The Sacred Ancestor Cube is quite unique.

First, its appearance in the world:

The Sacred Ancestor Cube always manifests itself proactively. Before it appears, no one knows where it is; it cannot be discovered intentionally or by accident. It might even show up in a mine already riddled with holes. When it appears out of thin air, all the mine shafts are instantly blocked off—truly miraculous.

Second, its value:

The contents of the Sacred Ancestor Cube, beyond their cultural significance, genuinely hold strategic importance.

“Bang, bang, bang...”

The outline of the Sacred Ancestor Cube gradually emerged.

The gray-black Hanxing stone is harder than steel and remains a strategic resource even today. You can dig it out boldly without worrying about damage.

This is also what makes the Sacred Ancestor Cube so impressive.

With ordinary ruins, you’d have to use tiny shovels, little spoons, small brushes, and graduate students to dig bit by bit—time-consuming, laborious, and hard on the grad students, who are quite delicate.

“Splash!”

Water poured down, and the patterns on the cube’s stone walls gradually became visible.

Simple pine branch designs.

Each cube has a different pattern; the one in Yujing features auspicious clouds.

Digging further down, the door of the cube appeared.

The side facing the lake is now the west gate. There are a total of six gates—east, south, west, north, up, and down—all of which can be used to enter.

And apart from this heaven-defying “hidden mechanism,” the Sacred Ancestor Cube has no other defensive or counterattack features; only the main gate requires some effort to unlock.

The Sacred Ancestor had no intention of killing thieves.

Such kindness from our ancestor.

The banging gradually stopped, followed by a torrent of water that washed the surface of the cube clean, revealing the outline of a massive arched door.

Dusk was falling.

At both ends of the blocked lakeside road, more and more lights gathered—citizens who had come to watch after hearing the news, and some even took boats from across the lake to see.

The military personnel went up.

It would take some time to unlock the main gate, then they’d need to isolate the air, check for safety inside, and transport equipment in. It might be midnight or even tomorrow morning before they could enter.

Grace Brooks would have to wait until at least tomorrow to follow Professor Brooks into the cube.

Today was just for watching the excitement and broadening his horizons.

Midnight.

Grace Brooks had already returned home.

And finished his cultivation.

Despite his fatigue, he couldn’t fall asleep. All sorts of random thoughts kept flooding in, leaving his mind restless.

Grace Brooks carefully examined the crystal in his hand. After a while, he raised it toward the lamp in the room. The light shone through the crystal, inside of which swirled mist that was sometimes pink, sometimes pale purple.

He had once read a book called “Records of Zhou He.”

Brian Evans was a man from the early Xia Dynasty, the first historian in the history of Huaxia in this world. He usually stayed in the palace, responsible for compiling historical records. But besides official history, he also recorded his daily work, occasional feelings, and things he saw and heard that weren’t significant enough for the official records, compiling them into a book.

That book was “Records of Zhou He.”

The preservation of this book was not as rigorous as that of official histories. Later, the Daoist sects, who kept records for each dynasty, also neglected its preservation, resulting in many missing parts. However, in modern times, Daoist elders have restored these books, so the content should now be accurate to the original.

This book is often used as a reference for early Xia history.

Grace Brooks had read a few lines in the book:

The moonlight in the deep palace is clear,

Candlelight flickers along the corridor.

The white-haired Sacred Emperor remains,

Sitting idly, playing with a crystal.

It’s not really a poem, just a simple record of a small matter concerning the Sacred Ancestor.

There was a lot going on that day. Brian Evans was working overtime in the palace and didn’t leave until very late. By chance, he saw the Sacred Ancestor. Ah, the moonlight in the deep palace was cold and clear, very quiet. Lanterns hung along the long corridor, their candlelight swaying. His Majesty the Sacred Emperor was already very old, yet instead of resting in the hall, he sat in the palace corridor, idly passing the time, playing with a crystal in his hand.

Was he lost in thought?

What might His Majesty have been thinking at that moment?

Brian Evans found it very interesting, so after returning home, he quickly wrote it down.

People have always believed that this poem describes the desolate scene of the Sacred Emperor, old and alone, sitting under the moon in the deep palace. The emperor who once unified the world and founded Huaxia, in his old age, was just as vulnerable as any ordinary elder, needing companionship at night. Perhaps the higher one stands in public, the lonelier one is in private?

Grace Brooks looked again at the crystal in his hand.

Chapter 10: When Shall We Trim the Candlewick by the Western Window Together

The ninth day, morning.

A simple platform had already been built in front of the west gate of the cube embedded in the upper half of Beauty Mountain, with a faint red barrier covering the arched door.

A young man in uniform said to Professor Brooks and Grace Brooks—mainly to Grace Brooks—“Professor Brooks, Teacher Little Brooks, when you go in later, there will be instruments to check. You cannot bring any items with spatial storage properties. If you have any, you can hand them over to me for safekeeping.”

“None,” said Professor Brooks, who couldn’t afford such things.

“Are things like mobile phones, watches, and necklaces allowed?” Grace Brooks asked.

“They’re allowed, but you can also give me your phone for safekeeping—you probably won’t need it inside. Wearing a watch to check the time is fine.”

“Alright.”

So Grace Brooks turned off his phone and handed it to him.