The golden token in Lin Qian's hand was a communication token developed by the Tiangong Department and crafted by the Huogong Department. It was the same type of token that Lin Qian had instructed Ye Xin to give to the Three Elders.
In fact, not long after Lin Qian descended to the underground world, the Three Elders had received the token from Ye Xin. Upon learning the situation, they hurried over to secretly protect Lin Qian. After all, Lin Qian's safety was of paramount importance, and as they made their way over, the Three Elders couldn't help but find it amusing.
To them, Lin Qian was a perfectly good emperor, but here he was, adventuring and training in the underground world. Why not let his subordinates handle such matters?
However, Lin Qian's youthful spirit craved exploration of the unknown, and he was still dissatisfied with his own strength. He wished to improve rapidly and reach the Awakening Realm as soon as possible.
Only after reaching the Awakening Realm would Lin Qian have the foundation to head to the Central Region in search of his parents.
Additionally, there was another crucial reason: even the weakest generals and beast generals of the Huaxia Empire were at the Awakening Realm!
As long as Lin Qian could reach the Awakening Realm, even the lowest-ranked generals and beast generals summoned through the Heavenly Mark would not place an unbearable burden on his body, thus avoiding irreversible harm.
With the generals and beast generals at his command, the combat power of the Imperial Army and Beast Army would improve immensely compared to before.
The presence of generals and beast generals would not only boost the morale of the Imperial Army and Beast Army but also enhance their overall attributes, allowing the Huaxia Empire's forces to unleash their full potential.
Only then would the true strength of the Huaxia Empire be realized, demonstrating to the human factions and various races of this world what an invincible army truly looked like—a real army!
Back to the present, the Three Elders—Fang Shuiwen, Zhou Yian, and Yang Guixiang—followed closely behind Lin Qian, advancing through the cave into the underground world. Everything had been going smoothly.
However, when they emerged, they found themselves in a completely different place from Lin Qian.
The area was teeming with fierce Awakening Realm soul beasts.
In fact, they had already reached the underground world, but upon arrival, they inadvertently attracted the attention of several Awakening Realm soul beasts, which immediately attacked them.
After fighting off the beasts together, they finally had time to contact Lin Qian and report their situation to him.
According to the communication token, the Three Elders confirmed they had indeed entered the underground world.
The strange fiery fruits hanging from the vines on the dome and the golden-feathered birds illuminated the underground space as brightly as day. However, the spirit trees around them were vastly different from those near Lin Qian.
The spirit trees near Lin Qian had thin and numerous branches, and the leaves were as large as beds, big enough to lie on comfortably.
In contrast, the spirit trees around the Three Elders had fewer but much thicker branches, with leaves no larger than the palm of a hand, densely layered.
As a result, the environments in the two areas were completely different.
"Baretu, do you know if there are spirit trees like these in the Ancient Forest World?" Lin Qian approached the Redhorn tribe elder and asked, carefully recounting the description the Three Elders had given him.
Baretu listened attentively to Lin Qian's description, furrowing his brows in deep thought for a long while before helplessly shaking his head. "Apologies, Sovereign. I have never heard of such spirit trees in the Ancient Forest World."
"Does anyone here recognize these spirit trees?" After receiving Baretu's response, Lin Qian turned to the others, describing the spirit trees in detail.
However, to Lin Qian's disappointment, none of the 300 people present had ever seen or heard of such spirit trees.
From the description provided by the Three Elders via the communication token, it was clear that after leaving the cave and arriving in the underground world, no exits appeared above them either.
"Three Elders, please infuse your tokens with a large amount of soul power and let them float freely in mid-air," Lin Qian instructed the Three Elders through the communication token, as he had no other choice.
In the unknown underground space, Fang Shuiwen, Zhou Yian, and Yang Guixiang exchanged glances, seeing the helplessness in each other's eyes.
In the end, the Three Elders followed Lin Qian's instructions, curious to see what would happen.
After all, Lin Qian had given them many surprises, so they expected something interesting.
For example, the Huaxia Empire's soul-vision devices that broadcast the Huaxia Bulletin had deeply shocked them.
In just a few days, the Huaxia Bulletin had already shown significant results.
The early broadcasts focused on explaining the Huaxia Empire's governance, such as how the empire would manage its territories in the future.
As a result, the people living within the empire's controlled territories now had a clear understanding of the empire they lived in and how it would be governed.
Their hearts were now as clear as mirrors.
At that moment, after following Lin Qian's instructions, the golden tokens in the Three Elders' hands began to float in mid-air.
Soon after, the three tokens emitted a soft glow of soul power.
This gentle light spread out like a flowing stream, gradually spreading across a radius of ten miles.
At the same time, on Lin Qian's side, the golden imperial soul power around him also emerged, covering a ten-mile radius without causing any harm—simply spreading throughout the area.
Although the range wasn't enormous, it was more than sufficient.
"Your Majesty, the results are in. The two environments are vastly different." Zhuge Ming's voice soon echoed in Lin Qian's mind, reporting the findings one by one.
It turned out that the soft light from the Three Elders' tokens had collected all the data from their area and compared it with the data gathered on Lin Qian's side.
The results showed that the concentration of spiritual energy in the area where the Three Elders were located was far greater than that in Lin Qian's area—at least ten times stronger, according to the Tiangong Department's analysis!
Additionally, the spirit trees in both areas were entirely different species, and their living conditions varied as well.
Since the spiritual energy in the Three Elders' region was much denser, the ground and the spirit trees there were far more robust than those around Lin Qian. There was simply no comparison.
"As a result, it can be concluded that the region where Fang Shuiwen, Zhou Yian, and Yang Guixiang are located is far more advanced than where Your Majesty is," Zhuge Ming concluded.
After hearing Zhuge Ming's report, Lin Qian frowned deeply. "Why did the Three Elders end up in a completely different place? It seems they are quite far from here."