Chapter 14: A Twist of Fate

In the anchor year thirteen, ancient texts such as the "Book of Documents" and "Book of Songs" were unearthed, making scholars across the land increasingly yearn for the lost history.

In the anchor year fifteen, the emperor fell gravely ill. Desiring Immortal Pills to prolong his life, he dispatched over a hundred thousand troops to excavate Ancient Tombs everywhere in search of traces of Immortal Pills.

Although many court officials voiced objections, there was no large-scale opposition in writing.

Unfortunately, Immortal Pills were hard to find. Even after excavating over a hundred Ancient Tombs, no trace of them was discovered.

At the end of the year, the emperor died with regret. Before his death, he passed the throne to the Prince of Langya.

Thus, Li Fan once again secretly gained control of the world.

And under Li Fan's influence, the trend of visiting ancient sites and excavating tombs grew even stronger.

In the anchor year seventeen, a mountain hunter, having found an Ancient Tomb, won the favor of the Grand Preceptor and was enfeoffed as a marquis. Thereafter, people across the land became even more enthusiastic and fanatical about visiting ancient sites. No matter how remote the mountain forest, groups of antiquity seekers could be seen.

Time passed, and it came to the anchor year twenty-three.

Li Fan stood in the Grand Preceptor's Mansion, reviewing the clues gathered over the years from official and civilian antiquity searches.

Before this, this world only had three thousand years of historical records, covering a total of twenty-three dynasties.

As one Ancient Tomb after another was excavated, the previously lost history gradually became complete.

Before these twenty-three dynasties, there were another sixteen, traceable back to about six or seven thousand years ago.

And the earliest dynasty that could be found was called Qi.

"Six or seven thousand years, roughly matching the era of the Great Migration," Li Fan thought to himself.

Then, he ordered his subordinates to focus on excavating tombs from the Qi Dynasty.

He also offered a reward across the land: anyone who found a Qi Dynasty tomb would be enfeoffed as a marquis.

As soon as the news spread, people across the land rushed to inform each other.

Countless young people set out together on the path of antiquity seeking.

No matter how buried history, it could not withstand such fervent excavation and search by the entire world.

In the anchor year twenty-five, the tomb of Yi Xing, the first emperor of the Qi Dynasty, was finally found.

Upon hearing the news, Li Fan led his trusted followers to the site and sealed off the surroundings.

Over the past decade, the Great Xuan's techniques for excavating Ancient Tombs had developed rapidly, and a highly effective tomb-opening plan had been summarized.

Even though the tomb of the world's first emperor was massive and filled with countless mechanisms, with the efforts of the antiquity camp, in just over a month, a passage leading to the main burial chamber was chiseled through.

After all obstacles were cleared, Li Fan, surrounded by his followers, entered the interior of the Ancient Tomb.

The main tomb passage stretched for hundreds of meters, with walls on both sides covered in lifelike murals. Though thousands of years had passed, they remained clearly visible.

Li Fan paced slowly, taking in all the murals along the way.

The murals were divided into several major sections.

The first section depicted the protagonist, Yi Xing, the first emperor of Qi, sitting on a mountain peak. Above the drifting white clouds, several figures of Immortals appeared, seemingly speaking to him.

The second section showed the darkness of calamity descending. The red of blood spilled across the land. Led by Yi Xing, the surviving people rode on large ship-like tools, flying through vast seas of clouds, encountering countless dangers before arriving at a vast plain. From then on, they settled there.

The third section depicted Yi Xing, with the support of the people, declaring himself emperor and establishing the Qi Dynasty.

The fourth section covered various trivial events during Yi Xing's reign.

…

After viewing the murals, Li Fan arrived at the main burial chamber.

The chamber was forty to fifty meters high and several thousand meters in both length and width. The ceiling seemed to mimic the layout of the stars, inlaid with tens of thousands of night pearls.

Inside, the chamber was arranged like a mountain gate, with peaks rising one after another, submerged in a sea of clouds.

This sea of clouds, somehow generated, was confined to the chamber and did not drift around. Even after thousands of years, it had not dissipated.

Invisible paths connected the various peaks, and as the group walked along, they marveled and exclaimed in admiration.

"Truly the methods of an Immortal," Li Fan thought to himself.

At the highest peak stood a simple thatched hut, with the fields outside already abandoned.

Only when they approached did they realize that the thatch of the hut was woven from countless fine gold threads.

Clearly, this thatched hut was Yi Xing's coffin.

At Li Fan's signal, the group first opened the door of the hut.

To everyone's surprise, there was no remains of Yi Xing inside.

Only a wooden memorial tablet stood quietly within.

On the tablet were written several golden characters: "Tomb of Yi Xing, Outer Sect Disciple of the Taiyan Sect."

There was nothing else.

"It seems this man, though he joined this Sect called the Taiyan Sect, remained only an Outer Sect Disciple and never embarked on the path of immortality. In the end, he was exiled here by the Immortal Cultivators."

"Before his death, he still clung to his Sect, identifying himself not as an emperor but always as an Outer Sect Disciple of the Taiyan Sect."

"But according to Kou Hong's earlier statement, all Sects in the world should have been destroyed in the Great Tribulation before the era of the Great Migration. Now it seems there must be another story behind this."

Li Fan pondered continuously.

"This Yi Xing was likely entrusted by the Immortal Cultivators of the Taiyan Sect to oversee the Great Migration of this world. I wonder if we can find the flying boats used for the migration back then."

Having found nothing in the main burial chamber, Li Fan ordered the antiquity camp to excavate the surrounding area, hoping to find clues in the accompanying tombs.

A few days later, bad news came, filling Li Fan with immense anger and helplessness.

It turned out that among the burial goods of a nearby accompanying tomb, the camp found records mentioning flying boats. Unfortunately, this tomb had been looted long ago.

And based on the traces of damage, the looting had occurred over a thousand years ago.

"Again, again! Every time I see hope, it ends up like a reflection in a mirror or a flower in the moon—unattainable!"

Li Fan, in a rare fit of rage, smashed several items around him.

Those around him fell silent in fear.

After a long while, Li Fan calmed his complex emotions.

He still ordered the antiquity camp to continue excavating Ancient Tombs everywhere, searching for any trace of the flying boats, but he himself returned to Xuan Capital, clearly holding little hope.

Another ten years passed, and it came to the anchor year thirty-five, when a turn of events occurred.

One day, Li Fan received an urgent report.

"An Immortal's tomb discovered?" Li Fan was stunned, then overjoyed, and asked for details.

It turned out that although Li Fan had lost some interest over the years, the public's enthusiasm for antiquity seeking had not waned. Countless Ancient Tombs were excavated across the land of Great Xuan.

As large Ancient Tombs were exhausted, people turned their attention to the small, previously neglected tombs.

A few days earlier, a group of young people, while excavating an inconspicuous tomb, were suddenly injured by an unknown force, suffering heavy casualties.

The survivors immediately reported the matter to the authorities.

It should be noted that in decades of antiquity seeking in Great Xuan, though there had been injuries and deaths, they were mostly caused by mechanisms. Such a bizarre incident before even opening a tomb was unprecedented.

The antiquity camp dared not slack off and sent people to investigate overnight.

Even with the combined efforts of many experienced veterans and fully armed soldiers, they could not disturb the small tomb in the slightest.

The group was both surprised and delighted, and quickly reported to Li Fan.

Li Fan arrived upon hearing the news, and only after deploying the Immortal-Mortal Miasma did he manage to destroy the nameless force surrounding the tomb.

Entering the tomb, among the burial goods, a small wooden boat was prominently placed.