The cave was surrounded by warm pink firelight. Duong, Linh Nhi and Hoai Bao sat around the star-shaped stone slab. Hoai Bao sometimes looked pensively up at the cave ceiling, sometimes down at the stone slab. Linh Nhi tilted her head as if she was trying to gather all the knowledge in her head. Duong rubbed his chin as if he was concentrating on figuring out how to open the spiritual realm, but in reality, he was making up a reason to successfully open the gate without arousing suspicion.
Duong slashed:
– I see this as a type of spiritual inheritance, so it’s very possible that there will be a clue to open the gate somewhere…
Linh Nhi asked with wide eyes:
– Why do you think this is a spiritual inheritance?
Hoai Bao nodded again, thinking that Duong was right:
– It’s not hard to find here, there are no traps, I also don’t see it as being created to hide personal wealth, but rather waiting for someone with more destiny. As far as I know, this type of gate also requires using spiritual power to draw a code, so the problem is finding the code…
Duong pretended to try touching the stone slab, trying to lead Hoai Bao’s guess, then pretended to have discovered something, he said:
– Not necessarily… It’s not necessary to use spiritual power to draw it, you try touching this place!
Saying that, Duong pointed to a position near the top of the star. Hoai Bao tried to touch it. At first, he didn’t feel any difference, but upon touching carefully, he found that this position seemed to be slightly concave.
Duong also touched other places and said:
– It’s a bit concave, right? It’s the same at the other four peaks, but other than that, there’s no other concave place like that on the star’s surface!
Hoai Bao tried to check, and sure enough, there were only 5 concave positions as Duong said, so he speculated:
– Maybe there were 5 objects placed here…
Phong Linh Nhi was curious and touched it, hearing that she said:
– Except for the star shape, there are also 5 circle drawings on the ceiling of the cave!
All three of them immediately raised their heads to look up. There were indeed 5 concentric circles, each circle was a collection of simple but diverse drawings. With the hint, they immediately guessed about the characters located at the 5 points of the star.
No matter how you look at it, you can’t see any pattern, it’s as if this is an improvised pattern. After thinking silently for a long time, Duong boldly gave his “guess”:
– Look, in the smallest circle, right at the top right corner of the star, there is a leaf drawn, right?
Hoai Bao was very smart, hearing Duong’s suggestion, he immediately imagined the pattern, looked a little more and said:
– Right! And the second circle, at the bottom left of the star has a square shape, isn’t it the symbol of Earth in ancient times?
Duong nodded:
– The third circle has a water drop symbol right at the top of the star, the fourth circle has a fire symbol at the bottom right…
Hoai Bao continued:
– In the fifth circle, the remaining peak is a diamond, which is the symbol of Metal! This is the five elements of creation and destruction!
Duong said:
– Right! It is definitely the five elements that generate and destroy each other. Ancient alchemy paid great attention to the five elements!
Only then did Phong Linh Nhi intervene in the conversation between the two:
– So we have to use 5 types of spiritual power to open the gate?
Duong said:
– Not really! I think there is another way!
How?
Duong did not reply, took out two soul stones from his backpack, one was a tiny wooden beast soul stone, like a green crystal, the other was like a silver metal block, it was a metal beast soul stone, these were the two spoils Duong found while bullying the weak spirit beasts before being hunted by the spider.
Duong looked up at the ceiling, compared the position of the leaf in the first circle, and placed it on the concave part of the star-shaped stone slab.
When Duong’s hand left, the wooden beast soul stone suddenly emitted a faint green light, as if to prove that his guess was correct.
– Morning! – Linh Nhi shouted.
Duong said proudly:
– Next is Earth…
Hoai Bao took out a handful of 4 soul stones from his backpack:
– We have Earth, Water, Fire, the rest is Thunder, no Metal…
After saying that, he placed the earth beast soul core into its corresponding position. Sure enough, the earth soul core also emitted a brown light, but then another phenomenon occurred. The wooden soul core shot a green beam of light into the earth soul core, causing its brown light to become dim and weak.
Hoai Bao brought in the Water Beast Soul Heart, and a new phenomenon arose. The Earth Soul Heart that was already dim shot out a brown beam of light into the Water Soul Heart, causing its blue light to dim as well. However, this Soul Heart also shot out a blue beam of light into the Wood Soul Heart, causing the light of the Wood Soul Heart, which was already the brightest, to become even brighter, while the light of the Earth Soul Heart was almost extinguished.
Hoai Bao inserted the Fire Beast Soul Core again, this Fire Beast Soul Core shot a red beam of light into the Earth Soul Core, making the Earth Soul Core brighter, while the Water Soul Core and Wood Soul Core shot a beam at the Fire Soul Core, each born at a time so the light of the Fire Soul Core almost did not change.
At this time, the light emitted from each stone was not even, some were bright, some were dark, Duong immediately placed the Soul Beast Golden Stone in the last position, the silver light from the Soul Beast Golden Stone flashed, 4 rays of light from 3 sources shot out connecting the Soul Beast Golden Stone with the remaining 4 stones, the rays of light formed a pentagon surrounding the 5-pointed star from 5 different colors, the light from the Soul Beast Golden Stones also became perfectly balanced.
– Wow… so beautiful!
Phong Linh Nhi exclaimed, in the darkness, the colorful rays of light became even more magical and shimmering…
Then suddenly the star-shaped stone slab started rotating, and the patterns on the ceiling also started rotating at an increasing speed.
– Be careful!
Hoai Bao reminded, all three felt dizzy, as if space was being rotated.
Then the space became dark, before Duong, Hoai Bao and Linh Nhi could realize what was happening, the stone stopped rotating, the fire was gone, only the light created from the 5 soul stones remained.
Duong and Hoai Bao turned on their flashlights to look around and realized they were still in the cave and nothing was different.
– Huh? Failed? – Duong was surprised.
– It doesn’t seem like it, I clearly feel like I’ve been moved! – Hoai Bao wondered.
Linh Nhi grimaced:
– I’m so dizzy, hu hu…
– No! Where is the fire?
Hoai Bao cried out, discovering that the place where he had lit the fire was now empty.
Duong also discovered the difference:
– That’s right, the position of these rocks is also different…
Then both said in unison:
– Go out and see!
The three of them then used their flashlights to carefully step out. Sure enough, there was a difference. This passage was different from the original entrance. It was longer, flatter, and gradually climbed higher, like a tunnel dug by human hands.
After walking a distance, they saw light at the end of the cave. All three immediately focused, prepared carefully, and stepped into the light.
There was no net of heaven and earth, no evil beasts or monsters, no grand mausoleum. Before the Yang group’s eyes was only a small spiritual landscape, a wild garden, and an ancient stone house covered with thousand-year-old weeds.
Hoai Bao looked around and said:
– It seems like just someone’s place…
Duong stepped forward:
– Come and see…
– Careful!
Phong Linh Nhi was somewhat afraid of the desolate scene here. She waited for Duong and Hoai Bao to go first before daring to follow.
The stone house is quite large, even though it has been through thousands of years, it is still sturdy and solid, covered with vines but has not collapsed.
– What are you going to do? – Duong asked when he saw Hoai Bao draw his sword.
– Cut down the vines to get inside?
Hoai Bao replied, then swung his sword regardless, cutting off the vines at the entrance.
– This guy looks so cool with a sword! I’ll make one later when I have time!
Duong thought to himself, then he and Hoai Bao and Linh Nhi entered the door, which was actually no longer a door because the door had rotted into dust a long time ago.
Inside the house, dust covered everything. Phong Linh Nhi used her wind spiritual power and waved her hand, creating a light whirlwind that swept the dust in and out. In a flash, the room was much cleaner.
– Awesome!
Duong and Hoai Bao said at the same time, Duong was praising sincerely while Hoai Bao was a bit flattering because he also had Wind spirit power and could completely do the same as Phong Linh Nhi.
Phong Linh Nhi blushed:
– What’s so great, look, what are these things?
Only then did Duong and Hoai Bao look around the house, there was a single bed, a small table and chairs, and around it were scattered metal blocks, many alchemy tools and equipment, and a large forge, an ancient metallurgical system.
– This is the residence of an alchemist! – Duong said, but suddenly thought he had said something redundant.
Hoai Bao saw some tools for pounding medicine and making pills and added:
– This person not only refines alchemy and treasures but also refines pills, it seems that his alchemy level is not low…
Hearing that, Phong Linh Nhi asked:
– So is there any medicine here to cure diseases and injuries?
Hoai Bao replied:
– I’m not sure, but this place is too messy, let me try to find it…
Duong was rummaging through the pile of metal and spare parts, all of which were cheap metal and old, rusted spare parts that were out of date. However, he knew that these spare parts required a very high level of skill to be made, so he had high hopes of finding something good, and enthusiastically searched the entire house.
Hoai Bao and Phong Linh Nhi were equally enthusiastic. Hoai Bao was looking for good alchemy formulas and tools, while Phong Linh Nhi was searching for medicinal pills.
– Ah! What’s under the bed? – Phong Linh Nhi shouted, pulling out a large box from under the bed.
– Careful! Let me open it! – Hoai Bao saw Phong Linh Nhi about to open the box, so he carefully stopped her.
This is a metal box about half a meter long, without a lock.
– Get out of the way or there will be a trap! – Hoai Bao reminded and carefully used the tip of his sword to open the box lid…
BOOM!
A terrifying explosion rang out when Hoai Bao opened the box lid. All three of them were shocked and couldn’t react in time. But contrary to the terrifying explosion, there was no damage or smoke emitted.
All three people’s hearts were pounding like they were about to burst out of their chests. It took them a while to regain their composure and they immediately glanced at the box in fear.
Inside the box was something like a backpack, a jade card, a ring, a fist-sized medicine furnace, and a thin piece of metal with three lines engraved on it:
“For someone with destiny!”
PS: Haha! You scared the hell out of me!
Signed: Cao Lo”
Hoai Bao risked his life to go forward and pick up the metal plate to look at it, then showed it to Duong and Phong Linh Nhi.
– Mom! You scared the hell out of me! – Duong knew he was being teased, so he got angry and scolded.
– Who is Cao Lo? – Phong Linh Nhi asked.
Hoai Bao thought:
– Cao Lo… could it be… Stone God Master, General Cao Lo?
Duong asked:
– Is he the Stone God Master who built the Co Loa secret citadel and created one of the 12 Divine Treasures, Linh Quang Than Co?
Hoai Bao nodded:
– Yes! It could very well be him! According to history, Cao Lo was both a general and a Divine Master in the Au Lac period, the one who helped King An Duong Vuong build Co Loa citadel, and the one who used the claws of the Turtle God to create the Linh Quang Than Co crossbow! At that time, King An Duong planned to marry his daughter to the enemy, Cao Lo objected, but King An Duong Vuong did not listen and instead avoided him, so Cao Lo left to find a place to hide, definitely this place!
Having finished speaking, Hoai Bao respectfully knelt down and kowtowed before General Cao Lo’s bed. Duong and Phong Linh Nhi also knelt down. A lifetime of Divine Master, a lifetime of great general, creating the divine crossbow, building Co Loa, that was more than enough for future generations to pay their respects…
The Pu Mat forest was still covered in mist from the rain. In the caves on the cliffs, the General-level Luc Doc Tri Thu had long been torn into pieces, its legs and feet lying scattered on the wet ground, the silk layer blocking the cave entrance was also torn apart…