Even though System 92 had repeatedly emphasized that this world had no traces of mystic power, all kinds of strange, impossible events continued to happen. These things far exceeded what technology of this era should be able to produce.
And when she went to answer questions at Lianyi Tower to earn her first gold, the difficulty of those top-tier questions was far beyond what would be expected in a world without even basic mathematics. She had even used college-level statistics to solve them quickly.
Elara had never been able to make sense of these strange and contradictory points.
Now, everything was starting to come together.
The advanced imperial exam system of this era was likely derived from that so-called Divine Vein Gift. The iron-smelting technique that Lianyi Tower obtained from the Tiangong Pavilion probably also came from this so-called Divine Vein Gift.
So the Divine Vein Gift was actually advanced knowledge and technology from the future?
Once that thought occurred to her, Elara's original assumptions about the Divine Vein Gift completely collapsed. A new line of reasoning began to form.
If her guess was right, then why did the Divine Vein Gift appear in this world?
Was it because this world once developed into a highly advanced technological civilization, but was destroyed for some reason, and now people were digging those old techniques out of the earth again?
Or had beings from beyond this world come here long ago, leaving behind immense and advanced technology, which people later called the Divine Vein Gift and passed down?
Or were there still other reasons she hadn't yet thought of?
But no matter what the reason, the people and nations of this world must have gained benefits from the Divine Vein Gift. They knew it was valuable, so they pushed it to the highest pedestal and treated it as a god to worship.
This conclusion actually made some sense to Elara.
But when she thought more carefully, she felt that the idea was very flimsy. Most of it relied on her own speculation and lacked solid evidence to support it.
Her understanding of this world's "Divine Vein" was still far too limited.
And there was one point that didn't make sense.
If the Divine Vein Gift truly contained immense advanced technology, then why was this world still in such a primitive and backward state after being worshiped for thousands, maybe tens of thousands of years?
Even the technique for making paper was something Lianyi Tower coveted. But in 21st-century Huaguo's ancient times, papermaking already existed.
If the Divine Vein Gift praised by all nations truly possessed advanced technology, how could it not even include papermaking?
Elara thought of this and calmed down again.
She sorted out her messy thoughts and decided to put three question marks next to the Divine Vein Gift for now. She would analyze it more once she had gathered more information.
There were still too many suspicious points, too many things that defied logic. Before getting enough solid evidence, she couldn't jump to conclusions.
To become the unified faith of all the nations on this continent, the "Divine Vein Gift" definitely wouldn't be as simple as she guessed.
There must be something even stronger and more powerful in the Divine Vein, something possibly beyond Elara's imagination. Otherwise, with just a few clever innovations and technologies, she didn't believe it could be worshiped like a god by all the nations.
She also didn't believe she could use a tiny token to force back the forces behind Haochen, which were comparable to a first-tier power.
Sylvan, the dignified master of Lianyi Tower, had no reason to go to such lengths for a female ruler from a third-tier nation. There was no need for him to use everything at his disposal from the moment she stepped into this room, quietly pulling her in.
That so-called Tiangong Pavilion, which Sylvan claimed had gathered most of the divine meridian bestowment techniques on this continent and was a top-tier power, maybe... if she could one day go there herself, this doubt might be resolved.
Elara's curiosity about the divine meridian bestowment had been greatly increased by Sylvan's words and actions.
Unfortunately, something that all the nations on the continent desired wouldn't be easy to uncover.
Even if she wanted to know, she had to be patient and proceed step by step.
Elara quickly organized the major information she had just obtained, calmed her thoughts, raised her eyes, and looked again at Sylvan across from her, maintaining the core persona of this body and not withdrawing her hand from his palm.
"Sylvan, our deal isn't done yet. Let's finish the transaction first."
Sylvan, who had been waiting for her response, paused, with a trace of surprise in his eyes. Then he slowly released Elara's hand and once again showed a pleasant smile.
"Miss Bai is right. I wandered off topic."
After replying, Sylvan looked at the thin piece of iron that Elara had just taken from his chest.
"The last deal I want to make with you today is about this iron plate. I don't need your ironmaking method, I have one too. But the tools made using my method aren't as durable or strong as yours, so I want your help to improve it and see what's wrong with mine."
As he spoke, he naturally pulled out a silk scroll filled with writing from between his well-developed chest muscles. His fair hand handed the warm scroll to Elara, this time not trying to hook her fingers.
Indeed, a large chest could hide quite a few things. Elara ignored his action and took the scroll, opening it for a look. She found that the ironmaking technique was nearly mature, but the issue was with temperature, timing, and the ratio of carbon. That's why the final iron product was subpar.
It sounded like a small issue, but in practice it involved another equally critical technique: high-temperature control.
Elara had System 92's high-temperature furnace and pot-making method, so controlling the temperature was easy for her.
But for others in this world... if the divine bestowment didn't include related technology, and with no feudal systems yet established, it was indeed difficult for them to create accurate temperature-control tools.
And Elara didn't want to give them this technology either.
But then she suddenly realized a critical problem.
She hadn't known what divine bestowment referred to in the past and thought it was just some meaningless superstitious reverence.
But now... if the content of divine bestowment included advanced and imaginative techniques,
Then… the large-scale transformation of Plumera City that she hadn't hidden much—could it already have made some people think she had long possessed "divine grace"?
Considering how fanatical the nations on this continent were about divine bestowment, if she had shown techniques far beyond their time with lethal potential, she and Plumera might already have been targeted.
Elara's breath suddenly hitched.
Thankfully, thankfully the technology she had obtained from System 92 so far didn't include anything overly destructive.
When Marigold was resisting Belladonna, she had kept the ballista a strict secret. And after Belladonna was taken, the two hundred thousand soldiers surrendered. She had used Puppet Soldiers to guard all places containing crucial technology. So far, no one had dared to steal or betray her.
But that was just for now.
The more she developed Plumera and brought out System 92's various technologies, the more others would covet what she had.
Right now, just by offering iron weapons and only trading with Dahlia, she'd already attracted attention from Lianyi Pavilion.
In the future, when she started applying other technologies given by System 92 and they were discovered and spread, how would the other nations see her and Plumera?
Especially those ruthless and greedy superpowers.
Before Plumera developed enough strength to protect itself, the more advanced techniques Elara used, the more danger it would bring to her and Plumera.
Elara's fingers slightly tightened around the scroll.
Fortunately, today she had gained a bit of insight into divine bestowment.
Otherwise, although she would still hide the advanced technology from System 92, she wouldn't have taken deep precautions. In the future, she could have stumbled badly because of that.
Thinking of this, Elara let out a small breath.
Luckily, the most attention-grabbing thing she had revealed so far was iron weapons.
Papermaking and brick-firing were also amazing, but since they weren't destructive, just like she had said earlier, those kinds of technologies, even if discovered, wouldn't stir up such dangerous desire in others.
Still, from today on, she needed to be more cautious.
From now on, no matter what technology she got from System 92, when putting it into use she needed a reasonable excuse. It must not be too flashy or excessive. It had to be disguised, kept low-key.
Only by developing in secrecy and concealment could Plumera steadily and swiftly build its strength and reach the point of self-protection.
Until then, she and Plumera would need a way to stay hidden and protected...