Chapter 201: Deciphering the Wall Inscriptions, Sealing Heaven and Earth

Although Liu Yuansong had done quite a bit of research into everything regarding the Yunluo Kingdom, because so few traces remained, he could not recognize many of the Yunluo characters carved into the walls and could only guess and infer.

However, it was certain beyond a doubt that this truly recorded the secret of the last Human Emperor of the ancient era, Emperor Qi, leading the ancient ancestors to resist the Qi Refiners and sever the connection between Heaven and Earth.

The secret was already before his eyes; the final step was to interpret the text and unveil its last layer of mystery.

Lu Yuan acted with swift decisiveness, immediately taking Liu Yuansong out of the underground tomb and returning to the city of Zhongyuan Prefecture, then having the Prefectural Assistant gather several painters and craftsmen skilled in making rubbings as quickly as possible, before returning with these people to the underground tomb at the ruins.

After experiencing the shock of flying through the high sky and traveling through the underground, these craftsmen and painters were immediately captivated by the ancient characters in the tomb, and then, at Lu Yuan's request, they tremblingly and cautiously made rubbings of all the ancient Yunluo characters on the walls, one sheet after another.

Afterwards, Lu Yuan did not disturb anything else in the tomb, including the stone coffin, which was closed back up to remain as it was; he only brought all the craftsmen back to Zhongyuan Prefecture, and then took Liu Yuansong to fly rapidly for several thousand miles back to the Dao Palace on Xiantai Mountain.

After landing, he first went to the Archaeology Pavilion to have those old scholars identify the rubbed ancient Yunluo characters, and upon learning that they could not identify them all, he summoned Chen Zhantang, ordering him to notify the Heavenly Master Mansion to mobilize those proficient in ancient characters, especially those of the Yunluo Kingdom, from Tianjing and even across the entire country as quickly as possible, to pool their wisdom and help him interpret the tomb wall inscriptions.

Within a day, as the news spread, not only the Heavenly Master Mansion but also the Council was alarmed, and departments at all levels began to mobilize, sending the news to every province via the telegraph offices already established nationwide.

Upon learning that an Immortal had a need, every province erupted with unprecedented efficiency; in just a few days, each province found one or two, or even several, scholars with deep research into ancient characters, and under official escort, they headed to Tianjing.

In less than a month, the number of scholars sent to Tianjing from the various provinces exceeded one hundred; after arriving, they all gathered at the Cangjingdian in the Imperial City, received the rubbing copies of the tomb wall inscriptions, and began their research.

In the Cangjingdian, a vast amount of data and historical records were fully opened to these people; most of these official or civilian scholars had never encountered such a vast and precious collection of ancient books, and they studied them hungrily.

During this time, Lu Yuan was not idle either; he returned to the Yunluo Kingdom ruins in Zhongyuan Prefecture and conducted a long-term, large-scale exploration underground to find more clues.

The Earth Travel technique allowed him to cover over a thousand miles a day with high efficiency, so in less than a month, he successively discovered several more tombs beneath these ruins.

However, the materials used to build these tombs were clearly inferior to the Human Emperor's cenotaph; they were basically broken, decayed, and weathered, with very poor preservation, and he could find almost nothing of value.

Lu Yuan did not force it, and after confirming there were no further discoveries, he returned to Tianjing to await the results of the scholars' translation and analysis.

With so many scholars pooling their wisdom and brainstorming, the efficiency was indeed high; within just over two months of their arrival in the capital, the hundreds of characters of the tomb wall inscriptions were basically interpreted, and the results were delivered to Lu Yuan.

At this moment, in the Dao Palace on Xiantai Mountain, after Lu Yuan received the translation results from the group, his expression became exceptionally grave:

"The Yunluo royal family, offering sacrifices to the Human Emperor of the Qi clan."

"The ancient ancestors lived on the vast earth, but the Qi Refiners of the Upper Realm harvested the world with tyranny and no Dao, treating the ancestors as livestock, with the power to kill or spare at will."

"Thus, the Human Emperor of the Qi clan, following the summons of Heaven, gathered the ancestors, severed the Heavenly Ladder in the Extreme North, slaughtered the Qi Refiners, and sealed Heaven and Earth, exchanging it for a new birth of the world."

"In the battle of sealing Heaven, the Human Emperor and the myriad sages all died in blood; the descendants, moved by the Human Emperor of the Qi clan's merit in saving the tilting Heaven, specially erected a cenotaph to offer sacrifices and veneration for ten thousand generations.?"

The wall inscriptions were only a few hundred characters, but the scholars' translation amounted to nearly a thousand words, clearly recording the most significant secret of the ancient era.

First, the Qi Refiners did indeed exist, and they were not native to this world but came from the so-called Upper Realm; as for what this Upper Realm actually was, it was never mentioned.

Second, the Qi Refiners of the Upper Realm did not seem to be good people; their behavior toward this world could be described as tyrannical, which eventually provoked the resistance of the ancient ancestors.

Third, the wall inscriptions recorded that the Human Emperor of the Qi clan gathered the ancestors and, in the Extreme North, used some unknown method to sever the so-called Heavenly Ladder connecting to the Upper Realm, engaging in a heaven-shaking battle with the Qi Refiners, the final result of which seemed to be mutual destruction.

The situation was very clear; all evidence pointed to the so-called Extreme North, where all the secrets were buried!

"Unexpected, truly unexpected; the secrets of this world are truly not small."

Lu Yuan read the translation carefully from beginning to end and could not help but sigh aloud:

"There actually exists a so-called Upper Realm, and on top of that, Qi Refiners; could it be the world of cultivation, or simply the Immortal Realm?"

"No, that's not right. If they were true Immortals who had refined the Void into Dao, they could grasp stars, seize the moon, and move mountains and fill seas; the ancient ancestors led by the Human Emperor could not have slaughtered them all."

He was currently unsure if the records on the tomb walls had been processed or edited, but if the records were true, the Qi Refiners of the ancient era must have come from another cultivation world, and this world was like their backyard, to be taken from as they pleased.

Afterwards, the Human Emperor of the Qi clan used some unknown method to completely cut off the passage between this world and the world of the Qi Refiners, finally achieving the sealing of Heaven and Earth, the extinction of cultivators, and the ancient ancestors completely shattered the great mountain that had been pressing down upon them.

Regardless, the Extreme North mentioned in the translation had become the key; Lu Yuan put down the translation in his hand and summoned Chen Zhantang, who had been waiting outside:

"Zhantang, do you know of the Extreme North?"

Chen Zhantang was considered learned before he began cultivation, and he immediately replied:

"I know a little; the northernmost part of the Sha'e Country territory is close to the Extreme North. It is said that this place is covered in snow all year round, frozen for ten thousand miles, and bitterly cold; let alone ordinary people, even martial arts experts find it difficult to survive there for long."

"Both the Sha'e Country and Shenluo have tried to explore this place to demonstrate their national strength, but in the end, they were forced back by the extreme cold weather not long after setting foot there, and it was left unsettled... Master, does the tomb wall inscription mention the Extreme North?"

Out of respect for his teacher, Chen Zhantang had not looked at the translation after receiving it and delivering it to the Dao Palace, so he did not know its contents.

Lu Yuan nodded and said:

"Correct. The Extreme North may contain traces of the ancient Human Emperor leading the ancestors in a great battle against the ancient Qi Refiners; I intend to go see it myself."

Chen Zhantang immediately bowed and said: "Master, the environment there is harsh and vast; you cannot go without someone to drive for you. This disciple is willing to go with you!"

Lu Yuan smiled:

"No need. You have only refined one or two wisps of True Qi; I fear you cannot adapt to the environment there. This translation was analyzed very well; those scholars have worked hard these days, so you shall represent me in rewarding them."

Chen Zhantang hurriedly accepted the order: "Yes, this disciple will go now."

After speaking, he looked up again, and amidst a gust of light wind, Lu Yuan's figure had already disappeared from the hall.

At the same time.

The Extreme North. Woo... woo...

A fierce, knife-like gale blew across a world of ice and snow, and snow as thick as goose feathers danced wildly, to the point where one could not see anything beyond a yard away.

In such a scene, however, a team of people wearing thick fur coats was moving forward against the violent wind and snow.

It was not just the wild wind and snow; the thick snowdrifts also severely hindered their progress, and a thick layer of frost had condensed on the masks of this team.

In the middle of the team, a person roared in the sky-filling snow:

"Brother, we cannot continue forward in such heavy wind and snow, otherwise we will completely lose our direction, and we might not be able to return to the camp!"

The leader was none other than E'erjia, who had once been a Prince; he roared without looking back:

"I know, but we cannot stop here; we will go to the slope ahead to take shelter from the wind and snow!"

After the five people behind him received the order, they gritted their teeth and followed him forward; not long after, they finally saw a snow slope in the wind and snow, so they quickened their pace and, finding a relatively wind-sheltered spot, quickly used iron picks to dig out a shallow shelter, into which they all crawled.

The shelter was not large, and it was slightly crowded for the six of them; a man whose ears and nose were frozen red sat down and kept rubbing his face, cursing:

"Damn it, I never thought there would be such a harsh and cold place in the world. I originally thought the Frozen Wasteland north of the Ancestral Land was bad enough, but the environment here is ten times worse than that!"

The others echoed:

"Isn't that so? Our Martial Arts are not bad; even if we haven't reached Blood Refining, we are at Thunder Sound, and our blood and Qi are strong, but we still ended up frozen like grandsons here!"

"It's only because it's us; martial artists below the third realm would absolutely not survive a single night here."

"Sigh, this Arctic Ice Plain is so vast; we have been searching for nearly three months now with zero results. I wonder how much longer we have to keep looking?"

E'erjia listened to these few complaints, his expression not changing much, only soothing them:

"It is indeed hard for you brothers to follow me. Exploring the Extreme North ice plain is not something that can be finished in a day or two. After we return to the Sunlight People's ship, I will find an opportunity to have him send us back first, so we can enjoy ourselves for a few days before coming again."

"Really? That's great!"

"Many thanks, Brother!"

Upon hearing this, the few Golden Clan members who had been frozen half to death suddenly gained spirit; not only did they stop complaining, they even began to discuss their romantic encounters while staying in Sunlight Country.

E'erjia, however, had no heart to participate, only gazing at the violent wind and snow outside, his eyes filled with worry.

These Golden Clan members were all hand-picked by him from the remnants of the Jin Clan, and at the very least, they were Martial Arts experts of the Fourth or Fifth Realm; only martial artists of this level could withstand the extremely harsh environment of the Extreme North.

He did not blame these people for their complaints. In reality, having experienced nearly three months of freezing cold and eating only cold food every day, the bitter cold had seeped into his very marrow. Even he, a Martial Arts Master of the Embrace Dan Realm, felt it was extremely agonizing and hard to endure, let alone the people under his command.

If it were not for the hatred of his kin being slaughtered and his country being destroyed, he would have simply wanted to give up. Relying on that batch of treasure left behind by the temple would be enough to live as a wealthy man with riches rivaling a nation; why come here to suffer such torment?

However, now that both Sunlight Country and Shenluo have dispatched many experts to continuously explore the ice plain, giving up at this time is naturally out of the question, and E'erjia can only think about it.

The wind and snow outside blew for a full half-day, and not until the light of Heaven grew dim did the violent sound of the wind finally cease completely.

The supplies they carried had long since been exhausted. E'erjia, who was equally famished, was the first to crawl out of the snow cave, moving his blood and Qi that were on the verge of freezing:

"Alright, let's hurry back to the ship before it gets dark!"

Exploring the vast Extreme North requires a constant stream of logistical supplies, so whether it is Shenluo or the Sunlight People, they all have supply ships stationed at the ice plain's shore at different locations to provide supplies for transport and rest for the exploration personnel.

Their current location was only a few dozen miles from the shore of the ice plain. The group of frozen and hungry Golden Clan experts braced themselves and followed E'erjia to continue their journey.

Although the snow was extremely deep, because their carried supplies were all exhausted, they were light of foot and moved quite rapidly. In less than an hour, they had traveled several dozen miles, and while the light of Heaven was still bright, they saw from afar the massive Ironclad Warship on the shore of the ice plain, spitting out thick smoke.

E'erjia let out a long sigh of relief, leading the group to the shore and waving repeatedly. Before long, someone on the deck waved a flag in response and lowered a long iron ladder. Immediately, E'erjia and the others climbed the ladder onto the deck, and at the same time, a Sunlight commander immediately stepped forward to greet them, asking:

"E'erjia-kun, did you have any harvest on this trip?"

E'erjia sighed and shook his head:

"Not yet, but we traveled nearly a thousand miles deep into the ice plain this time, already very close to the central area. Once the route is explored, we can go deeper next time. A few more times and we might be able to reach the extreme point."

The commander was not surprised, only bowing:

"Good, thank you all for your hard work. Our exploration teams currently have no major harvest either; this is a long-term project and none of our three parties need to be in a rush. Hot water and food are already prepared on the ship; everyone should go and have a good rest."

E'erjia nodded and waved his hand, preparing to take his men back to the cabin to rest.

And just as they were about to walk off the deck.

The lookout tower of the supply ship suddenly emitted urgent alarm bells, and at the same time, Sunlight soldiers let out cries of extreme terror:

"Look quickly, what is that?"

"Something is flying over!"

Hmm!?

Although the urgent shouts of the Sunlight soldiers were in the Sunlight language and E'erjia and his men could not understand them at all, the sense of urgency and panic was exceptionally clear. They subconsciously turned their heads to look in the direction the Sunlight soldiers were pointing, and immediately saw a blurry figure on the dark horizon in the distance, radiating a shimmering immortal light, flying at extreme speed toward the direction of the Arctic Ice Plain.

"That, could that be...?"

The moment they saw that figure.

Whether it was E'erjia and his men, or the thousands of Sunlight soldiers on the deck, it was as if they had recalled some terrifying nightmare; their faces turned deathly pale in an instant, and their heartbeats seemed to stop because of it.