Chapter 261: Mysterious Heaven Treasure Seal

Chapter 261: Mysterious Heaven Treasure Seal

The following morning, Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun opened their eyes almost at the same time.

As people who practiced martial arts, they naturally wouldn’t waste the early morning, the best time of day.

So, there was no question of sleeping in until the sun was high.

However, after waking up, the two of them just stared at each other.

One was lying on their left side, the other on her right, staring intently at each other, and then Yang Xiaoyun's face turned completely red.

In one swift motion, she sat up, looked around to get her bearings, and confirmed it was indeed Su Mo's room.

Then, with a plop, she flopped back down, grabbing all the covers behind Su Mo and pulling them over her head.

This series of actions had Su Mo gaping in surprise.

Just as he was about to pull back a corner of the covers, Yang Xiaoyun suddenly yanked off the covers, her eyes fixed on Su Mo.

“...Last night, you said we’re getting married, right?” she asked suddenly.

Su Mo nodded. “Yes.”

“In that case, it’s fine.”

Yang Xiaoyun immediately got up. “I... I’m going to practice my martial arts. You... you can sleep a bit more.”

Just as she was about to walk away, Su Mo quickly pulled her back with a swift move.

They were sitting at the edge of the bed, once again looking at each other.

Yang Xiaoyun instinctively swallowed. "You... what are you doing?"

Su Mo inched his face closer.

He didn't say a word, but his intention was obvious.

"Ptooey!"

Yang Xiaoyun gave a soft scoff.

"!"

Su Mo's eyes widened in surprise, and in that moment of hesitation, a warm, gentle kiss was planted on his face.

The next moment, Yang Xiaoyun dashed out, and just before she reached the door, she turned back to Su Mo:

"Don't sleep, get up and have a sparring match with me."

"You just told me to get some rest..."

Su Mo was momentarily speechless but had no choice but to get out of bed.

In the morning, I had a solid sparring session with Yang Xiaoyun for a few rounds. For the rest of the day, I was busy with the comings and goings at the escort agency.

Most of the people from yesterday didn't leave a name.

For those who did, Su Mo had a reason not to visit them.

After all, he had only mentioned he would if he had the time. From now on, Su Mo would be 'unavailable' for a long time.

Even in the case of meeting these visitors, he couldn't possibly see all of them.

He would meet with those worth seeing and let others deal with the rest.

If Su Mo were to meet everyone, not only would his title as the number one expert become worthless, but he also wouldn’t be able to do anything else for a long time.

It was only in the evening that Yang Xiaoyun brought over the list of items to be sent to Wusheng Hall for Su Mo to review.

Su Mo went through each item. Most of them were requests from various merchant associations to deliver goods to the territories of Wusheng Hall.

The varieties of goods varied.

Some were gold, silver, and jade items, while others were silk and satin.

There weren't a lot of large orders; apart from a few deals by the great managers, most were from small, scattered merchants.

They weren't only helping to deliver goods but also had to escort the people to their destinations.

Su Mo picked through them for a long time but found none that were suitable.

Eventually, he picked a few as backups.

"This will do for now; we’ll choose one from these. We'll depart in three days at the latest…

"Uncle Yang can't afford to wait too long."

"Alright."

Yang Xiaoyun went through the lists. They were all simple yet quite valuable goods.

One of them was a personal escort mission with substantial reward, which Su Mo had also picked out.

After glancing at it, she set it aside, saying, "After this trip, we have to go to the Fallen Phoenix Alliance, right?

"Leaving aside the matters between you and Young Miss Wei, the contest for the leader of the Fallen Phoenix Alliance will be decided in a few months. You need to go and meet Wei Ruhan in person.

"Even before you were as well-known, Wei Ruhan thought very highly of you.

"He even wanted to marry off Young Miss Wei to you…"

Su Mo was momentarily stunned. Yang Xiaoyun hadn't brought this up all day, and he thought she hadn't noticed it last night.

He was about to say something, but Yang Xiaoyun didn't give him the chance:

"The southwest is a place where we can settle. The Fallen Phoenix Alliance can't compare to the Purple Sun Sect.

"But the good thing is that we are close friends with Young Miss Wei, and in the future, we will definitely be able to rely on her."

"I won't talk much more about your relationship with Young Miss Wei. If you can marry her, that would naturally be for the best, and it could even be said that the Fallen Phoenix Alliance would be ours.

"You killed Sect Leader Youquan and Ye Jun… or at least at first glance, you killed Ye Jun.

"The eastern factions in East City will surely be grateful to you, but along with that gratitude, is there also some fear?

"Such matters are always hard to predict.

"The Fallen Phoenix Alliance, on the other hand, can be effectively managed. No matter the final outcome between you and Young Miss Wei, it can become one of our greatest assets.

"……”

Su Mo glanced at Yang Xiaoyun. "How long have you been considering these things?"

"For a long time."

Yang Xiaoyun leaned on the desk. "Ever since I came back from Blue Wind Valley and went to the Fallen Phoenix Alliance, I've been thinking about this.

"You saved Zhaodi, and then you killed Zhou Qingchuan, officially intervening in the Fallen Phoenix Alliance's leadership dispute. Weren't you entertaining this idea back then?"

Su Mo nodded. "Alright, I'll go personally see Wei Ruhan tomorrow."

"Mm."

Yang Xiaoyun smiled. "Wei Ruhan is crafty and shrewd. He already saw that you are not an ordinary person, which is why he wants Young Miss Wei to marry you.

"To firmly tie you to the Fallen Phoenix Alliance's chariot.

"They want to enlist your support. Similarly, we also want to use them for certain things.

"However, he obviously didn't expect that your rapid rise would be so fast.

"Now, if he tried to capitalize on this, he probably wouldn't dare.

"Otherwise, when others ask him about the relationship between Young Miss Wei and you, he would have deliberately misrepresented the truth, turning what is false into reality.

"After all, once that's been said, the leadership dispute would be almost settled.

"But he ultimately didn't dare to make such a decision on his own, which actually earned him a bit of my respect."

Su Mo rubbed his chin. "You called him crafty and shrewd. He's certainly more adept at social matters than you and I. Anyway, let's not mention these things for now… Come with me."

He led Yang Xiaoyun out of the study.

Yang Xiaoyun, a bit confused, followed him to Su Tianyang's former room, opened the trapdoor, and they entered one after the other.

At the table, following the previous method, they opened the secret compartment.

Su Mo took out something.

"This is?"

Yang Xiaoyun recognized it at a glance. "The Secret Words Box?"

"Correct."

Su Mo nodded. "On this trip to the Purple Sun Sect, the great master said this item has been guarded by our Su family lineage. Now, it should rightfully fall into my hands…"

"If that's the case, why let Duan Song take it?"

Yang Xiaoyun asked.

Su Mo was momentarily at a loss for words.

Isn't this exactly why Li Zhengyuan calls Yang Yizhi a 'small villain' every day?

Su Tianyang's letter made it very clear. If I couldn't handle the responsibility, they should have someone from the Purple Sun Sect retrieve it.

On one hand, if Su Mo couldn't handle the responsibility, he naturally wouldn't be able to protect the item.

On the other hand, it was also to prevent disaster from befalling Su Mo.

Yang Yizhi had been deceiving the Purple Sun Sect the entire time. He never spoke of the changes he had undergone over the years.

It wasn't until the incident of the 'one sword, three decrees' in Profound Theory Valley that the truth could no longer be hidden.

But even then, Yang Yizhi didn't come clean.

This left the Purple Sun Sect suspicious, believing there might have been some unknown mysteries within Profound Theory Valley, so they didn't think too much of it.

However, when Duan Song saw Su Mo with his own eyes at Haoran Academy, the truth could no longer be concealed...

It's just that Duan Song was unaware of the connection between the Secret Words Box and the Su family. He was simply following orders from Li Zhengyuan. Whether Yang Yizhi's words were true or false didn't affect his mission.

Only after hearing Duan Song's report did Li Zhengyuan realize he had been deceived.

And so, the term 'Yang the Villain' was born.

But how could Su Mo explain this to Yang Xiaoyun?

So he simply said, "There are other reasons, and it's quite complicated. I'll explain it to you in detail later."

Yang Xiaoyun glanced at him, knowing that if he said something like that, he probably wouldn't elaborate later.

But she wasn't looking for a deep understanding, just curious about the Secret Words Box:

"You told me before that the slip of paper we got from Zuo Qiuyang is likely the solution to the Secret Words Box, right?"

"Have you tried it?"

"I'm about to try it now."

Su Mo said with a smile, "I've wanted to do this the entire journey, but neither the time nor the place were right."

Now that I'm back home, I finally have the time to try.

Hearing him say that, Yang Xiaoyun also became intrigued.

Su Mo then took out the slip of paper and began adjusting it line by line.

However, this thing was like a huge Rubik's cube. Knowing the solution wasn't enough; each character had to be placed in a specific position. This part was extremely difficult.

Su Mo started with great enthusiasm, and Yang Xiaoyun watched with keen interest.

But as time ticked away, Yang Xiaoyun began to feel a bit lost.

And after such a long time, Su Mo's progress was still minimal.

This task could not be rushed line by line; one had to consider the whole picture.

The precise number of steps required for a character to reach a specific position, when viewed from a broader perspective, would ultimately yield results.

Even a single misstep in this process could lead to vastly different outcomes.

After two hours of effort, Su Mo finally began to get a feel for it.

But when he turned to look at Yang Xiaoyun, she had found a spot to meditate on her own.

Clearly, she couldn't keep up any longer.

Su Mo didn't disturb her and continued to manipulate the Secret Message Box under the light of the fire.

This time, things went smoothly.

All six hundred characters were now firmly etched in his mind, their positions and the exact moments they aligned perfectly, all clear to him.

Finally, after another hour, with a gentle push of Su Mo's finger, there was a click.

All six hundred characters of the secret message were precisely placed in their designated positions.

"Done!"

Su Mo let out a soft exclamation.

Yang Xiaoyun immediately opened her eyes and in one step was by his side, lowering her head to look at the secret message box.

"Really, it worked?"

"It did."

Su Mo placed the secret message box on the table: "See, every line of text is in the right position. Exactly six hundred characters, not a single one off."

Yang Xiaoyun nodded repeatedly, but after looking left and right:

"Why hasn't it opened yet?"

"..."

Su Mo blinked, yes, he had input all six hundred characters of the secret message in order, so why wasn't the box opening?

"Could it be... we have it upside down?"

Yang Xiaoyun offered a somewhat unreliable guess.

"How could that be?"

Su Mo shook his head and turned the secret message box several times in his hands.

And as one side faced up, there was a click.

On that side, an 'X' shaped crack instantly appeared, followed by four 'petals' splitting open in four directions.

Finally, its true appearance was revealed!

"I really had it upside down."

Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun exchanged a glance and took out what was inside.

Inside, there was another box.

Luckily, there wasn't another lock on it... Su Mo pulled Yang Xiaoyun back and, with a flick of his finger, opened the box's lid using the Flicking Finger technique.

No hidden traps or weapons were triggered, and it was eerily calm.

Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun leaned in and peered into the box.

Inside was a jade artifact inlaid with gold.

"What in the world is this?"

Su Mo was slightly confused and reached out to take the object out.

The object was small, with a square base intricately carved with a dragon pattern.

It was a square seal!

When they turned the seal over and saw the inscription on the bottom, both were momentarily stunned.

Eight characters were clearly engraved on the bottom of the seal:

"Mandated by Heaven, long life and eternal prosperity."

"The Mystic Jade Seal..."

Su Mo was dumbfounded, while Yang Xiaoyun couldn't help gasping, "The Mystic Heaven Seal!"

Hearing her say that, Su Mo snapped out of his daze. Although it bore the same eight characters—‘mandated by Heaven, long life and eternal prosperity’—this was not the Imperial Jade Seal but the Mystic Heaven Seal.

It was forged from rare stones found in the northern rivers after the Great Xuan Dynasty achieved world unification.

It was the dynasty's symbol of legitimate rule.

However, when the Great Xuan Dynasty fell, its fortune was returned to the rivers and lakes.

The Mystic Heaven Seal vanished without a trace.

Until today, both Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun had assumed that this object was hidden in the Great Xuan Treasury.

Otherwise, how could the saying exist: 'He who obtains the Great Xuan obtains the world'?

Obtaining the Great Xuan's legitimate symbol and raising a call could really rally people to your cause.

From there, one could sweep through the martial world and establish a new unified dynasty.

But who could have imagined that this object had been hidden in the Su family for generations?

As Su Mo looked at the Mystic Heaven Seal, his mind was flooded with chaotic thoughts.

Yang Xiaoyun hadn't spoken for a long while.

After some time, she finally looked towards Su Mo:

"What... exactly is going on here?"

"Xiaoyun, we’ve got to keep this between us," Su Mo said solemnly. "Apart from the two of us, today's matter must not get out to a third person."

"Of course, I understand!!"

A single mysterious mechanism could cause endless conflict throughout the world. If someone were to raise a rallying cry, claiming that the Xuantian Treasure Seal was in their hands,

not only would the entire Eastern Wasteland be thrown into chaos, but the whole world would explode with disorder.

To some ambitious people, this is their greatest desire, the one thing they dream of having.

But to Su Mo, it’s a red-hot iron, burning with heat!

A red-hot iron, at that!

At that moment, Su Mo couldn't help but recall what Li Zhengyuan had told him.

Years ago, Su Chengyu disappeared for six months, ending up in a place that was like hell on earth, and finally retrieved this box.

They said that opening this box would reveal the origins of the Jinglong Society and uncover a huge secret.

Now, this so-called huge secret was already known to Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun.

The Xuantian Treasure Seal itself was a huge secret!

When it came to the origins of the Jinglong Society...

After seeing the Xuantian Treasure Seal, Su Mo couldn't help but start thinking.

When the Great Xuan Dynasty collapsed, it disintegrated mysteriously, and no one knew if there were other secrets behind it.

And if this vast dynasty had truly collapsed, there had to be some trace left behind.

The so-called Jinglong Society could easily be the remnants of that dynasty.

Su Chengyu had once said that the Jinglong Society was extremely powerful. If they were to act without restraint, no sect or faction in the world could oppose them.

But they had their restraints, so they didn't dare show themselves.

What exactly were they holding back for?

Was this connected to the mystery of the fall of the Great Xuan Dynasty in the past?

Of course, Su Mo could choose to ignore these matters.

But the problem was, what connection did the Su family have to all of this?

Su Chengyu had risked his life to retrieve this box, and now this object had been passed down within the Su family.

And who exactly was Zuo Qiuyang?

What gave him the right to possess the secret book that could unlock the secret box?

The Secret Speech Box itself comes from the Western Region... Could it be that this person is also connected to the Western Region?

And who was it that hid the Heavenly Mysterious Seal inside the Secret Speech Box?

What truth is hidden over in the Western Region?

Even someone as wise as Su Mo was momentarily overwhelmed by a whirlwind of thoughts.

Glancing at Yang Xiaoyun, he saw that she was in no better shape.

With a wry smile, Su Mo placed the Heavenly Mysterious Seal back into the unremarkable box.

Then, along with the box, he placed it back into the secret box.

Immediately after, a clicking sound was heard as the secret box was closed again.

"Let's just act like we don't know anything for now," Su Mo suggested.

Yang Xiaoyun immediately nodded and quickly stowed it away into a hidden compartment of the table.

However, she frowned. "It doesn't feel safe leaving it here. Is there any other place we can hide it?"

She looked up at Su Mo, seeking help.

Su Mo thought for a moment. "If nothing else works, I'll have to dig a hole in my room..."

Yang Xiaoyun considered it for a moment and felt that the Su family's old methods weren't very reliable.

Su Mo picked up the note and, channeling his pure Yang internal energy, reduced it to ashes. He had already memorized it anyway.

Turning to say more to Yang Xiaoyun, he suddenly heard a faint sound.

Someone else had arrived in the night, at the Ziyang Escort Agency?

However, this time, the visitor didn't seem to be there to challenge Su Mo, because Su Mo clearly heard the person shouting loudly:

"Chief Escort Su, please save me!!"