I have a composite mirror

Chapter 116 Recuperation and Deduction

Behind Tingtao Pavilion, in the quiet room of the herb garden.

The place is like spring all year round, and the spiritual energy is so rich that it almost turns into tangible mist.

Gu Shenyan sat cross-legged on a warm, smooth jade bed.

Outside the window, several thousand-year-old purple ginseng plants are absorbing the essence of the sun and moon.

In the quiet room, only the faint sound of breathing could be heard.

Gu Shenyan slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

The aura carried a faint trace of black blood, which, upon landing on the ground, instantly corroded a small pit.

"It was finally forced out."

He opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing in them.

Although the battle that night was thrilling but ultimately harmless, the sonic attack of the leader of the Forging Realm still injured his internal organs.

If it weren't for the bottle of "Nine-Turn Heart-Protecting Pill" that Liu Wenyuan sent, plus the nourishment from his unique "Dark Abyss" life fire day and night, he probably would have had to lie in bed for at least half a month.

Now, in just three days, it has recovered to 80%.

Gu Shenyan raised his hand, a wisp of dark blue flame dancing at his fingertips.

The "Dark Abyss" life fire not only conceals one's presence, but also has a remarkable effect on healing.

It's like a gentle stream of water, washing over the damaged meridians again and again, gradually dissolving the stagnant blood and lingering demonic vibrations.

Now that his injuries were healed, Gu Shenyan's mind began to wander.

He took out the small black booklet from his storage bag—"Annotations on the Ancient Battle Formation".

The booklet was neither paper nor silk; it felt icy cold to the touch, as if it were made from the leather of some ferocious beast.

Turn to the first page.

To an ordinary cultivator, this would just be a bunch of illogical scribbles.

The lines are distorted, with countless breaks, and many key patterns have been violently smeared, leaving only annoying ink marks.

But in Gu Shenyan's eyes, these are all just data.

"System, activate [Assisted Cultivation] mode."

[Command confirmed.]

[Retrieving database information]

[Comparison begins: Basic Rune Library, Ancient Seal Variant Library, Array Structure Logic Library —]

In Gu Shenyan's field of vision, countless blue streaks of light flashed wildly across the screen.

He was trying to decipher it.

This booklet is something that the "Shadow Banyan" organization values ​​highly. The "Multiple Overlapping Waves" formation recorded inside is the key to his future strength improvement.

however.

Half an hour has passed.

Gu Shenyan rubbed his throbbing temples, his brows furrowed.

[Simulation progress: 1.2%]

[Hint: Key information is missing, or a specific coordinate system reference is missing.]

The existing samples are insufficient to construct a complete logical chain.

too slow.

At this rate, he might not even be able to comprehend the first level by the time the Hundred Talismans Ceremony ends.

This is not just encryption; it's more like a jigsaw puzzle with misaligned pieces.

"Knock knock knock".

A soft knock sounded on the door.

"Brother Gu, it's me."

It was Zhang Qiao's voice.

"Come in."

The door was pushed open, and Zhang Qiao, carrying a cloth bag, walked in cautiously.

He has been recuperating in this herb garden for the past few days. Although he was not seriously injured, he was quite frightened.

"Brother Gu, how are your injuries?"

Zhang Qiao placed the cloth bag on the table, looking concerned.

"She is out of danger."

Gu Shenyan's gaze fell on the cloth bundle. "What's this?"

Zhang Qiao rubbed his hands together and smiled somewhat embarrassedly.

"Didn't you say you were interested in this book in the car that day, Brother Gu?"

"I figured I wouldn't understand it anyway, and it'd just be a table leg prop. I might as well give it to Brother Gu; maybe it'll come in handy."

As he spoke, he untied the cloth bundle.

A musty, stale smell wafted over.

Inside was a thread-bound book, the cover of which was almost completely rotten, but the words "A Guide to Finding Dragon Veins in the Earth" were faintly visible.

Gu Shenyan's heart stirred.

He picked up the book and casually flipped through a few pages.

The pages were yellowed and brittle, and although the handwriting was messy, the illustrations were extremely detailed.

This is not an orthodox feng shui map.

The painting depicts the contours of mountains and rivers, but instead of marking dragon veins, sand, and water, it shows strange swirling symbols.

There are also some lines that resemble a star chart.

Gu Shenyan's pupils suddenly contracted.

[Alert: A high-match data source has been detected.]

[Scanning "A Guide to Finding Dragon Veins in the Earth" ————]

[A unique spatial coordinate symbol has been discovered.]

[Currently undergoing cross-comparison with "Annotations on the Fragments of Ancient Battle Formations" —]

Gu Shenyan's hands trembled slightly.

He quickly unfolded the black copy of "Annotations on the Ancient Battle Formations" and placed it next to the tattered book.

"here----"

He pointed to a mark on the fragment that appeared to have been destroyed by graffiti.

Then he pointed to a mountain and river vortex diagram in Zhang Qiao's book.

"Exactly the same."

Although one is a two-dimensional array map and the other is a three-dimensional geodetic ley line map.

But the trajectory of that spiritual energy flow, that strange spiral angle, completely overlapped!

This is hardly a feng shui book.

This is clearly an observation log recording the abnormal changes in the earth's spiritual energy!

The formations in the "Annotations on the Ancient Formation Fragments" are based on this kind of geological anomaly!

Brother Zhang.

Gu Shenyan suddenly looked up and stared at Zhang Qiao.

Zhang Qiao was startled. "W-what's wrong? Is the book too worn out?"

"No."

Gu Shenyan took a deep breath and solemnly said, "This book is not only undamaged, it is priceless."

"You've done me a huge favor this time."

Zhang Qiao paused for a moment, then scratched his head and grinned foolishly.

"That's good, that's good—it's good that I can help Brother Gu."

With this "key," everything else fell into place.

Gu Shenyan immediately went into seclusion.

He built a new model in the system that merged the data from the two books.

[Deduction Progress: ·%——————3·%——————55%——]

The originally obscure and difficult-to-understand array patterns instantly became clear after the variable of "earth vein coordinates" was added.

three days later.

Gu Shenyan finally grasped the threshold of "Five Elements Overlapping Waves".

The so-called "overlapping waves" are not simply a superposition of forces.

Instead, it utilizes the principle of mutual generation of the five elements to create a "resonance point" at the moment when the previous spiritual power is about to dissipate and the next spiritual power has not yet been activated.

Like ocean waves.

The new wave pushes the old wave forward, each wave higher than the last.

Gu Shenyan stood in the center of the quiet room, his eyes slightly closed.

[Spiritual Energy Simulation Field: Activated.]

In his mind, a fictional martial arts arena appeared.

"Aquatic wood."

This was the first direction he chose.

Gu Shenyan raised his hand, and a "Frost Arrow Talisman" condensed at his fingertips.

Next came a "Green Vine Entangling Talisman".

"Stack it!"

He gave a low shout.

however.

boom!

Before the two talismans could merge in mid-air, they exploded into a firework due to the repulsion of spiritual energy.

Water is water, and wood is wood.

That "resonance point" is so hard to find.

"Again."

Gu Shenyan was not discouraged.

Once, twice, ten times, a hundred times.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

As evening approached, a series of light footsteps could be heard outside the door.

"Junior Brother Gu, are you practicing your martial arts?"

Han Sushuang's voice was clear and cold like a spring.

Gu Shenyan dispersed the spiritual energy in his hands and opened the door.

Han Sushuang changed into a light blue long dress, which made her look less sharp and more gentle.

Her face was still a little pale, but her eyes had regained their former sparkle.

"Senior sister."

Gu Shenyan stepped aside. "How are your injuries?"

"It's just a superficial wound, nothing serious."

Han Sushuang entered the quiet room, her gaze sweeping over the messy drafts and two ancient books on the table.

Although she couldn't understand the specific deduction process, her intuition as a sword cultivator made her realize Gu Shenyan's current predicament.

"Your spiritual energy fluctuations are very chaotic."

Han Sushuang spoke frankly.

"You want to fuse two talismans with completely different properties?"

Gu Shenyan gave a wry smile and nodded.

"I wanted to try the 'Water-Growing-Wood' technique of layering waves, but these two spiritual energies always interfere with each other."

"It's like oil and water; they just can't mix together."

Han Sushuang pondered for a moment.

She stretched out her right hand, and a ball of crimson-gold flame rose from her palm.

"I don't understand formations, but I do understand swordsmanship."

"My Crimson Lotus Sword Qi has both metal and fire attributes."

"The wealthy wield power and ruthlessness, while the fiery spirit erupts."

"Fire overcomes metal, so logically these two should be even more difficult to combine."

Gu Shenyan's eyes lit up. "How did Senior Sister manage that?"

With a flick of her wrist, Han Sushuang caused the ball of flame to collapse inward, transforming into a layer of dark red lava.

"Fire generates earth."

"At the moment when the flame reaches its peak, it will turn into ash, which is earth, due to the exhaustion of its energy."

"That moment was its weakest, and also its most compassionate."

"At that moment, I infused it with the sharp, metallic energy."

"By using earth to generate metal, the original explosive power is instantly transformed into penetrating power."

Gu Shenyan felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

"The weakest moment — is also the most tolerant moment —"

He muttered to himself.

In his previous attempts, he always thought of stimulating the wood elemental power when the water elemental power was at its strongest, trying to achieve the effect of "great power producing miracles".

But this goes against the laws of nature.

Water overflows when it is full.

"I understand!"

Gu Shenyan suddenly slapped his thigh.

"Not being pushed along, but—going with the flow!"

He immediately turned around and immersed himself in the system's simulation once again.

This time, he didn't rush to activate the "Green Vine Talisman".

Instead, he controlled the "Frost Arrow" to transform it into a gentle stream of water, just as the water was about to spread and its power was about to wane.

That is the point where the old forces have been exhausted and the new forces have not yet emerged.

"born!"

The Green Vine Talisman is activated.

In that instant, the water elemental power that was about to dissipate seemed to find an outlet and surged wildly into the green vine.

puff!

In the void, an absurdly thick green vine appeared out of thin air, its surface covered with a layer of glistening frost.

Tough and sharp!

Although it only lasted for a moment before disappearing.

But this proves that the path was correct!

Gu Shenyan turned around and bowed deeply to Han Sushuang.

"Thank you so much for your guidance, senior sister!"

Han Sushuang looked at the dissipating green vine phantom, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.

"I was just saying it casually, I didn't expect you to be so perceptive."

A faint smile appeared on her lips.

"Looks like I'll have to work even harder, or I'll really fall behind you, my 'logistics student'."

a few days later.

Liu Wenyuan returned to the herb garden.

This time, his expression was much more solemn than before, but it also carried a hint of satisfaction after revenge.

"Pack everything up."

Liu Wenyuan got straight to the point.

"These past few days, Qin Sizhu and I have joined forces to take down Yingrong's two 'rat holes' in the provincial capital."

"Although we didn't catch any big fish, we did catch a lot of good stuff."

He took out a secret scroll from his sleeve and handed it to Gu Shenyan.

"See for yourself."

Gu Shenyan took the secret scroll and quickly scanned it.

The more I looked, the more alarmed I became.

The penetration of the "Shadow Banyan" is deeper than I imagined.

Not only the underground black market, but also some businesses in the provincial government and even low-ranking officials had financial dealings with them.

Their objective was, as the prisoner had stated earlier.

Imperial mausoleums and ancient altars on the outskirts of Beijing.

Moreover, the secret scroll mentions that they are using various means to contact, win over, and even control the participants in the "Hundred Talismans Dharma Assembly".

"They want to tamper with the Dharma assembly?" Gu Shenyan frowned.

"Very likely."

Liu Wenyuan stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the sea of ​​clouds in the distance.

"The Dharma assembly is a grand event for the whole country, and members of the royal family and high-ranking officials from various sects will be present."

"If something goes wrong, it will be a huge scandal, and could even shake the foundations of the country."

He turned around and stared intently at Gu Shenyan.

"Therefore, the plan has changed."

"You were originally scheduled to depart in three days."

"Let's set off now."

"Cao Wenjing is leading the team, and Han Sushuang is a formal player. You—"

Liu Wenyuan paused, then took out a waist token that was neither gold nor jade from his pocket and tossed it to Gu Shenyan.

"You are a 'special advisor'."

"Nominally, it was to go to the capital to adapt to the environment and to observe and learn."

"Actually————"

Liu Wenyuan lowered his voice and said in a tone that only Gu Shenyan could hear, "You will be my eyes and ears, and a spy for the Xuanzheng Division."

"Among those glamorous contestants, I'll drag out those rotten, scheming henchmen, one by one."

Gu Shenyan gripped the waist token tightly.

It is engraved with a crow with outstretched wings, as if about to take flight.

"Once you arrive in the capital, someone will meet you."

Liu Wenyuan leaned closer, his tone chilling.

"Code name: Jackdaw."

"I've memorized the meeting place and code word in the miniature array inside my waist tag. It will naturally appear once we reach the capital."

"Remember, in the capital, trust no one except for Han Ya and your senior brothers and sisters."

"Don't completely trust even the elders stationed there at Tingtao Pavilion."

Gu Shenyan felt a chill run down his spine.

This suggests that Liu Wenyuan suspects that the inner circle of Tingtao Pavilion, or rather, the circle in the capital, is not entirely clean either.

"Disciple understands."