Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Liang Banhu and Qi Jian also realized very quickly, and began looking for it with Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi. The grass hut was not big at all, so in that brief amount of time, it had already been completely searched by them. Even the top of the kitchen and the water tank was not neglected. For a while, the dust danced around inside the whole hut.

Tang Thirty-Six on the other hand did not show any reaction, and still thought about what Chen Changsheng had said before. He chased behind him, and constantly asked, “If you rip open the bedsheets, where are we sleeping later? Although the blankets Senior Xun Mei left behind are indeed smelly and hard to put up with, at least there is something to cover up with. I tell you, I will not sleep under that bloody fur skin no matter what. That thing is too hot.”

Everybody secretly thought that this young master of the Wenshui Tang family had indeed led an extravagant life ever since he was young, and was different from other people. At this time, he only worried about whether he could sleep comfortably. Most of the Li Shan Sword Sect disciples originated from poor households, and did not like Tang Thirty-Six’s normal conduct at all, so right now, they were even more unimpressed with him, they all ignored him.

Chen Changsheng had just finished searching through the fireplace, and his face was covered with soot. Hearing Tang Thirty-Six’s whinging behind him, he stopped his actions helplessly and said, “The new bedding will be delivered in a jiffy, so don’t make a fuss out of it.”

Only now did Tang Thirty-Six ease his mind slightly, and asked curiously, “What are you looking for?”

Chen Changsheng said, “Didn’t I just tell you, it’s Senior Xun Mei’s notebook.”

“What notebook?” Tang Thirty-Six obviously still had not realised.

“His notebook for comprehending the Heavenly Tome Monoliths.” Chen Changsheng walked outside, and looked at the wattled fencing. He thought whether it could actually hidden in the ground or not, and if it was, that it would be hard to find.

Only now did Tang Thirty-Six understand why everybody’s reactions were so intense. He quickly rolled up his sleeves, and said, “This is something important. We need to find it quickly.”

The grass hut quietened down, and only the sounds of overturning boxes and knocking walls remained. However, this quietness did not remain for too long. Tang Thirty-Six’s headache-causing voice once again resounded, “I say, if there really is a notebook, who does the notebook belong to?”

Guan Feibai currently stood on the kitchen table, and looked at the beam which the cured meat hung from. After hearing that, he said in a bad mood, “It belongs to whoever that finds it first.”

Tang Thirty-Six disagreed, and said, “Why so? We obviously moved in here first.”

Qi Jian rubbed away the sweat droplets on his face, and said very seriously, “Last night, when Senior Xun Mei was heavily injured in front of the Divine Path, he said that he left this grass hut to all of us.”

Zhexiu said expressionlessly, “It belongs to whoever that finds it.”

Tang Thirty-Six glanced around, and thought how many people the Li Shan Sword Sect had, and how diligently they were looking for it now. He was scared that they would find it first, so he brought out an idea.

“We should take a step back. No matter who finds it, we can just look at it together.”

Dust flew in the air, and the wattled fencing of the courtyard fell over even more.The grass of the roof was lifted, and even the flooring near the well was lifted. Just as the grass hut was almost taken apart by everybody, a pleasantly surprised shout could finally be heard.

“Found it!”

Everybody was exalted, and rushed into the hut following the sound. They only saw that an extra, thin notebook had appeared in Tang Thirty-Six’s hand. Tang Thirty-Six’s expression was slightly complicated. He was naturally happy from being able to find the notebook Xun Mei had left behind, but the problem was that he had already suggested beforehand that no matter who found it, they were to look at it together…...

“I’d rather let you guys find it. Perhaps I would be happier.” He placed that thin notebook onto the table, and said regretfully, “Why was I the one who found it?”

“Where was it?” Chen Changsheng asked curiously.

Tang Thirty-Six pointed to the square table behind him and said, “It was placed under the table leg. Did you not see it?”

There was a period of silence. Everybody had already eaten two meals on that small square table in the kitchen, but nobody thought that Xun Mei would actually place such an important notebook under the table leg. Perhaps this was the logic of the darkness under the light. Thinking of how they had risked tearing down the house, they could not help but feel slightly embarrassed.

Liang Banhu looked at Tang Thirty-Six and said, “Who would have thought you had the skill to find things?”

Tang Thirty-Six said, “In the Wenshui Clan, grandpa often uses silver notes to raise the table leg. When I was young, I often went to steal them, so I glanced towards it out of habit. Who thought it really was under the table leg.”

There was still a period of silence. Including Chen Changsheng, everybody had lost interest in talking to him. They were never people of the same world, so it was very hard to communicate both smoothly and happily.

The dust slowly settled, the tables and chairs were wiped down again. The hut was tidied up, and after everything was completed, the seven people stood around the small square table. Using the slightly dull lamp, they stared at the table top.

Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi raised their heads, and looked into each other’s eyes. They thought how Xun Mei had specially left this grass hut for them to live in when he was at death’s door. He had also said that he liked tranquility, and did not want too many people to move in. At that time, they felt that it was slightly weird, and only now did they finally understand the deep meaning hidden within.

Xun Mei spent thirty-seven years in the Mausoleum to view monoliths. The most important property he had left behind obviously was not this grass hut, nor the smelly blankets of the three beds, but the thin, old notebook on the table.

As Gou Hanshi lifted open the first page of the notebook, six heads extended forwards. This thin notebook was the notebook of Xun Mei. Inside it, it carried the records of what he had comprehended from the monoliths, and even more importantly, the various ideas and experiments he attempted before comprehending the monolith. Within these densely packed words carried a whole thirty-seven years of knowledge.

Xun Mei spent thirty-seven years in the Mausoleum of Books, and had comprehended several dozens of Heavenly Tome monoliths. He naturally was unable to record the entire process of comprehending each monolith flawlessly, but just like all the other monolith viewers, the meaning of the first monolith of the front mausoleum, the Reflecting Monolith, was especially different. Several dozens of years ago, the feelings he had experienced when he first saw the stone monolith, as well as the choice of the method he took to comprehend the monolith afterwards and his change in mental state after comprehending the monolith, were all recorded extremely clearly.

The Heavenly Tome Monoliths never changed, but those who viewed the monolith were instead distinct individuals. The method of how a previous person comprehended the monolith naturally could not be used directly by the following people. Otherwise, people like the Sect Elders of the Li Shan Sword Sect would have already personally passed the methods of comprehending the monoliths to disciples like Gou Hanshi. However, the process and valuable experience of previous people who comprehended the monoliths could help the following people to provide a path of mental thought, so they can avoid some of the many deviations the path. Other than the Monolith Guardians who could never leave the mausoleum in their life, and the Saints or members of the Eight Storms of Cardinal Directions that could view the Heavenly Tomes whenever they wished, how many more people were more experienced than Xun Mei who had spent thirty-seven years viewing the monoliths? If this thin notebook were to be circulated, it would definitely become the target for countless organisations to fight over.

The teenagers who sat around the table knew very well that this type of good fortune was naturally incomparably valuable. Staring at those words in the thin notebook, they constantly pondered and gasped as Gou Hanshi turned the pages.

There was silence in the grass hut.

After an unknown amount of time, Gou Hanshi closed the thin notebook. Tang Thirty-Six was deeply absorbed into it, so he stood up and said in alarm, “What are you doing? Hurry up and open it so we can see more.”

Chen Changsheng said, “There is still a lot of time. We can look through it slowly later. There should always be time for digesting it. Also, we haven’t gotten past the first monolith, so just reading this part is enough.”

Only after hearing that did Tang Thirty-Six sit down quietly.

Gou Hanshi gazed at the notebook in front of him and said, “Senior indeed is a senior.”

Everybody else also sighed concurring with his statement.

The notebook had it written down very clearly that Xun Mei had only used two days to comprehend the Reflection Monolith. However, what was even more mind-blowing and had made them show even more admiration was that in the first two days, Xun Mei had actually only tried two methods of comprehension. However, afterwards in the long period of time he spent viewing monoliths, perhaps he was bored, or perhaps the later monoliths were too hard to comprehend, he once tried comprehending the Reflection Monolith again in his spare time. In the end, he actually discovered seven different methods that could be used to comprehend the Reflection Monolith.. Seven successful ways of comprehension, what kind of idea was that?

As Zhexiu, Guan Feibai and the other three had already spent too long during the day viewing the monoliths in the mausoleum of books, their mental strength was overly exhausted. They had also understood as well as absorbed the experiences in Xun Mei’s notebook, so they were all already asleep. As Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi only viewed the monoliths for a limited amount of time, and also because they had already undergone Ethereal Opening, they still had a decent amount of mental strength, they stood in the yard and looked at the sky full of stars. They did not intend to rest.

“I want to go a look at it for a little more.”

Chen Changsheng looked at those stars in the night sky, and thought of the sixth method Xun Mei used mentioned in the notebook. He suddenly had an impulsion and wanted to see the change of the monolith inscriptions under the starlight.

Gou Hanshi, “I also have such an idea.”

When they said go, they went. The two crossed through the orange grove, and walked towards the Mausoleum of Books. Not long after, they arrived in front of the mausoleum. It was the only path in the mausoleum, and under the brilliance of the star light, it was like a jade belt. It was very pretty.

Just when he was about to ascend the mausoleum, Chen Changsheng suddenly stopped his steps, and looked at him. He asked, “You have already looked at the monoliths for two days, so you should have already comprehended it. Otherwise, it would not make sense.”

Whether it made sense or not, he had already battled against Gou Hanshi three times from the Ivy League Gathering to the Grand Examination, so they were very clear about what types of people each other were. Although he was placed first upon the first banner, he knew that it was just that he did not fear death as much as Gou Hanshi, or that he just feared death more. If they really had the mentioned cultivation level and the knowledge they knew, he was very lacking in comparison to Gou Hanshi.

In the afternoon, Chen Changsheng was sure that he was only a step away from comprehending the monolith, and after looking at Xun Mei’s notes, he was even more sure of this thought. Gou Hanshi had already looked at it for two days, so it would not make sense that he was still unable to comprehend the monolith inscriptions.

Gou Hanshi stayed silent for a while, before saying, “I want to wait for my juniors.”

As long as he wished, he could comprehend the Reflection Monolith whenever he wanted, and move onto the second Heavenly Tome Monolith. Regarding this, he did not want to hide it from Chen Changsheng.

Just how great of an attraction the Heavenly Tome monoliths had to cultivators could be known from just looking at Zhexiu, Qi Jian and Liang Banhu’s pale-faced and senseless look. To purposely slow down his speed of monolith comprehension for the pupils of the same master? If someone else had said that, Chen Changsheng would definitely not believe it, but he was Gou Hanshi.

Chen Changsheng did not like Xu Yourong, and did not regard the marriage contract with any importance at all. However, because of this, he did not have a favourable impression of Qiushan Jun or the Mount Li Sword Sect without question, but he was Gou Hanshi.

Gou Hanshi said, “My other reason is that I am waiting for someone. If nothing goes wrong, you will see him after two days. At that time, I will introduce him to you.”

“Are you not curious what the monolith inscriptions of the second Heavenly Tome monolith is like?” Chen Changsheng asked.

Gou Hanshi said, “Of course I want to know. However, just like what Senior Xun Mei has written in the notebook, different methods to comprehend tablets does not mean that it will bring different types of joy. There is no harm in staying back for another two days.”

They continued to ascend the mausoleum, and after a short while, they arrived in front of the Reflection Monolith. The monolith hut under the twilight was very quiet and secluding. A dozen people sat on the rock plateau in the forest, and the arrival of Chen Changsheng and Gou Hanshi had caused a disturbance. The expressions of the two young scholars in front of the monolith hut immediately became cold, not hiding their animosity at all.