Back at the stronghold on Nine Cloud Mountain.
Time was pressing. Wu Yuan had been busy clearing the battlefield and rescuing people, leaving him no time to examine the two treasures he had found.
Now he had a moment to calm down, and he was safe inside the Martial Academy. Naturally, he could take his time studying them.
The more closely he examined the token, the more he felt there was something extraordinary about it.
"Now that's sturdy." Wu Yuan sat cross-legged on the ground, gripping one end in each hand.
He tried again and again.
At first, afraid he might crush it, Wu Yuan squeezed one end with only a few hundred jin of force. Then he gradually increased the pressure to several thousand jin, until at last he put all his strength into pulling it apart with both hands!
He still couldn't leave even the slightest mark on the token.
"Could it be made from the material used for divine weapons?" Wu Yuan furrowed his brow slightly.
Even a Fourth Grade weapon was difficult for him to damage directly. But with tens of thousands of jin of force behind him, he should, in theory, have been able to sense the changes in the force within the weapon.
Yet no matter how much strength he poured into this golden token, it was like a stone dropped into the sea. He couldn't sense anything inside it.
Clearly, tens of thousands of jin of force were nowhere near its limit.
It was no ordinary object.
The only thing Wu Yuan could think of was a divine weapon, like those described in the Martial Academy's records and the many fictional biographies he'd read.
Anything called a divine weapon was made from materials of extraordinary quality.
For instance, Fifth-Rank weapons were mostly priced at hundreds or even over a thousand taels of silver. That was true of common weapons like sabers, axes, spears, and swords, except for items like throwing knives that used very little material.
And Fourth Grade weapons? Take Yang Long's Mountain Splitting Saber, for example. Wu Yuan reckoned it was among the finest weapons of its kind, worth ten thousand taels of silver.
But divine weapons—
Their materials were special and virtually indestructible. They could easily withstand even a hundred thousand jin of force.
Even the most ordinary Third-grade Divine Weapons—throwing knives and daggers, which used the least material—typically cost at least ten thousand taels of silver!
A standard Third-grade Divine Weapon usually cost over a hundred thousand taels of silver, and was hard to come by.
And Second-grade Divine Weapons? First-grade Divine Weapons?
In the Central Land World, weapons of that caliber were the stuff of legend. Their value could hardly be measured in ordinary things like gold and silver.
Every Second-grade or First-grade Divine Weapon had an extraordinary history.
"If this really is divine-weapon material, then even the thirty thousand taels of silver notes I got may not be worth as much as the material in this token." Wu Yuan shook his head slightly.
Divine weapons and other precious treasures were astonishingly valuable.
"Most importantly, what does this token represent? Some sort of credential from the old Chu Jiang Empire? Or a keepsake of the Chu Jiang survivors?" Wu Yuan set the token aside and continued leafing through the books before him.
He hoped to find some clues.
They were all books about the Chu Jiang Empire that he'd collected from the Martial Academy's library.
Such as Six Hundred Years of Chu Jiang, Customs and Traditions of the Six Hundred Commanderies of Chu Jiang, Chronicles of the Chu Jiang Empire, Empire Born from Chuzhou, and Secret Tales of the Chu Jiang Imperial Family...
There were more than ten books in all.
Thanks to the memories he'd inherited, Wu Yuan had known some things about the Chu Jiang Empire for a long time.
But only after reading these books in detail today had he gained a deeper understanding of the great empire that had fallen several decades ago.
The Chu Jiang Empire had been founded in Chu Province over six hundred years ago. For centuries after its founding, strong figures had emerged one after another, and the empire had steadily expanded. Two hundred years ago, it reached its height, spanning Chu and Jiang Provinces across more than twenty thousand li. It ruled twenty-nine prefectures and over six hundred commanderies, with a population of more than five hundred million!
It had once been one of the Central Land World's foremost empires.
The Hengyun Sect, for instance, had once been a powerful martial sect under the Chu Jiang Empire. Though it retained a high degree of independence, it was still governed by the imperial family and had to fight alongside the empire when called upon.
Then, two hundred years ago—
"A Heavenly Ranking Expert of his time, Emperor Jin, appeared and suppressed all the experts under heaven. Rising from the frontier of Xizhou, he ranged far and wide for twenty years before sweeping through the Three Kingdoms and Nine Sects in Central Province, founding the Great Jin and renaming Central Province 'Sacred Province.'" Wu Yuan read the account in the book.
Central Province, now known as Sacred Province, was indisputably the greatest of the thirteen provinces in the realm. Its territory, resources, population, and history and culture surpassed all the others. One province could rival several.
Emperor Jin, once a Heavenly Ranking Expert, had also been widely recognized as the strongest man under heaven in his time!
Sixty years ago, after the third Jin Emperor ascended the throne and completely pacified the realm within, he launched a war against the Chu Jiang Empire.
One empire was at the height of its power; the other was rotten to the core.
The two great empires fought for over thirty years. After six decisive battles, the Great Jin Empire finally marched straight into the Chu Jiang capital, wiping out the core of the Chu Jiang Imperial Family.
Most of Chu Province and the former province were occupied by the Great Jin Empire.
It even seized three prefectures in Jiang Province, truly establishing itself as the greatest power under heaven.
The Great Jin Imperial Family, too, became recognized as the foremost power.
After the fall of the Chu Jiang Empire, not one of the Central Land's kingdoms or hundred sects dared challenge the Great Jin Empire.
At the time,
the core of the Chu Jiang Imperial Family had been all but annihilated, and chaos erupted throughout its territory. In the end, the Hengyun Sect and King of Hundred Rivers, a distant branch of the Chu Jiang Imperial Family, each seized four prefectures. They emerged from the turmoil as the mightiest powers.
"Two hundred years after its founding, the Great Jin Empire stretches across tens of thousands of li, yet its expansion still hasn't ended." Wu Yuan sighed to himself and set the book down.
The Great Jin Empire's martial prowess far surpassed that of the kingdoms before it.
Every Jin Emperor had possessed a startling appetite for conquest. The kingdoms and hundred sects could all see its burning ambition to unify the Central Land.
The Battle of Hengshan eight years ago
had been the first clash between the fourth Jin Emperor and the Hengyun Sect.
The Hengyun Sect had won first, then lost. In the end, it surrendered its ancestral home, Hengshan Prefecture, and its territory shrank from four prefectures to three.
The Battle of Hengshan was also seen as a continuation of the Great Jin–Chu Jiang War.
"The Great Jin is ambitious, bent on unifying the Central Plains. The major powers in Yanzhou, Wuzhou, Dongzhou, and elsewhere won't just sit back and watch," Wu Yuan thought. "They're probably backing the Hengyun Sect in secret."
Since the fall of the Chu Jiang Empire, the Hengyun Sect had been the first line of defense against the Great Jin Empire's eastward advance.
Otherwise,
the Great Jin ruled more than sixty prefectures, with a population of over a billion and several million soldiers. If it was willing to pay the price, it could very well wipe out the Hengyun Sect in a single war!
"My father died fighting in the Battle of Hengshan." Wu Yuan lowered his eyes.
His memories held the image of his father. Having inherited the former owner's memories, he had also inherited some of his feelings.
Deep down, Wu Yuan didn't like the Great Jin Empire.
Eight years had passed since the Battle of Hengshan, and things seemed peaceful on the surface. But there was no telling when the Great Jin Empire might send its troops across the border again. Wu Yuan pondered, a faint sense of urgency rising in his heart.
His strength was nowhere near enough!
He couldn't even kill a First-class Expert.
If war broke out between the two great powers, what could he do against the Great Jin, with its countless experts and a million troops?
He couldn't even protect his family and clan!
"This token may hold a great secret." Wu Yuan stared at it. "The Chu Jiang Empire fell, but how deep were the foundations of an empire that lasted six hundred years? The movement to restore it has never ceased."
For one thing, many distant branches of the Chu Jiang Imperial Family had fled when the empire fell.
Take King of Hundred Rivers, who had seized four prefectures. His meteoric rise from humble origins had been due in no small part to the fact that he was a distant branch of the Chu Jiang Imperial Family. His imperial blood gave him tremendous clout.
"That First-class Expert I encountered hated me to the core. The power behind him must be formidable—perhaps even stronger than the Hengyun Sect," Wu Yuan thought. "Before I'm strong enough, the fact that I wiped out the Fierce Tiger Gang must not get out."
"Even if I stay in the commandery city, what of it?"
Second-class Experts wouldn't dare run amok inside a commandery city. But a First-class Expert could assassinate the commandery governor outright, as long as he wasn't surrounded by the Nanmeng Army out on the open plains.
He would have to be careful.
After the battle on Nine Cloud Mountain, Wu Yuan had gained an ever-clearer understanding of the Central Land World. Strength reigned supreme, and human lives were as worthless as grass!
"As for this jade bottle..." Wu Yuan carefully put away the golden token, then picked up the blue-green jade bottle.
He pulled out the stopper. A wave of fragrance drifted out, making Wu Yuan feel completely at ease.
"Going by this Introduction to Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures..." Wu Yuan replaced the stopper. "What's inside may well be a type of edible or medicinal heavenly material."
Introduction to Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures was vague in its descriptions, but it did explain some basic knowledge.
Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures fell into three broad categories: edible and medicinal, mineral, and special.
Each category had many subtypes.
When ordinary people spoke of heavenly materials and earthly treasures, they were usually referring to edible and medicinal ones. They could directly enhance a martial artist's strength and improve their constitution.
The raw materials used to forge divine weapons, on the other hand, were essentially mineral-type heavenly materials and earthly treasures.
"Still, that's only my initial guess. I can't be sure." Wu Yuan shook his head slightly.
Drink it straight? No matter how confident he was, or how well he could control his body, Wu Yuan wouldn't be that reckless.
Not all heavenly materials and earthly treasures were beneficial. Some could be harmful!
Most powerful martial artists weren't afraid of ordinary poisons, but supposedly even Grandmasters could be brought down by deadly poisons made from certain heavenly materials and earthly treasures.
"To find out exactly what's in the jade bottle, the best way would be to go straight to Stellar Tower," Wu Yuan thought.
"The next best option would be to find that Pill Master in Li City."
Stellar Tower contained everything under heaven and brought together goods from all over the realm. They would certainly have a way to identify it.
Pill Masters dealt with heavenly materials and earthly treasures more than almost anyone else. There was a good chance they could identify it, too.
But Wu Yuan wasn't keen on either option.
Both would increase the risk of exposing himself.
"Li City is too small. The Fierce Tiger Gang has only just been wiped out, so the whole place is probably on edge, with every faction watching closely. If I bring out a treasure like this, I could easily draw unwanted attention." Wu Yuan shook his head slightly. "I'll try some simpler methods first."
First, he had to confirm whether what was in the jade bottle was beneficial or harmful!
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