My Apocalypse System Arrives 10 Years Early

Chapter 380: Chapter 258: Earth Pivot Journey - Spirit of the Land: The Forbidden City’s Earth Vein, Profound Yellow National Guardian, and Vientiane Secret Pavilion

At night, Li Xiang landed on the Han Baiyu Stone Steps before the Forbidden City’s Taihe Hall, Jiang Cai’Er in his arms. The great hall was solemn and majestic, its gilt bronze beasts draped in silver armor, and icicles hung from the flying eaves like crystal curtains.

In the distance, the vermilion walls of the Forbidden City held up glazed tile roofs crowned with snow. The red walls and white snow created a unique vista in the dim light.

They had been to the Forbidden City before, but this was their first time visiting in the snow.

The rest of the Imperial Capital was still bustling with traffic, its lights as bright as day, but the Forbidden City was exceptionally quiet. Only the biting north wind howled, sweeping over the accumulated snow.

”The Dragon Vein of the Imperial Capital City should be right under this Taihe Hall,” Jiang Cai’Er said.

She had done her research, consulting countless ancient texts, and was fairly certain of her conclusion.

Historical records described the Yanshan Mountain Range as the coiled spine of a great dragon. It started in the east at Shanhai Pass, propping up the heavens and guarding the sea, and reached the Northern Taihang in the west, serving as the key to the Central Plains. Its form was like that of a Giant Dragon raising its head to guard the Forbidden City Imperial Palace.

This Earth Vein inherited the Kunlun Ancestral Qi and absorbed the imperial fortunes of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. The foundation of Taihe Hall reaches directly to the spine of the Dragon Vein, while the Celestial Altar secretly corresponds to the astral position of the dragon’s eyes. Kublai built the Great Capital, ”taming the dragon” to construct the city in accordance with the *Zhou Li: Kaogongji*...

”Then let’s go take a look.” Li Xiang wrapped his arm around Jiang Cai’Er’s slender waist. An earthy yellow light flared up around him, and the two of them instantly sank into the ground.

With Li Xiang’s Earth Vein Perception Ability, it didn’t take them long to find the legendary Dragon Vein of the Imperial Capital.

Its main body was the Forbidden City Mysterious Gold Vein, a fused product of Yanshanian-period granite and Proterozoic metamorphic rock. It existed only deep beneath the foundations of the Forbidden City’s three great halls and contained a symbiont of micron-sized natural gold and cinnabar.

”They say that during the Yongle Era, powder from this ore was mixed into the golden floor bricks of Taihe Hall, making them warm in the winter and cool in the summer. During the pillaging by the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900, the German Army tried to cut out and take the bricks, but the ore powder supposedly came into contact with their firearms, triggering a chain reaction that blew up the entire transport team. Of course, this is all from unofficial histories, so who knows if it’s true.” Jiang Cai’Er was an expert in this area and explained as she followed Li Xiang through the earth.

”It’s like I’ve hired a senior tour guide for free,” Li Xiang laughed.

”Haha, not exactly for free.”

”How so?” Li Xiang asked in surprise.

Jiang Cai’Er chuckled. ”You forgot, didn’t you? You paid with your charms!”

”You dare tease me? Watch how I teach you a lesson!” The two began to roughhouse playfully on the spot, enacting a rather steamy scene deep beneath the Forbidden City.

As they journeyed along the ore vein, they also discovered several other branch veins, such as the ”Celestial Longevity Star Marrow,” the ”Yongding River Heart Jade,” and the ”West Mountain Dragon Blood Diamond.”

These names were all identified by Jiang Cai’Er from ancient texts; in modern scientific terms, they had different corresponding names.

For example, the main components of the ”Celestial Longevity Star Marrow” were likely symbiotic crystals of an iridium-nickel alloy and jadeite, formed by the convergence of energy from the area’s special Earth Vein and a meteorite impact crater.

The ”Yongding River Heart Jade” was a variant of serpentinite buried in the ancient riverbed of the Yongding River, containing nano-diamond inclusions and reaching 9.2 on the Mohs scale of hardness.