"The bones are as fine as jade, these are the legendary immortal bones!"

Hu gazed at the skeleton for a long time before murmuring.

"Oh? Hu, have you heard of this?" Professor Xiang's eyes lit up.

"I heard it from my grandfather, who heard it from his grandfather..." Hu smiled wryly. "My family has been in archaeology for generations. It's said that an ancestor was also a cultivator who encountered an immortal fate... Later, one ancestor, carrying a manuscript left by his forebear, excavated a large tomb where they found such immortal bones..."

"And then?"

Sun Yuan's voice trembled as he pursued the question.

"Then, my ancestor encountered... a real, living immortal!"

Hu's voice was ethereal: "That immortal claimed to come from the Gourd Cave Heaven and had a connection with the jade bones my ancestor unearthed..."

Gulp!

Jin Gong's throat moved: "Then the immortal took your old ancestor as a disciple and passed down some manuscripts and immortal pills?"

"No!"

Hu smiled bitterly: "Then the immortal was struck dead by lightning! Both the jade bones and the large tomb were destroyed under the might of heaven, and only my ancestor narrowly escaped. After hurriedly leaving instructions, he too passed away... It's said there's a heavenly law in the human world forbidding immortals from manifesting, or they'd be directly struck by five bolts of lightning!"

"Ha, isn't this just made-up nonsense?" Jin Gong felt uninterested.

"I just treated it as a story, but seeing these jade bones makes me kind of believe." Hu replied.

"Alright, this may just be that Huang Danzi had some bone disease in life, and after becoming a corpse, some chemical treatment was used, resulting in this phenomenon. We can extract a sample and wait for the lab results..."

Professor Xiang ended the conversation and continued to open the coffin.

This coffin was very small, with the jade-boned corpse lying inside, wearing clothing that was surprisingly well-preserved. The body lay flat, facing upwards, with a bamboo slip held in the right hand.

The bamboo slip was made of an unknown material, seeming like bamboo, yet infused with a bit of metal, and inscribed with three ancient pictographs.

"Shan Hai... Jing? It's the ancient wonder book—'Classic of Mountains and Seas'!"

Professor Xiang's eyes lit up: "Fantastic! This is a monumental discovery in archaeological history!"

"Is this really the original 'Classic of Mountains and Seas'?"

Hu also widened his eyes.

The fame of the 'Classic of Mountains and Seas' was immense, and the extant versions today, most composed after the Yan Han era, resulted in over three thousand different versions, causing endless disputes in literary circles.

But now, if this 'Classic of Mountains and Seas' was unearthed from a pre-Yan Han tomb, it is likely authentic, providing the strongest evidence to conclude the debate!

Sun Yuan also gazed fervently at that bamboo slip, trying to decipher those ancient characters.

Suddenly, a severe ringing filled his ears.

Buzzing!

The piercing sound strongly impacted his eardrums, seemingly mixed with endless murmurs.

Visions of strange phantoms flickered before his eyes.

Bang!

Finally, Sun Yuan collapsed straight down...

...

"Here again at Xingshan..."

Atop Xingshan, Zhong Shenxiu stood with his hands behind his back, seemingly gazing at the scenery.

At that moment, the entire Xingshan slightly trembled, with countless small animals scurrying away, like scenes before an impending earthquake.

"Sensing something? Still unwilling? Unfortunately, this isn't the revival of Lingxi, nor is it your time!"

He stomped his foot, and the whole mountain quieted down instantly, as if the earlier tremblings were mere illusions.

Zhong Shenxiu's gaze shifted slightly, as if seeing everything occurring within that ancient tomb.

Yes, it was indeed a cultivator's tomb. He had not meddled much, only slipping a scroll of 'Classic of Mountains and Seas' inside.

Looking at the now chaotic camp, he curled his lips, his figure flashing to Tianxing City, where in a park, he leisurely sat on a bench, feeding the pigeons beside him.

'...In actuality, a succession of cultivators persists in the human world, headed by the Earth Immortal ancestor Liu Ji of Gourd Cave Heaven... In his time, unwilling to ascend, he chose to become an immortal in the mortal realm, even pledging Spiritual Treasures to protect his underlings...'

'In recent years, to ensure proper assimilation, the human world's heavenly laws have been stringent, cutting down any Gourd Cave Heaven cultivator who emerged... This led to a severance of cultivators in the human realm, with no one believing in Immortal Gods, fulfilling the prerequisite for assimilating the 'Secret Chronicles Fragment'...'

'And the subsequent ceremony is the key to assimilation, according to my previous speculation... This doesn't orchestrate a revival of Spiritual Energy or nationwide cultivation but guides a select few to recognize true history... best with elements of enigma and secrecy...'

This directly led to the fall of a certain Demon Sect Corpse Disintegration Immortal beneath Xingshan, virtually ensuring his continued oblivion.

'...Thus, you won't get to enjoy the new Immortal Dao's treasures; instead, experience the terror of the unknown and mysterious!'

Zhong Shenxiu gazed toward a certain hospital, his eyes seemingly filled with... sympathy.

...

In a daze, Sun Yuan seemed to see a towering mountain, various monstrous humanoid creatures with bird bodies, and eerie, fearsome shadows...

In his ears, murmurs and frantic shouts interchanged continuously.

"Ah!"

He jolted awake, finding himself lying in a hospital bed, with his good friend Hua Peng and Xia Fanxing beside him.

"You're awake?"

Hua Peng hurriedly stood up: "I'll call the doctor!"

"What... happened to me?"

Sun Yuan looked at Xia Fanxing, momentarily speechless.

"I heard you fainted in the tomb and were brought to the hospital, so I came to see you." Xia Fanxing put down the fruit basket. "I'm glad you're okay, I'll be leaving now."

"Sigh..."

Sun Yuan didn't attempt to stop her, merely sighed, and recalled the images before he lost consciousness: "Am I that weak? Fainting in a tomb, my prospect in this internship is doomed..."

"Also... what was that hallucination, and those murmurs; am I developing a mental illness?"

As he mused wildly, the doctor came in, conducted a series of tests, and declared him healthy, ready for discharge.

Sun Yuan pondered briefly, deciding not to rush discharge, but instead asked Hua Peng for a phone and dialed Professor Xiang's number.

After a brief wait, the call connected: "Professor Xiang, this is Sun Yuan, I apologize..."

Sun Yuan quickly apologized, then asked, "The doctor said I'm fine, about the internship?"

"Sigh...the situation here isn't quite right either..."

Over the phone, Professor Xiang sighed: "The bamboo slip containing the 'Classic of Mountains and Seas,' we secured and retrieved it, but as soon as we left the tomb, it completely disintegrated..."

"How could that be possible?"

Sun Yuan's eyes widened, feeling a deeper ache within.

That was a historical document capable of shocking the world!

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