Rico sighed, looking at the destruction around him, and he knew that his plan had failed. He had underestimated the power of greed, the desire for power and control that drives humans to do such terrible things. The sight of the once peaceful valley now littered with bodies and stained with blood was a testament to that.

He had placed the Three Heaven practice methods in Excalibur with the hope that it would bring the people of Gaia continent together, to move into a new era of enlightenment and peace. But instead, it had sparked a frenzy of violence and destruction.

Rico could only hope that one day, the people of the Gaia continent would come to understand the true meaning of power, and that it lies not in the acquisition of physical possessions, but in the cultivation of one's inner self. Until that day, the cycle of violence and destruction would continue, and the world would remain trapped in darkness.

However, his mission had finally come to fruition. The teachings of cultivation had spread far and wide, but the cost of this growth was yet to be seen. Only time would be able to reveal the extent of the bloodshed that was to come. Following the mysterious and untimely death of Auther, his sixty-second son inherited the throne.

However, the sudden and peculiar nature of Auther's death caused widespread fear and panic throughout the Holy Empire, causing the stability of the empire to falter. In response to this growing sense of unease, many of the uninformed masses attributed Auther's death to the Curse of the Gods and set out to placate the supposed anger of the deities.

With the full might of the Holy Empire behind them, they journeyed to the sunset mountains to construct a tomb for Auther. They also brought with them the empire's entire wealth of gold and silver treasures, as well as the legendary Excalibur and the endless flames, all to be stored within the confines of the tomb.

At the same time as the construction of the tomb, Auther's sixty-second son also ordered the interment of a substantial number of slaves, all as a part of the elaborate ceremony to appease the wrath of the gods. Despite their fervent beliefs, the enormity of the project demanded a significant investment of manpower and material resources, a burden that the Holy Empire was ill-equipped to bear. This undertaking proved to be the nail in the coffin for the Holy Empire, as the drain on its resources, coupled with the extravagant display of wealth, contributed greatly to its downfall just a few short years after Auther's death.

The Holy Empire threw everything it had into the construction of the tomb, expending all of its resources and manpower to complete it. This made the location of the tomb difficult to find, but also sealed the fate of the empire as it reached the brink of ruin. The treasures of gold and silver that were stored within the tomb symbolized the empire's lavish spending and ultimate downfall.

As Rico stepped onto the elevated platform, he approached Auther's remains, only to find that, to his surprise, the body had not decomposed despite the passage of so much time. "Could this be a new effect of Star Dust?" Rico wondered, his curiosity piqued.

He carefully picked up Auther's body and teleported it into his castle's inner sanctum. And in-front of him, he encountered a statue that had been erected in his honor. However, the statue depicted him as he would have looked in his middle-aged years, resembling John a bit too much, which filled Rico with a sense of distaste. In a fit of frustration, he destroyed the statue, leaving only the remnants of his discontent scattered about.

Settling onto the high platform, Rico gazed out over the surroundings, reflecting on the memories and experiences of Auther. His heart was filled with a sense of nostalgia, as he whispered to himself, "It's been over a thousand years."