Indeed, the moment Lu Yuan saw the two characters inscribed on the front of the decree, he immediately felt an instinctive resonance.
"Yuan."
It referred to himself.
He could distinctly sense an inexplicable connection between it and his very being.
Yet Lu Yuan did not quite understand why the character "Di" had been prefixed before "Yuan."
Connecting this to the origins of the Ancient Heavenly Emperor Token and the existences tied to it, he could not help but reflect on how the Five Emperors in legends each bore their own titles—such as Yao and Shun, also known as Emperor Yao and Emperor Shun.
Could it be that "Di" held a special meaning?
For Lu Yuan discovered that after his name was inscribed upon it, a surge of power welled up from the depths of his soul. It was a sensation of being favored by a certain providence, though he could not tell where it originated.
Without a doubt, that scroll inscribed with "Investiture of the Gods" carried immense significance.
Furthermore, as he looked upon this Investiture Decree, it seemed he could add several more names to it.
As for what effect adding a name would have, or how it would influence that person, Lu Yuan did not know. But one thing was certain: it was definitely beneficial!
Could it be that once their names were inscribed, they would be favored by providence just like him?
"With the Investiture Decree, I am the master. Once names are added, could this be the legendary investiture of immortals and gods? But with my current strength, how could I possibly achieve such a feat?"
Conferring divine status through such a decree was likely something only figures on par with the Ancestral Dragon could accomplish, and he was still far too distant from that realm.
Moreover, an intuition lingered in his heart: to truly unleash its full might, he had to obtain them all; only when every token was gathered would it become the most complete investiture of immortals and gods. He needed to keep collecting the remaining ancient tokens.
Fortunately, after acquiring the third Ancient Heavenly Emperor Token, he could finally begin to utilize this taboo object.
"Forget it. One step at a time. Gathering three is already quite an achievement for me."
As the legend went, the one who gathered the Ancient Heavenly Emperor Tokens would become the Human Sovereign and Heavenly Emperor.
Shaking his head slightly, he dwelled on it no further.
Yet as to how many Ancient Heavenly Emperor Tokens remained, and whether they were all on Earth or scattered across the various realms of deep space, Lu Yuan had no way of knowing.
Looking at the Ancient Heavenly Emperor Token in his mind and the Investiture Decree swirling around him, he sank into deep thought.
Not long after, he turned around and looked at Jiang Ningxian beside him.
Golden runes rose around her one after another, enveloping her entire body and sealing off everything from the outside.
When Lu Yuan saw those golden runes, a look of astonishment washed over his face. He discovered that this protective measure was extraordinarily formidable—even if he struck with all his power, he could never hope to breach it.
Was this a defensive measure left to her by the Jiang clan?
Knowing she would awaken before long, there was no need for him to do anything more right now.
Sure enough, Jiang Ningxian regained consciousness.
She vigilantly scanned her surroundings. Only after realizing there was no danger did her guard slightly lower, whereupon she looked toward the imperial throne.
Finding nothing there, Jiang Ningxian felt a twinge of disappointment. She had come here precisely for this, yet after finally catching sight of the Ancestral Dragon's imperial body, she had immediately fallen unconscious, seeing nothing upon waking.
She possessed means left behind by her clan elders yet had still succumbed so easily to unconsciousness; this had caught her entirely off guard, which accounted for her reaction.
At that moment, Jiang Ningxian turned her head and immediately asked, "Where is the Ancestral Dragon's imperial body? Why is it gone? Lu Yuan, what on earth happened just now?"
"I'm not sure either. The moment the Ancestral Dragon's imperial body opened its eyes, I fell unconscious as well. When I woke up, everything was already like this," Lu Yuan replied, shaking his head. Naturally, he wouldn't speak of what had actually occurred.
"Is that so?" Jiang Ningxian narrowed her eyes slightly, staring at Lu Yuan before her for quite a while before speaking again.
Seeing this, Lu Yuan offered a faint smile, knowing full well she didn't entirely believe him.
Yet as she spoke, she looked at Lu Yuan with a smile, pondering who knew what.
Lu Yuan understood that he needed to show something at this moment. The matters concerning the Ancestral Dragon and the Ancient Heavenly Emperor Token certainly could not be revealed—at least not now. After all, the two of them were still in a cooperative relationship. Everyone had their secrets, and addressing things indirectly was clearly preferable. Poking through the paper window would only make things awkward. Her decision not to press further was obviously because she knew she wouldn't get anything out of him anyway.
Lu Yuan offered his own thoughts.
After a brief pause to consider, he spoke once more: "From what you said, the Ancestral Dragon's era could embark upon the evolutionary path, and his imperial body even emanated death qi. Yet before the official expedition began, he met an uncanny defeat. I think he must have encountered an unimaginably powerful enemy. What do you think?"
Those words not only shared some insight, but Lu Yuan also knew Jiang Ningxian wouldn't relentlessly interrogate him.
"Perhaps that truly is the case."
Jiang Ningxian was naturally very clever and tacit. Hearing this, she nodded at once, a gleam appearing in her eyes.
"It seems that for now, I won't be able to find out what happened before the Ancestral Dragon embarked on his campaign."
Then, walking forward and looking around the grand hall, she continued, "It seems there's nothing more to discover here. Let's go to the Netherworld."
Lu Yuan had no objection to this.
"All right."
He also believed that the half belonging to the Netherworld held more secrets. As for this Lingxiao Palace, they had already searched it earlier and found nothing else.
The Mount Kunlun Mystic Realm was divided into two major regions: the Heavenly Palace and the Netherworld. As for the Heavenly Palace half, the two had already penetrated into its innermost core. Now only the Netherworld remained, where conditions were far more complex and would surely yield more discoveries.
Moreover, the Yongzhou Cauldron, one of Huaxia's Nine Cauldrons, was likely within the Netherworld.
Furthermore, the Peacock King and the others had not yet appeared; not knowing what they had run into, they needed to search for them as well.
"Let us leave the Heavenly Palace first, then wait for yin and yang to invert once more."
Without another word, the two walked out of the grand hall together.
At this moment, the hundred thousand heavenly soldiers still stood upon the plaza, their expressions solemn. They stood guard here seemingly out of their wills in life, yet not one among them was living; they were essentially all inanimate remains.
Looking upon them, Lu Yuan sank into contemplation, pondering whether the Ancestral Dragon's expedition had ultimately ended in defeat.
"The Ancestral Dragon said he had already led his men on campaign. Then what do the heavenly soldiers and nether soldiers in this city represent? Why is there an unyielding, unwilling will lingering upon them? Could they be the army under the Ancestral Dragon's command?"
Lu Yuan suddenly considered this, and the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
Leaving everything else aside, the fact remained that he had discovered an Ancient Heavenly Emperor Token here.
Still, these were merely conjectures; the exact truth would require further confirmation later.
Chapter 182