Although he’d yet to obtain the mausoleum’s true treasury, Ye Zichen harvest had been quite plentiful already.
The Five Elements Imperial Crown the condor was guarding needed no further explanation; it had practically rebuilt Ye Zichen from the ground up. So long as he wore it, his comprehension of the Grand Dao of the Five Elements increased at lightning speed.
He’d also obtained the peerless divine artifact, the God-Smiting Bow. Ye Zichen didn’t know what other people had found in the mausoleum, but he was sure that unless they got their hands on transcendent fortune, no one else’s gains could compare to his!
Gu Luolin pursed her lips and pouted off to the side. Of course, she didn’t actually want the God-Smiting Bow.
She had an ordinary girl’s tastes; she liked pretty things. Take her current get-up; wearing it, she looked like a fairy.
The God-Smiting Bow was huge and violent-looking. It didn’t suit a “little fairy” like her.
No, she was mad because ever since they entered the palace, Ye Zichen seemed to have forgotten that she had seniority over him.
“Congratulations, Brother Ye, on obtaining the God-Smiting Bow. If you place it on the Tenth Divine Mountain, few will dare cause trouble.” Gou Monan cupped his fist and smiled.
“I have your genorsity to thank for it.” Gou Monan was the one who’d found the bow. Logically speaking, since it had no owner, he should have claimed it for himself.
It was only because he’d taken the initiative to give it up that it landed in Ye Zichen’s hands. Ye Zichen was naturally grateful. Judging from his expression, he was far happier than words could express.
The Tenth Divine Mountain was a gift the Outsiders had brought for him. In terms of foundations, Ye Zichen’s mountain couldn’t compare to the Ocean Emperor or the others’ bases.
Even though the Profound Pavilion had settled in his territory, and even though he had all those Outsider rulers, Ye Zichen dared say that his Diviine Mountain was the weakest of the tenth. His roots simply didn’t run as deep.
If he set up the God-Smiting Bow, while that alone might not be enough to intimidate the masses and scare off all challengers, it could still ward off certain threats!
More importantly, when facing outside enemies, the God-Smiting Bow’s name was no exaggeration; one arrow could really smite a god. It was just that they’d all been used up, and now, only the bow itself remained. Furthermore, while the bow really could kill an imperial lord in a single shot, that was on the condition that it hit its mark. Take Gu Luolin’s recent brush with death: so long as you were fast enough, the arrows were unlikely to hit.
This was why this heaven-defying weapon was only ranked ninth, and why even when it still had its arros, it was only ranked fourth.
There was just too much uncertainty!
It was the inherent uncertainty that lowered its rank. But if he used it to kill primordial giant beasts…
Ye Zichen had seen the enders for himself. They were massive! While he dared not say that the God-Smiting Bow would hit the mark every single time it was fired, with such massive targets, it ought to hit at least ninety percent of the time. So long as he had enough time to manufacture new arrows, then combined the bow with the secret weapon he’d long since asked Zuo Mo to manufacture, warding off the enders might very well be possible.
“Brother Ye, there’s something I’d like to remind you of!” Just as Ye Zichen was getting carried away, Gou Monan interrupted his reverie. “The God-Smiting Bow’s bower is obvious to anyone who sees it, but making the arrows it requires is no small feat. You can’t just use materials of any quality as their base. look…”
Gou Monan passed the rest of the arrows that the bow had shot towards them earlier, then paced them in front of Ye Zichen.
As soon as he examined them more closely, Ye Zichen saw that they were severely cracked.
“These arrows were made with black jade, but they still couldn’t handle the God-Smiting Bow’s divine might. Brother Ye, if you want to take full advantage of the God-Smiting Bow’s power, you have to be strict about your materials. Please, don’t be fooled into thinking its simpler than it really is. Making new arrows for the God-Smiting Bow is in no way easy.”
“You’re right, Brother Monan!” Ye Zichen nodded.
Ye Zichen naturally knew that ordinary arrows couldn’t possibly work with the God-Smiting Bow. If just any old arrow was enough for the bow to unleash its true power, the God-Smiting Bow really would be heaven defying.
But he wouldn’t have guessed that even black jade was unable to withstand the bow’s power. Remember, black jade as an expensive, difficult-to-find material.
It seemed that after bringing the God-Smiting Bow back, he’d need to contact various grandmaster artificers and have them try out various materials.
Otherwise, if they mass-produced inadequate arrows, they’d just break as soon as they tried to use them, and the bow wouldn’t even be able to realize a tenth of its power. In that case, how could they possibly use it to ward off the era-ending primordial giant beasts?
Gou Monan’s reminder ended there. All of them were intelligent, and there was no need to go into any more detail. Saying too much might cause a misunderstanding; listeners would take it as an indication that the speaker thought they were stupid.
“I really don’t get what you’re grinning like an idiot for. Isn’t it just some lousy bow? It’s hideously ugly, yet you’re treating it like some kind of treasure.” Gu Luolin scrunched up her brow and snorted. “We haven’t even found the secret passage. Whoever got here ahead of us might have already taken the palace’s inheritance, yet here you are, celebrating on your own…”
Gu Luolin said all that on purpose, her goal, to make him respect her, his senior, a little more. However, her words only extinguished Ye Zichen’s joy as surely as if she’d poured ice water over his head.
He really had gotten ahead of himself just now; he’d even forgotten their main reason for coming here!
Ye Zichen hurriedly got his delight at obtaining the God-Smiting Bow under control, then focused on locating the room’s hidden doorway.
They couldn’t delay any longer. By now, others ought to have reached the palace too.
They might be testing their luck on the doors already. If the new arrivals were on their side, that would be one thing, but if they were enemies? Then they were in for trouble.
There really wasn’t much worth paying attention to in this room. The most obvious thing for them to focus on was the sixth scroll.
And indeed, Ye Zichen’s attention was focused on it. He was trying to find something special about it.
“Brother Ye, it seems the paintings really are the key.” An hour later, Gou Monan returned. He’d just been scanning the room and investigating in detail, like a field engineer clearing a minefield. The walls were pristine, and there was no sign of any hidden mechanisms.
There were no rooms. There were just the paintings. Clearly, they were key to solving this problem.
“I know.” Ye Zichen had been intrigued by the scroll paintings right from the start. As Gou Monan searched the rest of the room, his attention was on the hanging paintings.
Or rather, he wasn’t focused on the paintings so much as the sixth, unpainted scroll.
Of the six, only it was pristine and white. It wasn’t hanging from the same wall as the other five scrolls, either.
“This painting is rather unusual.” Gou Monan noticed the image-less scroll too. He walked over to it and examined it carefully, then turned back around and looked at the five images.
“These five paintings are rather strange too.”
“How so?” If Gou Monan had discovered something, Ye Zichen wanted to hear it.
“Look at these five kids. All of them have five different personalities. And these two…” Gou Monan pointed at two of the five. “Those expressions obviously don’t belong on a child. That wanton arrogance and wicked grin are jarring out of place.”
When Ye Zichen heard that, he was a bit disappointed.
Ye Zichen had discovered those particular problems as soon as he entered the room. But then, it made sense: Gou Monan had only just stopped to examine the paintings. It made sense that his first reaction would be the same as Ye Zichen’s; he couldn’t be blamed for that.
But despite how long Ye Zichen had spent contemplating the paintings, he hadn’t discovered anything else of note.
He’d even used the Fiery Eyes of Truth to examine all six scrolls, but the only thing he’d found of note was still those two children’s unusual expressions.
Ye Zichen pointed to the blank scroll. Gou Monan nodded, then pressed his palm against it.
Nothing happened. Actually, Ye Zichen had long since attempted the same thing.
He hadn’t just pushed the blank scroll; he’d even attempted to move it, and to use his divine power to discover mechanisms potentially hidden within it.
He’d gotten no reaction at all!
They were stuck! They couldn’t go any further ahead!
Although they still didn’t have any clues. they could be certain that the trick was hidden in the paintings.
Ye Zichen had tried moving the paintings, but no matter how much force he used, they stuck fast to the walls.
Remember, Ye Zichen was a ruler. His strength went without saying…
But despite his power, he couldn’t shake the paintings at all. The problem was, naturally, obvious at a glance.
“Brother Ye, have you tried destroying the paintings?” Gou Monan suddenly asked a strange question.
“I haven’t.” Although this was a novel idea, there was obviously no way it would be effective. If you had to destroy the paintings to enter the hidden tunnel, why were the paintings still here and in one piece after someone else had already passed through?
Suddenly, Ye Zichen stopped pondering, his expression serious. He put his finger to his lips. “Shh!
Gou Monan and Gu Luolin turned solemn as well. They held their breath and concentrated their divine power. Then, they could clearly hear the sound of footsteps outside.
Someone had come!
They’d been in the palace for about twelve hours now. Finally, someone else had made their way here.
The room was so quiet, they could clearly hear each other’s heartbeats. The footprints were far too close. Unless someone usual was afoot, there was only one wall remaining between them and these new arrivals.
“Did you gather all the arrows outside?”
They couldn’t open their mouths to speak; if they did, those outside would undoubtedly sense it. Even if they used divine sense transmissions, it was possible that other people might sense their energy fluctuations. Although the rooms were well proofed and capable of isolating divine senses, it was better safe than sorry. In the interest of caution, they communicated in silence, reading each others’ lips.
Gou Monan nodded, then pointed at the three arrows on the ground. “I hope they don’t notice the arrow marks on the walls.”
Based on the marks on the walls, it was easy to determine roughly which direction the arrows that left them originated from.
“Why are there arrow marks on the walls here?” Suddenly, the people outside said the exact words Ye Zichen and company least wanted to hear.
Their hearts all hung on tenterhooks, but then, the sound of footsteps shifted to the left. A door opened, closed, and then everything fell silent.
They didn’t come inside!
Ye Zichen and Gou Monan sighed in relief. Only Gu Luolin’s eyes flashed with excitement.
“Brother Ye, we have to hurry!” Gou Monan finally calmed his agitated heart back down, then spoke solemnly.
Ye Zichen knew they had to hurry too. But the problem was…
At that moment, Gu Luolin suddenly put her hands on her hips, her eyes bright with laughter. She looked at the two men and said, “Hey, I think I know what we need to do! How about you beg me? Beg me, and I’ll tell you!”
