------
Han Yan lowered his gaze.
The object was roughly the size of two fingers and felt surprisingly cool even beneath the afternoon sun.
Its shape resembled an irregular jade token, yet it was clearly not jade.
The material was unlike anything Han Yan had ever seen.
Its surface possessed a faint silver-white luster that seemed to shift whenever the light touched it.
Tiny patterns covered every inch of the object.
The lines were extraordinarily intricate, twisting and interweaving like flowing rivers.
At first glance, they appeared random.
Yet the longer one looked, the more one felt there was a hidden order behind them.
Near the center rested a small symbol.
Han Yan could not recognize it.
The symbol resembled an ancient character yet looked nothing like any writing he knew.
For the briefest moment, it almost seemed as though the mark shimmered.
When he blinked, however, it returned to normal.
The token itself was unexpectedly light.
