Chapter 1478: The Secret Chamber and the Model

Chapter 1478: Chapter 1478: The Secret Chamber and the Model

The stone door opened very slowly, so slowly that it was quite worrying, otherwise Xv Jiazhi wouldn’t have been so anxious just now.

Lin Tian didn’t use his perspective vision; now that the door was open, there was no need for subterfuge.

Thunk!

The stone door fully opened with a dull thud.

Lin Tian was somewhat disappointed to find that behind the stone door there wasn’t a staircase leading to the sixth level of the underground palace, but a passageway less than five meters long with a stone chamber at the end. The stone chamber was lit with an orange glow.

Chen Moxiang thought differently. She shook Lin Tian’s arm and smiled, saying, "Do you remember what Wang Sijing said before, that an elder of the Wang Family brought the Luban lock to the underground palace? But we never saw them, and now that there’s a light in this secret chamber, it’s very likely that the elder is inside."

Hearing Chen Moxiang, Lin Tian’s eyes sparkled with insight.

He believed Chen Moxiang’s intuition was wrong. The reason being, to open the stone door that had just revealed itself, one would need Inner Strength or Spiritual Qi to activate the Array Point Map.

Whoever managed to enter this chamber must have understood the Array Point Map. Besides Wang Xingkong from the Wang Family, no one else grasped the array within the blade, otherwise it wouldn’t have fallen so easily into Lin Tian’s hands.

Regardless, these remain Lin Tian’s theories. Seeing is believing.

"Let’s go in and take a look."

This line was directed at Wang Sijing, whose waist tether had returned to Lin Tian’s grasp. Such adventurous matters were naturally assigned to the Wang Family’s direct descendant.

Lin Tian wasn’t oblivious to Xv Jiazhi’s injuries but offered no words of comfort. To Lin Tian, it was all it should be; having obtained the Spiritual Qi cultivation method from him and preserving one’s own life by defending his master was justifiable.

Wang Sijing was displeased with Lin Tian’s commanding tone but voiced no objections and strode confidently inside.

This was the Wang Family’s secret chamber, and with such a cryptic method of access, Wang Sijing didn’t believe there would be traps or mechanisms inside.

The three followed behind Wang Sijing, reaching the end of the passage less than five meters long and turning a corner. Ahead, there were no more passageways, only an immense secret chamber.

The chamber was vast, at least twenty meters wide. As for its length, without a perspective vision, it was hard to tell, as rows of shelves blocked the view.

The shelves were all wooden, coated with a special lacquer, bearing a clutter of items.

There were scrolls, various gears in differing models, components of mechanisms, all sorts of objects mesmerizing to behold. But they’ve gathered some dust, appearing unused for a long time.

Arriving here made one feel like they were entering an abandoned factory warehouse.

"Whoa, this is rather spectacular. These items must be the leftovers from constructing the underground palace. With so many components, it’s possible to add more mechanisms, and the Wang Family indeed has many skilled craftsmen," said Xv Jiazhi with a smile.

Wang Sijing didn’t respond, just stood in front of the shelves admiring them. She picked up a thread-bound book from the corner, dusted off its cover, and examined it. The script was all in traditional characters, written vertically from the right. The pages showed signs of yellowing, with parts nibbled by bookworms, the binding thread nearly frayed, attesting to its age.

This book was a manual about the use of the components on the shelves, though not of great significance.

Nonetheless, Wang Sijing handled the book with care, gently placing it back on the shelf.

All of these were part of the Wang Family heritage, embodying ancestral wisdom, a source of pride for her.

"This place is so vast, there might be something new worth discovering. Let’s explore further," said Xv Jiazhi. He really wanted to venture deeper alone, but given Lin Tian’s limited trust in him, sneaking away was impossible.

"Okay."

Lin Tian lightly nodded in agreement with Xv Jiazhi’s proposal, uninterested in the mechanisms and books.

Walking through the aisle flanked by shelves, Lin Tian could smell the moldy odor emanating from them, not too pungent but still unpleasant. Yet, he wasn’t picky enough to use Spiritual Qi instead of air.

Soon, the four reached the end of the passage, where there was a space as large as a room in one corner of the chamber, its most eye-catching feature being a sand table model.

This model was two meters high, about ten square meters, with a hollow center.

It’s the Wang Family’s underground palace sand table model! Lin Tian recognized the passageways, stairs, and the grand array of forty stone statues of Qilin he had traversed.

Through this model, Lin Tian realized, as Wang Sijing had mentioned, there were many places in this underground palace he hadn’t explored. What he had seen so far amounted to only a fraction of the palace.

Although unaware of what lay in the untouched areas, it was undoubtedly more dangerous than beneficial.

In terms of treasures in the palace, Lin Tian hadn’t found anything particularly appealing.

Wang Sijing gazed up at the model, her thoughts a mystery to Lin Tian, yet he could see tears of excitement glistening at her eye corners.

"The model is crafted from stone, the artisan’s skills are admirable, and the scale is unusually consistent. I never imagined the Wang Family could create such a model centuries ago. Impressive," remarked Xv Jiazhi as he observed.

Meanwhile, Lin Tian had shifted his gaze. Just beyond the sand table was a long wooden table.

On the wooden table lay an assortment of peculiar items. Thick blueprints, saws of varying lengths, planers, an antiquated microscope, and a vintage lamp currently illuminated...

The items were plentiful, listing each would take quite a while.

Lin Tian approached the vintage lamp, touched the lamp’s back, noting its metal shade was hot to the touch.

Beneath the lamp lay a blueprint, surrounded by various pens, rulers, and compasses.

"Someone’s been in this chamber!"

Lin Tian finally confirmed his long-standing suspicion, though the chamber was illuminated, supposedly due to triggering a switch when opening the stone door. But the lamp contradicted this notion, considering they’d been inside for less than half an hour, and the lamp wouldn’t have heated up like this.

"Someone’s definitely been here, for quite some time," said Chen Moxiang, also pointing to a corner dimly lit by the lamp, revealing a cabinet stocked with canned foods and compressed biscuits.

Further in the corner, there were empty cans and biscuit wrappers, discarded but odorless due to proper sealing.