magician in town

Chapter 662 Ancestral Gift (52)

Every door leads to the unknown, but here, almost every door leads to fear.

Roach refocused his attention. He was certain there were no minds he could sense here, but just to be on the safe side, he still had to be wary of any creatures that seemed too strange.

The strangest creatures at the moment were the battle mages, who remained cautiously on guard for the first three seconds after the gate opened. Roach had grown accustomed to their initial attacks; their brains would instinctively raise certain physical parameters, enhancing their instinctive acuity and strengthening themselves to some extent, while simultaneously casting detection and warning spells characteristic of their own. This time, everything proceeded as usual for the first three seconds; the battle mages followed their training routines and personal preferences. But then Roach sensed a profound bewilderment emanating from them.

This confusion puzzled Roach as well.

The lotus burners' lofty enthusiasm was somewhat dampened at this point, mainly because it was too dark behind the door.

Leader Zhao opened the gate to the Ancestral Mage, but it lacked the grandeur of when the entire space was activated by Du Zhengyi. The space behind the gate was as black as the universe, and as silent as a vacuum.

"Can't you turn on a light?" Roach asked jokingly.

Master Zhao was very good at applying what he learned to other situations. He tried to use the same trick he had used to open the door to turn on the light, but unfortunately he failed.

Luo Qi cast a puzzled look at Liu Ziyu, then glanced at Wu Su. The latter frowned, and Liu Ziyu belatedly looked up abruptly, letting out an "Ah!"

"Why is there no energy here?" Liu Ziyu said in surprise.

"You didn't encounter any difficulties using magic here, did you?" Roach was certain that the battle mages who used detection and warning spells earlier hadn't encountered any problems; magical energy could be summoned here.

“That’s true, we can use magic,” Liu Ziyu said, as he conjured a ball of light with his bare hands. It floated in mid-air like a crystal ball, illuminating an area around them. The subtle sound of the magic also dispelled the absolute silence.

Silence. Roach suddenly realized the key point: it was too quiet here. There were no living beings, nor any subtle sounds of magic in operation.

“What I mean is, how come this place is disconnected from the entire sealed land? The door is indeed connected to the sealed land, but after this door is opened, this room is completely separated. I’m sure there’s no magic connecting this place to the sealed land,” Liu Ziyu said.

"Independent power supply," Roach rephrased.

“Oh, right, that’s the idea.” Liu Ziyu said, guiding the light sphere she was controlling to slowly and tentatively rise higher and higher. She made the brightness of the light sphere increase with the height, and the light sphere continuously illuminated a larger area, with the dark metallic floor and walls faintly reflecting the light.

Roach tilted his head back, squinting as he followed the rising orb of light. It was too high.

"What's going on? How big is this place?" Liu Ziyu finally exclaimed in surprise. The ball of light she released had risen to a height of about ten meters, but the surroundings were still empty, and the darkness above her head could not be dispelled.

“It’s huge,” Yan Hao murmured behind Luo Qi, “and it’s very empty, there’s nothing there.”

Luo Qi lost his patience. He imitated Liu Ziyu and threw a ball of light, but this ball exploded like a mad moon, shooting fifty meters into the air. Perhaps even more than fifty meters; Luo Qi's accuracy was always a problem, and it was like setting off a giant firework. Liu Ziyu angrily cursed at him in the language of an ancient mage, which Luo Qi could only understand half of, unable to grasp the insult and accusation.

The sphere of light still hadn't reached the top, but its light finally illuminated the dome. Roach could only vaguely guess that the dome's supporting material was the same matte silver-gray alloy as the ground; he couldn't make out any further details. It was like a giant's living room. Looking up into the distance, one could see the massive arched dome stretching into the darkness. Beneath the dome lay a vast space, the floor smooth as a mirror, spotless, as if time itself hadn't stood still. Roach felt a strange familiarity with this emptiness, a somewhat unpleasant familiarity. He had been to a vast, empty space before, only this one was more elaborate, while that one felt more like a giant's unfinished house. It was there that he had been trapped, switched, nearly killed Du Zhengyi, and then rescued by him. This familiarity caused Roach's emotions to briefly sink into unease, oppression, loneliness, anger, and fear, which he immediately suppressed and dispelled.

He remembered that some ancient writings had been left there, phrases that seemed both meaningful and unintentional. He looked around, trying to find the writing, spells, or some crystal patterns. He found nothing on the walls, but about fifty meters ahead, there was the shadow of a device on the ground, encircled by a circular reflective circle.

Further away, there are even more giant circles, which, if viewed from above, might appear to be arranged in a regular geometric array.

There's no connection to the sealed land here, perhaps to ensure there are no other creatures. Therefore, an eerie stillness permeates the air; there's no ventilation, no echo, and no response from magical energy. Roach realized this must be what the battle mages felt upon entering, hence their confusion.

Suddenly, in the distance, a muffled sound, seemingly faint yet distinct, drifted irregularly, like a sleeping beast groaning in its sleep. A chill ran down Roach's spine at the unfamiliar yet vaguely familiar sound.

As if to answer his confusion, Wusu said in a low voice, "It's the sound of metal contracting."

Roach glanced at him and saw a mixture of confusion and sadness on his face, as if he were mourning some grave that he himself did not know.

“Let’s go in and take a look. We have to get through here; this is a shortcut. Considering the depth of this area, this shortcut might be even more convenient than we thought,” Roach said, then strode forward without hesitation. He had a premonition that something awaited him here, something that might not matter to others, especially not to mages, but for him personally, it seemed to be the end of his confusion and contemplation.

He walked quickly forward, the light source following them overhead, and soon he could see the circle clearly. Slightly concave reflective rings enclosed a circular area, each ring made of a different material than the metal of the ground, like some kind of base specially embedded in the ground. Compared to this enormous circle, the device at its center seemed too small. It didn't look like it was seamlessly fitted into a metal base, but rather like a person-sized object placed there.

Light shone on its surface, illuminating its smooth yet irregular shape. Perhaps not quite smooth; from a distance, Roach could see its surface etched with intricate, flowing lines, swirling like eddies, instantly recognizable. Roach suddenly shifted his position, changing his perspective, and saw more clearly its beak, protruding eyes, and symmetrical plumes on its head. Time hadn't lingered in this vast space, but this human creation couldn't defy it; it had lost its former golden hue, turning a rustic blue. Roach suddenly understood.

"What is this?" someone screamed.

“Haven’t you ever read a book? This is bronze,” Roach said, silencing the murmurs, screams, and gasps that filled the room.

"This is...this is...human bronze artifacts?"

Roach bent down to look at the bronze vessel's three legs. The three legs were not connected to the ground; it was cast and then placed here.

"Humans once performed sacrifices here," said Leader Zhao, a statement that wasn't entirely foolish, but he immediately added, "Foolish."

Roach looked up. "So, here's a question: how did humans manage to reach the depths of the sealed land?"

No one could answer. Suddenly, Roach raised his gaze higher, staring intently at the dark silver metal dome above him.

"Isn't it funny? Humans can come in and even perform sacrifices here according to their own will," Roach said softly, as if muttering to himself. He stood up, turned around, and examined the beautiful bronze bird. It was aesthetically pleasing to people of the Shang Dynasty, but if you ignored its patterns and shape, it looked so familiar to Roach.

I'm coming