Chapter 478: Deciphering the Wordless Heavenly Tome

Seeing Zhang Xiaohua’s anxious expression, Nie Qianyu chuckled and said: “Don’t worry, Brother Ren. The dates that the Incense-Spreading Sect comes to the Spring Rebirth Valley aren’t entirely fixed, but the year is. They’re definitely coming this year. This has been a tradition passed down for hundreds—if not thousands—of years. Even if Spring Rebirth Valley were to face some calamity, the Incense-Spreading Sect would still come. There’s no reason for them not to show up this year.”

Zhang Xiaohua patted his chest and said: “Good, that gave me quite a scare.”

The two chatted and laughed a while longer, then Nie Qianyu took the book pages and returned to the Outer Valley.

As usual, Zhang Xiaohua sat cross-legged on the straw mat, meditating on the Rabbit Talisman. After so many days of contemplation, he had already deciphered over half of the three hundred and sixty-five talismans. He was currently on the one hundred eighty-third. However, he had been stuck on this talisman for three days straight, with no sign of a breakthrough.

After another while, Zhang Xiaohua opened his eyes in frustration. Ever since he began comprehending the Rabbit Talisman, only the first few were slightly difficult. The following hundred or so were so simple that he could grasp several in a day; the more complex ones took no more than two days. Yet now, halfway through, this talisman had stumped him for four days without the slightest sign of progress. Could it be that he had hit a bottleneck?

After pondering for some time, Zhang Xiaohua decided to set aside the Rabbit Talisman for the time being. After all, he had many other things to cultivate. Even just restrictions and formations—he still hadn’t fully understood some of the jade slips left behind by the Fire Dragon True Person. Perhaps it was precisely this lack of solid foundation that had led to his current difficulties with the Rabbit Talisman.

Still, after more than twenty days of cultivation, Zhang Xiaohua had reached a new stage in his comprehension of restrictions. He now wanted to examine a few of the restrictions he had to see if they could be broken.

He first took out a few jade slips left by the Fire Dragon True Person. At his current level, Zhang Xiaohua could now tell that the restrictions on these slips weren’t overly complex. However, breaking them depended on one’s cultivation. Without reaching the later stages of Qi Refining in the Carefree Heart Sutra, it would likely be impossible to decipher them. For now, he tucked the slips deep into the innermost layer of his money pouch.

Next was the jade slip he’d acquired from the Hidden Scriptures Pavilion of Piaomiao Manor. He infused it with divine sense and carefully examined the restrictions within. After a while, Zhang Xiaohua withdrew his divine sense with a contemplative look. The restrictions on this jade slip were truly profound. His current cultivation was still a bit lacking. But he wasn’t discouraged—the more profound it was, the more valuable it must be. This was surely an important technique from the Immortal Dao lineage of the Piaomiao Sect. As long as he kept working hard, one day, he would be able to break through.

“This seems to be the second time I’ve tried to encourage myself like this while facing this jade slip.” Zhang Xiaohua thought to himself, rubbing his nose.

He still had a pair of jade rings in his money pouch, each sealed with a restriction—his divine sense could not penetrate them. Since he couldn’t even break the restrictions on the Piaomiao Sect’s jade slip, Zhang Xiaohua couldn’t be bothered to take the jade rings out. Instead, his gaze turned directly to the Wordless Heavenly Tome.

Ever since the day Nie Qianyu exposed Si Yakong’s intentions, Zhang Xiaohua had felt somewhat complacent. Sometimes, he thought: why not just toss this Wordless Heavenly Tome into his money pouch and return it to the Weapon Forging Sect a few years later? Who says they must rely on me to decipher it? At other times, he figured: whatever. Since the Weapon Forging Sect entrusted the Big Dipper Sect with its deciphering, why should he be overly cautious? Just force it open—who really cares what’s written inside the tome? If it’s ruined, so be it. Who can guarantee the contents are even valuable?

Besides, even if he did damage it, he could just lay down a similar restriction to cover it back up. Could Sect Master Si really tell the difference?

“Tch, that Weapon Forging Sect, really… why couldn’t they have used some worn-out jade slip? They’re not as generous as the Artifact Refining Sect—Lu Meng at least brought over the General Principles of Artifact Refining. And that Compendium is honestly quite decent. I’ve never actually entered the Artifact Refining Sect, but I still managed to learn a lot from it. What a pity it doesn’t contain any concrete refining methods. Even though I have the flagpole and small flags for the Three Talents Gate Formation, I still can’t forge them.”

“As for the refining method that Tong Ba brought me… what a shame. It’s still a martial path technique. Though there’s much that can be referenced, it’s ultimately a heterodox method—not usable in the Immortal Dao. Hah, I really ought to find a proper jade slip with an orthodox forging technique. That would be the right path.”

Tossing the Wordless Heavenly Tome up and down in his hand absentmindedly, Zhang Xiaohua remained hesitant. After all, this was a treasure passed down by the Weapon Forging Sect for generations. If he accidentally destroyed it, even if they didn’t blame him outwardly, his conscience wouldn’t let him off so easily.

Suddenly, Zhang Xiaohua gripped the Wordless Heavenly Tome tightly, laughed aloud, and surged his divine sense into the tome like a piercing spear of light. In that instant, a realization struck him—this path of the Immortal Dao is like rowing against the current: if you don’t advance, you fall behind. If he continued hesitating like this, where would the bearing of a Qi Cultivator be? Only by forging ahead with unwavering will could he walk the proper path. This constant second-guessing, this shrinking back—that was a sign of weakness.

Zhang Xiaohua’s divine sense enveloped the entire tome, carefully examining the restrictions upon it. Apart from a subtle flaw near the “Heaven” character on the cover, the rest of the restrictions were flawless—seamless as heaven’s design. Though the fluctuations of Yuan Qi were faint, under the scrutiny of divine sense, they remained incomparably firm.

This was Zhang Xiaohua’s first time encountering this type of restriction. Still, he had no doubt that if the restriction’s Yuan Qi were to be completely depleted, the contents within would vanish along with it. The restriction would not fade and reveal the text; it would destroy it entirely. For this reason, Zhang Xiaohua felt fortunate about the cautious choice he had made.

Zhang Xiaohua observed with his divine sense for a long time, then closed his eyes and pondered in silence. After a while, he let go of the tome. The Wordless Heavenly Tome abruptly floated in midair, as though supported by an invisible arm extending from Zhang Xiaohua himself. Then, with both hands, he began to form a series of different incantation seals. His fingers danced as he sent the seals into the tome.

Unfortunately, after a while, each seal vanished into the tome like stones sinking into the sea—without the slightest response. The tome remained quietly suspended, completely unmoved.

Zhang Xiaohua’s face remained calm as he kept his eyes shut, clearly having anticipated such an outcome. Then, after biting his lower lip lightly, he stopped his right hand. His left hand paused briefly, then slowly began forming another set of seals. These seals were incredibly slow, as if each finger were burdened with tens of thousands of catties. His hand movements lacked the agility from before—no need to say it, this was a newly comprehended restriction technique.

As the incantation grew more and more intricate, the stiffness in his fingers gradually faded, replaced by the growing complexity of the seal. When he finally completed the sequence and sent it into the tome, the Wordless Heavenly Tome gave a faint tremble. Zhang Xiaohua was delighted—it seemed there was a response. He continued with the next seal.

His right hand, however, remained still, thumb and middle finger pressed together. The second seal also followed the pattern of beginning sluggishly and then becoming smooth. By now, wisps of the Yuan Qi of Heaven and Earth had begun to stir around him, drawn out as his internal true qi was activated by the incantations. Because of his inexperience, some of the qi leaked out.

Zhang Xiaohua went on to form a total of seventeen incantation seals. Each was exceedingly obscure. Around him, more and more strands of Heaven and Earth’s Yuan Qi gathered. The tome floating in the air first trembled lightly, then began to shudder violently. Faint blue light radiated from it as it drew in the surrounding energy, emitting a crystalline glow that was truly beautiful.

With each seal, the blue radiance intensified. By the time the seventeenth seal entered the tome, it had become a sphere of pure blue light. Zhang Xiaohua could clearly see it through his divine sense. Without delay, he began forming the final incantation.

This was a two-handed incantation. As Zhang Xiaohua separated his thumb and middle finger on his right hand, his wrists began to move fluidly. Both hands danced with astonishing agility—graceful and lively, entirely unlike the prior seventeen seals.

After a while, the final seal was completed. Zhang Xiaohua pressed his lips together tightly, his face firm with determination. He paused briefly, then extended his hands forward, sending the final seal into the tome.

The moment the tome received the incantation, it burst forth with dazzling blue light—so radiant it was blinding. Even though Zhang Xiaohua was watching through divine sense with closed eyes, he instinctively clenched his eyelids even tighter.

It lasted for only a split second.

That breathtaking brilliance vanished abruptly, and an ancient-looking scroll floated silently before him. Without opening his eyes, Zhang Xiaohua swept it with his divine sense.

Just as his divine sense came into contact with the scroll, an unexpected change occurred. The scroll seemed to contain an immense suction force, drawing Zhang Xiaohua’s divine sense into it. And the moment that divine sense entered the scroll, it lost all connection with him—as if the scroll was devouring it!

Zhang Xiaohua was utterly shocked. His first instinct was to pull his divine sense back. This was the first time he had ever encountered something capable of absorbing divine sense—how could he not be alarmed?

But before he could fully hesitate, a flash of golden light flickered within his Pill Heart, and a torrent of powerful divine sense surged forth toward the scroll. The scroll, too, showed no courtesy—it devoured the divine sense like a whale swallowing water, not leaving behind a single trace. At the same time, Zhang Xiaohua gritted his teeth, and the Pill Heart within his Mud Pellet Palace pulsed again and again, sending even more divine sense—like water thrown without thought—into the scroll.

And then, a stranger scene unfolded. As Zhang Xiaohua’s divine sense poured in, the ancient scroll began to come alive. The pages began to turn on their own under the flow of divine sense. Even more astonishing—unbelievable, even—was that as the pages flipped, countless ancient characters began to emerge from the once-blank pages. They fluttered up into the air and surged straight into Zhang Xiaohua’s mind, following the path of his divine sense like a tidal wave!

At that moment, Zhang Xiaohua was completely dumbfounded. He had read many jade slips in his life, but he had never seen such a spectacular display. The craftsmanship of the Weapon Forging Sect was honestly a bit outrageous!

It was as if a country bumpkin who had never seen the world suddenly stepped into the grand city of Pingyang for the first time.

At this moment, Zhang Xiaohua could think of only one thing: pour all his divine sense into the scroll.

Everything else—he could no longer think of.