Zheng Yin smiled faintly, feeling a little flattered. After living in the palace for a while, he had also seen that the other advisers mostly deferred to Xiang Yong. As long as the dragon king wasn’t available, he was the one in charge. To gain his recognition in an area he cared about was as much of a compliment as receiving it directly from the dragon king would have been.

“I hope I won’t disappoint the trust you are putting in me then. In general, I would suggest choosing a few topics first and slowly exploring those, looking at both sides and comparing them. This could really be anything from the daily life in the city or the countryside, art and architecture, magical abilities …” He shook his head, feeling that there was entirely too much to find enough examples to express the vastness of this endeavor. “Frankly, with just the two of us, this will take a long time.”

Xiang Yong nodded. “I realize that but I believe that is not a bad thing.”

Zheng Yin raised his brows in doubt. He had thought that the dragon king saw bettering the relationship between their people as a priority. Was he wrong about that?

Xiang Yong opened his lips but wasn’t sure how to explain for a moment. In the end, he sighed. “I just mean that we shouldn’t rush this. The relationship between the dragons and spirit beasts has always been … prone to change.” He raised his brows, not sure if these were words he should use to describe this but he couldn’t think of better ones. “I’m not a scholar but An Bai mentioned this or that after the matter with the demon-hunting sects was exposed.

“From what I remember, how close the relationship was always depended on the reigning sovereign of the dragon race. It was very good under Longjun Jinde but … not so much under his predecessor. Now, things are … ambivalent under our current king’s rule.” He furrowed his brows when he said so, not sure if this was going too far. Their king was making big progress and he hated having to say something negative about him.

Zheng Yin watched his expression and declined to comment. He didn’t know much about the relationship between Xiang Yong and the dragon king but since he was his adviser, he should have a positive view of what he did and would naturally stand behind his king’s decisions.

Xiang Yong kept quiet for a while and finally sighed. The reason the relationship with the spirit beasts was currently like this was all due to their king’s reluctance to be around them. He understood but he couldn’t tell Zheng Yin as much. This secret, he naturally had to keep it for his king. Alas, he needed an explanation. “May I … show you something?”

Zheng Yin had no idea what Xiang Yong had thought of but nodded. “Of course. The idea is to learn. No matter where we start, it will be a good thing.”

Xiang Yong nodded and stood up, waving for Zheng Yin to follow him. After leaving his study, he brought him to the treasury.

Zheng Yin glanced around, still unsure of what Xiang Yong might have in mind. He silently trailed behind him, watching the row of shelves that were filled with books and all kinds of objects. Contrary to the library, this was a place not everyone could enter so he was here for the first time. Just as he had said earlier, it was an opportunity to learn.

Xiang Yong walked to a shelf at the very back of the room that was filled with neat rows of small wooden chests. Each of them was engraved beautifully with a lifelike depiction of a dragon and a symbol in the middle of the lid.

Zheng Yin tilted his head and glanced over them, spotting many that he recognized: Ying, Heng Ting, Yu Kuai, Fang Hu, Chao He, Gao Huan, Jinde, and finally, Qiu Ling. All of these were the names of the dragon kings and queens who had ruled this realm once upon a time or — in the case of the latter — still did to this day.

Seeing this, he had a rough understanding of what was in front of him. These chests were meant to commemorate the rulers of the dragon realm and seemed to be created during their respective lifetime judging by the last chest that had been included.

Xiang Yong gave him a moment to look around and then explained in a low voice: “Originally, these were enshrined in a separate building but with the battles happening every now and then, they were finally moved here. Each chest contains accounts of the respective ruler’s life and objects to remember them by. Usually, it will be their advisers who add to them or maybe a family member like their spouse or a child.”

He carefully picked up the box which was small enough to fit on his palms. He motioned with his head for Zheng Yin to follow him and carried it over to a table not far away, putting it down just as carefully before he opened it.

Inside lay a jade orb. It was perfectly smooth, the white surface shimmering lightly in the light.

Xiang Yong quietly looked at it and took a deep breath. “They are all spatial objects to hold whatever they should. Much of the treasury is organized this way but the shrine for our sovereigns has always held a special meaning. In the past, many fell in the battles, giving their lives for the sake of our race’s continued survival. They were not just our rulers but heroes we owed our lives and the short periods of peace to. Our current king … is very much like them.”

He finally imbued some spiritual energy into the jade orb and gently took out a painting scroll, slowly unfurling it in front of Zheng Yin. “This … is something I painted and enshrined myself. The quality certainly can’t keep up with those made by famous painters but it is a piece of honest history. It depicts the day he saved the lives of me and my sister when I was only a frightened child living at the border to the demon realm.”