The ancient return was exposed by his sister's live stream.

Stone scrolls are better preserved than bamboo slips. The stone itself is resistant to corrosion, and the characters are deeply carved, remaining clearly legible even after thousands of years.

Chen Siyao unfolded the first volume. No, it wasn't "unfolded" because the stone scroll was folded. Each fold was about 30 centimeters wide, and the total length after unfolding was nearly two meters.

The content is administrative records.

"...In the 374,200th year of the Taiqing era, the Yuqing Sect's rotation ended, and the Beichen Immortal Sect, one of the seven lineages, took over the management of the Thirty-Third Heaven. One deputy sect leader, three elders, and twenty disciples were appointed, with a term of one thousand years..."

Chen Siyao stopped reading after she finished this passage.

Rotation record.

She continued reading. Each section recorded basic information about a rotation cycle: which sect took over, what level of person they sent, how long they would stay, and what the handover procedures were.

She quickly flipped through the entire volume. It recorded a total of sixty-seven rotation cycles.

Each cycle ranges from one thousand to three thousand years.

The earliest record is from the first year of the Taiqing era.

The latest record is from 298,000 years ago in the Taiqing era.

Nearly 300,000 years ago.

But this is only one of the scrolls. There are seven or eight other scrolls of the same size in the niche.

Chen Siyao took down the second volume. This volume recorded an earlier year and used a different chronology, the "Hun Yuan Ji".

"...In the 60,000th year of the Primordial Era, the Chan Sect initially established a system of governance over the Thirty-Three Heavens. The method of rotation among the seven lineages was personally determined by the Heavenly Venerable Ling..."

Chen Siyao paused for a moment.

The Primordial Era lasted 60,000 years. Adding the subsequent Taiqing Era of 300,000 years...

She did the math.

"Qingqing".

"What?" Yang Wanqing was wandering around inside the hall when she heard the shout and ran over.

"Help me hold this stone scroll steady, I need to take a panoramic photo."

Yang Wanqing helped her flatten the stone carving. Chen Siyao manipulated the photographic crystal and took pictures from beginning to end.

After the photo was taken, she spoke to the photo crystal.

"Based on the two volumes of rotation records discovered so far, it is conservatively estimated that the Chan Sect's rule over the Thirty-Three Heavens lasted for more than 100,000 years."

The live stream was silent for three seconds.

The first comment to pop up from Professor Li's team was: "Please confirm, is it 100,000 years or ten cycles?"

"One hundred thousand years. That's the most conservative estimate. If we include the blank period before the Primordial Era and the subsequent records, the actual time could be even longer."

The live chat exploded with comments.

"One hundred thousand years?"

"Human civilization has only existed for six or seven thousand years! What does 100,000 years even mean?"

"They ruled a place for 100,000 years... I can't even last three years in a single job."

"Countless leaders have come and gone over ten thousand years, but the Chan Sect has remained unchanged. What level of organizational stability is that?"

"Six or seven thousand years vs. one hundred thousand years. What's the difference between us and ants?"

"The duration of the ancient cultivation civilization is completely beyond our cognitive framework."

"The professors must have gone mad."

The research institute is indeed in an uproar.

Three comments popped up in quick succession on Professor Li's dedicated chat channel:

"Ms. Chen, are there any earlier chronological records? Were there other chronological systems before the Hunyuan Era?"

"100,000 years is just a period of time. The actual lifespan of civilization must be much longer. Please look for records related to 'Genesis' or 'the beginning of time'."

"Please make sure to record the names and emblems of the seven major sects clearly. This is crucial for subsequent research on the internal sectarian structure of the Chan Sect."

Chen Siyao responded. She took out the stone carvings from the niche one by one, photographed them, recorded them, and labeled them with the year and a summary of the content.

The emblems on the back of the seven chairs were also photographed in close-up.

The workload is enormous.

But when Chen Siyao did this, she was completely in a state of flow. Everything outside of her was cut off.

Yang Wanqing stood there for ten minutes and realized that she couldn't get involved at all.

"Yaoyao, I'm going to take a walk around the neighborhood."

"Okay. Don't go too far."

"understood."

Yang Wanqing left the main hall and strolled around the Yuxu Hall complex.

This place is much larger than the Tushita Palace. In addition to the main hall, there is a side hall on each side, and several courtyards behind it.

Above the door of the left side hall is the inscription "Tian Shu Hall". Pushing open the door, you enter a circular hall with a round platform in the center and stone benches around it. It resembles a modern round-table conference room.

The side hall on the right is inscribed with "Document Room".

Yang Wanqing pushed open the door.

This hall is smaller than the Tian Shu Hall, but it is much richer in content.

The four walls were all covered with shelves, each shelf containing different types of objects: jade plates, stone slabs, scrolls, and some other items she couldn't recognize.

There was a row of long tables by the window, on which sat an inkstone, a jade brush, and a blank stone slab.

"An office," Yang Wanqing muttered, "an ancient version of an office."

She walked around the room and rummaged through several shelves. Most of the shelves were empty, with only a few still containing some CDs and other documents.

Then she saw something.

On a shelf in the corner, there is a cage-like object.

It's made of bamboo. Very exquisite. The cage door is open.

On the table next to the cage lay a stack of thin pieces of paper—not paper, but some kind of thin jade tablets. Each tablet had brief writing on it.

Yang Wanqing picked up a sheet and looked at it.

"...Presented to the Jade Void Hall. The thirty-seventh resident elder of the Northern Star Immortal Sect requests a transfer order."

I took another one.

"...Forwarded to the Five Materials Palace. The list of auxiliary materials for this month is attached."

letter.

These are letters.

Yang Wanqing looked at the bamboo cage, then at the letter.

A thought flashed through her mind.

Then she rushed out of the document room.

"Yaoyao! Come quick!!"

Chen Siyao was squatting in front of the niche in the main hall, holding a stone carving in her hand that recorded a detailed handover list for the fourth duty cycle.

"Yaoyao! Come quick! There's something fun here!" Yang Wanqing's voice came from outside the hall.

She didn't move.

"Qingqing, I haven't finished organizing yet. Take a look at it yourself first."

Yang Wanqing refused. Footsteps approached from afar and rushed into the main hall.

"Oh, we can tidy up anytime! You'll definitely want to see what's over there! It's a hundred times more interesting than these stone slabs!"

"The inscription on the stone tablet dates back 100,000 years..."

Before she could finish speaking, Yang Wanqing grabbed Chen Siyao's wrist and dragged her outside.

"Let's go! We're already here! We can't just leave without the documents!"

Chen Siyao stumbled as she was pulled, and helplessly put the stone carving back into the niche.

"Be gentle."

"Hey."

Yang Wanqing dragged her along as they jogged to the right-hand side hall, the document room.

After entering the room, Yang Wanqing released her hand and pointed to the bamboo cage in the corner and the pile of jade letters.

"Look at this."

Chen Siyao walked over and picked up a jade piece.

I glanced at it for a few seconds.

I took a second one. Then a third one.

Then she looked at the bamboo cage.

"Carrier pigeons?" Chen Siyao said.

"It wasn't a carrier pigeon." Yang Wanqing shook her head, her expression one of eager excitement to reveal the answer. "Think again... what did we see on our way here?"

Chen Siyao thought for two seconds.

"Crane".

"That's right!" Yang Wanqing clapped his hands. "The size and shape of this cage are just right for a crane to stand on. The jade tablet is covered with official documents and letters exchanged between the various palaces. The messengers aren't human... they're cranes!"