Thousand Island Lake lived up to its name. A dam downstream had blocked the upper reaches of a tributary of the Xin'an River, forming an enormous lake.
Towering mountains had been submerged, becoming islands of varying sizes, 1,078 in all-hence the name "Thousand Island Lake."
Thousand Island Lake covered a vast area. After leaving the Mayfly Residence, Cao Jinxing and Qin Xuanji found a quiet island nearby and began studying the stone they had just obtained.
Inside a small mountain cave on the island.
Cao Jinxing took the oddly shaped jade from his robe and placed it on the stone table for Qin Xuanji to see. "This looks like one trigram section divided off a bagua disc, but it's a little different. Do you recognize it?"
"It looks a little familiar..."
Qin Xuanji examined it closely. Apart from the seal-script character for "Qian," the remaining lines, some straight and some curved, formed six peculiar designs.
"Qian represents heaven. These six designs..."
Suddenly, inspiration flashed through Qin Xuanji's mind. Something occurred to her, and she cried out, her pretty face flushing slightly with excitement as she transmitted her voice to Cao Jinxing:
"Qian represents heaven, and six formations become six lines. This is the Heaven-Covering Formation, one of the formations in the divine artifact, the Eight Formation Diagram!"
"What?"
Cao Jinxing froze. "Zhuge Kongming's Eight Formation Diagram? Wasn't that a military formation? Qimen Dunjia at most, surely."
"It's more than that."
Qin Xuanji quickly shook her head. "Do you know about the He Shi Bi?"
Cao Jinxing thought for a moment. "The jade returned intact to Zhao? The imperial heirloom seal?"
"Yes, but that's not all."
Qin Xuanji said, "The Record of Strange Things in China records that the He Shi Bi was carved from a wondrous stone unearthed by Bian