magician in town

Chapter 664 Ancestral Gift (54)

"What is this?" Yan Hao asked Luo Qi. He tried a few more spells to test it, but didn't get any satisfactory results. He didn't think Luo Qi would know what it was. Since they entered the sealed land, everything they had seen was unknown, and no one truly understood the Ancestral Mage.

Unexpectedly, Luo Qi said two words with certainty, "Black Bird".

Yan Hao was taken aback; he hadn't expected there to actually be such a term.

He watched as Roach walked past the creature, then quickly followed a few steps, asking somewhat illiterately, "What kind of bird is that?"

"The Black Bird. The Black Bird of Heaven descended to give birth to the Shang Dynasty. Didn't you notice? Those bronze artifacts are all trying their best to imitate its image. Although humans have romanticized it, adding a beak and feet, you can still generally recognize its original form. Humans used this as a totem and created the image of the Black Bird, although the humans at that time did not understand that the Black Bird itself was actually..." Luo Qi didn't finish his sentence.

Yan Hao understood somewhat. He immediately realized that the "Black Bird" Luo Qi had mentioned was located at the center of the circle, standing within the reflective ring like the bronze statues. However, the Black Bird was enormous, almost occupying the entire circle, and the reflective ring resembled its base. Wait! He suddenly looked around. This vast space contained dozens of rings. "Could it be that dozens of Black Birds once stood here?"

“Of course. Humans must be imitating the grandeur they witnessed back then, casting bronze artifacts and placing them at the center to replace those vanished Xuan Birds,” Roach said.

"Disappeared? Where did they disappear to? Do you... know?"

“They’re gone,” Roach said. “They could go anywhere. Or they’ll just get worn out from flying around.”

"What do you mean?" Yan Hao asked, puzzled, suddenly feeling inexplicably nervous.

Roach ignored his question. He was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, “Early humans could not understand everything they saw. They thought the Primordial Mage was a god, so they worshipped him. When Ragnarok came, this place fell silent. Humans were at a loss, so they used the most precious metals they could forge to imitate the gods’ behavior, filling all the helipads with bronze birds, begging for the gods to come again.”

Yan Hao had a feeling that he wasn't talking to Yan Hao, but rather that Yan Hao was organizing his thoughts, so he didn't ask any more questions and simply followed him.

But Roach suddenly said, "I've seen a hangar like this before."

"Hangar...Hangar?" Yan Hao couldn't help but repeat it again. He really didn't understand, and he didn't even know where he had fallen behind in his studies.

Roach didn't explain. He stopped, because two more bronze artifacts appeared before him. This time, they were two bronze cauldrons, with human face patterns on their surfaces. The two cauldrons were about four or five meters apart. Roach reached out and touched them; they were still just human-shaped bronze.

"What...what is the meaning of humans placing the bronze cauldron in this position?" Yan Hao asked cautiously.

“This is humanity’s way of telling future generations who will come to offer sacrifices that this is the gate to the Black Bird.” Luo Qi looked up at the Black Bird’s belly, which was perfectly sealed between the two bronze cauldrons, and knocked on it. “Go and get the clownfish’s key?” Yan Hao tentatively observed Luo Qi’s expression. He had a feeling that Luo Qi was in a bad mood, and his expression was too solemn and sorrowful, so he might not be easy to deal with. “Please enlighten me, Grand Master?”

"Go and bring Master Zhao here!"

"Oh, okay. I'll take care of it right away," Yan Hao said hastily, and before he finished speaking, he had already disappeared.

The main group was quickly brought over. Luo Qi didn't waste any words and reduced the number of people to enter after the gate opened: himself, Wu Su, Zi Yu, and Sect Leader Zhao. He had a serious expression and demanded that everyone be clear. Neither those whose names were called nor those whose names weren't called had any objections.

Leader Zhao was extremely excited. Luo Qi allowed him to say a few words to the Lotus Burner, but judging from Luo Qi's expression, he knew he couldn't speak more than five sentences. This seemingly knowledgeable but short-statured great mage was quite impatient. He was also somewhat impatient. After arriving at this sealed land, most of what he had seen hadn't significantly exceeded his expectations; the Lotus Burner had inherited many secrets. But this thing before him, which Luo Qi called the "Mysterious Bird," wasn't among the secrets inherited by the Lotus Burner.

According to his understanding, this sealed land is one of the oldest ruins of the Primordial Mage. The black bird before him might carry core secrets. Judging from Luo Qi's suddenly unusually cautious, serious, and even worried attitude, his guess should not be wrong.

He might invent rituals for this opening action in the future, making the process more sacred. He had gained a great deal from following Roach on this journey; the Lotus Burner would surely have the opportunity to independently excavate some of the sealed sites of the progenitors. Before long, he would be able to turn this world upside down; he believed he had a better way to govern humanity.

A faint trace of magical energy was activated, and a clear buzzing sound seemed to vibrate through the eardrums. Everyone's vigilance was temporarily heightened, but the energy remained within a reasonable and controllable range, and no offensive energy was generated. Only the originally perfect material on the belly of the Xuan Bird cracked and shrank to the sides.

"The hatch is open."

He seemed to hear Roach say something strange, but he didn't quite catch it before Roach stepped inside.

Roach's feet trod on a non-metallic surface. Unlike the ground outside, this surface had a slight springiness but left no footprints. At intervals along the surrounding walls were protruding crystals, emitting a soft blue light. Also unlike the outside, these node-like decorations on the walls were embedded externally, not extended when energy was activated.

Luo Qi's fingers traced the interior walls of the spaceship, causing the glowing patterns on the walls to ripple slightly under his touch, like waves on water, the patterns connecting to form intricate designs. He led the others into the first hall, venturing deeper into the interior of the Xuan Bird. Liu Ziyu and Wu Su both seemed interested in the patterns on the walls. Luo Qi continued forward, soon reaching a point—a hexagonal corridor with a visible door on each wall.

Roach assessed the direction and walked towards a door leading to the very core. Behind the door was a semi-circular space, remarkably simple for the primordial mage's decorating style. In the center of the semi-circular space was a permanently fixed raised platform with seven grooves arranged in the shape of a spoon, forming an image very familiar to everyone.

"The Big Dipper?" Liu Ziyu said in surprise.

In her intense consciousness, Roach sensed a cry from her heart: So vulgar?
“Ancient humans worshipped the Big Dipper,” Luo Qi said briefly, then suddenly looked up and said to Master Zhao with a friendly expression, “Master Zhao, please come here for a moment.”

Leader Zhao took a step closer to him, and sure enough, the seven slots on the platform activated. Luo Qi asked him to place his hand on the platform, which he did. As he pressed his hand on the platform and inadvertently looked up, his eyes suddenly focused on the curved wall in front of the control panel. The patterns on the wall brightened, forming a star pattern. The three bright stars of Orion rose before them, like a distant lighthouse.