NCCnovel #162 - Shangqing Notes
#162 - Shangqing Notes
Chapter 161: Notes from the Supreme Purity Sect
“How could this happen?”
Zhang Chen was stunned, his eyes filled with disbelief. How could his magic power be absorbed by Xie Lingyun's soul?
If Zhang Chen's magic power was likened to water, then Xie Lingyun's soul was a parched desert. How could water flow when it encounters a desert?
At this moment, accompanied by the absorption of magic power by Xie Lingyun's soul, an indescribable sense of comfort came from Xie Lingyun's soul. Xie Lingyun discovered that as she absorbed the 'qi' transmitted by Zhang Chen, she sensed that her soul seemed to have undergone some inexplicable change. This change was very subtle, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. She felt that her soul had undergone some kind of inexplicable transformation, but this transformation was too weak, and she couldn't detect any benefits for the time being.
“I understand now. It must be because our constitutions are different, which is why there was such a change.” Xie Lingyun opened her eyes and said to Zhang Chen.
Zhang Chen withdrew his palm and looked at Xie Lingyun with a puzzled expression: “What do you mean?”
Xie Lingyun said: “Perhaps my body had just begun to generate the sensation of qi when it was absorbed by my soul, which is why I couldn't generate the sensation of qi.”
Zhang Chen secretly laughed in his heart upon hearing this. Xie Lingyun's speculation was completely off the mark, but he didn't correct her, happy to let Xie Lingyun misunderstand.
“Perhaps I am not destined for the path of immortality.” Xie Lingyun's emotions were somewhat low.
“Perhaps the opportunity has not yet arrived.” Zhang Chen comforted her from the side.
Xie Lingyun remained noncommittal upon hearing this and looked at the sky outside: “I'll go back first. I'll come back tomorrow to discuss the mysteries of Qi Refining with you.”
Xie Lingyun left. Zhang Chen held the scripture given by Xie Lingyun in his hand, looking at the four large characters on the cover, completely unfamiliar.
Fortunately, on the side of the scripture, there were smaller characters providing a translation and annotation: Notes from the Supreme Purity Sect.
“What is this? Notes from the Supreme Purity Sect?” Zhang Chen looked at the translated words, and his heart was immediately shocked, suddenly beating rapidly, as if he had encountered an eighteenth-magnitude earthquake, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Supreme Purity?
Is it the Supreme Purity that I understand it to be? What a joke!!!
“Supreme Purity, the Saint Tongtian?” Zhang Chen was somewhat incredulous.
He quickly opened the first page of the book. On it were mysterious characters, and next to the mysterious characters were translated words: In my early years, I listened to my teacher expounding the Great Dao of Talismans, and thus recorded these notes.
Simple words, without any superfluous language. Then, opening the first page, what came into view was an extremely complex talisman. The talisman had no name, just a pattern outlined on the paper.
Zhang Chen looked at the talisman. After only one glance, he continued to flip through the pages. As he quickly flipped through them, the following pages were all filled with talismans, until the last page, which hastily recorded an unfinished sentence: Too late!
Simple words, which left Zhang Chen stunned: “Too late for what?”
He didn't quite understand.
“This book contains a total of three hundred and sixty-five types of talismans. It is simply impossible for me to master and read them all in a month…” Zhang Chen held the Notes from the Supreme Purity Sect and fell into entanglement. He could only select the key talismans to focus on, but the key was that he couldn't understand the meaning of the talismans at all, so how could he choose the talismans to specialize in?
“So it's very difficult. Could it be that I have to randomly select a talisman and gamble on luck?” Zhang Chen smiled wryly.
The people of the Surveillance Office couldn't even get started with talismans, so of course they wouldn't know the effects and names of the talismans, and thus couldn't annotate them.
Zhang Chen stared at the book in his hand in a daze, flipping back and forth through the talismans, unable to decide for a moment.
“Slurp~”
At this moment, Little Bean was holding a bowl of medicinal soup, her little face a bitter gourd, walking in from outside the door while drinking the soup: “Zhang Chen, why aren't you practicing martial arts and are looking at these useless books again? This book of yours is very strange, it seems to be quite old.”
“What do you think is the fastest way to memorize the contents of a book?” Zhang Chen asked.
Little Bean seemed to be looking at an idiot, answering without thinking: “Are you stupid? You said it's the whole book, so of course you have to memorize it as a whole. Memorizing it as a whole connects the beginning and the end, making it faster to memorize.”
Zhang Chen lowered his head upon hearing this, thoughtfully pondering Little Bean's words, a flash of inspiration in his mind: “That's right, since it's a book, it should be regarded as a whole. I'll try it first, specializing in one talisman while also practicing the other talismans. Perhaps there will be a chance for the golden finger to regard the entire book as a whole. Wouldn't I succeed directly then?”
“Little Bean's words reminded me, can I treat this book as a whole skill? Can I grind out the experience of the entire book?”
If he could grind out the entire Notes from the Supreme Purity Sect, wouldn't all his troubles be gone?
Zhang Chen held the book, standing there thoughtfully: “But how should I grind it?”
Thinking of this, Zhang Chen suddenly smiled and ran forward, grabbing Little Bean's head and kissing her face hard: “Senior Sister, you are truly my lucky star.”
After speaking, Zhang Chen began to carefully study the order of drawing the talisman on the first page, then picked up a wooden stick and drew on the sandbox.
Little Bean came closer and looked at Zhang Chen's book, her face becoming even more bitter as she looked at the scribbles on the book: “Junior Brother, you can't still be thinking about cultivating immortality, right?”
“I'm not thinking about cultivation, but I have already succeeded in cultivating immortality.” Zhang Chen solemnly corrected Little Bean's words.
Little Bean fell silent upon hearing this, looking down at the medicinal soup in her hand, then handed it to Zhang Chen: “Junior Brother, quickly drink the medicine. You haven't drunk the marrow-washing and impurity-removing medicine for many days. It would be terrible to delay your martial arts practice.”
She felt that Zhang Chen was more seriously ill than herself, so it was better to have Zhang Chen drink it first, and then she would go and decoct more medicine later.
Zhang Chen looked at the medicinal soup handed over by Cheng Yu, feeling somewhat speechless. He now knew that Cheng Yu's medicinal soup was for treating mental illness, so how could he be willing to continue drinking it?
“I think that drinking this medicinal soup makes people drowsy and lacking energy all day long. Why don't I wait until I'm done with my work before drinking it?” Zhang Chen looked at Cheng Yu, carefully choosing his words to explain his behavior.
Hearing Zhang Chen's words, Little Bean didn't know what Zhang Chen was thinking, and thought that Zhang Chen really wanted to wait until he was done with his work before drinking the medicine, so she put down the medicinal soup and instructed: “You must drink this medicinal soup, you must not forget.”
Then Little Bean turned and left, worriedly going to decoct more medicine.
Seeing Little Bean Sprout walk away, Zhang Chen directly extracted the water from the medicinal soup, leaving only dry medicinal residue at the bottom of the bowl. Then, Zhang Chen quickly stuffed the residue into his sleeve and continued to ponder the runes without making a sound.
There was no way he was going to drink that medicine, not even if he was beaten to death.
Zhang Chen was, after all, someone who had painstakingly produced two runes. He had gained some insights into drawing runes, and with his runes having been upgraded to the Mysterious level, his comprehension of runes had reached a sophisticated level.
Learning runes was like practicing calligraphy. Zhang Chen had completely mastered two characters and achieved a master-level skill. Even if he were to write new characters, they wouldn't be too bad. As for whether he recognized the character, it wouldn't hinder his writing at all. He could even discover stroke order problems during the writing process and gradually experiment to correct them.
This meant that Zhang Chen had a foundation, making learning faster.
Of course, Zhang Chen wasn't just burying his head in practicing the first rune. In his spare time, he would also flip through the later runes, sketching a few strokes and trying to imitate them.
“This is when the importance of having a master becomes apparent. With a famous teacher's guidance, entering the field would only take a few days,” Zhang Chen muttered to himself.
Studying the Shangqing Hand Scroll, entering the mental world to excavate ruins and find treasures, and practicing Qi became Zhang Chen's daily tasks.
Now, Zhang Chen and Little Bean Sprout had been exempted from their chores and had become idle people in the Taoist temple. As for why they were exempted? Naturally, Xie Lingyun had spoken up, and the Taoist temple wouldn't dare to disrespect Xie Lingyun's wishes.
In the afternoon, Abbot Liu Feng came.
“Master.” Little Bean Sprout rushed over with a face full of joy upon seeing Liu Feng and was embraced by him.
Liu Feng held Little Bean Sprout, stroking his head. It was evident that he was very fond of Little Bean Sprout. After doting on Little Bean Sprout, his eyes turned to Zhang Chen, who quickly and respectfully bowed: “Greetings, Abbot.”
“It's been a while. You've become quite successful, young man. I heard you've gained the appreciation of a noble lady, and your future is bright and promising,” Liu Feng said, smiling as he looked at Zhang Chen.
“It's just the noble lady's favor,” Zhang Chen said politely.
Liu Feng put Little Bean Sprout down and instructed: “Go to the kitchen and get a jar of wine and bring it to me.”
“I'll go,” Zhang Chen quickly interjected.
Liu Feng waved his hand upon hearing this: “Let her go. I have something to say to you.”
Little Bean Sprout happily ran off, but Zhang Chen's heart sank: ‘Liu Feng actually dismissed Little Bean Sprout to talk to me, so the content of the conversation is obviously something that can't be heard by others.’
“Let's go, let's talk inside.” Liu Feng took the lead and sat down inside the house.
Zhang Chen stood aside, not daring to sit down. Seeing this, Liu Feng pointed to the seat opposite him: “Sit down, we don't have that many rules.”
Only then did Zhang Chen sit down with a respectful expression, taking the initiative to speak: “Does the Abbot have something to tell me?”
Liu Feng pondered slightly upon hearing this, and then said: “How is your martial arts cultivation going?”
“There is no progress,” Zhang Chen shook his head: “Please forgive this disciple for being dull.”
“Martial arts originally require time to hone little by little. How can it be so easy to achieve results?” Liu Feng comforted him, then suddenly changed the subject:
“I heard that the noble lady values you very much? She stayed here with you for a whole morning today?”
“She was just teaching this disciple some knowledge, it can't be said that she values me very much,” Zhang Chen said modestly, meeting Liu Feng's gaze, and secretly pondering: “The Abbot is beating around the bush, something is not right! Could it be that there is something difficult to entrust to me? And this matter is related to the noble lady?”
Just as Zhang Chen was thinking, Liu Feng spoke, verifying his guess: “The Patriarch has given an order, asking you to be sure to ask the noble lady to take you down the mountain and arrange for you to take a position in the Surveillance Office if you have the opportunity.”
Zhang Chen was stunned upon hearing this, and a thought popped into his head: “What does the Yellow Sky Sect want to do? Could it be that they want me to go to the Surveillance Office as an undercover agent?”
Since ancient times, people who work as undercover agents have never had a good end, especially in the Surveillance Office, where capable people and strange scholars are like carps crossing the river. A slight carelessness can lead to disaster, and even one's soul will be scattered, and the ashes will be scattered.
“What virtue or ability do I have to be promoted to the Surveillance Office?” Zhang Chen said, pretending to be fearful.
“It's up to you. As long as you perform well in front of the noble lady, with her power and status, promoting you is just a matter of a word,” Liu Feng stared at Zhang Chen, examining his expression, carefully observing his reaction.
Zhang Chen directly agreed upon hearing this: “Abbot, don't worry, if the noble lady promotes this disciple, this disciple will definitely make a request to the noble lady.”
Liu Feng nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this: “Zhang Chen, you are a smart person, I have high hopes for you. If you can handle this matter well, not only can you obtain wealth and glory, but you will also definitely have a place in the high-level of my Yellow Sky Sect in the future.”
Liu Feng chatted with Zhang Chen for a few more words, gave him some guidance on martial arts, and then got up and left.
Zhang Chen looked at Liu Feng's departing figure, stood in the courtyard and pondered, a look of caution appeared in his eyes: “The Yellow Sky Sect's ambition is too great, they dare to reach out to the Surveillance Office, and it will definitely cause a monstrous disaster in the future. After I find the follow-up methods of Qi training, I must get my family out of it as soon as possible.”
After Little Bean Sprout came back, he saw that Liu Feng had already left, and happily carried the wine jar to Liu Feng.
Zhang Chen continued to cultivate the runes, studying and pondering the drawing methods of the runes. The night passed quickly, and the next morning, Xie Lingyun walked into the small residence with a food box, calling Zhang Chen and Little Bean Sprout to get up and have a meal together.
After the meal, Little Bean Sprout decocted and drank the medicine, then fell into a deep sleep. Only then did Zhang Chen and Xie Lingyun begin to discuss Qi training techniques.
However, Xie Lingyun still gained nothing.
After the discussion, Zhang Chen looked at Xie Lingyun and said: “The Abbot came to find me yesterday.”
“Oh?” Xie Lingyun raised an eyebrow. She knew that Zhang Chen was not speaking aimlessly when he said this.
“He asked me to ask you to promote me to join the Surveillance Office,” Zhang Chen looked at Xie Lingyun.
Xie Lingyun looked at Zhang Chen thoughtfully upon hearing this, and asked: “So, are you going down the mountain to join the Surveillance Office? If you want to go, it's just a matter of a word from me.”
“The busyness down the mountain can't compare to the leisure in the mountains,” Zhang Chen smiled.
“I do hope you can come down the mountain to help me. You have real skills and shouldn't waste your talents in the mountains,” Xie Lingyun said with regret.