BXBX NOVEL Chapter 440: Divergence
Chapter 440: Divergence
Stepping toward him, she asked, "Is this another puzzle? Have you figured it out, Young Hero Chu?"
Chu Liang smiled and replied, "I'm still thinking about it."
Situ Guanhai had come on this trip to the hidden realm because of Xi Miaoxian, so he had stayed by her side the entire time. Now, with Chu Liang stealing the spotlight and Xi Miaoxian taking the initiative to approach him, Situ Guanhai felt a sense of crisis.
Fortunately, he specialized in the Dao of Talisman-Making.
Situ Guanhai stepped forward and said, "According to the Qimen Dunjia, the Door of Life (生) should be at the Gen (艮) position."[1]
He walked over to the Door of Gen and then turned around. Situ Guanhai found that everyone was watching him, but no one made a move to follow him.
"Why...?" Situ Guanhai asked sheepishly. "Am I wrong?"
"You're right." Chu Liang nodded. "Brother Situ, go on and give it a try."
Situ Guanhai's heart thumped hard like a drum. This wasn't something he could just try. One wrong step, and he'd be expelled from the hidden realm.
Monk Pushan shook his head. "That line of thinking is too simplistic. Considering all the trials that we had to overcome just to get to this point... If I were the Celestial Talisman Master, there's no way I'd make this stage so easy."
"It is the Door of Gen," Ye Yongxing suddenly said.
Chu Liang smiled in agreement. "That's right."
"Huh?" Situ Guanhai straightened his posture. "Is it really?"
However, he was still nervous, wondering if they were trying to trick him into checking out the path... or maybe they were just using this as an opportunity to eliminate a competitor.
"The problem is that it's not as simple as just corresponding to the positions of the Eight Trigrams," Chu Liang explained, glancing at Ye Yongxing. "It's connected to the sundial."
"Yes." Ye Yongxing nodded. "The qian (乾) character represents the heavens. Using it as the guide, the sundial can be divided into eight parts."
"And the sunlight is currently..." Chu Liang said, tracing a faint line over the sundial with his hand, "shining toward the Door of Gen."
"Oh, I see now!" Monk Pushan exclaimed, nodding vigorously. He quickly added, "Just as I thought!"
Situ Guanhai's face grew hot. It turned out that his earlier conclusion had been the result of a very superficial analysis and that it was pure luck that he'd gotten it right, like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead rat.
Feeling quite ashamed, Situ Guanhai just wanted to get out of there.
So, he said, "Then I'll go ahead and give it a try."
"Wait!" Chu Liang suddenly called out to him.
Situ Guanhai stopped in his tracks. "Hmm?"
Chu Liang explained, "The sunlight has now moved to the boundary between the sections, making it hard to judge which position the Door of Life is in. It will likely shift soon, so let's wait a moment to be cautious."
Situ Guanhai shuddered with fear and thanked him, "Many thanks for your warning."
Chu Liang could have remained a passive observer. If Situ Guanhai had indeed chosen the wrong path, there would be one fewer competitor, which would benefit to Chu Liang.
However, Situ Guanhai was still the most knowledgeable in the Dao of Talisman-Making among them. The path ahead was unknown, so losing him might not be advantageous in the end.
There was no doubt they would have to compete at some point, but it wasn't that time yet.
Initially, everyone was only thinking about competing with each other. Nevertheless, because both Chu Liang and Ye Yongxing were leading the way with such noble behavior, the tense atmosphere in the group became much more relaxed.
After waiting a bit longer, they all passed through the new Door of Life.
Whoosh.
The black light in the door rippled around them continuously until they arrived in the new grand hall.
They had indeed made the correct choice!
...
This new grand hall was not the final destination. The number of black doorways ahead had been reduced to five, each marked with the same strange symbol above. It was a simple leftward diagonal stroke and a horizontal line (丿一), resembling an unfinished character.
In the center of the hall, there was a square stone slab covered in a chaotic array of drawings. It looked as if countless talismans had been scattered across it, forming an overwhelming blur of overlapping lines.
As the group swept their gazes over it, they all frowned.
"Another puzzle..." Monk Pushan muttered and scratched his head, feeling like his bald head was about to overload.
Situ Guanhai suddenly said, "This is the Disorderly Board of Talismans."
"Oh?" everyone uttered, turning to him.
"When I first began studying the Dao of Talisman-Making, my esteemed teacher would use this to test me," Situ Guanhai explained. As his confidence increased, so did his volume. "Most of the symbols are meaningless. There are only a few valid talismanic characters in there. We'll have to use divine intent to filter out the useful talismanic characters. Any mistakes will result in punishment.
"Nevertheless, it doesn't matter how complex a talisman or talismanic spell it is. After practicing this for such a long time, I can instantly identify the core talismanic characters with just a glance."
"It seems this method of studying talismans and talismanic spells was passed down from the ancient Celestial Talisman Sect," Chu Liang said. "So, Brother Situ, can you identify the talismanic characters on this board?"
It was likely that the group could just follow the method that Situ Guanhai mentioned and use their divine intent to solve the board, but they would inevitably be slower than Situ Guanhai. However, their speed wasn't the main issue; Situ Guanhai had something they didn't.
Situ Guanhai had studied using the Disorderly Board of Talismans for many years, so his proficiency and accuracy were much higher than the rest of the group's.
Situ Guanhai nodded firmly.
Then he concentrated all of his divine intent on the board. As he held his breath and focused, his eyes lit up with fervor.
Moments later, Situ Guanhai gave his answer. "This board contains the Five Elements Talismans: four metal (金), three wood (木), one water (水), five fire (火), and two earth (土)..."
"It's the second door!" Chu Liang and Ye Yongxing exclaimed in unison.[2]
The other three were startled. "Huh?"
How did they identify the Door of Life's location just by counting a few talismans?
Chu Liang explained, "This time, the five doors are all marked with the same symbol, with no distinguishing markers. The number of talismans for each element on the board most likely corresponds to the elemental affiliation of each door."
Ye Yongxing continued the explanation slowly. "The first door corresponds to water, the second to earth, the third to wood, the fourth to metal, and the fifth to fire... The Door of Life is the Door of Earth."
"Why is that?" Monk Pushan asked.
Chu Liang replied, "Look at the symbol above each door. It's not entirely useless."
Monk Pushan hadn't connected the dots earlier, but the moment he took a closer look at the symbols above the doors, he finally understood.
"That symbol (丿一)... when combined with the character for earth (土), it forms the character for life (生)!" Monk Pushan cried out in surprise.
Xi Miaoxian and Situ Guanhai looked over and immediately understood as well.
If they had been given the time, they would have been able to solve this puzzle fairly easily too. However, the speed at which Chu Liang and Ye Yongxing had figured it out was truly remarkable.
"Impressive," Situ Guanhai remarked.
"It was just a lucky coincidence that I happened to think of it," Chu Liang replied humbly. "We solved it thanks to Brother Situ's solid skills in talisman-making."
This was true. Without Situ Guanhai, the others, who were unfamiliar with the Disorderly Board of Talismans, might have been stuck at this stage for a long time.
This confirmed what Chu Liang had thought earlier. Those who became overly focused on competing too early would never make it to the end.
"Nothing special, really," Situ Guanhai said modestly.
Despite that, one side of his mouth couldn't stop from curving up, so much so that it formed a crooked grin. Situ Guanhai felt quite triumphant, as he had managed to redeem himself after that embarrassing incident in the previous stage.
Now that they had found the Door of Life, the group wasted no time and ventured inside.
Whoosh.
With a flash of light, they arrived in yet another new space.
...
However, this still wasn't their final destination. This new grand hall was empty, and the number of doors on the wall ahead had been reduced to two.
One was engraved with the words "Talismanic Script of Yin," and the other with "Talismanic Script of Yang."
The only clue was a stone relief mural on the wall.
The mural depicted what appeared to be a doomsday scene. The sky was filled with dark clouds and flashes of lightning as roaring floodwaters approached from afar. Raging flames ravaged the earth, incinerating plants and mountain rocks alike.
The scene depicted in this mural was similar to ones Chu Liang had seen in a previous hidden realm[3]. It was a doomsday artwork.
"This..." Monk Pushan frowned deeply. "How are we supposed to choose?"
Silence fell over the group.
Situ Guanhai looked at Chu Liang and Ye Yongxing and asked, "Are both of you at a loss as to which door to pick too?"
"I'm not sure..." Ye Yongxing replied, "but I think I'll choose the Door of Yin."
Chu Liang, on the other hand, said, "I'll choose the Door of Yang."
"Huh?" the others uttered in shock.
Up until now, Chu Liang and Ye Yongxing had always had the same opinion, so following them had allowed the group to progress smoothly to this point.
But now... why are they suddenly making different choices?
Who should we trust?!
1. See the translator's thoughts for info on the Qimen Dunjia. ☜
2. PAUSE HERE. I left a clue for this little puzzle in the paragraph that mentions "Qimen Dunjia". Here’s your chance to go back and look. See if you can figure out the answer as you continue reading. ☜
3. It doesn't state which hidden realm, but from memory, it should be the Blue Dragon's Hidden Realm. ☜