Chapter 136: Chapter 136: Historical Text (Five More)
Xu Nian’s guess was indeed correct.
The true secret of the Nine Dragons Secret Treasure had not yet been unearthed.
But that secret truly existed here; it was just that no one had found it.
Such a chance-filled endeavor was naturally impossible for ordinary people. Let alone find it—they might not even be able to see it.
But among the players, there were those who could max out their chances!
Abbess, Don’t Love Me! His Talent is too bugged, but since it was distributed by the System, I can’t really say much more. Aren’t the two Ultimate Techniques I’m now most proficient at the ones he created? For my sake, it would be best if Abbess, Don’t Love Me could come up with even more. But unfortunately, his wariness is too high. He doesn’t dare to attempt it frequently, for fear of attracting the non-existent Game Designer’s attention and getting his account banned.
However, not using the Great Fortune Talent to create Self-Created Martial Arts didn’t mean one couldn’t trigger things others couldn’t. Take what was happening at that very moment, for instance...
Abbess, Don’t Love Me and his group were sifting through treasures for Lower-grade Spiritual Stones.
After a long time, they hadn’t seen another one.
Just as everyone was about to give up, Abbess, Don’t Love Me discovered a Stone Stele made from some unknown material amidst a pile of Jewelry.
[System Reminder: Congratulations to the player for discovering the Historical Text!]
Hearing the System’s reminder, Abbess, Don’t Love Me was also stunned. What is this Historical Text?
"Junlin, come take a look at this."
Hearing what Abbess, Don’t Love Me said, several people ran over.
Morgana looked at the Stone Stele before her, her expression turning strange.
"No way, are they even copying Pirate King’s Historical Text? Is this game so shameless?"
Morgana said with a dark face, "We can’t read the script on this. We can’t just conjure up a Robin, can we?"
Some fans of anime and manga who heard this also gathered around.
"What’s this? Did someone mention Nico Robin?"
"It’s actually a Historical Text! Is this going to start Pirate King’s storyline?"
"Is there a female Pirate King? I want to join her crew."
"We don’t recognize this either. Should we ask Brother Xu to take a look? Maybe he knows something."
"Yeah, yeah, exactly! What if it triggers a Hidden Task? Then we’ll have hit the jackpot!"
"..."
Immediately, several players ran toward the passage.
Xu Nian had not completely recovered yet; his complexion was still somewhat pale and unsightly.
But at this moment, he was worried about another matter. Shen Rongyin! That woman actually plans to leave with me. It seems the Imperial Court has given up on her.
"Sect Leader, come quick! We’ve found something good!"
One player said urgently, "A Historical Text! We found a Historical Text over there! Go have a look!"
What the hell? Historical Text? They even have stuff from Pirate King? No, that’s not right! Among the Ultimate Techniques I’ve learned, there’s Armament Haki from Pirate King. This is getting weirder and weirder.
The Blood Demoness also revealed a puzzled look. She was the Blood Demon Sect’s specialist in intelligence gathering, and this was the first time she had heard of such a thing as the Historical Text.
On the other hand, Shen Rongyin’s eyes were filled with shock. It seemed she was aware of the existence of the Historical Text.
Xu Nian followed the players over and saw a Stone Stele lying quietly beneath a pile of Jewelry, radiating a glowing light. The material of this Stone Stele was unknown. It didn’t have the slightest scratch on it; instead, the meticulously carved characters attracted everyone’s attention.
These were scripts that Xu Nian did not recognize, ones he had never even seen before.
Zhao Qixian and Kong Qingquan were also drawn over. Upon hearing that a Profound Yellow Sect Disciple had found something good, they naturally came to join in the excitement.
However, their expressions became much graver when they saw the Stone Stele.
"Young Xu, you’d better not touch this thing. It can bring great trouble." Zhao Qixian, who seemed aware of the Historical Text, cautioned gravely, "I know you’re powerful, but you should stop inquiring about this thing."
Nearby, Kong Qingquan also nodded gently.
Clearly, both of them were aware of the Historical Text.
Xu Nian remained silent.
Could the history I know really have issues? According to the plot of ’Pirate King,’ the Historical Text recorded a segment of non-existent history. But in my memory, there don’t seem to be any gaps in the historical records.
"The two of you, is this thing really that serious?" Xu Nian looked up, staring at Zhao Qixian and Kong Qingquan.
Both of them nodded gently in response.
Kong Qingquan sighed and said, "Confucianism suffered a devastating blow many years ago because someone discovered this kind of Stone Stele. To this day, Confucianism regards these Stone Steles as objects of misfortune."
The destruction of Confucianism? The First Emperor who burned books and buried Confucian scholars? Xu Nian’s lips twitched as he immediately discarded the thought. What does that have to do with this? Which world had a First Emperor? The Great Qian Dynasty unified the world, and before that was... Huh??? What was the dynasty before the Great Qian Dynasty?
At that moment, Xu Nian’s expression also became grave; he couldn’t recall the dynasty that preceded the Great Qian Dynasty. Or rather, he had no memories concerning this matter at all.
Luo Yushu had grown up in the Palace, and he had come into contact with many historical texts. Yet in his memory, there was absolutely no recollection of the dynasty that came before the Great Qian Dynasty.
It was as if the Great Qian Dynasty was the first dynasty of this world.
But... how could that be possible?! If the Great Qian Dynasty was the first dynasty, then which dynasty did its founders overthrow? According to Jianghu legends, the first Emperor Qian established the Great Qian Dynasty after obtaining the power to overturn the world from the Nine Dragons Secret Treasure. That doesn’t really make sense.
"The two of you, which dynasty was before the Great Qian Dynasty?" Xu Nian asked in a deep voice.
Zhao Qixian stared blankly for a moment before shaking his head gently.
Kong Qingquan sighed as well and said, "I understand what you mean, but we don’t know either. Only His Majesty knows about this; after all, it’s a secret of the Imperial Family."
This secret could only be unraveled by successive Emperors. Others were simply not qualified. Even coming into contact with the Historical Text might spell disaster.
"HISS... I feel like we might have triggered an Epic Task."
"Related to the Historical Text? Could it be resolved by an Epic Task? It must at least be a Legendary Task, right?"
"Legendary Task, my foot! Did any of you receive a Task Reminder?"
"Huh? Can’t we even talk about it? Besides, what are you, a Second Test player, doing blabbering at us here?"
"..."
The players also started chattering among themselves.
But Xu Nian paid no mind to their words. If there truly were a Task, the System wouldn’t remain silent. They probably need to decipher the contents recorded on the Stone Stele themselves.
The Blood Demoness seemed to recall something, turning her head and staring at Shen Rongyin, saying, "National Master Li Baiyang is familiar with various scripts from all over. Imperial Consort Shen is his disciple, so presumably, she would recognize many scripts unknown to us, right?"