novelSystem vs. System (IX)
| ← Ch.207 | Ch.209 → |
The duo entered the sixth formation.
There are no monsters or beasts in the formation, only a forest of pagodas and the graves of more than a hundred monks.
Most of the pagodas have been in ruins for more than a thousand years and have been left untended.
It appears to be deserted and untouched, with long-eared grey hares flickering through the knee-deep weeds.
No one told them what they should do now to get through.
Duan Shujue first tried his luck and told Yan Jinhua that there was no sign of a formation here, and that the pagodas were simply arranged in accordance with Buddhist principles, and that there was a vague Buddhist aura in them, so they did not seem to have been deliberately set up to trap them.
After weaving their way through the towers and forests, they found themselves at a standstill, realising that the way they had come had disappeared, and that the way out was nowhere in sight.
Yan Jinhua, with his limited abilities and the loss of his precious pearl, could not afford to use the few progress points he had left, so he had to go through the book and try to find the solution to level 6 from the original Wen.
This journey to break the barrier and get the sword, he probably saw the third barrier and didn't look at it in detail.
Because the author's descriptions were so detailed, he had no idea what he was trying to do with such a long-winded story, so he skipped to the third scene and went straight to the final scene where the protagonist won the sword and beat up the crowd.
Later, he was counting on the dividends of eating the pearl of the fixed sea and planned to take a shortcut, jumping straight from the first to the last formation, so he didn't go through the books before coming.
But he'd only turned two pages when he almost cursed off his tongue.
...... How come the first and second formations written in the book are completely different from the ones they've met along the way?
The first formation was the Sword and Wind Formation, but the second formation was some bullshit White Bone Mountain?
This random 3, 000 worlds setting is rubbish!
Yan Jinhua was impatient, but his brain was flexible enough to come up with another plan when one failed.
He said to Chi Xiaochi, "Shu Jie, let's split up and find them, it'll be quicker too."
At least he had read the original Wen, and if not, he could turn to the system and ask it to give him a golden finger, which was better than Duan Shujue, a bureaucrat, in any case.
As usual, Duan Shujue did not refuse his request: "Yes."
Yan Jinhua was in no hurry to walk away, but waved at him, "Shu Jie, come here."
Duan Shujue approaches obediently.
Yan Jinhua untied his sash and draped the clothes he had just washed with his jutsu over Duan Shujue's shoulders.
Duan Shujue was stunned, his cheeks slightly flushed, his clear eyes filled with doubt: "Brother Yan ......"
Yan Jinhua said, "You've just been injured. Although you have recovered, you should be careful not to get winded. My clothes are thicker and I have just washed them, so they are just right for you."
Duan Shujue said in all seriousness, "No. It's late, and it's cold here, so Brother Yan will catch a cold."
At this, Yan Jinhua said in a joking tone, "Let's change clothes, you give me yours and you can have mine."
"My garment is thin ......"
That's true.
The sharks do not even fear the cold of the sea, so what can the cold wind do to them?
But Yan Jinhua was different. It was still early spring, when the snow and ice had first melted, and for a neglectful cultivator like him, the cold would indeed enter his body.
Yan Jinhua is still insistent.
Duan Shujue, always unable to resist Yan Jinhua, had to remove his torn coat and drape it over Yan Jinhua's body, urging him to change back immediately if Brother Yan got cold.
Yan Jinhua took the thin, aquamarine cover and ran his fingertips deliberately over the cut made by the sword blade on his upper left arm and the blood that seeped around the break.
He laughed and said, "No. You just wear mine well."
Yan Jinhua smiles darkly.
He lost a city himself, but got another win.
He remembered very well that at the seventh formation, the sword was to be drawn.
Duan Shujue was wounded when he broke the formation, and there was blood on his clothes. And the blood of the shark is the only way to break the seal and pull out the sword in the stone.
One only needs to break through the magic of this damned world one step earlier than Duan Shujue and rub the hilt of the sword with Duan Shujue's bloodstained garment to be one step ahead and take away this great fortune.
Yan Jinhua is somewhat regretful.
If I had known that I would be in such a mess, I should not have worried that the blood would not work if I drew it out in advance, and I would have secretly drawn a tube of blood from him first as a backup.
With this in mind, he put on his clothes, and before he could be proud of himself, he knotted up and winced.
Chi Xiaochi walked with him in the opposite direction, wrapped in his warm spring clothes, thinking, "Freeze your ass off.
He plucked the barren weeds with the blade of his sword and headed precisely towards two of the stone towers.
Chi Xiaochi has two oft-cited benefits when it comes to acting.
For one thing, he has a strong ability to adapt to the scene, and he is able to catch the scenes. Even if someone else has made a mistake in this part, he can bring it back.
Secondly, he would take the time to study someone's script and even the plans for lighting and sets.
Therefore, Chi Xiaochi knows exactly what the author of "The Sailor King" meant by setting up the "Three Thousand Worlds" here, and how to break this sixth formation.
He walks slowly to the two stone towers.
Just now, while bouncing through the forest of towers, he had noticed that these two stone towers were different from the others.
It is also the same tumbledown, with the same weeds up to the knees, but the inscriptions on it look fresher than elsewhere.
The inscriptions are both inscribed with the name of the Dharma, 'Fa Kong' on the left and 'Shi Ran' on the right.
In terms of seniority, Fa Kong would have been a generation older than Shi Ran, but according to the inscription, the difference in age between the two was only five years, so it is clear that Fa Kong understood Zen Buddhism at a young age and was extremely enlightened, but did not ultimately attain the Way.
It takes seven layers of pontoons to become a Buddha.
The pagoda at Fa Khong is half collapsed, but judging by the undecayed parts scattered on the ground, it must have been six storeys high.
He is just one step away from attaining enlightenment.
Yet it is even stranger that such a Zen master is buried side by side with a bald little monk, Sakran.
With only one layer of pagoda, Sharan should be the most ordinary type of Buddhist disciple, with dull qualifications, worthy only of sweeping the couch and washing for the Zen master.
He died half a month earlier than Fa Khong, which means that Fa Khong chose to bury himself next to the young monk Sakyamuni after his death, of his own accord.
Chi Xiaochi walked up to the two stone pagodas, one tall and one short, and, after joining his hands and singing an oath, knelt down, swept the dust off the monument and, cutting the tip of his forefinger with the blade of his sword, traced the inscription on the tombstone in red, stroke by stroke.
The word "relief", which had been fading, became clear again.
The reason why I say "again" is that the Seven Great Formations have rarely been repeated in the Jingxu Sword Meeting, which has been held every 30 years for a thousand years, but the only exception is this sixth formation.
For all the sixth formations are the same.
The first few formations of Duan Shujue are described in detail, as are the beings Duan Shujue saw while breaking the formations, and his own perceptions and discoveries.
When he reached the end of his journey alone, he finally realised that the so-called "three thousand worlds" were all the places and people that the first ancestor of Jingxu Mountain and his shark companion had travelled and met.
In this way, Jing Xufeng, the first ancestor, and his daoist companion, commemorate their life of meeting and loving each other.
And Jing Xufeng, the first ancestor, had a close friend in the Buddhist school, whose Buddhist name was Fa Kong.
Fa Kong spent his life enlightening the Buddhist path, but ultimately failed to become a Buddha simply because he had a karmic obstacle in his heart that he could not let go of.
This karma is called release.
He was his disciple and his only disciple in his life. He was cautious and insensitive, and his family was poor, so he lacked understanding of Buddhist doctrine and was somewhat foolish.
He pined for his master, but dared not speak up for fear of sullying his path to Buddhahood; Fa Kong also saw Sakyamuni in his eyes and heart, but feared to frighten him, and only treated him well, wanting to protect him for a lifetime of peace and happiness.
It was only during the demon subjugation that Sakyamuni deflected a fatal attack for Fa Khong and died.
When Fa Khong sorted through Sakyam's belongings, Fang found the manuscript recording his musings in his small book case.
He was sixteen years old when he entered the mountain.
His name was given to him by Fa Khong himself, but he was unable to let go of it for the rest of his life.
After reading the manuscript, Fa Kong laughed out loud three times, burned the manuscript, gave an account of all the affairs of the Buddhist temple to his brother, and half a month later, sat down in the same place and chased his soul away.
He left a letter in his absolute handwriting asking his brother to bury him next to the underground palace of Sakyamuni after his death.
Because of you, I cannot realize bodhi, so I will be your bodhi, and it is not bad if I can shelter you from the wind and rain.
The Blackwater River of a thousand years ago is still rushing today, and the maple labyrinth of a thousand years ago is now more leafy, while the old people of a thousand years ago have long since been turned into ashes in the mud and are nowhere to be seen.
The first ancestor of Jingxu Mountain and his daoist companion were so moved by the loss of their dear friend that they placed the pagoda with his friend buried in it into the Three Thousand Worlds.
No matter how the first five formations rotate, the sixth, always, is Tallinn.
And the method of passing the sixth formation is also fixed: the
By tracing the stele with spirit blood for Fa Kong and Shi Ran, they will be able to successfully reach the sword in the stone.
The Jingxu Sword Meeting is held every 30 years and the duo have tried to use these latter to remember their former friends and a pair of demented children.
By now, it was nearly half dark.
Chi Xiaochi has some trouble seeing the tablet under him.
Luckily, the fireflies that lurked in the grass rose up and circled around him, their warm golden light illuminating the surface of the monument and spilling over his shoulders like the light of a few falling stars.
The young master in white had put away his umbrella and stood quietly in the wind, standing with his hands hanging down from afar, just in case he was frightened.
Chi Xiaochi cut his finger several times to finish tracing the two monuments.
He had just risen when a white light suddenly appeared before him and he was standing in front of a mica stone with a dark purple body.
A hilt of basalt jade is exposed, with a concentric knot tied to the end of the hilt. On closer inspection, two strands of black hair are hidden inside, and two strands of spiritual energy are doubled inside to keep the knot intact.
...... Good one, full marks for this mouthful of fish food.
Chi Xiaochi watches for a long time, but hesitates to touch the hilt of his sword, as if waiting for something.
Soon after, another Yan Jinhua stumbled out of thin air behind him.
Seeing that the hilt of the sword was still stuck in the stone and had not been pulled out, his eyes lit up and he harnessed all the spiritual energy in his body and came sprinting!
...... a quarter of an hour ago.
Wrapped in Duan Shujue's thin shirt, Yan Jinhua crouches in the cold wind and cold grass, shivering.
After bargaining with his miserly system for a long time, he couldn't get free external help from the system. He was also intent on finding a way to break the formation without Duan Shujue's knowledge, so he planned to hide for a while longer and secretly flip through the book to see if there was any chance of a blind cat running into a dead mouse.
Who would have thought that this flip would have been a mistake for him to turn over.
Not daring to delay, he ran wildly through the forest of towers and finally found the two contrasting towers, one tall and one short.
Yan Jinhua's heart was racing when he saw that the stele was already blotted with blood.
Duan Shujue has gone in?
He had read the book and knew that as soon as Duan Shujue had finished tracing the tablet, he would be passed in seconds to the sword in the stone.
But the blood on the tablet is still warm, so maybe it's not too late!
Yan Jinhua cut his own finger to extract blood, and in his fumbling, he lost his aim and sliced right through to the bone.
With his fingers linked, Yan Jinhua turned pale with pain, but he didn't dare waste any more time.
It is written in the book that when the sword in the stone was pulled out, the seven formations shook and the whole mountain shook, now there is no movement, so that proves he still has a chance!
Come on, be quick!
With a glimmer of hope, Yan Jinhua drew a cold breath as he sketched the surface of the tablet, his heart in turmoil and remorse.
Duan's life is indeed the life of a protagonist! It's a great opportunity that he's found for nothing!
For a moment, some doubt swept through his mind.
Is Duan Shujue really that good? To be able to immediately notice that the pagoda is not the right size and then think of depicting the monument?
Although there is a transmission formation painted in the grooves of the inscription Wen on this tablet, it is extremely weak and difficult to detect without careful identification.
Most importantly, if Duan Shujue had found a clue, why didn't he call himself to see it?
Is this the protagonist's heavenly luck, or is ......
In a fit of nonsense, Yan Jinhua was led into the seventh formation.
Just as the sound of running sounded behind her, Chi Xiaochi asked 061, "Is he coming?"
061 Stifling a smile: "Here it comes."
Without further hesitation, Chi Xiaochi gripped the hilt of his sword with his bloodied hand, which was close at hand.
-See this sword.
-See what you see.
-Okay, it's mine now.
Yan Jinhua watched as Duan Shujue took hold of his sword and his eyes split open.
The stone collapses and the sword splashes like a dragon chanting, like a shark crying.
The shark's language from a thousand years ago was transmitted directly into Chi Xiaochi's mind, while the thousand-year old sword intent of the surging stream rushed straight into his body, washing away his meridians.
Chi Xiaochi, or Duan Shujue, is perfectly able to understand what the voice coming into his head is saying.
It was the shark's human partner of the first ancestor, chanting softly the sword technique he had created with the first ancestor back then.
...... To him, this should be a more precious gift than that thousand-year sword intent.
Yan Jinhua was full of vicious expletives when he was bounced off.
-his sword! The chi that should have belonged to him!!!
He rolled to the ground, his body aching, his heart burning, his mind rumbling, so angry that he vomited a mouthful of blood straight away.
What should I do? Is there another way?
He had raised the surnamed Duan for so long for nothing, and this is how he ended up, giving him a spiritual spring, a spiritual fruit, a secret book, a sword meeting, and even involving himself in losing his precious pearl, and now he's giving away his sword?
How unjust is God's way!
...... In fact, he left out one more thing.
Chi Xiaochi earned 10 points of remorse from him and immediately redeemed it for a mid-level card called "Highlight Time".
Name: Highlight Moment (Intermediate)
Duration: 3 minutes
Number of pieces: 1
Quality: Fine
Type: Single use item
Exchange points required: 10 remorse points
Presentation: bald butter on steamed fragrant rice, clear chicken broth in stewed ham, cold garlic puree with old hot pot, hot marinade poured over shredded tofu, delicious at this time, with unlimited highs.
The card's function is similar to that of the beauty halo, but the effect is more powerful and abstract than that of the beauty halo.
If we talk about it, it is probably a kind of aura that walks with its own BGM and overwhelms the whole audience.
However, when he saw the card Wen, Chi Xiaochi was slightly distracted, remembering 009, the person responsible for writing the Wen, and the long-distance call to Ji Zuoshan, which had been abruptly disconnected.
It's a good thing Chi Xiaochi has always been good at reining in his emotions.
The flames of the sword in the stone, which had burst open and burned, subsided and returned to its original form.
The hilt is made of ancient jade and the scabbard is of natural purple mica stone, but the form is different from that of the white blade that Duan Shujue remembers Yan Jinhua having in his possession.
The sword in the stone in the hand of Duan Shujue has only a sheath and a handle, but no blade.
However, if one draws the sword, one can vaguely see the transparent water waves flowing from the hilt, condensing into an invisible water-like soft sword, which can be transformed into a long and short sword, up to half a foot long and up to three inches short, with infinite possibilities for change, at one's heart.
...... Sword in the Stone is only true when held by a shark.
The sword in the stone comes out of the stone and the whole mountain shakes.
The Seven Great Formations formation was originally an illusionary formation, and after the sword in the stone was pulled out, the spell was temporarily disabled and the many spaces that overlapped broke and fused, returning to one peak.
A young man with a sword in his arms slowly descends from the foothills of the mountain, followed by a grey-headed Yan Jinhua.
Yan Jinhua was defeated.
He tried desperately to conceal his presence, even to the point of fainting, but the thought that he might be dragged straight down the hill by Duan Shujue would have made the scene even more ugly, so he had no choice but to follow him down the hill.
He blushed hotly and hung his head, hoping that bystanders wouldn't notice him.
Indeed, at the very beginning, none of them noticed him.
Chi Xiaochi, always adhering to the basic principle of taking from the slag and using it for the people, moved to use the card he had just redeemed.
But there is also a basic law governing the use of cards.
If he had bounced down like a peacock with his screen open and spinning, the spotlight would have been on him and he would have made a big splash, but it would have been a bit embarrassing.
So, clutching the Sword in the Stone in his arms and bowing his head slightly, he stepped out quietly, as Duan Shujue usually does, and kneeling down with his robe raised in front of Chi Yunzi, he said in a clear voice: "I have received the grace of Heaven, and the Sword in the Stone is out, so I ask Chi Yunzi to look at it."
From the moment he appeared in the crowd's view, the room was silent, and it was only when he opened his mouth that the crowd returned to their senses and murmured.
Chi Yunzi was first shocked to learn that the sword had been pulled out of the stone, but now he sees Duan Shujue in a gentle manner and dressed in a quiet, quiet dress.
The Void Peak disciples' costumes gave rise to a few moments of fondness and complacency in their hearts.
...... The one who draws the sword is his Jing Xufeng person, so it is not a bargain.
He inquired in a pleasant manner, "Who are you?"
"I am Duan Shujue." Chi Xiaochi was in full voice, and turned to Yan Jinhua, the words ringing out, "Disciple of Yan Jinhua."
This really brought the house down.
Yan Jinhua? What kind of material is Yan Jinhua? How can he teach such a disciple if he is uneducated and stubborn?
Yan Jinhua: "......"
His face turned blue and white, almost suspecting that Duan Shujue was deliberately trying to embarrass him.
But there was no way he could argue with that!
Duan Shujue is now indeed his titular disciple, and he has just taken him to meet Su Yun and his uncles, so there is nothing wrong with Duan Shujue saying that.
"Nonsense!" Chi Yunzi was also surprised, and with a slightly sober face, he turned to Yan Jinhua and frowned, "When did you take on a pupil? How could I not know?"
Yan Jinhua secretly cried out in distress and scrambled to his knees, stammering.
He had a script of lies, but he was afraid that if Duan Shujue was straightforward, he would expose him and all would be lost.
Luckily, Duan Shujue seemed to see his dilemma and gave him a light tap, saying that his parents had died early and he had been in exile and had been treated badly, and that Brother Yan had saved his life, so he had joined him in order to repay his kindness.
He even took it upon himself to cover up the fact that Yan Jinhua had secretly kept him in the Fisherman's Pool for ten years so that he would not be punished.
Duan Shujue was right in every way, and his words were even defensive, but Yan Jinhua could only listen, his mouth bitter, his heart already feeling bad.
When Chi Yunzi saw how well he spoke, his heart grew fonder, and when he compared it to Yan Jinhua next to him, his heart grew fonder.
What can Yan Jinhua bring out in a good child?
Yan Jinhua would never have thought of this, and when he saw Chi Yunzi open his mouth to speak, he came up with an idea.
Duan is a shark! Who knows what kind of heart he has?
If he gets the sword in the stone, what will happen if he takes it and uses it for evil?
Without further delay, Yan Jinhua immediately spoke up: "Master ......"
He had barely uttered a single vowel when he heard Duan Shujue's clear voice ring out not far in front of him: "Chi Yunzi, I have something important to tell you."
Chi Yunzi: "What is it?"
Duan Shujue respectfully held the sword and bowed to the end: "It is about the secret of the sword in the stone, can ...... you please ask the seniors to take refuge for a while?"
He made a very modest gesture and did the other sword cultivators present a great favour. They also knew that the sword was an inheritance from Jing Xufeng, and that it would be inappropriate for them to be present if there was a secret hidden in the sword in the stone, so they asked themselves to leave.
Yan Jinhua's mind whirled for a while and he guessed Duan Shujue's intentions.
There is also a paragraph like this in the original Wen.
When Duan Shujue got the sword in the stone, he did not dare to take it for granted, so he asked Chi Yunzi to dismiss the others and tell them that the sword was originally owned by a shark, admitting that he was also a shark.
The shark, after all, is not a human being, and it was only after weighing his interests that Chi Yunzi in Wen decided to take Duan Shujue as his pupil.
After all, it is difficult to take on a spirit beast of uncertain fortune as an apprentice, worrying about the potential public controversy if his identity is leaked, and worrying about one's ability to master Duan Shujue, who has a thousand-year-old sword intent.
If Chi Yunzi could not think of a better way to do it, there was a good chance that he would let him continue to be his cheap apprentice, given that he was in Duan Shujue's favour and had the title of master first.
By then, with the Master's name, Duan Shujue's qi and fortune would be within his reach.
As long as he is still by his side ......
As expected, Chi Yunzi's brow furrowed as he listened to the young man's confession, and Jing Xufeng's fellow immortals were silent.
...... sharks?
Is the first ancestor a shark? The one who draws the sword is also a shark?
Chi Yunzi's joy was mostly gone. On the one hand, he felt that this Duan boy was sincere and deserved praise, but on the other hand, as Yan Jinhua had expected, he was in a difficult position.
Yan Jinhua also followed the fake silence for a moment, grabbed the moment and spoke, "Master ......"
This time, however, the words were cut off again before he even uttered a vowel.
"...... Brother."
A gentle voice rang out from Chi Yunzi's side, "If you don't know what to do, why don't you put this son under my name for a while and I will teach him well?
Yan Jinhua's eyes widened slightly as he looked towards the top seat.
...... Who is this illiterate?!
It was an unfamiliar face, yet the face of a gentle and ancient nobleman, a jade xiao resting flat on his lap and a blue umbrella slung behind his back.
His aura is extremely clean, at a glance, the only thing that remains is stunning, only a thought of purity, the flames into a pool, but after looking at him for a long time, there is always a shy and sparse feeling, at the same time intimate, but people dare not easily approach.
For some reason, Chi Yunzi's originally tense expression was relieved when he heard this person's voice: "...... Sixth senior brother? ...... That's good."
Not only Yan Jinhua, but also Chi Xiaochi quickly searched his mind for the identity of this person.
Sixth Brother ......
Jing Xufeng One of the Six Gentlemen, Wen Yujing.
There are only a few lines about this person in The Sailor Fairy King.
" Wen Yujing, the sixth master of Chi Yunzi, is a man of leisure, a crane who lives in the wild, avoiding people, not asking questions about world affairs, and enjoying himself as a fisherman and woodcutter."
There was supposed to be a scene in Wen with the young master, but the chapter was overdue before Wen Yujing had a chance to cross paths with the protagonist.
Why he shunned the world and why he was in a position of supremacy in the Peak is probably known only to the author who abandoned the pit.
The words "that's fine" put the matter beyond doubt.
Yan Jinhua almost ground his teeth.
What made him almost vomit blood was that the system in his head was urgently informing him that the person who had taken his sea-defining pearl was this very person!
Did he already have his eye on Duan Shujue when he appeared there?
Yan Jinhua did not know the truth, he only knew that this would completely ruin all his years of painstaking planning!
And it's a really frustrating ruin that you can't even tell.
Did Duan Shujue use any underhanded tricks? Not really.
He broke through the seven formations and protected himself all the way through, pulled out the sword in the stone with the blood of a shark, passed on the legacy left by his ancestors to his descendants, confessed his identity, crossed the clear path in an upright manner and worshipped in Jing Xufeng, which, in terms of process, is logical; in terms of sentiment, is a balance of grace and righteousness.
Even if he had a hundred mouths to feed, he couldn't find a single fault with Duan Shujue!
Everyone will laugh at him for not having the self-awareness to accept disciples without looking at what kind of model he is; they will laugh at him for accepting disciples and then elevating them to seniority and turning them into senior disciples.
More importantly ......
Yan Jinhua's progress bar has fallen below 5. Without Duan Shujue's 100% favorability rating, his ten years of hard work in this world would have been worthless!
| ← Ch. 207 | Ch. 209 → |