Chapter 877: The Map of Sacred Relics
Zhou Huai didn't believe in superstition.
He stood on the blood-soaked lawn, closed his eyes, and the power of a near-transcendent within him erupted once more. This time, he not only used the spatial laws of Viktor, the Herrscher of the Void, but also pushed the high-dimensional perception of the World Tree Rahil to its limit.
The fluctuations of the laws centered on him instantly covered the entire Yalig Manor.
Every inch of the manor's land, even the rock strata hundreds of meters underground, fell into his sensory network. His immense mental power caused the surrounding space to ripple with silver light.
Not far away, Yasuo, who was meditating in the field of cultivation, opened his eyes and looked at Zhou Huai's imposing aura with awe.
Five minutes later.
Zhou Huai opened his eyes, a look of confusion on his face.
Still, nothing was gained.
Throughout the entire manor, apart from the corpses and survivors, there were no special fluctuations of higher-dimensional energy.
Could it be that the painting really isn't in the manor?
Zhou Huai frowned slightly. If the "Sacred Relic Map" wasn't here, wouldn't he have made a wasted trip? But if it was guided by the Heavenly Dao, given the Heavenly Dao system's underlying logic, it shouldn't be wrong. Since the Heavenly Dao had brought him to the Free Federation and led him to Eliza, the clue must lie with this bird-woman girl.
Could it be that some kind of device was used to block perception?
Zhou Huai turned his head and stared at Eliza, who was still in a daze.
“I’m asking you,” Zhou Huai said in a low voice, “did your father ever tell you anything special, or give you any special items before he died?”
Eliza flinched under his gaze and began to vaguely recall the events leading up to her father's murder. After a moment, she shook her head.
“No... sir, my father never said anything to me.”
“Think back carefully,” Zhou Huai interrupted her. “Don’t overlook any small details. Has your father done anything unusual?”
Eliza bit her lower lip, lost in memories once more.
She thought for a long time, but didn't seem to find anything wrong, and shook her head again.
Just as she was about to give up, she suddenly thought of something.
"Sir! Speaking of unusual behavior, my father hasn't done anything, but Uncle Bonnie seems to have been acting quite strangely before!"
"Uncle Bonnie?" Zhou Huai asked.
“Yes!” Eliza nodded repeatedly. “Uncle Bonnie is an old friend of my father’s, but for some reason, the two haven’t been in contact for several years. His name is not even allowed to be mentioned in the family.”
“But just recently, about two weeks before Buck’s betrayal, he suddenly came to visit. He not only had a long private talk with my father in the study, but also called me over and brought me a gift.”
"What gift?" Zhou Huai realized the key point.
Eliza didn't speak, but instead pulled out a necklace from her collar and pointed to her chest.
"This is it."
Zhou Huai's gaze was fixed on the necklace.
The necklace chain is a dark silver color, neither gold nor iron, and there are no visible seams on its surface. The pendant is a thumb-sized, grayish-black rhomboid crystal.
The surface of the crystal is covered with fine natural cracks.
If viewed from a higher-dimensional perspective, these cracks would actually be some kind of micro-carved ancient runes.
Inside the crystal, a cloud of gray mist was slowly swirling.
“Take it off,” Zhou Huai said.
Eliza didn't hesitate and untied the necklace, handing it to Zhou Huai.
Zhou Huai took it in his hand and examined it. He tentatively probed the crystal with a wisp of his spiritual energy.
The next second, his mental power, powerful enough to tear through the void, vanished without a trace the moment it touched the crystal. The crystal completely blocked and devoured his senses.
This necklace really does block perception.
Zhou Huai looked at Eliza: "You've been wearing this necklace all this time?"
Eliza nodded honestly, indicating that she liked it very much and had never taken it off, even when showering or sleeping.
“Could it be...” Eliza looked at Zhou Huai.
Is there something wrong with this necklace?
"Very likely."
Zhou Huai said no more. Since the outer layer of this crystal has a sealing law that blocks perception, smashing it will naturally reveal what's inside.
"Buzz—!"
The void trembled. A chain, radiating a dark golden light and covered with array patterns, shot out from the void behind Zhou Huai.
It is the only artifact in the Seventh World that can ignore and restrain all high-dimensional arrays and energy seals—the Netherworld Chains.
"break!"
Zhou Huai used the Netherworld Chains to break the seal on the necklace.
The dark golden Netherworld Chains instantly wrapped around the gray-black crystal, and the two forces of law collided violently.
"Snap!"
The gray mist on the crystal surface was shredded by the power of the Nether Chains, and the indestructible rhomboid crystal cracked open from the middle.
Immediately afterwards, a surge of pure vitality flowed out from the crack.
A painting unfolds from it.
The scroll unfurled automatically in mid-air. The background of the scroll was a primeval mountain range shrouded in mist.
In the center of the painting stands a colossal, towering tree. Its roots are deeply embedded in the earth, its dark brown trunk is covered with mysterious patterns, and its crown is a vibrant green.
What Zhou Huai cared about most was the "condition" of the tree.
On the painting, the edges of the tree roots faintly shimmer with light, and the lush branches sway gently on the paper. The thick trunk is expanding and contracting at a slow pace.
One breath in, one breath out.
This tree breathes within the painting. It exudes an aura of primordial laws that transcends the laws of the mortal world.
Eliza stared blankly at the scene.
She stared at the vibrant painting in mid-air for a long while before covering her mouth, her face filled with disbelief.
It turns out that the "Sacred Relic Map" they were looking for had always been on them all along.
The dark golden Netherworld Chains dimmed their light, transforming into a stream of light and disappearing into the void behind Zhou Huai.
He glanced at the gray-black crystal fragments on the ground, then turned his gaze to the "Sacred Relics" painting that was "breathing" in mid-air, before looking at Eliza, who was still in a daze.
"So it seems the problem isn't with your Yalige family, but with that Uncle Bonnie," Zhou Huai said calmly.
Eliza stood frozen in place, staring blankly at the painting.
Her legs gave way, and she knelt on the blood-stained lawn, covering her mouth as tears streamed down her face.
If she hadn't accepted this so-called "gift," and if she had noticed the abnormality of the necklace, her family would never have faced such a catastrophic disaster.
The guards who died tragically outside the manor, the blood on the lawn—all because of this necklace. What she found most unbearable was that her father had always considered Bonnie a sworn brother, yet he too had been murdered because of it.
"It's all my fault...it's all my fault..."
Eliza lay on the ground, her fingers gripping the dirt, her fingernails filled with blood.
Why did Uncle Bonnie do that?
Eliza suddenly looked up, staring at Zhou Huai and shouting hoarsely, as if she were asking him a question, or questioning the enemy who was not in front of her.
"Isn't he my father's good brother?"
"They had fought side by side on the battlefield, and his father had even shielded him from a deadly curse!"
"Why would he resort to such vicious means to frame our Arigo family?!"
Faced with Eliza's questioning, Zhou Huai remained calm. He had seen too much betrayal and scheming; it was not uncommon for even biological fathers and sons to turn against each other for the sake of profit.
"People die for wealth, birds die for food. There are no permanent friends in this world, only permanent interests."