Read Novel Full Chapter 578: Courtyard
Chapter 578: Courtyard
Ordinarily, exploring the city fragment would have been extremely difficult.
After all, no one knew which buildings concealed treasures, nor did anyone know what dangers awaited inside.
With her current strength, Liora naturally feared very little.
Even so, out of habit, she would have explored cautiously, spending considerable time searching for worthwhile gains.
Fortunately, Elaouthr spared her that trouble.
Following the map the demon had gotten from the elderly man’s corpse, they soon stopped in front of a secluded courtyard.
Like every other structure in the city, it was built in an ancient architectural style. There was none of the modern, western design common throughout the Human Federation.
Instead, every detail reflected an unmistakably eastern aesthetic.
Looking at the somewhat familiar courtyard, Liora found herself feeling odd.
By now, she already had a fairly good guess regarding the identity of the city’s original inhabitants. Exactly because of that, she was quite curious about what had happened.
Elaouthr misunderstood her silence as a sign of confusion.
Perhaps because he had been close to the demon whose identity she had stolen, he immediately began to explain:
“These ‘courtyards,’ as the city’s residents called them, were mostly private residences.”
Elaouthr shook his head.
“I don’t know what these people were thinking, but every courtyard possesses its own token, just like the city’s outer barrier.”
“I suspect it’s equivalent to the keys we use today. Without holding them, entry is forbidden.”
As he spoke, Elaouthr reached into his spatial ring and retrieved a white token.
Then, with a flick of his wrist, he tossed it into the courtyard.
The instant the token fell onto it, the invisible barrier surrounding the residence quietly dissolved.
“These formations are perhaps the greatest danger within the city. Well… apart from the other creatures, of course.”
“I doubt anyone other than the leader could break them by force. Fortunately, luck was on my side, and I happened to obtain this token not long ago.”
While he was speaking, Elaouthr stepped through the courtyard gate.
As his feet stepped into the garden and nothing happened, he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Then he turned around and gestured for Liora to enter.
She only briefly hesitated.
Confident in her own strength, and seeing that Elaouthr had entered safely, she stepped through the gate as well.
The moment she crossed the barrier, her surroundings changed.
The empty courtyard she had seen from outside vanished, as though it had been a mere dream.
Only after entering did its true appearance reveal itself.
The courtyard was overflowing with treasures.
Small pieces of parchment, weapons of every kind, jade slips, and bottles filled with round objects.
Every object radiated a faint ethereal aura, though the erosion of countless years had clearly diminished much of their former power.
Yet despite the abundance of treasures, Liora discovered that Elaouthr barely spared them a glance.
His eyes remained fixed on a single object standing at the very center of the courtyard.
It was a stone tablet.
On it were carved several sentences in a language neither of them recognized.
Despite this, they were able to read through the text.
“This is the residence of Taoist Daoist Everflow.”
“If you’re reading this, it means I’ve either gone missing or worse, I am dead.”
“Should you reach this place, I ask that you inform the Heavenly Armory Pavilion of my death.”
“I promise that you will be richly rewarded!”
Although they were merely words carved into stone, an aged voice echoed directly within their minds.
An elderly figure gradually formed in their consciousness, resembling the corpse they had seen just earlier.
But the image lasted only a brief moment.
The elderly figure then shattered like glass, and their consciousness snapped back to reality.
The courtyard fell silent.
Liora’s gaze lingered on the stone tablet for several seconds.
The characters engraved upon it had already faded into meaningless lines, as though whatever power preserved them had finally been exhausted.
A thoughtful look crossed her face.
Elaouthr, however, paid it little mind.
“That man’s strength must have been unimaginable in the past.”, he said with a sigh.
“Some believe this ancient city has existed for billions of years. To leave behind a message that survives for so long, he must have been a supreme powerhouse during his era.”
Elaouthr sighed.
Although a demon, he had long since surpassed the savagery of ordinary members of his race.
At his level, instinct no longer ruled the demons’ actions. They simply chose to indulge it from time to time.
Even so, Liora happened to reach a different conclusion.
Having witnessed several power systems across different worlds, she could sense something unusual about the lingering aura.
“Rather than say that the man is powerful, it would be more accurate to say that his methods are unusual.”
“As for his strength, that elderly man should have only been equivalent to a Rank 7 World Lord.”
Such power had reached the Archdevil stage and was considered a powerhouse even in the Origin Sea.
But to be able to preserve a message across billions of years, it was simply impossible.
From Liora’s point of view, this was related to the man’s powers rather than his actual strength.
Either way, she didn’t dwell on the thought.
Her attention quickly returned to the courtyard.
She immediately noticed that Elaouthr had recovered a long time ago and had decided to ignore the tablet.
He was already searching through the treasures scattered across the residence.
Despite his enormous frame and demonic appearance, his movements were surprisingly meticulous, examining every object before deciding whether it was worth keeping.
Seeing this, Liora stopped wasting time.
With a casual wave of her hand, dozens of treasures floated toward her.
Most of them were jade slips, largely ignored by Elaouthr, alongside several tiny parchments and a handful of weapons.
She picked up one of the jade slips first.
As she held it in her hand, her consciousness swept out and dove into it.
A torrent of information poured into her mind as a response.
As she digested it, a trace of surprise flickered within Liora’s eyes.
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