Chapter 14 – Light at the End of the Tunnel

In the thirteenth year of the anchoring era, more ancient texts such as the 《Book of Documents》, 《Book of Songs》, and 《Book of Rites》 were unearthed, and scholars across the land grew ever more fascinated with that lost period of history.

In the fifteenth year of the anchoring era, the emperor fell gravely ill. Wishing once more to obtain immortal elixirs to prolong his life, he dispatched over a hundred thousand troops to excavate ancient tombs everywhere, searching for any trace of such elixirs.

Though many court officials grumbled privately, none organized any large-scale petition in opposition.

Unfortunately, immortal elixirs proved elusive. Even after excavating over a hundred ancient tombs, not a single trace was found.

By year’s end, the emperor passed away with lingering regrets. On his deathbed, he passed the throne to the Langya Prince.

With this, Li Fan once again held covert control over the realm.

Under Li Fan’s influence, the trend of exploring antiquities and seeking out tombs grew ever more fervent across the land.

In the seventeenth year of the anchoring era, a mountain hunter who discovered an ancient tomb won the Grand Preceptor’s favor and was ennobled as a marquis. After this, people across the land became even more enthusiastic and frenzied about exploring antiquities. No matter how remote or secluded the mountain forest, one could find groups of antiquity seekers trekking through.

Time flowed onward, arriving at the twenty-third year of the anchoring era.

Li Fan stood in the Grand Preceptor’s Manor, reviewing a compilation of clues gathered over the years from both official and civilian antiquity expeditions.

Prior to this, the world’s historical records only spanned three thousand years, encompassing a total of twenty-three dynasties.

But as tomb after tomb was excavated, the previously lost history was gradually pieced together.

Before those twenty-three dynasties, there were sixteen more, traceable back roughly six to seven thousand years.

The earliest dynasty that could be found was called Qi.

“Six to seven thousand years—that roughly aligns with the Great Migration era,” Li Fan mused silently.

He immediately ordered his subordinates to focus their efforts on excavating tombs from the Qi Dynasty.

He further issued a bounty across the realm: anyone who could locate a Qi Dynasty tomb would be ennobled as a marquis without exception.

When the news spread, people everywhere rushed to tell one another.

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

No matter how deeply buried in dust, history could not withstand such fervent searching by the people of an entire realm.

In the twenty-fifth year of the anchoring era, the tomb of Yi Xing, the first emperor of the Qi Dynasty, was finally found.

Upon receiving the news, Li Fan personally led his trusted confidants to the site and sealed off the surrounding area.

Over the past decade and more, the Great Xuan Dynasty’s tomb excavation techniques had advanced by leaps and bounds, producing a highly effective set of tomb-opening protocols.

Though the tomb of the realm’s first emperor was enormous and filled with countless traps, under the efforts of the Antiquity Seekers Camp, it took barely over a month to carve out a passage leading to the main burial chamber.

Once all obstacles were cleared, Li Fan entered the ancient tomb, surrounded by his entourage.

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

Li Fan strolled slowly, taking in the murals one by one as he passed.

The murals were divided into several major sections.

In the first section, the subject of the paintings—Yi Xing, the first emperor of the Qi Dynasty—sat atop a mountain peak. Above the ethereal white clouds, several shadowy figures of immortals could be seen, seemingly speaking to him.

In the second section, a darkness representing calamity descended. Red representing blood was splashed across the land. Under Yi Xing’s leadership, the survivors boarded vessel after vessel shaped like great ships, flying across a vast sea of clouds. After enduring countless perils, they arrived at a sprawling plain. From then on, people made their home there.

In the third section, with the people’s support, Yi Xing proclaimed himself emperor and established the Qi Dynasty.

The fourth section depicted various affairs that occurred during Yi Xing’s reign.

…

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

The chamber soared forty to fifty meters high, spanning thousands of meters in both length and width. The ceiling appeared to mimic the arrangement of celestial bodies, embedded with tens of thousands of luminous pearls.

Inside the chamber, the layout replicated the grounds of some mountain sect, with peak after peak rising amid a sea of clouds.

No one knew how this cloud sea had been created. It remained fixed within the chamber, never drifting about. Even after thousands of years, it had not dissipated.

The various peaks were connected by invisible pathways. As the group made their way through, they marveled and exclaimed in wonder at every turn.

“As expected—the handiwork of immortals,” Li Fan thought to himself.

Atop the highest peak stood a humble thatched hut, its surrounding farmland long since fallen to ruin.

Only upon approaching did the group realize that the thatch of the hut was actually woven from countless fine golden threads.

Clearly, this thatched hut served as Yi Xing’s sarcophagus.

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

To everyone’s surprise, there were no remains of Yi Xing inside.

There was only a wooden memorial tablet, standing quietly within.

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

Beyond that, there was nothing else.

“It seems this man, though he joined this sect called the Taiyan Sect, remained merely an outer disciple to the end, never setting foot upon the path of immortality. Ultimately, he was still exiled to this place by the cultivators.”

“Even on his deathbed, he never forgot his sect. Rather than identifying as an emperor, he always considered himself an outer disciple of the Taiyan Sect.”

“But according to what Kou Hong said before, all sects should have been destroyed in the Great Calamity that preceded the Great Migration era. Now it seems there must be more to the story.”

Li Fan’s mind raced with thoughts.

“This Yi Xing was likely entrusted by the cultivators of the Taiyan Sect to oversee the Great Migration of this realm. The question is whether the flying vessels used for that migration can still be found.”

With the main burial chamber yielding no results, Li Fan ordered the Antiquity Seekers Camp to excavate the surrounding area, attempting to find clues among the companion tombs.

Several days later, bad news arrived that filled Li Fan with fury and helplessness.

As it turned out, among the burial inventory of a nearby companion tomb, the Antiquity Seekers Camp had found records containing references to flying vessels. Unfortunately, this particular tomb had been robbed long ago.

Judging by the traces of damage, the robbery had occurred over a thousand years prior.

“Again! Again! Every time hope appears before my eyes, it turns out to be nothing but flowers in a mirror, the moon reflected in water—forever out of reach!”

In a rare display of rage, Li Fan flew into a thunderous fury, smashing several objects around him.

Everyone nearby fell deathly silent, too terrified to make a sound.

It was a long while before Li Fan managed to calm his turbulent emotions.

He still ordered the Antiquity Seekers Camp to continue excavating ancient tombs everywhere, searching for any possible trace of the immortal vessels. But he himself returned to Xuanjing City, clearly holding little hope.

Another ten years passed, bringing the calendar to the thirty-fifth year of the anchoring era, when things finally took an unexpected turn.

On this day, Li Fan received an urgent report.

“An immortal’s tomb has been discovered?” Li Fan was somewhat stunned, then overjoyed, and questioned the messenger in detail.

As it turned out, though Li Fan himself had grown somewhat dispirited over the years, the common people’s enthusiasm for antiquity seeking had not waned in the slightest. Across the lands of Great Xuan, countless ancient tombs had been excavated.

As the major tombs were exhausted, people began turning their attention to the smaller, previously overlooked ones.

Several days earlier, a group of young people excavating an unremarkable burial site were suddenly struck by a mysterious force, suffering heavy casualties.

The survivors immediately reported the incident to the authorities.

One must understand that in decades of antiquity seeking across Great Xuan, while deaths and injuries had occurred, they were almost always caused by mechanical traps. To encounter something this bizarre before even opening a tomb was completely unprecedented.

The Antiquity Seekers Camp dared not be careless and dispatched investigators overnight.

Yet even with numerous highly experienced veterans and fully armed soldiers working together, they could not disturb this small tomb in the slightest.

Both shocked and elated, they rushed to report the matter to Li Fan.

Li Fan arrived at the scene and, after deploying the Mortal Taint, finally managed to destroy the nameless force surrounding the tomb.

Upon entering the tomb, among the various burial goods, a small wooden ship stood conspicuously among them.