even heard the name of Muawiya before.”
If what Wang Chong said was true, it was certain to send a jolt through all the countries to the west of the Cong Mountains.
Wang Chong scanned the crowd, not refuting their words, and continued, “According to Muawiya’s writing, there was always a faction keeping down the Elam Dynasty, attempting time and time again to destroy it. They believed themselves to be gods and were worshiped by all, in addition to enslaving all of humanity. Muawiya spent his entire life trying to think of ways to oppose these gods, but in the end, he still failed. After his defeat in this war, the entire Elam Dynasty was buried.”
Everyone in the room had stopped breathing. The powerful Elam Dynasty had actually been destroyed by the gods! But how could this be?
“Impossible! Impossible! The Elam Dynasty was destroyed by demons. Everyone knows this! And those murals show this loud and clear. The writings of this Muawiya can’t be true!” a rebel general said. The contents of this book went against everything they knew.
“There must be something missing. These ruins can’t lie; the ancient remnants of the Elam Dynasty can’t lie. There must be something that we don’t know. Lord Protector-General, please look again. This Muawiya must have another name. Such an important individual can’t have been obscure. ‘Muawiya’ must have just been a pseudonym,” a rebel leader said.
“General is correct. ‘Muawiya’
truly was a pseudonym. He has another name: Paimon! And this book is called the Book of Paimon.”
Wang Chong stared at the rebel leader as he slowly enunciated each word.
Whoooah!
Wang Chong’s last words caused an uproar. Everyone stared at Wang Chong, speechless. Even Bahram was overcome with shock.
“Paimon! He can’t be Paimon? Isn’t that one of the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars? How could he be a human, and the State Teacher of the Elam Dynasty!”
Their minds were reeling from this revelation.
“I don’t know what’s going on here, but this Muawiya truly is Paimon. Moreover, he even mentioned that he was punished by the gods so that his body was transformed. So that this secret would not be forgotten, he had this underground palace built to pass it on,” Wang Chong sternly said.
Everyone remained silent as they tried to digest this news. Paimon of the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars was actually the architect of the Elam Dynasty’s golden age; the demon gods protected humanity, and the gods slaughtered humanity… All of this could throw one’s mind into disarray and make one think for a very long time.
“General Wang, what else did the Book of Paimon mention?” Bahram suddenly asked. “Why did the gods do this? What was their goal?”
“There’s nothing more. This Book of Paimon is damaged, and much of its information has been lost. Moreover, from the information I’ve obtained, this is only the first half of the Book of Paimon. There should be another part, but I don’t know where it is,” Wang Chong said.
“What?”
Bahram’s eyes widened in shock. This ruin had been very well-preserved, and if Muawiya was truly Paimon, he had every chance to completely write everything down.
If he had divided his work into two parts, that could only mean that he regarded this matter with utmost importance. If all of it were gathered in one place, the chances that it would all be lost were too great, so he had divided it into two parts.
“Ah! Found it!” somebody shouted, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Paimon’s ritual tool! It really is Paimon’s ritual tool!”
“Ah!”
The words ‘ritual tool’ immediately had all the other rebel leaders gathering around.
Whether the Book of Paimon was true or false was secondary. They had all ventured into this underground cave primarily to find relics of the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars. In the history of Khorasan and Arabia, anything linked to the Seventy-Two Demon God Pillars was immensely powerful.
Only Wang Chong did not go over to take a look. He drew his gaze away from the Book of Paimon and descended from the dais, but he held little interest toward Paimon’s ritual tool. At his level of cultivation, what determined whether a person was weak or strong was not some ritual tool or weapon, but their understanding of the principles of the world.
Wang Chong was far more concerned with the descriptions of those gods in the Book of Paimon.
That symbol represents the gods in the Book of Paimon. Just what connection do they have with the otherworldly invaders?
Wang Chong’s eyes were pensive as he slowly walked out of the palace.
Everyone knew that the entire world had been destroyed by the otherworldly invaders, but there were still many mysteries as to just how these otherworldly invaders had appeared. After all his investigations, there was one thing that he was now sure about. That eye symbol of the Book of Paimon had also appeared where the otherworldly invaders had appeared. It was only twice, and there had been no sign of them afterward, as if they had abruptly appeared and then vanished in the same fashion, but this only made them more suspicious.
If he could find out the secret of those black eyes, there was a chance that he could find the truth behind how these otherworldly invaders appeared, as well as where they came from and why they did what they did.
These thoughts quickly passed through his mind, and then Wang Chong shook himself from his daze and quickly climbed out of the pit.
The discovery of the Elamite ruins and Paimon’s ritual tool shook all of Khorasan and the rebel army. That night, when Wang Chong was resting in his room, he received an unexpected visitor.
“Bahram?”
Wang Chong was stunned to see the person walking in.
Bahram sat across from Wang Chong and got straight to the point. “General, you are very interested in our Khorasan and those ancient ruins?”
Wang Chong was dazed from shock. And then he remembered something and smiled.
“Great General is speaking of the pit we explored during the day?”
“I noticed that General was not very interested in Paimon’s ritual tool, but seemed to care greatly about the Elam Dynasty’s civilization and the secrets of the ancient era,” Bahram said.
While Wang Chong had been examining the surrounding murals, Bahram had been examining him. There was no question that the interest Wang Chong had shown was abnormal.
Wang Chong faintly smiled. Saying nothing, he took a brush and drew out a symbol extremely similar to the black eye symbol from the Book of Paimon on a sheet of paper.
“What is this?”
Bahram stared in shock at the mysterious symbol that Wang Chong had drawn.
“Something else from an ancient ruin, but not in Khorasan.”
Wang Chong grinned. He then explained what he had discovered about this eye symbol. But Wang Chong mentioned nothing about the apocalypse, only that he had discovered this symbol in some ancient ruins in the Central Plains.
In addition, Wang Chong explained what he had discovered in the Book of Paimon.
“So you mean that those gods that destroyed the Elam Dynasty… no matter what they were, they also appeared in the Central Plains and did something similar?” Bahram asked, the shock in his eyes evident.
“Mm.”
Wang Chong earnestly nodded.
“But this sort of thing is not impossible. After all, the Great Tang and Arabia are separated by a vast distance, but didn’t they still communicate with each other and fight a major battle at Talas? The Great Tang and the Sassanids both had powerful civilizations long ago, and for a faction to appear in both the Elam Dynasty and the Central Plains is not impossible.”
Unexpectedly, Bahram thought for a few moments and nodded.
“General, I do not know what you wish to find from these ancient ruins, but your mentioning of Paimon transforming into Muawiya and becoming State Teacher of the Elam Dynasty has reminded me of something. I remember that in Sindhu’s Hyderabad, there is a high priest. At the height of the Sassanid Dynasty’s power, when I was still a child, I had already heard of this high priest.”
Chapter 1196 - Hyderabad Mine!
Chapter 1196: Hyderabad Mine!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“The high priest has existed for an extremely long time and is almost a living myth. I once heard that he knew many ancient secrets and truths, including about the Elam Dynasty. If you are interested in the Book of Paimon and the symbol you’ve mentioned, you might be able to find him and ask a few questions.”
Bahram’s words caused Wang Chong’s eyes to brighten. After pausing a moment, Bahram continued.
“But like all people who grasp secrets and have lived for an extremely long time, the high priest of Sindhu rarely reveals himself. Many people have heard of him, but only an extremely small number have actually seen him. Not even the Sindhi of Hyderabad know his exact location. Every time, they only hear his voice but never see his figure. Moreover, even when the Emperor of my Sassanid Dynasty wanted to see him, he was not able to get his wish.
“In Khorasan and the surrounding regions, that person is a god-like existence. Out of respect for him, no one has ever tried to meddle in Sindhu. If you wish to find him, you should go there and take a look.”
Bahram’s words were like a boulder splashing into the lake of Wang Chong’s mind, stirring up countless waves.
The war was over and
Arabia had lost many people. No matter how muddle-headed or impulsive Mutasim III was, he would not be launching another war any time soon. With this period of peace, he might truly have a chance to take a trip to Sindhu.
Moreover, Sindhu possessed an enormous amount of Hyderabad ore. Now that Arabia had been defeated, he might be able to negotiate with the Sindhi to obtain the quota usually set aside for Arabia.
……
The coalition army quickly ratified Wang Chong’s articles. Based on these rules, anyone who disrespected the Great Tang disrespected the coalition army. Bahram and the other rebel leaders embraced this article even more enthusiastically than the Great Tang had.
If the Great Tang was willing to establish this rule, it indicated that it was willing to establish a base here, which was exactly what Bahram and the rebel leaders wanted to see.
Meanwhile, with Feng Changqing present, he immediately began to display his superb skills in logistics. Through a series of decisions, he succeeded in greatly boosting the opinion of the people of Khorasan toward the Great Tang.
And as long as it could rule over the people of Khorasan, the Great Tang could similarly gain the allegiance of the people in other places.
Ten-some days later, with the arrival of the first batch of family members from the great clans, the Great Tang formally hammered its first nail into Khorasan, and everything began to travel on the right course.
At this time, Wang Chong handed over everything to Gao Xianzhi, Wang Yan, and Su Hanshan, while he himself took Li Siye, Cui Piaoqi, the Gangke King, and Zhang Shouzhi, as well as one thousand Wushang Cavalry. Setting out from Khorasan, they traveled northwest toward Sindhu.
……
After traveling for seven or eight days, the group finally entered new territory.
“This… this is Sindhu? What a barren place!”
Atop a muscular horse, Xue Qianjun took in the view before him in shock. He knew that Sindhu was a very poor place, and he knew that Sindhu was different from all the other empires, but only by stepping on its soil did he know just how ‘different’ Sindhu was.
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 753