Chapter 78: Buried Treasure (2/2)

But Xi Wei was looking for something hidden much deeper.

“I knew it. This ain’t no ordinary village.” He’d already had his suspicions: The frogmen shouldn’t have the ability to bring down a monster over ten meters in length, and even use its shell for a home. As such, the massive structure at the center of the village raised certain questions.

Prior to their alliance, the frogman elder had told them that it was this Aquatic Lord of theirs who had helped their ancestors settle the land here.

Nearly a thousand years ago, these frogmen had to have been little more than primitive cavemen. How had they all been anchored to a specific spot like this? What would have been the simplest way to accomplish this?

By creating a highly conspicuous landmark.

And what sort of landmark would inspire the frogmen to willingly take residence upon this sandy beach?

The answer was as clear as day: A ready-made home with many rooms within, which could endure for millennia.

“It’s more than a landmark…” Xi Wei knocked upon the chitinous walls, and sensed faint traces of magic flowing through them. Realization dawned upon him. “It also serves as a magical focus. Ah, the patterns on the surface are actually runic symbols… Interesting. A shell like this would already be infused with magical energies, and should be able to repair itself to some degree. Channeling the power of their faith, it could lure an abundance of fish to the shallow waters nearby. Maybe it wards off sea monsters, too?”

Whichever the case, this leviathan seashell was a landmark not just for the frogmen ancestors, but for Xi Wei as well.

It didn’t take him long to figure out the pattern behind the enchantments. Judging by the alignment of the shell, he was able to locate the nexus point. Standing at that spot, he opened his senses to the world.

In an instant, his perception pierced through the earth below.

Approximately one thousand and five hundred meters below the surface, there was an altar. It wasn’t something humans could have made—it looked like a holy symbol which had somehow manifested into a physical thing, and it was still emanating a faint hint of divinity.

There, at the center of the altar, lay what Xi Wei was looking for: The body of the Aquatic Lord!

Not shattered remnants, as Xi Wei had assumed at first; it was a whole, complete body!

Well, perhaps not completely whole—examining the body more closely, he discovered numerous defects.

Comparing a divine avatar to a crystal ball, the Aquatic Lord was cracked all over, like a crystal ball that had been shattered all to pieces, and then put back together again.

And filling up those cracks, like the glue holding everything together, was a thousand years of faith from the frogmen!