Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

Fang Zheng couldn’t use magic in this world, but after all, he was the Time Dragon, so the power of the dragon definitely remained when the Divine Soul reincarnated. During this period, Fang Zheng traveled around, not only gathering refugees but also searching for interesting animals and capturing them.

Most of the animals in this world are not much different from modern ones, but perhaps due to the martial hero world aspect, there are quite a few unique species. For instance, martial arts novels often describe things like a thousand-year ice toad that, once eaten, grants immunity to all poisons and increases one’s power by a hundred years. Such creatures certainly don’t exist in Fang Zheng’s world, but surprisingly, similar species do exist in this world.

Moreover, Fang Zheng found some of the creatures described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, with the most famous naturally being the Four Sacred Beasts: Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, and Xuanwu. Of course, these Four Sacred Beasts weren’t as mystical as described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. After communicating with them, Fang Zheng found that these exotic beasts were merely longer-lived, smarter, and looked a bit peculiar.

However, Fang Zheng discovered a point, namely that most of the creatures described in the Classic of Mountains and Seas were actually prehistoric holdovers!

Take the most famous Four Sacred Beasts, for instance: the White Tiger is the renowned Saber-toothed Tiger. When Fang Zheng saw it, he was so excited that he wanted to take a picture right away...

The other Three Sacred Beasts are similar: the Azure Dragon is a genetically mutated snake, likely a descendant of the Titan Python. It’s entirely green, nearly fifteen meters long, and its weight is measured in tons. Perhaps due to a throwback, this Titan Python’s head resembles a dinosaur, and from a distance, it does look like an Azure Dragon weaving through the forest.

As for Xuanwu, it was a giant earth-patterned terrifying tortoise, nearly four meters long, with just its head being one and a half meters. Such a creature would surely scare ancient people senseless.

The Phoenix is also a kind of prehistoric giant bird, standing three meters tall, with a wingspan of at least seven meters. Just seeing such a prehistoric giant bird fly through the sky is enough to make people’s hearts tremble.

From this perspective, the Classic of Mountains and Seas is actually quite scientific, considering prehistoric animals were generally large, and ancient people loved exaggerating. The well-known "There Are Fish in the Northern Abyss, its name is Kun" is likely a prehistoric marine creature as well. After all, in modern times, there are occasional reports of discovering supposedly extinct prehistoric creatures in the deep sea, so prehistoric creatures surviving ancient catastrophes and taking a stroll isn’t all that unusual.

Moreover, during the era of the Classic of Mountains and Seas, ancient people lacked the artistic skills and had to make do with existing descriptions, naturally leading to a bunch of errors. For instance, the description "six legs, four wings, snake body" in the Classic of Mountains and Seas might look like an amazing creature – but actually, it’s just a dragonfly.

You couldn’t say these descriptions were wrong either.

This highlights the importance of classifying creatures; at the very least, you won’t have to imagine things based on a bunch of vague and inaccurate terms.

For Fang Zheng, ideally, he could find a couple of Tyrannosaurus Rex to guard the gate, get a Triceratops to pull the cart, and have a group of Plesiosaurs to create an impressive scene... Alright, he could dream about it when he goes to make Jurassic Park.

The above is scientific, but there are also unscientific aspects.

That is, these prehistoric creatures, especially those that have lived for a long time, almost all possess special powers akin to inner strength. Of course, they couldn’t call the wind and rain exactly, but they were already very close to some martial arts TV dramas depicting inner strength. For instance, Xuanwu has an inner strength barrier that can block physical attacks, while the Azure Dragon uses inner strength to condense moisture into ice fog... This is like the Golden Bell Shield or Mystic Ice Palm.

Fang Zheng found this intriguing, but he didn’t particularly care. After all, this is the Record of Seeking Qin world, and if Fang Zheng’s memory serves, there will be Twin Dragons of Tang, Shattered Void, and Flip the Clouds and Rain following it. Not to mention Twin Dragons of Tang, Shattered Void and Flip the Clouds and Rain both depict martial arts supreme masters shattering the void and leaving the mortal world.

Of course, viewed scientifically, this is similar to humans breaking through their original limits to become higher-dimensional beings. Purely scientifically speaking, it’s understandable, but using martial arts to achieve such effects seems very unscientific.

However, Huang Yi’s martial arts novels inherently jump back and forth between science and non-science, so this world naturally follows suit without anything strange.

These animals immediately charmed Ji Yanran, as girls inherently love small animals, and Fang Zheng collected many cute-looking animals, among which the most famous is the giant panda, a national treasure. Fang Zheng kept them directly in the courtyard of the Carefree Palace, and seeing these adorable and fluffy creatures, Ji Yanran couldn’t resist and rushed to hug them, showering them with affection.

She had long forgotten her apparent image as a talented young lady.

"If Young Master Fang doesn’t mind, Yanran is willing to lend a helping hand."

After playing with the panda, Ji Yanran was full of satisfaction, and her attitude towards Fang Zheng couldn’t be better.

"Yanran knows many talented scholars in the Six Kingdoms who feel unappreciated. If Young Master Fang agrees, Yanran is willing to invite them to the Carefree Palace."

"That would be excellent."

Fang Zheng nodded. Although Ji Yanran doesn’t have much fame in history, she is the number one talented woman in the Record of Seeking Qin. Without discussing anything else, she certainly knows more people than Fang Zheng at this time. Besides those from idioms and stories—like Zhao Gao who points out a deer as a horse, Lian Po who apologized sincerely, Xiangru who returned the jade intact, Qin Shi Huang as the ancient emperor—he knows nearly no one else.

Previously, when Fang Zheng sought people, he would arrive at a place, inquire around, identify his targets, approach them, and chat to assess their abilities before offering invitations. This method is indeed quite time-consuming, but Fang Zheng has a thousand years to spend, so he doesn’t mind taking the time.

However, now that Ji Yanran is willing to help, he is certainly happy about it. Nonetheless, Ji Yanran made a request—she wants Fang Zheng to accompany her.

Fang Zheng didn’t mind this. The novel "Record of Seeking Qin" didn’t specify Ji Yanran’s exact age. Well, that’s the novel. In reality... alright, Fang Zheng wouldn’t be foolish enough to ask Ji Yanran about her age. Based on his observation, Ji Yanran’s age should be between eighteen and twenty years old. Considering ancient people usually married and had children at fourteen, Ji Yanran would be considered a mature young woman in this era.

If Ji Yanran weren’t truly unparalleled in talent and beauty, she might have married and had children long ago. But due to her immense charm, nobles and literati from various nations are enamored with her. The reason Ji Yanran wants Fang Zheng to accompany her might be to declare to the world that she’s off-limits, so others won’t bother her.

After all, this world doesn’t have newspapers or broadcasts, and Ji Yanran certainly can’t make a public announcement. The most convenient way is to take Fang Zheng to visit the dignitaries of various nations—regardless of the era, the speed of spreading rumors always surpasses the speed of light.

But Fang Zheng didn’t really care, since Ji Yanran hadn’t mentioned this idea to him, and besides, he’s quite calm about Ji Yanran. On one hand, he doesn’t take romantic relationships too seriously, and besides, Ji Yanran hasn’t confessed to him yet; maybe she’ll fall in love with Xiang Shaolong as the original plot suggests?

In any case, being able to easily gather talent is enough for Fang Zheng, and Ji Yanran’s issue can wait to be dealt with later.

However, the return journey was smooth, so smooth that it was... simply surprising.

"It’s really strange."

Ji Yanran, dressed in a tight outfit, rode forward on horseback. She looked around, puzzled.

"Why is there no one on this road?"

Ji Yanran’s puzzlement was reasonable. Be aware, they were traveling on the official road back to Daliang. And considering it’s ancient times during the tumultuous Warring States, if an enemy army invades, you obviously can’t send a telegram or make a phone call to inform the rear.

In fact, on Wei Kingdom’s official roads, soldiers generally set up checkpoints and camps, and there would even be beacon towers. This way, if enemy troops invaded, they could immediately relay the news to Daliang.

But seeing that not even a ghost shadow was in sight, if an enemy invaded, they could charge straight to the capital without a fight.

This naturally made Ji Yanran very suspicious, but she couldn’t figure it out. However, Fang Zheng seemed calm. He rode on the White Deer, turned his head to look back.

"We’ll know the specifics when the people behind come?"

"Behind?"

Ji Yanran turned around, following Fang Zheng’s gaze. Soon she saw a large group slowly moving along the official road toward them.

And the flag they carried was...

"It’s Zhao Kingdom’s envoy corps?"

"Indeed, looks like we’re in for a good show."

At this moment, Fang Zheng laughed and said. His eyesight was tens of times sharper than ordinary people. While Ji Yanran could only see a mass of silhouettes, Fang Zheng could clearly see the one leading at the front, mightily clad in armor and riding a warhorse, was Xiang Shaolong.

It’s truly unexpected to encounter them here again.

Seeing Xiang Shaolong and the others, Fang Zheng also smiled and slightly lifted the corners of his mouth. If he remembered correctly, in the original, Xiang Shaolong accompanied the Princess of Zhao Kingdom when she married into the Wei Kingdom to steal the Lugong Secret Records.

Though the plot differs from the original somewhat, one wonders how Ji Yanran might react upon encountering Xiang Shaolong here?

He indeed has a slight interest in this.

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