Footsteps sounded as Richard walked by.
He approached a fallen, towering soldier, reached out to pull him up, and then headed toward the hole continuously spawning snakes.
Another Red Snake tried to crawl out, Richard waved his hand, sending forth an Air Missile that knocked the snake back into the hole. With another wave of his hand, Flames sprouted in his palm and he hurled it into the hole.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
The thrown Flames blazed fiercely inside the hole, rapidly emitting a thick burnt smell, and soon there was no movement inside the hole.
Richard glanced at the many soldiers and said, "Don’t be afraid, keep digging!"
The soldiers, emboldened, resumed their excavation.
"Swish, swish, swish!"
In short order, the ground was lowered by about half a meter, revealing a huge snake den. Inside, nearly a hundred snakes were entwined, but, affected by the earlier Flames, they had all turned into charred corpses.
Among the heap of bodies, a dying grey snake writhed out, emitting a weak hiss that sounded like a woman’s scream. In the next instant, Richard waved his hand, releasing an Ice Cone, and with a "snap," he pinned the grey snake to the ground, silencing its hiss.
At this moment, the nature of the Endless Snake Cave and Ghostly screams became clear.
The soldiers, no longer afraid and feeling somewhat angered, didn’t wait for Richard to speak again before clearing away the snake corpses and vigorously resuming their digging.
In moments, the newly dug pit was nearly two meters deep. With the spades of the soldiers striking hard, the sound of metal clashing against stone rang out, accompanied by sparks.
The soldier wielding the spade paused, and with his companions, quickly cleared out the bottom of the pit, revealing not soil but a large block of solid black rock. The rock was incredibly hard; even with forceful shoveling, it left not a single mark.
At this point, the soldiers were stumped and turned to look at Richard at the edge of the pit: "Master Wizard, what do you think..."
Richard stepped down to the center of the pit, first pressing and then tapping the black rock. Confirming its thickness and that it indeed couldn’t be easily broken by the soldiers, he turned to look at Teddy and the other three wizards.
Teddy and the others looked back, with Teddy asking, "Need help?"
"Yes." Richard nodded, "Come over everyone, let’s break this rock together."
"Okay." Teddy and the others, being obliging, quickly jumped into the pit. They exchanged a glance with Richard, then cast a Spell, forcefully striking the surface of the black rock.
With four consecutive strikes, Bata, Noel, Jenny, and Teddy, in sequence, shook the black rock violently, causing extensive cracking on its surface.
Accompanied by Richard’s final strike on the rock, it shattered into finger-sized pieces with a "crash."
Richard waved his hand, and soldiers quickly surged forward with their spades to clear away the rubble and continue digging.
This time, after digging less than half a meter, they made a significant discovery.
He saw a downward passage appear, made of the same material as the crushed black rock, clearly crafted by human hands.
At the entrance of the passage, there was a double door, and in the middle of the double door, dozens of green stones were embedded, forming a perfect circle.
The circle, this symbolized a bracelet.
The green stones, these were once adornments worshipped by nature in Yadisi Village.
Together, they were the green stone bracelets that everyone in Yadisi Village once wore.
This was the site of Yadisi Village!
He had finally found it!
Richard looked at the soldiers excavating the entrance of the passage, remained silent for a long time, exhaled deeply, and felt an almost uncontrollable excitement stir within him, which took a while to calm down.
"Yadisi Village, Yadisi Village! Finally found it, finally, we can unravel the ultimate secret of the Black Spirit King!"
Thinking this, Richard stepped forward, ready to push open the door to enter. But just before entering, his eyes glanced at the green stone circle on the door, and his footsteps instinctively paused as a subtle feeling arose in his heart, as if he had grasped something crucial.
Richard frowned, closely examining the green stone circle on the door. It was very large, occupying more than a third of the door. The circle was perfectly symmetrical, evenly divided into two halves by the gap in the middle of the double doors, each half a similar semicircle.
The circle, the line dividing the circle halves, these were the elements of the Black Spirit Empire’s emblem.
The elements forming the Black Spirit Empire’s emblem were three, and what was missing now should be... the triangle inscribed within the circle.
Richard’s thoughts shifted, he grasped, and a clump of dirt flew into his palm.
Holding the dirt, Richard drew the missing triangle on the door, completing the emblem of the Black Spirit Empire.
The others looked on, all with faces full of confusion, but Richard, having discarded the clump of dirt, seemed to have a realization.
What was missing was the triangle, precisely speaking, a black triangle, which looked exactly like a black mountain peak.
The black mountain peak, Black Holy Mountain!
The green circle represented Yadisi Village, Jungle Hut!
The vertical line in the middle likely symbolized a scepter, representing supreme power, the Black Spirit King!
There must be some complex relationship between the three, which is why Jungle Hut had the blueprint of "Divine’s Right Hand," why the Black Holy Mountain Kingdom was a remnant of the Black Spirit Empire, and why those claiming to come from Holy Mountain were encountered in the Black Holy Mountain Library.
Everything was falling into place.
Of course, to know exactly what was going on among the three elements, one had to enter the passage and unravel the ultimate secret of the Black Spirit King.
Richard took a deep breath, preparing to conduct a thorough exploration.
Then suddenly, a voice called from behind, "Wizard Richard, what’s the situation, what has been unearthed? I advise you not to enter without understanding it, you might run into danger. How about I scout ahead for you?"
Richard raised an eyebrow, turned and saw Wizard Bata looking at him.
Narrowing his eyes, Richard responded to Bata, "Wizard Bata, I appreciate your concern. If I’m not wrong, what has been unearthed is a site of an Ancient Kingdom. I have some understanding of it and don’t anticipate any trouble. So, you and the others just wait on the surface. I’ll have a look inside and come back soon, don’t worry."
"Wizard Richard, I think it would be better to accompany you. The thing you’ve dug up really doesn’t feel right to me, better be cautious," Bata insisted, and to emphasize his point, he added, "Besides, this is also Master Ewa’s wish. She asked me to cooperate well with you, Wizard Richard, and not to do anything alone to avoid any accidents. After all, you are now a significant figure in our gathering, and any mishap would be a great loss for us all."
Richard listened, not saying a word, just looking at Wizard Bata. His expression was unchanged, but inside, he almost scoffed: Ah, so you couldn’t resist showing your true colors at last!