We finally saw the Qin-era Li Si Stele.
The stele was only a small remnant of gray-green stone, its edges chipped and uneven, its surface mottled and pitted. The inscriptions were almost entirely illegible.
Only a handful of small seal-script characters could still be made out.
At that moment, Pan Ling stared at the stele with wide eyes, her face full of shock.
She kept saying:
"This stele, this stele is so strange. I can see waves of strange energy rippling out from it."
"Energy ripples?"
The rest of us widened our eyes and looked at Pan Ling in surprise.
Pan Ling nodded.
"Yes. It's so, so strange. I've never seen anything like it."
Hearing that, we all began carefully sensing and examining the stele.
But no matter how we tried to sense it or look at it, we could neither see nor feel the "energy ripples" Pan Ling had described.
That could only mean the stele really was as extraordinary as Pan Ling said.
Something had to be hidden inside it.
Unfortunately, we couldn't decipher the inscription, so we could only try to sense it through other means.
With that in mind, I immediately said:
"Li Si carved this stele when the First Emperor performed the sacred rites on Mount Tai after Qin conquered the six states and unified the realm. Since it's giving off strange energy fluctuations, there must be something inside.
"But this is a national treasure. We can't open it up, much less damage it.
"Why don't we sit here and meditate on it for a while?
"Perhaps we'll gain something..."
Everyone nodded at my suggestion.
The stele held immense significance and had survived for over two thousand years. If there was something extraordinary about it, it might well offer us a lucky opportunity.
Without further