Chapter 151: Inside the Secret Room

Lin Qi stared blankly at the Holy Cross Emblem on the door. The emblem itself was one thing, but the real problem was that he didn’t recognize the metal characters. Those twisted, winding characters, solemn yet carrying a hint of exquisite elegance—why had he never seen anything like them before?

Long Cheng silently walked forward and pressed his hand against one of the twisted characters beneath the emblem. Turning his head, he smiled mockingly at Lin Qi. “This is the difference between the civilized and the uncivilized,” he said. “These characters are ancient Divine Script, the language used by the Deities during the legendary Destruction Calendar era.”

Proudly raising an eyebrow, Long Cheng continued, “I started learning ancient Divine Script and various archaic scripts when I was three years old. I am proficient in Divine Script, Goblin language, Fairy script, Undead tongue, Black Spirit inscriptions, Beastfolk blood writing, Giant Runes, Demon curses, devilish scripts, and even some more ancient legendary scripts.”

Lin Qi was stunned, and so were the assassins beside him. They looked at the twisted metal characters on the door and lowered their heads in shame. The door was right there, but they couldn’t read the words. They couldn’t even begin to figure out how to open the mechanism. But Long Cheng—this freak of nature—actually knew so many languages of the Alien Races? Could it be that he was fluent in all the scripts of every race whose power rivaled that of Humans?

Was this the depth of knowledge possessed by the great Nobles of The East?

Lin Qi didn’t know if all the great Nobles in The East were like this, but he had heard from Yulian that among the Nobles in the Imperial Capital, if any Noble could master the script of an Alien Race and use it to compose a sonnet for a distinguished lady, it usually led to a passionate romance.

But compared to this freak Long Cheng, those so-called “learned” Nobles seemed like illiterates. Mastering one Alien Race’s language was enough to boast about in the Empire’s Noble circles and earn a reputation as a linguist. But what about Long Cheng?

Lin Qi had heard of Goblin language and Fairy script, but he never knew that the Undead had their own script, let alone that the big, dark-skinned people of the Black Spirit Continent had their own writing. As for things like Demon curses and devilish scripts, in the Western Continent, anyone who dared study such languages would undoubtedly be burned at the Stake by the Church.

Helplessly spreading his hands, Lin Qi said dejectedly, “Alright, I admit that in some areas, you have a huge advantage.”

Long Cheng quickly pointed to his own Nose and chuckled. “Civilized man!”

Then, with a thoroughly malicious grin, he pointed at the people around Lin Qi and laughed. “Savages!”

Lin Qi was so angry he felt like vomiting blood. He was absolutely convinced that one day, Long Cheng would be shot in the back by a flurry of arrows. Lin Qi’s subordinates were also furious, their faces turning ashen. They had encountered plenty of ruffians and scoundrels, but this was the first time they had met such an exceptionally rotten bastard who claimed to be a Noble but was a hundred times worse than any common thug.

“Watch carefully. This word means ‘Space’!” Long Cheng moved the twisted Divine Script character he was touching into the circle on the left side of the Holy Cross Emblem. “Infinite Space. Everything exists based on it.”

Pressing his hand against another Divine Script character, Long Cheng slid it into the circle on the right side of the cross emblem amid a series of clacking mechanical sounds. “This word means ‘Time’. Infinite Time is the axis of Space. It governs the growth and development of everything and everyone within Space.”

“From left to right, this stroke of the Holy Cross Emblem represents the evolution of Space and Time, symbolizing the eternal, unchanging laws of the universe.”

Moving another character into the bottom circle, Long Cheng sighed softly. “Law. This word represents all the forces of Law within boundless Space and infinite Time. Fire is hot, ice is cold, water extinguishes fire, all things grow, winter gives way to spring, life and death come and go—all laws lie beneath this Holy Cross Emblem. Law is the foundation of all existence. Only by adhering to Law can one achieve the eternity of Space and Time.”

Lost in thought, Lin Qi stared at the Holy Cross Emblem. For the first time in his life, he realized that the Church’s seemingly simple emblem held such complex meanings. And from Long Cheng’s explanation, it all seemed to make sense—a lot of sense. But what kind of sense was it? Lin Qi felt as if a thick fog had descended before his eyes, obscuring the truth hidden behind it.

Long Cheng shook his head and moved another Divine Script character into the topmost circle of the cross emblem.

“Soul! The Soul can exist beyond Time and Space, transcending all Laws. All things have a Soul, and only the Soul can break free from these natural constraints. The physical body is unreliable. Only the Soul—mastering Space, manipulating Time, transcending Law—is the ultimate existence in the universe. Everything lies beneath the Soul, including Space, Time, and Law. They are all subordinate to the Soul!”

With a click, as the character representing Soul settled into its corresponding circle, the entire bronze door lit up. The previously dull, heavy bronze door became vibrant and translucent, glowing like a piece of pale green crystal.

Long Cheng pressed his hands against the final Divine Script character and slid it into the circle at the very center of the Holy Cross Emblem.

“The meaning of this word is very complex. It can be understood as self-restraint, self-purification, self-redemption, and the like. It also represents absolute goodness, absolute purity, absolute prohibitions, and disciplines. The Soul reigns above all, but it must also rely on self-restraint, self-purification, self-redemption, absolute goodness, absolute purity, absolute prohibitions, and disciplines to maintain its supremacy!”

“This purification and purity form the foundation for the Soul to transcend everything. If the Soul loses absolute purification and purity, it will fall.”

Tapping lightly on the Divine Script character in the bottom circle of the cross emblem, Long Cheng remarked coolly, “What’s strange is that in ancient Divine Script, the word for ‘Law’ also carries another meaning—’Sin’. Two completely unrelated meanings. I really don’t know why they were combined into one. Did that old tutor I paid thirty thousand taels of silver a year deceive me? It couldn’t be, right?”

A purple light shot from between his eyebrows, instantly pouring into the massive Holy Cross Emblem. A series of low, clacking sounds echoed as the bronze door slowly swung open, gradually sinking into the ground. As the door descended, Lin Qi saw that it was a full ten meters thick—something no human force could possibly break through.

A gentle, golden light shone from behind the door.

Lin Qi cautiously stepped inside, then froze completely on the spot.