Chapter 132 — The Gains
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
"This is a fragment of the eternal stone tablet?"
Gao Yang could not help but show his astonishment as he looked at the metal fragment, no bigger than a palm, before him.
"Yes. I never imagined the eternal stone tablet would look like this either," Viscount Andrew said, shaking his head weakly. "The fragments of the eternal stone tablet are secretly worshipped by the major sects, and any other power or individual who manages to obtain a fragment would never casually display it. So at first I had no idea what I had dug up. But soon my men found surviving documentation in the ruins, and only then did I dare confirm that this metal plate, protected by layer upon layer of magical devices, was indeed the legendary fragment of the eternal stone tablet..."
Here Viscount Andrew could not help but shake his head and sigh. "Many of the magical devices in the ruins had already stopped functioning, but the mechanisms used to protect this fragment alone... those contraptions were still running to this day. I paid a great price to obtain it, yet I never expected that holding it in my hands would be the start of an even greater price..."
Gao Yang could not help but recall a saying from his previous life on Earth: an innocent man is not guilty—until he carries a jade disc.
He picked up that "stone tablet fragment" (and could this thing really still be called a "stone" tablet?), confirming that it was indeed metallic. This pale golden metal belonged to none of the magical conductive materials or conventional materials he knew of; it was more like some unknown alloy. Its front face was exceedingly smooth, as if covered with a thin layer of glaze, and beneath that "glaze" were intricate, fine patterns. The back had several grooves whose purpose was impossible to discern, and some of these grooves were inlaid with small crystals.
Along the edges of the metal plate were neat, uniform fractures, like connecting teeth of some kind, making the entire fragment a geometrically complex solid. Rather than saying it had "broken off" from some whole, Gao Yang suspected that the so-called eternal stone tablet was itself assembled from a great many such geometric pieces, like some sort of puzzle...
It was truly fascinating.
He turned it over and over, examining the fragment, and said thoughtfully, "They say that when mortals come into contact with the eternal stone tablet, they receive revelation from the gods. Why is it that I feel no effect at all when I hold it?"
"Mere contact is useless. You must communicate with it through spiritual power," Viscount Andrew said slowly. "But my strength is meager. Even when I communicate, I can only hear faint, indistinct whispers, and gain no knowledge at all. But if it were you... perhaps it is even possible to directly obtain power."
Gao Yang nodded, but showed not the slightest intention of communicating with it using his own spiritual power.
In truth, he deeply dreaded this thing.
The eternal stone tablet, the legendary object that had brought faith in the gods to the mortal world. It was because the first generation of mortal sages came into contact with the eternal stone tablet that they created that whole pile of religions and gained the power to use divine arts. To the ordinary people of this world, this might be a blessing, but Gao Yang could not help but suspect whether this thing possessed some kind of mental control, brainwashing, or indoctrination power. What if, with one poor attempt at communication, his mind was directly occupied by the spirits of those gods? Even if his mind were not occupied, it would not do to be left with a condition where every few days he heard the gods muttering lowly in his head!
"Please take this stone tablet fragment with you," Viscount Andrew suddenly spoke up. "Whether you keep it for yourself, present it to the king, or give it to some church you believe in and wish to curry favor with—all are fine."