Ink-Clad Creator

While turning our attention to Li Xian and his group heading north, let us also take a moment to look back at the southeastern edge of that desert that had just fallen silent.

Miss Chunmeng stood atop the weathered ruins of an earthen city, her dark red dress fluttering in the rising morning breeze. Behind her, more than twenty Holy Gate sisters stood silently, still bearing the scent of gunpowder and blood from a bloody ambush.

Beneath the earthen city wall lay more than thirty black-clad corpses lying haphazardly—the third squad of the Daoist sword-hunting troops led by Oni-Makoto. Their deaths varied: some were impaled by traps and mechanisms, some died from poisoning, and many more were riddled with arrows.

"Clean up the battlefield, finish off the enemies, and search them." Chunmeng's voice was as cold as a desert night wind. "Gather everything with words, pictures, or special markings."

The sisters acted swiftly. Chunmeng walked to the corpse of Oni-menmaru and knelt down.

The once-powerful commander of the sword hunters did not die a heroic death—a crossbow bolt coated with deadly poison pierced his right eye and went straight to the back of his head. His face was still frozen in a mixture of shock and rage, his right hand clutching a shattered black crystal tightly.

Chunmeng used her dagger to pry open his fingers and picked up the crystal fragment. The edges of the fragment were charred black, and its internal structure was completely melted, a "masterpiece" of the solar magnetic storm.

"Want to call for help?" she sneered. "Your 'Skynet' is already rotten."

Last night, she deliberately revealed her whereabouts, luring Oni-menmaru into this abandoned earthen city. This place was once a border fortress of the previous dynasty, with a complex network of underground passages and defensive mechanisms that had long since decayed but could be reactivated with slight modifications.

As Oni-Makoto led his troops into the central square of Tu City, Chunmeng activated the first trap—the "Bone-Corroding Poison Smoke" buried underground. Although the Sword Hunters were well-trained, their knowledge of the exotic poisons native to the Central Plains was limited, and many of them collapsed on the spot.

Enraged, Oni-Makoto led his elite troops straight to the lookout tower where Harumu was located. Just then, a magnetic storm descended.

The communication crystals in the arms of all the sword hunters exploded at the same time. Some were cut by the shards, while many more suffered a sudden collapse of their mental defenses—they had completely lost contact with General Genda Nobutsuna and became a lone army in this unfamiliar desert.

Chunmeng captured this moment of chaos.

The second mechanism was activated: hundreds of crossbow bolts shot out from the hidden holes in the city wall, the arrowheads coated with the "Ice Soul Anesthetic Powder" made by the Demonic Cult. Those hit by it would experience numbness in their limbs and slowed movement.

The third and final blow: The Holy Gate sisters emerged from various secret passages. They did not engage in direct combat, but instead formed groups of three, focusing on attacking the lower body and harassing the flanks, using ropes, fishing nets, barbed wire, and other debris to restrict the swordsmen's swordsmanship.

Oni-Mako was indeed powerful. Even in such a disadvantageous situation, he still managed to kill five Holy Gate sisters with a single fierce sword strike and rushed to Chunmeng's side.

Then he saw what Chunmeng was holding—a palm-sized jade plaque engraved with the family crests of noble families from the Daoist Kingdom.

"You... how do you have the Genda clan's family crest jade pendant?!" Oni-menmaru's pupils shrank suddenly.

"Because seven years ago, I personally buried Genda Nobutsuna's older sister, Genda Masako, at sea." Harumu's voice was terrifyingly calm. "Didn't your general tell you? When the Demonic Sect fled overseas and took root in Tushita, who helped you quell the coastal rebellion, and who... was ultimately discarded like a dog after the hunt?"

Oni-Makoto remembered. There were indeed rumors in the army that the general had a romantic relationship with a female leader of a demonic sect from the Central Plains when he was young, and that the woman had even helped the Genda family win the position of Shogun. But later... the woman "died of illness".

"You are... 'Phantom Dream Princess'?!" Oni-Makoto exclaimed in disbelief.

"Phantom Dream Princess is dead." Chunmeng smiled, her smile as alluring as a datura flower. "Now standing before you is Miss Chunmeng."

Before she finished speaking, the mechanism in her sleeve clicked, and a poisoned crossbow bolt shot out.

Guimianmaru, as expected of a beginner-level expert in the Heavenly Origin Realm, managed to dodge the fatal blow by tilting his head at such close range. However, the poisoned crossbow grazed his cheek, leaving a trail of blood – the tip of the crossbow was coated with "Seven-Day Corrosive Heart Powder," which is lethal upon contact with blood.

Three breaths later, Oni-menmaru collapsed and died.

"All cleaned up, Sister Meng." A round-faced girl named Xiaoman walked over, holding the items they had collected. "We found some sea charts, secret letters, and this..."

She handed him a roll of parchment wrapped in oilcloth. His spring dream unfolded, and his brow gradually furrowed.

It was an extremely detailed map of the coastal defenses of the Central Plains, showing everything from naval outposts to watchtower locations, from tidal patterns to the distribution of reefs. In the lower right corner of the map was a scarlet seal—the private seal of Pang Wenyuan, the Grand Tutor of the current dynasty.

"There are people in the court... who are colluding with the enemy." Chunmeng's eyes flashed with a cold light. "No wonder the Trayastrimsa Kingdom dared to land so openly."

She carefully put the parchment away and looked north.

"Li Xian, the capital you're going to... is more complicated than I thought."

Let's turn our attention back to Li Xian and his group.

After leaving the desert, the landscape gradually changed. The Gobi Desert replaced the sea of ​​sand, and sparse camel thorn and tamarisk began to appear, with a few tenacious poplars occasionally visible. The temperature was no longer extreme, but the temperature difference between day and night was still significant.

The route led by the three Shi brothers was indeed safe. They knew every well, every sheltered rock face, and even where the jujube trees were edible and which plants were poisonous. With these three "living maps of the desert," the journey went much more smoothly.

On the way, Li began to study the "Houtu Zaiwu Jue".

As Huang Yan had said, this Earth Sect's mental cultivation method does not emphasize attack and conquest, but focuses on defense and perception. The very first sentence is: "The earth is thick and bears all things, its virtue is boundless. In stillness, one observes the subtle; in action, one responds to the grand."

The cultivation method is also unique—it's not about sitting in meditation to draw in energy, but about placing your hands on the ground and using your own energy to "listen" to the vibrations of the earth's veins, to "feel" the flow of minerals and water in the soil, and to "understand" the pressure and memories that the rocks have endured over millions of years.

Li Xian tried for three days, but progress was slow. The orange-gold energy in his body was too intense and active, which was incompatible with the "steady and profound" requirement of earth-based cultivation techniques.

The three Shi brothers, though of average talent, had a natural affinity for the earth due to their long-term life in the desert. Following the method relayed by Li Xian, they practiced for only a few days and were already able to vaguely perceive the distribution of rock layers and the direction of underground water veins three to five zhang deep underground.

"Master said that we brothers are 'rough jade' and need to be slowly carved." Shi Jian chuckled, "Now that we have the Fa, we can finally start to take shape."

The drones are also adapting to their new bodies. Their golden shells make them exceptionally sensitive to ground vibrations, allowing them to "hear" distinctly different "sounds of the earth" as they fly over different terrains—dry friction sounds in the Gobi Desert, moist flowing sounds in the river valleys, and deep, resonant hums in the rocky areas.

"I can now tell if there are underground cavities within fifty feet," Batman reported. "I can also roughly determine the size and depth of the cavities."

"With the enhancement of the Breath of Gold shell, my optical sensors are more sensitive to the reflective properties of minerals," the Dark Knight added. "When I flew over that cliff just now, I detected a faint metallic reaction in the rock layers on the east side, which may be copper or iron ore."

Li Xian memorized all of this. This was valuable practical data, which would be of great use in the future, whether for finding resources or avoiding danger.

On the tenth day, they finally saw signs of human habitation—a tiny border post station with only three earthen houses, a well, and a tea stall with a tattered wine flag.

"If we go north for another three days, we'll reach the official road." Shi Jian pointed to the end of the post road. "Once we're on the official road, we won't be far from the capital."

After traveling for two more days, the landscape completely changed. The Gobi Desert was replaced by rolling hills, with lush vegetation and even patches of pine forests. The air was much more humid, and the wind carried the scent of earth and grass.

That evening, the group arrived at the foot of a verdant mountain. The mountain wasn't high, but it was shrouded in mist and clouds, giving it an ethereal quality. At the foot of the mountain stood a blue stone tablet, on which were engraved three elegant characters:

Yunmeng Mountain

Beside the stele is a line of smaller characters: "Three miles into the mountains, there is a Taoist temple called 'Yunmeng'. The abbot, Miaozhen, is skilled in divination and can be visited by those with affinity."

"Yunmeng Mountain..." Peng Shitao murmured the name, "My sister never mentioned this place in her letter."

The little pine tree on Xiao Lingshan's shoulder suddenly twitched, its tender buds pointing towards the mountain, conveying a hint of curiosity.

"The little pine tree seems to have a fondness for this mountain," she said.

Li Xian looked up at the mountain. The sun was setting, and the afterglow dyed the mountain clouds and mist golden red, a beauty that seemed otherworldly. But what concerned him more was something else—starting from the mountainside, he sensed an extremely faint yet pervasive energy field covering the entire area.

That energy field was peculiar; it wasn't aggressive, but rather more like a... filtering mechanism.

"We'll camp at the foot of the mountain tonight and climb up to visit them first thing tomorrow morning," Li decided. "Since it's on the way, there's no harm in going. Besides..."

He looked in the direction of the energy field: "This mountain is interesting."

The next morning, the group climbed the mountain.

The mountain path, paved with bluestone slabs, meanders and is kept spotless. Ancient trees tower on both sides, birdsong is melodious, and occasionally you can see one or two fearless squirrels squatting by the roadside with pine cones, their dark eyes curiously staring at passersby.

After walking for about half an hour, a Taoist temple appeared ahead.

The temple gate was small, with white walls and blue tiles. A wooden plaque hung above the gate, bearing the three characters "Yunmeng Temple" in elegant and refined calligraphy. The gate was ajar, and a faint scent of sandalwood wafted from the crack.

Li Xian stepped forward and knocked on the door.

"Squeak—"

The door opened, and a young Taoist boy, about twelve or thirteen years old, with his hair styled in two buns, peeked out. The boy was exquisitely handsome, with large, blinking eyes, and asked in a childish voice, "Have you come to offer incense, or to have your fortune told?"

"We are passing through Baoshan and have come to pay our respects to the abbot." Li Xian clasped his hands in greeting.

The young Taoist priest tilted his head and thought for a moment: "Master happens to have some free time today, but... Master has three rules."

"Speaking."

"First, we only see three groups of guests each day. We've already seen two groups today. You are the third and the last group." The young Taoist boy held up one finger, then a second. "Second, you must answer three questions before you can see the master. Only if you answer two or more correctly will the master grant you an audience."

"And the third one?"

The young Taoist priest smiled slyly: "Third, if a man answers all three questions correctly, Master might invite him in for a 'night talk by candlelight' if he's in a good mood. As for a woman... Master will say, 'Why make things difficult for another woman? Just invite her in for tea.'"

Everyone was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter. The rules of this Taoist temple were certainly unique.

"Then let's give it a try," Li said.

The young Taoist boy stepped aside, and the group entered the temple. The inner courtyard was not large, but it was decorated with great elegance, complete with artificial hills, bonsai, small bridges, and flowing water. In the courtyard stood an old plum tree, not yet in bloom, but its branches were gnarled and twisted, its posture vigorous and ancient.

Three stone tables were placed in front of the main hall, each with an unfolded scroll of silk on it, and writing brushes and ink provided beside it.

"The three questions are all on the silk," the young Taoist priest pointed out. "You may look at them yourselves. You will have one incense stick's time to answer them and then hand in your papers."

The five people walked to the stone table. The inscription on the silk was indeed strange:

Question 1: There is something undifferentiated and complete, which existed before Heaven and Earth. Silent and still, it stands alone and unchanging, moving in cycles without ceasing. What is this thing? And explain its relationship with the five elements (metal, wood, water, fire, and earth). (Note: Do not answer with "Tao").

Question 2: There are three energies: A belongs to fire, which is fiery and violent; B belongs to water, which is gentle and cold; and C belongs to wood, which is vibrant and full of life. If you want these three energies to coexist peacefully in a sealed container, what method should be used? Please explain the principle in detail.

Question 3: The ultimate creation is to imbue inanimate objects with life. If you wish to bring a wooden puppet to life, what are the three most fundamental conditions that must be met?

After reading it, Li was deeply moved.

These three questions... were clearly aimed at him! The first question asked about the relationship between the primordial energy of the universe (the "primordial matter" taught by Boltzmann's brain) and the five elements; the second question was about the practical application of energy harmony; and the third question directly pointed to his "human creation experiment"!

He suddenly looked up at the main hall. The hall doors were tightly closed, but through the crack, it seemed as if a pair of eyes were watching him with a smile.

"This Taoist nun... is not simple," Binglan said in a low voice.

Xiao Lingshan and Peng Shitao also looked serious. They had both participated in the puppet experiment and naturally understood the implications of the third question.

The three Shi brothers scratched their heads, completely unable to understand—these literary terms were beyond their knowledge.

Li Xian took a deep breath and picked up his pen.

He knew that the owner of the Taoist temple probably already knew they were coming.

This "exam" may be the most important hurdle they face before entering the capital.

(End of Chapter 54)