CHAPTER 243: “WHAT HAPPENED HERE?”

Hearing Carlotta’s words, Amelia, Sheena, and Selina followed closely behind.

They passed through the alley, advancing along the winding path. It wasn’t long before a graveyard appeared within Carlotta’s vision.

In such a vast city, all kinds of buildings and facilities could be seen. The existence of a graveyard didn’t seem particularly strange.

Inside the graveyard, tombstones stood neatly arranged, numerous at a glance. Each bore inscriptions, and after glancing at several, Carlotta noted the writing originated from different worlds.

"Who were those buried here originally? Why were they buried here?"

Carlotta murmured softly, curiosity stirring in her heart.

The tombstones only indicate who was buried beneath, not their identities or origins, making it difficult for Carlotta to judge.

"How is this possible?"

Suddenly, Sheena let out a startled cry.

"What’s wrong?"

Carlotta looked over, puzzled.

Sheena now stood before a tombstone, staring at the characters carved upon it, her expression one of disbelief. Her breathing had become heaviest.

She took a deep breath, struggling to compose herself, then whispered, "Chelseawick’s Grave... How could this be? She’s actually buried here?"

"Who is she? Someone you knew?"

Carlotta asked.

Sheena replied with a complicated expression, "She was an Exalted from our world. As you said, she was someone I knew. I studied under her for a long time."

She was Sheena’s elder, and also an Exalted.

Hearing this, Carlotta couldn’t help but show surprise, glancing at the tombstone in astonishment. She hadn’t expected this to be the grave of an Exalted.

Exalteds were the strongest beings beneath the gods themselves. The tombstone left behind by such a being was naturally hard to ignore.

Carlotta said, "Your world has already perished, and even the gods have fallen. The fate of your friends, even family, isn’t difficult to guess. You should’ve already prepared yourself mentally."

Sheena had mentally prepared herself, but silently facing a familiar tombstone still stirred waves within her heart.

And... Why was the tombstone here?

Why not in her own world?

She already knew this place was the world used for the gods’ experiments. But why did her acquaintance come here? Was she participating in the gods’ experiments? And ultimately, why had she perished in this world?

"I really want to know how she died."

Sheena said softly, turning to Carlotta. "Your partner can replay memories of the past, right? Could you let me see the memories of this tombstone?"

Carlotta recalled, "Don’t you think such memories are too ancient? How could memories so distant be revived? My partner isn’t a god."

Sheena realized the point and could only sigh.

Perhaps she would never know why the one who treated her like a daughter had met such an end.

Carlotta let Sheena remain there and continue forward herself. She had come here because she felt a familiar presence.

After walking only a few steps, a familiar figure appears beside a tombstone ahead.

It was the High Priestess.

The High Priestess had previously left with Sarman and the others to investigate the Impressions. Later, she had departed alone, and Carlotta hadn’t expected to meet her again in this place.

The High Priestess stood gazing at a tombstone, her expression seemed distant. The person buried beneath might also be someone important to her heart.

As Carlotta approached, the High Priestess noticed her and softly asked, "Why are you here? Did you come looking for me?"

"Yes. Did you find anything?"

Carlotta asked.

The High Priestess shook her head. "Nothing much. Those Impressions don’t even know they are Impressions. It was quite unexpected for me to discover this place, and... some surprisingly familiar names."

"Someone you knew?"

Carlotta gestured toward the tombstone.

"Yes. an Exalted from our world. We had a good relationship."

The High Priestess spoke with a complex look in her eyes.

Exalted, throughout long ages, had never been numerous. Those from the same world could be considered kindred spirits. She truly hadn’t expected that meeting an old acquaintance again would be under such circumstances.

Carlotta was somewhat surprised. "Another Exalted?"

"Yes. All of them are Exalted."

The High Priestess nodded. "This is a graveyard specifically for Exalted."

Carlotta’s expression instantly shows astonishment.

She looked around. Tombstones stood one after another, in great numbers. Could it be that all these people buried here were Exalted?

Even if combining Exalted from all eight worlds buried here, wouldn’t the number still be too large?

Carlotta voiced her confusion, deeply perplexed.

The High Priestess replied, "Perhaps it spans more than one generation."

Carlotta paused.

The High Priestess slowly said, "Actually, I don’t recognize everyone. I only know that the ones I recognize are all Exalted, so I deduce everyone buried here are Exalted. It couldn’t be those beneath Exalted, because I haven’t found even a single person I recognize who wasn’t an Exalted."

Her judgment wasn’t baseless. She speculated that the existence of this city wasn’t brief, but had endured across an extremely long span of time. Throughout that vast period, generation after generation had risen, which might explain why so many Exalteds were buried here.

Hearing the High Priestess’s words, Carlotta’s thoughts drifted far, imagining what might have happened in that distant past.

People from numerous worlds had crossed boundaries into this realm. What exactly had they done with the gods?

Carlotta was truly curious. She felt it might have been an incredibly epic era, countless people migrating across worlds alongside gods, engaging in mysterious endeavors. She even wished she could return to that time and testify it firsthand.

Unfortunately, time cannot be reversed.

"Did you find anything?"

The High Priestess then asked Carlotta.

She felt she had spent too long in remembrance. Perhaps Carlotta had discovered something during this time.

In fact, Carlotta indeed had some findings.

First, she recounted her discoveries in the Divine Land, expressing regret over the lack of findings there.

Then she mentioned her discoveries at the Temple, pointing out a group who knew about the past, even aware they were Impressions.

The High Priestess was somewhat distracted as she listened, not expecting Carlotta to have discovered so much in such a short time.

While explaining to the High Priestess, Carlotta herself suddenly thought of a question.

If Exalted had emerged generation after generation, shouldn’t the non-Exalted Weavers have done the same?

But earlier in the temple, the people she saw all knew each other, clearly belonging to the same era. How could that be?

Carlotta asked this question to the High Priestess, but even she couldn’t provide an answer.

Their understanding of the past was still far too limited.

"Your discoveries already surpass mine by far. Perhaps I should just continue staying by your side. Wandering alone hasn’t yielded me much at all."

The High Priestess couldn’t help but smile wryly.

"Then keep following me from now on."

Carlotta grinned.

She truly needed such a powerful fighter beside her. That way, if any trouble arose, she wouldn’t have to worry.

"Let’s go."

The High Priestess ceases her reverie.

The past was already gone. Those who still lived could only move forward, searching for the answers they needed.

The group immediately departed. Seeing Carlotta about to leave, Sheena quickly followed.

"Huh? This is..."

As soon as Sheena caught up, her expression changed.

She stared at the High Priestess, her features shifting repeatedly as she recognized who this woman was.

Although the woman no longer wore the highly powerful priestly garments of old, she was still invisible.

"Highness Hernandez!"

Sheena was shocked, unable to believe she was actually encountering a living legendary figure here.

Bova Hernandez, the High Priestess of the Second World, among the Exalted of that world, was the foremost.

Such a figure’s reputation shakes every world. How could Sheena possibly not recognize Her Excellency?

"It’s you. I’ve seen you before."

The High Priestess gave a slight nod, strengthened Sheena.

"G-Greetings Her Highness Hernandez."

Sheena spoke respectfully.

"No need to be so formal."

The High Priestess waved her hand, indifferent to such formalities.

After all, even her own world no longer exists. The rules and regulations from that world naturally didn’t require excessive adherence anymore.

She told Sheena she was now traveling with Carlotta, exploring the mysteries of the past. Because her condition was unstable, with significant memory loss, she needed to actively seek answers.

Upon hearing this, Sheena couldn’t help but glance at Carlotta a few more times, surprised that Carlotta had actually earned the High Priestess’s recognition.

This made her even more convinced that her previous decision had been correct, she should have acknowledged Carlotta as the leader of their Impression Entities, unlike that useless Gaoh.

Suddenly, Sheena seemed to remember something and asked in astonishment, "Your Excellency, you aren’t an Impression Entity?"

"I am the original body."

The High Priestess replied, then added, "Have you ever seen an Impression Entity at the level of an Exalted?"

Sheena shook her head. She truly hadn’t.

The High Priestess said, "The state of Exalted differs from others. Their souls and bodies have contained unfathomable transformations, making it impossible to create Impression Entities... Hmm, this is my conclusion based on discoveries in this city."

Sheena gasped in awe, her inner respect deepening even further.

This wasn’t an Impression Entity, it was the original body, preserved all the way from the distant past. What an astonishing thing.

"We Impression Entities were personally sealed by gods, and in the end, we could only revive after our ranks were downgraded. The fact that Your Excellency can remain in this state is truly amazing."

Sheena sighed.

"How do you know the gods haven’t helped me?"

The High Priestess replied.

Still, in the end, she had lost much of her memory and her fighting strength was no longer at its peak.

At this point, the High Priestess paused and said, "Perhaps you weren’t transformed into Impression Entities and sealed away back in the distant past. Rather, your impressions persisted through various means across time, enduring an extremely long period before recently materializing, turning from intangible to tangible, thus becoming Impression Entities. You simply might not have realized this."

This was the High Priestess’s judgment.

Because if these Impression Entities had already existed in ancient times and were merely sealed by gods, then the gods could have preserved her in a much better state, rather than leaving her now with reduced strength and missing memories.

After all, even her body still bore remnants of a broken divine artifact.

Of course, this was only one possibility.

Another possibility was that, after she was incapacitated and sealed, the gods developed new, more advanced techniques.

But if the gods had indeed developed more advanced methods, there would be no reason for them not to have relocated her and provided a better environment.

In short, events of the past, being difficult to verify, were shrouded in layers of mystery. She truly couldn’t grasp the truth.

"Perhaps even my words aren’t accurate. Who knows what the truth really is? Even if my memories fully returned, I probably still wouldn’t know, because judging from the city’s condition, I was already incapacitated when this city came into existence."

The High Priestess sighed.

Sheena looked at the High Priestess with complex eyes.

Although she possessed the complete memories of the original body, she truly didn’t know when exactly this High Priestess had fallen into trouble. But she had heard rumors of a terrifying war that once devastated the Second World.

Now that she thought about it carefully, in her memories, this High Priestess indeed hadn’t appeared publicly for a very long time.

"Let’s return to the temple first."

Carlotta said to the two of them.

After speaking, she turned to explain the situation to Amelia. She knew Amelia couldn’t understand, and if the three of them kept talking without clarifying, it would inevitably leave her confused and frustrated.

Of course, Carlotta only did this because she didn’t want to exclude Amelia. If Amelia weren’t present, and only Selina were here, she probably wouldn’t have bothered to explain anything at all.

The group continued forward, exchanging words as they traversed the streets. It didn’t take long before they returned to the temple in the city’s corner.

But the temple was unexpectedly quiet. When they arrived, scattered footprints, torn fissures, and collapsed halls littered the ground.

Everyone here had vanished, but it was clear a battle had taken place.

"What happened here?"

Carlotta couldn’t help but frown, her gaze sweeping across with a probing intensity.

Clearly, something unexpected had occurred, and most likely, nothing good.