214 A Myriad of Monolith Comprehension Methods Part Three

Comprehending the monoliths was not deciphering some sort of riddle, becausethose complex lines and patterns were not a question, but a message.Comprehending the monoliths was understanding the messages on the Heavenly TomeMonoliths. Since the Heavenly Tome Monoliths were not questions, then therewere naturally no standard solutions. It was just like the stars shining upon the many rivers. When the same starsshone upon different rivers, they each would have their own kind of beauty—theinscriptions of the Heavenly Tome Monolith’s did not change, but how they wereunderstood was up to each viewer. According to the viewer’s scholarlyattainments, level of cultivation, and life experiences, identical monolithinscriptions would inevitably be interpreted differently. In that case, whatsort of interpretation was correct? It was as mentioned before, there were nostandard solutions. The Heavenly Tome Monoliths did not speak, and only usedthe simplest, yet most mysterious method of judgment. For however many years the Heavenly Tome Monoliths had rested on thecontinent, humanity had attempted to understand them. They had alreadydeveloped countless methods, even schools of thought, for comprehending themonoliths. Even now, there were dozens of schools of thought that were stillused or mentioned. There were three most respected methods amongst these thatcould be considered mainstream. The school of thought which had the most authority was the Orthodoxy’s LiPalace method. Their method of comprehending the monoliths emphasized clingingto shape, and that the patterns represented the paths through which trueessence traveled. The school of the southern sects, namely the Holy MaidenPeak, was to subtly extract the meaning. They believed that the method ofunderstanding the Monolith Inscriptions should not be so inflexible, andbelieved that they could comprehend the inscriptions through the use of theirspiritual sense. The third school’s method seemed to balance the special pointsof both the North and the South on the surface, but in reality, it just asstubbornly believed that the monolith inscriptions were clearly all the resultsof sword intent, sword forms, and sword moves. This school was known as thetechnique school. The method of comprehending the Heavenly Tome Monoliths was an extremelyimportant matter. The disagreements on methods probably played no small role inthe splintering of the Orthodoxy into the North and the South. Right up untilpresent times, the Holy Maiden Peak’s southern cultivators still held a grudgeover the authority that the Li Palace had over the Heavenly Tome Monoliths.Since each of the methods emphasized different things, different cultivatorswould naturally comprehend different things from the monoliths. The mostmiraculous thing was that, regardless of whether it was Li Palace’s method orthe Holy Maiden Peak’s method, they both worked in some sense. When cultivatorsentered the Mausoleum of Books, they would inevitably gain things. Thecultivators who succeeded would then firmly believe that the method they hadused was the correct one. The other schools of thought simply used tricks; itwas believed that even if they succeeded in comprehending the monoliths, theywould ultimately be moving farther and farther away from the Great Dao. As a person of Zhou, Tang Thirty-Six inevitably felt that the Li Palace’smethod was correct. Guan Feibai was a disciple of the Mount Li Sword Sect, soof course he felt the mind method of comprehending the monoliths was the onlycorrect path. When he heard the tone of Tang Thirty-Six’s voice, he could nolonger refrain from speaking out. Through the door separating them, he mockedTang Thirty-Six. Tang Thirty-Six had the sort of temperament where even ifsomeone did not provoke him, he would still insult their close ones. Obviously,in this situation where he was provoked in such a manner, his expressionabruptly changed, and he could not hold back anymore. A stream of expletivesflew from his lips, and after a few moments, the grass hut became filled witharguments and ceaseless battle. Some time later, Tang Thirty-Six and Guan Feibai finally got tired, andtranquility was restored. Then, with the door as a divider, the inner room andouter room split into two similar scenes. In the outside room, Guan Feibai,Liang Banhu, and Qi Jian looked at their senior Gou Hanshi. In the inner room,Tang Thirty-Six and Zhexiu stared at Chen Changsheng in silence. From the Ivy League Gathering to the Grand Examination, the Orthodox Academyand the Mount Li Sword Sect had been at odds with each other. Regardless ofwhether it was Chen Changsheng’s and Xu Yourong’s engagement, or theirsuccessive series of battles, the grudges between the two of them were too manyto count. Although Zhexiu had come later, he had fought in the GrandExamination with the intent of opening the way for Chen Changsheng, and haddefeated Qi Jian and Guan Feibai with a fierce hand. In the eyes of the MountLi Sword Sect, he was just as deserving of their hate. However, under thecontrol of Gou Hanshi and Chen Changsheng, this hostile mood did not get out ofcontrol. Last night, the two sides had slept under the same roof, but this didnot mean the end of their resentments. Now that the debate, or quarrel, betweenTang Thirty-Six and Guan Feibai had escalated up to this point, it wasdifficult to continue. Naturally, someone had to come in and decide the winner. Naturally, their hopes rested on the two that had studied the Daoist Canon,Gou Hanshi and Chen Changsheng.. A gust of night wind came in, causing the wooden door to slowly creak open.The four disciples of the Li Shan Sword Sect and the three from the OrthodoxAcademy stared at each other in deathly silence. Gou Hanshi suddenly asked Chen Changsheng, “Which method do you think is themost feasible?” He did not ask which one was right, because there was no right or wrong forthis sort of thing. Chen Changsheng thought it over, not immediately answering. The Daoist Canon elaborated on many methods for comprehending the monoliths.As for the three main school, their accounts were even more exhaustive. SinceChen Changsheng had studied the Daoist Canon, he naturally knew these methodsby heart. But for some reason, when he had viewed the Reflecting Monolithtoday, he had purposely not used any of the three methods. Instead, he hadwalked upon a new, stranger, and inevitably more difficult path. “I believe…that none of these three methods are necessarily correct.” He gave an answer that no one had expected. In addition, he had used the word“correct”, indicating that he believed the question to have a right and wrong. Upon hearing these words, everyone in the grass hut was shocked, includingTang Thirty-Six. Gou Hanshi frowned. “Don’t tell me you believe the Heavenly Book isindecipherable?” The Continent had many methods for comprehending the monoliths, but there werealso many people, including priests in the Orthodoxy, that believed that theHeavenly Book could not be comprehended. All the attempts to understand theMonolith Inscriptions were absurd and ridiculous. Even if someone possessingincredible wisdom came, they would only be able to understand the message thatthe Monolith Inscriptions wanted to give them. They would be incapable ofseeing the Heavenly Dao’s true meaning. “No,  I only think that the schools of thought today have all deviated fromthe Heavenly Tome Monolith’s original meaning.” Chen Changsheng plainly explained, “Regardless of whether it is adhering tothe shape, extracting meaning, or imitating techniques, the goals of all thesemethods of comprehension is to cultivate the Dao. But in reality, the earliesthumans that viewed the Heavenly Tome Monoliths, or more precisely, the firstperson that ever understood the Heavenly Tome Monoliths, certainly did not knowhow to cultivate…so I believe all three methods are incorrect.” The grass hut became very quiet because everyone realized that ChenChangsheng’s argument was very reasonable. But Gou Hanshi shook his head.“Those who cannot cultivate would naturally be unable to comprehend the methodsof cultivations, but we can cultivate…it’s just like a child that doesn’t knowhow to read; hey would never be able to understand the beauty in songs andpoems, but we can. According to your logic, wouldn’t we have to completely ridourselves of our knowledge and turn into ignorant children before we canunderstand the original meaning of the Heavenly Tome Monoliths?” Not convinced, Tang Thirty-Six asked, “The child in the bosom is pure andinnocent, thus it can be close to the Great Dao. The Daoist Scriptures havealways said this…what if that’s true?” “Discarding the sacred and casting away knowledge doesn’t mean that we wouldreally become idiots.”  Qi Jian softly replied. Gou Hanshi raised his hand, indicating that now was not the time to discussthis question. Turning to Chen Changsheng, he asked, “In that case, what sortof method did you use to comprehend the monolith today?” Chen Changsheng concealed nothing, relaying the observations he had made ofthe monolith before dawn, as well as the changes in the scenery that he hadobserved in the courtyard. “If the Monolith Inscriptions are unchanging inmeaning, why is it that the messages that everyone comprehends are completelydifferent? That’s why I believe that the meaning of the Monolith Inscriptionsis within these changes.” Gou Hanshi remembered something and asked, “Seven hundred years ago, thePrince of Ruyang Chen Zi entered the Mausoleum of Books to view the monolithsand wrote an essay on this matter. He seems to have had a similar view on it asyou..” “Yes.” Chen Changsheng continued, “The Prince of Ruyang used one year to graspthe meaning of seventeen monoliths. Amongst the imperial family, he would rankin the top ten.” “I still believe that this method is not feasible.” Chen Changsheng seriously asked, “Why?” “Because the monoliths of the front mausoleum are already extremelycomplicated. A cool breeze, the starry sky, the scorching sun, the night snow;the changes in light are even harder to keep track of. It’s simply impossibleto make a thorough examination. The sampling of one person’s observations issimply too small. Even if you disregarded all this, you would still need toselect a target in order to determine any changes with time. How would youchoose this?” After a moment’s thought, Chen Changsheng replied, “Intuition.” Gou Hanshi said nothing more. The grass hut grew quiet once again. The Heavenly Book was indecipherable, yet it could also be comprehended at anytime. On the surface, it seemed like all the methods described by these youthswere all reasonable. Different cultivators had different methods of comprehending the monoliths,stating this sort of thing was meaningless. After some hesitation, Qi Jian asked, “How did you think of thismethod?...It’s too far off the beaten path.” Chen Changsheng chuckled. “The world has a myriad of monolith comprehensionmethods. I only have one question: are they easy to be used?” “It makes sense. It’s just like the dried meat you cooked; regardless ofwhether it was cooked with sugar or onions and garlic, you only need to ask onequestion: does it taste good?” Gou Hanshi smiled, but then he restrained himself. He sternly warned ChenChangsheng, “But I advise you not to tell anyone about this.” Chen Changsheng was stunned by these words, but then realized what they meant. If he was still that young daoist from Xining village that had just arrived atthe capital, who would care about what method he used to comprehend themonoliths? No one would have paid him any attention. However, by this point hisstatus had gone through a great transformation. In a variety of ways, he hadbeen chosen by the Li Palace. To the eyes of the world, his many actions werepossibly a reflection of the Orthodoxy’s will. Zhexiu, who had remained silent this entire time, suddenly opened his mouth.He expressionlessly told the four from the Mount Li Sword Sect, “Now we have tosee what you all think.” Gou Hanshi laughed, but said nothing. Although his nature was mild, he stillhad his own pride. They all stopped discussing it and began to wash their faces and prepare forbed. As Chen Changsheng was putting away his notebook, he suddenly thought ofsomething. Walking to the outer room, he handed his notebook over to GouHanshi. “Can you take a look at this? I drew it by relying on my senses.” Gou Hanshi felt a bit uneasy. The debate before had been one thing, to giveone’s notes on the Monolith Inscriptions to another was yet another thing. Hethought it over, then took out a small booklet from his chest and handed it toChen Changsheng. “Before I entered the Mausoleum of Books, I made somepreparations. This booklet contains some of my notes.” Chen Changsheng laughed, Gou Hanshi also laughed. The two exchanged glances,then suddenly went quiet. The smiles on their faces slowly disappeared, only tobe replaced with expressions of shock. The youths that had finished washing their faces saw this sort of scene uponreturning to the room. “It should be somewhere in the room.” Gou Hanshi said. Chen Changsheng replied, “It’s not in the blankets. When I was folding themduring the day, I didn’t see any sort of notes. I didn’t even see a sheet ofpaper.” Puzzled, Tang Thirty-Six rubbed his wet hair. “What are you guys talkingabout?” “Xun Mei’s notebook.” Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi chorused in unison. Immediately afterwards, they simultaneously turned around to rummage throughthe things in the room.