novelraw Chapter 168 : Treasures Within the Secret Vault
Chapter 168 : Treasures Within the Secret Vault
Chapter 168: Treasures Within the Secret Vault
The gate of the Bourbon Secret Vault finally opened completely.
Yam did not know what kind of scene Marquis Visen had imagined, but when he saw the interior of the vault, he was quite shocked.
The space inside the Secret Vault was not small—at least over a thousand square meters—and five meters in height, the same as the Bloodline Gate.
More than half of the entire vault was piled with gold coins, forming a mound like a small mountain.
Yam did not know exactly how many coins there were, but he knew that the standard crate in the Tyrella Kingdom held around five thousand gold coins. Yet, when a full crate of coins was poured out, it amounted to only a dozen centimeters in height and did not even cover one square meter.
This mountain of gold coins, by estimate, must contain several hundred thousand at least!
It could even be several million!
After all, the Bourbon Family had ruled the Red Eagle Territory for over two hundred years. During that time, the mining resources of the Shattered Diamond Mountains far surpassed those of the present White Mountain Territory and Gem Territory. There had been several gold mines capable of producing gold coins.
Aside from the visually striking mountain of coins, there were also over a hundred crates placed inside the vault.
Marquis Visen stepped inside quickly and began opening the crates at the front one by one.
These crates, each about two meters long, one meter wide, and half a meter high, were standard cargo containers typically used for storing relatively common bloodline potion ingredients. Their overall value varied, but each crate was worth anywhere from dozens to over a hundred gold coins.
Compared to that mountain of gold, these large crates seemed insignificant.
Their real value lay in the time and cost saved from having to purchase the materials—after all, some materials might not be expensive, but collecting them could be troublesome and time-consuming.
“All ruined,” Marquis Visen said after inspecting the large crates, his expression turning grim. “They’ve expired.”
Even with special sealing methods and preservation devices, ingredients for bloodline potions could not be passed down indefinitely. Unless they were already refined into bloodline potions, all materials had a shelf life, depending on the duration.
But with the Bourbon Family having been destroyed for over a century, these low-tier materials, which were not sealed through extraordinary means, clearly had long lost their effects.
The fact that they had not turned to dust already spoke volumes about their resistance to time.
Marquis Visen quickly moved past some of the medium-sized crates and went straight to check the small crates in the far back.
These crates were of two types.
One type was similar in size to medical kits and placed inside something like a pool device. Vaporous mist hovered over the pool, clearly indicating some kind of low-temperature mechanism.
Marquis Visen quickly opened one, revealing rows of already-prepared bloodline potions inside.
One crate held twenty vials of bloodline potions. Each pool contained ten crates, and there were ten such pools in total throughout the Secret Vault—making for two thousand bloodline potions.
However, considering that a standard formula produced ten vials per batch, this actually amounted to only two hundred portions of bloodline potions.
After inspecting them, Marquis Visen let out a sigh. “These are Second-Tier bloodline potions.”
“Flame Demon Hound?” Yam asked.
“No,” Marquis Visen shook his head. “Flame Hound. Some are of other types too. They were likely rewards the Bourbon Family used to bestow upon guards and soldiers. The Flame Demon Hound was reserved only for core members of the Bourbon Family—it was never used as a reward.”
Yam nodded slightly and said no more.
He knew well that without the Demonic Sword’s Purification effect, it would be impossible to produce bloodline potions of the Flame Demon Hound. But the Demonic Sword had a limited number of Purification uses, so it was naturally impossible to produce so many Flame Demon Hound potions.
He only asked to probe Marquis Visen, to see whether the man knew the Bourbon Family’s deepest secret.
From what he could see, Marquis Visen was clearly unaware that the Bourbon Family’s true secret was that Demonic Sword.
The mountain of gold coins occupied nearly half of the rear area of the vault. The front half to the left held large amounts of bloodline potion ingredients and some finished Second- and Third-Tier bloodline potions, but there were no finished potions of Fourth-Tier or higher. After Marquis Visen's inspection, aside from the three hundred portions of bloodline potions—two hundred of Second-Tier and one hundred of Third-Tier—that still held value, nearly all materials for making Second- and Third-Tier potions were completely spoiled.
Aside from that, there were still some usable materials.
But those materials were mostly for crafting Fourth-Tier bloodline potions, with only a small portion suitable for Fifth-Tier, and even those in small quantities.
There was not a single item for Sixth-Tier or above.
On the right side of the vault, there was a heap of weapons and armor.
However, all of these weapons and armor were already damaged. Still, the iron components, once recycled and smelted, could likely be reforged into usable items.
There were indeed Rare Iron Weapons, but not many—only a dozen or so, mostly single-handed swords. Yam knew exactly why. There were also some materials that could be used as refined special Rare Iron Ore, but similarly, these materials suitable for crafting Refined Rare Iron Weapons were mostly fire-attribute, with only a small portion being of other attributes.
However, Marquis Visen discovered an exquisite Relic among them.
Due to the uniqueness of Bloodline Power, a Bloodline User had to use weapons forged from special materials to fully exert their strength.
Such weapons were called Rare Iron Weapons.
When special materials were added to ordinary "Rough-grade" Rare Iron Weapons to better match the user's own attributes and enhance their effect, such weapons were referred to as "Refined-grade" Rare Iron Weapons.
But these were typically weapons used by Bloodline Users below Fourth-Tier. If a Fourth-Tier Bloodline User did not have a better weapon, using a Refined-grade Rare Iron Weapon was still acceptable.
However, once they reached Fifth-Tier, to fully display the strength of a Bloodline User, a more powerful weapon was essential.
In the world of Bloodline Users, weapons at this level were called "Relics", meaning "Precious Items". The Relic corresponding to the Refined-grade was known as "Exquisite-grade".
With enough thought and wealth, it was possible to forge a Relic. For small families, it might mean exhausting all their resources, but for a Fifth-Tier Bloodline User, Rare Iron Weapons were entirely worthless. Therefore, any noble family with a Fifth-Tier Bloodline User would go to any length to forge a Relic Weapon.
But if it was an Exquisite-grade Relic, then it was no longer just a matter of financial strength.
Even Marquis Visen's six longswords were all ordinary Relics.
It could be said that this one Exquisite-grade Relic alone was worth far more than that mountain of gold!
Seeing the unhidden joy on Marquis Visen's face, Yam couldn’t help but feel a bit envious.
But it was only envy.
He knew that even if Marquis Visen were willing to give him that fully violet-red Exquisite Relic war halberd, he would not be able to use it. In fact, just taking it out would guarantee someone trying to rob him, because he lacked the strength to protect such a weapon—even a Sixth-Tier Bloodline User would covet it.
Looking at the Bourbon Secret Vault before him, Yam could only sigh inwardly.
He finally understood why Marquis Visen had gone to such lengths to open this Secret Vault. He could also understand why the royal family and the Southern Duke had watched the Red Eagle Territory for fifty years after the fall of the Bourbon Family. He now clearly understood why the remaining ruins and treasuries left behind by the truly ancient Bloodline Nobles had such a strong allure to other Bloodline Users.
No one could refuse such wealth!
Just the thought that the ancestral land of the Bourbon Family still hadn’t been discovered filled Yam with excitement.
If a single Secret Vault held such wealth, then what kind of fortune could be hidden in the ancestral land—the birthplace of the entire Bourbon Family?
Still, his remaining rationality helped Yam suppress his impulses.
As long as Marquis Visen was alive, they dared not seek out the ancestral land of the Bourbon Family.
The reason was simple: the Soderbell Family couldn’t protect it!
They might even expose the existence of the Demonic Sword.
Such a risk was something their entire family couldn’t afford.
“Yam!” Marquis Visen picked up that war halberd, his pale face—pale from his injuries—now flushed with blood. “These weapons, take your pick! If you don’t like them, you can take any of those refined materials! And the gold coins—I'll have Monica send two hundred thousand to the White Mountain Territory!”
“Thank you very much for your bestowment, Marquis Visen.”
Yam quickly expressed his gratitude.
But he actually understood clearly: though Marquis Visen said he could take whatever he wanted, if he truly acted that way, it would be seen as not knowing his place.
So Yam didn’t overthink it.
He only planned to pick some Rare Iron materials and then have someone forge a Rare Iron Weapon for Aches upon returning, since none of the Rare Iron Weapons in the Secret Vault were of the earth attribute, and thus not suitable for Aches.
However.
As Yam searched the area where the Rare Iron materials were piled, looking for suitable materials, his breathing suddenly grew rapid.
“Hmm?”
This sudden change did not escape Marquis Visen’s notice.
He quickly walked to Yam’s side and saw that Yam had picked up a pitch-black iron sphere that emitted an intense flame-like heat.
Marquis Visen recognized it—that was Explosive Flame Demon Iron, an extremely rare fire-attribute refined material.
“Marquis Visen…” Yam raised his head a bit embarrassed. “May I take this refined material and these earth-attribute Rare Iron materials?… Aches doesn’t have a Rare Iron Weapon yet, so I wanted to forge one for him. And this fire-attribute material, I think it suits Akar very well, so…”
Marquis Visen quickly glanced over the pile of earth-attribute materials Yam had selected and immediately understood.
Obviously, Yam had first picked the earth-attribute materials intending to forge a Rare Iron Weapon for Aches, but midway, he discovered this extremely valuable fire-attribute refined material and couldn’t resist the temptation, which caused his breath to quicken.
The value of this Explosive Flame Demon Iron was indeed very high—just this one piece was worth over ten thousand gold coins. If properly used, it could even serve as a supporting forging material for a Relic.
Yam might not know the precise value of this Explosive Flame Demon Iron, but he could definitely feel the terrifying fire-element power it contained.
“Hahaha, of course you can! I told you, take whatever you want!” Marquis Visen laughed. “Are you sure this is enough? You can take more if you like! Aches is, after all, my future great-grandson-in-law, and so is Akar’s son. There’s no need for formality between our families.”
“It’s enough, more than enough,” Yam replied with a shy smile.
Marquis Visen once again glanced over the materials Yam had selected. Seeing nothing unusual or rare, he paid no further attention.
Because of that, he didn’t closely examine the pile of earth-attribute Rare Iron materials that Yam had seemingly stacked at random.
Among these materials was an iron block about the size of an adult’s palm.
This iron block looked utterly unremarkable—black and featureless, with no elemental aura or distinctive traits. But upon closer inspection, it strongly resembled a sword guard.
The moment Yam saw this strip of iron, he instantly realized—it was one of the components of the Demonic Sword!
That was why his breathing had suddenly quickened.
Fortunately, right beside this sword guard was that fire-element-rich refined material. Yam even suspected the Bourbon Family deliberately placed the sword guard next to this refined material to prevent it from being overlooked.
In fact, the gold mountain, the exquisite Relic—everything might have been deliberate distractions arranged by the Bourbon Family.
Most people entering the treasury would be drawn to these treasures.
Only those who knew the Bourbon Family’s secret would understand what the true treasure inside this Secret Vault really was.