The treasure was neither a Spirit Artifact nor a Divine Artifact; instead, it was a piece of golden crystal.
This prismatic golden crystal was as long as a palm. There were a lot of runes floating inside it and it was gleaming with golden light, which made it seem mysterious. Others might be left wondering, but Chen Fan knew exactly that it was a Divine Crystal.
“Only real Deities at the Connate or Golden Core level can create such a kind of Divine Crystal. There’s a strong energy stored inside the crystal, comparable to a hundred-ton bomb once it explodes.”
If it were only a normal Divine Crystal, Chen Fan wouldn’t be thrilled at all.
The Divine Crystals had more or less the same effects as Spirit Stones and Spirit Dew, which stored pure energy inside and were used for cultivation. A piece of Divine Crystal could store the same amount of energy a thousand Essence Gathering Pills had, but it wasn’t enough for Chen Fan. In order to achieve the Connate level, he needed at least hundreds of Divine Crystals.
“There are a lot of imprints inside the Divine Crystal. It was apparently used as the secret key to some large array or seal.”
Chen Fan was experienced enough to immediately notice.
“The Dark World Arbitration Department has a secret vault! How extravagant they are to use a Divine Crystal as the key, but that makes sense. The Dark World Arbitration Department dominated the world for centuries. It’s impossible that the only things we find are a few Spirit Artifacts and ordinary jewelry. The good stuff must be hidden in the vault.”
Considering this, Chen Fan summoned the captain of the Dark Guards, Hilo.
The Dark Guards were a tier below the arbitrators. The guards chosen were elite warriors and each of them could fight against ten opponents. There were more than a thousand guards working for the Arbitration Department and it was the last line of defense of the organization. Their captain, Hilo, was an Overlord that had almost reached the Immortal State, but he could only surrender in front of Chen Fan.
Hilo knelt on one knee and greeted Chen Fan, “Your highness.”
“Your highness” was only used to address the royal family, honorable dukes or Deities in the Western World. For Hilo, Chen Fan had a similar attainment as Deities and Earth Level Deities in the myths, and was deserving of the most respectful title.
“There’s a treasure vault in the Dark World Arbitration Department. You must know where it is.”
Chen Fan fiddled with the Divine Crystal and looked at Hilo. “Of course, you can choose not to tell me. It’s just a matter of time for me to find it anyway.”
At the moment, Chen Fan’s Immortal Will could scan through an area of tens of kilometers, which was enough to cover the entire city of London. As long as the treasure vault was still in England, he would definitely be able to find it.
“Your highness, the five arbitrators indeed built a secret vault a hundred meters below the Winter Palace. There’s only one passage to enter, but it’s been dozens of years since it last opened.”
Hilo was drenched in cold sweat.
“A hundred meters underground?”
Chen Fan frowned.
No wonder he never discovered it. Even though his Immortal Will had a high degree of penetration, it couldn’t reach such a depth.
“Take me there.”
Chen Fan got up.
Then, Hilo led them to a metal door. It was made with the densest metal and weighed dozens of tons. It was about two meters thick in order to prevent soul energy from penetrating; even Chen Fan’s Immortal Will could barely go through it.
“This passage door alone is magnificent enough. I really look forward to seeing the treasure vault down there.”
Chen Fan smiled.
They didn’t have the key for the metal door. The arbitrators probably had it, but Chen Fan didn’t need a key. His hand had azure shimmers as he stretched it out and directly placed it over the metal door.
Then, while everyone was watching with astonishment…
Chen Fan slashed at the air with his hand and cut a massive hole on the metal doors.
“Let’s go.”
Chen Fan retracted his hand and walked inside, while the others wiped their cold sweat and followed. The metal door had been built according to the standards for nuclear facilities and was enough to withstand the attack of a small nuclear bomb, but Chen Fan clove it with his hand. How hard was it? Harder than an alloy?
Then, everyone went down the tunnel, which was about four meters high. Both sides were stacked with thick metal plates and covered with lead, which was apparently used to avoid Immortal Level Overlords from probing with their soul energy, or to prevent them from digging through the ground into the tunnel.
“They built it so carefully and considered all sorts of situations. I’m afraid a normal Immortal State Warrior would never be able to get in.” Chen Fan chuckled.
Soon, they arrived at a bronze door.
A brazier was placed on each side of the bronze door. It seemed that they were being fueled with oil of deep sea whales, which would keep the fire burning for centuries.
A realistic demon’s head with horns, fangs and red light shining in its eyes was carved on the bronze door. The girls were drenched in cold sweat once they got there.
“Teacher, shall we open it?”
A’Xiu was eager to try.
She held the new God-killing Dagger in her hand, wanting to show her power. Yukishiro Sa also pulled out her Forlorn Crimson. Luster flashed on the crimson knight sword which was strong enough to split gold and iron.
“No, the bronze door is enchanted, and it connects with the vault as a whole. You won’t be able to break through the door unless you destroy the entire treasure vault.”
Chen Fan shook his head.
He had scanned through the vault once with his Immortal Will and found that it was only ten meters square large, but all of its walls had been made with special metal plates. There were countless runes engraved on the metal plates and they were interconnected to form a large array. Some seals couldn’t be broken with even a cannon or a missile.
This kind of seal could only be set up by at least an Earth Level Deity, so Chen Fan started to doubt whether the treasure vault belonged to the Dark Duke.
“Perhaps the Dark Duke and his companions are responsible for guarding the Blood Ancestor’s treasure vault?” Chen Fan thought.
He took out a Divine Crystal and placed it inside the mouth of the demon.
“Boom!”
A beam of bright golden light was shot out from the Divine Crystal and it was spread all over along the patterns on the bronze door. At last, the golden light ran through the entire wall of the treasure vault.
“Clank!”
The bronze door was split in the middle and slowly moved to both sides.
The underground treasure vault had finally been revealed.
“Sthh.”
Seeing what was inside, Hilo, Yukishiro Sa and many others gasped. There were a dozen lusters shining in the treasure vault.
Every luster represented the existence of a Spirit Artifact.
“This is the War Wolf King’s Claw of the Wolf God. It’s said to be a weapon of the Wolf God and is sharp enough to tear a Deity apart.”
“This is the Apollo Plate of the Dharma-rāja in the East, imbued with the power of Buddha. Apollo Dew drops will be produced when it’s placed in the sun, which can prolong a mortal’s life.”
“This is…”
Hilo said as his eyes popped out.
Those were all legendary treasures the five arbitrators had obtained and stored in the Dark Treasure Vault hundreds of years ago. People in general thought the treasures had gone missing.
“And this one, the ‘Saint Heart’ of the Spanish Cardinal, Antonio. Rumor has it that Antonio was born with seven sacred scars on his body and a heart of Saint. In the end, Claude tore his body open and took out his heart. I never thought it would be here,” Hilo said and looked at a gentle blooming white light as his heart pounded.
There were a dozen Spirit Artifacts in the treasure vault and Hilo only recognized some of them. The ones he didn’t know apparently didn’t belong to the Dark World Arbitration Department.
“Are these really the treasures of the Blood Ancestor?”
Chen Fan rubbed his chin.
If the Blood Ancestor was still alive, he would be a thousand years old. All those treasures collected throughout that time would surely be better than the three centuries’ collection of the Dark World Arbitration Department.
“Wait, this is…”
Chen Fan stared at the corner of the treasure vault.
A pile of bright golden crystals were shining.
“Divine Crystals!”
“There are almost a hundred pieces!”
There was a glint of happiness in Chen Fan’s eyes. Divine Crystals had a high concentration of energy and were more powerful than normal Spirit Stones and Spirit Pills. Only superior-grade Spirit Stones were comparable to the Divine Crystals.
This kind of treasure required a lot of soul energy and even a Deity wouldn’t create them for no reason.
“One Divine Crystal is useless to me, but a hundred will be comparable to the Spirit Water in the cave of Sword Secret the Exalted Cultivator. They can push me closer to the Connate level!”
Chen Fan placed a large amount of Divine Crystals into the Blade Strengthening Gourd and thought with certainty, “This is definitely not the treasure vault of the Dark World Arbitration Department; it’s the Blood Ancestor’s. Only the Blood Ancestor could collect this many Divine Crystals. It needs all of the power of a Deity to make a hundred Divine Crystals.”
Even the Blood Ancestor would need to spend a lifetime collecting such a large amount of Divine Crystals.
Taking all the Divine Crystals would definitely bring more pain to the Blood Ancestor than killing five of his Blood Guards, but Chen Fan wasn’t afraid at all. Even if the Blood Ancestor were alive, he would still be sleeping somewhere at this moment.
“This many Divine Crystals will take me one step closer to the Connate level. If I can break through, I’ll be able to smash ten Blood Ancestors!”
Chen Fan’s eyes were shimmering.
Then, he found some ancient books, secret volumes and many weird stuff. Chen Fan took all of it; he wasn’t planning on leaving anything for the Dark Duke.
Their faces were all smiles when they got out, and their backpacks were all full.
Although Spirit Artifacts were the treasures of foreign Deities and Chen Fan couldn’t use them, it would be a good idea to equip his men or even harvest some materials for his own Dharma Artifact.
“Now, it’s time to make a real treasure,” Chen Fan said confidently.