Genius Noble With System-Chapter 475: Sacred Altar

"As I see it, the people here carry bloodlines that descend from later eras," Seraphiel said, his gaze sweeping over the warriors of the Sacred Light Empire.

"They seem to have split from their original source over time... eventually becoming entirely new beings."

His eyes lingered on the golden wings behind Lucifer and the others, a faint trace of curiosity—and disdain—hidden within them.

"Your kind," he continued calmly, "originated from a purer lineage. But as eras passed, that bloodline diluted, evolved, and diverged... until it formed what you now call ’angels’."

The words struck like a silent blow.

Lucifer’s expression stiffened, while Michael’s fists clenched unconsciously.

To them, their bloodline was sacred—something to be proud of.

Yet in Seraphiel’s eyes, it was nothing more than a distant, weakened offshoot of something far greater.

Apollo, however, remained calm. Although the truth was a bit surprising, it doesn’t matter to him from where the angel clan came from; what he wanted to know was more about the ruins or the so-called forgotten land.

Seraphiel continued not caring about Lucifer and others from the sacred light empire. "As for this valley, I did find it special and decided to sleep here."

"In fact, I can take you there and let you see exactly why this valley is different." He said, looking calmly at Apollo.

The offer came too easily.

Apollo’s eyes narrowed slightly.

For someone who had just moments ago stood as a potential enemy—and a powerful one at that—Seraphiel’s willingness to reveal the secrets of this place felt unnatural and out of place.

Suspicion quietly rose in his mind.

There was no such thing as kindness without reason in a place like this. Especially not from an old monstrous being who has lived since ancient eras and who knows how many lives they slaughtered.

Yet...

He remained silent for a moment, weighing everything.

His current strength was no longer what it used to be. The transformation after returning from the empyrean sword realm and his overwhelming comprehension of rules—all of it had elevated him to a level where even a second-order transcendent was no longer an untouchable existence.

Even if something went wrong...

He was confident he could handle it.

At the very least, he wouldn’t be powerless.

"Alright," Apollo finally said, his tone calm but firm. "Lead the way."

Seraphiel gave a faint, almost imperceptible smile.

"Follow me."

Without another word, he turned and stepped back into the mist-filled depths of the valley.

The hundreds of black-and-gold-winged fallen parted silently, forming a path.

He moved forward without hesitation and went deep within the valley to the core of it.

Behind him, Lucifer and the others exchanged uneasy glances—but in the end, they followed, as although they learned the major secret of their ancestral clan, they still wanted to know what was hidden here, and more importantly, they didn’t feel safe without Apollo’s presence.

They, after travelling for some time, finally arrived at the centre of this mysterious valley.

And what they saw, surprisingly, was a temple which was radiating the holy and dark aura at the same time.

Surrounding it were towering statues.

Some bore six wings, others four—but all of them resembled beings that were similar to angels or fully fallen. Their expressions were solemn, almost divine, yet there was an eerie stillness to them... like guardians frozen in time.

Golden light flowed along one half of their forms, while the other half was veiled in darkness.

Apollo’s eyes lingered on them longer than the others.

Something about this place, whether it was the temple or the statues, felt different. It was as if they represented something that shouldn’t exist under normal universal laws.

Even he couldn’t fully grasp it.

Not yet, at least.

"This is the place," Seraphiel said calmly, his voice echoing faintly in the still air.

"This temple... is the reason this valley exists as it does."

With that said, he led them to enter the temple.

Apollo followed calmly, but he remained alert as he became quite sure this place or temple had something very, very wrong about it. But he also felt the mysterious power that made the power of light and darkness combined could be a great help for him who understands quite a lot of rules.

If he can get hints on how to perfectly merge all the rules he understands, then his strength will increase again. Otherwise, with his current level of strength, every bit of improvement would take him decades or even hundreds of years.

To others, that speed would be considered monstrous.

To him, it was unbearably slow.

But this place...

Might change that.

If he could uncover the secret behind this perfect merging of opposing forces—if he could grasp even a fragment of it—then perhaps he could find a way to integrate all the rules he had comprehended.

Not just coexist. But truly become one.

And that... would elevate his strength to an entirely new level.

A faint, almost imperceptible smile appeared on his lips.

Risk?

Of course there was risk.

But power had never come without it.

As they moved deeper into the temple, the light and darkness around them grew denser, intertwining like living entities. The air itself felt heavier, as if carrying the weight of ancient truths long buried.

And they finally arrived in front of a golden altar, bigger than most mountains, glowing with a scared and mind-calming aura.

This is the Sacred Altar. If you cultivate with the power of the altar, you will get blessed; even transcendent beings like myself also get a massive boost in understanding and cultivation."

As he spoke, his gaze fell on Apollo.

For a brief moment, a trace of fanaticism flickered in his eyes—

A deep, almost obsessive reverence. But just as quickly, it disappeared, hidden beneath his usual calm.

Apollo noticed. Of course he did.

His eyes lingered on the altar, but his thoughts were elsewhere. He outwardly didn’t show any emotion and silently scanned the altar.

He carefully felt everything about the altar, whether the enlightening mysterious energy or the mysterious aura around it, which appeared harmless, but the more he looked, the more he felt something was weird about it.