Awakening

【Descendants of Glay, open this door and inherit the secrets. Why the empire sank underground—the answer lies behind this door. Let Glay reappear in the world.】

Looking at the translated text, Bai Xuan turned to look at Phoebe beside him.

With her silver hair, pale skin, and golden eyes, she was of pure bloodline, the only remaining descendant of the Glay Royalty.

Wanting to make the fallen Glay Empire reappear in the world? With only Phoebe alone, how could she possibly restore it?

There was another line of small handwriting at the bottom of the stone slab, and he continued to decipher it.

【For those who force this door open, flesh shall be the fuel, and souls shall be the lock.】

Bai Xuan's fingertips paused, and he turned to look at Phoebe, his tone solemn. “The warning on here is very grim. Forcing this door open requires a massive price.”

Phoebe squatted down and quietly stared at the warning text, her expression calm and devoid of any emotion.

Phoebe stood up, walked to the door, and took off the small pendant she wore around her neck, precisely fitting it into a groove on the door without a hair's breadth of error.

Bai Xuan also took off his own larger pendant and fitted it into the groove on the other side.

The moment both pendants were returned to their places, the runes on the door lit up once again. Dark-gold flowing light rapidly spread along the patterns, as if the entire massive door had been revitalized.

However, the light only lasted for a few brief seconds before it began to slowly dim.

Phoebe pressed her palm tightly against her pendant, closing her eyes to activate the royal bloodline mark on her arm.

The golden patterns flared with all their might, and the glow on the door temporarily intensified, but it was still missing that final trace of power. In the end, all the light completely dissipated.

Phoebe released her hand and shook her head gently.

“We're still missing a key item,” Bai Xuan said in a deep voice.

Phoebe nodded in agreement.

Back in the ruins of the eighth floor, Phoebe had once rummaged through all of his belongings, looking exceptionally disappointed at the time. It turned out she had been searching for the key item to open this door.

That missing object was precisely one of the core keys to open the door.

Looking at the tightly shut metal door, Bai Xuan's heart was filled with unwillingness.

Was he really going to give up on the secrets and resources right in front of him just like this?

He looked down at the Space Ring on his hand, and a sliver of hope rose in his heart.

Grand Duke Tisolus—perhaps that old codger knew something. After all, he had been an archon of the Glay Empire.

Bai Xuan took out the sealing cloth from his Space Ring, placed it on the ground, and gently touched its surface with his staff.

Wisps of dark mist slowly seeped out from the gaps in the cloth, condensing in the air into a blurry, humanoid phantom.

Compared to what he had seen in the tomb before, this phantom was even more faint and fragile, as if a single gust of wind could blow it away.

The phantom's face turned toward Bai Xuan, and two points of faint green light lit up within its hollow eye sockets.

The Grand Duke's phantom stood quietly, the faint lights in his eye sockets flickering steadily. There was no furious roaring, nor a single trace of hostility, and it was eerily calm.

Bai Xuan frowned slightly. He clearly remembered that when he first sealed the other party, this remnant soul had struggled and cursed hysterically, almost shattering the entire tomb.

His current silent state made him look like a completely different person.

“You sealed me inside this rag, and now you actively call me out,” the Grand Duke's raspy voice slowly echoed. “Aren't you afraid I'll break free and kill you?”

Bai Xuan looked directly at the phantom expressionlessly and replied calmly, “If you had the ability to break free, you would have escaped the seal long ago.”

The Grand Duke's phantom fell silent for a moment, the faint green light in his eye sockets dimming slightly. “You wouldn't let me out for no reason. Speak plainly, what do you want?”

Bai Xuan raised his hand and pointed at the giant metal door behind him. “Tell me how to open this door.”

The Grand Duke's phantom turned to look at the stone door, staring at the runes and grooves on it, remaining silent for a long time.

The phantom's body trembled slightly, and the green light in his eye sockets flickered on and off, as if he were recognizing this ancient ruin, or perhaps suppressing the complex emotions in his heart.

“The Imperial Treasury...” His voice suddenly grew deep, carrying endless complex emotions. “You actually found this place... you really found it...”

He suddenly whipped his head around, his faint green gaze sharp as a blade as he glared at Bai Xuan.

“Are you coveting the wealth in the treasury? Or do you lust after the inherited power of the Glay Empire? You outsiders, you only ever—”

His words suddenly cut off.

The Grand Duke's phantom suddenly snapped toward Phoebe, carefully taking in her silver hair, golden eyes, and the faintly glowing royal crest on her arm.

The faint green light in his eye sockets suddenly flared, like a dying candle catching a bright flame, flickering violently.

He stared at Phoebe's blurry face for a long time, and his tone completely changed. The previous sharpness and coldness faded, leaving only a complex mix of awe and humiliation.

“The royal family... descendants...” he muttered to himself, the phantom subconsciously taking half a step back in disbelief. “The pure bloodline of the Glay Royalty... there's actually someone still alive...”

“You know the complete method to open the door,” Bai Xuan interrupted his daze, questioning him once again. “What exactly are we missing?”

The Grand Duke's phantom fell into a long silence, the green light in his eye sockets flickering continuously, weaving together scrutiny, hatred, and wariness.

He repeatedly looked between Phoebe and Bai Xuan. After a long while, he finally spoke, his voice low and suppressed, doing his utmost to restrain his surging emotions.

“...Do you have any idea what I paid to guard this secret?” Evading the question, he muttered to himself, “The empire was destroyed, our homeland sank underground, and all of our people turned into the undead.”

“And you, an outsider of another race! You stand here so easily, questioning me on how to open the door?”

His voice trembled slightly, and the faint green light in his eye sockets flickered violently, his emotions on the verge of spinning out of control.

“Do you know what that catperson stole? Do you know that it contains the core key to open the treasury?” He suddenly raised his voice, filled with grief, indignation, and fury.

“It was you who ruined my plans! Back then, you sealed me, leaving me unable to track down the thief, and now you actually have the nerve to ask me how to open the door!”

The Grand Duke's phantom shook violently, as if burned by endless rage. His long-repressed resentment and unwillingness erupted completely, and he could no longer maintain his calm form.

Bai Xuan remained expressionless throughout, quietly watching the furious, out-of-control phantom as if he were looking at a rabid beast trapped in a cage.

This calmness made the Grand Duke even more resentful than any mockery would have.

Just as Bai Xuan was preparing to pull the remnant soul back into the cloth, the Evil God Inverse Scale inside suddenly slipped out on its own, the dark-red scale dropping onto the gravel ground.

After Bai Xuan leaned down to pick it up, an unexpected event suddenly occurred.

The entire valley floor suddenly shook violently.

A heavy, dull, and majestic pulse originated from deep underground.

Bai Xuan quickly stabilized his stance and looked up. The stone wall he had previously assumed to be just a wall was actually opening slowly like an eyelid.

An incredibly massive amber eye with a vertical slit pupil slowly revealed itself from the crevice in the stone wall.

Just this single eye alone was the size of a house.

The vertical pupil slowly rotated in the thick fog, sweeping past the gravel on the valley floor and the drifting dust, gliding past Phoebe's silver-white hair.

Finally, it locked onto the Evil God Inverse Scale in Bai Xuan's hand.