Aidan sighed softly and said, "So that's how it is."
The technique that left the image and sound on the stone wall should be Malagor's "Echo of Presence." This Essencial Conduit could imprint images and project them out.
The "Echo of Presence" Essencial Conduit survived by feeding on light and sound, relying on the light leaking in from the entrance of the cave and the sound of the waterfall outside. It survived in this hidden cave in the mountains.
This footage should be real.
Back then, the Third Generation Archbishop's ambush on Malagor failed, and after the defeat, he launched another sneak attack. Although he repelled Malagor, he also perished as a result. This history was very disgraceful, and the surviving elders covered up and distorted the truth.
They reversed the roles of the Third Generation Archbishop and Malagor.
Malagor, the victor, became the defeated assailant, who was killed on the spot. The Third Generation Archbishop became the righteous hero.
But this story itself had a major loophole.
That is, Malagor was clearly killed on the spot, and his remains should have been controlled by the castle. But why was another set of remains discovered?
In my past life, the lucky one who discovered this place must have felt fearful after seeing this footage. Although those surviving elders had long since passed away, to prevent Malagor from returning, this truth should have been kept secret among the upper echelons of the castle.
When the lucky one realized that if he swallowed the treasure alone, there would be a huge risk, he dared not conceal this treasure and made the decision to report to the higher-ups.
Such behavior further demonstrated his loyalty to the castle. His subsequent fate also indicated that he had made a wise choice.
However, just because he did it doesn't mean Aidan would do the same.
"Such hard-won treasure should be swallowed by one person alone. Why should it be shared with others? Even if discovered, so what? Without taking risks, where's the profit? That lucky one was truly timid." Aidan smirked coldly.
The image suddenly flashed after a few fluctuations.
A severely injured, extremely pale bald ascender replaced the original image and appeared on the screen.
He lay weakly on the ground, leaning against the mountain wall. His chest and limbs were covered with deep wounds, but strangely, these wounds protruded flesh without bleeding. It was as if all the blood in his body had been drained.
"I am Malagor," the bald ascender grinned hideously. "Later person, whoever you are, you have killed the bloodline inside Mistvale Keep. Excellent, you are now my heir!! All my inheritance is left to you, but there is one condition: you must destroy Mistvale Keep for me!"
So that's it! So the condition to unlock Malagor's inheritance is to kill someone here in this cave who carries the bloodline of the castle! Then, who did that lucky person kill before the reincarnation?
The truth is, the lovelorn ascender, out of resentment from love, deceived his beloved woman to this cave and killed her. However, since the woman was just a commoner with the castle's bloodline and not an ascender, he didn't face any punishment for murder. Instead, he was rewarded handsomely for discovering Malagor's legacy. As for the deceased werewolf, he must have been the illegitimate child of an ascender from the castle, carrying the castle's bloodline, thus successfully unlocking the hidden treasure!
"I didn't expect such a twist. It's truly intriguing," murmured Aidan, a faint smile hanging on the corner of the mouth.
The image dissipated, accompanied by a rumbling vibration. A new opening appeared.
Aidan cautiously stepped back, feeling a heavy atmosphere gradually emanating from the opening, permeating the entire secret cave.
The ventilation in the cave wasn't great, so after some thought, Aidan chose to squeeze through the cracks in the rocks and return to the outside world.
After a while, he returned to the cave. The oppressive feeling in the cave had eased considerably.
Looking into the opening, he saw a sloping, straight passageway leading downwards. The initial part of the passage was narrow, requiring him to stoop and bend, but it widened as it went further down.
The walls of the opening were made of peculiar red soil, emitting a slightly dim red light, making the scene in the passageway clearly visible. However, the passage was long, extending beyond his field of vision, and due to the angle, Aidan couldn't see what lay at its end.
He stood at the mouth of the cave, not immediately stepping in but squinting his eyes and staying put.
Inheritance of power was different from a treasure trove.
A treasure trove referred to what was left behind by an Ascender after death. The one who discovered it often obtained everything on the body in one fell swoop.
Inheritance of power, on the other hand, was when Ascenders, before their death, set up tests for various reasons, such as not wanting their sect to perish, blessing future generations, or wanting to leave a final mark on the world.
In Malagor's case, the purpose of setting up this inheritance was clear: to nurture a avenger to seek revenge on Mistvale Keep!
If later individuals could pass these tests, they would receive various benefits. Those who passed the final test would mean they had obtained the complete inheritance of power.
According to the factions of power inheritors, power inheritance naturally divided into esteemed factions and Evildoers.
Esteemed factions' inheritances were usually intricately designed to test the character and morality of future generations. Those who failed halfway usually had no worries about their lives.
Evildoers' inheritances were more complicated. Evildoers were often madly persistent, ruthless, or murderous, defying conventional judgment.
Some Evildoers' inheritances were designed to test the mind extensively. With numerous puzzles, many people spent their lives pondering without reaching a conclusion.
Some Evildoers' inheritances were extremely simple, just a sealed room with Essence Conduits and Essence Gems placed inside directly.
Some Evildoers' inheritances had extremely cruel tests; failure midway often meant death.
Moreover, some inheritances were outright lies, massive traps in themselves. They followed the principle of harming others without benefiting oneself and vigorously schemed before death to trap others.
"What kind of inheritance could Malagor's be?" Aidan pondered. He had memories from his previous life, and he was well aware of many famous Evildoers' inheritances in the future. However, this particular inheritance wasn't recorded or passed down in his previous life, so he knew nothing about it.
"Logically speaking, the possibility of a trap isn't very high. Otherwise, Malagor wouldn't need to design this checkpoint. But could there be mechanisms?" Aidan picked up a piece of rock and threw it into the passage. The stone clattered and clinked in the passage, quickly rolling out of Aidan's sight, accompanied by a series of echoes reverberating in the tunnel.
Aidan pondered: It seemed safe to use throwing stones to test the path. However, he still didn't enter the passage.
Instead, he took out some stone dust and scattered it evenly near the newly opened passage. At the same time, he sprinkled a thin layer at the entrance of the cave's crevice.
Ignoring the new discovery of the cave, Aidan began to prepare another blood magic ritual. He started gathering the body parts from the ground, forming them into a mass. Then, he peeled the skin with Ascension Sigils from the chunks of flesh, laying them out to cover the mass completely. Finally, he concentrated all his spirit and energy, initiating the "Steal" spell.
The entire cave began to emit an eerie red light. The chunks of flesh started to melt into blood, enveloping the skins with Ascension Sigils. After a moment, all the blood melted into the skins, which began to radiate a Bronze glow.
Through a form of blood magic, Aidan had refined these skins from several human bodies into a Level 1 Essence Conduit, which was a disposable consumable with a simple function.
Expressionless, Aidan swallowed down these pieces of skin, filled with a foul stench. After a moment, the number of Ascension Sigils on Aidan's body surface increased from 33 to 53, and these Ascension Sigils began to emit an "Amber Bronze" colored light.
He had become an high-level Novice Tier Ascender with 53 Ascension Sigils!
Then, he squeezed out of the narrow crevice entrance and left the area.