After Zhou Xuan said this, silence lingered in the History Archive Hall for quite some time.
Old Ancestor Dark Nether stared at the ancient scrolls on the jade table, his expression shifting.
He had just complained that Zhou Xuan was dragging his feet, but now that the thread lay before him—the Star Map, the handwritten notes, the secret history, and the fissure records all matching up—he could no longer immediately find fault.
Old Ancestor Cangwu picked up the Star Map scroll and pressed a fingertip against the blacked-out region.
"Why was this part erased?"
The Alliance Leader said gravely, "The Territorial Map in Purple Gold's History Archive Hall is missing this section too."
Emperor Jiang Wu leafed through the Dynastic Secret History, his words slowing.
"The dynasties before Great Jiang all recorded that upheaval of heaven and earth as a year of calamity. Yet afterward, the spiritual energy in Central Province surged, and the Seventy-Two Immortal Veins manifested one after another. Later generations remembered only the Immortal Veins and stopped investigating the breach."
Old Ancestor Dark Nether snorted.
"In the end, no one ever entered it alive. It's all guesswork."
Zhou Xuan reached out and held down the Supreme One Token.
The Command Token was still turning gently.
Its reaction to the blacked-out region was the strongest.
"Guesswork or not, the Command Token will give us the answer."
The moment he finished speaking, the Token Master Mark in his palm suddenly sank.
The fine dark-gold lines seemed to be pressed into his flesh and bones by something, instantly crossing his wrist and crawling another stretch up his forearm.
Zhou Xuan tightened his fingers against the edge of the jade table.
The jade table gave a faint creak.
Wuchen was close by and immediately looked over.
"Young friend Zhou?"
Zhou Xuan