Chapter 558 - Chapter 558: Chapter 558: The Holy Grail

Chapter 558: Chapter 558: The Holy Grail

The treasure room within the Dark Castle was as large as a football field, crammed full of gold, jewels, and diamonds — making the entire room appear extraordinarily chaotic and congested.

Among all these, two small hills composed of stacked gold coins were prominent. At the very top of one such hill sparkled a diamond as large as a human head, radiating dazzling multi-colored radiance all around.

“This place is simply magnificent,” Song Jian exclaimed, casually picking up a gold coin to put into his bag, but suddenly received a red system prompt;

System: This coin is imbued with the magic of the Shadow Giant Dragon. As soon as you put it in your bag, it will trigger the magic, provoking the Shadow Giant Dragon’s rage and it will hunt you down relentlessly;

“That’s perfect, attracting the attention of the Shadow Giant Dragon is exactly what I aim to do.” Song Jian said, the corners of his mouth lifting into a smirk as he casually threw the coin back.

“Don’t touch anything here, it is all guarded by magical alarms!” Song Jian advised the Bullman.

The Bullman, with his wooden hammer, did not utter a word but only nodded in acknowledgment.

Even if he wanted to attract the Shadow Giant Dragon’s attention, one coin wouldn’t be enough. After all, the Holy Grail was also in this treasure vault, but there were so many gold coins and jewels that many things were buried.

“By the way, what’s your name?” Song Jian turned to ask the Bullman.

“You can call me Cain, Cain Blackhoof,” the Bullman replied in a deep and resonant voice.

“Alright, Cain, help me find a cup to hold water. It should be in this treasure vault, but it might be buried under all this gold…” Song Jian scratched his head, frowning as he spoke.

“A cup for water?” Cain pointed to a rough stone pillar less than one meter tall in the center of the treasure vault and asked, “Are you referring to that one?”

Song Jian turned to look, and saw a crude cup made of gray wood, about the size of a palm, sitting atop a rough stone pillar surrounded by a pile of gold coins and jewels.

The wooden cup looked just like a piece of wood, simply hollowed out in the middle, with distinct wood grain visible both inside and out. It appeared rather coarse and simple.

“What I’m looking for is the Holy Grail, which can turn ordinary water into the Water of Life. How could it possibly be this thing?” Song Jian shook his head, picking up the wooden cup.

He found it strange that such a crude wooden cup would be in the treasure vault of the Shadow Giant Dragon.

But the moment he picked up the cup, he immediately received a system prompt;

System: You obtained the Goblet of Life (Holy Grail), please hand it over to Anna Katerina of the City of Sin;

Surprised?

Song Jian stared at the wooden cup in his hands with a face full of surprise. The handle was so rough there were even splinters remaining. It felt incredibly coarse in his hands;

“This is the Goblet of Life?” Song Jian exclaimed incredulously.

“In life, it’s often the ordinary ones that turn out to be priceless treasures!” Cain Blackhoof observed Song Jian deeply and said.

“Alright, Cain, is there anything you need here? If not, you might as well take some of these gold and jewels because the moment I put this wooden cup away, it’s definitely going to alert the Shadow Giant Dragon!” Song Jian said.

Cain hesitated for a moment before saying, “Actually, the reason I came here was to recover a lost relic of our tribe, the Bloodthirsty Totem. I don’t know if it’s in this treasure vault!”

“Alright, let’s move quickly. If that thing you speak of is truly a treasure, it must be in here,” Song Jian nodded, holding the Holy Grail in one hand while beginning to dig through the gold coins with the other.

“No need for that. The artifacts from our tribe all bear the mark of our ancestors. I can identify its exact location based on that.” The Bullman stopped speaking, put down his wooden hammer, brought his hands together, and started chanting.

Cain seemed to be chanting a historical epic — his voice was deep and desolate. Song Jian could even hear a trace of melancholy.

Before Cain even finished his chant, he abruptly stopped, quickly walked over to a corner of the treasure vault, and forcefully uncovered a thick layer of gold coins to pull out a robust stone pillar just over a meter tall from underneath;

This stone pillar weighed at least a ton and was carved with various patterns — flowers, plants, and wild animals filled its surface, creating a dizzying sight.

Cain grabbed the stone pillar and swung it around like a heavy weapon momentarily. He made it look as though this stone pillar didn’t have any weight at all.

“Is this a Dark Gold tool?” Song Jian looked at the glaring Dark Gold radiance emanating from the surface of the stone pillar and couldn’t help but express his astonishment. Dark Gold quality tools are the pinnacle of the Gold stage many say that Dark Gold equipment has the potential to advance into the Epic stage. Song Jian never expected the item Cain was looking for to be of Dark Gold Quality.

“This is a relic that our tribe has passed down for hundreds of years. As long as I can take it back, I will become the chief of the Blackhoof Tribe!” Cain gripped the Bloodthirsty Totem Pillar tightly, his face full of excitement.

Just then, a shadow suddenly appeared in the treasure vault. Song Jian felt an intense Force of Death and instantly summoned the Crimson Fire Heart Ape Sword, swinging it at the shadow;

One needs to know, reapers from Death’s Scythe can appear at any time. Such an intense Force of Death could only come from a reaper of Death’s Scythe.

“You, why are you here!” The shadow removed his hood, revealing a face resembling a skull, and stared at Song Jian in shock.

“Qi Yun?” Song Jian was taken aback and sheathed his sword. In a flash, he understood why Qi Yun was here.

“It seems that when you asked me to distract the Shadow Giant Dragon for half an hour, it was so you could search for treasure here and escape safely, right?” Song Jian chuckled, a chill flashing in his eyes.

“It seems that you have already grabbed what you need, hand it to me!” Qi Yun stared at the wooden cup in Song Jian’s hands and demanded.

“Your goal was the Shadow Crystal, why do you want this Goblet of Life?” Song Jian gripped the wooden cup tighter upon hearing Qi Yun’s words.

“Isn’t it all thanks to you! My body has been completely corroded by the Force of Death, even a hundred shadow crystals are useless in purging it…” A look of resentment flashed through Qi Yun’s eyes as he spoke, “Now, my only way out is to use the power of the Goblet of Life to counteract the Force of Death within my body. To completely purge the Force of Death, I must use the Goblet of Life.”

The power of life, for ordinary people, can prolong life, alleviate physical ailments, and even rejuvenate. It’s a divine power that drives people to madness. But for those infected with the Force of Death, it’s extremely toxic;

Using the Goblet of Life to eliminate the Force of Death within his body was Qi Yun’s only chance at survival;

…