Chapter 353: A Key
With the Ancient Flame sold, the flame slowly disappeared from behind Kyros and was replaced by a key floating in the air.
The moment the key appeared, everyone’s eyes narrowed slightly and their attention turned to it. However, no matter how much they examined it, they couldn’t find anything interesting about it.
It looked like nothing more than an ordinary key that glowed faintly. More importantly, the corrosion marks on it made it clear that it was extremely old.
"This key you see here is a bit special. I think all of you have heard of the legend of the Eternity Faith — a faith long buried in the depths of history," Kyros said with a smile.
As soon as his words rang out, the crowd took a sharp breath.
The Eternity Faith! One of the most legendary religions in the world, a faith of which nothing remains but myths and legends, buried in the world’s history.
Some legends even say that the Eternity Faith was once the most powerful religion in the world, ruling over everything, and that its prophet even managed to ascend to godhood.
But what could this key possibly have to do with the Eternity Faith?
"This key might be the key to the tomb of the prophet’s disciple from the Eternity Faith — the tomb of a demigod," Kyros said with a smirk and explosive tone.
"The tomb of a demigod?"
"My god, a demigod! And not just any demigod, but one who was a disciple of a god."
"The prophet of the Eternity Faith was a god?"
"No one knows, but according to legend, the prophet managed to ascend to godhood."
A loud discussion broke out among the audience. Those who had been uninterested in the key at first suddenly had a light sparking in their eyes.
This was especially true for the representatives of the current religions. For them, this was even more important — anything they could find in that tomb would surely be divine, and might even contain actual divine power.
No matter how much money it cost, they absolutely had to obtain this key.
"We found this key during an expedition in an ancient city whose ruins were recently discovered. There were also some inscriptions about it there. According to those inscriptions, the Book of Eternity should also be inside this tomb."
This time, the crowd fell silent upon hearing his words, even wondering if they had heard him wrong.
The Book of Eternity? A divine book? Could there really be an actual divine book in that tomb?
All the representatives from the major forces immediately contacted the most powerful authorities of their backers through communication talismans to consult with them.
To buy something like this, they might have to spend as much as 100 Chaos Crystals — a decision they couldn’t make alone.
"A divine book? Damn it! If I had the money, I’d do anything to get that key," Andreas sighed.
The value of a divine book, especially one like the Book of Eternity, couldn’t be expressed in words. This was a book that taught a complete high-tier Law, and just reading it could deepen one’s understanding of that Law.
But would buying it be that simple? He doubted it. Maybe it wouldn’t be exactly like the Heavenly Flame situation, but there was no way getting this would be easy.
"The Book of Eternity?" Daniel frowned as well. As the successor of the Eternity Faith, naturally, he should be the one to obtain this key.
But how? With only six Chaos Crystals, he had no chance at all of buying it — he would just be making a fool of himself.
At the same time, he couldn’t give it up either. This key would allow him to enter Evangeline’s tomb... he truly wanted to know what had happened to that girl.
Was she really dead? If she was, then who was that veiled woman he had seen in the shattered valley? Was it just a coincidence?
Normally, he could even plan to steal the key, but stealing something from any of the top forces — or from the House of Ten Thousand Treasures — was no different from committing suicide.
’Maybe I could trade one of the techniques I took from the Prophet’s Library?’ he thought to himself.
He already knew the contents of those techniques, so he wouldn’t lose anything by giving one away. Besides, even if he handed one over in exchange for the key, that wouldn’t mean those fools could use it.
To use those techniques, one had to cultivate the Law of Eternity, and even then, the talent required to cultivate them was so high that perhaps fewer than ten people in the entire world could do it.
He decided to wait and see how high the bidding would go. Still, he wasn’t worried — those techniques were so valuable that even demigods would want them. He was certain he could use one to get the key.
"Before we start the auction for this key, I should mention something. In order to buy this key, you must be recognized by it," Kyros said once the crowd had quieted down again and their attention was back on him.
"Before you ask questions or get the wrong idea, let me explain. This key has its own will and awareness. We don’t know how a key could have its own will, but it does."
"When our staff and subordinates tried to touch it, they were completely turned to ash — regardless of how powerful they were," Kyros explained.
His words made frowns appear across the audience. Many clearly didn’t believe such nonsense.
How could a key possibly have its own will and awareness?
"If that’s the case, then how did you bring the key here?" the representative of the Valenberg family asked mockingly.
"That’s where you’re wrong. We didn’t bring the key — it came with us. As I said, this key has its own awareness, and according to the inscriptions, only the key itself can find its owner."
"We told the key that if it came with us, we could help it find the owner it’s looking for," Kyros explained calmly with a smile.
"Ridiculous! That’s impossible. You probably made some shady deal with someone to sell this thing to them," the representative of the Trevan Empire growled.
"If you don’t believe us, you’re welcome to try and take the key by force — but we warn you, whatever happens will be none of our responsibility."