Chapter 842: 898, Soul-shielding Stone Xinmi Chapter 842: 898, Soul-shielding Stone Xinmi After exchanging pleasantries, they settled down in a secluded corner of the second floor of the tavern.
As soon as they sat down, Su Yu directly got to the point and said, “Senior Wang Mang, regarding the purpose of Prime Minister Cao Cao’s and my visit, you should have already heard about it from the relevant departments, haven’t you?”
“Yes,” Senior Wang Mang nodded slightly.
He seemed hesitant and chose his words carefully as he answered, “You are here for the ‘Soul-shielding Stone’, correct?”
“Yes,” Prime Minister Cao Cao interjected, “This special kind of stone can completely conceal the aura of cultivators, which poses a great threat to us. Therefore, we want to understand its origin.”
Upon hearing Prime Minister Cao Cao’s words, Senior Wang Mang nodded slightly.
But he didn’t directly answer Su Yu and him.
After a brief moment of contemplation, he let out a slight sigh, “Well, I might as well tell you everything. The ‘Soul-shielding Stone’ may be connected to a massive secret. You both are trustworthy, so I am willing to secret with you.”
“A massive secret?” Su Yu and Prime Minister Cao Cao were both taken aback.
After exchanging a glance, Prime Minister Cao Cao asked calmly, “May I inquire, Taoist, what kind of secret it is?”
Senior Wang Mang stroked his beard and said slowly, “This secret is my own speculation, and it has not been verified yet. However, after you’ve heard it, you must not tell anyone in order to avoid trouble.”
Upon hearing this, Su Yu immediately assured him, “Please be assured. I can guarantee that only the three of us will know this secret, it will definitely not be leaked!”
“Yes, I can also guarantee with my reputation,” Prime Minister Cao Cao solemnly said.
Senior Wang Mang laughed carelessly, “Actually, you don’t need to promise too much. The biggest issue with this secret is its lack of confirmation. I fear if it gets out, it will turn into a huge farce and become a laughingstock.
As long as you two don’t speak of it, it will be completely fine.”
Next, Senior Wang Mang organized his thoughts and slowly began, “Regarding the ‘Soul-shielding Stone’, I didn’t even know of its existence until half a year ago.
However, in the process of perusing ancient texts six months ago, I discovered this special thing.”
“Ancient texts?” Prime Minister Cao Cao was interested, “What kind of ancient texts?”
“They were bamboo slips from the old times, probably from the Warring States period,” Senior Wang Mang replied. “Unfortunately, these bamboo slips are quite difficult to preserve. I only managed to catch a glimpse of them before the entire slip turned to ashes, so I only hurriedly noted down most of the words on the slips.”
“I see,” Prime Minister Cao Cao said thoughtfully.
Su Yu then earnestly asked, “So, Senior Wang Mang, what exactly was written on the bamboo slips?”
“The bamboo slips recorded the origins of the ‘Soul-shielding Stone’. When I found the bamboo slips, there were also two Soul-shielding Stones placed beside them.”
Senior Wang Mang said this and subconsciously reached into his pocket, but found nothing.
Then he realized that he was in a game and not the real world and awkwardly withdrew his hand, “Uh, we’re not in the real world right now, otherwise I could show you what those two Soul-shielding Stones look like.”
Next, based on his memory, Senior Wang Mang recounted the contents of the bamboo slips to Su Yu and Prime Minister Cao Cao.
Although there weren’t many words on those bamboo slips, the content was quite rich.
It took him close to 10 minutes to fully relay what was on the bamboo slips.
Su Yu and Prime Minister Cao Cao listened silently, without interruption.
As they listened, they both sank into deep thought.
The crux of the bamboo slips’ contents was that during the Warring States period, the ‘Soul-shielding Stone’ was discovered by cultivators and spread among them, ultimately causing a massive catastrophe in the realm of cultivators.
The Spring and Autumn Warring States period could be said to be the most abundant era for spiritual energy throughout the entire history of China, surpassing even the earlier Shang and Zhou dynasties.
During that time, a hundred schools of thought flourished, and even ordinary people had the potential to become immortals.
Cultivators were as common as carp crossing a river, even farmer folks in the mountains had picked up a trick or two and could split rocks with their bare hands.
But then, the “Soul-shielding Stone” appeared.
The “Soul-shielding Stone” could obscure the perceptions of cultivators. Once they lost their prized sensory abilities, a large number of assassins emerged in every corner of the cultivator world.
As long as one held a “Soul-shielding Stone,” even high-ranking cultivators could be assassinated by those several levels below them, and the competition for resources in the cultivator world never ceased. This led to the downfall of many famous high-ranking powerhouses.
These high-ranking powerhouses controlled various forces, more or less.
Their fall led to the complete loss of control over these forces, big and small, ultimately causing a tragedy that swept across the entire cultivator world.
In just about a hundred years, the number of cultivators in the whole region of China had reduced by nearly one third, and had never recovered since.
Moreover, most of the high-ranking cultivators were concentrated in the Central Plains, so the borderlands were less affected.
It was also for this reason that cultivators from the borderlands began to rise, eventually laying the foundation for “Emperor Qin’s sweeping unification of the six states.”
After listening to Elder Wang Mang’s description, Su Yu let out a light sigh, “I have heard Elder Yang Jian mention this before as one of those who experienced it, but he didn’t elaborate as much as you have.
I just didn’t expect that the great calamity had something to do with ‘Soul-shielding Stones.'”
Prime Minister Cao Cao nodded thoughtfully as well.
However, he soon wondered, “Elder Wang Mang, this catastrophe is related to Soul-shielding Stones, but it shouldn’t be considered a secret, should it?”
“Of course not,” Elder Wang Mang smiled.
Afterward, he said, “Do the two of you know where the Soul-shielding Stones ended up afterwards?”
“I know that,” Su Yu interjected: “I used to hear the elders say that all of the country’s Soul-shielding Stones were confiscated by Emperor Qin Shihuang and then uniformly destroyed.”
Elder Wang Mang gently stroked his beard, smiling as he shook his head, “That’s where the secret lies. In fact, these Soul-shielding Stones were not destroyed, but collected and used elsewhere.
Think about it, if you were Emperor Qin Shihuang Ying Zheng, and you obtained such a useful thing, would you think about putting it to good use, or would you destroy it?”
“Of course, put it to good use,” they concurred.
“That was what Emperor Qin thought as well,” Elder Wang Mang agreed.
“So, how did he use them specifically?” Su Yu asked.
“This point… I’m not very sure,” Elder Wang Mang slowly shook his head and continued:
“I have been investigating the whereabouts of these ‘Soul-shielding Stones’ for the past six months, and my findings indicate—at the time Emperor Qin Shi Huang was in power, he constructed a tomb in Chengdu with the main structure wholly made of ‘Soul-shielding Stones.’
Since these stones can block our cultivators’ perception, they are perfect for building a tomb. It was certain not to be targeted by cultivators, and ordinary tomb raiders wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.”
“So that’s what happened,” nodded Su Yu.
So, it turned out Emperor Qin’s tomb was not in Chang’an, but in the southwest, in Chengdu.
No wonder that after so many years, people only found some Terracotta Warriors and Horses in Chang’an, but no one discovered the true location of Emperor Qin’s tomb.