They Found a Hidden Realm

The path was so narrow that only one person could pass at a time. Chen Hao led the way, with Chen Siyao and Cai Jingwen right behind him. Yang Wanqing held up her phone, livestreaming as she walked, while Li Li brought up the rear with the Wolf Cub in her arms.

After about ten minutes, the view suddenly opened up.

A stretch of level grass lay at the bottom of the valley, crossed by a winding, crystal-clear stream. Unknown wildflowers bloomed freely along its banks, their reds, yellows, and purples brilliant in the sunlight. Steep cliffs surrounded this little world, cut off from everything outside.

"Wow..." Yang Wanqing turned in a circle with her phone raised. "This is gorgeous! Guys, look! This is paradise!"

Comments flooded the livestream:

[New User 001: Holy shit, this place is incredible!]

[New User 002: This is Xinjiang? I thought we'd ended up in Switzerland.]

[New User 003: Screw Switzerland. Does Switzerland have wilderness this untouched?]

[Xiao Shao Sasa: So beautiful, so beautiful! I want to go!]

[Clear Wind: Doesn't look like anyone's ever been here. Completely untouched.]

Chen Siyao took a deep breath of the fresh air. "This is a great place, Hao."

Chen Hao nodded slightly, but his gaze settled beyond the dense woods at the far end of the valley.

The Wolf Cub suddenly jumped out of Li Li's arms and raced in that direction.

"Hey! Don't run off!" Li Li hurried after it.

With a flicker of movement, Chen Hao was already following.

The others hurried after them.

Once they passed through the woods, the sight before them stopped everyone in their tracks.

An enormous stone gate stood in the cliff face!

The gate was about ten meters tall and nearly seven meters wide, covered with densely packed symbols and designs. Time had left deep marks on it, yet the carvings remained clear.

"What... is this?" Even Yang Wanqing's voice trembled.

Chen Siyao leaned closer to examine it. The designs depicted people, beasts, mountains, and rivers, along with many ancient symbols she couldn't make sense of at all.

"Hao, what kind of writing is this?"

Chen Hao studied the symbols on the gate. After a moment of silence, he said slowly, "Ancient writing."

"Writing from the Primordial Era?" Cai Jingwen was taken aback. "How ancient?"

"Older than Oracle Bone Script."

Those words instantly seized the attention of the millions watching. The comments, previously full of memes, abruptly shifted their focus to the carvings in the blue-gray stone.

[I Am Ying Zheng: Older than Oracle Bone Script?! Do you realize what that means?]

[History Prince: All my history classes were a waste. There's writing older than Oracle Bone Script?]

[Ocean: Yes. Supposedly, there were even older civilizations before the Xia dynasty, but there's never been any physical evidence.]

[Unseen: If this is real, it'll be a major archaeological discovery!]

[Even One Point Is Love: Quick! Get an expert to take a look!]

Chen Siyao immediately aimed the camera at the symbols on the stone gate for a tight close-up.

"Guys! Does anyone here know ancient scripts? Help us figure out what this says!"

Viewers immediately responded:

[Ancient Script Newbie: I study ancient scripts, but I can't understand any of this...]

[Archaeology Specialist: The forms of these symbols are even more primitive than the incised symbols of Liangzhu Culture.]

[History Department Slacker: Could this be the legendary Xia Seal Script?]

[Luo An: Xia Seal Script is only a legend. Nobody's ever seen it.]

Just then, a special comment floated across the screen:

[Capital City University_Professor Li]: I am Li Zhengdao, a professor in Peking University's archaeology department. These symbols are indeed Primordial Script, and there is a very strong possibility that they are the legendary "Cloud Seal Script."

That comment sent the livestream into an uproar again:

[I Am Ying Zheng: Holy shit! Even a Capital City University professor is here?]

[Lele: Professor Li Zhengdao?! He's a huge name in archaeology!]

[New User 62: What kind of lineup does this stream have now? Wealthy families and a Peking University professor?]

[Defending Champion: Celestial Master Chen is the GOAT. He's even drawn in a professor.]

Yang Wanqing's hands shook with excitement as she held her phone. "Professor Li! Can you really read it?"

[Capital City University_Professor Li]: Only parts of it. The structure of these symbols is extremely ancient, more primitive than any Primordial Era writing discovered so far. If I'm not mistaken, the symbols at the very top mean "west" and "mother."

"West Mother?" Cai Jingwen paused. "The Queen Mother of the West?"

[Capital City University_Professor Li]: That is possible. The Queen Mother of the West is recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas as a mythological figure from the Primordial Era. If this stone gate really is connected to her, it will be a discovery that shocks the world!

Chen Siyao looked at Chen Hao. "Brother, is this really the Queen Mother of the West?"

Chen Hao gazed at the stone gate, his eyes distant, as though recalling something.

After a long while, he said calmly, "We'll know once we go inside."

"Inside?" Li Li's expression changed. "That stone gate looks so heavy. How are we supposed to get in?"

Chen Hao walked up to the stone gate, gently pressed his palm against it, and slowly channeled Spiritual Power into it.

Even with his current cultivation, he had to pour energy into it for nearly a full minute—the gate was so sturdy that even the most powerful explosives in the world would probably struggle to blast it open.

Rumble—

The stone gate slowly opened with a deep, thunderous sound that seemed to echo from antiquity.

Everyone stared, dumbstruck.

In the livestream:

[Kaiteng: Holy crap! It just opened?]

[Youyou: Is he really that strong?]

[Snow Blows at the East Gate: It's not strength. It's a mechanism. The spot he pressed should be the mechanism that opens the gate.]

[Already an Adult: How did he know where the mechanism was?]

[Occult Whiz: Celestial Master Chen is awesome, end of story. Why ask so many questions?]

Seeing this, Chen Siyao asked on the viewers' behalf, "Hao, did you know where the mechanism was?"

"I know a little feng shui and geomancy. I guessed from the lay of the mountains." Chen Hao casually offered a youthful-sounding excuse, even throwing in a popular meme. "I've watched feng shui tutorials, after all. Basic stuff."

[Newbie]: Hahahaha, basic stuff? Celestial Master, do you even hear yourself?

[Never Absent]: Feng shui tutorials? I'm buying ten right now! Why can't I learn to subdue corpses with one finger and find dragon veins and auspicious sites?

[Secondhand Embarrassment]: The Celestial Master's trying to explain it away! He clearly knows this place inside out!

Chen Hao glanced back at them. "Let's go."

He stepped through the stone gate first.

The others exchanged looks and hurried after him.

Beyond the gate lay a long passage, its stone walls covered in murals.

They depicted a wealth of scenes: people working in fields, soldiers fighting on battlefields, shamans making offerings to heaven, and...

"Brother, look at this!" Chen Siyao pointed to a mural.

In it, a woman clad in feathered robes stood amid the clouds, surrounded by three blue divine birds. Her features were indistinct, but her bearing was otherworldly.

"The Queen Mother of the West," Chen Hao said.

"It's really her?" Cai Jingwen leaned closer. "What are those blue birds?"

"The Three Blue Birds," Chen Hao said. "The Queen Mother of the West's messengers, and her personal attendants."

[Capital City University_Professor Li]: The Three Blue Birds! The Classic of Mountains and Seas records: "The Three Blue Birds chiefly fetch food for the Queen Mother of the West." I never imagined there would be actual physical evidence!

The livestream instantly exploded:

[Li Huawan: My mind's blown. Everything in the Classic of Mountains and Seas is real?]

[Mi You: So the Queen Mother of the West is real too? What about Chang'e? And Hou Yi?]

[No Greens for Me: If this is real, the entire framework of Chinese mythology will have to be rewritten.]

[Among Myriad Flowers: Are my history textbooks going to change?]

[A Driver: Yaoyao, keep going! I want to see more!]

Yang Wanqing held up her phone, filming as she walked and keeping up a running commentary. "Guys, we're exploring the ruins of the Queen Mother of the West! If this is real, we'll be the first to witness it!"

At the end of the passage stood another stone gate.

This gate was slightly smaller than the one outside, but its carvings were more exquisite. It was covered in dragons, phoenixes, Qilin, Xiezhi... and many strange beasts they couldn't name.

"These carvings are all divine beasts," Chen Siyao marveled.