After learning of Anti-Entropy's movements, the four from the Far East Branch quickened their pace and soon reached the depths of the cavern.
"Is this... a door?"
Looking at the two giant stones before them, which clearly bore the marks of artificial carving, the corners of Himeko's mouth twitched as she exclaimed with wide eyes.
In this cavern where the Honkai Energy concentration was unreasonably high, the sudden appearance of such obvious man-made traces was an incredibly strange thing, no matter how one thought about it.
Fu Hua pushed up the glasses on her nose, took a few steps forward, and gently caressed the stone gate that had been eroded by time, while slowly saying, "Although its shape is different from modern doors, it's clear that this is indeed a door. Moreover, what's carved on this stone gate is the dragon from the ancient legends of Shenzhou."
"Since it's a door, it should be possible to open it. You all stand back, I'll chop this door open!"
As she spoke, Himeko held the Sunfire Greatsword horizontally in front of her with both hands, a faint golden light beginning to shine on the blade's body.
Since it was an ancient stone gate, it certainly wouldn't have functions like facial recognition or fingerprint scanning, and "Open Sesame" would most likely not work. Therefore, for Himeko, the physical demolition method was undoubtedly the simplest and most convenient way to open the door.
"Wait, Major Himeko, a stone gate like this usually has a mechanism. If it's not opened in the correct way, it might trigger traps behind the door."
Seeing Himeko about to draw her sword at the first disagreement, Fu Hua hurriedly tried to stop her.
"However, given the technological level of that era, the so-called traps might not cause us any trouble."
After looking at the stone gate seriously, Ming Yu had a different opinion.
The purpose of a door is to isolate and protect, and in a place like Jiu You, the things to be isolated and protected are none other than Chiyou and the Xuanyuan Sword.
According to the somewhat hazy memories in his mind, Ming Yu knew that these mechanisms were all built by Lian Shan. With the magnanimity of such a figure, he probably wouldn't hold any grudges against later generations. Even if there were traps behind the door, they should be primarily for obstruction and testing, and wouldn't contain any major killing weapons.
Besides, even if there were pioneers in that era, Lian Shan was ultimately an ancient person. Ming Yu didn't believe his traps could harm him. What's more, they still had the Celestial on their side, so they could afford to be a little reckless.
Hesitating between Ming Yu and Fu Hua, Himeko carefully considered for a moment before raising the greatsword in her hand and saying to Fu Hua in a deep voice, "Anti-Entropy is right behind us, we don't have much time."
Looking at the resolute Himeko, and then at Ming Yu who was winking at her, Fu Hua sighed, moved away from the stone gate, and slowly said, "I understand."
Seeing Fu Hua's action, Himeko couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. This student of hers was excellent in all aspects, but she was sometimes a bit too rigid, which could be a headache.
After signaling to Ming Yu with her eyes, Himeko took a step back, slowly raised the Sunfire Greatsword above her head, and began to charge up her power.
Receiving Himeko's signal, Ming Yu shrugged helplessly, stepped forward to Himeko's left front, and pointed Jizo Mitama directly at the center of the stone gate with his right hand.
Ming Yu's arm retracted slightly, and a large amount of Honkai Energy was channeled into the black longsword through his right hand, making the blade's body appear even darker and more profound. A small black vortex slowly formed at the tip of the sword.
"Open!"
With a loud shout, Ming Yu thrust his longsword forward, and the black vortex instantly shot out from the blade, heading straight for the stone gate.
Bang~
The black vortex collided with the stone gate, expanded abruptly, and instantly became as large as the gate itself.
The violent Honkai Energy tore at the giant stones that made up the door. The once solid rock instantly cracked, and fine fissures spread across the entire stone gate, sending countless fragments flying.
"Hah!"
Seeing that the black vortex was about to dissipate due to the exhaustion of Honkai Energy, Himeko suddenly rushed forward, her greatsword swinging in a full arc and crashing heavily onto the broken stone gate.
With a loud bang, the stone gate, which was already in ruins from Ming Yu's attack, completely shattered, and the dust stirred up obscured their vision.
"Project Bunny!"
Bronya called out coldly, and the robot behind her flew to the front of the team without hesitation.
With a clang, Project Bunny swung its left hand, and a thick metal shield slammed onto the ground, firmly protecting the four people behind it and guarding against any possible traps.
As the dust gradually settled, the scene behind the door appeared in their eyes.
Completely different from the primitive cave, there were many more artificial traces behind the door: stone steles, brick roads, statues, stone pillars... Although most were severely damaged, this was definitely not a natural formation.
"The Honkai Energy concentration has significantly increased. There must be something here."
Looking at her Honkai Energy Detector, Bronya said with a blank expression.
"Mm. And it seems there are no traps."
After careful observation, Himeko cautiously took a few steps forward. Finding no danger, the heart that had been on edge finally relaxed.
"Class Monitor, there are some ancient characters carved on the steles here, come and take a look."
Ming Yu, who had been focused on the steles, quickly found them. But no matter how he looked at them, he couldn't understand the meaning of a single character and had to give up and call for the expert.
Faced with these ancient characters, Ming Yu only felt a headache. Although they were both pictographic scripts, these 5,000-year-old characters were more than a thousand years older than the oracle bone script he knew, and were simply beyond his comprehension.
"These characters are exactly the same as the ones on that silk manuscript. Fu Hua, do you recognize them?"
Himeko, who had come over first, looked at the stele with curiosity. After studying it for a few seconds, she asked Fu Hua.
"Let me see... Hmm, I have studied some in my family's ancestral books. I can roughly understand the meaning on the stele."
After carefully reading the characters on the stele, Fu Hua nodded gently and said modestly.
Looking at Fu Hua, who was concentrating on deciphering the stele, Himeko smiled with satisfaction. No matter the situation, Fu Hua was always this reliable, even able to understand text from five thousand years ago.
Then, Himeko's gaze fell on the other person from Shenzhou, and she couldn't help but shake her head in disdain.
Noticing Himeko's disdainful look, Ming Yu could only shrug helplessly, unable to offer any defense. After all, he was just an ordinary person not yet twenty years old; it was impossible to compare him to the Celestial whose age was indescribable.
After carefully reading the stele, Fu Hua didn't speak immediately. She found the subsequent steles and read them carefully as well.
"How is it?"
After patiently waiting for Fu Hua to finish deciphering all the steles, Himeko finally asked.
"The writing style on the stele is different from modern times. I can't decipher it word for word, so I can only translate it into a format that is easy for everyone to understand." After pondering for a moment, Fu Hua continued, "This is a stele left by the tribal leader Lian Shan, recording the disappearance of Ji Lin after her great battle with Chiyou. A year after the battle, he followed the tracks of a Chiyuan Bird to this place but couldn't find Ji Lin's body or the Xuanyuan Sword. He could only leave these steles for posterity, so that history would not be lost to time."
"Is that so... If Ji Lin's body is gone, then the Stigmata should be gone too, right?"
After hearing Fu Hua's interpretation, Himeko first sighed with emotion, but then quickly grasped the key point of the matter and couldn't help but hang her head in dejection.
For so many years, this was the closest she had ever come to obtaining a Natural Stigmata, but in the end, it was nothing but an illusion.
If no miracle happened, the time she had left was not even two years.