Chapter 859: 4560 Years

Upon Han Zhong's death, the lush green grass around them instantly withered, turning into a pile of dry, yellow stubble. Just moments before, the landscape had been vibrant with life, but now, only desolate stillness remained.

Even for the well-traveled and knowledgeable group, a sense of melancholy and wonder arose. Zu An couldn't help but complain, "That Han Zhong was so cryptic, spouting a bunch of scary words just to create a terrifying atmosphere, but gave no useful information whatsoever."

Mi Li also frowned deeply, Han Zhong's words casting a shadow over her heart. Bi Linglong, meanwhile, secretly observed Mi Li. She was immensely curious about this mysterious woman who had suddenly appeared. She had a million questions for Zu An, but with Mi Li present, she didn't know how to begin.

Just then, a rumbling sound of collapsing debris echoed from inside the temple. The group quickly entered to investigate, finding many statues inside the temple toppled and scattered. Particularly, a large hole had appeared where the main deity's statue once stood, and the statue itself had fallen straight down.

"Over the long years, Han Zhong's calamus must have grown everywhere, even deeply penetrating the temple's foundations. Now that he is dead, these strange plants have also withered and died, and can no longer support the weight of the statues, leading to this localized collapse," Mi Li analyzed.

"Oh, what's that glittering down there?" Bi Linglong, with her sharp eyes, exclaimed, pointing to the hole below.

The others quickly looked, seeing the statue had broken into two halves. Its head had fallen to the side, appearing to stare coldly at them, which seemed extremely eerie. However, at this moment, no one was focused on the statue, but rather on the glowing object. Along with the statue, the gigantic turtle base had also fallen. Now, its shell had cracked open, and a ring of light was emanating from both sides of its body.

Mi Li glanced at Zu An. "Go and open it," she instructed.

Zu An was speechless. "With your cultivation, breaking this stone turtle would be effortless, wouldn't it?" he retorted.

"When the master has a task, the disciple performs it," Mi Li snorted. "Besides, your body is trained to be so strong, you should do things like this to expend some energy, lest you spend your days filled with wild thoughts."

Zu An was speechless.

Bi Linglong, standing nearby, also blushed slightly. Although she had been poisoned earlier, her memory had not vanished. She still recalled his exaggerated reaction when she had teased him.

With a sigh of resignation, Zu An went over to pry open the stone turtle. Although the stone turtle was made of a hard material, his current physical strength was extraordinary. He didn't even need to use his primal energy, simply using his brute physical force to pry open the shell along its crack.

Inside, many perfectly round luminous pearls were neatly arranged. Each was enormous, almost too large to hold in one hand. Even Bi Linglong, accustomed to treasures from her life in the imperial palace, had never seen so many top-grade luminous pearls arranged together. She also sensed a strange aura emanating from them, instantly marking them as extraordinary.

Zu An picked one up to examine it. "They don't contain any natural essence, but a very strange aura," he mused. "I wonder what they're for."

"Ignorant," Mi Li snorted. "Your master will teach you a lesson today. Legend has it that the dragon has nine sons, one of whom is the Tuolong (alligator dragon). Its hide can be made into a drum, and its sound can travel for hundreds of miles. The Tuolong lives for ten thousand years, eventually shedding its shell to become a true dragon. This shell has eighty-one ribs, corresponding to the number 'nine times nine returns to one,' and within the central joint of each rib lies a large pearl.

"These large pearls are difficult to form. If the ribs do not fully develop, it cannot shed its shell or become a dragon. If it is captured and its hide is made into a drum, no pearls will grow within its ribs. Only when all eighty-one ribs have fully grown, each joint filled with a pearl, can it shed its shell and transform into a dragon and depart. The ancient verses mentioned ten-thousand-year-old turtle marrow; I never imagined it would be true."

Bi Linglong quickly counted them; indeed, there were exactly eighty-one pearls. She couldn't help but gaze at Mi Li with admiration. Initially, she had somewhat disliked the woman in red, feeling she was too aggressive and unfriendly towards her. But what Mi Li had just said was completely new and unheard of to her, and the confidence and composure that radiated from her face as she spoke captivated her deeply.

"Tuolong?" Zu An was startled. "That creature can live for ten thousand years? I thought dragons in this world couldn't live that long. What are these pearls used for? Are they some kind of natural magic artifact?"

"I don't know," Mi Li shook her head. "The Tuolong is only a legend; no one has ever truly seen one, so naturally, no one knows the use of these pearls. Keep them for now; perhaps they will come in handy within this secret realm."

Zu An nodded, and silently stored the eighty-one pearls in his spatial storage. He thought to himself that while the legend sounded impressive, they still paled in comparison to his own Glazed Pearls.

Just then, Bi Linglong let out a surprised "Oh!" "There's a stone tablet here!"

Everyone turned around, and indeed found a toppled stone tablet in a corner, with faint characters carved upon it.

"You truly are a lucky star, always the first to discover useful things," Mi Li said with a smile to her, before approaching the stone tablet.

Bi Linglong's face flushed. This was unavoidable; after experiencing so much recently, her former pride had shattered. Moreover, seeing how powerful Mi Li was, she felt an inexplicable sense of urgency, so she wouldn't miss any opportunity to prove her worth.

Zu An also approached the stone tablet. He saw that many characters on it were blurred, with only one sentence barely discernible: "...Left Azure Dragon Mengzhang Jia Yin, Right White Tiger Jianbing Jia Shen, Vermilion Bird Lingguang Jia Wu overhead, Black Tortoise Zhiming Jia Zi underfoot, the moon as noble person enters the center..."

"Huh, what does this mean?" He felt as if he was back in a classroom from his previous life, studying analog circuits and engineering electromagnetics — it was all Greek to him.

Mi Li's expression changed to one of realization. "So that's it, so that's it!"

"Why don't you explain it then?" Zu An asked, looking at her with a wry face.

"Hmph, you don't even call me Master," Mi Li huffed. Nevertheless, she explained, "The Jia Yin year, Jia Zi day, at midnight in the Zi hour—that is both the winter solstice and the moment of a new moon. According to the lunar and solar cycles calculated by calendrists during the Qin Dynasty, such a moment would only recur every 4,560 years. No wonder this secret realm suddenly appeared; it just happens to coincide with another 4,560-year cycle."

"4,560 years..." Zu An swallowed hard. "Good heavens, this secret realm only opens once every 4,560 years. Our luck is absolutely insane!"

Bi Linglong, however, turned pale. "What will happen if we can't leave this secret realm soon?" she asked.

Mi Li gave her an approving look. "This girl is clear-headed. The secret realm's open period obviously won't last long. If you can't get out in time, you'll have to wait another 4,560 years for another chance."

Zu An was speechless. Blast it, if he could bring Chu Yan and Manman over, he wouldn't mind staying here longer. But in his current situation, he certainly didn't want to be trapped here for over 4,000 years.

"What about the rest of the inscription?" Zu An braced himself, not daring to waste any more time.

"The Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise are the Four Symbols, representing four star regions in the sky. Among them, the Azure Dragon is also known as Mengzhang True Monarch, the White Tiger as Jianbing, the Vermilion Bird as Lingguang, and the Black Tortoise as Zhiming. These lines should refer to corresponding times and directions... Hm, but what they specifically correspond to, I cannot deduce due to the missing content from the rest of the inscription, lacking sufficient information."

Zu An said gravely, "Then we should hurry on our way. Let's see if we can find corresponding information elsewhere."

"Alright, let's try to reach the highest immortal island as soon as possible. A great secret should be hidden within those palaces, and the key to leaving this place should also be there." Mi Li looked up at the magnificent palace faintly visible in the sky, and that strange expression reappeared on her face.

Zu An leaned in and nudged her shoulder. "Do you have something you can't talk about? Don't keep it hidden and bear it alone. Tell me, and I might be able to help solve it together. I'm quite capable, you know."

Having watched so many melodramatic TV shows in his past life, and realizing Mi Li's unusual behavior, he naturally wanted to nip any potential problems in the bud.