280 Overzealous Madman

Meng Qi fell silent as he thought about it. What kind of true setup would result in the same outcome no matter how he responded to it?

What exactly was the key point he had missed?

Wang Siyuan did not give Meng Qi time to think. Cool and confident, he said, "When it comes to schemes and traps, you can actually look at them from another angle. The reason why they exist in the first place is necessarily based on a premise. The ones who create such schemes and traps aren't able to directly take you down. It may be due to a difference in strength, or some other handicap they have."

"For example, if I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't really need to set anything up. I'd find an expert of the Exterior from my family to team up with, then take the opportunity to strike on a dark and quiet night in a desolate location. Afterwards, we could just destroy any traces of our actions. It does sound simple and violent, but it's also the most effective way, more so than any scheme or trap."

"Of course, the other possibility is that they're trying to achieve some other objective through dealing with you."

Meng Qi nodded in agreement. "Your words are kind. I was just considering that too. If there were an expert of the Exterior in the trap, then it wouldn't be so troublesome. They could've just ambushed me when I'd opened the coffin, instead of worrying about whether the scheme would fail because there are too many variables. If it was a scheme that harmed me, I'd have my ways of clearing my name. That's why I got straight to the point to gain an advantage in terms of speed, so I could find the real clues."

Of course, Meng Qi would clear his name using the Green Ribbon official seal on him. With the imperial court and Six Fan School behind him, any normal Martial Artists Community master would nicely talk to him. Murders with planted evidence usually had some holes in their plans. Several experts of the Exterior from Six Fan School had an extraordinary passion for inspecting corpses.

"I have indeed calculated that your current course is safe, and that you possess an object that can clear your name. However, you've been persistently avoiding using it. Can you tell me why? Can you tell me what it is?" Wang Siyuan handed his zither over to his servant girl. He then put the chessboard back in place.

"Tsk, so there are also things that you don't know about..." Meng Qi gave a smile and casually replied, "Because I believe that the Astounding isn't a reckless man, once he has calmed down, he'll find out that something's not right and that the matter isn't that hard to resolve. Thus I don't want to reveal my secrets too early."

Had the family of the victim been on the level of the Exterior, Meng Qi would have already been scrambling to produce his official seal.

Wang Siyuan shook his head. "No, apart from the object used to clear your name, you still have some other tricks to preserve your life. Even if you really encountered the culprit who happens to be of the Exterior level, you still wouldn't be scared. Or if I suddenly revolted against you, you'd still have a way out."

"How did you figure that out..." Meng Qi suppressed the tumultuous feelings within and chuckled instead. "It really is inconvenient for me to tell it to strangers."

Wang Siyuan did not delve any further. After confirming his deductions, he suddenly asked something totally irrelevant, "You're good friends with the Fairy of the Extinctive Sword and you've fought the Astounding before. Do you think they're strong or weak?"

When killing You Huanduo, Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei had acted in a familiar manner. However, any master with good information networks already knew that the Killing Blade and the Fairy of the Extinctive Sword were good friends. They believed that it was a friendship that had blossomed since the Shaolin Temple tourney.

Meng Qi thought about it for a moment. He carefully considered his choice of words to avoid exposing Jiang Zhiwei's secret. "In terms of realms, Jiang Hengchuan, who has already consummated the Oneness of Heaven and Men is stronger. The wonders that his realm alone can bring makes him far superior to the average Nine Acupores. On top of that, he has Exterior ultimate moves, is within the top ten ranks of the Ranking List of Young Masters, and is as strong as his reputation suggests. On the other hand, Zhiwei's sword art has reached the realm of Transformation. She has begun to work on Dharma and Logos, which complements her swordwill. With Nine Acupores open, she could reach the realm where heaven, man and sword are one. If we also take into consideration her Dharmakaya fatal moves, her current rank isn't strange."

"If the two cross swords, they each have their own strengths and weaknesses, so I dare not easily say who will win. Moreover, their condition, momentum and extent of consummation of their soul also play a part."

In this aspect, Meng Qi believed that Jiang Zhiwei's swordwill and decisiveness were slightly better.

"With such insight, you must be pretty good as well. Your current position on the Ranking List of Young Masters is a bit low, but there's still hope. If you stabilize your Seven Acupores, do a preliminary adjustment of your Inner World and improve your bladesmanship and sword art, you might be able to fight your way into the top ten," said Wang Siyuan.

Then he followed up with a criticism, saying, "Jiang Hengchuan is still a bit weaker in the end. He can't maintain his 'Oneness of Heaven and Men' condition for long. He had harbored such hopes when he had gone into rehabilitation, but alas, they have now been destroyed."

"Within the top ten, there are at most five who are able to maintain that state for extended periods of time." His five fingers were pinched together to show how small that number was.

Meng Qi digested this statement. He suddenly felt that when he had been battling the demoness, the latter had never unleashed her true strength. When she had been on the Eight Acupores level, she had relied on Dharmakaya ultimate moves and battle records to push her into the top ten. It was impossible for her to have mastered the "Oneness of Heaven and Men" then. However, when he had met her again at Three Mountains and Four Waters, she had already opened Nine Acupores. It was entirely possible that she had already achieved "Oneness of Heaven and Men"...

At the thought of this, Meng Qi questioned with a hint of suspicion, "Childe Wang, you must be among the five people you mentioned. You've had your Nine Acupores opened for almost three years and your every move contains the principles of heaven and earth. Since you're already at this stage, why haven't you made a breakthrough?"

Wang Siyuan stared at Meng Qi for a moment, then burst into laughter. He laughed so hard that he started coughing, and then coughed so hard that he could not breathe. The maid quickly set the zither down and stroked his back. She glared at Meng Qi with daggers in her eyes. "It's all your fault for making our child laugh so hard!"

Meng Qi stared back with an innocent look. "Was what I said that funny?"

After a long while, Wang Siyuan coughing finally ceased. His handkerchief was soaked with a scary bright red that made Meng Qi startled. His mind began wandering as he thought about how the most effective tactic to deal with Wang Siyuan would be to tell jokes if he ever had to fight him someday. He would just let the man laugh until he died from coughing...

"You were kicked out not long after you had enlightened your Acupores, so it's natural that you don't know." Wang Siyuan picked up a white chesspiece and placed it on the chessboard. "Opening the Hidden Latch of Life and Death, the bridge between Heaven and Earth for communication and the convergence of inner and outer realms are very important. They are the true foundation for training. One could make a wrong move at this step because of his rashness, where one has no clear idea of his own path or the Inner World he desires, or even because one has yet to consummate his Oneness of Heaven and Men. If one forcibly tries to break through the barrier like that, his foundation will be shaky. Even if one tries to make up for the lack of strength, it will be extremely challenging."

"In today's world, I don't know how many experts of the Exterior have already suffered like that. It will be difficult for them to make huge breakthroughs for the rest of their lives."

He knew that Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei were good friends, so he could find out the details from her. Thus he chose not to hide anything.

Meng Qi attentively listened. He had been fixated on enlightening his Acupores before and had thus not chased after any details about what happened after Nine Acupores were opened. Now he finally understood that it was a major branch of knowledge.

Whereas the Sword Emperor he had met in the World of Samsara had already been contemplating his own path and sword...

"When the inner and outer realms converge, the inner realm becomes evident. The human body and Vital Spirit change accordingly, one's soul is raised to a higher level, and the foundation of one's path is forged. There is no way out, and thus there is the saying 'the Hidden Latch of No Regrets'." Wang Siyuan set a black chesspiece down on the chessboard as he played a match against himself. "The reason why He Jiu, Demoness of Grand Luo, and I have been suppressing our realms to avoid breakthroughs is that we are thinking about our own paths. We are adjusting our Inner Worlds such that our bodies and souls are in the best agreement with each other. This will allow the strongest resonance to occur with the outer realm."

"And once we've made our breakthroughs, success will follow naturally. Our foundations will be stable and we will improve tremendously."

Meng Qi had finally resolved one of his doubts. "No wonder those further down the Ranking List of Young Masters have already attained Half-step Exterior Scenery while you all are still at nine acupores."

"We're still considered normal. Back then the Outer-sky God Sword, Senior Su Wuming, had chosen the fiercest and most dangerous path from Sword Washing Pavilion. He had to face the Sitting Fatal Barrier and fight with himself." A rare look of admiration appeared on Wang Siyuan's face. He continued, "Sword Washing Pavilion has many Dharma Access for those seeking their own Sword Principles. They each have their advantages and disadvantages. One of them is the 'Sitting Fatal Barrier'. Once one has won himself and broken through the barrier, his Sword Principles would be complete and he can overcome countless obstacles. However, if one fails to beat himself, he will die alone in his room without anyone ever knowing."

"In the history of Sword Washing Pavilion, the number of people who have managed to break that barrier can be counted on two hands. Every one of them went on to become almighty big shots. Even the worst of them was on the Half-step to Dharmakaya level. Senior Su Wuming broke through the fatal barrier three years ago and his sword light that spread far and wide could be seen from miles away. Afterward, apart from the minor standstill with the three major Celestial Ladders, he easily achieved all his goals. In nine years he could reach Ninth Heaven."

As Meng Qi listened, his thoughts drifted off. It was truly admirable that people from the previous generation were so accomplished.

Wang Siyuan changed the topic again. He asked, "What else have you found amiss from your previous experience with schemes and traps?"

It was somewhat difficult for Meng Qi to keep up with the man's thoughts because they wandered all over the place. He paused for a bit before answering, "The timing was too coincidental. I didn't think it could be so coincidental before, so I suspected that a master could have been following me and calmly setting everything up. But if it had been such a master, he could've just directly taken action. There was no need to go through all that trouble."

"Moreover, when I had given my all in an attempt to escape at the end, they could've just ambushed me with a stronger nine acupores master. I would've been completely dealt with for sure. But it was calm and quiet instead. Unless they don't have any intention of killing me?"

"But they couldn't have known in advance that I have a move that is near the Exterior level. It was very likely that I could've perished at the hands of Jiang Hengchuan."

Wang Siyuan laid down another white chess piece. He smiled and said, "Don't be in a hurry to mock any illogical or foolish-sounding areas. Think about it first. Why is it illogical? Could there be any inevitable reason behind it?"

"For example, the mastermind wanted to kill you but was hindered by certain reasons. He couldn't make it too flashy and needed you to die in a normal way so it wouldn't raise any suspicion. Therefore he chose not to act and chose not to ambush you, because that would alert others."

Meng Qi slowly nodded. Regardless of how logical his conjecture was, Wang Siyuan's way of analyzing problems was unique indeed. It was worth learning.

"That makes sense," agreed Meng Qi, after he had considered Wang Siyuan's words for a while.

Wang Siyuan placed a black chess piece down. "You have to start from these places and think about them to uncover the inevitable reason. Only then can you lock on to the mastermind."

"You know who he is?" Meng Qi calmly asked.

"Of course I do." A mischievous smile flashed across Wang Siyuan's face all of a sudden. "But I'm not going to tell you."

Meng Qi felt his face twitch. "Your image, Master Wang watch your image!"

"Then why are you helping me to analyze so much?" Meng Qi tried to question him with his own actions.

Wang Siyuan seemed to calm down as he straightforwardly replied, "I'm here in Maoling because someone challenged me. He wants to compare our setups and is using several young masters who have come here for various reasons as our pawns. I like this idea very much, and so I came."

"You are not a chess piece which originally belonged to our chessboard, but a variable. That's why the opponent has been trying to get rid of you in a hurry, while I'm going to use you to mess up the situation."

Meng Qi lightly sucked in a breath. The situation in Maoling was becoming increasingly strange. No wonder Six Fan School had been unable to find out before. "Then all the more you should be telling me information so that I can help you mess up the situation."

Wang Siyuan laughed a little, and they sounded like coughs. "No. I'm going to let you find out yourself. Then things will get even messier, to the point where they're no longer under my control."

There seemed to be a fire blazing in his eyes. It clearly revealed his fervor when it came to situations that ran out of his control.

"An overzealous madman..." Gazing at Wang Siyuan, such a thought suddenly popped up in Meng Qi's mind.