However, Xiao Xue wanted to refine something like an elixir of immortality. Ordinary medicinal cauldrons definitely wouldn’t work.
Fang Ling said solemnly, "Imperial Physician Lin, this palace is not like the outside world. There are many ancient treasures, and there must be a hundred-year-old medicinal cauldron somewhere. Think about it carefully."
Seeing Fang Ling's serious look, Lin Mowen did not dare to neglect him. He quickly frowned and thought about it. After thinking for a long time, he still could not figure it out. He muttered to himself, "This medicinal cauldron is made of ceramic. If it's made of copper..."
At this point, he suddenly patted his head with a happy face.
“You’ve thought of it?” Fang Ling was inwardly delighted. He had originally planned to look for Chen Mou when Lin Mowen didn’t have any clues, but seeing Lin Mowen’s sudden realization, he hurried to ask.
Lin Mowen chuckled, “I just remembered, a hundred years ago, our Chu State had the matter of refining a copper-colored medicinal furnace.”
“Copper isn’t easy to damage, then is it still intact?” Fang Ling asked happily.
“Of course, it’s under the Moon Lake.” Lin Mowen smiled.
"What? Under the Moon Lake?" Fang Ling was a little confused. The Moon Lake was the big lake at the foot of the North Mountain. The medicine cauldron should be in the Imperial Palace. How could it be under the Moon Lake?
Lin Mowen explained. “A hundred years ago, the Empress had a strange illness at that time, and she’d always sought treatment but to no avail. At that time, a minister obtained a medicinal formula that was said to be capable of treating injuries from somewhere. But this medicinal formula’s refinement method was special, and it required the use of a special copper medicinal cauldron to be refined. Thus, Emperor Chu specially ordered craftsmen to cast a medicinal cauldron from copper. However, before the medicinal pill was completed, the Empress had already passed away, so this medicinal cauldron was sunk into the lake as a sacrificial offering.”
Hearing this, Fang Ling remembered that he had indeed read this historical book 100 years ago, so he asked, "So, the tripod should still be in the Moon Lake?"
Lin Mowen smiled and replied, “Of course. That thing is not worth much. I’m afraid no one will try to catch it. The lake looks calm on the surface but it’s actually quite deep. The water below is turbulent. Even a good swimmer wouldn’t dare to step in easily.”
Fang Ling smiled. Indeed, there were very few people with good swimming skills around the Imperial City, but he was indeed an exception.
When he was six or seven years old, Dong Canghai often let him practice in the pool in the back garden in order to practice to hold his breath. He hadn't learned to hold his breath yet. When he learned how to swim, he could stand out in the pool after thirteen years old. At that time, Fang Ling hadn't gone swimming.
However, now that he could hold his breath for half an incense stick of time and had practiced swimming before, there should be no problem exploring the bottom of the Moon Lake.
The next morning, Fang Ling arrived at the Moon Lake.
Moon Lake was extremely vast, with large amounts of peach trees planted along the lakeside. It was said that every year, when peach blossoms bloomed, there would be a scene of a sea of people.
However, everyone knew how dangerous the Moon Lake was. The old men in the city knew that there were several undercurrents under the Moon Lake, surging and rapid. No matter how good one was at swimming, he would lose his life if he was not careful.
Therefore, the people who lived in the Imperial City for a long time only appreciated the beauty of the Moon Lake, and no one dared to treat it as a swimming place.
Fang Ling stopped in a forest beside Moon Lake. He took off his coat and jumped into the lake.
It was winter now, so the lake water was bone-chillingly cold. Fortunately, Fang Ling had the Sun's Fire Force in his body. As soon as he entered the cold water, the fire force was immediately activated. The heat spread all over his body, but he didn't feel anything about the cold water.
Sure enough, the lake was as deep as rumored, at least a dozen meters deep. Although there was ample sunlight during the day, when he dived to the bottom, his vision was still a little blurred.
However, Fang Ling was not discouraged because of this. He was determined to find the medicinal cauldron here, so he searched carefully while swimming.
The bottom of the lake was vast, and there were many long aquatic plants growing there. Fish would occasionally swim past them.
Fang Ling’s hand dug into the mud at the bottom and noticed that the mud was very thick. He stretched out his hand and couldn’t even see the bottom of the mud.
Feeling that it was about time to stop breathing, Fang Ling floated out of the water, took a deep breath, and dived down again.
From the lakeside to the center of the lake, from one end to the other, Fang Ling was determined to find the medicinal cauldron. He did it over and over again, again and again, without letting go of any place.
As the saying went, hard work paid off. When it was almost noon, Fang Ling finally found traces of the cauldron in a place surrounded by aquatic grass.
This place was located in a corner at the bottom of the lake and was surrounded by piles of crushed stones. In addition, it was an aquatic grass area, so it was very easy to overlook this place. Fortunately, Fang Ling had sharp eyes and saw that half of the cauldron’s handles were exposed.
This medicinal cauldron was actually not that large. It was currently buried in the mud, surrounded by water plants. Fang Ling was overjoyed, one hand grabbing the cauldron’s edge, forcefully pulling.
Unexpectedly, the cauldron seemed to be stuck in something, and it didn't move at all. Fang Ling used all his strength to pull it again, but the cauldron also didn't move.
Shocked, Fang Ling grabbed the edge of the cauldron tightly with both hands, channeling the Solar Fire Force into his arms, turning it into a tyrannical force.
With a sudden tug, the cauldron was finally pulled out. At the same time, the waterweeds at the bottom of the cauldron revealed their true forms. It turned out to be a thick chain.
Just when Fang Ling was feeling puzzled, the chain had already moved a square iron plate at the bottom of the lake. As soon as the iron plate was opened, a gloomy hole appeared. The water quickly flowed inside, forming a very fast whirlpool.
Fang Ling cursed silently. He had not expected such a situation to occur. Just as he was about to swim away, however, the flow of water was too fierce. The entrance of the cave was like an open maw with a powerful suction force, sucking him in.
After Fang Ling and the sand and gravel were sucked in, the metal plates were covered again. The surrounding mud and gravel piled up with the flow of the water, and not a single trace of it could be seen.
The water flow is rapid. Fang Ling simply has no way to resist. The only thing he could do was to try his best to keep calm. He discoverd that he seemd to have entered an underwater passage. The water flow went straight down along the passage, bottomless.
After a while, they finally reached the end of the passage, but there was an endless stream of water. However, the water didn’t move, like stagnant water.
At this time, Fang Ling’s breath had almost reached its limit. He instinctively swam upwards, and just as he couldn’t hold on any longer, he suddenly emerged from the water.
He greedily breathed, as if he had escaped a life or death calamity. When he discovered the situation around him, he could not help but grow curious.
He was currently in a small pond. This pond should be connected to the Moon Lake through a winding waterway. Moreover, the water was extremely deep.
In the middle of the deep pool, there was an enormous cave, and next to the pool, there was land. In front of the cave, there were stone steps that led deeper into the cave.
Greatly surprised, Fang Ling got out of the pool and walked in along the stone steps.
The light inside the cave was dim and he could only move forward. However, Fang Ling was still able to tell that the stone steps were man-made. Even the stone walls were as smooth as the surface of a mirror. There were also many grooves. On top, there were torches. However, these torches had long burned out and could no longer be used for illumination.
At the beginning, the stone steps were winding and precipitous, but they gradually opened up. When the two walls before them suddenly opened up towards the distance, Fang Ling had suddenly arrived before an enormous stone path.
On both sides of the stone path were carvings of various divine beasts. Each of them was at least five to six meters tall and had a ferocious and sinister expression on their faces. To the sides of the stone path, there were two stone pavilions with a tablet that towered over ten meters in height.
Fang Ling took a closer look and was shocked. This tablet actually recorded the lifetime achievements of Great Song’s Emperor Xiaowu.
In fact, there were many places where inscriptions about the emperor's merits could be seen, but this tablet of sacred merits could only be seen in the Imperial Tomb. If it was made here, could it be that this was the tomb of the emperor of the Song Dynasty?
"Yes, isn't this huge stone passage for the emperor's soul to enter and exit?"
Fang Ling was very familiar with history and knew a lot about the wars between different countries. The State of Song was a prosperous country three hundred years ago. It was one of the strongest countries in the land at that time, including the current Chu State, the State of Cai in the north, the State of Wu in the east, and the State of Yue in the south.
Originally, the Great Song had had high hopes of unifying all of the countries in the world. However, the later generations of emperors all began to conquer the lands, becoming cruel and bloody. As a result, the people found it difficult to survive, and the strength of the country gradually declined.
Especially the last emperor of Xiaowu. He revered martial arts and was cruel and heartless. In the ten years of his rule, feudal princes from all over the world wanted to rebel. Ten years later, when he died and there was rebellion everywhere, old ministers surnamed Chu led the troops to occupy the imperial city. This was the predecessor of the Chu State.
Regardless of whether it was the State of Cai, the State of Wu, or the State of Yue, they were all subjects of the Song Dynasty in terms of bloodlines. From this, one could tell how magnificent the Song Dynasty was back then.
However, there was one strange thing in history. When the old officials captured the imperial city, they didn’t find Emperor Xiaowu’s corpse.
One must know that generally speaking, when an Emperor ascended to the throne, he would send people to construct the Emperor's Tomb. Generally, it would take more than a decade or two decades, or even longer. Some would even be repaired when they were about to die. It was the same for the successive Emperors of the Song Dynasty.
However, Emperor Xiaowu was an exception. It was said that he didn’t build the Emperor’s tomb during his reign, and after his death, people didn’t even know where his corpse was.
This matter eventually became an unsolved case. Fang Ling never expected himself to uncover this secret.
Who would have thought that the tomb of Emperor Xiaowu was hidden under this lake?
Now that he thought about it, that metal board was the entrance to the tomb. It was hidden in the mud at the bottom of the lake and probably weighed over a hundred kilograms. If it weren't for him channeling the power of the Solar Fire Force, he probably wouldn't have been able to open it at all.

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