"To think it is truly possible! Then this calls for meticulous planning!" Yanshi's eyes deepened. Pointing a finger, he first drew a wisp of qi from Wei Yuan's sea of consciousness, then sat cross-legged in midair and began his profound calculations.
In the blink of an eye, a vast sea of aquamarine light welled up from beneath Yanshi, spreading across the Immortal Heaven. The entire courtyard was submerged in this glowing sea, every object shimmering as though underwater.
Wei Yuan was awestruck. What kind of immortal art was this to produce such breathtaking beauty? Why had he never thought of something like this?
Cupping a handful of the glowing blue seawater, he suddenly discovered it was composed of countless minute numbers and symbols!
Among them were heavenly secret talismans, karmic luck talismans, Great Dao talismans, and mathematical notation. Innumerable changing figures and symbols tumbled together, forming rolling ocean waves. Looking at just that single handful of water left Wei Yuan dizzy.
Wei Yuan grew even more astounded. If Yanshi made such an immense display merely calculating heavenly secrets, his power truly was unfathomable!
Moreover, this luminous blue seascape seemed like a waking dream. With such visual splendor, anyone could tell at a glance that it was a supreme immortal Dao art!
Standing amidst the glowing sea, Wei Yuan's thought was not how to improve his own mathematics, but rather a desire to delete every trace of his past recorded footage.
As the sea of light expanded farther and farther, possessing an otherworldly beauty, Wei Yuan's admiration deepened. If he gave his all, the Dao talismans and mathematical symbols he generated would probably only cover three feet around his feet, making a mere puddle. Still, if it were an ethereal blue, even a puddle wouldn't be half bad.
Yet once the sea of light expanded to its limit, nearly coming to a boil, Yanshi's calculations showed no sign of stopping.
Beneath Yanshi's half-closed eyelids, his gaze was exceedingly conflicted. When he began calculating Wei Yuan's grotto-heavens to devise a lineup, he had assumed it would be settled in a snap of the fingers. Who could have imagined that the more he calculated, the more variables emerged? The variables stemming from Wei Yuan's grotto-heavens were practically infinite!
Yanshi boosted his immortal power several times over and was now going all out. Even back when he had fought two opponents at once—the Wise King of the Left and the Little State Preceptor's immortal hound—he hadn't struggled this hard.
Yet Wei Yuan's grotto-heavens were like a bottomless abyss; no matter how deep he dug, there were always new variables lying in wait. In the end, their sheer number and complexity exceeded those of all twelve of Yanshi's Immortal Heavens combined!
Yanshi could not help wondering what on earth could possibly cause such variables.
Anything capable of registering in Yanshi's heavenly secret arts and becoming a variable had to possess significant standing. At the very least, it required a celestial idol endowed with karmic luck. Xiaoyu counted as a variable, Xu Wenwu barely grazed the threshold, and Xu Yi didn't even meet the passing grade.
No matter how many ordinary dharma idols there were, they could never amount to a variable, let alone Golden Cores, which were merely ants in any quantity. Even if Qingming had quite a few—
Suddenly, Yanshi remembered: Qingming's Golden Cores didn't number in the hundreds—there were thousands! And their templates weren't a few thousand or tens of thousands, but over a million!
When ants multiplied beyond a certain point, they didn't just become a variable; they became a massive one.
However, inside Wei Yuan's Splendor of the Many Realms, Golden Core templates only entered with their origin souls and were of limited utility. Likewise, none of the living beings native to the Splendor of the Many Realms had broken through to Scenery Command. Could the remaining variables be the immortal plants and the grotto-heavens themselves?
The immortal plants were manageable; they had already been accounted for in the heavenly secret art. As for the remaining Central Wutu and several billion mirage demons, that was simple—
Yanshi's Dao heart suddenly shuddered. Several billion?!
Yet this could not stump Yanshi, a grandmaster of mathematics. He immediately condensed all the mirage demons together, treating them as nine Scenery Command mirage demons.
Four had originally been at Scenery Command, one had advanced later, and a billion mirage demons roughly equated to one Scenery Command. That solved the problem.
The Green-Backed Azure Dragon was profound and enigmatic, carrying the aura of heavenly tribulation. But tribulations happened to be Yanshi's specialty; with some effort, he resolved it. Next came the Yellow Springs. One never knew until touching it, but once he did, he discovered it was entangled with the karma of the Ancestral Shaman! That layer of karma alone caused the difficulty of deduction to leap up an entire tier!
Still, Yanshi was a grandmaster of mathematics in this era, and in recent years he had learned many new mathematical tools from Qingming. Thus, the Yellow Springs Grotto-Heaven could not defeat him. As long as he worked a little—somewhat—exceedingly hard, he could ultimately overcome it.
After the Yellow Springs Grotto-Heaven came the Fourth Sword Heaven. This one was simple: he knew its origins intimately, so there was no need to calculate it. If he accidentally deduced something he shouldn't know, it could easily cause severe internal injuries.
After the Sword Heaven was the Pure, Pure, Pure—
In Yanshi's vision, the small temple of the Pure Land appeared merely the size of a palm. Yet behind it stood several colossal silhouettes spanning heaven and earth, all lowering their heads and gazing coldly down upon this world!
Yanshi had an instinct that if he met the gaze of those silhouettes, karma would be established, and there was no telling what might happen!
Do not look, do not ask, do not think, do not know!
Yanshi forced his sight past the small temple, gazing into the distance. Behind the temple, there seemed to be something like a crimson orb, and then... then there should be one more, right?
Was there?
Yanshi slowly opened his eyes. The boundless sea of light receded into his body, after which he exhaled a wisp of faint blue mist. The mist dispersed, transforming into hundreds of spirit birds that scattered in all directions.
Wei Yuan deeply regretted forgetting to set up a shadow-recording orb.
Wei Yuan took a step forward and asked eagerly, "Patriarch, what did you calculate?"
Yanshi's gaze was profound. Nodding slowly, he said, "In a single word—just go all in!"
Wei Yuan felt his blood surge, thinking that this was indeed the way!
Only after Wei Yuan left did Yanshi produce a divination tube, take out twelve bamboo slips, and mark them with numbers. After giving it a shake, eight slips tumbled out, and thus he selected the eight grotto-heavens that would enter the fray.
***
Atop a snow-capped peak in the Northern Domain stood a resplendent palace complex, its golden roofs gleaming brilliantly under the sunlight, clearly visible from hundreds of li away.
Inside a grand hall, dim lamplight mingled with curling incense, and decadent music drifted without pause. Numerous wisdom consorts and sultry women stood or sat, while even more prostrated themselves on the floor. In every posture, they made an alluring sight.
In the center of the hall, the Guru sat cross-legged. Women draped across his hundred-foot-tall dharma body like little kittens.
Suddenly, with a soft crack, one of the ten thousand glazed treasure lamps on the ceiling fractured. A drop of lamp oil fell, landing upon the Guru's shoulder.
The Guru slowly woke from his meditative state and began pinching his fingers to calculate.
The light of the ten thousand glazed treasure lamps could illuminate the myriad heavens and realms. They formed a top-tier celestial artifact for surveilling heaven and earth, refined over tens of thousands of years. For a lamp to crack now was an omen of grave misfortune.
With a slight shake of his dharma body, the Guru cast off the Liao women clinging to him, his figure reappearing seated in another grand hall. A few breaths later, the silhouette of the Wise King of the Left materialized. Looking solemn, he said, "The Guru summoned me urgently. What grave matter has arisen?"
The Guru said gravely, "The decisive battle is at hand, yet I suddenly had a premonition, and the astral lamp gave warning. There are bound to be variables in this battle. To guard against any mishap, I shall lend you another helping hand."
The Guru clapped softly. A hundred-zhang-high wall to the side suddenly melted away like water, and out strode the terrifying, grotesque skeleton of a colossal beast. It possessed only an upper torso, floating through the air. Its skull tapered backward, bristling with innumerable blade-like barbs.
Perched upon the giant skeleton's shoulder sat a red-haired woman. From her back continuously billowed nether flames resembling purple smoke, leaving long trails across the air. These smoky flames burned even without fuel, seemingly consuming space itself.
"One Dharma God might not suffice. I do not know what tricks Yanshi might play, but if we add Hongmo, he will find no escape even if he grew wings!"
The Guru raised his hand, tore off his left thumb, and tossed it forward.
The flame-wreathed Dharma God caught the thumb and swallowed it ravenously. Her body then expanded until she was as large as the entire skull of Heavenly Bone, while a dharma seat appeared beneath her, binding her into a single entity with the skeleton.
The two Dharma Gods gradually merged, ultimately becoming a monster with a beast's skeletal frame and the upper torso of a woman in place of its head.
The Guru's aura had noticeably weakened, yet the gloom in his heart dissipated. He said with satisfaction, "Though their combat power will be somewhat diminished compared to when they are separate, they now take up only one grotto-heaven."
The Wise King of the Left looked on greedily and said, "Since you have already deployed two Dharma Gods, why not send the third as well, so that not a single one of Yanshi's nine grotto-heavens can escape?"
The Guru snorted and said slowly, "I would gladly send three Dharma Gods, but can that immortal foundation of yours bear the burden?"
The Wise King of the Left gave a dry chuckle and dropped the subject. At the same time, he harbored secret resentment; had he not suffered grave wounds at Yanshi's hands years ago that left hidden injuries, he wouldn't be subjected to such mockery now.
Keeping his expression unchanged, the Wise King of the Left said, "Beside Crescent Lake, the domain dedicated to your worship shall be expanded by another three thousand li!"
Only then did the Guru smile.
***
In a desolate mountain range, Shengxin leaned forward, examining a wooden road marker.
The writing on the sign was already blurred and illegible, but fortunately, the post was made of good wood that had been treated with fire, so it had not completely rotted away.
At the moment, the sign pointed toward the Shaman domain.
"The spiritual opportunity of heaven and earth you were looking for—is it this?"
Shengxin nodded. "Indeed. Heavenly secrets, earth veins, and karmic luck all converge here at this moment, which is why this signpost can indicate the grand trend of heaven and earth. In another incense stick's time, its potency will fade. Finding it tells us whether all our hard toil and running about over the years was worth it."
Seeing the signpost pointing toward the Shaman domain, Huixin asked, "Does pointing in that direction signify great fortune?"
"No. Calamity." Shengxin's expression had already turned thoroughly grim.
Huixin found it hard to believe. "All these years we've braved countless brushes with death and slain over a dozen children of karmic destiny from the human race. How could it still turn out like this?"
Shengxin sighed and said, "The Ancestral Shaman's karmic luck has flaws. We slew the children of karmic destiny among humans to seize their future fortunes and patch the Ancestral Shaman's deficiencies. This was what the human race owed us in the first place, which is why the two of us always survived our perils unscathed—because the grand trend of heaven and earth was on our side. Under normal circumstances, having reclaimed what the human race owed us, it should have been enough."
"Then why is this calamity still—"
Shengxin shook his head. "I do not know either. Perhaps another variable appeared somewhere. For just the two of us to attempt something that defies heaven is fraught with endless difficulties to begin with, almost impossible to succeed."
Huixin said, "With such a monumental matter, why are only the two of us doing it? What about the other shamans?"
Shengxin fell silent for a long while before replying, "According to the records, the Shaman Clan paid an immense price in those days to produce chosen scions capable of mending the Ancestral Shaman. Back then, thirty-six of us were born in total, but I was the only one who lived. All my brothers and sisters were already rotting the moment they were born."
Huixin fell quiet for a moment, then slapped Shengxin hard on the back. "Never mind! Who told fate to drop this on our shoulders? Don't overthink it; thinking won't help anyway. Let's do it!"
Steeling himself, Shengxin produced a jasper gem and said, "Fortunately, I brought along a drop of Ancestral Shaman blood, which possesses the power to defy heaven and alter fate!"
Shengxin braced the signpost and called for Huixin to help. The two shamans pushed with all their might!
Though the signpost appeared rotten, at this moment it was heavy as a mountain! Yet behind Shengxin, a faintly discernible silhouette of immense proportions suddenly appeared, and the signpost was actually pushed slowly, inching toward the direction of the human race.
Shengxin and Huixin were exhausted to the verge of collapse, but their hearts were filled with joy, and they slumped straight to the ground.
Yet before they could celebrate, the signpost suddenly began spinning on its own, turning right back! That colossal phantom roared in fury, howling incessantly, but could do nothing to halt the signpost from swinging back!
Shengxin froze for an instant, then gritted his teeth, swallowed a secret medicine, and shoved against the signpost once more. This time, he pushed until blood dripped from his eyes before finally forcing the signpost to point toward the human race.
Yet in the next breath, an overwhelming force surged through the signpost. Shengxin's and Huixin's eyes turned bloodshot and fine ribbons of blood sprayed from their nostrils, yet they still could not stem the immense power driving the signpost back!
"How can this be?! We have the power of the Ancestral Shaman, so why can't we budge it?" In despair, Huixin's voice cracked with tears.
Shengxin's cultivation was far deeper. Suddenly, his heart sank, and he exclaimed, "This is the power of karma! When did we incur such a massive karmic debt?!"
Huixin was already beyond speech, only straining desperately against it. She didn't even understand why she was doing this—from childhood, she had been an ugly shaman despised by everyone, yet here she was, enduring calamity for the sake of the entire Shaman Clan.
Suddenly struck by inspiration, Shengxin shoved aside the exhausted Huixin. Instead of resisting the signpost, he pushed in the direction it was turning, lending it a fierce extra heave. As a result, the signpost swept past the Shaman Clan's direction and ultimately pointed toward the Liao domain.
"It worked!" Shengxin felt all his strength drain away in an instant, his legs giving out as he collapsed to the ground.
The two ugly shamans lay flat on their backs, staring up at the sky and gasping for breath, but long-absent smiles appeared on their faces.
***
In an ordinary rural farmhouse courtyard, a rustling sound filled the air, punctuated by an occasional clack. In the yard stood a stone mill. A slightly plump figure was pushing the millstone, walking round and round. Beside him, a lean man was sweeping the freshly ground flour into a bowl with a small whisk broom.
A bald, burly man walked into the courtyard and said, "Eldest Brother, it's been years since you've touched farm work—why have you suddenly started grinding flour? How about I do it instead? Wouldn't want you to throw out your old back."
The slightly plump gentleman in silk robes waved a hand. "You can't budge it."
The bald man craned his neck, staring at the little two-foot millstone, unconvinced. Was there anything in this world he couldn't push?
Chapter 1281