Chapter 118 I Have a Brain
Yu Sui told Mei Liangyu about Gu Gan's search for the fragments of the Floating Pagoda, and also revealed the real reason she came to Taiyi: she was ordered by Nangong Ming to rescue Gu Gan and help him find the fragments of the Floating Pagoda.
Mei Liangyu wasn't surprised at all. It was perfectly reasonable for Nangong Ming to want to break the oath of non-aggression between the six kingdoms.
But he and Yu Sui had the same question on their minds: Who leaked the news about the Taiyi Pagoda fragments?
“I suspect it was revealed by the sages. The sages of Taiyi all come from the six kingdoms, but among the known sages so far, none of them are from the Yan Kingdom.” Yu Sui analyzed after distancing himself from Mei Liangyu, “Everyone has selfish motives, and the six kingdoms are not exactly in a loving relationship. Everyone has their own national and familial ideals. Perhaps among so many sages in Taiyi, there are also those who want to break the oath of no war between the six kingdoms.”
Mei Liangyu straightened up and said thoughtfully, "I heard my master say that the number of saints in Taiyi is also fixed at twenty-four, but it is not easy to become a saint who governs Taiyi."
“It’s not that anyone who reaches the Saint realm can become one of the rulers of Taiyi; rather, only those chosen by Taiyi can,” Mei Liangyu said. “The twenty-four Saints were chosen by the ‘Earth Core Power’ of Taiyi.”
He re-pointed the glowing calligraphy on the desktop, and the five elements energy gathered at his fingertips landed in the sea south of the continent, pointing to the Taiyi position.
Yu Sui stared intently at the changes on the map, his dark eyes unblinking. The map showed icons of islands dotting the sea, covering almost half of the southern waters.
From dense to scattered islands, Yu Sui saw dark brown things resembling withered tree branches stretching out in all directions from the sea area on the map. They supported the islands in the sea, resembling the shape of a tree of life growing in the deep sea.
Mei Liangyu pointed to the dark brown dead branches that supported the island and said, "It is the 'power of the Earth's core.' The life force that the island draws from it comes from it, and it is also the Taiyi that it created."
"But the power of the Earth's core will only choose those at the Saint level as the rulers of Taiyi. Saints chosen by the power of the Earth's core will have their power doubled within the Taiyi range, and they cannot be seriously injured and killed. They will be blessed with invincibility."
This information is quite novel. Yu Sui leaned closer to the table to take a look: "So, does the current Taiyi Saint possess an immortal body?"
Mei Liangyu said, "Master said that there is a time limit to possessing the power of the Earth's core. Once the time is up, he will be kicked out of the twenty-four people and replaced with a new person."
Yu Sui asked curiously, "Senior brother, do you know how long Master has been a Supreme Saint of Taiyi?"
Mei Liangyu shook his head slightly: "I don't know, but I guess he is the one who has been in office the longest among the current twenty-four people."
He pondered and calculated, "Grandmother Situ has lived for over 120 years. When she was young, Master was already one of the twenty-four saints of Taiyi."
"Was Master like this back then?" Yu Sui raised her hand and gestured to indicate the form in which he existed.
Mei Liangyu shrugged: "They didn't say that, but it's very likely."
"Master has cultivated to the limit of the Ghost Dao, his physical body has dissolved but his consciousness has been preserved, which is why he has been able to exist for so long. Then how did Grandmother Situ manage to live for so long?" Yu Sui asked, puzzled.
"One of the extraordinary abilities of the mechanical craftsmen is the art of puppetry." Mei Liangyu pointed to the location of the mechanical island, displaying the clan emblem belonging to the Situ family. "The mechanical arts that the Situ family excels at are not military engineering or wooden armor, but the art of puppetry that modifies the human body."
"Grandmother Situ used the art of puppetry on herself, altering her hands, feet, flesh, and internal organs, which can be considered a way to forcibly prolong her life. However, she must also have strong personal strength and a strong will to survive. I don't know what has supported her to live until now."
Yu Sui propped her head up with one hand as she looked at Mei Liangyu, seemingly very interested in this strange and powerful ability: "So, it's a cyborg?"
Mei Liangyu nodded and said calmly, "It's different here; these aren't real people."
“We can think of a way; even the brain can be modified.” Yu Sui became interested and gestured towards Mei Liangyu, looking at him through the gap between her hands. “With the Situ family’s puppetry techniques, could we create a wooden senior brother in your likeness?”
Mei Liangyu felt her thoughts were dangerous and glanced at her, asking, "What are you thinking about?"
Yu Sui casually turned to look back at the desktop map: "Senior brother, could you ask Master what he thinks of the Floating Pagoda?"
Mei Liangyu said, "Okay."
Yu Sui waited quietly for a while, then couldn't help but look back at him: "Why don't you ask me why?"
Mei Liangyu said, "You suspect that your father and master are cooperating for the fragments of the Pagoda."
Yu Sui remained expressionless, and Mei Liangyu was also looking at her, her expression calm, and she said in a low voice, "Or to put it another way, you suspect that Master is from Qingyang."
Upon hearing the last sentence, Yu Sui's eyes widened slightly.
Looking at Mei Liangyu and listening to him express his deepest guesses, Yu Sui had a strange feeling, as if their thoughts and feelings were synchronized at a certain moment.
This reminded her of the first time she rode back to Taiyi in a carriage with Mei Liangyu. Her senior brother deliberately remained silent, which made her feel relaxed and comfortable.
There will be no one in this world who is so compatible with her.
Mei Liangyu did not retract her hand from the back of the chair; she was still playing with the hair tangled between her fingers.
Yu Sui blinked slowly: "But this is just my guess."
Mei Liangyu said, "I will ask. As for stealing the fragments, are you confident?"
Yu Sui said honestly, "Gu Gan will steal it, and then I will steal it from him."
Mei Liangyu laughed upon hearing this: "How clever."
Yu Sui said, "Besides the area of the Upside-Down Moon Cave, there are still two pieces missing. If it really is a message from the Twenty-Four Saints, then someone else will tell Gu Gan where the remaining two pieces are."
Mei Liangyu thought of the Milky Way that had disappeared from the Upside-Down Moon Cave, and squinted his eyes. But this matter should have nothing to do with the fragments of the Floating Pagoda, so he didn't say anything.
He asked in a low voice, "What Gao Tianhao wants is the fragment of the Floating Pagoda, because he believes that the Heavenly Character on the fragment contains a method to extract the Strange Flame?"
“That’s what Gao Tianhao said, but we’ll only know the specifics of how to do it once we get the fragment,” Yu Sui said. “Since Gao Tianhao knew you before, senior brother, maybe you can remember something.”
Mei Liangyu looked at Yu Sui strangely and asked, "What did Gao Tianhao tell you?"
Yu Sui scratched his head and told him about the Death Emotion of the World Destroyer, adding, "Taiyi and the Six Kingdoms should have also learned about this from Yu Xian this time."
Mei Liangyu then understood why her junior sister had seemed so distressed during the Dragon and Fish Formation. The burning marks left by the golden lightning were also painful, but her junior sister only appeared delicate and was not truly fragile. She was not so distressed by the golden lightning that she shed tears.
The calligraphy and paintings do not record how Yu Xian died, or perhaps people simply did not care about what kind of low-class profession he died from.
Mei Liangyu asked Yu Sui, "What is it?"
Yu Sui understood what he meant and didn't hide anything, saying, "Legalist judgment technique, slow slicing."
After saying that, she smiled at Mei Liangyu: "Last time, when you were injured in the outer city, your hands were destroyed by the Judgment Technique of Lingchi. I felt sorry for you just watching it. You are too good at enduring pain. You were injured like that and you didn't utter a sound."
But not everyone in this world can endure as much as Mei Liangyu.
The power of Gu Gan's Judgment Technique was different from that of a Saint.
Mei Liangyu looked at Yu Sui who was smiling at him, but dared not make a move. He just stared at her with deep eyes. Whether he felt pity or heartache, it would seem frivolous or irrelevant to Yu Sui at this moment.
What he wanted to do was not just be the senior brother.
In the end, Mei Liangyu simply lowered his eyes and gently stroked her long hair with his broad hands, a silent and tender caress.
The two talked about the pagoda for a long time, until noon, when they parted ways because Yu Sui had to go to class.
Yu Sui went back inside to change clothes, while Mei Liangyu waited outside, listening to the news from Feng Chili.
Xing Chun hadn't seen him for several days, and now he was frantically sending messages asking, "Have you eaten?"
Mei Liangyu looked up at the closed door and replied, "Dinner."
Xing Chun was overjoyed, having solved the problem of food, and then continued to work on his astrologer chart.
Yu Sui changed into a navy blue dress. Perhaps afraid that Mei Liangyu would wait too long, she simply tied her hair up and used a gold foil crabapple tassel to fix the hair ornament in her dark hair.
On the way to the Taoist temple, Mei Liangyu asked her, "Why are you going to listen to these introductory classes again?"
“I have a new idea.” Yu Sui hadn’t been to the Taoist temple many times. He looked around with curiosity and explained, “I want to observe more about the flow of the five elements when using the Nine Streams Technique. The instructors only demonstrate this in detail in the introductory classes.”
Mei Liangyu said, "Then shouldn't you go and listen to the lectures of the Ghost Daoists?"
Yu Sui faced Mei Liangyu, walked backwards, and waved to him: "You can learn something from other schools too, senior brother, you don't need to see me off, the study hall is just ahead."
Mei Liangyu stopped and said, "Look ahead."
Yu Sui then turned around and went into the study hall alone to listen to the lesson.
Before the instructor arrived, Yu Sui compiled all the information he had received that day and sent it to Xue Mushi.
When Xue Mushi learned that Taiyi and the Six Kingdoms were going to announce to the world that the Destroyer of Worlds should go to the Water Boat, he was stunned and didn't react for a long time.
After a long pause, Xue Mushi raised his hand and touched his head, thinking to himself, "Who would dare to go?"
Mei Liangyu took some time at noon to have lunch with Xing Chun. He then went to the dining hall to pack up the food and brought it to the Yin-Yang School's observatory.
The Star Observatory is one of the largest buildings in the Yin-Yang School, and also its tallest.
A straight Milky Way separates the two sides, with heavy circular platforms on both sides, each of which is independent yet interconnected.
The round platform appears small from afar, but upon closer inspection, it reveals its true size, as if one were in the universe.
In each of the round platforms, there was a huge astronomical instrument. The instrument made a slow, deep sound as it turned. Xing Chun was originally circling the astronomical instrument, but when he saw Mei Liangyu in the distance, he stopped and waved to him.
Mei Liangyu walked along the path of the flickering Milky Way on the ground, placed the food box on the small table beside him, and looked up at the star map projected by the planetarium into the dark sky.
Xing Chun sat down, opened the food box, and began to wolf down his food.
Mei Liangyu glanced at him sideways: "Haven't you eaten?"
Xing Chun took a moment to point at him with one finger: "Haven't eaten all day!"
"I won't starve," Mei Liangyu said, looking at the dark star chart. "How many revolutions has your stargazing reached now?"
Xing Chun didn't even look up and said, "If we can keep it within seventy-two revolutions, there's some hope."
"Should we ask Nian Qiuyan to do a calculation for you?" Mei Liangyu leaned back in his chair. "I'd like to know if he can figure this out."
Xing Chun puffed out his cheeks, stopped chewing, and exclaimed, "Don't scare me. What if he really figured it out? He can even calculate how many revolutions someone else's Star Chart can have. If he doesn't ascend to Sainthood on the spot, I should curse the injustice of Heaven."
Mei Liangyu stroked his chin: "That's true."
"I haven't seen you for the past two days, where have you been gallivanting off to?" Xing Chun asked, "Outer city?"
“Jueyun Peak,” Mei Liangyu said.
Xing Chun asked, "Challenge the Twelve Heavenly Ladders? How many ladders can you climb?"
Mei Liangyu answered, "Ten."
Xing Chun chuckled: "I think so too."
Mei Liangyu recalled the Yin-Yang School's Nine Schools of Arts used by the woman in purple in Night Rain City. He tapped the table with his finger and looked at Xing Chun: "Do you know what the Yin-Yang School's Heavenly Secrets of Water and Fire Harmony are?"
Xing Chun glanced at him and said, "This is too much. What are you looking for? Can you be more specific?"
"I'll write down the corresponding star positions for you to see." Mei Liangyu glanced around the table, but there was no paper or pen. She frowned and looked back at Xing Chun, "Why didn't you bring any paper or pen when you looked at the star chart?"
Xing Chun was baffled by what he was being told: "Why would I bring paper and pen? I have a brain."
All nine schools of Yin-Yang philosophy can be matched with relevant information and locations based on the stars in the sky.
Every disciple of the Yin-Yang School has their own Star Chart, which records the flow of the Five Elements Qi and the rules governing the growth and weakening of their power.
Deciphering the star chart of a Yin-Yang School disciple is equivalent to mastering the rules governing the operation of that person's power.
Because the Yin-Yang School believes in the power of the stars in the sky, and the movement of the stars in the sky follows certain rules, their power also has an imperceptible operating rule.
Mei Liangyu took out paper and pen from his mechanical box. Xing Chun, holding a rice bowl, peeked over and said before Mei Liangyu could even start writing, "North Water, South Fire, you need to find the corresponding power from the Seven Mansions of Xuanwu and the Seven Mansions of Zhuque."
After Mei Liangyu pointed out the positions of the fourteen constellations, Xing Chun pointed to the star chart in front of him and said, "Why write anything? After writing it down, you have to use the Nine Schools of Famous Arts to draw spirits and make them move. It's too troublesome. Just look at this."
Mei Liangyu put down his pen and watched expressionlessly as Xing Chun adjusted the astronomical instrument, eliminating all the other stars on the black sky and leaving only the fourteen constellations of Xuanwu and Zhuque.
The Vermilion Bird constellation comprises fifty-nine stars. When Mei Liangyu looked at them one by one, he heard the wind chimes buzzing. Today is the end of the month, and they can send and receive messages.
Nian Qiuyan sent him a voice transmission request, which Mei Liangyu answered. He said with some helplessness, "Meimei, there's a child at the academy gate who's asking around for you. Do you want to come and take a look?"
[Author's Note]
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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