Under One Person: I Have a Billion Taoist Gods Within Me

There was complete silence in front of the mansion gate.

Those guests who had not yet left, those members of the Lu family, those crowds watching from afar—

Everyone watched this scene, holding their breath and not daring to make a sound.

The Zhuge family, the ancestral home of Zhuge Liang, has a history spanning nearly two thousand years, with a profound and unfathomable family tradition of learning.

As the head of the family, how prestigious was Zhuge Yunting's status?

At this moment, in front of everyone, he performed this grand ceremony for Li Yuan, presenting his ancestral treasure with both hands!

What a great recognition!

Li Yuan looked at the rolled-up bamboo slips and at Zhuge Yunting's devout and earnest gaze.

He didn't answer immediately, but asked softly:

"Mr. Zhuge, this is a priceless heirloom of your noble family. I am but an outsider and I am unworthy to receive it."

"Moreover, the Eight Trigrams Formation is the culmination of Zhuge Liang's efforts, and its mysteries cannot be solved overnight."

Zhuge Yunting raised his head, his gaze resolute:

"Daozi, you are mistaken."

"Our ancestor left us the Zhuge family to pass this incomplete scroll to the 'chosen one'."

"This is the wisdom of our ancestors, their arrangement for future generations."

"Our Zhuge family has studied this scroll for a thousand years, yet we have still been unable to unravel its mysteries. It is not that we have not tried hard enough, nor that we have not been devout enough—"

"It's because the one who can decipher this scroll is not us."

"Michiko—"

His voice was earnest:

"If this scroll continues to remain in my Zhuge family, it will only continue to gather dust and become an unfulfilled regret in the hearts of generations of descendants."

"Only by entrusting it to you, Daozi, and letting it shine with its true brilliance in your hands, can we live up to the original intention of our ancestors in creating this wondrous array, and fulfill the expectations of countless generations over the past thousand years!"

"I implore you, Daozi, not to refuse!"

As he spoke, he bowed deeply once again.

That posture was so devout it bordered on humility.

Li Yuan remained silent for a moment.

He looked at Zhuge Yunting, at the bamboo scroll held up by both hands, and at the faint Daoist aura flowing on the scroll.

Inside the interior, deep within the Daluo Palace.

The divine positions associated with "formation," "Qimen," and "Bagua" shimmered with a faint, clear light, as if resonating with the rolled bamboo slips in some indescribable way.

Among those divine positions, there is one that is extremely special—

Fuxi.

The creator of the Eight Trigrams, the progenitor of humankind, sought to understand the virtues of the divine and to categorize the emotions of all things.

Above its divine position, the illusory figure seemed to move slightly, as if it had sensed something.

Li Yuan regained his composure and looked at Zhuge Yunting.

After a moment, he nodded slightly:

"In that case, I will accept this scroll."

"If I gain any insight in the future, I will share it with the Zhuge family."

Upon hearing this, Zhuge Yunting's eyes blazed with barely suppressed joy and relief.

He nodded repeatedly, his voice choked with emotion:

"Thank you Michiko! Thank you Michiko!"

Li Yuan reached out and took the scroll of bamboo slips.

The moment Li Yuan held the bamboo slip in his hand, he "sensed" its extraordinary nature.

Those were not ordinary bamboo slips.

That was a Dao artifact that carried the life's work of a legendary figure.

Each bamboo strip is engraved with dense patterns.

Those patterns are not ordinary handwriting, but a kind of "Taoist marks" that are somewhere between talismans and graphics.

They seemed to be alive.

The moment Li Yuan touched it, the patterns seemed to sense something and trembled slightly, emitting a very faint blue light.

The bluish light was as warm and smooth as jade, yet as deep and unfathomable as an abyss.

Zhuge Yunting watched this scene, his eyes reddening, and murmured:

"It's lit up...it's lit up..."

"Our Zhuge family has worshipped this scroll for a thousand years, and we have never seen it react in any way..."

"As soon as you touched it, it lit up..."

"As expected... as expected..."

He couldn't continue.

Li Yuan ignored his sentiments, simply lowering his eyes and quietly looking at the rolled-up bamboo slips.

The bamboo slips slowly unfurled.

On the first bamboo strip, an ancient seal character was engraved—

"sky".

The second film—

"land".

The third film—

"wind".

The fourth film—

"cloud".

The fifth piece —

"dragon".

The sixth piece—

"Tiger".

The seventh piece—

"bird".

Eighth piece —

"snake".

Eight characters, eight ancient seal characters, each containing a profound meaning that is difficult to express.

This is the foundation of the Eight Trigrams Formation—

The Heavenly Covering Formation, Earth Bearing Formation, Wind Rising Formation, Cloud Hanging Formation, Dragon Flying Formation, Tiger Wing Formation, Bird Soaring Formation, and Serpent Coiling Formation.

Below the eight seal characters are densely packed patterns and symbols.

Those patterns and symbols, seemingly chaotic, actually form a kind of wonderful regularity.

Like miniature arrays, they lie quietly asleep on the bamboo strips.

Li Yuan watched quietly.

In just three breaths.

He closed the bamboo slips.

Zhuge Yunting was stunned.

"Michiko...you..."

He thought Li Yuan had only glanced at it briefly, but he didn't expect him to close it so quickly.

Li Yuan raised his eyes and looked at Zhuge Yunting.

His gaze remained gentle, yet it seemed to hold an indescribable understanding.

"Mr. Zhuge."

He spoke softly, his tone still calm:

"Zhuge Liang was truly a genius of unparalleled talent."

"This Eight Trigrams Formation, on the surface, is a formation, but in reality it contains the principles of the generation and restraint of all things in heaven and earth."

"Based on the Eight Trigrams, utilizing the Eight Gates, responding to the Eight Winds, and transforming through the Eight Symbols—"

"If this formation can be set up, it can trap 100,000 elite troops and seize the creation of heaven and earth."

"Unfortunately—"

He paused, looking at the bamboo slips in his hand:

This scroll is only a fragment.

Zhuge Yunting nodded repeatedly:

"Exactly! Exactly!"

"My ancestors in the Zhuge family have all tried to complete this scroll, but they have never succeeded."

Our ancestors once said: "The secret of the Eight Trigrams Formation lies not in the diagram itself, but in the person who creates it."

"Those who are not destined by Heaven cannot understand its true meaning."

Li Yuan nodded slightly.

He didn't say anything more.

He unfolded the bamboo slips again, this time with even greater focus than before.

Those patterns and symbols were no longer chaotic lines in his eyes.

They seemed to come alive.

Each line is a trajectory of "momentum".

Each symbol is a node of "change".

They intertwine to form a vast, three-dimensional, and ever-evolving "world".

In that world, there is heaven and earth.

In that world, there is wind and thunder.

In that world, there are dragons, tigers, birds, snakes, and all things that are born and die.

That world—

That is the Eight Trigrams Formation.

Li Yuan watched quietly.

Inside the interior, deep within the Daluo Palace.

The clear light above Fuxi's divine throne grew brighter and brighter.

The illusory figure slightly raised its hand, as if sketching something in the void.

at the same time...

A faint wisp of purple energy reappeared at the ancestral aperture between Li Yuan's eyebrows.

The purple aura was not actively activated by Li Yuan, but rather it was a natural manifestation that arose after the inner world of the Daluo Palace resonated with the bamboo scroll outside.

Zhuge Yunting trembled as he watched this scene, almost kneeling down again.

Li Yuan ignored everything outside.

He simply stared quietly at the rolled bamboo slips, letting the patterns and symbols weave together in his mind to form a complete picture.

The Heavenly Covering Array—as high as the sky, covering all things.

Earth-bearing array—as thick as the earth, it bears all things.

The wind rises—swift as the wind, penetrating everywhere.

Cloud Hanging Formation – like clouds hanging down, ever-changing and unpredictable.

Dragon Flight Formation – like a dragon soaring through the heavens.

Tiger Wing Formation – like the wings of a tiger, its might shakes all directions.

Bird Flight Formation – like a bird in flight, coming and going without a trace.

The Snake Coil Formation – like a coiled snake, with its head and tail corresponding to each other.

Eight formations united as one

It can seize the creation of heaven and earth, alter the balance of yin and yang, and reverse the flow of cause and effect!

Li Yuan closed his eyes.

Three breaths later, he opened his eyes.

In those gentle eyes, a glimmer of light, almost imperceptible to others, now shone—

That was the light of enlightenment.

Zhuge Yunting looked at Li Yuan, his lips moving as if he wanted to ask something, but he dared not utter a sound.

Li Yuan looked at him and nodded slightly:

"Mr. Zhuge."

"I have already understood this incomplete Eight Trigrams Formation scroll."