Yan Luo, wearing a fully enclosed helmet, sat in the front row with their arms crossed, while Sasa and Li Xinyue were in the back seat. The car was self-driving and didn't require a driver.
"The professor has already contacted Celestial Sea University for us, and Professor Ximen Tiesuan is currently available."
Ximen Tiesuan lived in the faculty dormitories at Celestial Sea University because he had many friends here to accompany him, and they often went out for walks and chats together.
Ximen Tiesuan was older than Li Jiongming. He was born just as the decade of loss began and had experienced many things.
According to Professor Li Jiongming, the current emergence of engravings was related to Ximen Tiesuan's uncle.
From the naming format of Professor Ximen Tiesuan's siblings, it's clear that his family wasn't an archaeological family but rather a "grave robbing family" might be more apt.
However, those times are long gone. Before Ximen Tiesuan was born, his father's generation had stopped grave robbing and instead became middlemen selling and buying antiques.
When it passed down to Ximen Tiesuan's generation, it turned into an archaeological family.
Since Professor Ximen Tiesuan, the Ximen Clan has made archaeology its vocation, with the entire family involved in archaeological-related professions.
Even though there was a suspicious figure in the car wearing a fully enclosed helmet, Celestial Sea University's gate still opened for Yan Luo and the others.
Once inside the campus, the car's speed dropped suddenly, moving as slow as a creeping turtle.
Even manually controlling it couldn't increase the speed.
The sedan leisurely headed towards the faculty dormitory building and then parked in the lot downstairs.
Though it was termed a dormitory, it actually resembled residential communities outside, whether in building appearance, parking lot, or garden arrangements.
"Let's go, Professor Ximen is waiting for us at his home for a visit."
Sasa was the first to get off the car, followed by Li Xinyue and Yan Luo.
Yan Luo couldn't move freely within Celestial Sea City, so Li Xinyue had to act as his guarantor and accompany him, which is why they were here.
Additionally, Li Xinyue was already aware of most of Yan Luo's secrets. Even in the Elf World, Li Xinyue faintly suspected that Yan Luo might be a 'Saint.'
In that case, there's no issue letting Li Xinyue listen to Professor Ximen Tiesuan's narration.
At the dormitory building, Sasa and the others verified their identities through the access control system and received permission to enter, then took the elevator to the third floor.
The apartment closest to the elevator on the third floor of this dormitory was Professor Ximen Tiesuan's home.
When Sasa reached the door, she slightly tipped on her toes and used her face to unlock Professor Ximen Tiesuan's door.
— Long ago when Li Jiongming contacted Ximen Tiesuan, he granted Sasa 'guest access,' allowing her to unlock the door once.
The door was unlocked, and Ximen Tiesuan received a notification, so he came out of the study.
"Hello Professor Ximen, I'm Sasa, a student of Professor Li."
Sasa, with Yan Luo and Li Xinyue, stood outside the entrance, bowing respectfully to Professor Ximen Tiesuan.
Ximen Tiesuan nodded slightly, his gaze involuntarily drifting to the towering man standing behind Sasa.
"If I'm not mistaken, you must be Yan Luo?"
Yan Luo, beneath the mask, slightly furrowed his brow and looked at Ximen Tiesuan.
From appearance, this professor didn't seem to match his name at all.
Ximen Tiesuan had white hair and beard, a gaunt figure, looking like a genteel and easygoing old artist.
Yan Luo nodded, his voice echoing within the helmet, "I am Yan Luo."
"Come on in."
Ximen Tiesuan chuckled and invited Yan Luo and the others inside.
The robotic housekeeper handed Sasa and her companions three pairs of slippers, and after changing shoes, they all entered the living room.
Another robotic caretaker responsible for looking after Ximen Tiesuan headed to the living room and brought out three cups of hot tea for them.
Ximen Tiesuan was very old, his wrinkled skin resembling a shriveled orange, needing an exoskeleton for physical support even to walk.
However, after welcoming Yan Luo and the others inside, he seemed in good spirits.
Looking at Yan Luo and the others seated, Ximen Tiesuan asked, "You've come here to inquire about the 'Saint' from this old man, correct?"
Sasa nodded, "That's right, Professor Ximen, we've come here precisely for that reason."
Li Jiongming had already clarified their purpose to Ximen Tiesuan during an earlier call, so from the start, Ximen Tiesuan's gaze kept veering toward Yan Luo.
In Ximen Tiesuan's perception, Yan Luo seemed to display traits akin to the legendary 'Saint.'
Then, Sasa remarked, "Since you've already understood why we're here, I'll be brief — Professor, we strongly suspect Yan Luo is a 'Saint.' His blood can grant engravers the superpower of 'automatic absorption of magic power'; for animals with very low magic power adaptability, ingestion of his blood enhances their bodily structure. We want to ask what you think about this? Besides the abilities we've already detected, do 'Saints' possess any special abilities?"
Indeed!
Hearing Sasa's account, Ximen Tiesuan's expression turned pensive.
He had studied history for over half his life and became fervent in understanding what 'Saints' really were after encountering history dating back over eight thousand years.
Now, a living Saint stood before him—how could he not feel a shred of excitement?
"Saints, you say..."
Ximen Tiesuan took a deep breath and slowly stated, "Actually, it's somewhat different from what you imagine. The history of engravings and Saints didn't abruptly end from the moment Blue Star severed ties with the Abyss. The dissipation of magic power was a prolonged process, and so was the disappearance of engravings and Saints."
Upon hearing this, Sasa realized that their initial conjectures were correct.
"The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors were Saints, and Chiyou was also a Saint. After them, King Wen of Zhou was a Saint, as were Confucius and Laozi. In fact, the students of Confucius inherently gained his blood legacy. However, during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period, the magic power environment had weakened to the point of being unable to support the existence of high-tier demons, thus rendering even Saints unable to grow stronger.
"As for our legendary immortals, they were actually engravers, but their powers weakened as the magic power environment dwindled. According to our research, after Xiang Yu, Blue Star no longer had Saints, because the magic power environment then couldn't sustain their emergence. Engravers did continue until the Tang Dynasty, but by the late Tang era, in the 10th century, their legacy stalled, and thereafter, the world saw no engravers.
"In Europe, which corresponds to today's Northern Region, the emergence of the Cross Sect suppressed the engravers' legacy entirely."
Ximen Tiesuan shared what he knew in simplified terms for Sasa and the others to understand.
Upon hearing this, Li Xinyue was slightly dazed.
She had never imagined Blue Star's past history to be so intricate.
But such circumstances were quite normal.
After all, the severance of ties between Blue Star and the Abyss took place over eight thousand years ago, back when various civilizations hadn't fully developed their writing systems.
If the history of engravers and Saints had ended back then, it would be virtually impossible for them to dig out engravings.
Subsequently, Ximen Tiesuan continued his narration.
As they delved deeper into engraving history, they discovered that Taoist talismans had a profound connection with engravings.
Initially, talismans were engraved onto jade, functioning as stamp tools that could indeed trigger superpowers.
Later, as the magic power environment faded, engraving legacies faced discontinuity, and talisman mediums shifted from jade to yellow paper, with the symbols illustrated on yellow paper gradually morphing into ambiguous forms.
By deciphering talismans and restoring the symbols, Xia Country researched multiple engravings, including the [Warrior] series, which was reconstructed this way.
These historical narratives were unknown to Sasa and her companions, making them quite intrigued.
Ximen Tiesuan's reason for discussing engraving history was due to its deep connection with the history of Saints.
"We suspect that in ancient times, the first superpower being to emerge on Blue Star was indeed a Saint!" Ximen Tiesuan asserted confidently.
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