The Wheel-Turning Master.

Chapter 277 Swimming Fish
It rains heavily at night.

The dilapidated temple was desolate and cold. The altars and tables had been chopped up to make firewood. Lin Bai held a fire poker in his hand and gently poked it.

Li Wusheng sat cross-legged opposite, also holding a broken wooden stick, poking the fire out of boredom.

After a long while, Li Wusheng saw that Lin Bai had not spoken a word, but was drawing tigers one after another on the ground with a fire stick. He could not help but frown and asked, "You just talked about the river and the swimming fish, why did you draw a tiger again?"

She tapped the ground lightly with a stick, nodded slightly, and said with a look of understanding, "Tiger Roaring in the Forest, do you mean to stir up the place again and muddy the water so that you can fish in troubled waters?"

Lin Bai was just painting for fun, he just thought of Sister Pei when he was in this mundane world.

But seeing the smug look in Li Wusheng's eyes that seemed to show he had seen through everything, it was hard to say anything, so he could only say, "Senior Sister really has insight into people's hearts."

"I haven't lived these three lives in vain. I've seen all kinds of mundane affairs and human conditions, so naturally I've become more experienced in human nature." Li Wusheng said with a smile.

"Senior sister is a natural talent." Lin Bai praised casually, but his mind was still full of thoughts.

It is said here that it is a test of one's state of mind, but in essence it is still about seeking a way to pass the test. And what is the key to passing the test?
Everything is normal here, it is indeed the mundane world. Surrounded by the sea, you can go a hundred miles into the sea and then come back.

There are kings, princes, generals, and even historians, and they can be found in history going back thousands of years.

From peddlers and hawkers to farmers and vendors in the busy streets, everyone is included.

Lin Bai experienced three identities from top to bottom, and then visited everywhere. He found that the people here were all alive, each with their own family tree, joys, anger, sorrows, greed and kindness.

And the details are all reasonable. He cries out in pain when he is beaten, he is secretly happy when he picks up money, he knows to run home when it rains, and he knows to close the window when stealing someone.

Even the plants, trees, mice and ants are included, and it doesn't look like a fake at all.

Lin Bai could enter and exit the stone plate freely, and was very sure that he was not trapped in any illusion or dream.

Therefore, this place is called the Secret Realm of Trial. In fact, it is also a small world, but it keeps circulating because someone set certain rules for it.

And the beginning of the cycle was when Lin and Li entered this place. Shangyuan was experiencing a precarious situation, with a long drought and rebel armies rising up everywhere. The northern tribes were also not having a good time, with heavy snow for more than a month, and countless livestock were frozen to death.

What is surprising is that Lin Baifa and Li Wusheng have remained in their realms and their Taoism is still preserved, as if they are gods here. The only thing they cannot do is to pray for rain and snow.

No matter whether it was the formation that gathered clouds into an array or the talisman such as the Rain Master Talisman, it could not summon a single drop of rain.

But it was not that the rain and snow stopped coming, but that they came in strange ways. In the first life, when he conquered the world, it rained after he gained power; in the second life, when he was a powerful official, it rained after he gained power; in the third life, it rained after the family declined.

The rain comes strangely, the shortest time is two or three years, the longest is five or six years. But no matter what, the rain will definitely come, but it is not controlled by oneself.

"Sister, I think the key to passing the trial is related to rain." Lin Bai pointed at the night rain outside the temple and said, "Water gathers to form a river, just like the myriad roads."

Li Wusheng frowned, thought for a while, and shook his head.

"Sister, do you have any insightful ideas?" Lin Bai asked curiously.

"I didn't understand. Please continue." Li Wusheng felt a little embarrassed.

"I was too vague, so Senior Sister didn't understand. Blame me."

Lin Bai had dealt with many women before, and knew that when dealing with a disciple from a noble family, he had to go along with them. He continued, "Sister, a disciple from a noble family, you should know that after achieving the Nascent Soul stage, your destiny will be in line with your own magical powers, and you should specialize in one path. Everyone's path is different. Some follow the path of the heart and nature, while others follow the path of the five elements. There are thousands of paths in the world, how can you learn them all? But they all end up in the universe."

He drew a river with a fire stick and said, "It is like these endless raindrops, gathering together to form a river, just like the infinite avenue, which is as vast as space, encompassing time and the entire universe."

"So?" Li Wusheng tilted his head to look at this fellow disciple, and asked, "What does this have to do with us passing the trial?"

"Senior Sister." Lin Bai smiled and said, "We came here for the so-called trial, but who doesn't want to get a chance to achieve the Nascent Soul stage?"

He pointed outside the ruined temple and continued, "I think that the secular world is like a torrent. The vastness of the world and the passage of time are all included in my gourd!"

Lin Bai patted the gourd and said confidently: "I am the gourd king!"

"Your gourd can naturally hold the sky and the earth, the key is how to hold it?" Li Wusheng asked.

"I plan to walk around a bit more and see more. Kings, princes, generals and ministers certainly left their mark in time, but countless living beings also swam through the long river of time."

Lin Bai was very confident, "If you want to pass through this secret trial realm, you need to keep the heaven and earth in your heart."

"You have no idea, right?" Li Wusheng said with a look of understanding. "You should know that this place is located in Jiuzha Mountain, Jiuding Sect. It is nine in total, and nine is the maximum number. Therefore, we need to go through nine generations."

"Senior sister, what you said makes sense." Lin Bai praised without even thinking, but did not say that he agreed.

The two of them stared at each other for a long time, neither of them convinced.

When daybreak comes, heaven and earth change and return to their original starting point.

"You and I will split into two groups!"

Li Wusheng flew into the air and Lin Bai was stunned.

Without temper, Lin Bai followed the refugees and stopped playing the zither. Instead, he watched the changes as a bystander.

Within a year, Lin Bai heard a strange story from other people: the daughter of the previous royal family appeared in the world, named Dragon Girl. When she raised her arm, many people responded and vowed to overthrow the Shangyuan Kingdom.

"She ate the food I chewed up again?" Lin Bai muttered.

He recorded everything he saw, heard, experienced and experienced in his heart, and reproduced it on the stone plate from time to time.

Five years passed like this, and Lin Bai came to a city gate holding a tattered flag with the words "Iron Mouth and Straightforward Judgment" written on it.

Many people gathered around the newly posted notice. It said that the Dragon Girl had falsely claimed to be a princess of the previous dynasty, and the Dragon Girl soldiers she led had been defeated and fled. Anyone who had clues about the Dragon Girl would be rewarded with 10,000 taels of silver, and anyone who captured her alive would be granted the title of Marquis of 10,000 households.

The Shangyuan Kingdom survived, but the Dragon Girl was defeated.

"You have to assist me!" Li Wusheng came to the door and kicked over Lin Bai's green flag that read "Iron Mouth and Sword".

“……”Lin Bai had no choice.

After ten years of hard struggle, the empress finally came to power and restored the Chen Kingdom. She named the reign title Shenlong and appointed Lin Xianhu as the imperial teacher.

"Declare war on the Dongyi!"

"Declare war on the Nanman!"

"Declare war on Xirong!"

"Declare war on Beidi!"

After building the Wangxiantai for several years, the northern barbarians came south to plunder, and Li Wusheng simply wanted to deal with them all at once.

Lin Bai's persuasion was futile and he was stripped of his position as the Imperial Master and demoted to a commoner.

In shame and anger, Lin Bai fled south, gathered his old subordinates, and wrote a letter of appeal to the Emperor to overthrow the Empress. People from all over the country responded and overthrew the Empress in one fell swoop.

Fifty years passed in a flash and the two were back to the starting point.

Lin Bai was going to talk to her again about the swimming fish theory, but Li Wusheng didn't listen at all.

"Come again! This time I'm in the opposition and don't need your assistance! You go to the court! I will destroy you!" Li Wusheng was ambitious.

Lin Bai was too lazy to play with her anymore, so he disappeared and never let Li Wusheng find him again.

Five years passed quickly, and when he heard the news of the Dragon Girl's defeat, Lin Bai hid in the dark and laughed non-stop.

Thirty years passed in a flash. After several ups and downs, the empress finally came to power, and Lin Bai also measured the world here.

"Walk the earth without leaving any trace."

It was that dilapidated temple again. Lin Bai lit a bonfire, closed his eyes and came to the stone plate.

The fog was thick, but a hint of green still remained, making the white moon seem even more vast.

There are thousands of stars in the distance.

After sitting quietly for a long time, a wisp of mist floated in and took the shape of a gourd.

I have tried my best to depict it for a long time, but I can only get the shape but not the meaning.

Let go of your messy thoughts and you will find a chessboard in front of you.

Before entering Qianhe Sandland, he had discussed chess with Jiang Xingchi. Both of them were aware of being chess pieces and also had ambitions to become chess players.

The chessboard is crisscrossed, and the black and white chess pieces fall down, and it seems as if each person is connected by one thing after another.

The small chessboard seemed to encompass the world, clearing away the fog and finally revealing a glimpse of clarity. Inside the solemn palace, the cold candles flickered.

"Saint, please establish the foundation of the country as soon as possible!" Several old men with white beards knelt down in front of an old woman.

The empress was in power and worked hard to govern the country, but she had no successor, and all the old ministers were almost dying of anxiety.

"My son has grown up now." The empress said shockingly, "He and I got separated during the war. I still remember that I gave him a black and white gourd. It was said that with the help of this gourd, mother and son can recognize each other in the future!"

All the ministers were stunned, but considering that the empress had experienced many ups and downs and finally ascended the throne after more than 30 years of hard work, it was reasonable to say that she had given birth to a child in the meantime.

"She wants to be the king of a fallen country again?"

Lin Bai was speechless. He pointed to the chessboard and it began to shake.

Lin Bai brushed away the chessboard and thought quietly.

When he was forming the elixir before, he had seen through the clouds and glimpsed other people's actions. Now that he was in the trial ground, with the world as his chessboard, he could see other people's actions again.

"After all, this place is unique and cannot be used as one pleases."

Lin Bai sighed and left the stone plate.

After the night rain stopped for a while, Lin Bai went to the imperial capital.

As soon as he showed his supernatural powers a little, someone reported it to the empress and he was summoned.

Lin Bai entered the palace, holding a gourd in his left hand, a whisk in his right hand, and ascended the main hall with the air of an immortal.

When the old ministers saw the color of the gourd, they were all shocked. "Last night, the saint told about the emperor's son, which caused an earthquake. Today, the emperor's son came in person. He also practiced Taoism..."

"My son, come forward quickly." Li Wusheng shook his crown happily.

"I already have a way to ascend!" Lin Bai said.

"..." Li Wusheng was stunned for a moment, lifted the jade tassel in front of the crown, and leaned forward, "Really?"

"I don't tell lies." Lin Bai was very confident.

"Hurry up, hurry up! I'm so anxious!" Li Wusheng said.

"Who is the son?" Lin Bai asked.

"..." Li Wusheng was stunned for a moment, gritted his teeth, and said: "It is me!"

"My son, come forward." Lin Bai said with a smile.

Li Wusheng tore off his crown, stepped forward, and restored his young face. For a moment, everyone in the hall was shocked.

"This place is a world of its own, with a constant flow of traffic." Lin Bai pointed outside the hall and said, "We have long expected that the opportunity here is to bring wind and rain."

"That's right!" Li Wusheng agreed.

"There are thousands of ways to summon wind and rain." Lin Bai held the gourd in his hand and said confidently, "I have traveled all over the world and have hidden everything in the gourd, including the mountains, the ants, and even the heavens and the earth."

"Where's the rain?" Li Wusheng asked.

"Magic and magical powers to summon rain are inferior. I just need to pluck the strings of the zither and the rain will come." Lin Bai said.

"Really? I don't believe it." Li Wusheng said.

Lin Bai didn't say much, closed his eyes and walked to the stone plate.

As soon as I thought about it, I saw a chessboard with mountains and rivers on it.

Just a slight touch and dark clouds will gather.

The rain fell and gathered into a river. In accordance with his own way of cultivating time and space, Lin Bai stepped into the river.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw that the scorching sun outside the hall seemed to have been stolen and it was already dark.

Then the wind blew violently and the rain fell like a waterfall.

"Now I am like a swimming fish, swimming freely in the starry sky and leaping into the long river! You can hear the sound of the river, so it is time to leave!" Lin Bai grabbed Li Wusheng's wrist.

Before Li Wusheng could react, he felt a slight confusion in his mind, as if he had returned to the feeling when he first entered the gate.

I was stunned for a moment, and saw a big river running across. I didn't know where it started, and I didn't know where it flowed to. I just felt that it was vast and heavy, with thousands of stars shining on it, as if everything in the world was included in it.

The river is rushing and the stars are turning, but there is no sound, yet it sounds like the sound of the Tao.

"I heard that the Taoist Master Wuxiang is practicing the dual great ways... Is this the Taoist Master Wuxiang's way? Through the hand of the Gourd King?"

Li Wusheng was stunned, feeling as if he was about to fall into an endless river, or falling into the endless starry sky.

Soon, his spiritual consciousness trembled slightly, and Li Wusheng finally stepped onto the ground.

"Lin Zhuanlun and his daughter are out too!" Just as Li Wusheng was about to take a defensive stance, he heard someone talking.

After coming to his senses, he saw a large hall deep inside.

Lin Zhuanlun was standing next to him, and there were five men and women in front of him, including Ying Wangtian and Mu Zhen, all smiling at him.

Looking at the side, there are nine huge stone pillars, whose height is unknown, hidden in the layers of clouds and mist. And the height of the main hall is also unknown.

What was even more amazing was that the nine stone pillars were actually all broken, and in the broken places there was a chessboard with hills and valleys crisscrossing on top. Above them were stone pillars connected again, which was extremely bizarre.

"Junior sister actually found a father, congratulations!" Ying Wangtian said with a smile.

"..." Li Wusheng blushed and clenched his fists. He saw that Lin Zhuanlun had been pulled away by Mu Zhen. Both of them had smiles on their faces. They looked at him from time to time, pointing and talking, and it was clear that they were laughing at him.

Li Wusheng didn't say anything either. He came to a stone pillar and looked at the chessboard.

Upon closer inspection, you can see the clue, it seems like there is a whole world in there.

Looking at the chessboard of stone pillars, there is the mundane world, endless mountains and forests, vast deserts, and the realm of monsters.

His spiritual consciousness was entangled with the chessboard, and he could actually hear all kinds of things in that strange world.

"Brother Cheng..." Li Wusheng finally found Mo Yingcheng, but saw Mo Yingcheng wandering in a small world with two other cultivators, discussing how to pass the trial.

"Brother, how can I help Brother Cheng?" When Li Wusheng saw his lover, he had already forgotten his new father.

"We can only watch and listen, and cannot be affected in the slightest." Ying Wangtian smiled and whispered, "Just as your father said, there are thousands of ways to pass the trial, and there is no limit to one method."

Seeing that Ying Wangtian refused to help, Li Wusheng went to find Lin Zhuanlun.

"Senior Sister Mu." Li Wusheng nodded to Mu Zhen.

"Junior sister, you have caused me so much trouble." Mu Zhen looked quite helpless and said, "We made a bet just now. I bet that you will be the king in 20 years, and Senior Brother Ying bet that you will be the king 20 years later. You made me lose ten high-grade spirit stones!"

“…” Li Wusheng didn’t expect these people to be so boring.

"But fortunately there is the Wheel." Mu Zhen looked at Lin Bai with a smile and said, "I bet he will find a way to pass the trial and win a hundred high-grade spirit stones!"

"Then Senior Sister should give me half." Lin Bai said with a smile.

"Of course it's my duty." Mu Zhen really took out the spiritual stone and stuffed it into Lin Bai's pocket, saying with a smile, "Just consider it as congratulations on your birth."

Li Wusheng saw that Mu Zhen said this and it was clear that she was not giving her face. She glared at Mu Zhen, then glared at Lin Bai angrily and walked away.

"What are we waiting for?" Lin Bai felt the warmth of the stone tablet and had a sense of good fortune in his heart.

"Wait until we get nine people together." Mu Zhen said with a smile.

Lin Bai understood that it should be combined with the Nine Pillars and the Nine Cauldrons.

"Who will be the first to pass the trial? Brother Ying Wangtian?" Lin Bai transmitted the message.

"It's him." Mu Zhen looked at a middle-aged male cultivator.

"What's the matter?" Lin Bai was quite surprised.

"This man's name is Yin Yan. He is born with a keen eye and specializes in identification. Unexpectedly, he would stand out at this time. He is truly extraordinary." Mu Zhen transmitted the message.

(End of this chapter)