Chapter 1093
《The Sea Burial Grimoire》
— Hrasal Secret Treasury.
The Hrasal Empire’s greatest vault, a treasure trove that countless adventurers have dreamed of.
It had now been opened, appearing right before Eivass’s eyes.
This was a fortune capable of changing the world—so abundant that it had lost all meaning for an individual, enough to turn a nation’s crisis into safety and allow millions to live happy lives for a thousand years.
But seeing such wealth, Eivass felt a strange sense of emptiness. It was like seeing mountains of banknotes in a bank vault, only to lose the concept of their value.
However, this amount of gold was merely a “preservative film,” serving as a medium for the Preservation Technique.
If the Preservation Technique were directly applied to an extraordinary item, the Twilight Path’s power within it would seep into the item, causing unexpected changes. But if it were applied to densely packed gold, using it as a vessel to store the items within, it would be much better.
— The vault here was, in the literal sense, a “treasury of gold.”
“……Are you saying the real treasure is beneath the gold?”
Hearing Eivass’s words, Noel twitched her fingers slightly.
She wanted to use her alchemy to change the form of this gold—for example, turn it into a liquid, make it fluid, and cast it into a new shape.
Altering the form of matter was precisely what the “Stone and Metal Knight” was most skilled at.
But when she tried this on the gold, the feedback felt incredibly sluggish. It was like the difference in feel between lifting a stone slab with one’s hand versus one’s little finger.
The gold vibrated slightly, and its orderly arrangement was disrupted. It was as if neatly arranged fine anvils were being disturbed by a magnet.
“What is…?”
Noel paused and subconsciously let go.
Once the external force she applied disappeared, the gold bricks slowly moved on their own, returning to their original appearance.
“Gold is the representative metal of the Hourglass, and it contains a large amount of Equilibrium power… We’ll probably have to move it directly.”
Eivass said, then jumped down.
He reached out and moved the incredibly heavy gold bricks one by one—Eivass weighed one, estimating it to be around thirty kilograms.
After being removed, the gold bricks still had a strong attractive force trying to return them to their original position. Only when Eivass threw them out of the golden pool did they finally land stably beside Noel.
After Eivass moved aside five layers of gold, he finally saw a plain stone slab.
It wasn’t directly covered by gold but was placed in a half-meter-square cavity like a coffin. The gold was held in place by some strange force, suspended in the air. The stone slab was suppressed by the immense amount of gold, devoid of any Path’s spiritual aura, like an ordinary antique.
After Eivass took it out, the text on it glowed with a faint spiritual aura. It trembled slightly, seemingly trying to escape from Eivass’s hand. However, its power was too weak… perhaps no stronger than the struggles of a seven or eight-year-old child, and Eivass could control it with one hand.
“This is…”
Eivass realized this was likely a Grimoire.
With a big leap, he returned to the ground.
Glancing at the gold on the floor, Eivass placed one hand on the stone slab and said to Noel, “Let’s head out first. I don’t know how long Yulia can hold on… This is the first time opening the vault, so just observing the situation inside is enough.”
“Indeed.”
Noel nodded and waved her hand, melting the gold bricks Eivass had thrown into liquid and condensing them into a giant golden hawk, which flapped its wings and followed them.
Once they left the golden pool, the unknown force that constantly restored order dissipated.
When they exited through the teleportation gate, Yulia was still in front of the compass. Her face was slightly pale, but she seemed to be in good condition.
“We’re back.”
Eivass held the stone slab in his right hand and reached out to touch Yulia’s head with his left, asking, “How much longer can you hold on, Yuli?”
“It’s quite easy, I should be able to last four times as long.”
Yulia analyzed, accepting Eivass’s healing. The wound healed instantly, and her complexion turned rosy again.
She narrowed her eyes and rubbed against Eivass’s palm thoughtfully, “However, if paired with a Priest… the duration of one go should be quite long.”
“That might not be possible.”
Eivass shook his head. “If I’m guessing correctly… if the teleportation gate were to close unexpectedly, it would be potentially fatal for those inside.”
He had no evidence for this, it was merely a conjecture.
Because otherwise, it would be difficult to maintain the “sterile” environment inside.
Based on Eivass’s understanding of the primordial Red Phase, if he had truly obtained any treasures from here, he wouldn’t have left so easily and cleanly. He likely would have left something behind… like not closing the door tightly when leaving, or leaving a window open from the inside for himself to sneak back in.
For example, abandoning a relative, a Blood Slave, a mark, or a part of himself.
But Eivass saw nothing when he entered; it was astonishingly clean. Even the traces of the Red Phase’s previous search were gone.
— He likely deliberately didn’t take the gold, so that when the treasure opened again, people wouldn’t know where it was hidden. In that case, he should have left traces when stepping into the “golden pool”… but Eivass saw nothing.
This indicated that the Equilibrium Power likely eliminated everything inside equally, ensuring nothing remained. While it was unclear if this “elimination” was continuous or immediate, there was no need to test it.
“…So, you mean that when replenishing blood, the wound must not heal?”
Yulia pondered.
Her alchemist’s mind immediately began searching for loop-holes. “Can I directly store fresh blood then? If this fresh blood won’t work, is it because it’s not fresh enough, or for other reasons? Or can ICulture replicated sacs in vitro for providing blood… no, that won’t work. That might lead to the key being leaked.”
“To be safe, we could develop an alchemical potion that instantly restores blood without healing the wound; or find a cursed weapon that causes continuous bleeding without healing from normal treatment…”
Yulia muttered.
“Never mind all that… take a look at this.”
Eivass handed the stone slab to her, but Yulia showed no reaction.
“I recall Yulia also has an affinity for the Path of Wisdom and the Path of Devotion, and I for the Path of Love.”
Eivass mused, “Excluding the five Paths of Love, Devotion, Wisdom, Equilibrium, and Transcendence…”
“Then there are Beauty, Adaptation, Authority, and Twilight.”
Noel looked at the ancient text on the stone slab, pondered for a while, and shook her head again. “We can probably exclude the Path of Authority… at most, it could be related to the Path of Power.”
“Shall I find someone to test it?”
Noel, standing nearby, also became interested.
Eivass nodded. “I don’t think it’s related to the Path of Beauty or the Path of Power… You can have someone from the Path of Adaptation and the Path of Twilight try to see if there’s any reaction. As for this gold… you keep it for now. After all, the Valentine family will have no more taxes.”
“…That’s not necessary.”
Noel shook her head, her tone full of confidence. “Regardless, there’s no such thing as an impoverished high-level alchemist. This gold is nearly half a ton… let it be a symbol for the new Hrasal.”
“After all, it’s the first batch of gold extracted from the Hrasal Secret Treasury. Using it for the construction of the new Hrasal Empire would be a form of symbolization.”
Soon, the test yielded results.
This Grimoire, made from a stone slab, did not belong to any current Path. However, it resonated faintly with Extraordinary beings of the Twilight Path.
— It was a Grimoire of a Forbidden Path, and its name was 《The Sea Burial Grimoire》.
One tester accepted it and obtained the hidden knowledge written in this secret script, which did not belong to any known language.
It recorded a forbidden love story about a snake and a bird—
A flying snake flew into a bird’s nest and swallowed the bird’s eggs, but a chick hatched from within its body.
The bird broke through the snake’s abdomen and, upon seeing the snake that had consumed it, fell in love.
The snake also raised the bird. Eventually, the bird, holding the snake, tore it apart from high in the air. The snake’s broken body turned into a Sea of Blood, and the bird, weeping, drowned itself in the sea.
This stone slab detailed how the bird killed the feathered snake and the bird’s mournful song. If one chanted this song, they could transform their lover’s corpse into a sea monster. However, this technique could only be used by those with wings, rendering this lost Mystical Art meaningless.
…If not for any accidents, this might be the secret to the birth of the sea monster race.
But for some reason, this story gave Eivass a peculiar sense of déjà vu.
(End of Chapter)
