Qian District, Divine Farmer City:
Gongyang Sheng led Gu Hai, Sima Changkong, Long Aotian, Long Sanqian, and Ao Shun to the central plaza.
A large pure-white stele stood in the large plaza, sporting a circular diagram of the sixty-four hexagrams carved on it. The arrangement of the sixty-four hexagrams was exactly the same as the ones in the sky.
Under the sixty-four hexagrams was Jiang Lianshan’s scripture. It started with the lead hexagram.
“The Gen Hexagram is the first of the hexagrams. The Gen Hexagram [the symbol of mountain] predicates restraint. If you restrain yourself from the back so that you will not be tempted, you will not receive any blame. It is as if you did not see your companion when you walk back to back in the courtyard.
“Gen is formed by two mountains [two Gen Trigrams] over each other. In accordance with this, the superior man’s thoughts do not venture beyond his place.
“Six-One: Restrain yourself at the very beginning, and you will not receive any blame. Potentiality lies in eternal perseverance.
“Six-Two: Restrain your steps even though you may feel unhappy when you stop following others.
“Nine-Three: Restrain yourself straitly, and what you repress will dominate your thoughts.
“Six-Four: Restrain yourself properly, and you will not receive any blame.
“Six-Five: Restrain your mouth so as to speak in order, and your regret will disappear.
“Nine-Six: Restrain yourself with noble virtue, and you will have good fortune.”
[TL Note: The numbers refer to the hexagram, how it is formed, and its shape. A hexagram is formed by combining two trigrams, which are made out of combinations of two short lines or one long line.]
“Indeed, the Gen Hexagram is the leading hexagram,” Gu Hai said with narrowed eyes.
Currently, many people wandered the plaza. However, no one approached the stele. Perhaps they had already given up on the Lianshan Classic.
Many soldiers guarded the surroundings of the stele.
Gu Hai looked at the Lianshan Classic on the stele. The sixty-four hexagrams were listed in order, with the Gen Hexagram first and the Kun Hexagram second.
“Mister Gu, Divine Farmer City has sixty-four steles, each with a segment of the Lianshan Classic. Furthermore, they all contain different texts. It seems like they all have different conceptions. Mister Gu, are you sure you don’t want to take a look at them?” Gongyang Sheng asked, finding this strange.
“There’s no need.” Gu Hai shook his head.
I can’t understand them even if I take a look. Why bother looking?
“Then, Mister Gu, have you found any flaws?” Gongyang Sheng asked with a strange expression.
Flaws? Gu Hai only had a rough understanding of the eight trigrams. How could he possibly understand this?
The sixty-four hexagrams were combinations of the foundational eight trigrams; each hexagram was made up of two trigrams. The Gen Hexagram consisted of two Gen Trigrams.
The Gen Trigram [☶] had one long line on top, two short lines in the middle, and two short lines at the bottom.
The long line symbolized Yang, and the two short lines symbolized Yin. Using numbers to illustrate them, they would be Yang-Nine and Yin-Six. The Yang line was nine, and the Yin line was six.
The trigrams were read from bottom to top. The Gen Hexagram consisted of two Gen Trigrams [☶] so the bottommost two lines were Six-One. Going by the order of reading the hexagrams, they were Six-One, Six-Two, Nine-Three, Six-Four, Six-Five, and Nine-Six.
Gu Hai roughly understood this. The others also understood how to read the hexagrams. However, they did not know how to study it further. At the very least, Gongyang Sheng did not.
Long Aotian, Long Sanqian, Ao Shun, and Sima Changkong could not understand, either.
“Hall Master, did you find a flaw?” Long Aotian sneered.
Now, everyone focused their gaze on Gu Hai.
“So, I can write on this stele?” Gu Hai asked.
“Uh…that’s right. This stele is a part of the Lianshan Ritual Array. As long as you write on it, it will sense it. If what you wrote is not important, there will be no reaction. Mister Gu, are you really going to write on it? Did you really find a flaw?” Gongyang Sheng asked, feeling strange.
“Yes. The problem is pretty big.” Gu Hai nodded.
Gongyang Sheng: “…”
I was just asking casually. Can you not be humbler?
Everyone looked at Gu Hai speechlessly. They did not know whether Gu Hai really saw a problem or was just pretending. However, they would know soon, so they kept their peace.
Gongyang Sheng went to speak to the soldiers guarding the stele. The soldiers looked at Gu Hai in surprise.
“Hah! Is it just another braggart?”
“His Holy Eminence’s Lianshan Classic was already perfected long ago. How can there be flaws?”
“Furthermore, a person from the Qian Nation?”
The soldiers criticized Gu Hai slightly. However, the Yan Heavenly Emperor had issued strict orders. Naturally, they did not worry, only showing some disdain in their eyes.
When Gu Hai approached, Gongyang Sheng took out a brush kept at the side. “Mister Gu, this is the brush specially used for this. Use the golden ink, made from ground spirit stones, to write on the stele, and that is it.”
Gu Hai picked up the brush, dabbed it in the golden ink, and nodded.
When Gu Hai stood before the stele, he attracted the attention of countless citizens.
“What is that group doing? Why are they at the Lianshan Divine Stele?”
“Are they trying to correct the Lianshan Classic?”
“What a joke! Even Old Mister Guan Qi could not change a thing about it one thousand years ago. Where did these people come from?”
The citizens appeared skeptical, but they watched anyway.
Gongyang Sheng and Long Aotian suddenly smiled bitterly. Suddenly, they realized that they should not have come here. More people came over. If Gu Hai could not write anything significant, how embarrassing would that be?
However, a group of people with cold expressions stood in the crowd.
It was the Azure Emperor and his subordinates looking at the distant Gu Hai at the stele.
“Oh? What boasting! Correcting the Lianshan Classic? What a joke!” the Azure Emperor said coldly.
“Imperial Lord, I heard him say it when I listened in earlier. This Gu Hai has no idea how vast the world is,” Seven Kills murmured.
Dan Wang frowned and asked, “Imperial Lord, there are many people here. Should we do it somewhere else?”
“Somewhere else? Humph! The Qian District is under our management. We can activate a portion of the Lianshan Ritual Array. This is our territory. Why should we be so concerned?” the Azure Emperor retorted coldly.
“However, they are the Qian Nation envoys in the end,” Dan Wang said worriedly.
“So what if they are the Qian Nation envoys? This is the Yan Heavenly Dynasty. Furthermore, who would know we did it after the matter is over?” the Azure Emperor said coldly.
“But…”
“There’s no need to worry. We have a way to deal with the Qian Nation envoys. It won’t be someone from my Yan Heavenly Dynasty but the result of Gu Hai seeking his own death,” the Azure Emperor said with a cold smile.
“Ah?”
“Seven Kills heard them, so it should be right. Yehua and Yanxuan?” The Azure Emperor turned to Seven Kills.
“Imperial Lord, it is right. This subordinate was listening in to their conversation. Gu Hai’s group caused a commotion in Heaven City and captured the Supreme Genesis’s two sons. He even said boldly that there was a problem with the Lianshan Classic and would be correcting it,” Seven Kills said with certainty.
“Excellent. Since that is the case, it is no longer our problem but the Supreme Genesis coming to seek trouble for them. It is the Supreme Genesis,” the Azure Emperor said coldly.
The Azure Emperor extended his hand and swiped down.
Buzz!
A boundless fog suddenly appeared in the surroundings out of nowhere.
“Imperial Lord, are you activating the Lianshan Ritual Array? Won’t His Holy Eminence find out?” Dan Wang still felt somewhat worried.
“This is the territory we manage. His Holy Eminence will not bother. Furthermore, we are only using the Lianshan Ritual Array to draw Spiritual Energy to power another ritual array,” the Azure Emperor said coldly.
Boom!
The fog billowed, immediately covering the plaza.
“What’s going on?”
“Why is there fog all of a sudden?”
“What an intense aura! Why? Why?”
The citizens were shocked.
An intense aura appeared in the fog.
“What’s happening? Fly over and take a look!” one of the guards said in shock.
Boom!
That guard had just taken to the skies when he was knocked down with a loud report.
“Argh!”
A miserable cry rang out in the surroundings.
The citizens immediately became flustered.
At the same time, Gu Hai’s brush stopped in midair. Sima Changkong and the others also looked at the churning fog in shock.
“What’s happening? This is Divine Farmer City. Who dares to cause trouble here?!” Gongyang Sheng’s expression changed.
“Gu Hai!” Suddenly, a thunderous shout rang out in the foggy region.
Gu Hai’s face sank as he searched for the source of the shout. However, the shout was too loud, and he could not find the source.
“Go out first!” Long Aotian yelled.
As Long Aotian spoke, his figure flashed, and he shot into the distance.
Bang!
Long Aotian got knocked back. Now, a six-winged angel stood before him.
Holding a sword, that six-winged angel looked coldly at Long Aotian.
“Angels? The angels gave chase?” Ao Shun’s face sank.
Ao Shun immediately moved closer to Gu Hai.
Boom!
Just then, a rain of arrows came from the edge of the fog, shooting towards Gu Hai’s group in the center.
The arrows moved extremely fast, arriving before the crowd in the blink of an eye.
“Oh no!” The expressions of Long Sanqian, Gongyang Sheng, and Sima Changkong changed.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Everyone quickly dodged. Ao Shun extended his hand and waved, breaking most of the arrows.
Suddenly, countless vines erupted around Gu Hai, encasing the surroundings as well as the soldiers and citizens.
“Many thanks!” The soldiers’ expressions changed as they looked at Gu Hai with gratitude.
Just at this moment, an imposing aura pressed down.
“Upper Heavenly Palace?” Ao Shun’s face sank.
Suddenly, thousands of angels appeared in the surroundings. There were dozens of six-winged angels, all holding weapons as they stood around a white figure.
When the white figure appeared, a powerful aura kicked up a windstorm in the foggy area.
“The Supreme Genesis?” Ao Shun’s expression changed.
“The Supreme Genesis chased after us. Does he not care about Yehua’s and Yanxuan’s lives?” Sima Changkong’s face sank.
“Supreme Genesis, I have Ensnaring Performance keeping an eye on Yanxuan and Yehua. He can hear me wherever I am. If you dare to mess around, you can forget about seeing your two sons ever again!” Gu Hai said coldly.
“Hahahahaha! Kill!” The Supreme Genesis smiled coldly, not caring.
“Kill!” Thousands of angels immediately charged at Gu Hai.
“Ah! Save me!” Countless citizens’ expressions changed.
Rumble…!
Gu Hai wrapped his vines around the citizens, protecting them.
However, the angels pressed the assault.
Ao Shun stepped forward and soared up.
Boom! Ao Shun knocked back dozens of angels with a punch.
“Ao Shun? Ao Tianhuang indeed has a good son. However, you can blame your poor fate. Since you are with Gu Hai, all of you can forget about surviving!” the Supreme Genesis snorted coldly. Then, his figure flashed, immediately arriving before Ao Shun.
Boom!
The Supreme Genesis threw a punch. The punch produced a strong wind that knocked Ao Shun ten meters back. Although Ao Shun was an Upper Heavenly Palace Realm expert, he was no match for the Supreme Genesis.
Sand and stone flew in the surroundings. If not for Gu Hai’s vines, the citizens would have suffered a terrible fate.
Unfortunately, the angels only grew more ferocious.
Just as the many angels were about to attack Long Aotian, he stopped holding back.
“Jiangchen zombie, protect me!” Long Aotian waved his hand.
Whoosh!
A zombie wearing imperial robes suddenly appeared and knocked the angels away.
“Huh? Insignificant thing, you are seeking death!” The Supreme Genesis’s eyes turned cold as he approached and landed a punch on the zombie.
Boom!
The zombie flew back thirty-odd meters.
“Break!” The Supreme Genesis attacked again.
Boom!
The immense force broke all of the vines. The shock waves swept through everyone.
“Argh! Argh! Argh!”
Now, the citizens, the soldiers, Gongyang Sheng, and Sima Changkong were exposed. The angels immediately chased after them. Miserable cries rang out. Some people died.
Ao Shun and the jiangchen zombie were both in the Heavenly Palace Realm. They charged at the Supreme Genesis. However, the Supreme Genesis was too strong; they were simply no match. It looked like the angels would kill everyone.
Suddenly, Gu Hai narrowed his eyes.
“Something’s not right. This is not the real Supreme Genesis. This is the Thirty-Two Line-Pair World Ritual Array? A Supreme Genesis cloud beast?” Gu Hai’s expression changed.
Chapters for July: 20 / 30
