222 The Gate of Myriad Wonders

After Zhong Hui had successfully comprehended the monolith, he disappearedwithout a trace. He had left the words “I’ll take a step ahead of you” to ChenChangsheng, who was still standing on the mountain path. In the eyes of thecrowd, Chen Changsheng’s figure seemed rather lonely, although he himself didnot feel this way. They looked at him and thought with a small amount ofderision that the monoliths of the Mausoleum of Books truly were impartial. Noone could be lucky forever. Some felt that this was not enough and sought to rub salt over ChenChangsheng’s wounds. One of the Scholartree Manor scholars in front of themonolith hut derisively said to him, “The words senior left with you before hedeparted were said rather indifferently, but to me, they were too modest.Although it’s only a step, once he has finished taking this step, then perhapsthe difference will be more than a thousand li.” These words were meant to mock Chen Changsheng, but it ended up including GouHanshi as well. Guan Feibai’s eyebrows leapt up and he was about flare up when,unexpectedly, Tang Thirty-Six beat him to it. He teased the Scholartree Manorscholar, “Didn’t he say he was going a step ahead? Where is he preparing to go?Reincarnation? So impatient.” That Scholartree Manor was infuriated by his words. Ji Jin’s face alsosuddenly turned dark. His fingers became rigid and he almost pulled a hair outof his beard. Mister Nian Guang and the rest of the Monolith Guardians walked over. NianGuang warned Tang Thirty-Six, “Cease your unruly manners. If this happensagain, no one will be able to protect you.” Tang Thirty-Six looked back at him and scornfully said, “As I said last night,even if you wanted to hit me, you can’t hit me. What can you do with me?” Mister Nian Guang solemnly said, “We Monolith Guardians are entrusted withkeeping order amongst those who view the monoliths. If you continue to maketrouble, I will personally write to my school, to have them recommend to theOrthodoxy that you be expelled from the mausoleum immediately.” Tang Thirty-Six looked at him as if he were an idiot. Pointing to ChenChangsheng by his side, he said, “Truly this is an old man that’s gonemuddleheaded from viewing the monoliths for too long. Do you know who he is? Atthe imperial palace, before countless witnesses, His Holiness the Popepersonally involved himself! Countless people in the capital suspect that he’sHis Holiness the Bishop’s illegitimate son! Recommend who to the Orthodoxy? Ifthe Li Palace will listen to you, I will cut off my own head and offer it toyou.” Mister Nian Guang became indignant and shouted back, “If the Li Palace reallydoes protect him, I will definitely get my school to ask for the reason!” Tang Thirty-Six was also indignant and yelled back, “Your school? You shouldgo ask those bishops and the Temple Seminary, who gives a third of their moneyevery year so that you lot can idle around until you die for so many years!You’re all dependent on my family’s support! The Orthodoxy won’t comply becausethey protect Chen Changsheng, the Temple Seminary won’t comply because of thebenefits they receive from protecting me, so you have to get some southerner tocome out and scare me! What sort of reasoning do you have!” Mister Nian Guang trembled in rage, now prepared to discipline him with a fewmore words, but in the end he angrily brushed his sleeves and left. Silence reigned around the monolith hut. Regardless of if it was the newentrants to the mausoleum, or the old entrants, they all stared blankly at TangThirty-Six. “What sort of person is he, really?” they thought to themselves. Because Zhong Hui had taken the lead in comprehending the monoliths, TangThirty-Six’s mood was extremely bad. He yelled at the spectators, “What are youlooking at?! Have you never seen a wealthy person before?” “Are the Wenshui Tangs…really that wealthy?” Guan Feibai, Liang Banhu, and Qi Jian looked at each other speechlessly. Theyhad grown up in bitter conditions, and life at the Mount Li Sword Sect was evenmore Spartan. Even Qi Jian, who had experienced the dotage that only the sectmaster’s last disciple had, and who since childhood had been raised in theDiscipline Hall, had not lived any sort of luxurious lifestyle. It was hard forthem to imagine that the world really had this sort of wealthy person. In theaspect of money, the youths of the Mount Li Sword Sect were truly lacking inknowledge. “If you think about it, if Tang Tang is so wealthy, yet he’s always so swollenwith arrogance, why is it that he isn’t that unlikable?” Guan Feibai thought back to that time in the Li Palace, where those girls fromthe Thirteenth Division of Radiant Green and the Holy Maiden Peak looked atTang Thirty-Six with such fervor. He had thought of a probable reason, but hefound it awkward to say in front of his junior. At this time, a youth began walking towards them. Guan Feibai and the othertwo clasped their hands in greeting, and smiles appeared on their faces. It wasvery obvious that they were very familiar with this person. Especially LiangBanhu. Normally, he was rather wooden and oppressive, but now he had evenstepped forward to welcome this youth. He even patted the youth on the shoulderseveral times, making it seem like they were quite close. Gou Hanshi introduced the youth to Chen Changsheng. “This is my third martialbrother, Liang Xiaoxiao.” Chen Changsheng realized that this was the Third Law of the Divine State’sSeven Laws, Liang Xiaoxiao. Liang Xiaoxiao had always been ranked third on theProclamation of Azure Sky. It was only during this year’s rearranging of ranksthat he was bumped down to fourth by Luo Luo. Chen Changsheng also knew hisname because he was the previous year’s first rank of the First Banner of theGrand Examination.  Previously, when all those people were standing in thecrowd, nobody took note of his presence. Ji Jin and Zhong Hui’s words from lastnight were reasonable. The Mausoleum of Books truly was a place where heroesgathered. To be first rank of the First Banner in the Grand Examination reallywas not anything special here. Liang Xiaoxiao clasped his hands in greeting towards Chen Changsheng, hisexpression indifferent. Apparently, he was not one for much talking. He then turned to Gou Hanshi and said, “Senior, these past two days, I fixatedon the East Pavilion Monolith, so I did not have the time to find all of you.” Gou Hanshi responded, “Of course viewing the monoliths and cultivating is moreimportant. Since we’ve already come to the mausoleum, there will be plenty ofopportunities to meet each other.” Chen Changsheng recalled that yesterday, Gou Hanshi said that he wouldintroduce him to somebody. Now that he thought about it, Gou Hanshi probablymeant this youth. Once Qi Jian heard the three words “East Pavilion Monolith”, he said withamazement, “East Pavilion Monolith... that’s the sixth monolith. You’re reallyamazing third brother.” Liang Xiaoxiao gave a subtle nod. Although his name contained the word‘Xiao’(笑), he did not show the slightest hint of a smile on his face. He wasactually a bit more icily arrogant then Guan Feibai. (TN: Liang Xiaoxiao iswritten as 梁笑晓. 笑 means laughter or smile.) Gou Hanshi smiled. “Since you’ve already seen the East Pavilion Monolith, thenpresumably breaking through to the next realm is not close at hand.” Liang Xiaoxiao solemnly said, “Half a year ago, I broke through into EtherealOpening realm, and have not been able to take a single step forward since. I amdeeply ashamed, so I didn’t send any messages home.” Liang Banhu gave a good-natured laugh. “It’s fine, it’s fine.” Gou Hanshi told Chen Changsheng, “Third brother and fifth brother are siblingsby blood.” Tang Thirty-Six’s gaze moved back and forth between Liang Xiaoxiao and LiangBanhu’s faces, then asked in confusion, “Why is it that the fifth sibling looksolder than the third sibling?” Upon hearing this, Liang Xiaoxiao turned his head and gave Tang Thirty-Six acold stare. Tang Thirty-Six stared back. Qi Jian suggested, “Third brother, he’s just that sort of person, no need toworry about him.” Liang Xiaoxiao took this advice to heart, and turned away from Tang Thirty-Six. Zhexiu glanced at Qi Jian, his gaze somewhat odd. Qi Jian sensed his gaze, then as if he were stung by a scorpion, he quicklyretreated behind Liang Banhu. As Gou Hanshi explained to Chen Changsheng, originally the Fifth Law, LiangBanhu, was the elder brother, and the higher ranked, Liang Xiaoxiao, was thefamily’s younger brother. Then Chen Changsheng recalled that Liang Xiaoxiao hadsaid that half a year ago he had broken through, so he understood that thisperson was already at the Ethereal Opening. In other words, the moment he leftthe mausoleum, would he leave the Proclamation of Azure Sky and enter theProclamation of Golden Distinction? “I would have to trouble you with telling Her Highness Luo Luo, I will not befourth place on the Proclamation of Azure Sky.” Liang Xiaoxiao apathetically delivered these words to Chen Changsheng. He didnot wait for a response, nor did he wait for Tang Thirty-Six to open his mouth.He turned to Gou Hanshi and seriously said, “Senior, although we came from theSouth with Scholartree Manor together, being in Mount Li is still Mount Li. Howcan we fall behind?” Gou Hanshi replied, “I have my own way of keeping score. You continue tomeditate on the monoliths. There’s only one month’s time left before we have toleave. Time is of the essence.” Liang Xiaoxiao said nothing more. It was just as he said. Although that ranking in front of the Mausoleum ofBooks had long been destroyed by Zhou Tong on the order of the Divine Empress,in matters of competition and even glory, there was no way to forcefully wipeit from the hearts of the people. The speed at which one comprehended themonoliths and the total number of monoliths comprehended, within the hearts ofthe people, there still remained a formless ranking. This year, there was no unparalleled genius that had comprehended a monolithon the first day, nor was there one that succeeded on the second day, but onthe third day, Zhong Hui had successfully comprehended a monolith. This couldalready be considered as not bad, but those old entrants, who already knew whoChen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi were, already knew that they were the top twofrom this year’s Grand Examination. In addition to this, rumors from outsidehad already trickled in, that these two were reputed for their profoundknowledge of the Daoist Canon. Naturally, the two youths attracted quite a bitof attention. And yet, up to this point, neither of the two had managed tocomprehend the first Heavenly Tome Monolith. Inevitably, this would stir upsome discussion. “After Wang Zhice, the people who are most praised for their erudition in theDaoist Canon are these two people. But who would think that they would bebeaten by that scholar from Scholartree Manor.” “Not all rumors are true. What well-read in the Daoist Canon? It’s more likeat a young age they broke into Ethereal Opening. From what I see, some factswere likely over exaggerated.” The monolith viewers all went back to their respective monoliths to achieveenlightenment. Liang Xiaoxiao also took his leave. The crowd in front of theReflecting Monolith gradually dispersed, and the mountain forest regained itstranquility. Chen Changsheng walked up to the front of the monolith hut andstared at the black monolith. After a long period of silence, he suddenlyasked, “How did he disappear? Don’t tell me that the back of the monolithcontains a miniature world? Tang Thirty-Six and the others thought he was ruminating over some importantmatter, not pondering this sort of question. They could not help but be struckspeechless. Gou Hanshi said, “It is said the Heavenly Tome Monoliths are pieces of someminiature world that have now scattered all over the true world. Although thespace that they were once a part of is now destroyed, these pieces are stillsomehow interlinked. It can also be understood like so: each monolith is asliding door, but these sliding doors don’t lead to anywhere except othersliding doors, which are the other Heavenly Tome Monoliths. In addition, thesequence of monoliths is eternal and unchanging.” Chen Changsheng replied, “So it was like that. No wonder it’s said that theMausoleum of Books only has one path, but, how do the Heavenly Tome Monolithsdecide whether the key in the hands of the monolith viewer is the right one?” The Daoist Canon did not record how one moved from one Heavenly Tome Monolithto another. As for those previous great experts that had recorded their time inthe Mausoleum of Books, they had also not mentioned such details. This wasbecause in the view of cultivators, this sort of thing was common knowledge andthere was no need to explain it. Chen Changsheng knew many bits of esoterica from the three thousand classicsof the Daoist Canon, but he was somewhat lacking in knowledge of the world orcultivation. This was because he was a self-made genius. Gou Hanshi answered, “The Heavenly Tomes cannot comprehend. In many ways, theHeavenly Tome Monoliths themselves are mystical and maybe evenincomprehensible.  Whether one’s interpretation of the monolith inscriptions iscorrect or not, this is something that the cultivator can never decide, nor cana spectator. Only the Heavenly Tome Monolith itself has the right to decide.” “Decides by itself?” Chen Changsheng did not understand so he repeated thewords. Gou Hanshi explained, “The monolith viewer touches the monolith. If theHeavenly Tome Monolith feels that you understand, then you have reallyunderstood it.” Chen Changsheng thought of that famous description of the Heavenly Dao in theDaoist Canon: Mystery of mysteries, the gate of myriad wonders. If the Heavenly Tome Monolith was a door, what sort of wondrous world would bebehind it? Seeing him with such a pensive expression before the monolith, Tang Thirty-Sixand the others decided to stay silent. Zhong Hui had already deciphered the first Heavenly Tome Monolith. Was ChenChangsheng now interested, or was he content on continuing to  sit on thesidelines. Could it be that he was still in no rush? “Ah!” Chen Changsheng suddenly thought of something and said, “I have to goback.” Tang Thirty-Six asked in surprise, “What is it?” Somewhat anxious, Chen Changsheng replied, “You dragged me out in such a rushthat I forgot that I was still boiling water on the stove. What will we do ifit boils dry?”