Calamity Messenger

Chapter 136 - 109: Secret Vault Predicament

"Why is it another Rare Token?"

Yan Qing was not asking, but complaining.

After a brief observation, he quickly discovered that the ’human-machine verification difficulty’ of different Glazed Platforms was not consistent. The simplest had a verification time of nearly 2.5 seconds, while the most difficult didn’t even have a 1-second verification time, and Yan Qing hadn’t even finished reading the question before moving to the next one. The difficulty was so great that he suspected only robots could complete the verification.

According to conventional logic, the higher the verification difficulty, the better the contents inside the Glazed Platform should be. Perhaps because they had been idle for a long time, the tokens inside the platforms did not glow; they only exhibited their peculiarity when held in hand. Yan Qing could not judge their rarity from their appearance and could only speculate based on the verification difficulty.

However, he opened three platforms, and aside from the Green Grass Bracelet given to Shang Xinlei at the start, which was a Rare Treasure Token, the other two tokens were merely a blue-glowing Rare Token.

After finally sneaking into a nation’s Royal Secret Vault, could it be that he could only fetch a few Rare Tokens? How was this different from attending a buffet and being full after just drinking some beverages and eating a bit of the main course? Having come all this way, a mere handful of loot was unsatisfactory.

"Most of them here are Rare Tokens," Shang Xinlei responded to him from nearby while cracking a verification test: "The truly powerful, useful, and precious tokens are held by commanders at various Secret Realms. Who would be foolish enough to stash good things underground without using them? Like in my family’s Jingxin Small Residence camp, there’s a treasure trove specifically for storing Rare Treasure Tokens and Rare Tokens. Once a commander or instructor changes shifts and leaves, they must return the family tokens to the treasure trove...If you can seize the shift-change opportunity and make a trip to such a camp’s treasure trove, the haul might surpass everything in the Royal Secret Vault combined."

As Shang Xinlei said this, her expression revealed a look of yearning. Yan Qing stole a glance at her, wondering if she had really ransacked other families’ camp treasure troves. After all, being a thief woman certified by the Thief’s House, it might be wise to move some things to block the door when sleeping, lest one’s underwear is stolen overnight.

"Of course, the Royal Secret Vault is also quite abundant for us," Shang Xinlei, unaware of Yan Qing’s criticism of her, said: "It’s so easy to obtain Rare Tokens, what more could you be dissatisfied with? Are you entirely adorned in Rare Treasures and Legendary items?"

You really hit the nail on the head, Yan Qing thought. The two most important tokens on him were the Legendary Token Bingzi Pepper Forest and the Rare Treasure Token Mountain Heart-Protecting Mirror, the Rare Tokens indeed slightly lowered his esteem.

However, he knew his expectations were too high; after all, with ’royal’ and ’secret vault’, it was hard for Yan Qing not to associate it with the novels he read and the games he played, all such places were filled with super weapons and astounding treasures. It’s not that the logic of games and novels is incorrect; storing good things in a safe is a very reasonable act. If Yan Qing didn’t use Bingzi Pepper Forest in the future, he would indeed preserve it properly.

But the problem is, powerful tokens simply don’t have the possibility of ’not being used.’

Both the weak and the strong must tackle Secret Realms. Not to mention the locals, even full-level players in "Messenger" find it equally challenging to conquer high-difficulty instances. Version graduation only exists in theory. The Messenger will always pursue more powerful tokens because there are always stronger Secret Realms awaiting conquest.

All tokens have a place for use; storing them in a warehouse only gathers dust, whereas giving them to clan members, subordinates, or subjects to conquer Secret Realms brings an endless stream of resources. Naturally, people know what to do.

From this point of view, despite the various formidable powers tokens possess, which can move mountains, resist water and fire, they are like farm tools, looms, or furnaces, all resource production tools. Regardless of their preciousness, tools only realize their maximum value through application.

Royal Secret Vaults store temporarily uncommendable tokens; Rare Tokens naturally make up most of the stock as lower-end common tokens can be freely distributed outside of secret vaults; the more valuable Rare Treasure Tokens, coveted by all, transfer from one owner to the next without the opportunity to retire in a vault. Once a master dies, the next immediately takes over, passing tokens through generations with no chance for them to age within a secret vault.

Similarly, secret vaults contain few manuals as their demand is higher than tokens, likely distributed before reaching Jiangnan. However, some cabinets are highly cost-effective; Yan Qing saw one storing Five-Sided Heart-Protecting Mirrors, and there were quite a few such cabinets. Moreover, almost every Jiangnan practitioner Yan Qing encountered had a Heart-Protecting Mirror, indicating its status as a local specialty of the Jiangnan Region.

Yet, what most attracted Yan Qing was the Glazed Counter in the center of the secret vault.

A pair of gloves with radiant gold, seemingly woven from golden threads yet appearing incredibly soft, rested in the glazed counter, with a stand displaying them. Every time he passed by, Yan Qing couldn’t help but stop and watch, fantasizing about how comfortable wearing those gloves would be.

Though they didn’t shine, their appearance was so exquisite and brilliant that they could only be a Legendary Token!

"Stop dreaming," Shang Xinlei walked past him, glanced at the gloves in the glazed counter, and said: "These are the Hand of Melting Hundred Phases used by Liang Taizu in the past, but they have long since been damaged, which is why the Shao Royal Family stored them in the secret vault."

Damaged? Yan Qing felt a stir within and asked: "Is this a Foundation Establishment Token?"

"Probably, right? Liang Taizu’s important tokens were obtained after his Foundation Establishment," Shang Xinlei replied casually: "That’s why I’m sure these gloves are only for viewing purposes—even if they had a shred of use, the royal family wouldn’t have let them collect dust in the secret vault; even if you got them, there would be no meaning... Plus, you can’t get them."

Yan Qing couldn’t argue because the Glazed Counter housing the Hand of Melting Hundred Phases had a verification time shorter than 1 second, an impregnable fortress. He tried several times, at best only managing to read the question without the opportunity to see and click the image, making him grind his teeth in frustration: "Is this really a human-solvable verification!?"

Shang Xinlei came over to take a look and said: "Perhaps... a Foundation Establishment Messenger could solve it. If it were my father or elder brother, spending an hour or two might crack it."

"Really?" Yan Qing was taken aback: "They can discern with such little time?"

Suddenly, Shang Xinlei reached out and poked Yan Qing’s waist, causing him to instinctively tense up as though touched by a caterpillar. Yet Shang Xinlei nonchalantly remarked: "You truly are a Martial Arts Messenger focusing on Qi Blood, no wonder you don’t quite understand the Cultivators of the Path of Literature."

"Cultivators specializing in the soul far surpass ordinary people in reading, memory, and reaction abilities. My father and elder brother can essentially remember at a glance, even recalling events from a certain day years ago. Their reading speed is swift, able to finish two pages in just a glance or two."

Yan Qing recalled that when Shang Xuanwen worked at the Ministry of Personnel, he indeed reviewed documents very quickly, merely glancing at them before starting to draft responses. At that time, Yan Qing thought he was slacking, casually writing something to brush things off.

"It’s because we’re both Martial Arts Messengers. If it were a Cultivator of the Path of Literature, they might empty half of this Secret Vault," Shang Xinlei shrugged. "Let’s change the target; you can’t crack this one."

"But this difficulty is absurd. If the Liang Kingdom’s royal family had neither Foundation Establishment members nor Cultivators of the Path of Literature, wouldn’t they be unable to open these counters?" Yan Qing was puzzled. "They can’t possibly ask outsiders to open them, right?"

On this point, Shang Xinlei agreed: "In theory, all the security mechanisms are meant to deal with outsiders. The Royal Family should have a simpler unlocking method, but we don’t have enough time... even if we crack one more, we need to leave, it’s probably close to 1:00 AM by now."

Yan Qing could only give up upon hearing this. Compared to chasing an elusive legendary item, securing tokens that could be grasped seemed more practical. However, he was still unwilling to let go, inspecting the Glazed Platform in an attempt to find any possible backdoors.

And indeed, he found what seemed to be a trace of a clue: under the Turquoise Plate that displayed the authentication question, he felt a deep scratch, bending down to look, it looked like the outline of a pen. Under other Turquoise Plates, there were similar scratch outlines, varying in shape, some were pen-like, some square, some triangular. It appeared someone intentionally drew them.

But that was all; it could have been marking used during transport in those days. Yan Qing couldn’t make sense of it and had to abandon the thought. Turning around, he saw Shang Xinlei cracking open a chest containing a Sword Tassel. The Sword Tassel was quite rare and could be attached to any sword-type weapon to enhance its power.

Yan Qing felt a stirring in his heart, looking around, finally focusing on a Glazed Counter containing armguards. Likely because these two tokens weren’t that valuable, the counter had the simplest security verification, and Yan Qing and Shang Xinlei quickly cracked it open.

Fortunately, they didn’t loot much, everything fit in their pockets; otherwise, escaping would have been troublesome.

However, when they reached the entrance of the Secret Vault and pushed the main door, they found... it wouldn’t budge.

"Did you close the door when you came in?"

"Weren’t you the one who supported me in?"

The two exchanged glances, a chill ran down their spines as if a snake slithered down their backs.

This place was underground, air didn’t flow as it did above, there was no wind, so it couldn’t have closed by a breeze. Since neither of them closed it, there was only one possibility: the door closed by itself.

In a Royal Secret Vault, if a door closes on its own, what purpose does it serve?

Without hesitation, Yan Qing immediately drew Bingzi Pepper Forest, and Shang Xinlei took out the Flying Ring, the two began wildly hacking at the wall, but their efforts only left shallow marks on the gold-plated door panel.

"This door is only gold-plated on the outside," Shang Xinlei lightly brushed away the golden scratches to reveal the cold steel color beneath: "The core is entirely forged from Secret Realm Refined Steel!"

Yan Qing looked at the stone wall next to the door, wasting no effort to jab Bingzi Pepper Forest directly into it. Bingzi Pepper Forest almost bent, yet couldn’t pierce the stone wall in the slightest. Though there was still the option to employ Heaven-Covering, Yan Qing had little hope—it excelled in cutting damage, but for destructing terrain, a hammer would stand a better chance.

Moreover, if the Secret Vault’s designer intended to trap thieves, then this internal defense setup wouldn’t be something ordinary people could overcome; at least a Foundation Establishment Messenger would be necessary to violently escape.

"Yellow Dog, look here!"

Shang Xinlei pointed to the Spirit Jade Balls embraced by golden dragons on either side of the door frame. Yan Qing looked over and saw a line of text inside:

"Offer the scholar’s pen to open the Gate of Carefree"

A silhouette in the shape of a brush appeared below the text, seemingly prompting the insertion of a corresponding item.

The door had a total of four Spirit Jade Balls, each displaying similar text, requiring the offerings of a tailor’s needle, a dancer’s shoe, and a gambler’s dice, respectively. Without a doubt, to open this Gate of Carefree from inside, one must offer the four corresponding tokens.

"Can we carve a piece of wood into the shape of a brush or shoe to fool it?" Yan Qing suggested. "After all, it provided reference shapes."

"Impossible."

Shang Xinlei gazed at the text on the Spirit Jade Ball in a daze, muttering: "You can’t deceive it; not just any item will meet the conditions. If it requires a scholar’s pen, then at least it has to be the commonly used pen of a well-read scholar."

"Because it’s not just a door," Shang Xinlei turned to Yan Qing, his face pale: "It’s an entrance to the Secret Realm!"