However, faced with the strange silver key in the duke's hand, the Old Days Secret Scripture showed no reaction whatsoever.
Anvis looked at the duke, his gaze inquisitive, as though trying to understand what this meant.
Duke Carlot remained composed. He stepped forward several paces and raised the key in his hand,
allowing the strange aura that continued to pour from the key itself to envelop the thick book, whose characters watched him like living creatures.
Within that aura, Anvis could not tell exactly what changes had occurred in the Old Days Secret Scripture.
But he had an odd feeling that the formless darkness on its cover had become considerably deeper in that instant.
Even though its color had already been pure black before—
"That will do—"
Seeing this, Duke Carlot nodded to Anvis and returned to his original position, gripping the key once more.
Then, at the spot where the key had been floating moments ago, he repeated his earlier motion of releasing it.
This time, the key's transformation was exactly the opposite of before.
As if time had suddenly accelerated, the bright silvery-white sheen on the key's surface visibly dimmed.
A grayish-black hue like an oxide film once again covered the elegant Silver Vine pattern, restoring its dull, matte texture.
Only after the key had completely reverted did Duke Carlot take it down and place it on the desktop.
"Curious about what I did?"
Seeing the thirst for knowledge in Anvis's eyes, the duke smiled faintly.
"That was a safeguard—"
"Since acquiring this key, the family has continuously researched it, attempting to decipher the nature and source of its power, as well as whether we could use it to go further and overcome the Impassable Barrier of Breakthrough to Legendary.
Although we made almost no progress, during the