Shade didn't know what the witch was thinking now, he pulled out the silver sword from the air. As Shade's power continued to grow, the appearance of the Moonlight Sword was gradually changing. Compared with the past, the runes flowing on the sword became more obvious.
The light from the greatsword itself was enough to illuminate the surroundings. Shad bent down slightly, and the lady behind him leaned forward and put her hand on his shoulder.
Suddenly, it was unknown which animal took the first action, and then the animals that half-surrounded the two people rushed towards them together.
"Hedon Seal!"
As Shade thrust the greatsword into the soil beneath his feet, the golden hemispherical shield flashed with light and unfolded.
The moment the animals touched the shield, golden light exploded like lightning. Although the strange animals that rushed over looked scary, they were only stronger animals. They flew backwards under the explosive effect of the Hitton Seal, and a large number of them died on the spot.
“It’s much easier than I thought.”
Xia De said to the witch behind him, while Miss Benannis was still looking at the animals curiously:
"As much as I want to experiment here... ... let's purify this place, and then we can continue to move inward."
Shade scattered the soil and petals together, and this time when he cast the spell, Shade still had the "Earth Amulet" he got from the plague merchant tied to his right wrist.
With the precious stone rune, the gushing spiritual energy was more active than before. In addition, this "crazy land" was not serious for some reason, so it was easily completely purified. When the spiritual energy disappeared, the earth holy grail floated from the soil in front of Shade. The ancient rune engraved on the holy grail was conservation.
“Is childbearing also a power of the earth?”
Xia De asked curiously. The Witch of the Earth nodded and then added:
"That Silver Moon sage also has powers related to promoting fertility."
Xia De didn't quite understand the power of the Holy Grail this time, so he planned to study it again after returning.
After the crazy land was purified, all the animals that shouldn't have existed died, but it seems that new "residents" will move in soon.
According to Sister Defulin's map, there should be artificial stairs going up inside the cave. Shade and Miss Benannis searched for a long time but couldn't find it. Finally, the witch hugged Shade and flew upwards. After landing on an obvious artificial platform, they followed the platform and saw the stone stairs that were almost unrecognizable from their original appearance.
The stone steps still exist, but the edges have long been worn away, and the originally smooth surface of the steps has become bumpy, almost blending into the cave.
Following the stone steps, we walked up the rock wall of the cave, and soon we turned into a small cave inside the cave. Then we continued to walk upwards, and finally we saw the light above our heads.
Avoiding the annoying spiders and using the fire to clean the animal feces in the cave, we finally arrived at the high exit of this mountain cave at nearly two o'clock.
Squinting my eyes that were not used to the light, I walked towards the light. The view outside the cave was extremely wide. This was a narrow platform carved out on the steep cliff. Looking up, it was an almost completely vertical cliff. The top of the mountain was about 100 to 200 meters away. The smooth cliff did not allow any means of passage. Looking down, it was a slope with an angle of about 70 to 80 degrees, leading directly to the cedar forest below. If you fall from here without any preparation, you will definitely be killed.
The altitude here is extremely high. It is almost impossible to descend from the top of the mountain or climb down from the foot of the mountain by rock climbing, except through the cave route.
"It's really spectacular. I didn't expect there was such a place near the Randall River Valley."
Miss Benanis came up behind Shad and couldn't help but sigh.
This narrow mountain platform faces the west. Looking into the distance, you can see the slightly gloomy winter sky, large tracts of cedar forests, and even the Ailon River winding through the distance, like a ribbon embedded in the forest.
On the platform, from the cave entrance to the end of the narrow platform, there are three magnificent stone arches every twenty meters. All the stone arches have been destroyed, and only one arch column is still intact, and only half of the column and the base of the column are still there.
Traces of oil paint can be vaguely seen on the pillars, but it is impossible to tell what was originally painted on them. The inscriptions on the pillars have also disappeared in the wind and sun, and it is impossible to tell what was written here in the past.
"Sister Develyn said that at least in the 800th year of the Sixth Era, villagers from the nearby mountain villages would still come to worship. However, as the scope of Randall Valley City expanded, people from the mountain villages gradually moved to the city, and this place completely fell into decline."
As he spoke, he stroked the base of the stone columns of the arches, feeling the vicissitudes of time. It was hard to imagine who built this place. These arches were not piled up with stones, but were carved out of the existing stones when the platform was excavated.
"Three is a very important number in the worship of the moon."
The witch looked at the scenery and said to Shade:
"Passing through the three arches also means passing the test of three moons. If I'm not mistaken, the most important place in this relic should be on the other side of the three arches. Passing through the moon will lead to night."
The platform was quite flat, not like a relic from the last era. Shade and Miss Benanis walked through the ancient archway together, but could not see anything at the end, just a flat open space.
The sun made the shadows of the remaining pillars of the arch fall obliquely on the ground, silent yet extremely impactful.
"I originally thought that I would be able to see at least an altar or a statue of a deity."
Xia De said, turning his head to face the afternoon sun:
"I didn't feel anything."
"Wait a mininute."
The witch looked down and stepped lightly with her right boot. A gust of wind swept the dust from the ground, but there was no pattern on the ground.
"I thought there would be a holy symbol painted on the ground."
They searched carefully on this long and narrow platform again, but had to admit that there was really nothing here except the remaining pillars.
Fortunately, Xia De also has experience in this situation:
"It looks like we have to wait until night. Since this is the Dark Temple, there might be clues at night."
Miss Benanis also thought that they should wait until night, but before that, Shad actually had other ideas:
"Look at this."
As he spoke, he took out the mithril cube from his pocket. So far, the cube has given Shad three stories, namely "The Church of the Forgotten", "St. Perry's Cemetery" and "The Secret Chamber of the Stonemason Guild". This dark night temple located in the mountains is not in the urban area of Randall Valley, but it still belongs to Randall Valley, so Shad wants to try his luck.
I didn't hold out much hope at first, but I didn't expect that when Xia De held the mithril cube in the afternoon sun, fine characters actually appeared on one of its surfaces.
However, the content revealed by the cube was very different from what Shade had guessed.
Randall Valley Gold Mine—
Legend has it that there is a gold mine buried under the Randall River Valley that is easy to mine. Even the establishment of this city is related to this. However, no one has been able to find the source of the wealth so far. There is an ancient nursery rhyme circulating among the villagers, which truly points out the location of the gold mine: where the moon sets, under the deep night. But the greedy will be swallowed up by desire. Gold mines may not necessarily redeem our souls.
"ha?"
Xia De rubbed the surface of the silver cube with his fingertips, and with the help of "her", he read out the words on the silver cube, then looked around in surprise:
"I'm clearly dealing with the Night Temple, so how come there are rumors of gold mines... The gold mine is where the moon sets, under the deep night... Hmm..."
The witch was also very surprised, and almost immediately looked down at the two people's feet:
"Although I'm not a local, I have heard of the gold mine legend that has been circulating in Randall Valley City for a long time. Didn't the person who founded this city in the legend make his fortune from the gold mine? Moreover, there has been a rumor in the city recently that Stone Oxenfurt has found a gold mine in the mountains."
"But we all know that it's fake. It's actually to cover up the silver mine in the sea whose ownership is unknown, to prevent others from taking it before it's mined. I even asked Margaret to commission the Sixes Higher Medical College to investigate... Could it be that there really is a gold mine in this place?"
As Xia De said this, he thought of another thing:
"When I found Oxenfurt's ring at the bottom of the river, I also picked up a piece of gold ore. Now that I think about it, since Oxenfurt and Prince William's gold mines are fake, where did that piece of gold ore come from?"
Miss Benanis also looked surprised:
"By the way, the river where you found the gold ore is..."
"The section of the River Elrond that flows east of the city."
The two looked up at the "ribbon" embedded in the cedar forest not far away. That was the Ailon River. After a moment of silence, the witch blinked:
"The rumor about the gold mine in the city was actually a fabricated story by Oxenfurt. As it turns out, the gold mine actually exists, while the silver mine is most likely fake. This is really..."
“Dark humor.”
Xia De said a very appropriate word:
"Especially for Prince William. I even suspect that, damn, I mean Oxenfurt, he actually knows that there is a real gold mine in the local area, and he is playing tricks on Prince William."
The witch shook her head slightly:
"If Oxenfurt really knew about the gold mine, his cooperation with the prince would definitely be smoother, so I tend to think that he didn't know."
Shade also thought that he didn't know, but even if the Stone Mirror Demon didn't know the location, he was sure that the gold mine really existed.
Miss Benaness then proposed:
"Since there is still a long time before dark, let's look for it and hope to find something. If we can really find a gold mine, I will also buy the Royal Opera House in Willendel!"