"The Spirit Temple is the site of a primordial sect that is said to have existed even before the XiGuang Province joined the Voracious Cloud Continent, " the guide described it, leading the way down a path through thick vegetation.
The trio had joined a group of cultivators and tourists for the guided tour outside the northern gate of Konan. It was almost evening, with the sun slowly getting closer to the horizon, as they made their way through the jungle.
"Why did you allow me to eat the noodles when you knew we were up for a hike?" Fin complained about Seth's back. The fairy still felt sick and was too stubborn to use healing magic on herself. Secretly, Seth knew she just took advantage of the situation to have him give her a piggyback ride, but who said she was the only one using this chance?
The blacksmith could imagine worse than having to carry his cute wife on his back. Her body rubbed against his back, and his hands explored places... Mina only rolled her eyes at their naughty play.
"We are almost there!" the guide announced from the front, after just 30 minutes of walking. Apparently, the city had expanded in the past, which was the reason that the ruins were not that far away from the city gates, just northwest of Konan
Ahead, they could see the silhouette of a mountain with a steep cliff on one side, sticking out from the jungle like a sore thumb. The sky was slowly turning an orange hue as they walked up the serpentine path that led up the mountainside.
"You may wonder why the temple was built on such a steep cliff, and the answer may surprise you. It was not. Originally, the Spirit Temple was built on top of a mountain here. Over its long history, it was occupied by many sects, but the last great sect was the Three Vessel One Mind Sect. They were wiped out by a terrifying immortal from one of the three sacred lands," he paused to let the information sink in.
"Afterward, only a couple of small sects, seeking the inheritance of the Three Vessel One Mind Sect, tried to settle here, modifying what remained of the original Spirit Temple. However, the current temple has been unoccupied for over three centuries, despite various cultivator seeking their fortune here," the guide explained as they finally reached the summit.
Before them was an impressive megalithic stone structure unlike anything Seth knew from Urth's history. Gargantuan slabs of rock made up the outer walls, covered in carvings of humanoid figures. The incredible details it must have once had were completely washed away by millennia of weathering.
"This gate was installed by the last sect that tried to occupy the temple and is not the original," the guide explained, pointing at the big black gates that stood wide open, showing severe signs of rot. Beyond the gate was what had to be the main building of the Spirit Temple.
It was a massive stone structure, built from the same giant slabs, reaching at least 15m into the sky. If it wasn't for the perfect fitting of the stones despite their age and washed-out carving, it would have looked primitive, but despite the simplicity of the structure, it emitted an aura of skill even now.
Within the walls were many buildings that looked clearly out of place. The later additions of people occupying this place were obvious. It was not just that they were clearly aged and falling apart after 300 years without maintenance.
Despite showing an architecture closer to the "modern" look of Konan, they looked nothing but crude and makeshift, compared to the megalithic brilliance the original architects had left behind. Seth was actually reminded of the works of dwarven craftsmen when looking at the original structure.
They also paled in comparison with the massive trees that had taken over the temple complex. They had organically integrated with the massive architecture, giving another layer of enchanting mystery, while crushing the newer additions.
"Everybody, please follow me. We will explore the temple in due time, but we have to catch the moment to witness the true Spirit Temple," the guide announced to them, breaking them out of their fascination at the sight of the entrance.
They followed the guide through the temple to the cliff. Seeing the backside of the giant central temple lent credence to the guide's story. The temple walls went all the way to the edge of the cliff, where they simply ended. The back walls of the structure were clearly the work of later occupants, when the original building would have led even further.
A low, rotting railing went along the edge of the cliff, mostly so non-cultivators would not fall to their death. The cliff below showed the mentioned modifications, where several small buildings were attached to the underground levels of the original structure.
Seth suppressed a whistle when he looked down the cliff and saw the scene below. If the suddenly ending walls were not enough to prove the story, then this was.
Below them was a dense jungle, but even within the unbroken sea of leaves, they could see the indentation of a massive palm that had lowered the ground level by tens of meters. Within the palm print, they could see the jagged corpse of a mountain the forest had tried to swallow.
It reminded Seth of the technique the old master of the Silk River Sect had used against the guardian tree, although the aura of this print gave a completely different vibe. He didn't know why he felt so, but this gave him more of an impression of ultimate strength and weight than the annihilation he felt from the palm of the Silk River Elder.
"Just in time," the guide said with a bright smile and gestured at the empty air before them. At that moment, the last sliver of the sun vanished between the mountains on the horizon. Its last glimpse was an emerald spark that sprang into the air.
"This is the Spirit Temple," he announced.
In the twilight of the evening, this spark turned into an illusion. The translucent, green spirit of the mountain, as it once was, stood before them. The giant temple complex they saw today was merely the entrance to a giant structure that covered a mountain at least 200m higher than where they were currently.
The megalithic temple covered the whole mountain, making it look like a ziggurat of giants, topped by a giant bell tower. The bells in the tower tolled silently. The whole temple was teeming with people walking the halls or flying in its surroundings.
While the shape of the mountains and the temple was sharp and clear, the silhouettes of people and plants were fleeting shadows, blurry and fading in their motion and mortality. Only the mountain and the temple were unchanging.
"What in the world is this?" "So this is the Spirit Temple?" "How can this be?!" "Are they trapped?" Various cultivators exclaimed at the sight of this shocking scene.
Even Seth gaped at the sight. His main class was literally Spirit Blacksmith, but he had no idea what exactly he was currently looking at. One thing was clear: they were neither ghosts nor remnants of souls.
"Please calm down, everyone. Ever since the appearance of the phenomenon, there were many elders and experts of great sects who came to find out the secret of the apparition. I can assure you they are neither ghosts nor spirit cultivators. Nobody has ever found a secret grant technique, natural formation, or artifact that caused it, either. The general consensus is that this is -"
"The memories of the land," Seth mumbled.