Cao Shoujun picked up a fist-sized Flame Spirit Stone from the table and held it beneath the lamp, studying the golden patterns drifting across it. He remained silent for a long time.
This thing had allowed Qin Xiaoyu, who had been in the early stage of hidden force, to break through to the Transformation Realm in a single night. "This isn't something we can decide ourselves." He turned to Qin Zheng, who stood up. "I'll report it."
On the other side of the tent, several professors gathered around the rubbings of the inscriptions, comparing the characters one by one through magnifying glasses.
"The writing on this..." Professor Li set down the magnifying glass, leaned back in the chair, and drew a deep breath. "If I'm not mistaken, it's the script of the Ancient Lao Kingdom."
"Are you certain?" The professors nearby spoke almost in unison. The Ancient Lao Kingdom had been a small kingdom in the southwest during the Han dynasty. Historical records of it were scarce, and no writing from the Ancient Lao Kingdom had ever been found among the artifacts unearthed to date.
Professor Li pointed to several characters on the rubbing. "Look here. The form of this character shares its origins with the character for 'Lao' in Shang and Zhou bronze inscriptions, but its structure is simpler. It probably evolved independently in this region. And here, the two characters for 'Jiulong' appear repeatedly."
Professor Wang walked over. "Jiulong? According to legend, the Ancient Lao Kingdom was founded by a dragon's son named Jiulong. If 'Jiulong' appears in the inscriptions in these ruins, that legend may have some basis in fact. Let's go back tomorrow."
Cao Shoujun quickly collected himself, his expression grave. "We brought back too few fragments of the inscriptions. What we can decipher is extremely