Chapter 1309: Only Bewildered at That Time
Chapter 1309: Chapter 1309: Only Bewildered at That Time
The Divine Foot Calendar is the calendar of the Divine Foot Lineage, compiled by the former Supreme Elder Jiang Ming.
It is said that Jiang Ming once suddenly observed the sundial upon the Star-picking Platform by day, and watched the stars and moon by night; at last he was moved and devised a calendrical system belonging solely to the Divine Foot Lineage.
Later, for reasons unknown, Jiang Ming actually offered his own body in martyrdom, sacrificing his heart beneath the starry sky. Thereafter, the Star-picking Platform he had personally constructed was renamed the Heart-Picking Platform, to commemorate the passing of this elder.
Within the Divine Foot Calendar, Jiang Ming set one year as ten months. Because nine is the extreme and ten the limitless, thereby conforming to the Way of the Ancient Ten Spirits.
Each month he fixed at thirty-six days, to accord with the Heavenly Gang; an additional five days completed the year, in accord with the Five Spirit Cultivators; every three years an intercalary was added, with one extra day, designated as the day for the king to close his gates and rest.
From the first reign title Juyuan, to the later Jushen and Juye, every time power shifted within the clan, the reign title would be changed.
The reign title set by the current Divine Foot King is Juzu; this reign title was used for only 4,721 years...
[In the four thousand seven hundred twenty-first year of Juzu, in the third month of spring, the sun in Heavenly Prediction, the king sacrificed to Heaven and Earth and awakened the blood; it was inauspicious, and the Prince Qi was expelled.]
[The Princess Consort was inauspicious, was banished to Jishan, and sentenced to the third degree of punishment.]
[The Second Ancestor rebuked the king; the princes fell into turmoil and burned the palaces and halls.]
[The king fled; the people bore resentment and seized the king in the wilds.]
[Ji Jun arrived, and the chaos thus ceased.]
[The sun in Heavenly Leisure; the king was suppressed at Jishan, sentenced to the first degree of punishment.]
[The sun in Heavenly Valor; the Second Ancestor administered affairs, the princes and all officials assisted, this was called "Republican Rule", and a new reign title was established.]
"This level of revision should do, right? I’ve already pushed Spring and Autumn brushwork to the extreme; if the Second Ancestor is still dissatisfied, then there’s nothing more I can do..." In the Taishi Pavilion, Historian Si Luo put down his carving knife and bamboo slip. When he thought of what had happened a few days prior, his expression was still somewhat complicated.
The Blood Awakening Ceremony ought to have been a grand festival of the clan, yet no one expected that this time something would go wrong.
It is said that the legendary Dog God Curse once more saw the light of day, sweeping through the entire city, which led to the entire clan going mad together, actually becoming of one mind and overthrowing their own great king...
Yes, it must have been that legendary curse; otherwise, why would even an Immortal Emperor be unable to control himself? Even I, an Immortal King who has concealed his bloodline and cultivations, was unable to escape.
Whenever he thought of the shameful remarks he had uttered at the time, Si Luo’s face turned as black as charcoal; he wished he could consign that black history to the flames.
[My name is Si Luo. My previous life was called No Morning or Evening; in this life I am temporarily three thousand three hundred years old, currently living in the East Suburb Bamboo Forest of Divine Foot City, unmarried. I work at the Taishi Pavilion; I only work four hours—Two hours later—each day and absolutely never work overtime. Though I am an Immortal King, I am willing to pose as a Void Fragmentation junior, with a single-minded desire to live a peaceful life. I do not consort with women, because I dislike weak demons; women like Jiang Yuan simply disgust me. I also drink only in small sips, merely because the taste of wine reminds me of the Spirit Suppressing Wine the executioners would spray onto the beheading blade when I was being punished in the Heavenly Prison; I sip it to overcome my Heart Demon. I like strength; my favorite kind of demon is the Netherworld Elephant, and only then the Earth Giant. I like resilience; my favorite plant is bamboo. I love listening to the sound of rain in the bamboo forest, for that calms my heart apertures, thereby suppressing the killing intent that grows ever harder to control. But ever since the seven princes of the Chaoyue Dragon Palace were born, this realm’s winters have been unendingly calamitous, snow falling in the third month. Deprived of Rain Intent for too long, my killing intent has overflowed; lately, whenever I see bamboo slips discarded by other historians, I lament that my beloved bamboo has been abandoned and feel an urge to bathe the Taishi Pavilion in blood... I once sought out an Elder Ling to read my face; Elder Ling also said that I am perfectly normal.]
No, I can’t think about what I said that day anymore...
Fortunately, Emperor Jishui descended a spirit sense and dispelled the curse, thus bringing the turmoil to an end.
Yet by then the overthrow of the royal government had become an established fact; the clansmen naturally could not allow the old king to be restored—back then there had been no few people who had joined in beating the old king, and many feared being called to account afterward. Thus, after the princes and officials deliberated together, they ultimately decided to suppress the Divine Foot King at Jishan...
The irony was that the great king had originally intended to suppress his own Princess Consort, yet in the end the one suppressed turned out to be himself.
Thus the old king abdicated, and the new king was a foregone conclusion.
However, since the princes’ struggle for power had no result, each refusing to submit to the others, the kingship could not be settled. The clan had no choice but to temporarily implement the ancestral system of republican governance, with the two Supreme Elders administering affairs, and the princes and all officials participating in government, jointly managing clan matters.
Of course, many people also recommended that the Second Ancestor once more take control of the kingship. But the Second Ancestor was occupied with unlocking the mystery of the footprints in the starry sky and had no interest in power, so the matter had to be dropped. Even this so-called administration of affairs was in truth only meant to cover those great matters concerning the rise and fall of the clan; ordinary minor matters they did not intend to concern themselves with.
Yet there was one matter the Second Ancestor took particular interest in, and that was the recording of the clan’s history...
The Second Ancestor did not wish the Historian to record this upheaval in too much detail. After all, an entire clan simultaneously contracting rabies—can such a thing really be recorded? Is the plan to let the descendants mock their ancestors’ black history for all generations?
Therefore, Si Luo had to ponder each word again and again; if the clan history were written in a way that displeased the Second Ancestor, it would be sent back for revision.
He had already rewritten it five times and did not want to write a sixth.
The main thing was that the end of his shift was approaching; as for him, Si Luo, he absolutely does not work overtime.
Thus, carrying the fifth version of the dossier, he left the offices and headed toward the clan’s forbidden ground to deliver it.
On the way, Si Luo encountered quite a few colleagues and clansmen. Some people who used to greet him warmly, upon seeing him now, all showed a certain fear, only daring to salute him from afar.
All because Si Luo, who had posed for an entire lifetime as a Void Fragmentation junior, had had his status as an Immortal King exposed by a bout of rabies.
If he were merely an Immortal King it would be one thing, but he just had to be a problematic Immortal King whose mind was not entirely stable, suspected of having an antisocial personality...
Moreover, because Si Luo had babbled that he had once been punished in the Heavenly Prison, some busybodies went to consult the Heavenly Prison’s records and actually dug up a certain hidden segment of Si Luo’s past, leaving former colleagues and friends all aghast.
In his youth, this Si Luo had actually been a monster suppressed within the Heavenly Prison!
Such a monster, for reasons unknown, had been released from the Heavenly Prison and gone into hiding under an assumed name in the Taishi Pavilion... this was far too terrifying!
"So, in the end, my peaceful life has been shattered by others. Since that’s the case, I might as well follow that Elder Ling’s advice and abide by my own heart..." Killing intent surged in Si Luo’s eyes; it was a sign that his spirit sense was on the verge of losing control.
He struggled with all his strength against the Heart Demon doing mischief, yet even so, his gaze at this moment still frightened the surrounding clansmen into scattering like birds and beasts...
The world made him feel ever more lonely and at a loss. From the moment of his birth, he had been different from the demons of this world, an anomaly. But if others had no problem, then the one who had a problem could only be himself...
Thus, whether Heavenly Prison or Hell, for him there was essentially no difference in where he stayed; it was nothing more than a change in the instruments of punishment he faced.
Time held no meaning for him, and life had no sense of reality either. In the past, he had only regarded himself as an Old Monster with an empty shell, drifting beyond the world; yet in the end, the Yin Mountain Ghosts of the prison told him he was not even an Old Monster—they were not of the same kind...
To cultivate the Dao, one must have a direction; only then is there a Dao.
He could not find the direction in which to proceed, could not distinguish front from back, could not touch left or right. Whichever direction he chose, there was only endless darkness; walking within it, he could not even be sure whether he was truly moving forward.
Yet there was one person who granted him redemption, who led him out of the icy Heavenly Prison, and even taught him a Heart Method to restrain the Old Monster within his heart. That person to him was like both teacher and father, like the entire world. But in the end that person chose to martyr himself beneath the starry sky, causing him to fall once more into bewilderment...
The world once again lost its color. Even so, he had, subtly and unconsciously, grown fond of the peaceful life that his mentor had left him.
But now, this peaceful daily life was, in the end, about to be lost...
If his killing intent loses control, he will probably have to return to the Heavenly Prison again, or perhaps, what awaits him this time will be a cell even colder than the Heavenly Prison...
He could have endured the darkness, if he had never seen the light. But now, the sunlight only casts his loneliness into a deeper desolation...
The light of the world will not shine upon such a ghost as him a second time, unless a miracle occurs...
"Being alone is loneliness. One person seeking another person, one sentence seeking another sentence, is still loneliness. Some people, in their life, are fated to pass through three rains. In the first rain, they come to understand the taste of loneliness; in the second rain, they come to understand that the world is not only loneliness; in the third rain, they walk within storm and long night... You cannot use loneliness to face darkness. You must use fire."
A voice suddenly sounded.
A palm pressed down on Si Luo’s shoulder from behind, letting a vast, sea-like tranquil Rain Intent flow into his body, soothing his heart to calm.
"Use... fire?"
"You are... Prince Qi? Many thanks for saving me, Your Highness..."
Si Luo’s expression was grateful, while his heart was deeply surprised.
He secretly thought, isn’t this Prince Qi just a mere mortal? Before, he was about to be expelled for being too weak. How could he possess such Rain Intent, deep like an abyssal sea, able to pacify in an instant a deviant path that even a Heavenly Prison could not suppress—what kind of earth-shaking means is this, how could it appear on a mortal?
Could it be, this person, just like I once was, is deliberately hiding his strength, only wanting to live a peaceful life?
Or is there truly someone in this world who can be born holy...
"It was merely the lift of a hand. Brother Si Luo need not offer thanks. Now that Heaven and Earth are without rain, if your killing intent loses control again, you can come find me at any time." Ning Fan promised.
Within his smile, a trace of reminiscence flashed by. Clearly, he saw some shadow of old acquaintances upon Si Luo, and so was willing to lend a hand.
But there was no need to make it clear.
In this unfamiliar reincarnation, even Ji Fuyao failed to recognize him, all the more so others.
Then there is no need to expose everything; instead, he should further walk his road of Nifan, seizing this fine opportunity to stir up another reincarnation.
If he were merely Ning Fan, he could sit with this Si Luo and reminisce, speak of other possibilities within the man’s parallel reincarnations.
But at this moment, he can only be Nifan.
"This is my own illness. How would I dare trouble Your Highness..." Si Luo seemed slightly moved, but after all, he was not familiar with Ning Fan. The friendship of gentlemen is light as water—this was the teaching of that elder. He remembered it at every moment, never willing to owe too many favors.
Yet any favor already received, he absolutely would not dare forget. This too was the teaching of that elder.
Ning Fan had just infused Rain Intent to treat him; this favor, he needed to ponder carefully, how to repay it in a manner that would appear solemn.
This was a great favor. If his killing intent had lost control just now and he had slaughtered his own clan, he would definitely have lost his present peace—this was the last thing that elder had left him. He did not want to lose it.
Ning Fan: "No need to be so formal. You are an Immortal King, an important link in my clan’s clan fortune. Helping you is also for the clan fortune to prosper. This is not a private matter, but a public one. Of course, if you still feel uneasy, you can bring some consultation fees when you come in the future. There’s something Brother does not know—recently, my household has acquired a money-eating rice weevil who squanders wealth like dirt. Every day she demands enormous research funding from me. Though I possess mountains of gold and seas of silver, even I feel it slightly strenuous to keep this rice weevil fed..."
Ji Xiaoyao: "Let me see, which little lapdog is badmouthing people behind their back~ Ah, if it isn’t the one I like best, Lord Gold Master~ Your Highness is loaded, and you’ve only used a teeny bit of your money. Why feel so heartbroken? You’re not at a loss at all~ I’ve brewed tea and poured water for you many times, and even my most beloved tea leaves have been drunk by you to the tune of hundreds of catties. See, I don’t feel any heartache. Instead, I’m in a happy mood, having written several Dao scroll reports~"
Ning Fan: "Of course the young lady is delighted. If someone gave me a hundred gold every day to spend, and also gave me a piece of experimental material that could not be killed no matter what I did, letting me act freely and collect data, I suppose I too could become a delighted person."
Ji Xiaoyao: "You clearly enjoy yourself as well, don’t you~ I use Qilin Tea to collect data, and you let your Poison Path grow day by day. The desolate power of this tea, to others is a curse, yet to you is inconceivable refinement. I only charged you a trifling hundred gold. How is this conducting research? It’s clearly charity~"
Si Luo: "Your Highness, a hundred gold truly isn’t much. Senior Jishui’s grace to my clan is as lofty as Jishan; even aside from that, countless people wish to kneel and beg with ten billion, a hundred billion gold, and Senior would not spare them even a word. Take someone like me, a mere Historian— even if I disguise myself as a Void Fragmentation junior, my annual salary is several million Divine Treasure Gold. A mere hundred gold truly isn’t worth a single..."
Ning Fan: "I’m talking about Heavenly Dao Gold."
Si Luo: "?"
A single tael of Heavenly Dao Gold can be exchanged for several hundred billion Divine Treasure Gold or more. Are you sure you’re giving her a hundred taels of Heavenly Dao Gold every day?
Si Luo: "Forgive me, it is this junior whose horizons are narrow. This junior still has matters to attend to. Please allow this junior to take his leave first. The two Seniors may continue their talk at leisure..."
Si Luo was increasingly certain that Ning Fan was no mortal, and simply decided to place himself directly in the position of a junior.
If he were not born holy, who could squander a hundred gold every day without blinking? Even an Initial Saint would not dare to burn money like this!
He thought to himself, no wonder Emperor Jishui, who shakes the entire Huaiwo World, is willing to come here and cling to Prince Qi every day. The clansmen dare not discuss this openly, but in secret countless rumors have long spread.
There are several versions of the rumors, some scented, some uncanny, some brimming with countless reversals...
Yet the true reason behind this affair turns out to be merely that His Highness’s family fortune is so rich as to be somewhat abnormal?
The truth is not explosive, but quite reasonable. If someone were willing to offer a price of a hundred gold per day, even a True Saint would be moved, much less Emperor Jishui who has yet to attain sainthood...
The problem is...
If His Highness is truly so wealthy, then if I visit the door and simply bring money, will it appear insufficiently solemn...
Si Luo silently pondered Ning Fan’s preferences, intending to prepare seriously and only then pay a visit to thank Ning Fan for today’s rescue.
Guessing another’s preferences was somewhat difficult for him, but his master’s command could not be defied—favors must be repaid, resentments must be answered. If even his master’s command were forgotten, then in his heart truly not a single shred of faint light would remain.
Speaking of which, those words His Highness said earlier—what deeper meaning did they hold...
Use fire to overcome darkness...
But, whence comes the fire...
He did wish to ask for some guidance, but His Highness was busy conversing with Senior. He should not interrupt.
...
Si Luo sensibly took his leave.
Ning Fan gazed at Si Luo’s figure hurrying off work, feeling that in this vast world, indeed all manner of wonders exist.
Mu Luo turned into Ming Luo, loving bamboo and thus finally gaining bamboo; Senluo hung his severed head, begging for rain yet never receiving rain; and this Si Luo, he only wants to live a peaceful life, alone, bustling back and forth...
All phenomena in Senluo, myriad phenomena with a thousand faces—so this is one of the faces as well...
Just like her, too, whose blossoms show a thousand faces, each one not quite the same...
Ji Xiaoyao: "You care a lot about this Si Luo, don’t you? Could he be some acquaintance’s otherworldly self~ Or is it that the reason you’re helping him is purely because you want to increase the Earth Giant Clan’s clan-fortune? Need me to give you a hand? I’ve got all sorts of treasures, absolutely top quality and cheap—like this one... ta‑da~"
A streak of black moonlight flashed, and a treasure instantly appeared in Ji Xiaoyao’s hand.
It was a... rotten-wood sword scabbard.
Different time and space, similar experience—when he was young, a little demoness had borrowed someone else’s hand to pass along to him a rotten wood sword scabbard.
Back then, that scabbard was only a low grade Spiritual Treasure, but upon it lingered a wisp of Sword Intent that, across eons of years, had yet to be extinguished...
[Heaven and earth’s Fiendgods are all but ants. If I break my sword, the world shall have no martial arts...]
Within the scabbard was sealed a strand of Void Fragmentation level Sword Qi, and also the murmuring of a woman before she broke her sword.
The sword scabbard before his eyes, however, was different... it wasn’t even a low-grade Spiritual Treasure anymore; its material truly was nothing more than mortal wood, yet the type of wood was something Ning Fan had never seen before.
There was likewise no Sword Intent remaining within, but her aura lingered there; only, Ning Fan could not determine which her had left this aura, or if it was merely what Ji Xiaoyao had left upon touching it...
Ji Xiaoyao: "Ah, you seem to recognize this scabbard. Can you tell me what function this sword scabbard actually has? With all my methods, after several million experiments, all I could confirm is that it’s a sword scabbard whose meaning is unknown. But that’s exactly the problem... why would such a scabbard be made into a Divine Treasure, stored in the central burial chamber of that kind of tomb? It’s far too strange~ Or perhaps, to the master of the tomb, this object bore a significance greater than any treasure in the world~ But what exactly is that significance? I really want to know. If you clear up my confusion, I’ll do a buy‑one‑get‑one deal and gift you a treasure that suppresses good fortune, so you can more easily increase the Earth Giant Clan’s fortune~"
Ji Xiaoyao flipped her hand again and produced a little bell treasure, which turned out to be something Ning Fan had seen before.
The Eastern Heaven Treasure, the Heaven Suppressing Bell...
Ji Xiaoyao: "Interesting. From your eyes, it’s as if you’ve seen this bell before. Clearly I only cut this bell fragment out of a Divine Treasure not more than a few years ago, and fully restoring this bell still relied on your little gold reserve. In this life, no one ought to have seen this bell, not even me; I’ve only faintly tested out that this object has extraordinary effect in suppressing good fortune. Yet you seem to have seen it. Can you tell me, when and where did you see this bell, and what connection do you have with it? I can add more pay~"
Ning Fan: "..."
Ning Fan said nothing, only looked at this bell, a faint sting in his heart.
The Heavenly Dao Gold I gave you in this life—you used it to restore this bell, and thus incurred certain fates in the next life...
If I hadn’t given you Dao Gold to squander, would Eastern Heaven have no such bell, no Bell Sacrifice, no Senluo Destroyed Bell, no fate where the little demoness nearly had to become Primordial Spirit Sacrificial Wine...
The more I resist, the more misfortune I call down upon you...
But even if I don’t resist, would those people really let you go...
Ji Xiaoyao: "Your gaze shifted down to the left—as if you’re remembering; there’s a trace of pain hidden in your expression. Looks like there are quite a few unbearable memories in there, which only makes me more eager to probe a bit. I mention the words ’past events’, and you unintentionally look at me—could it be that it has something to do with me as well? You know an otherworldly me. Did I guess right~"
Ning Fan: "..."
Reincarnation truly is beyond words, that it can turn such a clever girl into an adorable fool in the end.
You’re all Ji Fuyao, so why is the one in my head not as smart as this one in front of me...
Ant Lord: "?"
Ant Lord: "You’re not secretly insulting me, are you? But you also call me adorable... what’s that supposed to mean!"
Ji Xiaoyao: "Oh my, I seem to have heard something astounding. So there’s actually this kind of relationship between us? That only makes me more curious about who you really are~"
Ant Lord: "?"
Ant Lord: "Inconceivable! This woman who imitates this palace in every way actually seems able to hear this palace’s inner voice!"
Ji Xiaoyao: "Can’t hear it. Things of reincarnation that cannot be spoken—just using ears won’t let you hear them. But if the souls are in the same frequency, you can follow the progressive increase and decrease of the Twelve Bell Modes, cause the five tones in the soul to resonate, and ultimately attain the marvel of Five-tone Harmony, transcending the unspeakable boundary. Blow the pitch and listen to the sound, the soul sounds align, and their tone is Shang Gong; sounds of the same kind follow one another—that’s simply the nature of things. What’s so strange about it? I’m Gong Yin, while you at best can only be Yu Yin. With Gong listening to Yu, why must I deliberately listen~"
Ant Lord: "Five-tone Harmony Twelve Clocks! This is a technique I created myself, but even I have forgotten some of its essence. You, woman who imitates this palace in everything, actually stole this palace’s ultimate art—and you even learned the complete version. How is that possible!"
Ji Xiaoyao: "?"
Ji Xiaoyao: "You actually truly think I’m imitating you? You really don’t know who I am? All this time, you weren’t just playing dumb?"
Ji Xiaoyao: "So sad. Suddenly I don’t really want to talk to a fool anymore. Before this fool asks a question, she never seems to think—and answering low-level questions is exactly indulging a fool. So, Lord Gold Master, may I mute her? Otherwise I might genuinely get so embarrassed I’d want to bang my head against the wall, and I’m really afraid of pain~"
Ant Lord: "Who are you calling a fool! Having that annoying butterfly belittle this palace every day is bad enough, and now a sparrow like you thinks you get to look down on this palace... mmph, mmph, mmph..."
Ji Xiaoyao activated the power of the Unspeakable Seal.
As a Synchronized Feather Soul, the Ant Lord immediately lost the ability to speak. Feeling this power that shared the same source and flow as her own, the Ant Lord instantly figured something out, yet only found it unbelievable!
This has to be fake. This little girl isn’t imitating me... she’s the former me!
But that makes no sense. I have no memory of her at all, nor do I recall a strand of spirit sense living under the name Ji Xiaoyao. Is it that this residual soul body of mine right now is too shattered to contain that memory? But even if there’s memory loss, it shouldn’t leave such a huge blank; there shouldn’t be no trace to follow. However, resonance of the soul sound can’t be forged, so what exactly...
Furthermore, if she is me, that means I had already met Ning Fan’s Daoist Thought in the past. Yet I likewise have no memory of that, not even the slightest strand of causality left about it, as if someone erased it...
Ning Fan: "..."
This is troublesome.
If she and herself end up at odds, who should I help...
Ant Lord: mmph, mmph, mmph...
Ji Xiaoyao: "Don’t be afraid! You’re my Feather Soul—how could I bear to bully you. I’m just letting you be quiet for a bit~ Learn from my Golden Lord Highness a little, will you~ Look at him: he knows the world is dangerous, so even though he clearly has a thousand things he wants to ask me, he still chooses to be sparing with his words. Clearly he’s willing to go on at length with Si Luo, but when he faces me, he instead becomes hesitant. For a Riddle Man like him to have his heart waver because of someone—hard to picture, isn’t it~"
Ji Xiaoyao: "The more he’s like this, the more curious I get. Or perhaps, making me care this much is precisely the true purpose of this ’playing hard to get’. If that’s really the case, then my Golden Lord seems to be quite good at attracting girls~ You couldn’t have had a lot of women, right? I know a foolish little bird who, in every illusory dream in the world, met a young man, each one different~ Could it be you also have the same number of little girlfriends~"
Ning Fan: "..."
Ji Xiaoyao: "I was just joking. You could actually deny it, you know..."
How could Ning Fan possibly deny it?
He really did have that many women; the difference was... every single one of them was her.
Lying is a kind of deceit.
But being honest would be completely at odds with Nifan’s persona.
He could feel that his words had already led her into misunderstanding, yet he had no way to explain...
Ji Xiaoyao: "Don’t mind it. Even if you were a hundred million times more fickle than that idiot chick, it still has nothing to do with me. Compared to that, I care much more about your past."
That was a lie.
In truth, she still minded it a little...
Ji Xiaoyao: "You recognize all the grave goods in my hand, and you seem to have once formed some evil karma with me. Otherwise my Feather Soul could never have gone all‑in, fighting you to the bitter end like this. I’m curious about everything Unknown, but you definitely won’t talk, will you~ Interrogating that idiot ant is much easier; I can directly learn everything seen from the ant’s eyes. But that would be somewhat dull, and its soul sound obviously has deletions and edits. At that rate, even if I use Five‑tone Harmony to gather intelligence, the authenticity is hard to guarantee, and it’s easy to be misled in the tiny details."
Ji Xiaoyao: "The distance between truth and falsehood often lies in just a single word. Sometimes you don’t even need to change a word—just switch the tone you use to state it, and you can get a completely opposite ’fact’. A scholar ought to be rigorous. I’m willing to use more rigorous methods to examine everything about you. But before that... you should pay up. You’re my most, most favorite Lord Gold Master~"
She was only teasing offhand, yet even she herself failed to notice how real the "like" in her mouth truly was.
And so the deal was struck. She lent Ning Fan the Rotten Wood Sword Scabbard and the Heaven Suppressing Bell, and in return received a hundred gold of research funding, then left with a squint‑eyed smile.
She hummed an old, cheerful ballad under her breath, a song in the Yue Language that, to Ning Fan’s ears, sounded wistful and hollow.
And when that faint wistfulness, via the resonance of soul sound, was reflected back to Ji Xiaoyao, it only made Ji Xiaoyao’s mood grow all the more buoyant.
What a silly, muddle‑headed Lord Gold Master~ Seeing me leave, is he really that reluctant, that sad~ Since that’s the case, I’ll carve out a bit of tomorrow’s break time to go see him again~
After all, this is a walking pile of money you don’t meet once in a thousand, ten thousand lifetimes. Instead of letting his little treasury be emptied by billions upon billions of little girlfriends, better to let me spend it, right~
How wonderful~ This kind of life where you don’t need upper‑level approval and you can have money anytime you want~
This Gold Master just gets more and more likable every time I look at him~
So even if Lord Gold Master really is an enemy, even if every kind gesture is a trap and all good things ultimately turn into blades, it still doesn’t matter, right~ Rather than fearing loss, better to enjoy the moment. Anyway, I won’t be the one taking a loss~
Lending this unknown‑function scabbard and Funeral Bell to Lord Gold Master can both help him and let me take the opportunity to figure out some of the hidden uses of these grave goods.
Lord Gold Master, who seems to be a descendant of an Ancient Country, really does recognize these grave goods. If I can convince him to help me research the Divine Ship, Divine Bow, Divine Arrow and the like, perhaps my progress could advance by leaps and bounds? Worth looking forward to~
I’ll just use this scabbard and Funeral Bell to test Lord Gold Master’s level. If he can successfully demonstrate the hidden functions of the two treasures, or if he can break the little riddle I left inside them, I won’t mind inviting him to go with me into that Divine Tomb~
This really is a blood‑profit, no‑loss transaction~
And with my treasures around, when Lord Gold Master increases the Earth Giant Clan’s fortune, it will certainly be all the more convenient. This is a matter where cooperation benefits both sides. I don’t snatch money, I don’t swindle money, I only earn money~ And I might well make a killing, while Lord Gold Master absolutely won’t suffer a loss. That, in turn, is the entirety of how I stand in the world...
This is... the Shang’s Path!
For merchants, speech lies in profit, agreement lies in contract. Those who harm others for their own gain fall short of Shang’s Path; those who harm themselves for others’ gain stray just as far.
Only cooperation and mutual benefit is true commerce.
Open cooperation, harmonious inclusiveness, market operation, mutual benefit and win‑win... If I can fulfill what my heart desires, perhaps the conflicts of the world might be reduced a little...
"Indeed, only actions that benefit both sides truly fit my Holy Heart. With such outward kingliness and inward sainthood, becoming a Saint is not far off. But for the Three Corpses, becoming a Saint is not the hard part; drawing down Infinite Water Tribulation upon this world is what I do not wish. Meritorious Sainthood best fits my expectations of a Saint. If I become a Saint by establishing merit, this world in turn can benefit from me. Yet the Dao Spirit World will never permit me to act this way... What they want is to annihilate this realm; even my path to Sainthood, in their eyes, is only using me as a tool to invoke Tribulation of Measure. It is hard to disobey a master’s command—unless I can obey in the open while defying in the dark. If that’s to be the case, the research progress on the Ancient Country Tombs has to speed up even more..."
"Speaking of which, in certain respects, Lord Gold Master matches my definition of ’commerce’ very well. So why did he take the alias Qi? He ought to be called ’Contract’! Nor should he remain in this little Jishan. If he needs to increase Human fortune to achieve certain aims, why not come along with me and help build a beautiful Ji Mountain and Ji Water together~"
"Besides, I’ve already understood what my Holy Heart desires, yet I still have a blind spot regarding the word ’human’... What is mortal? What is human? I had thought I could glean some inspiration from that mortal boy, but it turns out that so‑called ’mortal’ was just a façade with which Lord Gold Master tricked people. If I want transformation, I’ll have to look elsewhere, go traveling to other places, right? But if I do that, I’ll have to part from Lord Gold Master for a while. He doesn’t seem able to stay here long; if we part now, will we never be able to meet again..."
"Or perhaps I can try inviting him to undergo transformation with me~ Will he agree? He will, but why... I can sense the entanglement between him and my Residual Soul, and it began as evil karma. He doesn’t seem the type to develop feelings from long‑standing evil karma. There must be deeper causes behind this, but he’s deliberately hiding them from me. That’s really too much..."
"He’s willing to give a hundred gold, yet refuses to speak a single sincere word..."
"Men’s hearts really are hard to guess. Should I go consult that annoying chick? But if this catches her interest and she comes sniffing around my Gold Master... wouldn’t that mean my Gold Master would instantly have countless brothers‑in‑law across the cycles of reincarnation? Kind of amusing, but... no."
Ji Xiaoyao shot that thought down.
She loved interesting things more than anything, yet this was the one piece of fun she had absolutely no desire to witness. She didn’t even want to imagine the possibility; merely thinking of it left her chest feeling tight...
...
Ant Lord: "Mmm mmm mmm... Huh? I can talk again! That hateful woman! Next time we meet, this palace will definitely pay her back in full!"
Ning Fan: "Teeth and tongue are bound to clash now and then, but teeth and teeth can fight too—that’s a miracle of reincarnation. Truly fascinating."
Ant Lord: "Hmph! Don’t talk to this palace! You and she are of one heart. She gagged me, and you didn’t help me beat her up at all! You only know how to sit back and watch the fun!"
Ning Fan: "That’s not quite true. If I really did beat her up, would you be happy? I do actually care a great deal about your feelings; that’s why I’ve been holding back at every turn. Otherwise, with my usual style, that hundred gold I paid her likely wouldn’t have been rental for magical treasures, but rather an overnight fee..."
Ant Lord: "Overnight my foot! You—you actually dared entertain the notion of sleeping with another version of me! No way! She has the exact same face as this palace. If you, if you and she... wouldn’t that be the same as you and me... Anyway, absolutely not!"
Ant Lord: "Forget it. The grudge between this palace and her is none of your business. You mustn’t interfere, and you mustn’t lay a hand on her either! Next time we meet, this palace has her own accounting to settle; I’ll make sure she learns how formidable this palace is! Tch, not even a Saint yet, just a yellow‑haired girl, and she dares look down on me, a dignified Saint—and actually succeeded... My past self was apparently terrifying; with nothing more than Great Cultivation, she could effortlessly toy with a Jishi Saint~ I’d thought this palace wasn’t the same tier of species as you and Manzhi, but perhaps this palace’s ’great wisdom appearing as foolishness’ is only temporary. ’Clever’ is this palace’s middle name~"
Ning Fan: "You are pretty clever. Anyone who can become a Saint isn’t a fool; and if someone unfortunate is reduced to a fool, it must be because they’ve suffered catastrophes and torment beyond measure..."
Ant Lord: "I’ll allow that you got it right this once! This palace is certainly no real fool. This body is merely a Residual Soul; if you ever saw me in my complete form, you’d surely fall head‑over‑heels beneath this palace’s radiant mountains‑and‑rivers gown~"
Ning Fan: "Already fallen~ Fallen upon that Holy Heart of hers, clearer than any moonlight in this world... If all Saints in the world were like her, perhaps there would be far fewer tragedies..."
Ant Lord: "At least you have some taste! Wait—are you praising her, or praising me?"
Ning Fan: "Heh..."
Ant Lord: "Hey! Make it clear, who exactly are you praising... Don’t laugh! Every day, all you ever do is laugh at me!"
...
The tragedy of the weak is sometimes nothing more than the comedy of the strong.
The Earth Giant Clan that once left a scar on Jichen’s heart, brought to Ning Fan, on the surface, nothing but romance and reunion with old friends.
If not for Manzhi’s intrigues woven into all of this, Ning Fan might have been more satisfied. Unfortunately, his encounter with Ji Fuyao was, from the very start, merely one of Manzhi’s many baits.
So if he were to drown in this brief tenderness, and overlook the vast tragedy hidden behind it, that would be the true loss of reason.
Ning Fan knew full well he was far from being a strong man; as he was now, he was nowhere near enough to directly threaten those eyes gazing down from on high.
So he understood that the comedy before his eyes, though it seemed filled with joy at first glance, was in truth everywhere foreshadowing the coming of a far greater tragedy.
Ji Fuyao remained in the Huaiwo World with the original intention of becoming a Saint here; this was a command from her Sect that she could not disobey, or she would surely suffer harsh punishment.
But if she obeyed, she would in turn bring an Infinite Water Tribulation upon the Huaiwo World; this went against Ji Fuyao’s true heart. If she chose thus, her will would clash with her Dao; even if she attained Sainthood, her Saint Road would not stretch far...
Would she yield to the pressure of the Sect?
No, she would not.
And precisely because of this, the one who truly drew down the very first Water Tribulation upon the Huaiwo Reincarnation was not Ji Fuyao, but the Water God Gonggong...
Then what would Ji Fuyao’s fate be...
What sort of punishment would she receive...
Why was it that the Heaven Suppressing Bell she personally restored would, in another Reincarnation, carry out upon another her that cruel punishment known as the Primordial Spirit Sacrificial Wine...
Destiny is so cruel that destroying a single person is still not enough; it insists on using the most merciless methods to grind her down...
And how many times had she endured such suffering, to the point that she had grown so accustomed, so indifferent, to betrayal and pain...
When Ning Fan spoke with the Ant Lord, his words were mostly teasing and banter, but his true mood was far from relaxed or joyful; there was only... anger!
The words with which he admonished Si Luo were words with which he admonished himself as well!
Yet solitude and endurance cannot conquer that endless long night.
You must use fire!
You must use flame to light everything, to... burn through everything!
Li is fire!
Ji Fuyao cultivated Shang’s Path.
But Ning Fan was not Shang; he was Li, he was fire! He was the resolve that would never extinguish unless every enemy was burned to ash!
But it was not yet the time... The karmic threads he held now were far from enough to ignite a sky-blazing fire...
So he had to endure! He had to wait! He had to weave an even greater lie! He had to let the lamp named Nifan shine into a more distant night!
Just like this small test of his blade, he deliberately used no force, only wished to awaken the people’s will to resist, wished only to borrow the fire of revolution to overthrow the monarchy called Juzu.
The fire of a single man fears no Destiny; but if my sparks can set thousands, tens of thousands of people alight like a prairie blaze, dare you ignore this karma called Nifan! Dare you allow me and my beloved wife to miss each other lifetime after lifetime!
Reincarnation is like the sea; it may be dredged, but not dammed. All beings are like rivers; guarding the mouths of spirits is harder than guarding the rivers’ mouths.
He who can see a hundred steps away cannot see the corners of his own eyes.
The stars in the sky are not only those that shine!
The night has hidden the faint light of the dead; then let me... ignite the night!
Only thus can it be called supporting the heavens to tilt, and burning the invaders’ hearts!
Yet none of this is for the sake of saving the world; even if the result should be the same, it would be nothing but a coincidence.
I will never be any Moral Sage, because from the very beginning I have known... only the wicked can grind down the wicked!
...
[In the Year of the Republican Era, third month of spring, with the sun in Tianxiong, Prince Qi offered the Bell; the clan’s fortune greatly prospered; he was appointed Junior Historian.]
[With the sun in Tianying, emissaries from Chaoyue arrived to demand the Bell; two Ancestors were wounded; the princes were afraid; the Junior Historian repelled the emissaries; Ji Jun arrived, and the turmoil ceased.]
[With the sun in Tianman, the Prince declared rebellion; it failed; he was captured in the wilds, sentenced to palace castration, and confined at Jishan.]
[With the sun in Tianshang, the Junior Historian proposed abolishing palace castration; the princes followed as one.]
[With the sun in Tianshou, the Junior Historian accumulated merits and was appointed Grand Historian.]
In the Taishi Pavilion, Historian Si Luo put down his knife-brush and bamboo slip, having finished that day’s work, and was preparing to clock out and go home.
Work had been rather heavy of late, mainly because many major events had happened one after another within the clan; there were too many matters needing investigation and record, to the point that Si Luo had nearly violated his master’s instructions, and several times had almost been forced to work overtime.
Fortunately, there was now a new Historian in the Taishi Pavilion with extremely high efficiency, who had helped him share many tasks.
Ning Fan!
To help the Earth Giant Clan raise their clan fortune, Ning Fan had temporarily set the rented Heaven Suppressing Bell upon the Heart-Picking Platform, using this Bell to stabilize the clan’s luck, causing the Earth Giant Clan’s fortune to soar.
For this merit, Ning Fan, who ought to have been expelled, was not driven out; instead he was appointed Junior Historian of the Taishi Pavilion and received rewards.
Junior Historian was, conveniently, Si Luo’s superior.
Si Luo held Ning Fan in good esteem, and owed him a great favor besides; so even if the workload increased and Ning Fan had no choice but to make him work overtime, he would still agree.
However, Ning Fan did not do what the previous Junior Historian had done, throwing all the work to his subordinates. Instead, he took the initiative to shoulder most of the difficult tasks.
This made Si Luo extremely supportive of Ning Fan’s promotion to Junior Historian.
Naturally, there were also many people who opposed this matter, yet none dared to speak openly. After all, in the Earth Giant Clan today, who didn’t know that Prince Qi had stumbled into a heaven-defying streak of dog-shit luck, somehow winning the favor of Senior Jishui.
Senior Jishui had pacified the turmoil caused by the Dog God Curse, a tremendous favor to the Earth Giant Clan, and at the same time she was an Ancient Great Cultivator. Whoever saw her had to respectfully call her Senior. Even the two Immortal Emperors, Giant God and Juxu, had to salute Senior Jishui in the manner of Disciples, so... even though Ning Fan ought, by clan rules, to have been expelled, and ought not to have obtained an official position like Junior Historian with a mere mortal identity, the two Supreme Elders still defied public opinion and granted Ning Fan the post.
This violated ancestral precedent, yet it conformed to Senior Jishui’s wishes! The two Supreme Elders understood very well that if she did not love Ning Fan to death, then a cold-hearted person like Senior Jishui would never have lent out a heavy magical treasure like the Heaven Suppressing Bell.
She was even willing to part with the Heaven Suppressing Bell for him—what a deep, unfathomable affection that was! Or perhaps there were other calculations involved, but that was not something the two Patriarchs needed to concern themselves with.
They only needed to know one thing: Senior Jishui wanted Ning Fan to live well, and they could not go against Senior’s wishes.
Rules are dead; people are alive! The reason the clan rules demand expelling bloodline trash is because such trash might drag down the clan’s good fortune. But right now, with Ning Fan remaining in the clan lands, has the clan’s fortune lessened? It has not! Has it increased? It has! They even used a heavy treasure like the Heaven Suppressing Bell to suppress the clan’s fortune; the two old Patriarchs’ mouths were practically splitting with smiles—how could they possibly be dissatisfied?
So what if his bloodline is only Zero Star?
Who cares whether it’s a black mutt or a white mutt—anything that can bring good luck to our Earth Giant Clan is a good mutt!
This was not meant as an insult. After all, although the Earth Giant Clan had nine evolutionary demon bodies, the very first demon body could only be a mutt.
As for Ning Fan, who could mooch off Senior Jishui’s soft rice, the two Patriarchs were very satisfied. It was only that Ning Fan’s bloodline rank was too low; to rashly grant him high office all at once would be hard to convince the masses. Otherwise, the two Patriarchs would have loved nothing more than to directly appoint Ning Fan as Grand Historian, putting him in charge of all the Taishi Pavilion’s affairs, instead of merely giving him the Junior Historian post...
Unfortunately, just as the two Patriarchs obtained the Heaven Suppressing Bell to suppress the clan’s fortune and had not yet been happy for long, disaster arrived.
Seeing the Earth Giant Clan’s fortune growing more and more prosperous, the Chaoyue Dragon Clan could no longer sit still!
Chaoyue and Xianzhu were born at odds with each other. This had nothing to do with a blood feud; their paths were fundamentally opposed—one revered clarity, the other revered turbidity.
However, the Chaoyue Dragon Clan had many Innate bloodlines still in existence, while Dragons with a Candle often could only be obtained through Acquired evolution; it was extremely rare for a demon to be born as an Ancestral Torch Dragon.
And if it was an Acquired Ancestral Torch Dragon, then out of ten, nine were usually evolved from Earth Giants. This was precisely the root reason the Chaoyue Dragon Clan targeted and suppressed the Earth Giant Clan in every way.
They could not sit by and watch the Earth Giant Clan’s fortune flourish. Once the clan’s fortune rose to a certain threshold, an Ancestral Torch Dragon was bound to be born!
Unlike the high yield and high volume of the Moon Dragons of Chaoyue, even Acquired Ancestral Torch Dragons were few in number; yet once such a dragon appeared in the world, not a single one failed to be invincible among the Dragon Race...
When the Earth Giant Clan stumbled into dog-shit luck and actually obtained a heavy treasure to suppress clan fortune, the Chaoyue Dragon Clan immediately dispatched experts, intending to seize the Heaven Suppressing Bell.
The Chaoyue Dragon Clan sent out four Immortal Emperors, severely wounding Giant God and Juxu, and were nearly about to snatch the Heaven Suppressing Bell away.
At this moment of peril, Ning Fan arrived with Ji Xiaoyao!
Ning Fan didn’t even need to act; Ji Xiaoyao alone was sufficient to beat the Four Emperors of Chaoyue into fleeing with the wind at their backs.
Under normal circumstances, Ji Xiaoyao would not take the initiative to strike, but someone had chosen to commit robbery right at her doorstep.
This Heaven Suppressing Bell was merely something she had lent to Ning Fan; it was a treasured item she had spent a massive price to restore. Naturally, she could not possibly let a few little dragons of Chaoyue snatch it away.
More importantly, from what lay behind this incident, Ji Xiaoyao perceived certain hidden schemes, which made her all the more anxious to act, to block a calamity for Ning Fan.
It was only then that the Four Emperors of Chaoyue belatedly realized that the Heaven Suppressing Bell they intended to take was actually not the property of the Earth Giant Clan, but belonged to this Emperor Jishui!
Damn it!
They had been deceived by Jiang Shui Taoist! The intelligence they bought from Jiang Shui concealed such a critical detail!
This bell actually did not belong to the Earth Giant Clan, but to Ji Fuyao, the direct Disciple of the Reverse Saint!
That damned Jiang Shui, that accursed Jiang Shui!
He had even claimed that as long as they successfully took this bell, Dragon Son Yingxuan could happily obtain the Destiny of a Chaoyue Saint, and even form a good karmic tie with some Rebel Venerable... Every last word was bullshit!
Too bad their regret came too late.
In the end, this affair was pacified by Ning Fan and Ji Xiaoyao working together.
...
Now, time rolls back slightly to the moment the Chaoyue Dragon Clan came to snatch the treasure.
At that time, Ning Fan did not want Ji Xiaoyao to make a move, because from the backdrop of this affair, he saw Manzhi’s schemes and did not wish Ji Xiaoyao to be dragged into them.
Yet that was precisely why Ji Xiaoyao was the first to act!
If it were merely a case of someone trying to steal the treasure, she might repel them, but she would never be this angry. After all, she was long accustomed to being calculated against, being ambushed.
But it just so happened that, looking behind this affair, she glimpsed Jiang Shui Taoist’s scheme targeting Ning Fan...
Jiang Shui! That dangerous man—why had he set his sights on a youth suspected of being a descendant of an Ancient Country...
She did not know!
Precisely because she did not know, she had to rush to act, unwilling to let Ning Fan be drawn into it! Even though, up until this moment, she still did not know who Ning Fan truly was...
The karmic threads behind Jiang Shui Taoist were likewise unclear to her, but in quite a few documents on Ancient Country Tombs, she had seen the name Jiang Shui Taoist appear!
There were even some texts, older than Ancient Country history itself, that also mentioned this name! The references were not lengthy, yet the mere fact that a name could be left in such distant history was already terrifying enough!
No matter how eras changed, no matter how the world’s Reverse Pillars rose and fell, this man had always hidden beneath the tidal waves of history, never truly drowning...
Such an existence—how could he be easy to deal with? Even descendants of Ancient Countries, upon encountering him, might very well fall into his snare!
Ji Xiaoyao dared not imagine what would happen to Ning Fan if he were marked by such an ancient existence. Would he win? Or would he... die...
Clearly, she had only crossed paths with Ning Fan by chance, yet to sit and watch Ning Fan suffer such a calamity was something she simply could not do, no matter what.
Thus she struck first, repelling the Four Emperors of Chaoyue. And in the very instant she drove the four away, her gaze trembled for a moment, then she forced herself to appear calm again.
Got schemed against, huh...
Ridiculous how she watched out at every turn, yet still, right at the brink of becoming a Saint, got taken in by that old monster named Jiang Shui...
Not the slightest trace of "I’ve been schemed against" showed on her face.
She only smiled squint-eyed at Ning Fan, just like always, and started cheating Ning Fan out of his money again.
"I helped you drive off the Four Emperors of Chaoyue. You’d better remember to pay up, my most beloved Lord Gold Master. If it’s not at least several hundred, several thousand gold, I’m really taking a loss here~"
Ever since Ning Fan and Ji Xiaoyao met, he had remained silent and withdrawn, and never intended any overstepping.
Yet at the very moment Ji Xiaoyao tried to scam him, he suddenly reached out and grabbed her hand.
And as he held her palm, he forcibly drew out of Ji Xiaoyao’s body and into his own a Dharma Seal called the [Deciphering Seal].
"Don’t be afraid, it’s just a Dharma Seal. Removing it isn’t hard." Ning Fan let out a faint sigh.
He only wanted to maintain his Nifan persona, but when danger appeared in front of this person, he still couldn’t just sit and watch.
That Dharma Seal was exactly the scheme Manzhi had planted on Ji Xiaoyao through the Four Emperors of Chaoyue.
The target actually wasn’t Ji Xiaoyao herself, but to ultimately have this Seal fall upon Ning Fan by way of Ji Xiaoyao.
Using hidden schemes and intrigues against Ning Fan is easy for him to see through and avoid.
Only this open scheme was something Ning Fan could not dodge and had no choice but to face.
If Ji Xiaoyao really got hit by the Deciphering Seal, the Unspeakable Seal she held would immediately cancel it out, temporarily losing the power of the Unspeakable Seal.
And in the Hongjun Holy Sect, someone holding a Speech Seal who dispels a Deciphering Seal commits a serious crime, and will be suppressed at Punishment Mountain for ten eras of reincarnation.
She was just a step away from being schemed against and committing a major offense.
So Ning Fan had to act and remove this Seal for Ji Xiaoyao; this way, the one caught in Manzhi’s scheme became him.
The Deciphering Seal that Ning Fan drew into his body changed its technique the instant it entered him, turning into the [Infinite God Sealing Seal].
This so-called Deciphering Seal had from the start been refined by means of a Two-phase Technique, simultaneously possessing the effects of Deciphering Seal and Infinite God Sealing Seal; what form it showed depended on who the recipient was.
If it attacked Ji Xiaoyao, it used the first phase; if it attacked Ning Fan, it turned into the second phase.
Ning Fan saw through this move; even so, he still had to accept it.
"Hey! Are you okay! This Seal might still have a hidden follow-up, how can you be stupid enough to just suck it straight into your body!" Ji Xiaoyao, for once, was actually a bit anxious.
"Just a Sealing Skill, that’s all. No big deal."
"A Sealing Skill? Sealing what?"
"Sealing the thing you most wanted to study on me. For you, that’s a pity..."
"Pity my ass! Look at the situation, and you’re still messing around playing the fool with me! Once an existence like that makes a move, they never shoot without a target. No! We’re going to my temporary lab, I’m giving you a full-body check-up!"
"Full-body, you sure?"
"Stop talking nonsense! When this palace tells you to do something, you do it, I can’t be bothered to explain! You have absolutely no idea how terrifying that Jiang Shui person really is!"
In her anxiety, Ji Xiaoyao’s tone was no longer that tea-scented coyness from before, but instead much closer to the silly, goofy tone of the Ant Lord.
Or maybe, it was only when she was confused by concern like this that she was being her real self; what she usually showed outside was just a little mask she deliberately wore.
Still, you couldn’t really blame Ji Xiaoyao for losing her cool.
In the ancient texts she’d studied, practically none of the lines mentioning Jiang Shui were anything good! Clearly, even in the era of Ancient Kingdom Divine Spirits, and even further back in the Primordial Desolate Era, whenever Jiang Shui’s name appeared, the records were almost entirely his various pitfall deeds.
His methods were so bizarre and hard to guard against that he could be called the number-one scammer recorded in the historical sources! There was no guaranteeing that after Ning Fan took the Deciphering Seal in her stead, no further mishaps would occur!
She wasn’t Ning Fan, and so didn’t know how much of Ning Fan’s Divine Arts this Seal had locked away after entering his body, nor whether there were other side effects; but she could more or less guess that the Deciphering Seal’s follow-up was not to be taken lightly.
So, not allowing Ning Fan to resist, she immediately dragged him back to her temporary lab and gave Ning Fan a full-body check-up. As for the process of checking, it naturally could not be helped that they had to do this and that, and that and this.
Which put Ning Fan in a bit of an awkward spot.
He did want to maintain his persona, but at best he could only maintain "no persona"; as for that business of "Second Month, Two Dragons Raising Their Heads", that was really hard to keep under strict control...
And he still had to stay busy sealing off Jichen’s line of sight, so he certainly had no spare energy left to worry about minor details.
With this encounter, he didn’t even know whether he should still resent Manzhi... As the saying goes, when drinking water don’t forget the one who dug the well; his original mood of wanting to hack Manzhi into a thousand pieces had, after he got to drink a little from that well, turned into only wanting to hack Manzhi a thousand and one times.
That one extra cut was his thanks to Manzhi. What, you say it’s not "less" but "more"? Sorry, my math is terrible, I really can’t work these things out.
"You! Quit! Messing!"
"Not messing..."
"Then what the hell are! You! Doing!"
"Ask yourself. You’ve been touching this whole time, you haven’t stopped once..."
"I... I once read in a text that Jiang Shui Taoist planted a child-ending, line-cutting poison in someone, just because that person asked him for help, saying raising kids was too hard and too tiring..."
"So, looked at that way, Jiang Shui isn’t half bad—he goes straight to the root of their troubles and solves it for them. Thinking about it carefully, every time he schemes against someone, it’s always because someone asked something of him first. Could it be, in this case..."
"You’re insane! Even as a joke, don’t you dare think like that. That guy’s viciousness isn’t something you can imagine! Wait, why are you licking my fingers... That’s gross..."
"Accident..."
"Tch, putting on an act again. You’re definitely not a good person, so stop pretending to be some big bad wolf in front of me, I don’t buy it! Keep fooling around and I’ll cut your tongue off! Anyway, I can stick it back on afterward, won’t even reconnect a single nerve wrong..."
Ji Xiaoyao endured the increasingly strange atmosphere, forcibly stabilized her spirit sense, and carried out a physical check on Ning Fan.
In the past, when she used Ning Fan as an experimental subject, she would still avoid too much physical contact with him. But right now, she just wanted to cut Ning Fan into 1,080,000 pieces and verify each piece one by one before she could finally feel at ease...
As for Ning Fan, he still needed to maintain his slightly shaky persona, and couldn’t tease Ji Xiaoyao too much, now that her personality was edging closer and closer to that Ant Lord’s.
So he could only divert his own attention; otherwise, if he kept staring at Ji Xiaoyao’s serious face, he feared he wouldn’t even be able to hold on to the last bit of his act.
He started pondering over how he’d just fallen into Manzhi’s scheme, and couldn’t help but frown slightly.
"Why are you frowning? Does it hurt here? Or feel good?"
"..."
"Tch, there you go acting like a big bad wolf again!"
"..."
In this bout of scheming, he was out in the open while Manzhi was hidden in the dark; and on top of that, he even had his weakness right beside him, so of course he was immediately used by Manzhi, who could see straight into people’s hearts.
Precisely because of this, in this clash he ended up a step short on the board and took a hit from one of Manzhi’s Sealing Skills.
This Infinite God Sealing Seal really did seal his Divine Arts, but it wasn’t a permanent seal; it only meant that, in this Dao Thought Battle, he temporarily couldn’t use his Divine Arts.
This seal was specially crafted to target Ning Fan’s Divine Arts, and it wasn’t aimed at Ownership of All Things, nor at the previous version of Communication with All Things, but at the evolved Communication with All Things after Ning Fan advanced.
The proof was that, in the past, Manzhi had held Ning Fan’s Divine Arts in some disdain. At the start, he’d even only planned to refine Ning Fan, this Wood Father God, into a Puppet, not putting either spirit or Divine Arts in his eyes at all.
But this time, Manzhi used the hands of the Four Emperors of Chaoyue and Ji Xiaoyao to seal Ning Fan’s Divine Arts, going to great lengths to specifically target him. His layout was no longer as meticulous as before, instead giving off a sense of haste.
The only reason was that Ning Fan hadn’t followed Manzhi’s script and had actually developed a new function for his Divine Arts.
Manzhi didn’t fear Ning Fan’s previous Divine Arts, but he did feel threatened by the new function of Communication with All Things. So he’d rather expose the existence of the Infinite God Sealing Seal and Deciphering Seal than let Ning Fan use his Divine Arts in this Dao Thought Battle.
In truth, whether it was the Deciphering Seal or the Infinite God Sealing Seal, neither was something that could be made public. Both involved immense karmic cause and effect.
The Infinite God Sealing Seal was linked to the Ancient Deity, that went without saying.
The Deciphering Seal was a method aimed at the Unspeakable, while the Unspeakable was the Ancestral Power Talisman’s core trump. Once this seal was exposed, how do you expect the Ancestral Power Talisman to take it? Yet another storm.
If this had been just an ordinary clash, given Manzhi’s personality of refusing to suffer losses, he absolutely wouldn’t have used such taboo methods.
The price was too great, while the payoff was only temporarily sealing Ning Fan in a Dao Thought Battle; it was plainly a losing deal.
But even knowing it was a loss, Manzhi still did it, striking out in haste, causing Ning Fan to suffer a small loss while taking quite a loss himself.
It was like the two of them had played into the midgame in Go, when Manzhi suddenly changed his style, no longer aiming for a steady, solid position, but instead developing a fear of some seemingly inconspicuous stone Ning Fan had placed, and directly choosing to trade big dragons...
Ning Fan’s thoughts whirled, and in an instant he grasped the key point.
The more Manzhi feared Communication with All Things, the more it proved that his current Communication with All Things could pose a huge threat to Manzhi! A threat so great that Manzhi would rather offend an existence like that Reverse Saint, the Ancestral Power Talisman, than not specifically target it!
"This seal can only lock my Divine Arts during the Dao Thought Battle, which shows that what Manzhi fears is me using this art in some particular segment of the Dao Thought Battle, thereby triggering some result, or learning some piece of information..."
"The more he fears it, the more it shows that what he seeks, or else his weakness, lies right here!"
"Within this Dao Thought Battle, there’s a goal he’ll achieve at any cost. That goal might be some object, or it might be a secret he’s trying to hide..."
"Though my Divine Arts are sealed for now, that actually lets me see the situation more clearly... In that case, even if I temporarily can’t use my Divine Arts, I might still be able to find Manzhi’s weakness and thoroughly cut off this endlessly annoying scheme!"
"I have to string together all the clues... his behavioral logic, how much he cares about good fortune of his clan, his fear of Communication with All Things, and the fact that he seems to have lived through infinitely long ages..."
Ning Fan pondered there very seriously; he was so focused that his ’second moon, second day’ no longer raised its dragon head.
Ji Xiaoyao’s pretty face, however, was turning darker and darker.
What the hell!
The little guy that was all lively and energetic just now, how come... the banners have all been folded and the drums silenced...
Could it really be a "cut‑off‑the‑line-of-descendants" poison! After all, this matched the descriptions in the ancient texts by ninety percent...
Tch, if it’s cut off then so be it, anyway it doesn’t concern me. It’s not like I’m one of his billions upon billions of little girlfriends...
But this whole thing started because of me.
He got hurt saving me; how could I just sit by and watch while he gets despised by his billions upon billions of little girlfriends...
Or maybe... I could install a brand‑new one for him?
No, that won’t do! If this is a poison on the level of will and intent, then even if you replace ten thousand, they still won’t be fit to use again.
Besides, a poison of will will erode the whole body. Once the will of the whole body dies, he’ll inevitably be buried in bronze and Black Flame, and perish as an omen of ill luck.
I must awaken the little guy’s will to live!
Stand up for me! No surrender allowed! Don’t bow your head to this cold reality!
"Hiss! What are you trying to do!"
"Don’t worry about it... This is the Daylight Ascension method created by a certain idiot little bird. If even this doesn’t work, then you really can only give up..."
How far apart are a genius and an idiot?
Mm, you’re already an idiot anyway...