In Anchor Year 13, more ancient classics such as the *Book of Documents*, the *Classic of Poetry*, and the *Classic of Rites* surfaced, making the world's scholars yearn all the more for that lost era of history.
In Anchor Year 15, the Emperor fell gravely ill. Seeking another immortal elixir to prolong his life, he mobilized over a hundred thousand troops to excavate ancient tombs across the realm in search of traces of immortal elixirs.
Though the court ministers murmured amongst themselves, none submitted widespread memorials of protest.
Unfortunately, immortal elixirs were hard to find. Even after unearthing over a hundred ancient tombs, not a single trace was found.
At the end of the year, the Emperor passed away with deep regret. On his deathbed, he passed the throne to the Prince of Langya.
With that, Li Fan had once again quietly seized control of the realm.
Under Li Fan's influence, the craze for exploring antiquities and seeking ancient tombs grew even more rampant.
In Anchor Year 17, a mountain hunter discovered an ancient tomb, won the Grand Preceptor's favor, and was enfeoffed as a marquis. Thereafter, the world grew even more fervent and frenzied about seeking antiquity. No matter how remote the mountain forests, groups of antiquity seekers could be seen everywhere.
Time passed, bringing Anchor Year 23.
Standing in the Grand Preceptor Manor, Li Fan looked over the compiled clues gathered over the years by both official and private expeditions.
Prior to this, the world's historical records spanned only three thousand years across twenty-three dynasties.
Yet as tomb after tomb was excavated, the lost history was gradually pieced back together.
Before those twenty-three dynasties, there had been sixteen more, dating back roughly six to seven thousand years.
And the earliest dynasty they were able to identify was named Qi.
*Six to seven thousand years... that roughly lines up with the Great Migration,* Li Fan thought to himself.
Immediately, he ordered his subordinates to focus on excavating tombs from the Qi dynasty.
He also issued a realm-wide bounty: anyone who found a Qi dynasty tomb would be enfeoffed as a marquis without exception.
Once the news broke, people across the land hurried to spread the word.
Countless young people banded together and set out on the road of antiquity hunting.
No matter how deeply buried by dust, history could not withstand such an ardent search by the entire realm.
In Anchor Year 25, the tomb of the Qi dynasty's founding emperor, Yi Xing, was finally discovered.
Upon receiving the report, Li Fan led his trusted confidants to the site in person and cordoned off the surrounding area.
Over the past decade and more, Great Xuan's tomb excavation techniques had advanced rapidly, producing an exceptionally effective methodology for opening tombs.
Even though the tomb of this world's first emperor was vast in scale and filled with countless mechanisms, through the efforts of the Antiquity Exploration Battalion, a passage leading to the main burial chamber was breached in just over a month.
Once all obstacles were cleared, Li Fan entered the ancient tomb surrounded by his entourage.
The main tomb passage stretched for several hundred meters, its walls on both sides covered with lifelike murals. Though thousands of years had passed, they remained clearly visible.
Li Fan paced forward slowly, studying the murals along the way.
The murals were divided into several sections.
The first section depicted the protagonist—Yi Xing, the founding emperor of the Qi dynasty—seated atop a mountain peak. High above the drifting white clouds, the faint silhouettes of several immortals appeared to be telling him something.
The second section showed the descent of a calamity-bearing darkness. Red symbolizing blood was splattered across the earth. Led by Yi Xing, the survivors boarded vessels that looked like giant ships and flew across a vast sea of clouds. After enduring countless perils, they arrived at an expansive plain. From then on, humanity made their home here.
The third section showed Yi Xing, supported by the people, proclaiming himself emperor and establishing the Qi dynasty.
The fourth section depicted various events from Yi Xing's reign.
...
Having examined the murals, Li Fan arrived at the main burial chamber.
The chamber stood forty to fifty meters high and stretched several thousand meters across. The ceiling appeared to mirror the layout of the stars, studded with tens of thousands of luminous pearls.
Inside the chamber, the terrain was modeled after the grounds of some sect, with mountain peaks rising one after another, submerged in a sea of clouds.
How this sea of clouds had formed was unknown, but it remained anchored within the chamber without drifting away. Even after thousands of years, it had not dissipated.
Invisible pathways connected the peaks. As the group walked along, they clicked their tongues in wonder and marveled ceaselessly.
*Truly an immortal method,* Li Fan thought.
Atop the highest peak stood a simple thatched cottage, surrounded by fertile fields that had long since fallen to ruin.
Only upon drawing close did everyone realize that the cottage's thatch was woven from countless fine strands of gold wire.
Evidently, this thatched cottage was Yi Xing's coffin.
At Li Fan's signal, the men stepped forward and pushed open the cottage doors.
To everyone's surprise, Yi Xing's remains were nowhere to be found inside.
There was only a wooden spirit tablet standing quietly within.
Several golden characters were inscribed upon it: "Tomb of Yi Xing, Outer Disciple of the Taiyan Sect."
Aside from this, there was nothing else.
*It seems that although he joined this Taiyan Sect, he remained merely an outer disciple and never truly stepped onto the immortal path. In the end, he was still exiled here by the cultivators.*
*Even in death, he could not let go of his sect, identifying himself not as an emperor, but as an outer disciple of the Taiyan Sect.*
*Yet according to what Kou Hong said before, all the sects under heaven should have completely perished during the great calamity prior to the Great Migration. Now it seems there is more to the story.*
Li Fan pondered continuously.
*Yi Xing must have been entrusted by the cultivators of the Taiyan Sect to oversee the Great Migration to this realm. I wonder if I can find the flying boat used for that migration back then.*
Finding nothing in the main burial chamber, Li Fan ordered the Antiquity Exploration Battalion to excavate the perimeter, hoping to find clues in the surrounding companion tombs.
A few days later, bad news arrived, filling Li Fan with immense fury and helplessness.
As it turned out, members of the Antiquity Exploration Battalion found a record mentioning flying boats on a burial goods inventory in one of the companion chambers. Unfortunately, that chamber had been looted long ago.
Judging by the marks of damage, the robbery had taken place a thousand years ago.
"Again! It's like this again! Every time I am shown a glimmer of hope, it turns out to be nothing more than flowers in a mirror and the moon in water—utterly unattainable!"
In a rare display of fury, Li Fan lost his temper, smashing several objects around him.
Those beside him fell silent as cicadas in winter.
It took a long time for Li Fan to calm his turbulent emotions.
He still ordered the Antiquity Exploration Battalion to keep excavating ancient tombs far and wide, searching for any possible trace of an immortal boat, but he himself returned to Xuanjing, clearly harboring little hope.
Another ten years passed, bringing Anchor Year 35, when a turning point suddenly arose.
On that day, Li Fan received an urgent dispatch.
"An immortal's tomb has been found?" Li Fan was startled, then overjoyed, and inquired in detail.
It turned out that over these years, though Li Fan's enthusiasm had waned, the common folk's passion for seeking antiquity had not diminished in the slightest. Across the lands of Great Xuan, countless ancient tombs had been excavated.
And with the large tombs largely depleted, people began turning their gaze toward smaller tombs that had previously drawn no interest.
A few days earlier, while excavating an inconspicuous burial site, a group of youths was suddenly struck by an unknown force, suffering heavy casualties.
The survivors immediately reported the incident to the authorities.
For decades of antiquity exploration in Great Xuan, injuries and deaths had almost always been caused by mechanical traps. Encountering such a bizarre phenomenon before the tomb was even opened was unprecedented.
The Antiquity Exploration Battalion dared not slacken, dispatching people overnight to investigate.
Yet even with numerous seasoned veterans joining hands with heavily armed soldiers, they could not shake the small tomb in the slightest.
Startled and thrilled, they hurried to report the matter to Li Fan.
Li Fan arrived upon receiving the report. Deploying the immortal-mortal miasma, he finally broke the nameless force encircling the tomb.
Stepping inside, among the burial goods, a small wooden boat was conspicuously present.
Chapter 14