213 A Myriad of Monolith Comprehension Methods Part Two

One person stood on the broken fencing while watching the distant setting sun,his face filled with both sorrow and joy. Another person was pacing around theshabby thatched cottage, his mouth seemingly chanting spells, so he seemed tobe deranged. This scene was truly rather odd. Who would have thought that thesetwo youths were disciples of the heaven-shaking Mount Li Sword Sect and membersof the Divine State’s Seven Laws? Chen Changsheng had also initially been shocked, but then he had rememberedthat Liang Banhu and Qi Jian had most likely just come back from viewing themonoliths. They had likely been struck by some insight and were in the processof digesting it, so he did not bother them. As twilight continued to darken the sky, more and more people were returningto the grass hut. Gou Hanshi’s expression was as calm as ever. It seemed thatcomprehending the monolith inscriptions had not done any harm to his mind. Asfor the forcefully abducted Guan Feibai, he was worse off than Liang Banhu andQi Jian. Like a drunkard, he constantly shouted, “I can still hold on for a bitlonger, I can still hold on for a bit longer!” Chen Changsheng asked, “He’s fine, right?” “He’s fine, it’s just that he’s used up too much spiritual sense. The shockinflicted by the monolith inscriptions on his sea of consciousness was toogreat.” Gou Hanshi apologized for his junior’s lack of manners, and used his fingersto press a few pressure points to make Guan Feibai fall asleep, before tossinghim into the hut. Chen Changsheng had deliberately not used any of his spiritual sense when hehad been viewing the monolith. Now that he had seen the state of Guan Feibai,he felt that it had been right to be careful. Tang Thirty-Six returned, his face filled with fatigue. He could not musterthe strength to say anything. He waved at Chen Changsheng, then immediatelyentered the hut and went straight to sleep. The last to arrive was Zhexiu. Bythen, the night had already turned pitch-black. The many stars in the skyshined upon Zhexiu’s abnormally pale face. It was very obvious that he too hadalso consumed an excessive amount of spiritual sense. With the departure of the setting sun, Liang Banhu awoke from his stupor. QiJian had also grown tired of walking. Wiping his sweat, he returned to thecourtyard. However, upon remembering what he had done, his face flushed redfrom embarrassment. Chen Changsheng went to the kitchen to prepare dinner. Gou Hanshi brought QiJian along to assist. Before long, the house became filled with the smell ofsteamed rice, as well as other scents. Qi Jian went to wake up Guan Feibai andTang Thirty-Six for dinner. Gou Hanshi and Liang Banhu sat at the table insilence, with two plates of dried meat in front of them. “What’s wrong?” Chen Changsheng asked. The cooked, dried meat had been sliced up and split between the two plates. Onone plate, the dried meat had been fried with onions and oil, while on theother plate, it had been soaked in sugar. Gou Hanshi replied, “I…didn’t think that sugar could be put on dried meat.” Liang Banhu’s expression was somewhat fearful. “Will it taste good?” “I had it twice when I was little, it tastes very good.” Chen Changshengoffered Gou Hanshi a pair of chopsticks. Gou Hanshi took up a piece of the sugarcoated meat, and creased his brows ashe placed it in his mouth. After chewing it around, his brows relaxed. There was no way Liang Banhu would fail to interpret his senior’s expression.With gusto, he grabbed a few pieces of the sugarcoated meat for his own bowl,and then squatted over by the doorstep and gulped it all down. After dinner, Qi Jian washed the dishes. Guan Feibai sat by the table, hisface still gloomy. Clearly, he was still rather dissatisfied at being pulledaway from the Heavenly Tome Monoliths by Gou Hanshi. “Not happy?” Gou Hanshi calmly asked. Guan Feibai’s expression suddenly became fearful. He quickly got up and bowed.“This junior would not dare.” Gou Hanshi shook his head. “You still aren’t willing to leave the ReflectingMonolith.” Guan Feibai helplessly replied, “Those people whose levels of cultivation areso much less than mine are still persevering in front of the monolith.Obviously, I can still view them for a bit longer.” “What sort of things are the Heavenly Tome Monoliths? How can it be thatstudying and comprehending them is a one-day affair? Why should it occupy yourevery waking moment?” Guan Feibai was somewhat vexed. “In one month, the Garden of Zhou will open.There’s too little time…Wang Po took one year to comprehend thirty-onemonoliths. My cultivation is so far below his, and I only have a month! Howmany monoliths can I comprehend? Senior, I can only do my best to make use ofevery second.” “Although the Garden of Zhou is good, how can it compare to the Mausoleum ofBooks? Before we left the sect, master told us that regardless of whathappened, the first thing that we should do is to grasp the meaning of thosemonoliths in the Mausoleum of Books…Sect Master definitely knew of the theGarden of Zhou’s opening, so this was probably what he meant. Of course,cultivating the Dao is all on the individual, so you can make your owndecision.” Gou Hanshi shifted his gaze to Qi Jian and Liang Banhu, who were currentlywashing the dishes, then looked back at the tightly closed door. “You shouldall think very carefully about this.” “I also heard that even Mount Li Sword Sect’s Sect Master thinks the same way.” Chen Changsheng looked at Zhexiu’s pale face and shook his head. He took out afew needles, used his fingers to press a few places on Zhexiu’s shoulders, thenslowly and firmly pushed the needles in. His fingers kneaded Zhexiu’s stomachin a seemingly casual manner, but there seemed to be a rhythm to it. As he didthis, he continued to speak, “This is only the first monolith, why so anxious?” Zhexiu expressionlessly said, “It’s precisely because this is the firstmonolith that they are anxious.” Chen Changsheng sent his true essence through the needles into Zhexiu’s body,keeping a close watch on the state of his meridians, as he asked, “And why isthat?” Zhexiu looked out the window. “In front of the Mausoleum of Books, there is amonolith. There were once many names on the monolith, but later on, they wereall hacked off.” Chen Changsheng knew of the monolith Zhexiu spoke of. That monolith held aranking similar to that of the Proclamation of Azure Clouds. It ranked peopleby the speed at which they comprehended the monoliths. A hundred years ago,after the Divine Empress had acted in place of His Majesty to ascend the DivinePath and offered sacrifices to the heavens, she had seen that monolith. To viewthe monoliths was to glimpse the Heavenly Dao, and she had felt this rankingdisrespected the Heavenly Dao, so she had ordered for it to be destroyed. “Even though the ranking on that monolith is no more, who would forget thosenames?” Zhexiu continued, “There were twenty-three people who needed only one day tocomprehend the Reflecting Monolith. In the past, Zhou Dufu only needed to takea glance at the surface of the monolith before immediately moving to thesecond.” Thinking about this legendary figure who had possessed a nigh unfathomablelevel of talent, Chen Changsheng could only remain silent. Tang Thirty-Six was laying on his side in the bed with his furskin rolled upto his chest, watching as Chen Changsheng treated Zhexiu. Upon hearing thosewords, he could not help but be a little angry. “You’re embarrassed because youdidn’t successfully comprehend the monolith on the first day? Then what aboutus who have already spent two days?” Zhexiu could not turn his head, so he calmly looked out the window as hereplied. “Idiots?” Tang Thirty-Six was furious. “If you weren’t a sick patient, I’d kill you.” Zhexiu emotionlessly replied, “If I didn’t need Chen Changsheng to treat myillness, I’d have killed you at the Grand Examination.” Chen Changsheng removed some needles from Zhexiu’s neck. “The interlayer ofyour main governing meridian connecting your sea of consciousness to you hassome problems, so every time your sea of consciousness surges, it causes theTide Rush of Blood. You’ve always used the strength of your will to suppressit, but if your spiritual sense was excessively consumed and you became unableto hold it back, it is extremely possible that the problem within yourmeridians will erupt. At that point, who would be able to save you?” Zhexiu understood that Chen Changsheng was advising him to not spend so muchtime viewing the monoliths or be overly absorbed into it. However, he paid itno attention. Chen Changsheng continued, “You said before, that compared to gettingstronger, living with a clear mind was far more important.” After a moment’s pause, Zhexiu replied, “Yes, but if I’m not strong enough, Iwon’t survive for very long in the place I live in.” It was just like Gou Hanshi had said, cultivating the Dao was all on theindividual. Chen Changsheng could not give any good advice on this sort ofmatter. Turning to Tang Thirty-Six, he asked, “How was your progress today incomprehending the monoliths?” Tang Thirty-Six casually replied, “I matched the lines on the monolith to mymeridians, then I stimulated my true essence…Since ancient times, theReflecting Monolith had always been understood in this way. Could there beanother?” Guan Feibai’s mocking voice came from outside the door. “It’s been severalthousand years, but you northerners are still using this dim-witted method. Nowonder the number of skilled people is becoming less and less. How could theHeavenly Tome Monolith inscriptions be the lines through which true essencetravels? It’s obviously better to perceive them with the spiritual sense!”