Chapter 294: Catacombs Theories

　　As the Catacomb language class continued, Fang Ping learned even more about the Catacombs.

　　“According to our many years of investigation and theories, we can see the world of the Catacombs as a circular plane.”

　　The old expert may specialize in languages, but one who studied languages must also be an expert in everything else related to the Catacombs. Only then could they make conjectures about the language according to the real situation in the Catacombs.

　　As he spoke, the old expert drew a circle on the blackboard.

　　He immediately followed up by drawing some vague shapes outside the circle.

　　“Beyond this circular land is the ocean. A boundless ocean with no end in sight.

　　“As for the circular land itself, no one can tell how large it is. The geographical locations of the Catacomb entrances do not make for much of a reference.

　　“The outer circle of this circular land is divided into many territories!”

　　The old expert drew another circle in the middle circle, and his eyes shone with some passion as he said, “These territories are actually the Magic City Catacombs, Capital City Catacomb, Tiannan Catacomb et cetera, as we know them…

　　“They’re connected, and yet they’re not. Or rather, there could be a membrane separating them.

　　“However, there’s another large territory at the center of the continent. We call it the Central Territory for now.

　　“It’s most likely that the path connecting the main Catacombs exists in this Central Territory.

　　“In other words, if we want to go from one Catacomb to another, we can’t try to cross over from either side. All we can do is walk deeper in until we reach the Central Territory.

　　“Once we get there, we might be able to make a passageway to the other Catacombs via the Central Territory.

　　“When we say powerhouses from the depths of the Catacombs, we probably mean powerhouses from the Central Territory.”

　　Everyone listened carefully. All of them really did not really know much about these things.

　　The Catacombs were just too dangerous, so those who were not Grandmasters could only hang around the outskirts. Entering the depths of the Catacombs meant putting your life on the edge. No one would bat an eye even if a Grandmaster-level powerhouse went missing without a trace.

　　Over the past few years, it was not as though humans never considered going deeper in. The problem was they faced terrible dangers every time they tried.

　　Even a Rank-9 powerhouse ventured the depths of the Catacombs with a high probability of no return.

　　Fang Ping raised his hand and waited for the old expert to nod before he immediately asked, “Teacher, does that mean that we can say the Catacombs humans we’ve met so far are all just slum residents from the furthest outskirts of the Catacombs world?

　　“Are they attacking Earth and trying to open the passageways because they can’t enter the Central Territory, but they don’t want to be ruled by the Central Territory either? Could it be that they want to expand to a new world as their backup, or to start a colony?”

　　The old expert mused it over for a while before saying, “We can’t be sure if they’re considered slum residents, and for now, we can’t confirm that the Central Territory is more prosperous and powerful than the outskirts either.

　　“We humans have never set foot in the Central Territory, and there is actually a barrier between the outskirts and the Central Territory.

　　“The two are separated by a giant and seemingly endless mountain range. This inner circle that I drew here may actually represent the mountain range itself. It blocks free movement between the outer and inner areas!

　　“Within these mountains, there are countless powerful Catacombs beasts.

　　“We believe that there should be a safe passageway between the inner and outer areas, but this safe passageway is probably under the control of powerhouses from the Central Territory.

　　“There are plenty of Rank-9 powerhouses.

　　“As for why the Catacombs humans are attacking Earth, we’ve come up with a few hypotheses over the years.

　　“Firstly, just as you suggested, perhaps they hope to expand to a new world, a safe new world. Compared to the Catacombs, Earth is actually much safer.

　　“Here, there are no uber-powerful beasts or treacherous traps.

　　“Here, they don’t have to constantly worry about beast attacks. They don’t have to struggle for their survival.

　　“However… This slightly contradicts the Catacombs merge theory. According to our predictions, if there are too many passageways, it could end with the two worlds merging.

　　“Once they do, safety is no longer an issue of concern.

　　“Secondly, they could just be out to conquer. Upon discovering a new world and finding out that the humans of this new world are not strong, it’s perfectly normal for them to want to conquer Earth.

　　“After all, many years ago, humans here were truly quite weak. We barely had any Grandmasters at all.

　　“Back then, if they could open up the passageways, Earth would practically be theirs for the taking.

　　“Thirdly, there might be something on Earth that is extremely beneficial to them.”

　　The old expert hesitated slightly before saying, “I can’t say for sure, but in my opinion, the third option might be the most likely.

　　“Because if they were doing it to conquer or expand, they wouldn’t have to kill every human they saw.

　　“Also, when Catacombs martial artists rushed into the human world, they almost never hesitated. They killed everyone on sight, and never once did they consider taking any captives.

　　“A few of my old friends and I have a shaky conjecture.

　　“We believe that there’s something on Earth that they want to get their hands on, no matter what.

　　“They could be killing humans as a sacrifice.

　　“Perhaps it is necessary for them to massacre the locals here.

　　“Of course, they may have seen how weak we were way back then, and that’s why they never considered negotiating with us. Their initial aim could be to exterminate all of humanity.

　　“However, they underestimated the abilities and potential of the human race. Besides, technology has been modernizing rapidly. Some of the Catacombs Catacombs powerhouses who rushed out of the passageways back then hadn’t actually died at the hands of martial artists. No, they were killed by technology.

　　“After that…”

　　The old expert hesitated again and thought it over before he said, “After that, the Catacombs humans may have thought of attacking the human race from the inside. I have been speculating that the founders of the current cults may be some of the powerhouses that had entered the Catacombs in the past.

　　“These people may have been in the Catacombs back then, and they might have made contact with the higher-ups in the Catacombs. They may even have struck a deal with them.

　　“Perhaps these people are the ones who truly know what the Catacombs are after.

　　“However, the founders of these cults are all very well hidden.”

　　The old expert’s expression was a little pained as he said, “Before they reveal themselves, cult martial artists are exactly the same as human martial artists. We can’t tell them apart.

　　“These people could be hiding right next to us. They could even have positions in high places.

　　“However, they may be too afraid to show themselves because they don’t have enough power. Or perhaps they are plotting something.

　　“Right now, the cult martial artists that we’re killing, including the higher-ups of the cults, are all just pawns who have never entered the Catacombs. They may have joined the cult at a later date, or perhaps they were brainwashed and raised by the cults themselves.

　　“We have never been able to find the true masterminds.”

　　Everyone looked a little pale upon hearing his words, so the old expert laughed and said, “Of course, we don’t have to worry too much either. Even if my conjecture is true, these people would be a tiny minority, and they wouldn’t be the real higher-up leaders of human society.

　　“After all, the true top dogs of human society have passed hundreds and thousands of stringent checks.

　　“Besides, the cults have been around for a long time, so the founders from back then must be old by now. Our current leaders are mostly picked from middle-aged fighters in their peak.”

　　With that, the old expert laughed again and changed the topic. “Aside from those three points above, there is another possibility.

　　“And that is they are aiming for Earth itself!”

　　“Earth itself?”

　　“That’s right. In the vast universe, there are countless planets, moons, and stars.

　　“However, of all the planets we’ve discovered over all these years, Earth is the only one with any signs of life. That already shows how special Earth is.

　　“As for the Catacombs, you may have noticed that they don’t know anything about planets or stars.

　　“There is a high chance that the Catacombs are not a planet on their own. They’re just too large. If the Catacombs really are a separate planet, the difference in gravity may prevent us humans from surviving there once we enter.

　　“To the Catacombs, Earth may be a completely unique thing altogether.

　　“I mentioned the Merge Theory earlier, but I think we should change it to the Sacrifice Theory or Devouring Theory. The Catacombs may, in fact, be trying to devour Earth.

　　“Once it does, the energy density of the Catacombs may increase exponentially, or it might turn from a non-living being to a living entity.

　　“In truth, Earth is alive.

　　“At one point, it starts dying. That means it has a life and a lifespan, whereas the world of the Catacombs may not!”

　　The old expert was getting carried away, and he did not pay attention to what his audience was thinking as he continued, “Humans, including Catacombs humans, are all constantly seeking evolution. The evolution of life.

　　“What if the Catacombs are also intrinsically seeking evolution?

　　“Perhaps the Catacombs are dry and lifeless, but since there are living beings such as Catacombs humans and beasts there, that means the Catacombs are also unique in their own way.

　　“Or perhaps we could just say that a group of powerhouses from the Catacombs took their evolution as far as they could go and, faced with a wall before them, perhaps they suddenly wondered if devouring Earth and bestowing life upon the Catacombs might take them even further…

　　“None of that is strictly impossible.

　　“After all, the way we see it, the appearance of the Catacombs is not something that the Catacombs martial artists we have met so far can accomplish.

　　“Each individual passageway could be a coincidence.

　　“When these passageways appear so systematically, however, it may no longer be a coincidence.

　　“As for why those powerhouses have yet to appear, perhaps they are waiting for their chance. Or perhaps there are some limitations, or maybe the Catacombs powerhouses are keeping an eye on each other because they’re not all on the same side.

　　“Actually, the Catacombs’ attitude toward the human world is a little peculiar.

　　“Some Catacombs forts will automatically attack Earth, but most of them maintain a ‘wait-and-see’ stance.

　　“That means we may assume that these forts are not all under the same leader. The ones who wait and see may belong to those powerhouses who disagree with the rest.

　　“In recent years, moreover, some forts in the Catacombs are beginning to work together. We can thus say that those powerhouses who had earlier been on the fence could now be slowly coming together. That’s why they’re starting to attack in unison.

　　“If all of these hypotheses are correct, that means that we may soon see more powerhouses coming to a consensus.

　　“If it really comes to that, the situation in the Catacombs will become even more dangerous.

　　“The forts that had been on the fence earlier may begin to join the war, one after another…”

　　The old expert’s words had almost no real basis for them.

　　They were merely some theories that he and some of his friends had come up with.

　　Nevertheless, everyone started to look quite uncomfortable. If… If the old expert’s theories were right, things would only become worse for them from now on.

　　Of the thirteen forts in the Magic City Catacombs, they were currently only fighting two of them.

　　If the other forts began to join the frontline after this, the situation would take an extreme turn for the worse.

　　Fang Ping released a quiet breath and asked, “Teacher, then have our human powerhouses ever considered making a pact with the Catacombs powerhouses?”

　　“Of course.”

　　The old expert nodded before shaking his head and saying, “But it didn’t go too well. Levels are divided very clearly in the Catacombs, and the weak may not know the truth behind the scenes, so they can’t broker any treaties either.

　　“As for the strong, their first instinct upon meeting humans is to kill the human powerhouses. Even if they’re no match for our elites, we’ll end up attracting a bunch of Catacombs powerhouses to gang up on us.

　　“Perhaps… they don’t think humans are worth negotiating with.

　　“Another possibility is that they have no intention to negotiate.

　　“Or maybe, they purposely don’t want to negotiate!”

　　Fang Ping was stunned, and an instructor could not help but ask, “They purposely don’t want to negotiate? Why?”

　　The old expert laughed and said, “To train their troops. These Catacombs powerhouses are no fools. We have lost fighters, but so have they. The difference is they seem to care less.

　　“Fighting with humans may seem to them like training their troops against uncivilized savages.

　　“That is how they weed out the cream of the crop, who will then join the army in the Central Territory.

　　“To them, humans might be the best training material.

　　“This is also merely conjecture. Perhaps they opened so many passageways to the Catacombs, not for any other complicated reason, but just so they can train their troops.

　　“Their territories are not connected, and the forts from one territory may belong to the same faction. Rather than killing each other, they might as well kill humans to try and raise their powerhouses.

　　“Perhaps they really do consider Earth their training grounds!

　　“If that is the case, why should they negotiate with us?

　　“That would explain why they surge to the surface and kill humans there. They could be forcing us to develop ourselves faster, or maybe they just want us to advance technologically, since that would help them grow stronger as well.

　　“We all know how things have changed these past few years. Humans walk on two legs now, but several hundred years ago, martial artists had already fallen into obscurity…”

　　The old expert’s rant was full of ‘perhaps’ and ‘maybes’. None of it was for certain.

　　Fang Ping was starting to get a headache from all this, so he could not help but say, “Haven’t we tried sending some spies into the innermost works to try and glean more information?”

　　The old expert burst out laughing. “Do you think a cat could infiltrate a dog’s headquarters to try and understand what a dog is thinking?

　　“Of course, this is just an analogy.

　　“Humans and Catacombs humans may look similar, but we’re a totally different race.

　　“Firstly, there’s the language barrier. Of course, we’re trying to overcome that now.

　　“Secondly, our auras are different.

　　“Those who have entered the Catacombs should already know this. Although we and the Catacombs martial artists are all called martial artists, our cultivation routes are quite different.

　　“We cultivate our Vitality, while they… it looks like they use Volatility, but they actually use energy.

　　“At the high ranks, the two actually come together. Once you reach the high ranks, Vitality, energy, Mentality, all of them are actually interrelated.

　　“Our human Grandmaster-level powerhouses have indeed considered infiltrating their ranks before.

　　“However, you’ll have to use high-rank abilities to hide your unusual aura. But what’ll happen if a random new high-rank fighter appeared out of nowhere? It would be the same as if a completely unknown Grandmaster appeared in this world. What would you think?

　　“Yet if we don’t try to hide it, we’ll be found out very quickly.

　　“Nevertheless, that’s referring to the forts. In truth, there are some human powerhouses hiding their auras and infiltrating the settlements outside the forts.

　　“The advancements we have made in understanding the language can also be largely attributed to them.

　　“On the other hand, the settlements outside the forts know for too little. The government has some info on them, but it isn’t much help to us.

　　“The difference in levels is immense in the Catacombs, and their communication methods aren’t as advanced as ours. All the outsiders know are things like who’s the city-lord is, who the powerhouses are and so on. None of this is particularly useful to us…

　　“…”

　　The old expert explained a lot of things in the class.

　　However, Fang Ping felt as though they did not really benefit him too much.

　　Besides, the old expert was still a linguist, after all. He was not a Grandmaster or one of humanity’s big shots.

　　Fang Ping guessed that the government might have a lot more information that they were not necessarily revealing to outsiders.

　　After all, if you were not a Grandmaster, you could only really wander around the outskirts. How much you knew would not affect the larger scale of things.

　　Perhaps they were collectively staying numb in order to hide some panic-inducing information.

　　That would be just like how martial artists hide the fact about the Catacombs from the normal people.

　　The only part that Fang Ping found really useful was still the basics of the Catacombs language. The next time he entered the Catacombs, he could try having a ‘friendly’ conversation with them.

　　After the lesson was over and the class ended, Fang Ping received a call from the Martial Arts Society. Qin Fengqing and the others were back.

　　The moment Fang Ping heard that, he immediately ran to the Martial Arts Society.

　　After the distribution of the bonuses for the first month, the Martial Arts Society had already exhausted what little savings Zhang Yu had collected. If they did not get some profits soon, Fang Ping might find his seat as president wavering.