"My grandmother probably wouldn't even know what anti-ancient means."
"Anti-ancient means linking something from a time and space to a bead. The bead is the carrier, and the space stored within it is the world where the owner once lived."
"I've also lived for over two thousand years. I heard from the previous generation of tree spirits that their world wasn't like this when they were born. There were many powerful beings, and a ruler, seeking eternal life, gathered all the powerful beings of that era to forge a secret protection for him."
"However, the ruler died before he could obtain the artifact. Who it ended up with later, I don't know."
"The last time I saw you, I noticed it. I thought you knew."
In the past, An Nuan would never have believed such absurd things.
But now, anything was possible.
Xiu Ao's talismans could rival artillery shells, so it wasn't strange for a few artifacts to appear.
Fu Yunting asked, "Were those powerful beings also ability users?"
Uncle An wasn't too sure. "I only heard it from the tree spirits when I was young, but I did see quite a few people with abilities in the past. Some were called immortals, others were called demon lords. Several times, large-scale massacres occurred because of them."
Uncle An, being a well-traveled tree, still felt lingering fear recalling the past massacres.
An Nuan's inner turmoil was even greater than Uncle An's.
She never expected the bead to have such a storied past.
This also explained why she was able to be reborn.
The ruler of that era had gathered the power of the world's most formidable beings solely for the purpose of eternal life.
To live after death, one needed money and resources, hence the storage space, and finally, land.
To secure his rule and prevent future upheaval, he needed vast territories and an environment capable of sustaining life.
Everything was interconnected and logical.
Yet, such an immense benefit fell into An Nuan's lap thousands of years later.
She touched the bead, secretly delighted.
Fu Yunting recalled her family's genealogy book. "Take out that blank genealogy book and let Uncle An have a look. Perhaps there's something in it."
An Nuan quickly retrieved it upon hearing this.
Uncle An cupped the genealogy book and sniffed it. "Hmm, a nostalgic scent, old wood."
An Nuan thought: Is there anything older than you? How dare you call something else old?
Uncle An squeezed a drop of water from his branches onto the genealogy book.
Words immediately appeared on it.
An Nuan was astonished. "It was blank no matter how I looked before!"
"The item is too old. Let Shasha give you some honey juice later. Dilute it with spring water when you get back and brush it on, then you should be able to see."
Antique items are really difficult to manage...
Shasha's heart sac already contained a large portion of honey juice. It generously gave An Nuan 1000L.
An Nuan, holding the honey juice, said, "I have the honey juice, but where do I get spring water? Can I use mineral water?"
"Although the old wood is gone, the paper is made from its branches. Spring water will work better and won't damage it. Of course, if you want to take a gamble, I don't mind."
Even if the genealogy book was useless, it was still something left by her grandmother, and An Nuan wanted to keep it as a memento, so she hoped to preserve it well.
She pondered about spring water and thought she might have to go to the mountains to ask Huang Xiaoting.
"Let's go. If we leave now, we can be back tonight."
Fu Yunting drove towards Huang Xiaoting's base.
Before, it had always been Liu Jiang who handled deliveries, and An Nuan had never been there herself.
Upon entering the base for the first time, the entire mountain community came out to welcome them.
An Nuan scanned them roughly; there were over ten thousand people!
Huang Xiaoting, wearing waterproof boots, ran out from the fields with a smile, removing her gloves.
"Why didn't you send someone to notify me when you were coming? I could have prepared a proper welcome for you!"
"Something suddenly came up that I need your help with. What are you...?"
"I just came back from the fields. I've opened up a new paddy field, and it's growing quite well! You know, the seeds sent by Tuling are truly cold and drought-resistant, amazing!"
Huang Xiaoting immediately took them to see her father.
Huang Ting rushed back from the other side of the mountain upon hearing the news.
He had just finished inspecting the mushroom cultivation base and looked a bit better off than Huang Xiaoting.
However, he also had the appearance of a farmer, looking nothing like a base leader.
An Nuan found their appearance comforting.
An Nuan extended her hand. "This is my first meeting. My name is An Nuan, and this is my husband, Fu Yunting."
"President Nuan, Young Master Fu, your reputations precede you. I was busy clearing out the dregs of the base and setting up new breeding grounds, so I haven't had the time to visit you. In all honesty, I should have come to see you long ago!"
"Let's skip the formalities. We're here to ask if you know of any spring water nearby."
"Spring water?"
There were plenty of streams and rivers on the mountain. The ecosystem had stabilized a bit recently, and even the waterfalls were starting to have water.
But spring water, they hadn't seen any.
Huang Xiaoting thought for a moment and pulled her father. "There's a place that should have spring water, behind the mountain!"
"That's right! The people at that base drink spring water. How could I have forgotten! However..."
Huang Ting said with some difficulty, "Old Bird is a very strange person, and his subordinates are also peculiar. Moreover, they reject strangers. Going into his territory, I don't know if there will be problems."
An Nuan didn't take it to heart.
She just needed a small bottle of spring water to dilute the honey juice, not to cut off their water source.
Surely he wouldn't be that stingy.
Huang Xiaoting volunteered, "Why don't I take you there? I've interacted with them a couple of times before, and they're more approachable."
Huang Ting called for Liu Jiang and another assistant.
"This is Xiao Tao. You haven't met him before. He's not an ability user, but he grew up in the mountains and is very familiar with this area."
Wang Xiaotao seemed a bit shy upon meeting An Nuan and Fu Yunting.
After all, he wasn't an ability user, and he felt a bit inferior in their presence.
But An Nuan didn't look down on him.
"Hello, thank you for leading the way."
"It's no trouble. I know a road where we can drive for a while, but from the mountainside, we'll have to trek over. It might be a bit tough."
"That's fine. Shall we leave now?"
Wang Xiaotao immediately set off, driving the SUV to the mountainside, and then they had to cross over.
The mountain path was difficult, especially for An Nuan, who grew up in the city.
In many places, there wasn't even a path, just a small trail.
Wang Xiaotao chopped through branches with a sickle in front. Seeing him struggle, An Nuan gave him her laser knife.
Wang Xiaotao exclaimed, "How is this made? It can cut through iron!"
"I'm not too sure about this. I'll ask for you another day. How much further is it?"
Wang Xiaotao estimated, "About three more hours."
Three hours...
An Nuan despaired. After walking for three hours, wouldn't her feet be ruined?
She could write her name backward!
Fu Yunting also didn't want to endure this hardship. "Little Jade, fly."