Bamboo slips have been used since the pre-Qin period, with varying lengths ranging from a few centimeters to over half a meter, and they are engraved with characters using a knife.

The golden bamboo slip in Wang Xuan's hand has a warm luster under the light.

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It is eight centimeters long, three centimeters wide, and two centimeters thick, relatively short in length.

It feels heavy and pressing, and it can be imagined that it will sink once it enters the water.

The golden bamboo slip is not engraved with characters, but with several patterns, depicting a creature with a human head and a snake body in different postures.

It has long hair scattered, making it difficult to tell if it is male or female. It is depicted in a coiled posture and rolling on the ground. There is also a picture of its snake tail touching the ground, standing upright like a sharp sword towards the sky.

There are no words on the bamboo slip, only several engraved patterns. It is not clear what relation it has with the old arts, and at least Wang Xuan has not discovered its value.

"I can't comprehend it, can't understand it. I have had it in my hands for many years, always treating it like a piece of jade." The middle-aged man wearing a green mask spoke.

He had short and thick hair and sat quietly there.

"I have obtained too little. A pile of golden bamboo slips fell into the hands of the New Planet's conglomerate. I only managed to snatch two of them back then." He said calmly.

Wang Xuan was convinced that this man was a master, most likely with remarkable achievements in the old arts.

He dared to compete with the people sent by the conglomerate and took away two pieces, which was not easy.

Even in the New Planet, these bamboo slips were considered rare items. After major organizations obtained them, they were kept secret and studied in secret. It was difficult for outsiders to see them again.

"Has anyone in the New Planet deciphered anything from them?" Wang Xuan asked.

"I don't know." The middle-aged man with short hair replied briefly, unwilling to discuss this topic further.

For a while, the room fell into silence.

Wang Xuan had seen him two years ago, and it was also at that time that he first knew and saw the dark side of this peaceful city.

In the underground ninth floor of a landmark building, there were weekly old arts competitions on Friday nights. The participants fought in iron cages, and it was extremely bloody. The losers usually had their hands and feet severed.

On the stands outside the iron cages, there were people of unknown identities, both men and women, wearing masks. They watched the intense competitions, roaring and screaming, excitement and chaos intertwined.

Wang Xuan immediately refused the middle-aged man at that time, telling him clearly that he would never walk in the gray area. He liked studying the old arts, but he would not "perform bloody tricks" for others to watch.

The middle-aged man with short hair laughed at that time and told him that he was just showing him another side of this city, and the real world was far from what he usually saw.

The bloody battles in the iron cages had nothing to do with them. They only occasionally went to select potential talents.

As for them, they were a group of adventurers.

What they had to experience was far more thrilling, exciting, mysterious, and even terrifying than these iron cage competitions, because they had already entered the starry sky and were not limited to the Old Planet.

The middle-aged man told him that in terms of future prospects and strength, the adventurers were much more brilliant and incomparable to those who roamed in the gray area.

They had chatted several times during that period, but Wang Xuan still refused him.

The middle-aged man with short hair left him a golden business card, telling him that if he changed his mind after graduation, he could come and find him.

And as early as two years ago, the middle-aged man had predicted that the old arts experimental class would definitely disband, and this investment project would be abandoned.

"Why did you find me?" Wang Xuan had asked him seriously back then.

The middle-aged man with short hair told him that first, the old arts experimental class project caught his attention, and then he observed everyone in the class and finally only selected two people.

The other people in the class were not determined enough and doubted the old arts. Even if they continued on the old path, their achievements would be limited.

In fact, once Wang Xuan embarked on the path of the old arts, it was unstoppable. In just a few years, he successfully practiced Qi cultivation and internal nourishment.

The middle-aged man with short hair believed that Wang Xuan had great potential and would achieve extraordinary results on the path of the old arts.

This organization was relatively loose and free, but its strength was unquestionable. At the same time, it was very mysterious, with its tentacles already reaching the starry sky, capable of rivaling the New Planet.

"Let me introduce myself formally. You can call me Qing Mu." The middle-aged man with the green mask, Qing Mu, spoke, breaking the silence.

"Does this mean I have joined?" Wang Xuan asked.

Qing Mu said, "Not yet. You are one of the potential talents I have selected in recent years, but not the only one."

"Do I need to go through any tests?"

"Yes, this is a rule that cannot be changed. Although I have high hopes for you, I cannot alter it."

Qing Mu told him that there would be an exploration mission within two days, which could serve as his assessment, and asked if he would participate.

"I will participate!" Wang Xuan nodded.

"After joining us, you will experience what you have roughly known before, but now I must emphasize what exploration means. It naturally involves danger, even the risk of life. You must think it through." Qing Mu said.

"No problem, I have considered it carefully." Wang Xuan replied.

Qing Mu was very serious and said, "Then you can stay here. We must ensure that no information leaks before that, because this mission is very important!"

Wang Xuan understood and had no problem staying.

Holding the golden bamboo slip, he looked at Qing Mu behind the redwood desk and said, "Can I ask you some questions?"

Qing Mu said, "It depends on the question. If it involves certain astonishing secrets, even if you successfully join us, it will require an equivalent exchange."

Wang Xuan asked, "I want to know if the pinnacle of the old arts path is really the top powerhouse among the Taoists, and if there is truly no way forward."

Qing Mu sighed, saying, "I understand your feelings, because I also started with practicing the old arts. But this path is too difficult. Even after decades of hard work and sweat, it's hard to achieve anything. The highest peak in theory is the Fangshi, the end point is already determined."

Indeed, it was the same answer as the conclusion drawn by the Life Research Institute on the New Planet.

"In fact, the most pessimistic thing is that even if you know where the end of the road is, there are few who can reach that point. After the pre-Qin period, the number of people who can reach the level of Fangshi is decreasing, and since the ancient times, there has been none at all."

The old arts were increasingly declining, and the Fangshi had long become a legend, difficult to probe.

"Isn't anyone trying to continue exploring where the Fangshi stand, which is the end of the road?" Wang Xuan asked.

"It's easier said than done. Throughout the ages, even real Fangshi can't appear again, how dare the later generations think about these." Qing Mu shook his head bitterly, saying, "In ancient times, there were some ambitious strong people who wanted to continue to deduce the path, but unfortunately, no one has ever succeeded."

"Why were those Fangshi able to deduce the old arts to the extreme, and the later generations can never surpass?" Wang Xuan raised a question.

"Do you think it's the result of a few Fangshi's hard deduction? No, it's the result of generation after generation of powerful Fangshi constantly perfecting the old arts. In the end, there was really no way to go, and the top strong among the Fangshi might be the strongest individuals among ancient humans."

......

That night, Qing Mu had someone prepare all kinds of equipment needed for Wang Xuan's exploration, including alloy knives, daggers, protective suits, and realistic human skin masks.

In addition, there were firearms!

The next morning they set off, first to the outskirts of the city, where they boarded a small spaceship in a secret manor, heading for Qingcheng Mountain.

The small spaceship was very advanced, undetectable by the satellites of the Old Planet.

This was Wang Xuan's first time in such a spaceship, and he found everything very novel, but he just calmly observed, without asking questions.

He felt that he had a lot to learn.

Qing Mu personally participated in the action, showing the importance he attached to this operation.

In addition to Wang Xuan, there were four other people in the team, all wearing realistic human skin masks, their real expressions unknown.

Qing Mu said, "Our target is Qingcheng Mountain. This time, there are people from the financial consortium on the New Planet secretly digging in the mountain, and our target is also there!"

"What was found in Qingcheng Mountain that attracted the financial consortium from the New Planet?" someone asked.

Before the action, everything had been kept secret, and even they didn't know the destination.

Qing Mu was very serious, saying, "Someone seems to have found some extraordinary records in the bamboo slips left by a pre-Qin Fangshi, pointing directly to Qingcheng Mountain."

"Are they still interested in the inheritance of the Fangshi?" someone questioned. The New Planet had super arts, and the old arts had been officially abandoned.

Qing Mu was very solemn, saying, "On the deciphered bamboo slips, some secrets were recorded. There seems to be something in Qingcheng Mountain that excites and thrills the Fangshi, so the financial consortium has come secretly again."

Everyone was greatly encouraged, even Wang Xuan's heart skipped a beat. Was there a new discovery in Qingcheng Mountain? Something that the Fangshi were thinking about, could it be related to... the transformation?

The top strong among the Fangshi were considered to be those who had undergone the transformation.

But some people didn't agree, thinking that there was something more mysterious and powerful than the Fangshi.

"The Zhou family and the Ling family have dug into the underground palace and indeed found the target!" Qing Mu murmured, he had just received the latest secret report.

Wang Xuan's heart skipped a beat, it was those two families?!

In not too long a time, they approached their destination.

Qingcheng Mountain, known as one of the four famous Taoist mountains and one of the five immortal mountains.

It was also considered one of the birthplaces of Taoism. Zhang Daoling once preached in Qingcheng Mountain. There was a saying that he finally underwent the transformation in this mountain.