frightfiction Chapter 444 is the year, the Great Cold.
Chapter 444 is the year, the Great Cold.
Unlike Elder Liao's martial demeanor, if Elder Qian were placed in the imperial court of his previous life, he would have quite the demeanor of a scholar-general.
People who have lived to this age, even if they are not particularly interested in chess or reading, can still have a rough understanding of these things, so they won't be completely lost when they open a book and sit in front of the chessboard.
Elder Qian, who was already interested in "refined pursuits," was even more knowledgeable and had an excellent memory.
Over the long years, besides improving one's cultivation, one must always find other things to do to pass the time.
On the table, there are not only commentaries by famous scholars, but also casual conversations and short stories from the marketplace.
Three of the volumes were released separately; they were beautifully bound and appeared to be privately revised, and were indeed the vernacular stories written by Youdaoshi.
A few days ago, news came from Ink Trace Study that—
A new version of the story is about to be published.
Therefore, Elder Qian retrieved the three old volumes and reviewed them again.
That's right, Elder Qian really liked the storybooks with profound truths.
Putting aside how ingenious the conception was, and regardless of whether the word choice was unique, what truly surprised Elder Qian was the completely different concepts and perspectives presented.
For example, in "The Immortal in the Mortal World", it is said that all living beings use incense, candles and statues to remember and pass on the kindness of the cultivator. Even when the cultivator's lifespan is about to end, all living beings still grant him the position of an immortal, so that he can live on forever.
In "The Three-Life Umbrella", the fox spirit's goodness or evil, strength or weakness, is entirely determined by the believers who worship her. If the believers have good intentions, the fox spirit worshipped by the incense will also have good intentions, and vice versa.
So Elder Qian found it strange.
In the world of cultivation, how far a cultivator can go and what kind of achievements they can attain have always been irrelevant to ordinary people.
Most monks regard ordinary people as ants.
Even when they go to save people or punish evil and promote good, it's mostly because they can't stand it and they have to live up to their conscience. But deep down, they don't really care about the gratitude of ordinary people.
It's like seeing a nest of ants and suddenly feeling kind, you feed them a piece of dry bread.
You don't expect ants to repay a debt of gratitude.
Because you know that an ant's act of gratitude won't bring you fame and fortune.
This was a fundamental difference in mindset, and Elder Qian keenly perceived this. In his eyes, this Youdao, whose identity was unknown, seemed to be from a completely different world.
The idea that he had was too unique.
This person actually believed that mortals had the power to determine the fate of cultivators.
how can that be possible?
All living beings, all living beings, the masses, peddlers and laborers.
They can look down with pity because they are cultivators and also have compassion in their hearts, but when danger comes, the power of mortals is too insignificant and cannot be of any help.
Moreover, storybooks are ultimately fictional.
Especially this book, "Ten Days Without Sheathing the Sword"—
When Song Meisheng was young, she borrowed a sword from her older self. In a dream, she attained enlightenment and saved the world. Thus, her words became a prophecy. It was preordained that she would die a violent death in the martial world in her old age, thus completing the cause and effect.
Because of this concept and perspective, Elder Qian believed that Youdao might be an ordinary person.
Therefore, they always like to exaggerate the power of being a mortal.
Because they lack the talent for cultivation, they fantasize about another path, such as the power of mortals or the cycle of youth and old age.
Regardless of the specific story, Youdaoshi seems to place greater emphasis on the power of ordinary people.
No wonder everyone in the mortal world flocks to it.
It's as if I could become a character in a story, just like in the folk tales, and have the power to influence a cultivator's achievements.
This is because of its "specialness," because of its "complete difference," which seems to be a collision of two worlds. As the saying goes, storytelling always brings surprises to Elder Qian.
He was able to recognize its value.
That was a corner of the world that Elder Qian had never realized.
Even if you can't completely agree with it, it's still worth reading and appreciating.
The Seven Killings Stele
Just now, this book of stories was delivered by his disciple.
Unlike Elder Liao, who had no nominal disciples but only direct disciples, Zhu Wuji was more like a nominal disciple.
A few days ago, my junior brother Liao came to chat with him.
Speaking of Zhu Wuji, who finally had an epiphany after traveling, it was mentioned that he had experienced the pain of losing his mother during his trip down the mountain, and seemed to have truly come to a deeper understanding of many things.
They also mentioned "Great Snow," which ranked sixth on the minor list and was none other than Zhu Wuji's name.
I estimate we can go together to explore the secret realm.
When Elder Liao visited last time, he was saying that this kid was unruly and would cause trouble if he were to be disciplined. After all, jade cannot be made into a useful object without being carved.
Listen and listen.
Elder Qian understood perfectly; Junior Brother Liao was asking him to take good care of Zhu Wuji.
Because of what Junior Brother Liao said, before going to the secret realm, he wanted to see just how much Zhu Wuji had improved.
Elder Qian reviewed the matter in his mind, then reached out and opened the storybook—
The story begins by introducing a renowned swordsman in the martial arts world.
This person's name is Fu Ji.
Holding a long-tasseled spear, he roamed the martial world alone.
However, this swordswoman named Fu Ji was quite peculiar. She was deaf and mute, and not only that, her most famous move was called the "Defeat Stance".
Because this move doesn't sound good and isn't suitable as a name, its second signature move is called—
"The Eight Steps to Catch the Cicada"
This retreat technique is not a secret art; anyone can learn it. However, Fu Ji used it exceptionally well.
The so-called "retreat style" refers to a situation where, when the opponent attacks, the lower body appears unstable and the steps are unsteady as one stumbles backward, but in reality, it is a strategic retreat that puts the body at risk.
Find the opponent's weakness at the critical moment and turn defeat into victory.
Those who practice this move do so only to have room to struggle when they fall into danger, but no one has ever mastered this move, which was a last resort, to its pinnacle like Fu Ji.
After all, when you're in a dangerous situation, you can't always be confident of turning the tide.
However, Fu Ji was unable to hear or speak.
This is a major taboo in martial arts practice.
Being unable to speak is fine, but being unable to hear means that one's perception is not sharp enough and one cannot discern the sounds of the wind and the movement of the enemy. If someone attacks from behind, it is easy to fall into danger, so a counterattack is not effective.
The retreating stance, where the enemy attacks from the front and the body tries to lean backward, is the position to face the opponent directly.
The eight steps to catch the cicada also imply a circling of the entire battlefield.
Therefore, Fu Ji used these two moves extremely well.
It can leverage its strengths and avoid its weaknesses.
For this reason, Fu Ji's long spear lost its agility and nimbleness, and instead became somewhat fierce and extreme, like draining the pond to catch all the fish and having no chance of survival.
However, the "Seven Killings Stele" in the book's title was not something she discovered.
It was her brother, Fu Xian.
Unlike Fu Ji, who roamed the martial world, Fu Xian, despite his young age, had already become the lord of a city.
That year, the Great Cold arrived.
The city dwellers were breaking through the ice and setting up nets in an attempt to catch fish for a living. Fu Xian attached great importance to this and personally supervised the process, dispatching his soldiers to help with the ice breaking.
But beneath the clear ice surface, there appeared to be a stone tablet.
Using both nails and axes, they dug it out, brushed away the ice shards, and the inscription read—
"Heaven creates all things to nourish man, yet man has nothing to repay Heaven with."
Upon hearing the news, the people of the city spread rumors that the cold disaster was a punishment sent down to afflict the world because they had offended the river god and the heavens were enraged.