A carefree soldier king in the city

Chapter 411 The Old Man

After speaking, Bridal stepped forward. Sure enough, his "suspended" feet seemed to have stepped on something solid. The secret was indeed there. He smiled slightly and continued walking forward. Fenrit and the others did not hesitate and followed one after another.

Upon entering the cave, before they could even unleash the light from their magic wands, several oil lamps suddenly lit up, illuminating the entire cave as if to welcome them. Everyone immediately became serious, on high alert, as it was quite eerie for the lamps to light themselves without anyone lighting them.

"Extraordinary, could there be some kind of trap?" Curry asked, leaning closer.

Chao Bufan frowned, his gaze fixed on the doorless stone chamber to his left. However, as soon as Curry finished speaking, an elderly man, about a meter tall, walked out of the chamber. The old man had white hair and beard, blue eyes, fair skin, and a perfectly shaped hooked nose, which made his thin frame appear exceptionally spirited.

The old man immediately sized up Chao Bufan upon his appearance, as if he knew Chao Bufan was the "leader" of these "unauthorized intruders," or as if he found this Eastern youth unusual. However, Chao Bufan also stared intently at him. As for Bridal and the others, they all looked at the suddenly appearing old man in astonishment, completely at a loss.

"What brings you all here?" The old man's gaze never left Chao Bufan's face, as if he were asking Chao Bufan, or perhaps asking everyone else.

“We’re here to find the Philosopher’s Stone,” Fenrit blurted out.

The old man then withdrew his gaze, turned around, and said, "Then come in!"

Everyone was taken aback, not expecting the old man to be so easy to talk to, showing no sign of reproach whatsoever. Could it be...?

Bridal and his three companions were overjoyed. Only Chao Bufan frowned, seemingly deep in thought, before following them inside. Bridal and the others followed without hesitation.

The stone chamber was not large. In the center was a column about a meter high and half a meter in diameter. At the top of the column was a stone bowl with a mouth larger than a washbasin, filled with clear water. Next to it was a small stone bowl. In front of the stone wall directly opposite the entrance was a flat surface about a meter high, which was densely covered with magic stones of different sizes, the largest of which was about the size of a basketball, and the smallest as small as an egg.

When Chao Bufan and the others entered the stone chamber, they were stunned when they saw the hundreds of magic stones on the surface, followed by overwhelming joy.

"Philosopher's Stones, so many Philosopher's Stones!" Curry exclaimed excitedly.

The old man seemed to maintain the same expression throughout, neither happy nor sad, neither angry nor joyful. He walked to one side of the stone chamber, sat down on a round stone bench, leaned against the wall, closed his eyes, and said, "Young man, most of these magic stones are fake. Only a very few are real. If you want to obtain them, it depends on your luck. If you accidentally obtain a fake magic stone, you will suffer the backlash of the curse and will surely die."

"Huh?" Everyone was startled, not expecting that these magic stones contained deadly intent. Apart from their different sizes, these magic stones all appeared to be genuine, as each one emitted a different degree of magical power.

After a brief moment of surprise, almost simultaneously, Bridal and the others fixed their gazes on Superb's face, because they all thought of Superb's "special ability"—the sixth sense.

Sensing the unusual gazes from Bridal and the others, Chao Bufan shook his head and smiled, then bowed respectfully to the old man and said, "Sir, if we have obtained the real Philosopher's Stone, does that mean that the Philosopher's Stone belongs to us?"

The old man didn't open his eyes, and said calmly, "Not bad, you've made the right choice. You can take it, and..." Then, the old man opened his eyes, pointed to the stone bowl in the middle of the stone chamber, and continued, "You can also drink a sip of the holy water in this bowl."

"Holy water?" Chao Bufan and the others were full of confusion. Bridal asked, "Old sir, what is the use of this holy water?"

The old man remained expressionless and said calmly, "Drinking this holy water will instantly strengthen your physique, greatly increase your magic, and cure all diseases."

"Can it bring the dead back to life?" Chao Bufan asked.

"Yes, but it must be drunk within two hours of the person's death," the old man replied calmly.

As soon as he finished speaking, Chao Bufan and the others were overjoyed. What seemed like an ordinary bowl of water actually had many wonderful uses.

However, even though holy water is good, it depends on whether you have the life to drink it.

After a brief moment of surprise, Bridal exclaimed excitedly, "Philosopher's Stone, Holy Water, great! It seems our trip wasn't in vain. Um... Bufan, which of the Philosopher's Stones do you think are real?"

Chao Bufan smiled slightly and said, "I can't say for sure. After all, apart from the different sizes, these magic stones all look the same. I don't know which ones are real and which ones are fake."

"Huh? Even you don't know?" Bridal and the others exclaimed in surprise.

Chao Bufan nodded and said, "It seems we can only rely on luck."

As he spoke, he walked to the platform, glanced at all the magic stones, and then transmitted his voice to the old man inside him: "Senior, could you help me see which of these magic stones are real?"

"That's easy, just test it with your true energy and you'll know."

"How should we test him?" Chao Bufan asked again.

"If it's a real magic stone, it inherently contains powerful magic. If you inject your true energy into it, it will cause the magic stone to briefly repel the force, and then it will absorb the external force. If it's a fake magic stone, it won't have this reaction. Although a fake magic stone has been enhanced by magic, it will also produce a repulsive effect, but it won't last long. Once the true energy can't withstand the external force, it's very likely to explode and shatter."

"Oh, I understand. Thank you for your guidance, senior."

Chao Bufan thanked him, and then, with lightning speed, he flicked his finger and swiftly injected a thin thread of true energy into all the magic stones.

Just as Bridal and the others were filled with anticipation, a series of "bang bang bang bang" explosions suddenly rang out on the platform. It turned out that the fake magic stones could not withstand the powerful true energy injected by Chao Bufan and immediately shattered.

"Huh?" Bridal and the others were startled. Even the old man sitting in the corner stood up immediately, then stood on the stone bench. His face finally changed, and he looked at the platform with disbelief.