Mysteries of Immortal Puppet Master - Chapter 1246 - 482: Confucianism’s Divine Aid (Part 2)
Chapter 1246: Chapter 482: Confucianism’s Divine Aid (Part 2)
The trembling of the Cultivation Room walls ceased.
Qing Chi hurriedly stood upright, pretending to be merely passing by.
The door opened, and Zhu Fenxiang appeared, carrying a Purple Copper Incense Burner, enveloped in smoke. As she passed by Qing Chi, she glanced at him and gracefully left.
The next day.
On a temporarily erected Nine-layer Jade Platform, Zhao Hansheng stood with his hands clasped behind his back, dressed in a black robe as dark as ink.
Below the platform, three thousand cultivators stood silently, each stationed at a booth.
There were grey-haired old Confucian cultivators, young scions in ornate brocade robes, fierce Sword Cultivators, and many dressed in bizarre outfits, drawn by the temptation of the Inheriting Dao Jade Page.
In the front row on the left, Gu Qing, wearing an unstained moon-white Confucian robe, meditated with a solemn expression.
In the back, Ning Zhuo stood quietly, hands hanging naturally by his sides, wide sleeves swaying lightly in the wind.
From time to time, glances were cast towards Gu Qing and Ning Zhuo. The outcome of this trial would determine the result of the entire Confucian Cultivation small test.
Zhao Hansheng slowly began to speak; though his voice was not loud, it was clearly heard by everyone.
He informed everyone present about the rules of the current trial. The Refining Method for the Inheriting Dao Jade Page would be taught in nine segments, each with its own assessment criteria. Cultivators must produce results that meet these standards to qualify for learning the next segment of the papermaking content.
The crowd of cultivators couldn’t help but buzz with surprise upon hearing this.
They initially thought that the method for the Inheriting Dao Jade Page would be as easy to obtain as the previous four trials. But now, Zhao Hansheng informed them that they wouldn’t benefit so easily.
In today’s trial, everyone would face the harsh pressure of elimination!
“Now, the first Chapter.”
Zhao Hansheng drew a yellowed Jade Slip from his sleeve, unfurling it slowly.
He began to chant, not merely reading aloud but with a certain rhythm, like plucking a zither or the gentle chime of bells: “Observe the sequence of the four seasons, the text of the stars and frost. The constellations cast their glow upon the southern shore, the pavilion breathes over the eastern sea. The Child holds the Cyan Jade, offering to the essence of Taiyi; ordered E Ying to embrace the Mysterious Jade, gathering the soul of Gushue. At the time when the dew turns white at three watches, the Withered Willow turns green; in the depths of the nine-fathom abyss, an old clam bears a pearl…”
The voice resonated through the Array Space.
On the first pass, everyone stood with ears perked, focused; by the second pass, many began to sweat; by the end of the third, a muted stir arose in the crowd.
“What… what is this about?”
“Completely unintelligible!”
“What’s this about constellations at the southern shore, and the Withered Willow turning green, is this about papermaking?”
Zhao Hansheng put away the Jade Slip, expressionless as he announced: “Three hours, begin.”
Transparent light screens rose around the stands, dividing three thousand people into separate areas. Each area contained a set of basic tools: Jade Blade, copper tripod, Pottery Jar, wooden case, and so on.
Gu Qing was the first to move.
Without even thinking, he picked up the Jade Blade and selected suitable namu twigs from the array of materials, slicing them into inches, each cut surface glinting with a faint golden hue.
Gu Qing took out a Small Jade Bottle, uncorking it, releasing a refreshing fragrance. He poured the liquid into the copper tripod and began to kindle a fire. His movements were fluid and precise, as though rehearsed a thousand times.
Almost everyone was hearing of the papermaking method for the Inheriting Dao Jade Page for the first time. But Gu Qing was not.
He had long learned this method from his mentor Zhao Hansheng and had succeeded in its refinement.
He soon left everyone behind, leading the way alone.
Ning Zhuo observed Gu Qing with his Divine Sense, heaving a gentle sigh in his heart.
The opponent’s advantage was enormous, but Ning Zhuo remained calm, for his true purpose was never to defeat Gu Qing, but to learn the spirit paper creation method.
Yet Zhao Hansheng was clearly on guard, and to obtain the complete method, Ning Zhuo had to give it his all.
Ning Zhuo sat cross-legged, closing his eyes, his mind echoing with Zhao Hansheng’s chant. Words floated in his Upper Dantian in the Divine Sea, being dissected and reassembled into sentences.
Ning Zhuo analyzed word by word, sentence by sentence.
“’The constellations cast their glow’ seems to speak of the starry division, corresponding to certain geographical positions.”
“’The Child holds the Cyan Jade’ might imply contact with jade using Pure Yang?”
“’The Withered Willow turns green’ should be referring to a material that needs such transformation…”
He clearly sensed the vast difference in the technique.
The previous four trials, whether Mountain and River Page, Heavenly Star Paper, Haoran Xuan, or Heart Fire Essence, the methods were simple, straightforward, easily understandable. But the creation method of the Inheriting Dao Jade Page, superficially a florid essay, full of classical allusions, describing scenes and emotions, yet in truth, conveyed the real method. It was just that ordinary cultivators found it hard to read; the comprehension threshold was too high!
Ning Zhuo’s primary study wasn’t Confucian Skills, but luckily, his fundamentals were solid. In Fire Persimmon Immortal City, he had read various classics, having studied all publicly circulated Confucian basic texts.
The first segment of the papermaking method gradually translated for Ning Zhuo.
He began to scrutinize the treasure materials.
“I need to meticulously select the right materials according to the method. The raw materials are where everything begins, and I mustn’t get them wrong.”
Most materials related to the Five Elements were a benefit to Ning Zhuo.
All things in the world are basically inseparable from the Five Elements.
Furthermore, Ning Zhuo’s Artifact Refining realm had improved greatly, so selecting materials didn’t stump him.
Three hours later, the Great Array urged them to stop all at once.
In most people’s copper tripods, there was only a heap of boiled wood.
A few managed to refine a pulp-like substance, but it was turbid in color, devoid of any Spirit Light.
Before Gu Qing, a tripod of pale golden slurry emitted a faint glow, with starry sparks gleaming on its surface—perfect!
Zhao Hansheng’s Divine Sense lingered specifically over Ning Zhuo’s booth.
He saw that the slurry in Ning Zhuo’s copper tripod was a pale cyan color, lacking purity, but indeed having the prototype of “Wenguang Paste.” Most importantly, there were strands of silver threads floating in the slurry—a trace of Ning Zhuo’s Divine Sense infused within.
“To know what it is and also why it is so,” Zhao Hansheng nodded slightly in his heart, “Pass.”
The first segment ended, reducing the number by eight hundred.
Zhao Hansheng didn’t give the crowd time to rest; he once again unrolled the Jade Slip: “Could the Cold Pool dispel heat, unrelated to the mountain breeze; could the ancient well cause ripples, none by the Chi Wen? Throw the unpolished jade of Bian He into the grand furnace, use Yi Qi’s Wei as kindling. After seven returns, the purple smoke became inscriptions, nine transformations and the Green Marrow Nectar took shape. Xiang Ling was startled, suddenly hearing the music of Xian Pool; Feng Yi’s long howl subtly altered Cangshui’s patterns…”
The cultivators: ?
The level of difficulty understanding the second segment was more than double the first.
The cultivators hurriedly committed it to memory, then pondered deeply.
“This is deliberately making it difficult!” A hot-tempered cultivator slammed down the Jade Blade, “I won’t take the test anymore!”
Immediately, he was transported out by the Great Array, without further affecting others.
Gu Qing remained calm.
He carefully selected from the pile of materials, choosing suitable pinewood, cypress, and bamboo nodes.
“Pine, cypress, bamboo, the Three Friends of Winter, symbolizing the noble man,” murmured an observing elder, “So ’Yi Qi’s Wei’ is not really Wei vegetables, but instead means noble fuel…”
Because the booths were observable, many clever cultivators followed Gu Qing’s every action, imitating accordingly.
Gu Qing lit the wood, and the flame unexpectedly intertwined in colors of cyan, white, and green. He poured the previously refined Wenguang Paste into a new copper tripod, beginning to stew.
During the stewing process, he extracted the pulp several times every few hours to knead, then returned it in. This was repeated seven times—precisely the “seven returns” indicated in the crafting content.
With each kneading, the color of the pulp deepened, and the texture became purer. By the seventh time, the pulp had transformed into a semi-transparent cyan-purple, like solidified jadeite.
“Green Marrow Nectar… perfect appearance, well done.” Zhao Hansheng nodded inwardly, quite pleased.
His Divine Sense spread, falling on Ning Zhuo.
Ning Zhuo’s fire color was mixed, far less pure than Gu Qing’s tri-colored Fire Essence.
“With such fire, it is bound to fail,” Zhao Hansheng thought, “However, to achieve this level on a first learning, it’s a commendable standard.”
Just as he thought this, Ning Zhuo’s maintained flame suddenly cleared, the three colors distinctly separate.
Five Internal Organs Temple Spirit Divine Skill!
Fire Element Heart Temple!
Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com
