However, King You, who was standing just a few feet away, was not afraid at all. He simply stared at Jiang Zhi quietly, without retreating in the slightest.
Jiang Zhi eventually calmed down, and the night sky cleared up again.
"What do you know?" Jiang Zhi asked, taking a deep breath.
"When the legend of Emperor Yan fell, it was at the beginning of the order of the underworld. You may not have thought that Emperor Yan also helped the Lord of the Underworld. In some of the Lord of the Underworld's scattered handwritten notes, he mentioned the reason why half of the 'Compendium of Herbs' was missing."
King You chuckled, "Who would have thought that the 'Compendium of Herbs,' which Emperor Yan suppressed with his own essence transformed into a stone statue, would actually be unsealed by his great-grandson!"
The world fell silent.
If King You's words were to reach the outside world, they would likely cause a huge uproar!
The statue of Shennong has stood in Yan City for countless years. Everyone thought it was a magnificent building that had been erected. Who would have thought that it was actually the incarnation of Emperor Yan!
The fact that the statue of Shennong was actually holding the "Compendium of Materia Medica" would probably be even more shocking to Shen Qian.
"Nonsense! The Hundred Herbs Classic is clearly Emperor Yan's own work of bestowing titles upon the gods. Why would he suppress his own 'Dao'?"
Although there was a hint of unease in Jiang Zhi's eyes, he smiled sarcastically.
"I also asked the Lord of the Palace, and although he didn't say, the reason isn't hard to guess," King You sneered. "It must be that there's something wrong with the 'Hundred Herbs Classic' itself, and this problem is extremely serious, to the point that even the Emperor Yan, the Great Alchemist of Destiny, can't solve it!"
"To take an even bolder assumption, perhaps the 'Compendium of Materia Medica' was destroyed by Emperor Yan himself, which is why only half of it remained and was sealed here..."
King You's voice was not loud, drifting lightly through the night sky, but its content was enough to shock everyone.
"The story is fascinating."
Jiang Zhi clapped his hands loudly, "I didn't know that King You had such literary talent. It's a pity he didn't write a novel about him."
"Dare not admit it?" King You laughed. "Then dare you release all the restrictions and let me examine this statue?"
“King You is joking. This is an ancestral portrait. How can it be desecrated by anyone?” Jiang Zhi shook his head.
"Ancestor portraits?" King You sneered. "How long do you intend to keep up this act? Do you really think my You Clan's investigative techniques are just for show?"
"Your Yan Clan had more than thirty great alchemists nine hundred years ago. Now, almost a thousand years have passed, and not only have you made no progress, but you now have less than ten great alchemists left."
King You stared directly at Jiang Zhi. "Let me ask you, where have all those alchemists who were once hailed as geniuses gone?"
"Throughout these thousand years, although wars have raged, your Yan Clan has never suffered a major invasion. Others may not notice the subtle changes over this long period, but how could they hide it from those who are observant?"
"You started planning too early. If it weren't for a coincidence, I wouldn't have been able to detect the changes within your Yan Clan at all. If I remember correctly, the first thing you did after taking power was to spread the word within the tribe that the 'Hundred Herbs Classic' was lost, right?"
"But you have never admitted it publicly. Whenever a promising genius alchemist emerges, but has no powerful connections, you lure them under various pretexts and sacrifice them directly to the 'Hundred Herbs Classic'..."
"Tsk tsk, but who knows what Emperor Yan was thinking, watching his most beloved great-grandson break his oath of the throne and destroy the seal he had built with his own soul?"
As King You continued his narration as if talking to himself, Jiang Zhi's expression grew increasingly gloomy. Finally, he seemed to understand something, calmed down again, and shook his head, saying, "But you're wrong about one thing. I didn't loosen this seal."
King You was not surprised by Jiang Zhi's tacit admission, after all, he had already guessed most of the truth, but he was still somewhat astonished upon hearing it.
"If it wasn't you, then it was..." King You stopped mid-sentence.
He had already realized that the "Compendium of Materia Medica" suppressed by Emperor Yan with his own essence could not be easily shaken by Jiang Zhi.
If there is no external intervention, then the problem must lie with the sealed object itself.
"Since we've come this far, let me show you something else."
Jiang Zhi seemed to have come to terms with it. He suddenly waved his sleeve, and the stone statue of the book, which had been dormant, came back to life.
When the book regained its original color, Jiang Zhi and King You became somewhat wary, clearly extremely wary of the "Compendium of Materia Medica" which looked like an inanimate object.
What's the difference?
King You was taken aback.
“Take another look,” Jiang Zhi said meaningfully, “It’s half of the ‘Compendium of Materia Medica’…”
Reminded by Jiang Zhi, King You immediately realized something, and his expression gradually became serious.
"This 'Compendium of Materia Medica' seems to be more than half the length of a book."
“Yes.” Jiang Zhi nodded in acknowledgment. “Over the course of a thousand years, many alchemy geniuses have been devoured by it, and the thickness of the ‘Compendium of Herbs’ has been constantly increasing. It… is becoming complete!”
Jiang Zhi's expression suddenly became somewhat agitated, "If it weren't for this, do you think I would willingly watch countless geniuses of my Yan Clan perish in this?"
"If the 'Compendium of Materia Medica' can be made complete again, I can easily end the current chaos of warlordism within the human race. My Yan clan can also return to its former glory, and my human race will no longer need to struggle for survival in the cracks. What reason do you think I have to give up?"
King You coldly looked at Jiang Zhi and slowly shook his head, "But you've overlooked one point: do you have the ability to control the 'Hundred Herbs Classic'?"
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