Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor... the first recorded Valkyrie in the history of the Divine Land... Even after several thousand years, various legends about her still circulate in the Divine Land... There is hardly anyone in the Divine Land who does not know of the [Yellow Emperor].
After all, she was the first Valkyrie to protect humanity from the [Honkai]... and the first person to raise the curtain on humanity's fight against the [Honkai]... The second battle between humanity and the [Honkai] truly began at that moment...
"This is the clue to the 'Natural Stigmata'!" Theresa said excitedly, spreading out the worn-out scroll in her hand to show the text on the ancient silk manuscript.
"What does this say?...." Murata Himeko leaned closer to the scroll and squinted at it. She was a pure science student... how could she possibly recognize the ancient Chinese characters on it... though the drawings on it were quite nice...
"This is the Yellow Emperor's script, the writing used by people during the time of the [Yellow Emperor]..." Theresa said, holding up the scroll for Himeko to see. "According to the translation... this was written by an ancient person named Shennong..."
"Shennong was likely the [Yellow Emperor]'s partner at the time. He was skilled in using medicinal herbs to treat people, as well as using fire to cook food... so some people also respectfully called him the 'Yan Emperor'...."
"The silk manuscript is a description of the Yellow Emperor, Ji Xuanyuan... It records various legends about the Yellow Emperor, as well as the strange tattoos on her body, which gave her miraculous powers..."
"The manuscript's description of the tattoos is very similar to Stigmata... If the legends are true—" Theresa's bright eyes looked at Himeko seriously and said, "As a 'Valkyrie', the Yellow Emperor naturally had Stigmata! She was a Stigmata wielder..."
"Click~" Theresa carefully rolled up the worn silk manuscript in her hand again and handed it to Himeko so she could study it herself when she had time... Theresa turned and looked out the bright window, bored, and continued to speak.
"The silk manuscript says that the Yellow Emperor repelled the monsters that invaded humanity... and in the end, the Yellow Emperor went to a place called 'Jiuyou' and fought a Honkai Beast named 'Chiyou', which was the most powerful and threatening to humanity..."
Theresa paused before continuing, "As for what happened after the final battle... because the bottom part of the silk manuscript may have rotted away, we don't know... but based on the current situation... the result is easy to guess..."
"Mm...." Himeko nodded. Of course, the outcome was easy to guess... Since the Yellow Emperor never returned, and Chiyou never appeared in the world again... wasn't the result obvious?
"But the Yellow Emperor's remains should be in 'Jiuyou', right?" Himeko said, picking up the tattered silk manuscript and pretending to understand it. "If she had Stigmata, then the Stigmata should still be on her remains..."
"Then where is 'Jiuyou'?" Himeko asked Theresa. Logically, the remains should be at the final battle site, 'Jiuyou'...
"Jiuyou, huh..." Theresa said, propping her face up with her small hand. "According to the ancient texts of the Divine Land that have been passed down... and computer calculations, cough, cough... after all, it's been several thousand years... so we can only confirm that it's in the southern part of the Divine Land, near 'Guangzhou'..."
"Then let's go to Guangzhou to find it!" Himeko said, somewhat excitedly, struggling to get up.
"Sure!" Theresa said with a big smile, forcefully pushing Himeko back onto the bed with an unquestionable tone. "But, that'll have to wait a while..."
"Your body hasn't recovered yet. It'll take at least half a month..." Theresa said with the air of an elder, her arms crossed. "Besides, that kid Li Xuan was also quite seriously injured this time..."
"I plan to have him go with you then..." Theresa said after a slight pause.
"Isn't it quite dangerous?" Himeko frowned and said, "If he goes... aren't you afraid something might happen? He's more precious than a national treasure, you know..."
"Yes... I know..." Theresa said with a gentle smile. "But if he's to take your place after you retire... he needs some experience and status..."
"Huh?!...." Himeko looked at Theresa, completely baffled. Her position was the leader of the Valkyrie squad and the captain of the 'Hyperion'... such an important position, and to think Theresa wouldn't let Kiana and the others inherit it, but instead chose that kid Li Xuan... This came as a shock to Himeko...
"By the way... for this trip to 'Guangzhou', I remember it's Fu Hua's hometown... she should be more familiar with the place. We'll ask her to come along then..." Theresa said as she walked slowly to the door of the ward.
She turned her head, a bright smile on her face, and added, "Rest up and get well~ I'll ask Mei to cook you some 'Tianma Pig Brain Soup' later~"
"Huh?!...." Himeko watched as the ward door was casually closed, propping up her chin in a daze and muttering, "What is that? 'Pig Brain Soup'? Is it for recovery?...."
"But speaking of which, is the missing part of this thing really rotted away?" Himeko mumbled, looking at the half-missing silk manuscript.
..............................
Before him was a pitch-black darkness. The darkness was like an extremely thick liquid enveloping Li Xuan... Li Xuan could even feel the cold within the darkness... but for some reason, the darkness slowly started to become hot...
Li Xuan was in this darkness, unable to see anything... unable to think of anything, as if his thoughts had also frozen...
This went on for an unknown amount of time... Li Xuan suddenly seemed to come to his senses, but he didn't know who he was, where this was, or what he should do... so he started to look at the darkness before him...
As if in response to his gaze... a point of light miraculously appeared in the boundless darkness... The point of light was as brilliant as a bright lamp, and Li Xuan subconsciously walked towards it...
Walking, and walking... he felt like he was getting closer and closer to the point of light, but also more and more tired, and hotter and hotter... As he thought... he came to his senses and found himself standing in front of the point of light...
'So this is a door...' Li Xuan thought, realizing what the 'point of light' before him was. What appeared before him was a large golden door, carved with all sorts of patterns. The center of the door was like glass...
Li Xuan felt that this thing looked familiar, but he couldn't remember what it was...
'What's behind this?' With this thought, he walked towards the door, passing through the 'glass' layer. The 'glass' rippled slightly like the surface of a lake...
'What is this?' What Li Xuan saw was a strange scene... It was a space filled with a golden glow. A giant hourglass was suspended in the golden sky. The hourglass, made of brown wood, was filled with golden sand, which continuously fell from the small opening in the middle to the bottom...
Li Xuan saw it clearly... the golden sand in the hourglass was about to fall completely... only a thin layer of golden sand remained. He could even faintly see a small black stone in that thin layer of golden sand...
Where is this? he thought... He looked around and suddenly found a person standing not far in front of him...
'Who are you?' he asked the person...
'Me...' The person with their back to him seemed to have heard his question. They muttered in a familiar voice and turned to look at him... Their long golden hair swayed slightly, and they wore strange robes...
'I am you...' the person said faintly.
A dazzling light suddenly shot into his eyes, filling his entire vision....
"..." Li Xuan opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the snow-white ceiling of the medical room... The curtains by the window, which had been drawn, swayed slightly in the gentle breeze, letting in the morning sunlight...
(End of this chapter)