The old general's duty was to guard the Immortal Ruins and bar outsiders from entering; the only ones who ventured inside were Eldest Senior Sister, Lu Yang, and the immortal spirit within Lu Yang's body.
Upon entering the Immortal Ruins, Lu Yang did not find the place unfamiliar.
The Yanjiang Branch of the Immortal Cult had possessed a secret realm modeled entirely after the Immortal Ruins, constructed specifically to foster a sense of belonging and devotion toward the Immortal Celestial.
The floating platform in midair, the ancient buildings atop it—everything felt familiar. Battered by the passage of time, the structures had collapsed, making it hard to imagine what they looked like before their ruin.
Eldest Senior Sister snapped her fingers. The collapsed buildings floated up and pieced themselves back together into their original form, as if time were flowing in reverse.
Though distinct from contemporary architectural styles, these structures could by no means be described as primitive.
Contemporary architecture had begun in the Daqian Era, evolving over three hundred thousand years alongside the changing times.
The Ancient Era had lasted far longer than three hundred thousand years. By its late period, arts, language, and culture were highly developed, in no way inferior to the present day; the only difference lay in style.
The main structures were imposing and magnificent, with pavilions arranged in harmonious rhythm. Even the main gates were inlaid with topaz, jasper, and red gold, radiating an air of grandeur.
"Senior, do you recognize these buildings?" Yun Zhi asked.
With only the three of them in the ruins, the Immortal Fairy had no need to conceal her presence and emerged from the spiritual space.
She scrutinized the structures carefully before gently shaking her head. "I don't recognize them. While I don't know much about architectural styles, I really don't think these belong to our era."
Yun Zhi showed a rare expression of surprise. "According to the Great Xia Dynasty's appraisal, this ruin dates back three hundred thousand to four hundred thousand years. When it comes to temporal dating, Great Xia has never made an error."
"Furthermore, the architectural style and layout here do not match the early Great Qian period."
"The academic consensus holds that when the Ancient Nameless One refined the stars, the glorious Ancient Era was reduced to ashes, and countless treasures vanished along with it."
"Therefore, when the Great Qian Dynasty was first established, it promoted frugality, lowering taxes and rents. Looking at the buildings in these Immortal Ruins, while they might not be extravagant, they certainly have nothing to do with frugality."
These were not Yun Zhi's own words, but the findings from a report submitted to Emperor Xia after a group of veteran scholars organized by the imperial court investigated the site.
"Then I wouldn't know," the Immortal Fairy admitted candidly. Thinking about such matters was not her strong suit.
Lu Yang had remained silent throughout. He hadn't expected to hit a wall right at the start of exploring the ruins, unable even to settle on the era to which they belonged.
Walking further in, they came upon the mural Lu Yang knew so well.
Upon the mural was the Immortal Celestial—neither distinctly male nor female—arms outspread, cradling countless planets in their embrace. Kneeling upon each planet was a tiny figure holding offerings high, presenting them to the Immortal Celestial.
Lu Yang recalled how, four months ago, Branch Master Chu of Yanjiang Commandery had led the three of them into the secret realm and introduced the Immortal Celestial's origins before this very mural, revealing the secret of how the Ancient Nameless One had refined the planets.
*Things remain, but the people have changed,* Lu Yang sighed inwardly. How little time had passed! Branch Master Chu had been such a good person, yet he had vanished just like that, while the culprit remained at large to this day, unpunished.
To the right of the mural was a lengthy passage of text Lu Yang could not read.
"Are these ancient characters?"
Yun Zhi nodded and translated it briefly for Lu Yang. The general meaning was that during the ancient era, the Immortal Celestial had sheltered the human race and fought against the Ancient Nameless One, perishing from exhaustion, but uttering the Immortal Celestial's name would bring about their resurrection.
It was now certain that this piece of history was fabricated. Neither the Immortal Fairy, Huang Doudou, nor the Immortal Celestial, Bu Yaolian, had ever done such a thing.
The Immortal Fairy had fallen before the Ancient Nameless One refined the stars, while the Immortal Celestial had only been born a few months ago.
"So this really is an Ancient Era ruin?" Lu Yang frowned, sensing that things couldn't be that simple.
Yun Zhi shook her head. "Previously, I would have thought so. But after what Senior said, I now suspect the text on the mural might have been deliberately left by the mastermind to mislead us."
Yun Zhi turned to ask the Immortal Fairy, "Senior, I translated most of the text just now, but in this day and age, people cannot fully translate the ancient language. For instance, this closing inscription—neither the scholars sent by the court nor I could decipher it."
The Immortal Fairy looked at the inscription, frowning in silence. She could understand it, of course, but the words were strange—so strange that she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her.
Pausing on every word, she read aloud, "'May the Immortal Celestial bless us; may the Xinhuo Dynasty endure for all eternity.'"
Then she asked, "What is the Xinhuo Dynasty?"
Lu Yang was equally bewildered. He had never heard of a dynasty called "Xinhuo."
Chronologically speaking, the Ancient Era ended, and the Great Qian Dynasty rose from the ruins. One hundred thousand years later, the Great Yu Dynasty replaced the Great Qian Dynasty, and after another one hundred thousand years, the Great Xia Dynasty replaced the Great Yu Dynasty, lasting to this day.
There was simply no place for a Xinhuo Dynasty.
Nor could the Xinhuo Dynasty have existed during the Ancient Era. According to the Immortal Fairy—
Lu Yang and the Immortal Fairy both turned to look at Yun Zhi, hoping for an answer.
Yun Zhi's brows furrowed slightly, perplexed by this revelation as well. "I have never heard of a Xinhuo Dynasty either. Could there really have been a Xinhuo Dynasty in ancient times?"
Lu Yang rejected that notion. "Impossible. The Fairy told me that during the ancient era, there were only tribes. The concepts of 'dynasties' and 'laws' didn't even exist back then."
The Immortal Fairy nodded.
Lu Yang offered a hypothesis. "Could the concept of a dynasty have emerged after the Fairy fell, leading to the founding of one?"
Yun Zhi shook her head. "After Senior fell, the Ancient Nameless One soon refined the continent and wiped out everyone who knew Senior's true name. Not much time could have elapsed between those two events—hardly enough to build a dynasty."
Yun Zhi's underlying point was that the Immortal Fairy's fall marked the beginning of the Ancient Era's end.
Lu Yang seemed to realize something, but the conjecture was so terrifying that it utterly overturned common knowledge.
"Now that we've ruled out everything else, only two possibilities remain."
"The first possibility is that the mural is the work of the mastermind, who fabricated a nonexistent 'Xinhuo Dynasty' to confuse us."
"The problem with the first possibility is that inventing a nonexistent dynasty is far too easily seen through. Making it up serves no purpose."
"The second possibility is that between the Ancient Era and the Daqian Era, there existed another dynasty called the Xinhuo Dynasty."
"The Xinhuo Dynasty was the true first dynasty in history. Inheriting directly from the Ancient Era, it used the ancient language and possessed ancient wealth. It was only when the Xinhuo Dynasty fell that the ancient legacy was completely severed."
"The problem with the second possibility is: why does no one know about the Xinhuo Dynasty? How could the rise and fall of an entire dynasty leave behind not a single shred of historical record?"
Chapter 279