"It's no trouble at all!"
Facing Ye Feng's doubt, Shen Botian smiled faintly and waved his hand, clearly not worried.
"Uh, alright then!"
Seeing this, Ye Feng didn't say much more, after all, Shen Botian was the boss of Mech City.
...
Soon,
Led by Shen Botian, Ye Feng, Xiao Xiao, and Shen Yun Yao arrived at a hall.
At this moment, Shen Botian's burnt skin had peeled off, and new skin had grown, with minor bleeding wounds already healed. Ye Feng was quite surprised.
"Wood-attribute arcane energy has strong regenerative capabilities!"
Seemingly sensing Ye Feng's confusion, Shen Botian spoke.
"Oh, I see~"
Ye Feng nodded, understanding. He followed Shen Botian further, heading towards the secret chamber the latter had mentioned.
However, after a few steps, Shen Botian suddenly stopped, causing Xiao Xiao, who was following closely behind Ye Feng, to almost bump into him.
Under the confused gazes of Ye Feng and Xiao Xiao, Shen Botian moved and twisted several objects in the hall. Then, a bookshelf suddenly made a "kā kā kā" sound.
The bookshelf quickly moved aside, revealing a wall behind it. On the wall was a door that looked to be made of a somewhat special material.
"Is this the entrance to the secret chamber?"
Seeing Shen Botian standing in front of the wall without moving for a while, Ye Feng couldn't help but ask.
"Yes!"
Shen Botian nodded, then looked at Shen Yun Yao, "Yao Yao, could you get the key?"
"Oh, okay~"
Shen Yun Yao nodded. A flash of light appeared on her hand, and a dark, lumpy mass instantly materialized on the ground.
"Whoa..."
Upon seeing what Shen Yun Yao had produced, Ye Feng was immediately astonished.
He was not unfamiliar with the lumpy mass; it was the Fire Seed No. 250 that he had seen at the auction when they were "gambling on fire."
"What the heck? Didn't that idiot Huang Ruizhu buy this thing?"
"How did it end up in Shen Yun Yao's hands again?"
Ye Feng was puzzled.
"Wait!"
Ye Feng's heart skipped a beat. He looked at Shen Yun Yao with a strange gaze. "Yun Yao, this... is this big thing the key to the secret chamber?"
"Uh... yes!"
Shen Yun Yao was slightly taken aback, then nodded. She then picked up the Fire Seed No. 250 from the ground and walked to the door in front of Shen Botian.
Looking at the small keyhole and then at the large object in her hand, Shen Yun Yao blushed, not knowing what to do for a moment.
Although Shen Botian had told her that this Fire Seed No. 250, named Cang Feng, was actually a key, she truly didn't know how to use such a massive item to open such a small keyhole...
Inevitably, Shen Yun Yao looked to her grandfather for help.
"Ahem!~"
Shen Botian's expression was also a little embarrassed. He cleared his throat and looked at Ye Feng, "Ye Feng, you should be familiar with this fire seed. It's called Cang Feng, and it's the key to this secret chamber!"
"The key..."
Hearing Shen Botian's words, Ye Feng's mouth twitched. "Such a big thing... can it even fit into such a small keyhole..."
"This... to be frank, I've been researching it for years and haven't found a way yet!"
Speaking of this, Shen Botian's old face flushed. "Ye Feng, you have considerable research on fire seeds, and Yao Yao has also studied it for a while. If you two cooperate, you might be able to figure out what's going on!"
"..."
Upon hearing this, Ye Feng was speechless. "Is this old man serious? He's been studying this key for who knows how many years without any results, and now he's relying on me, someone he's only met a few times?"
Seeing Shen Botian's serious expression, Ye Feng walked over to Shen Yun Yao and, with a hint of doubt, took the Fire Seed Cang Feng from her.
Soon, Ye Feng found himself in the same awkward predicament as Shen Yun Yao, standing there blankly, looking a bit dazed.
Feeling the gazes of everyone, beads of sweat appeared on Ye Feng's forehead, and he felt a pang of frustration. He had examined the Fire Seed Cang Feng for a long time but couldn't find any part that seemed like it could fit into the keyhole...
"Uh, this... let's study the door first~"
Saying that, an unusually awkward Ye Feng placed the Fire Seed Cang Feng on the ground and then began examining the door on the wall. Xiao Xiao also joined in to examine it.
Shen Botian did not join them, as he had already looked at it countless times, and could even describe every scratch on it...
Shen Yun Yao, on the other hand, looked at Shen Botian with a puzzled gaze, not understanding what her grandfather was doing...
"Big Brother, this door of the secret chamber seems to be carved... and the craftsmanship is so crude~"
After observing for a while, Xiao Xiao whispered to Ye Feng.
"Uh... indeed..."
Ye Feng nodded. "And this keyhole... it looks like a small hole that was just chiseled out casually..."
Then, Ye Feng reached out and tapped the wall, producing a dull thudding sound.
"This sound... either the door is very thick, or there's no secret chamber behind it at all, and it's solid!"
After some tapping, Ye Feng came to a conclusion.
"Uh... Yun Yao, is there really a secret chamber behind this door?"
Unable to help himself, Ye Feng turned his questioning gaze to Shen Yun Yao.
"This... it should be, I haven't been inside the secret chamber either..."
Shen Yun Yao glanced at Shen Botian, feeling a bit helpless.
"Ahem!~"
At this moment, Shen Botian spoke again, "Ye Feng, the key to that secret chamber's door... the crucial point is probably truly with this key!"
"Is this person really the City Lord of Mech City, one of the seven major powers? Why does he seem so unreliable?"
Ye Feng muttered to himself, then began to re-examine the Fire Seed No. 250, or rather, Cang Feng, which he had previously inspected.
"Ye Feng, Cang Feng is a relatively special rune-nested fire seed!"
"What's called rune-nesting is when the complex arcane runes already present on the fire seed have other arcane runes embedded within them!"
"This is generally only found in high-level fire seeds. A fire seed with rune-nesting is at least Yellow-tier grade five!"
"But this fire seed is very strange. The rune-nesting, after the initial part which is relatively orderly, becomes chaotic as it extends deeper into the fire seed, as if the embedded runes are covered in a large number of random cracks!"
"This has rendered this fire seed utterly useless!"
Shen Yun Yao, who clearly had studied the Fire Seed Cang Feng, quickly explained to Ye Feng.
"I see..."
Ye Feng was not too surprised by Shen Yun Yao's words; it was the same conclusion he had reached when he examined it at the auction.
It was for this reason that he had driven up the price of Fire Seed No. 250...
"One more thing, the rune-nesting inside this fire seed is a bit strange. When arcane energy flows through it, it's like navigating a maze... it's easy to get dizzy!"
Shen Yun Yao paused and spoke again.
"A maze?"
Ye Feng frowned slightly. Arcane energy appeared on his right hand, and he began to investigate again.
Just as he had investigated at the auction, there were indeed arcane runes extending within the Fire Seed Cang Feng, but they were disorderly...
With Shen Yun Yao's words, Ye Feng began to focus on investigating the disorderly runes within.
"These chaotic arcane runes are nested within each other, truly like a maze..."
Ye Feng muttered as he investigated.
"Eh..."
Suddenly, Ye Feng's eyes lit up. As his arcane energy flowed through the Fire Seed Cang Feng, it suddenly gained a sense of layering...