154: The celestial stars are the key; the earthly gate opens.

At the very moment the handle of the Big Dipper pointed due east.

"Click."

A soft sound.

In this wilderness so silent one could hear their own heartbeat, the sound of a mechanical mechanism snapping from deep underground was no less than a thunderclap exploding in their ears!

Wang Dalong was startled, nearly leaping off the stone platform.

He quickly wiped his nose, which was almost numb from the cold, while his muscles trembled uncontrollably from being overly tense.

"It... it clicked?"

His teeth were chattering, and the white mist he exhaled was thick and heavy.

"Brother Feng, am I hearing things because of the cold? Did you hear that? Did it really click?"

"You didn't hear wrong."

Lin Feng's voice was terribly hoarse, yet exceptionally steady.

The northern wind of the wilderness had numbed half of his body, but his movements were still relatively nimble as he braced himself against the stone platform to stand up.

The long wait had made his limbs stiff; he vigorously rubbed his stiff wrists, his eyes shining as he stared intently at the ancient inscription in the center of the stone platform: "Witnessed by the eternal blue sky."

The starlight from the sky, unblocked by any clouds, fell clearly upon the dark cyan stone surface.

This was it!

He rubbed his hands together forcefully, and only after his fingertips finally regained a bit of warmth did he reach out and press down steadily on the inscribed stone slab.

To the touch, it was a chill that seemed to seep into the very marrow of his bones.

He closed his eyes, carefully sensing the extremely subtle lingering vibrations coming from deep within the stone slab following the mechanical sound.

A moment later, he opened his eyes and gave a command in a low voice.

"It won't move if we push from the top; the mechanism's point of force is underneath."

"Then what do we do? Smash it down? Or find something to pry it open?" Wang Dalong leaned in against the cold wind, his neck tucked into his collar, but his eyes were wide and fixed intently on the stone slab.

Beneath this thing lay the wealth and prosperity of his future!

"Press down, and then... push it sideways!"

Wang Dalong was taken aback, his face full of disbelief.

This stone slab was perfectly flush with the entire platform. Press down? How could it possibly move!

Lin Feng ignored his doubts, his eyes fixed on a hair-thin crack at the edge of the stone slab. He explained in a low voice, almost as if talking to himself:

"This is called the 'Fixed Star Orbit'! The ancients believed that 'the North Star resides in its place while the other stars revolve around it.' The North Star is the axis of heaven and earth, remaining stationary while all other stars revolve around it. The mechanism beneath this stone slab follows the design of an Armillary Sphere!"

"So, this downward press is to set the 'axis'! Just like the North Star, we first stabilize the core of the entire mechanism!"

"The subsequent horizontal push mimics the circular trajectory of the shifting stars! Only by following this force—the force of the heavenly star orbits—will the mechanism open! If we try to pull or drag it by force, we'd be acting against the heavens, and it will only lock the mechanism completely!"

These words left Wang Dalong dazed and bewildered.

"Incredible... the ancients really knew how to design things..."

He understood, yet didn't quite understand, but he just thought it was awesome!

"Stop talking and get ready!"

Lin Feng growled, spreading his legs and sinking into a horse stance, assuming a standard posture for exerting force.

He channeled all his strength from his back through his arms, pouring it into his palms as he pressed down heavily on the inscribed stone slab!

"Creak—"

The stone slab let out a soft groan and trembled slightly, but because it had been dormant for so very long, it didn't move immediately.

"It's not enough... put some more effort into it! This thing is ridiculously heavy!" Lin Feng gritted his teeth, his face turning red from the strain.

"Coming!"

Seeing this, Wang Dalong spat into his palms, rubbed them together, and threw his 180-pound frame into it. Following Lin Feng's lead, he pressed down with all his might.

"Brother Feng, I'll count!"

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"Go!"

Accompanied by a powerful roar, the two exerted their strength together!

Their muscles tightened instantly, and the veins on their temples bulged. Their lungs greedily inhaled the bone-chilling air and exhaled sharply, turning into two thick white plumes.

"Creak... groan... snap..."

A dry, grinding sound tore through the silence of the wilderness.

The stone slab, which had seemed to be one with the entire platform, actually began to sink slowly under their combined weight!

Not a bit more, not a bit less—exactly one inch!

A gap wide enough to fit a finger, which hadn't existed before, appeared at the side of the stone slab!

"Holy shit! It's working!"

Wang Dalong was so excited his voice cracked, his shout echoing through the empty night.

"Don't stop! Push!"

Seizing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Lin Feng roared again, using every last ounce of his strength!

Taking advantage of the downward momentum, the two suddenly shifted their force from vertical to a horizontal push!

"Rumble—"

A heavy, ancient sound, like two giant millstones grinding against each other, boomed through this isolated forbidden land!

The incredibly thick square stone slab was pushed aside bit by bit with great difficulty.

A pitch-black, square opening appeared before their eyes.

We did it!

A dry, stale air, mixed with an indescribable scent of exotic spices, surged up from the bottom of the hole.

It was the air of the Great Yuan, sealed away for nearly eight hundred years!

This air instantly dispelled the surrounding cold, entering their nostrils with a sense of historical weight.

"Thud!"

Wang Dalong could no longer hold himself up and collapsed onto his backside by the edge of the opening.

He rubbed his aching lower back while grinning foolishly. His facial muscles, frozen for so long, were completely stiff, making his smile look incredibly comical.

"It's open... it's really open!"

"Brother Feng, we... we've really hit the jackpot this time!!"

Lin Feng couldn't hold on either; he leaned over the edge of the opening, his chest heaving as he gasped for air.

He stared into the bottomless, pitch-black hole, his eyes full of excitement.

A secret over seven hundred years old!

A buried chapter of the most mysterious and legendary history of Huaxia!

Right now, it was right beneath their feet!

"Brother Feng, Brother Feng! Look down there! What's down there?"

Wang Dalong was already impatient, scrambling to pull out the phone he had been treasuring and reluctant to use from his innermost pocket.

Although the remaining battery had dropped below half, at this moment, the beam from the phone's flashlight was the holy light that pierced the darkness!

Without any hesitation, the beam of light shot straight into the pitch-black opening!

The hole wasn't deep, appearing to be about two meters by sight.

Below was a secret chamber about seven or eight square meters in size, built very precisely.

The floor and walls were paved with cyan-gray stone bricks, and they were perfectly clean, without even a speck of dust.

The beam of light scanned around the chamber.

There were no gold or silver treasures as imagined, no piles of rare curios.

It was empty.

"No way..." Wang Dalong's smile froze on his face. "After all that effort, this is it? Are you kidding me?"

Lin Feng didn't say anything; he held the phone and controlled the light beam, scanning the chamber floor inch by inch.

Just as the light beam was about to sweep over the very center of the chamber—

Wang Dalong's smile completely froze.

His breath seemed to be choked off in that instant by an invisible hand.

Lin Feng's hand also gave a sudden jerk!

It was a flash... a flash of dazzling gold!

It wasn't on the ground, but was held aloft by a simple, ancient-looking stone pedestal in the center of the chamber!

"Brother Feng... what... what is that thing?"

Wang Dalong's voice was shaking uncontrollably; he didn't even dare to speak loudly.

"That is... what we're looking for..."