In front of the Treasury Arch, there was a carved pillar about half the height of a person.
On the upper surface of the pillar, like the surface of water, faint golden ripples continuously flowed from the left side to the right.
"This should be the place where the Treasure Vault Token is verified," Lillian stepped forward slowly and whispered.
Without any further hesitation, she first placed a strange stone that looked like rotting wood from her Storage Ring onto it.
Colin was intently watching the pillar, while also keeping an eye on his surroundings with his peripheral vision.
A moment later, Lillian glanced at the pillar's surface, then at the unresponsive arch ahead, extended her hand and took her odd rotting wood-like stone back.
She turned her head to signal Colin, who understood and stepped forward, also taking out a blue metal piece from his Storage Ring that might possibly be the suspected token he had sorted out earlier during inspection.
He placed the metal piece onto the pillar, but the result was still no response.
In this way, the two alternated testing the items in their hands, and about ten minutes later, they had tested all the items previously selected as suspected entrance tokens for the Treasure Vault.
But not one of them caused any change to either the square pillar or the Treasury Arch.
"We can only continue testing the remaining items in the Storage Ring," Lillian said after a moment's silence with a sigh.
Colin looked at the arch ahead, frowning.
It made no sense... that Tree Elf Half-blood couldn't possibly be telling such a lie out of nowhere; since she claimed to possess the token, she naturally had it.
And according to the style of the High Level Elf Clan, the token should not be made so simple and indistinguishable... how could it be so difficult to find this token?
Snap.
Lillian was already placing other items onto the stone pillar.
Colin continued to ponder.
"It's your turn, Colin."
Moments later, Lillian pursed her lips, took back the items from the pillar, and then turned around to say to Colin:
And it was at this moment, a flash of insight came to Colin, he muttered under his breath:
"Senior Sister, we have already checked everything in the Storage Ring, if we were to say anything related to the Elf Clan, it could only be those two so-called entrance and exit tokens!"
As he spoke, he walked forward and took out the Golden Pattern Wood Hammer that he had found on Lites and placed it onto the stone pillar.
Buzz—
The moment the wood hammer touched the surface of the pillar, those continuously flowing golden ripples suddenly changed.
The surface seemed to become like real water, and those stream-like golden lights soaked the wood hammer as if they were true ripples.
Seeing this, Lillian's eyes lit up, a surge of joy and excitement welled up in her heart.
When the golden light completely enveloped the Golden Pattern Wood Hammer, the changes on the pillar gradually stopped, and in its stead, the Treasury Arch began to shine with a faint golden glow.
But before they could celebrate for long,
A faint golden ray of light shot out from the Treasury door, accurately enveloping Colin, but it retracted as soon as it touched him, only lasting for a fleeting moment.
Then, the golden light abruptly went out, whether it was the golden light on the pillar or the arch, both dissipated instantly.
A dark red gloom swept over again, the joy on Lillian's face vanished abruptly, and her eyebrows knit tightly together.
Colin's brow was slightly furrowed, his lips moving as if wanting to say something, but he ultimately remained silent, only placing the Golden Pattern Wood Hammer back onto the stone platform again.
Then, with a thought,
Clang!
A magnificent set of black armor suddenly appeared on his body.
Lillian, standing to the side, was slightly taken aback by this and looked on a bit nervously.
Whoosh!
From the arch above, a beam of golden light shone down once more.
But this time, it didn't retract instantly; instead, it scanned slowly from head to toe.
Afterward, the pale golden light withdrew, replaced by a white soft light—without notice, the Treasury Arch had quietly opened, revealing a spiraling white vortex inside.
It was clearly a Transmission Gate.
"Lillian, should I go ahead first?" Colin breathed out, holding back the surge in his heart, and turned to ask.
"Go ahead quickly, in case something unexpected happens again," Lillian said, nodding in urging him.
But at this moment, seemingly recalling something, Colin hesitated slightly but then suddenly turned around.
Although he had opened the doors to the Elf Treasure Vault with the hammer, Lillian also possessed a token obtained from Parde.
But that didn't necessarily mean Lillian could enter the Elf Treasure Vault. Having entered the vault, it was uncertain whether he could return to this spot...
Regardless, for him, obtaining treasures in the Elf Treasure Vault was merely icing on the cake; but for Lillian and for Atbolde, the mentor who had helped him a lot, it might be the only chance for survival...
Therefore, both emotionally and rationally, even if there were only a slim possibility, he was not willing to take the risk... it was better to hold back for now.
"Colin, why don't you go in?"
Lillian noticed his movement and asked in confusion.
"Your token has not been tried yet, Senior Sister," Colin replied succinctly.
Seeing his actions, Lillian was clearly startled, seemingly not expecting Colin to make such a move.
She fell silent for a while, wanting to let Colin go first.
But thinking of her grandfather, and that her own token had indeed not yet been tested to see if it could open the Treasure Vault, if she entered the vault, it was also uncertain whether she could return to this spot... the future was unknown.
With all these thoughts, her throat seemed to be blocked, her lips moved slightly, but in the end, she remained silent.
"Senior Sister Lillian, delays may lead to complications; better seize the time," Colin said, without overthinking.
Return favors for favors, avenge wrongs with reprisal, were always his principles.
"Mhm," Lillian breathed in deeply, no longer hesitating and walked towards the stone pillar.
"Junior Colin—," but as she passed by him, as if she remembered something, she paused, taking out a pale-white crystal from her Storage Ring.
"Inside here is knowledge on the basics of strengthening the body… With your Talent, you might consider starting to work on strengthening your physical foundation now, to prepare for Advancing to Second Rank."
"Sister Lillian…," Colin was slightly taken aback but did not refuse further, raising his hand to receive the crystal.
"Remember, Colin—," yet Lillian suddenly pulled the crystal back, emphasizing with a serious tone, "always measure your capabilities, and be constantly vigilant of being influenced by knowledge!"
Having said that, she pushed the crystal back into Colin's hand, and then took out a vial of transparent liquid like water from her Storage Ring—Lickme inspection elixir, which she handed over to Colin.
After doing these things, Lillian came beside the stone pillar, taking out the green leaf she had obtained earlier and placing it on top.
The pale golden glow from the archway shone again, banishing the omnipresent muted red glimmer of the Elf Kingdom.
Just like Colin, Lillian summoned the identical azure-gold Elf Armor.
"Hmm?"
The next moment, Colin couldn't help but frown.
The golden glow that fell upon Lillian was absorbed on contact just like the first time… and the Treasury Arch did not open.
'Could it be that the leaf, like the withered branch before, also required a specific Tree Elf bloodline to open the Treasury Arch?'
'…Do different Tokens each require a different status?'
Thinking this, Colin suddenly had a flash of inspiration and said to Lillian:
"Sister, perhaps you could try that bracelet again! Like the wooden hammer and the leaf, it also has the function of entering and leaving the Elf Kingdom!"
Lillian was startled, hope rising in her heart once more, and took out the delicate light-purple bracelet she had always worn on her wrist.
Colin watched the exquisite bracelet, and a new question arose in his mind—
Aside from the different status requirements, could there be other differences between these various Tokens?
At that moment, Lillian had already put away the leaf and once again placed the bracelet on the stone pillar.
Colin carefully observed the pillar, where previously the leaf and hammer had produced no difference when placed, both being enshrouded by the golden light.
And now, the bracelet… seemed no different?
The same process was repeated.
But this time, Lillian passed the test, and a pale white light quietly descended—
The Treasure Vault's Archway opened!
Lillian was more taken aback than delighted.
She really hadn't expected the bracelet her mother left her to have such a function!
A moment later, she sighed with relief, turned to Colin, and said:
"Colin, I'm going in."
"If it's possible to return here after leaving the Treasure Vault, let's wait for each other here for one day. If one of us doesn't show up, then the other should leave first."
"Okay." Colin withdrew his gaze, holding back the curiosity in his heart for the time being.
At least from the external performance, there didn't seem to be any differences in this series of processes.
His heart gradually calmed, he continued to watch Lillian, and continued, "Hope everything goes well, see you later."
"Mhm. Hope everything goes smoothly," Lillian nodded, no longer hesitating, picked up the bracelet from the pillar, and stepped into the Treasury Arch.
Her figure gradually faded into the white light until it disappeared entirely.
Thump—the opulent and magnificent archway suddenly closed.
Then, only Colin was left in the entire palace.
"Can the Treasure Vault take small elves in?" Colin suddenly realized.
Lillian had just walked through the archway, leaving nothing behind, and it seemed Bobi had followed her inside.
"Good Giant… what is this place?"
At that moment, Nasi within the hood suddenly spoke.
Colin had given her a new Ancient Tree Heart, which she licked for a while before falling into a deep sleep, not waking even during the previous fight with Lites.
Yet now, for some reason, she suddenly awoke.
His spiritual power spread out, and Colin saw Nasi's haggard little face; ever since they arrived here, the little sprite had become increasingly withered for some unknown reason, and now, even the red wings on her back drooped, losing their original luster and texture.
"We are in a palace above the blue sky, Nasi, I'm about to enter the Elf Treasure Vault.
Hang in there a little longer, Nasi, and soon I will take you away from here, and I'll give you the largest sugary gemstone then."
Seeing Nasi in this state, Colin couldn't help but worry, and spoke comfortingly.
"Good Giant, you are so kind…" Hearing about the sugary gemstone, Nasi's red eyes brightened a bit, but that vitality was fleeting.
Almost in a moment, her eyelids started drooping, and soon after, she fell back into a deep sleep.
Colin was startled at first, but, seeing that Nasi's chest was still rising and falling slightly, and that her life was weak yet stable, he temporarily set his worries aside and continued forward.
He placed the Golden Pattern Wood Hammer back on the stone pillar, and the Treasure Vault Archway opened once more.
With a bit of excitement, Colin didn't hesitate and stepped through the archway.
Bang.
The next second, the archway closed again, and his figure disappeared into the white light.
Yet a tiny dark red figure suddenly fell down.
With a plop, it landed on the ground in front of the archway.