The Stone Scrolls had survived better than the bamboo slips. The stone itself resisted corrosion, and the characters had been carved deep enough to remain clearly legible after ten thousand years.
Chen Siyao unfolded the first scroll—or rather, opened its folded sections. Each section of the Stone Scroll was about thirty centimeters wide, and its full length was nearly two meters.
It contained administrative records.
"...In year 374,200 of Taiqing, the Jade Clarity Gate completed its rotation, and the North Star Immortal Sect, one of the seven branches, assumed responsibility for administering the Thirty-Three Heavens. One deputy sect leader, three elders, and twenty steward disciples were dispatched for a posting of one thousand years..."
Chen Siyao stopped after reading that passage.
Rotation records.
She continued reading. Each folded section recorded the basic details of a single rotation: which sect took over, the ranks of the personnel dispatched, the duration of their posting, and the matters to be handed over.
She quickly went through the entire scroll. It recorded sixty-seven rotations in total.
Each rotation lasted anywhere from one thousand to three thousand years.
The earliest record dated to the first year of Taiqing.
The latest dated to year 298,000 of Taiqing.
Nearly three hundred thousand years.
But this was only one scroll. Another seven or eight stone scrolls of the same size sat in the wall niche.
Chen Siyao took down the second scroll. Its records dated even further back and used another calendar: the "Chaos Origin Era."
"...In year 60,000 of the Chaos Origin Era, the Chan Sect first established a system for administering the Thirty-Three Heavens. Venerable Ling Tian personally instituted the rotation system for the seven branches..."
Chen Siyao's hands paused.
Sixty thousand years of the Chaos Origin Era. Plus the three hundred thousand years of Taiqing