Chapter 83: The Heirloom Seal of the Realm

“My gosh, is the world going to awaken its true form at long last?”

“Is this the era of the return of the gods?”

“The legends were true, after all!”

“The government must have found something, and they’re keeping it under wraps from common folks like us!”

“What was actually hidden in Mount Tai? Why did ancient emperors travel to Mount Tai for rituals?”

“Mount Tai definitely holds secrets. It is the mountain of emperors, after all, and I sure as hell don’t think the emperors of the past went to Mount Tai for some rituals because they had nothing better to do.”

Comments from netizens flooded the net all of a sudden, so much so that not even the government could prevent the people from thinking in that direction.

Mount Tai was a mountain that had been clouded in mystery since ancient times, after all.

Many ancient emperors had gone to Mount Tai for rituals since Shi Huangdi—the first emperor of the country—did it. It came to be known as the mountain of emperors, and it was within reason to call it the king of mountains as well.

If this had happened in the past, people would have probably taken such historical incidents as far-fetched stories and little else. But after seeing such a mystical thing happen for themselves on the mountain, all of them definitely thought that some great secrets lay within the mountain.

While all mainstream media had been silenced when it came to bringing up the incident, but the internet of modern times was just too well-established, with all manner of social media software popping up like mushrooms. Keywords were set for censorship, and netizens found ways of circumventing that all the same.

As such, everyone in the country knew of what happened in a very short period of time, and many overseas were astonished by what had just happened.

There were many videos being scrutinized and confirmed to be the real deal, instead of doctored images, which meant that that astonishing scene actually happened.

Lu Shanshan came to trust her brother’s judgment even more after the incident, putting more effort into cultivation and making a breakthrough into Level Three. She was already on her way to breaking into Level Four.

His family progressed with cultivation quickly after Lu Xuan provided them with a king of ginseng that was over 500 years old to serve as an energy source to boost their cultivation.

His mother had completely broken through into Level Four and became a HuaJin Master.

Both Lu Tianxiang and Lu Guoguo had also gotten to Level Two—their prowess comparable to MingJin levels—making them cultivators at entry levels.

Their expenditure was nowhere near that of Lu Xuan’s, and they needed only very small portions to further their training. The energy contained within a single piece of rootlet would have lasted them a very, very long time.

The one who had truly made huge progress in training was Zhang Hongyang. He finally was able to coalesce his Mental Strength, and he shaped it into the form of an elephant under Lu Xuan’s guidance, thus breaking into Level Seven and becoming a National Guardian.

With that, Lu Xuan became more assured in his endeavors, and the safety of his family became more guaranteed. As such, Lu Xuan saw it fit to support Zhang Hongyang’s effort wholeheartedly, so much so that he gave the man one-third of the 500-year-old king of ginseng.

Lu Xuan did not feel he had anything to lose in giving away such a resource. Zhang Hongyang was completely under his control, making the man “one of his own”—one of those at the very core of his inner circle.

The stronger he got, the stronger Lu Xuan would be.

With two National Guardians taking care of things, Lu Xuan would have had little to worry about whatever changes were to come in the future.

What remained of that king of ginseng was reserved for Lu Xuan alone. He completely melded everything of the ginseng into his own energy, through the use of Taixu Origin Power, which thoroughly pushed him to the pinnacle of Level Seven National Guardian level. His combat prowess had grown to be at least twice what it had been ten days ago.

Lu Xuan saw vast improvements in his combat prowess in just ten days.

But then again, everything happened in secret, and no one else knew anything about it. Lu Xuan’s powers were enhanced at a frightening rate within that very short period of time.

“Yeah, I’ve heard of it. The Falling Star of Mount Tai Incident,” Lu Xuan nodded and said.

“I heard that someone among those present saw an altar at the top of Mount Tai?”

Lu Xuan recalled all the rumors he heard, and one said that someone saw a dazzling altar at the top of the mountain, which resembled the one used by the emperors in the past for rituals.

The military came in and put the entire mountain on lockdown after the incident that night, dismissing all of the tourists present. It was also said that large numbers of experts and formidable people were brought to the mountain.

All of that had been rumors he heard.

Lu Xuan was practically in a ditch at such a period back in his past life. He knew little to nothing about all of that and did not care about any of it.

However, he nonetheless remembered that the Falling Star of Mount Tai Incident had been a very important event on Earth back in its past life. The incident was of such importance that it was seen as a hallmark.

The incident symbolized the supernatural happenings taken place after the restoration of spirit qi went from obscure happenings that were suppressed by the government to become something known throughout the whole world.

It was a marked turning point.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t have said anything if someone else asked, but given that you’re a consultant of the Special Task Force, Mr. Lu, you’re not considered an outsider,” the voice from the other side of the phone said.

“The incident is what I come to you today about, Mr. Lu.”

Lu Xuan frowned and asked, “What happened?”

Thoughts popped up in his mind, and he was getting at something. Many things that happened back in his past life seemed to be connected to the incident that he was currently dealing with.

“There was indeed an altar up there, just like in the rumors. It was the barrier summoned by the altar that blocked the meteor that struck the mountain.” Yun Sheng continued, “The government then mobilized all manner of forces to try to punch through the barrier. I’ll leave the details out.”

Lu Xuan did not ask more. The powers accessible to the Special Task Force and the government meant that breaking the barrier of Mount Tai would have required huge amounts of explosives to even small-scale nuclear weapons. There was no other way for them to do it.

“Once we’ve punched through the barrier and went inside, we’ve indeed found a huge altar, and do you know what we’ve found in there?” Yun Sheng said.

“I assume it would be the Heirloom Seal of the Realm,” Lu Xuan blurted out right away.

He knew very well deep down, at that moment, that that was the only thing that mattered.

“You’re right, Mr. Lu. It’s indeed the Heirloom Seal of the Realm. That very Heirloom Seal of the Realm that was carved out of Heshi Jade of the Chu State by Shi Huangdi!” Yun Sheng had gotten increasingly agitated as he went on. “But some accidents happened, and huge numbers of foreign spies and masters have actually infiltrated our ranks. A great battle broke out. The seal was taken away in the fight and was lost!”

Lu Xuan realized immediately that the incident was just as he remembered, that the legendary Heirloom Seal of the Realm was lost to foreign lands.

He heard of rumors back in his past life, that the legendary seal appeared again after the Falling Star of Mount Tai Incident, but was accidentally lost to foreign forces. It was also said that the country expended resources in astronomical proportions before getting the seal back to the country.

However, by the time Lu Xuan was on his path of cultivation in his past life, the seal had long been brought back. As such, Lu Xuan had not been able to remember it well and had only taken the incident to be a footnote of sorts.