Chapter Six: Privileges
For the entire day, Ji Changkong did not find any opportunity to enter that small area. During this time, he could only wander around other bookshelves and browse through some scriptures that described the origins of the Tian Shi and the boundaries between realms.
Ji Changkong didn't leave empty-handed.
One day, he roughly flipped through all the basic books that described the boundaries of the Tian Shi realm, explaining the connections between tendons, bones and muscles, and yuan force.
So-called celestial masters are cultivators who can wield the power between heaven and earth!
The cultivation of Tian Shi is divided into ten realms: One Yuan, Two Yi, Three Cai, Four Xiang, Five Elements, Six Harmony, Seven Stars, Eight Trigrams, Nine Palaces, and Ten Directions.
The Ten Great Realms, each realm has its own unique cultivation method, either borrowing the power of the Four Symbols or using the power of the Five Elements, or perhaps roaming among the Seven Stars and the Sun and Moon, borrowing the power of the celestial bodies to achieve one's desires.
The books that Ji Changkong flipped through only roughly explained some basic principles of Tiānshì cultivation, but did not mention how to cultivate them in detail. He had roughly flipped through all the books, but still hadn't found the cultivation secrets he needed.
Before long, the sky gradually darkened, and the Scripture Pavilion unknowingly lit up several oil lamps from who knows when.
Until this time, those Ji family children only felt hungry. After watching the heavenly secrets and techniques for a whole day, some of them gradually couldn't bear it anymore. Thinking that there were still two days left, they didn't continue to waste their time and slowly started leaving the Scripture Pavilion...
Ji Yue Qing and Ji Xiao Lian supported each other until the second half of the night, yawning continuously. Adding to that, their stomachs were really hurting from hunger, so they both left.
After a while, Ji Changle and Ji Changsheng on the second floor also went downstairs with fatigue. The two had dull eyes and were in low spirits, and they should have worked hard on the second floor this time. This time, Ji Changle was too lazy to bother Ji Changkong, and he glanced at him disdainfully before leaving the Scripture Pavilion with Ji Changsheng side by side.
Gradually, there were fewer and fewer people in the Scripture Pavilion, and finally a large space was vacated on the east corner of the first floor.
The girl wandered around the outskirts for a whole day, silently chewing and swallowing the steamed buns she had brought in the morning, her clear eyes gradually brightening up...
The opportunity has finally come!
It was already the ugly hour, a time when people were most prone to dozing off. Many of the Ji family's collateral descendants who remained in the Scripture Pavilion, although they all held books in their hands, began to emit soft snores of varying degrees.
The long-empty cat quietly got up, carefully avoiding the two collateral descendants of the Ji family who were leaning against the bookshelf and sleeping soundly, and finally stood silently on the spot she had been eyeing since morning!
Taking a deep breath, Ji Changkong's hands trembled with excitement as he pulled out a book from the shelf. He brought it closer to the oil lamp and saw that the title of the book was "Lingyun Yuangui Jue".
Not bad, it's the secret of cultivating the realm boundary, not the secret technique of using yuan force to attack! Xi Changkong was overjoyed in his heart, barely suppressing the excitement in his heart, and quickly concentrated his attention - he knew that the time belonging to him was not long.
Turning to the first page, Ji Changkong began to recite silently in his heart amidst the thunderous snores around him...
Two quarters of an hour later, Ji Changkong resolutely put the "Lingyun Yuangui Jue" back in its original place and pulled out another book from the bookshelf. The name of this book was "Nu Yan Kuang Pi", a secret technique of the Tian Shi that utilized Yuan Li to launch attacks.
After flipping through only one page and confirming that it was the Tian Shi secret technique, rather than a cultivation secret manual, Ji Changkong didn't hesitate in the slightest and quickly put the "Nu Yan Kuang" back to its original place.
She tiptoed and retrieved another book from the high shelf, titled "Washing Marrow Brain Nerves" - Heavenly Master's Secret Trick.
Another joy in her heart, Ji Changkong carefully held "Washing Marrow and Brain" in the palm of her hand, approached the candle flame, and under the dim yellow light, she began to recite silently again.
……
When the sky was about to brighten up, Ji Changkong had already read four of those basic heavenly master's secret books on the first floor.
Until the sound of a rooster's crowing came from outside the scripture storage building, Ji Changkong reluctantly put back an unfinished scripture in his hand to its original place. Before two younger cousins of the Ji family who were sleeping beside him woke up dazedly, Ji Changkong quietly returned to the secluded corner where he was during the day.
He casually pulled out a book from the bookshelf beside him that introduced the greatness of Tiān Shì, and Ji Chángkōng silently sat down on the cold stone floor of the Cáng Jīng Lóu, nibbling on yesterday's hard steamed bun while gazing at the book in his hand.
After a while, Ji Changkong used the scripture in his hand to cover his eyes, and silently recited the contents of the four Tian Shi secret books he had memorized earlier, until he was really sleepy, and then pretended to fall asleep.
……
The daytime passes quietly in a hurry, and before you know it, night has fallen again.
It's still ugly all the time.
Ji Changkong, who had been hiding in a remote corner of the first floor, suddenly lit up his eyes and took advantage of the people snoring in the east corner to continue what he didn't finish last night.
He knew that he only had the opportunity to flip through the Tian Shi Secret when others were snoring, and also knew that after tonight, there might be no more opportunities to touch the Tian Shi Secret. Therefore, Ji Changkong was even faster than last night, as long as the Tian Shi Secret fell into his hands, he immediately concentrated all his attention on memorizing its contents.
"Cough..."
At the dead of night, a faint cough suddenly came from inside the Scripture Pavilion. Although the cough was extremely light, Ji Changkong, who was on high alert, heard it.
The gentle cough startled Kijiroku, who suddenly looked up to find an old woman standing beside him with a furrowed brow, though he had no idea when she had appeared.
With a manual of Tian Shi's secret in her hand, Ji Changkong smiled and looked at several snoring cousins beside her, then asked in a low voice: "Are you Mrs. Mo who is responsible for guarding the Cangjing Building?"
Before entering the Scripture Pavilion, Ji Wanyun had told Ji Changkong that there was always an old woman guarding the pavilion. Her surname was Mo and her name was Moyuni. She usually rested in a small room on the top floor of the Scripture Pavilion, rarely leaving the pavilion or even the small room upstairs.
It had been almost two days and nights since Ji Changkong entered the Zangjing Building, but he hadn't seen Mo Yunyi once. Unexpectedly, she suddenly appeared in the dead of night.
"Hmm..." Mo Yun nodded, his turbid old eyes glancing at the Tian Shi Secret Manual that Ji Changkong was holding tightly in her hand, and said imperiously: "Give it to me!"
Ji Changkong was stunned, not understanding why Mo Yunyi, who was guarding the Scripture Pavilion, would ask him for a copy of the Tian Shi Secret. After a moment's pause, Ji Changkong honestly handed over the book in his hands, presenting the "Silk Cutting Record" to her with both hands.
"Last night, you started memorizing the contents above, and by tonight, adding this one, you've already read six superficial books on Tian Shi's cultivation secrets! Youngster, can you remember the contents above?" Old Lady Mo flipped through a page of "The Record of Cutting Threads", reading: "Raise the Wisdom Sword, cut off the threads of emotions, resentment, and anger in your heart. Only then will your heart be clear and empty, and your vital energy and spirit can condense into one body, merging with Heaven and Earth!"
Moyunyi paused for a moment, then suddenly turned to Jialongkong who was slightly tense and frowned: "Young man, what does this passage mean?"
"Calm your mind! Discard all the chaotic thoughts in your heart, including emotional threads, resentful threads, and angry threads. This refers to the seven emotions and six desires... In other words, during cultivation, one must cut off all distracting thoughts that can affect their mental stability. Only when the mind is clear and empty can the essence, energy, and spirit form a mysterious resonance, merging with heaven and earth as one!" Ji Changkong didn't think much about it and explained the passage according to his own understanding.
Mo Yun's originally dull eyes suddenly flashed a dazzling light, which made Ji Changkong's eyes feel slightly painful. After the sharp light in her eyes flashed by, she suddenly closed her eyelids, as if digesting the content of Ji Changkong's words.
After a while, she seemed to want to prove something, suddenly opened her eyes, and stretched out her hand from the bookshelf on top of Ji Changkong's head, pulling out another Buddhist scripture - it was exactly the "Xǐ Mǎo Nǎo Jīng" that Ji Changkong had silently memorized last night. Again, she flipped through a page randomly, quickly read a paragraph of abstruse and difficult-to-understand scripture, then asked Ji Changkong what this new paragraph meant.
Ji Changkong's mouth corners held a faint smile, her mood calm and peaceful, as she softly recounted her understanding of that passage.
Mo Yun's clothes nodded repeatedly, and his turbid eyes became brighter. He took another book from the bookshelf and asked Ji Changkong several questions in a row. Ji Changkong answered fluently, with almost no pause.
"Even including 'Jian Si Lu', there are six books of cultivation secrets for the Tian Shi, you've memorized all of them?" Mo Yunyi fell silent for a long time before staring at Ji Changkong with a dazed expression, asking him a question. Even though she had just proven it herself, her heart still couldn't quite believe it and she needed to hear Ji Changkong's affirmative answer personally.
"Uh-huh, got it all memorized." Ji Changkong replied obediently.
Mo Yun's face was filled with uncontrollable shock, as if she had finally confirmed something. Her frail and elderly body trembled slightly, as if she might fall over at any moment.
Ji Changkong saw her like this and panicked in his heart. Without thinking, he hastily went forward to support her.
"Don't!" Mo Yunyi gently pushed Ji Changkong away, then took several deep breaths in a row to calm himself down. He stared at Ji Changkong and asked, "Do you know why the young masters of the Ji family are only allowed to enter the Scripture Pavilion after the trial? Do you know why they can only stay there for three days?"
"By passing the test, it means that one's willpower, physical body and age have all reached the requirements to cultivate the Tian Shi secret techniques. The reason for this test is probably to lay a solid foundation for them. And being able to stay in the Scripture Library for only three days, I think it's to let the testers choose the Tian Shi secret technique or skill that truly suits themselves within these three days, because each and every one of these secret techniques or skills are not easy to cultivate, being greedy will lead to nothing, if you try to grab everything, you might end up cultivating nothing... Hmm, I think this is probably the intention..." Ji Changkong whispered, looking at Lao Yu with a somewhat uncertain expression.
Mo Yunyi looked at Ji Changkong as if he was a monster, silent for half a moment before finally unable to help but praise: "The many little rabbits of the Ji family, it turns out that not everyone is a roughneck! At least, among the sons of the Ji family, there is still you who can see the deeper meaning! At such a young age, able to understand my good intentions, truly not easy!"
"Hmph, those little rascals... including some old ones, think I'm hoarding treasure and not giving it to them! A bunch of fools!"
She hesitated for a moment, then asked Ji Changkong in surprise: "Since you have a clear mind and a clear understanding of the principles, why do you still need to rely on your own talent to memorize so many classics? Moreover, what you recite are all the secrets of cultivating heavenly warriors, not the techniques of using yuan force! Cultivating several attacking secrets at the same time is barely passable... but cultivating several secrets at the same time can only lead to a dead end! You can't possibly not understand this principle, can you?"
"I won't be practicing several secret techniques, it's just that I'm different from others..." Ji Changkong's expression turned gloomy, and he said dejectedly: "I've always been unable to gather my yuan energy. The foundation of any secret technique or skill is yuan energy. Without yuan energy, it's forever difficult to become a Tian Shi. I memorized the contents of those scriptures, just wanting to try each one out, to see if they can help me gather my yuan energy."
"It's you, huh..." Mo Yunyi seemed to recognize Ji Changkong and after a moment of silence, he said with a relieved expression: "From now on, you can sneak into the Cangjing Lou, but don't let your Second Grandfather know, got it?"
Ji Chang's body shook, and she stared at Mo Yunyi in disbelief, her voice trembling with excitement: "You... you're saying... I can anytime... anytime...?"
Mo Yunyi knew this child, seeing his frantic and inexplicable seeking expression, her heart couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. She nodded and said affirmatively: "Alright! You can sneak into the Scripture Pavilion from now on, but only you alone, and be careful not to let your Second Grandfather know, got it?"
"I understand!" Ji Changkong's heart was stirred, she nodded heavily and then softly expressed her gratitude: "Thank you, Grandma Mo!"
"You child, go back and rest early today. Your body is weak, not like those rascals with strong limbs and simple minds. Don't exhaust yourself here. In two days, you've only eaten three steamed buns, how can that be enough?! From now on, this Scripture Pavilion, come whenever you want!" Mo Yunyi reached out to rub Ji Changkong's head, sighing softly.
……
Please collect, vote and thank you, O(∩_∩)O haha
