The stranger sighed. He felt that the biggest feeling he had from his adventure in the first three months of 1854 was not that he had learned about the power of the earth, but that he had understood love and marriage.
When a stranger is in his hometown, he doesn't know what love is, let alone getting married. After coming to this world, he understood love under the guidance of Luvia. He saw so many stories in the Randall River Valley, and at the very end, he met his first friend again. He has a lot to say to Luvia, Dorothy, and Lesia. When the night is over, he wants to watch the sunset with them and talk about the meaning of life.
Of course, he would have to wait until he had nothing to do before thinking about the meaning of life and the feelings of love. Now, Xia De did not have any extra time to waste.
Apart from the astonishingly large coffin and stone tablet in the center of the entire main tomb chamber, the only movable item is the key placed in the center of the top of the coffin.
Since Sister St. Perry said that Mr. Lyman left a gift for Shad, it must be this key.
After picking up the ordinary-looking stone key, Shad almost immediately detected a keyhole on the wall opposite the tomb chamber and the entrance.
It was quite strange. With Xia De and Yin Luna's perception ability, it was impossible for them not to notice the keyhole that looked quite unusual in such a relatively small space. But it was only when Xia De picked up the key that he could feel the existence of the keyhole.
Not only that, when Shad touched the key itself, he also felt that this ordinary stone key was confirming him.
If it is not you who touches the key, the key will have no power. This is a special item made with the magic of the Butterfly God.
"She" reminded softly, and Shade immediately thought that only the power of the old gods who were proficient in illusion could perfectly hide the keyhole.
So Xia De and Yin Luna came to the deepest part of the tomb and inserted the key into the lock. After a click, a door popped open in the wall.
The space behind the door is not very big. It looks like a naturally formed underground cave. The only thing in the cave is a spring filled with black mud.
"This is... ... "
The girl with long brown hair was startled and hurriedly took Shade back a step:
"Crazy Earth? No, this is stronger than any Crazy Earth we've ever encountered... Is this the entrance to the Heart of the Earth?"
Yin Luna keenly sensed the most fundamental power of the earth, and even when she actively listened, she once again heard the irregular huge heartbeat that could only be heard in a deep meditation state.
"It seems that it is just as I thought. Before their death, Mr. Leiman and his wife made their own graveyard the only normal entrance to the Heart of the Earth in the material world."
He felt the vague attraction of divinity and looked back at the sarcophagus:
"Is this the gift? If I hadn't come here in person, the intruder would have to face more than just an illusion."
Yin Luna immediately thought of the scene where the coffin exploded and the undead creature jumped out of it. She frowned slightly:
"From your last description of the Stone Mirror Demon Goethe, its combat power is not weaker than that of the Guardian. I'm afraid that it has never fought the Guardian head-on over the years, not only because it prefers to play tricks, but also because the only entrance is too far for it to enter safely.
Yes, for so many years, the legend of the Heart of the Earth in the Randall Valley has been circulating, and the location of the Night Temple is not very hidden. As long as you reach the top of the mountain, it is not completely impossible to find it, but I have never heard of anyone entering... Even those guardians may not be able to pass through here safely."
"If that's the explanation, then it makes sense that the Crazy Earth in the cave was not dealt with by the guardians when Miss Benannis and I first came here. They usually don't rely on this passage to enter and exit the Heart of the Earth."
Shad said.
Yin Luna also looked at the coffin with great admiration:
"Although he used the power of the Old Gods, this matter was, after all, led by an ordinary man in the Fifth Era. It is truly remarkable. If his deeds could be known to the public, our church would at least give him the honor of posthumous canonization."
"The God of Butterflies - Thousand-Eyed Illusion Butterfly..."
Xia De thought more, it was obvious that the power of the old god was inextricably linked to the ancient mother goddess of the earth. And it was her family that followed the man back to the material world, and it was her family that became the guardian of the heart of the earth after death.
It is hard to say whether there is a possibility that the gods deliberately arranged this. But if you think about it this way, the series of events in the Worm Cave of the Fifth Era had a different meaning from the beginning, so Shade did not intend to consider this possibility, because even if the speculation was verified, it would not cause any impact.
"It wasn't made clear in the information Luvia gave me, but can we really get in here with just the two of us?"
Yin Luna asked with some concern, and she was worried about what the black mud represented:
“If it’s not enough for both of us to get in, then you can go by yourself. I’ll be waiting for you here, and you don’t have to worry about me.”
"It seems that Luvia didn't tell you what I gained in the Fifth Era."
As he spoke, Xia De took out the stone box he carried with him. After opening it, the black stone was shaking slightly.
"It sensed the essence of the Heart of the Earth. This stone is much more useful than the stones we each hold."
"This is... Oh, you actually got this! Not long ago, Mr. Granger told me that the fragments of the Heart of the Earth are difficult to collect. Look, the church also gave me a small fragment, and the small fragment did not detect the Heart of the Earth."
Yin Luna said, taking out the small bottle containing the stone. Xia De also had a smaller fragment in his hand, which was given to him by the guardian.
"So, the church wants you to master the power of the earth as well?"
Xia De asked, and Yin Luna nodded with a sad face:
"Yes, but it's a pity that I don't seem to have any talent."
"She" seemed to smile into Shad's ear.
"However, the power of the Earth Heart Fragment can cure the symptoms of petrification caused by the filth from the Earth Source. It is a perfect treatment just like the elixir made with your Holy Grail, but it will permanently consume the power of the fragment."
Yin Luna carefully put away her fragments:
"So the Vatican gave me the fragment as a chance."
"Since small fragments cannot trigger the power of the earth, what about large fragments?"
Xia De asked again, motioning Yin Luna to touch the black stone in the stone box. Yin Luna reached out and touched it. The moment she touched it, her fingertips and the surface of the stone burst out with golden light. Unfortunately, Yin Luna still failed to break through herself:
"It still feels a little bit off, but the power contained in this fragment is indeed incomparable to that of a small stone."
"That's why I asked Luvia to inform you to come here as well."
As he spoke, Shade stretched out his hand to her:
"Let's go together. The power of this stone is beyond my imagination. It can protect more than just me."
"Oh well."
The two held hands and then jumped into the dark spring together.
Xia De had jumped into the black mud before, but this time he did not experience the same darkness and suffocation as last time. He and Yin Luna grabbed the black stone at the same time, and the stone began to emit a dazzling golden light after the two of them were stained with black mud.
Not only that, when the two men completely entered the black mud, the stone became heavier and heavier, so that the two people who were holding the stone gradually felt as if they were being dragged down by the stone.
The golden transparent shield repelled the black mud around them, protecting the two people who were sinking. During the sinking process, Shade's spatial perception told him that they were not going down in the spatial sense, but passing through a special environment that he could not explain with his current knowledge, and moving deeper into the center of the earth, similar to spatial movement.
The whole process was not very long, even less than a minute. The two people, who kept their heads down, their feet up, and their hands grasping the heavy stone, saw the fiery red light appearing deeper.
The desire for divinity in Xia De's heart had reached a point where he could hardly control it. He knew that what he wanted was just ahead.
The fiery red light grew bigger and bigger, and after breaking through that layer of light, the two people who fell from the sky fell together on the hot and hard ground.
"oh!"
Yin Luna covered her head and tried to stand up with the help of the ground, and then she immediately felt that her hands were almost burned.
Xia De and I supported each other to stand up, and then we looked at the scene in front of us in surprise.
Simply put, this is a magma lake at the center of the earth.
Above his head was a dark rock formation with stalactites hanging upside down, and in front of him was a completely enclosed magma lake in the center of the earth. Surrounding the magma lake was a circle of standing stones about ten meters above the magma surface, which was also the location where Xia De and Yin Luna appeared.
The fiery red magma, or a substance that looked similar to magma, was surging in the lake at the center of the earth, and the high heat it brought constantly impacted the two people wearing winter clothes.
The loud noises shocked the soul, and the strange fiery red light made the eyes and brain feel uncomfortable at the same time.
In addition to vision and hearing, what had a more serious impact on Xia De and Yin Luna was the power of the magma lake itself. Just by feeling that ancient and stable power with their hearts, their entire bodies felt as if they were about to turn into stone. The scenery created by the ancient power and the mighty power of nature made the mortal body instinctively want to crawl and worship.