Ch 79 Part 3 – Winning the Bet (III)
July 6, 2021August 12, 2021By koffeam
Meng Qi focused her mind on the medicine she was refining, but she couldn’t help being distracted. She knew that her Master had helped her again and gave Ji Wujiong a lesson for her sake. However, he left so quickly that she had no time to say anything, not even goodbye.
She didn’t know when they would meet again.
Meng Qi looked at the bright Lihuo flame. Her eyes were a little dazed. The euphoria she felt before losing consciousness had totally been deflated when that person suddenly disappeared again. Even though he had just promised to find her a blood moon, and also to slowly teach her the arrays Ji Wujiong used…
Meng Qi absent-mindedly picked up a dead branch and drew the last array Ji Wujiong failed to activate. This array was pretty complicated, with many overlapping and interconnecting lines, and actually was very difficult to draw in one go. Meng Qi didn’t inject any aura into it and simply drew line by line exactly by her memory. Like this, even if spirit stones were embedded, the array couldn’t be activated.
Ji Wujiong was originally just standing aside, glancing lightly at Meng Qi from time to time. Later, he saw her using a dead branch to draw an array on the ground. Her head was drooped, seemingly was lost in thought, so he began to watch her openly. Then he saw her drawing line by line skilfully before finally closing the last line, completing the array in one go.
Ji Wujiong: “…”
He suddenly felt speechless. Wasn’t the art of arrays supposed to be declining in Three Thousand Worlds, and had barely reemerged one or two centuries ago? Wasn’t it supposed to be fallen behind other cultivation branches, and now was regarded merely as a tool for refinery cultivators to refine magic weapons?
How could someone still in the Foundation Establishment stage was so profound in arrays that he was caught off guard?!
“Hey!” Ji Wujiong finally lowered his posture. He squatted down in front of Meng Qi’s bronze cauldron and looked straight into her eyes: “You have also learned this array before?”
“What?” Meng Qi returned to her sense and glanced at Ji Wujiong. She then lowered her gaze to the ground and looked at the array she had just drawn: “No.” She said matter-of-factly. “Isn’t this the array you drew before? The one you claimed to have no spirit stones to activate? I never see it before.”
Ji Wujiong: “… …”
Even though he had just being mocked, he didn’t get very angry. It was even rarer for him to not answer back sarcastically.
Ji Wujiong examined Meng Qi’s expression. This girl was unconscious for almost one day. Once she woke up, she immediately began to refine the antidote. On top of that, she looked totally unhappy, and didn’t show the slightest joy of winning!
She also said that she had never learned this array before. But she picked up a dead branch and drew such a complicated array without missing one stroke?!
A complex emotion suddenly flashed in Ji Wujiong’s eyes. He looked at Meng Qi with a scorching gaze, his tone was full of disbelief: “Just now, you…” He frowned, seemingly was still unable to fathom: “Did you really memorize this array by looking at me drawing it just once, and even from such a distance?”
Just now, he clearly saw Meng Qi drew the array in one go. If she injected her aura when drawing, then this array…
Heh! No, it wouldn’t!
She was only a weak Foundation Establishment cultivator. With such a pitiful cultivation base, she didn’t even have one-tenth of the aura needed to draw this array.
Ji Wujiong stared at Meng Qi for a moment, then stood up suddenly. Seemingly had just made a difficult decision and looked a bit anxious, he walked toward Meng Qi.
“Meng Qi.” Ji Wujiong stopped and lowered his gaze at Meng Qi. “Have you ever learned arrays systematically?”
Meng Qi shook her head.
As expected!
Whether it was when Meng Qi used the dead branch to draw this array, or when she drew the Thousand Cranes array before, it took him only one glance to see that she had never studied arrays in a systematical manner!
However, this made the situation even more exciting.
“Ahem…” Ji Wujiong paced back and forth a few steps and coughed several times before Meng Qi finally looked up at him.
“Since I have nothing to do anyway, let me tell you about the history of arrays.” Ji Wujiong’s tone suddenly changed drastically. It was no longer was full of thorns like before.
Meng Qi looked at him suspiciously and reminded: “We need to pass the Grand Tournament’s test as soon as possible to leave this place. Have you forgotten?
“Cough, cough, cough…” Ji Wujiong coughed again, “Am I not waiting for you to finished refining the antidote?”
Without giving Meng Qi a chance to refute again, Ji Wujiong quickly continued: “Ten thousand years ago, arrays were thriving in three realms of Three Thousand Worlds, Demon Realm, and Devil Realm. At that time, sword cultivators and spell cultivators already had the same status as now, and they could run rampant in the three realms. However, cultivators who specialized in arrays, as long as they had reached the pinnacle of their art, were able to contend with several sword cultivators and spell cultivators of the same cultivation base. That’s how powerful they were!”
Meng Qi: “…What about medical cultivators?”
“Medical cultivators…” Meeting Meng Qi’s clear eyes, Ji Wujiong quickly changed his words: “…have always existed peacefully with others. They are kind and benevolent, and totally indispensable in any era!”
Meng Qi: “…”
He sounded insincere!
Ji Wujiong actually praised medical cultivators thrice in one breath, which was totally unthinkable compared with his previous attitude. Just by looking at his attitude towards the Medical Society Alliance, it was clear that his disdain towards medical cultivators ran deep in his bone.
“But medical cultivators always disdain to participate in conflicts.” Ji Wujiong continued. “So, it was sword cultivators, spell cultivators, and those who specialized in arrays who dominated the world of that era.” He paused for a while. “At that time, cultivators who specialized in arrays were called array cultivators.”
“Yes.” Meng Qi nodded.
“Sword cultivators, spell cultivators, and array cultivators were the three major cultivation branches, and no side could overwhelm the others. In addition, that was a very chaotic era. The three realms had yet to be completely separated, and the three races of human, demon, and devil often fell into various disputes. Bloody battlefields were everywhere, and the world was full of murderous air. Cultivators of the Comprehending Perfection and Great Ascension stage, which in this era had almost been never unheard of, often fought for seven days and seven nights. Blood permeated from the ground to the sky, and even the sun, moon, and stars seemed to be dim.”
