The ancient parchment had changed color, and while it was magically protected from decay, eight centuries of time (Earth Time) still left mottled marks on it. Just as Hao Ren thought, the witch trapped here wrote down all her affairs after finding that there was no hope of returning home, and now these blackened papers quietly tell the short life of an ordinary, wandering female magician in this strange space.

"Whoever reads these letters, if you can recognize the words on them, I extend to you my sincerest kindness and blessings, and may the radiance of knowledge and mysteries bless you from wandering here as I am. My name is Beatrice, and I'm from another world, and I'm sure you're too.

"I came to this place in search of knowledge and mysteries, and after a hellish adventure, I fell into the abyss and ended up trapped here. In a sense, I got my wish, I learned and was exposed to miracles that I had not imagined for thousands of years, and I believe that even the gods of antiquity would not know the deep mysteries of this world. Almost all my ideas and knowledge systems have been completely turned upside down here, and no amount of space I have to describe the amazement I felt when I saw this underground world is not enough, and I hope to share the joy of this discovery, but unfortunately, I can't go back, so I can only record it on parchment......

Hao Ren quickly brushed aside the less important passages, and only skimmed through Beatrice's early records in the world, and he found that the witch had received a lot of help from the locals since she had been in exile. The Fire Tribe is a hospitable tribe, and they don't show much hostility towards strangers of unknown origin. In fact, because Beatrice happens to be good at some fire magic. These skills of hers are taken by the people of the tribe as evidence of being close to the elements of nature, and in this world. Harmony with the natural elements is a testament to "good quality", so it was easy for Beatrice to form a friendly relationship with the locals.

She and the "Fire Witch" of the time. That is, the tribal saint became friends. The friendship between the two is amazing: in this world, the superficial elemental magic is widely known, but the more advanced magical knowledge has been lost, and only the saint and the tribal warrior can rely on the help of bloodlines or artifacts to access the advanced magic, and the warriors only use these powers to fight, and the only ones who really delve into the magic are the saint and her apprentice. Beatrice's arrival has breathed new life into a world of depleted knowledge, and the Holy Maiden of the Fire Tribe has found a partner with whom she can study ancient knowledge.

Together, they studied the lost ancient symbols, the ancient memories engraved in the blood instincts, and in just a few years, the two became close friends. They have even restored many ancient magical artifacts - the "phlogiston lamp" seen in the Wind Tribe was made by Beatrice. She deciphered the method of making this ancient artifact from the totemic text of the Fire Tribe.

Another story was the cure of the plague with black spots, which cemented Beatrice's reputation among the locals, and she was no longer even regarded as a foreigner, and the people of the tribe regarded her as a "child of the goddess" like themselves, except that this person had just fallen from the Pillar of Eternity.

“…… I spent many years here, and at first life was a bit difficult, I had to learn unfamiliar words, languages, customs and even food habits from scratch, and I remember that one of the plants here almost killed me at first, but it was the most common food eaten by the locals. That was the first time I had an intuitive sense of what a 'different world' is. But anyway, things are getting better, and it's a place where you can live smoothly, and I even like it a little bit. In my hometown. People like me are taboo - because times are changing, the use of magic is declining, and a war between races is coming to an end. And a 'witch' or 'witch' like me is the losing side. I don't have much to remember in my hometown, and the days of hiding in Tibet and being terrified are not worth remembering. It might be nice to live here - at least for a while. That's what I thought.

“…… In my spare time, I also observe the lives of the locals. I was interested in their religion and the way they lived, and more importantly, I was interested in the state of the world. What kind of power can create another layer of earth on top of it? It's an almost fantastical concept, but it's happening in this world. According to local legends, I believe that this world was never like this in the first place, and that some unimaginable force changed the place......

“…… The locals believe that the pillars that support heaven and earth are the arms of giants, and in their religious beliefs, the shadow of 'giant creatures' can be seen everywhere except for the 'goddess'. The giants held up the sky, the clouds were the smoke of a giant monster breathing, and they believed that the wind in the steppe was yawning from a giant beast named 'Haku', and that the whole world was even built on a hunchbacked old man named 'Toka', who was the gardener of the goddess, and on the back of this gardener the goddess completed the work of Genesis. There are so many legends like this, full of grotesqueness, I can't help but think of the strange 'gods' in my hometown in ancient times. But these legends don't seem to be laughed at, they are grotesque but surprisingly clear and rigorous, and they seem to have happened, but they have been distorted by history.

"Yes, the heritage of history, the heritage of the locals is a more interesting topic. I have found that these people have had a civilization of great magnificence, which is probably even higher than that of my homeland. This civilization is broken, no doubt due to the events of antiquity that caused the heavens to close. In some of the ancient frescoes and tablet books, I could see what that ancient civilization had created: self-driving vehicles, universal flying machines, magic-powered rock guards and iron giants, and even floating in mid-air called 'Moro?' Trust's Magic City. But these things are gone, buried deep in the cracks in the earth......

“…… There is a very interesting phenomenon, according to my research, the Celestial Dome Closure event caused the world to lose more than half of its population, and the rest of the population gradually withered in the years that followed, but this withering process was not entirely caused by a disaster, but more like a conscious control of the survivors. I found a lot of ancient tablet records of planned population reductions, and found that the tribes scattered all over the world followed a strict schedule to reduce their numbers even during the period of disconnection, and that about three thousand years ago - I mean according to the world's concept of time - they kept the population to the size it is today, and that number has not changed since.

“…… The birth of newborns is strictly controlled, and they use ancient drugs to control when new offspring can be produced. The newborn also undergoes a ritual training process to ensure that the newborn child can fully undertake his or her work in the tribe and is not so prone to premature death. There is every indication that although these natives did not know what it meant to live in an underground world, they were well aware of the fragility and barrenness of the world, and perhaps the control of population and civilization was to reduce consumption - a concept that had been handed down from antiquity, and although no one knew the meaning behind it, they followed the teachings of their ancestors strictly. So who taught them to control consumption in this way? Maybe it's just that goddess.

"I even suspect that they have a way to control the intelligence and thinking of newborns – I found ingredients in their daily spices that have an effect on the brain. These spices only slightly inhibit brain activity and are not very harmful, but I think it is this kind of inhibition that is just right to bring the pace of civilization to a halt. It has been thousands of years since the 'Heavenly Dome Closed', which is enough time for them to rebuild the ancient kingdom, but they are still living an almost primitive life, which should be the result of intentional or unintentional control...... It's a pity that I don't have much time to test, and I can't verify these conjectures. And even if it does, what if? I can't reverse their religious traditions, they regard religion as extremely important, after thousands of years of drug infection and traditional education, many ancient teachings have become something flowing in their blood, as an outsider, I still don't interfere as well......"

Hao Ren suddenly raised his head from the pile of old papers and looked at Bernia, who was honestly in a daze next to him: "Let me see the spices you usually use for the baptism of newborns." (To be continued......)