Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 304 The Eight Trigrams Formation, Tong Family Collection

Meanwhile, the Tong brothers followed the carriage into the Imperial Sword Manor, but they did not expect that this prosperous manor was full of beautiful scenery at every turn and gardens at every turn.

The two were momentarily distracted by the scenery of the mountain villa, and when they turned back, they couldn't find the carriage and got lost.

Tong Zhan was anxious and hurriedly chased after the carriage, but he failed to catch up with it and instead lost his younger brother Tong Xin.

Tong Xin suffered a serious illness in his childhood, which damaged his brain, so that although he has grown up, he has always maintained a childlike heart.

Perhaps God felt guilty about this and gave him compensation.

Children naturally possess the ability to communicate with animals.

This is actually the innate ability he has awakened.

Unfortunately, the Tong clan lost many books during Yin Zhong's pursuit. Even after settling down in the Water Moon Cave and recording them again from memory, many of their traditions were lost due to the large number of deaths and injuries.

Five hundred years later, fewer and fewer people in the clan had awakened their talent for magic cultivation, let alone possess any talent abilities.

This resulted in the Tong clan failing to value Tong Xin's talent despite it being clearly his.

Tongxin was originally with her second brother when she discovered an injured pigeon pleading for help. Moved by compassion, she rescued the pigeon.

When I turned around, my second brother was nowhere to be found.

Lost and unsure where to go to find the Blood Ruyi, Tong Zhan was incredibly lucky. Suddenly, he heard a loud shout, and it seemed that the Blood Ruyi was in the shout. He rushed over to take a look.

They saw the Iron Guards surrounding a man, holding a steel knife, but he hesitated and dared not approach.

The man who was surrounded held aloft a blood-red ruyi scepter, looking quite smug.

It was Dou Dou who, with the heirloom of the Imperial Sword Manor in her possession, threatened the Iron Guard, preventing them from approaching her, fearing that she might impulsively smash the treasure.

However, she frightened the Iron Guards, but not Tong Zhan.

Tong Zhan leaped into the air, displaying his innate strength. He transformed into a white gust of wind, abruptly breaking into the encirclement and easily snatching the Blood Ruyi.

But he was also foolish. After snatching the Blood Ruyi, he didn't run away. Instead, he stayed where he was, clutching the Blood Ruyi tightly and exclaiming joyfully, "Blood Ruyi! That's great! Father is saved!"

A gust of wind blew past him, and Tong Zhan quickly dodged it.

DouDou was furious and said, "Give me back the Blood Ruyi!"

Tong Zhan gripped the Blood Ruyi tightly and hurriedly said, "I'm sorry, I have a great use for this. I'll return it to you later!"

The guards nearby couldn't stand it any longer: "Hey! You two thieves, you stole the inheritance of our Imperial Sword Manor and dare to divide it up in front of us, how arrogant! Give it back to us!"

If it weren't for the fear that Tong Zhan would resort to the same old trick again, threatening to smash the Blood Ruyi, the Iron Guards would probably have already taken action.

Tong Zhan suddenly realized that the Blood Ruyi actually belonged to the Imperial Sword Manor, and the person next to him might be a thief.

But he did indeed need to use the Blood Jade to save his father, and for a moment he was at a loss.

Just then, a beam of light suddenly shone in the sky, followed by a spatial tremor, from which a figure appeared.

It was Tong Bo.

It turned out that after the two brothers left Shuiyue Cave, the Tong clan members were also making preparations to treat their clan leader inside the secret realm.

Elder Tong, in his secluded cultivation, discovered a method of electric shock in ancient texts, which is said to have a chance of bringing the dead back to life.

He then used this method to set up a thunder-summoning array, condensing thunderclouds and summoning the power of thunder.

As a result, after shocking the clan chief twice, not only did it fail to revive him, but the improper operation caused the formation to go out of control, triggering a thunderstorm.

Fortunately, Tong Bo arrived in time. Upon seeing the situation, he disregarded everything else and unleashed his full power, instantly transforming into a white, semi-transparent divine dragon that soared into the sky, crashing into the thunderclouds and breaking the great formation.

The clan chief was horrified when he saw this.

The other members of the Tong clan nearby were also greatly amazed, as none of them knew what kind of extraordinary skill Tong Bo was using.

Despite his illness, the clan chief dismissed everyone and then grabbed Tong Bo, ordering him to bring Tong Zhan to him.

Tong Bo obeyed the order and went, but after searching for a long time, he still couldn't find his two younger brothers. However, he noticed that the elder was hiding in seclusion and his expression was evasive, and he immediately understood.

“Yinxiu, Father’s illness is still not cured, and we don’t know how much longer he can hold on. Perhaps right now, he is holding on to his last breath, waiting to see my two younger brothers… Where have they gone? Tell me!”

The hermit's eyes darted around, and he stammered, "They...they went to the Imperial Sword Manor..."

"Imperial Sword Manor?"

Tong Bo's eyes widened: "They disobeyed the ancestral teachings and left Shuiyue Cave Heaven?"

"Yes...yes..."

Once the hermit realized he couldn't keep it a secret any longer, he simply told the whole story.

The Water Moon Cave Heaven Secret Realm is protected by multiple barriers, which not only prevent outsiders from entering, but also prevent those inside from leaving.

Of course, in reality, it is still possible to go out, but it is quite dangerous.

Fortunately, within the Water Moon Cave Heaven, there is also a Primordial Eight Trigrams Qiankun Grand Array.

When this formation is in operation, it can activate the power of the Eight Trigrams of Heaven and Earth, and is usually used to observe changes in the outside world.

The previous secluded cultivators set up the Thunder Summoning Array based on this array, arranging the Zhen trigram.

When the formation operates simultaneously on both the Qian and Kun trigrams, it can break through space, directly bypass the secret realm's barrier, and teleport people outside the Water Moon Cave.

Since the Tong brothers didn't know how to operate the formation, they secretly sought out a reclusive cultivator to help them operate it, which allowed them to leave the Water Moon Cave directly through the formation.

The hermit, having helped in the process, naturally inquired about the reasons and thus learned the brothers' purpose.

Tong Bo was helpless.

Whether it was due to ancestral teachings or because his father was on the verge of death and didn't know how much longer he would live, he had to immediately bring his two younger brothers back to Shuiyue Cave.

He then summoned the hermit and activated the Eight Trigrams Formation once more, circulating the Qian and Kun trigrams to break through space and quickly locate Tong Zhan.

When Tong Bo looked, he saw that Tong Zhan was surrounded by a group of soldiers in iron armor, and the situation was extremely critical.

DouDou, who was standing next to him, was also wearing a white outfit.

In his haste, Tong Bo didn't have time to distinguish the truth and mistook Dou Dou for Tong Xin, so he immediately activated the formation.

Amplified by the formation, his figure appeared out of thin air on the Imperial Sword Manor. His true energy surged out and transformed into a pair of dragon claws that reached down from mid-air and directly grabbed Tong Zhan and Dou Dou.

Then, in an instant, the two were pulled into the formation.

The fluctuations in space subsided.

Only the Iron Guard members remained, looking at each other in bewilderment.

Inside Ruyi Pavilion, Zhou Ming finished his drink, a smile creeping onto his face.

"Water Moon Cave Heaven... found it!"

He immediately put down his wine glass, turned around and left, finding a secluded place, and opened a portal to enter the Water Moon Cave.

The entire Shuiyue Cave Heaven Secret Realm was able to allow the Tong clan to thrive for five hundred years, so its area was naturally quite large. The entire secret realm contained spatial mysteries, and its internal space had been expanded, so its actual area was far greater than the area the secret realm should have been.

Moreover, to avoid the impact of isolating the secret realm from the outside world, there are even different environments and rituals aided by the sun and moon inside.

The first place Zhou Ming went to was naturally the library within the Water Moon Cave.

All the books were categorized and stored in different rooms.

Open any room and you'll see four bookshelves surrounding the entire room, with scrolls of ancient bamboo slips displayed on them.

Astronomy and geography, medicine and divination, astrology, strange beasts and birds, divine and demonic bloodlines, ancient secret realms, ancient sages' writings, the inheritance of magic cultivation, ancient martial arts... all kinds of disciplines, too numerous to mention!

The contents recorded in each bamboo scroll are quite different from the knowledge that is now circulating throughout China and the world.

This applies even to the smallest changes in astronomy and geography.

Bamboo slips containing medical, divination, and astrological texts record the results of physical studies on various races in ancient times.

The "Bloodline of Gods and Demons" category records information about many descendants of gods and demons from ancient times.

The category of ancient secret realms reveals many secret realms that have existed since ancient times, and many of them can still be found today.

The works of the sages were Zhou Ming's greatest achievement.

The sages mentioned here refer to those before the Zhou Dynasty, or more specifically, the works left behind by ancient immortals.

Frankly speaking, even if you searched all over the world, you might not be able to find two hundred words for a work of this caliber!
Within the Water Moon Cave, bookshelves were filled with works by ancient sages like these!
Because the very beginning of the path of spiritual cultivation is to read the classics of the sages, thereby nurturing one's own spirit.

Therefore, the ancestors of Shuiyue Cave Heaven remembered these ancient texts most clearly.

The subsequent cultivation methods and ancient martial arts were actually the least valuable parts of the entire collection.

A large part of the Dharma Cultivation lineage overlaps with the Jade Tablet Heavenly Book in Zhou Ming's possession.

Their main parts are completely identical.

The ancient martial arts path that followed was even more tragic.

Martial arts did not flourish in ancient times, but gradually flourished and developed after the end of the ancient era.

Therefore, in terms of martial arts, the ancient times were actually far inferior to the present era.

Of course, it also depends on who created these martial arts methods.

Powerful figures from ancient times, such as Nuwa, the Dragon God, the Yellow Emperor, Chiyou, the Yan Emperor, and Guangchengzi, created martial arts methods that were somewhat crude, but which were based on their extremely high level of understanding. These methods are still the most advanced in the present era, even surpassing all other methods in the world.

However, if it were just a nobody from ancient times, or even some ordinary immortals, who created martial arts techniques because their cultivation level was insufficient, they might not even be as good as some common, outdated techniques in today's world.

Fortunately, the Tong clan of Shuiyue Cave was a very powerful clan in ancient times. Therefore, although the martial arts manuals they collected were not at the level of the goddess Nuwa or the dragon god, they could still vaguely touch upon the level of Guang Chengzi.

Therefore, the ancient martial arts techniques they collected are not much inferior to the top techniques of some major sects today.

Overall, these ancient books were of great help to Zhou Ming.

"Take them all..."

With a wave of his hand, Zhou Ming created an enormous teleportation portal that swallowed all the ancient books.

This action caused quite a commotion, but no one noticed it.

Because at this moment, another major event occurred in the Water Moon Cave.

It was none other than the Tong clan chief, who, after holding on for so long, finally died.

Tong Bo brought Tong Zhan and Dou Dou back to Shuiyue Cave, only to realize that he had brought the wrong people.

But before he could make a decision, the Bagua formation began to crack, and huge cracks appeared one after another.

The stone statues used to control the formation were also directly shattered.

It turns out that within a single day, this grand formation first activated the Qiankun Two Symbols, helping the Tong Zhan brothers break through space and head to the Imperial Sword Manor.

Then the Zhen trigram was arranged to receive the heavenly thunder.

The problem was that the formation went out of control at the time, and the violent lightning had already caused many problems to the Bagua Formation.

At the time, everyone was focused on the clan leader's illness and didn't have time to test the formation.

Then, in order to bring Tong Zhan and the other two back, they set up the Qiankun Two Symbols and broke through space.

The already damaged formation ceased functioning under such forced operation.

Everyone was shocked. As an elder, the hermit only realized at this moment that the formation had been damaged before.

Now that they have brought back the Blood Jade, their most important task should be to heal the clan leader, not to repair the formation.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the Blood Ruyi was placed on the clan leader's chest, and the hidden cultivator used his methods to try to activate the power within the Blood Ruyi.

When stimulated, the Blood Ruyi emitted a shimmering crimson light.

However, it had no effect on the clan chief's condition.

"How could this be... how could this happen? The Blood Jade doesn't work?!"

Tong Zhan was both disappointed and furious.

“Forget it… forget it…”

The clan chief was quite philosophical about it: "Life and death are predestined... Tong Zhan, you have already given your all, there is no need to blame yourself... Tong Bo."

"father!"

"I have something to say to Tong Zhan. You may all leave now..."

The group then left.

When they came back in, the clan chief had already closed his eyes and passed away.

Although everyone was deeply saddened, the dead were gone, and those who were alive should do what they had to do.

According to the Tong clan's rules, after the clan chief dies, the next clan chief must light an eternal lamp.

As the eldest son of the legitimate wife, Tong Bo should rightfully succeed as the clan leader.

But just as Tong Bo was about to light the eternal lamp, Tong Zhan suddenly said, "Brother, I should light this eternal lamp!"

"What?" Tong Bo was taken aback.

The hermit was also filled with disbelief: "Tong Zhan, what are you saying? He is the eldest son!"

Tong Zhan turned his head away, not daring to meet Tong Bo's gaze: "I know... but Father's will stipulated that I should succeed as clan leader..."

The death of the clan chief is a major event in itself.

At this moment, Tong Zhan surprisingly claimed that he was the new clan leader, which stirred up a new wave in this important matter.

It was common knowledge that Tong Bo was the eldest son of the legitimate wife. Even when the clan leader was seriously ill, it was Tong Bo who handled the affairs of the Tong clan.

Almost everyone had already assumed that he would become the new clan leader.

Tong Zhan claimed that the clan chief's will stipulated that he should succeed as clan chief.

But in the final moments before the clan leader died, there was no one else around except him.

This makes the will highly suspicious.

Most members of the Tong clan did not believe this.

At a crucial moment, someone stood up to support Tong Zhan.

That's Tong Bo himself!
With his support, the Tong clan members managed to avoid making a scene and reluctantly accepted the outcome.

Such a major event was fraught with twists and turns.

The presence of an outsider drew the attention of all the Tong clan members, and no one noticed that an outsider had secretly entered the Water Moon Cave and looted all the books in the cave.

(End of this chapter)