Chapter 118
Yu Sui told Mei Liangyu about Gu Qian searching for Floating Pagoda fragments, and also revealed that her true reason for coming to Taiyi was to follow Nangong Ming's orders: to save Gu Qian while helping him search for Floating Pagoda fragments together.
Mei Liangyu wasn't surprised at all hearing this. For someone wanting to break the six kingdoms' non-war pact, it was perfectly reasonable for Nangong Ming to do such a thing.
But he and Yu Sui thought of the same question: who had leaked the information about Taiyi's Floating Pagoda fragments?
"I suspect it was revealed by the Saints. Taiyi's Saints all come from the six kingdoms, but among the currently known Saints, not one comes from Yan Kingdom." After creating distance from Mei Liangyu, Yu Sui analyzed: "People will have selfish motives. The six kingdoms don't have a loving relationship with each other. Everyone has their own national ideals. Perhaps among Taiyi's many Saints, there are also those who want to break the six kingdoms' non-war pact."
Mei Liangyu also straightened up, saying thoughtfully: "I've heard Master mention that Taiyi's number of Saints never changes. It's fixed at 24, but becoming a Saint who governs Taiyi isn't easy."
"It's not that anyone who reaches Saint level can become one of Taiyi's rulers. Only those chosen by Taiyi can do so." Mei Liangyu said: "The 24 Saints are selected by Taiyi's 'Core Earth Power.'"
He lit up the glowing text and images on the table surface again, his fingertip condensing Five Elements energy that fell on the southern seas of the continent, pointing at Taiyi's location.
Yu Sui's dark eyes stared unblinkingly at the changes on the map. In the sea area were icons of islands, occupying almost half of the southern seas.
From dense to scattered islands, Yu Sui saw dark brown things like withered tree branches extending in all directions from the map's sea area. They supported the islands in the sea, resembling a tree of life growing beneath the deep sea.
Mei Liangyu pointed at these dark brown withered branches supporting the islands: "This is the 'Core Earth Power.' The islands draw life force from it, and it also created Taiyi."
"But Core Earth Power only selects those at Saint level to be Taiyi's rulers. Saints chosen by Core Earth Power have doubled strength within Taiyi's range and cannot be severely injured to death. They possess blessed invincibility."
This intelligence was fresh. Yu Sui leaned closer to the table surface for a look: "So current Taiyi Saints possess immortal bodies?"
Mei Liangyu said: "Master said possessing Core Earth Power has a time limit. Once time is up, it will kick them out of the 24 and replace them with new people."
Yu Sui asked curiously: "Senior Brother, do you know how long Master has been a ruling Saint of Taiyi?"
Mei Liangyu shook his head lightly: "Not sure, but I guess he's the one who has held the position longest among the current 24."
He pondered and calculated: "Grandmother Situ has lived over 120 years. When she was young, Master was already one of Taiyi's 24 Saints."
"Was Master the same as now back then?" Yu Sui gestured with her hand to indicate his form of existence.
Mei Liangyu shrugged: "That wasn't mentioned, but it's very likely."
"Master cultivated to the Ghost Way School's limit, dissolved his physical body, and retained consciousness, so he can exist this long. How did Grandmother Situ manage to live so long?" Yu Sui asked in confusion.
"One of the Mechanism School's strange abilities: Puppet Arts." Mei Liangyu pointed at Mechanism Island's location, displaying the Situ family crest: "The Situ family's most skilled mechanism arts aren't military engineering or wooden armor, but human body modification puppet arts."
"Grandmother Situ used puppet arts on herself, modifying her hands, feet, flesh, and organs. It's a form of forced life extension. However, one's strength and survival instinct must also be powerful. I don't know what has supported her to live until now."
Yu Sui propped her head with one hand as she looked at Mei Liangyu, seeming very interested in such strange abilities: "So like an artificial human?"
Mei Liangyu tapped his head, saying quietly: "If this part is different, then one isn't truly human."
"We could think of ways. The brain can also be modified." Yu Sui became interested and even gestured at Mei Liangyu with her hands, looking at him through the gap formed by her hands: "Could the Situ family's puppet arts create a wooden Senior Brother modeled after you?"
Mei Liangyu again felt her thoughts were dangerous, glancing over: "What are you thinking about?"
Yu Sui turned her head back to the table map as if nothing happened: "Senior Brother, could you ask Master about his views on the Floating Pagoda?"
Mei Liangyu said: "I can."
Yu Sui waited quietly for a while, then couldn't help looking back at him: "Why aren't you asking me why?"
Mei Liangyu said: "You suspect your father's cooperation with Master is for Floating Pagoda fragments."
Yu Sui's expression didn't change. Mei Liangyu also looked at her, his features calm as he said quietly: "Or to put it another way, you suspect Master is from Qingyang."
Only upon hearing the last sentence did Yu Sui's eyes widen slightly.
Looking at Mei Liangyu as he voiced her deepest suspicions, Yu Sui had a wonderful feeling, as if their thoughts and feelings had synchronized in that instant.
It reminded her of the first time she rode in a carriage back to Taiyi with Mei Liangyu, when Senior Brother deliberately remained silent, yet made her feel relaxed and comfortable.
There could hardly be another person in this world who matched her so well.
Mei Liangyu's hand resting on the chair back didn't withdraw, still playing with the hair wound around his fingertips.
Yu Sui blinked slowly: "But that's just my speculation."
Mei Liangyu said: "I'll go ask. As for stealing the fragments, are you confident?"
Yu Sui said with an honest face: "Gu Qian will go steal them, then I'll steal them from him."
Mei Liangyu laughed: "Really clever."
Yu Sui said: "Besides the piece from Inverted Moon Cave, there are still two pieces left. If it really was one of the 24 Saints who leaked the information, then someone will continue telling Gu Qian where the remaining two pieces are."
But Mei Liangyu thought of the vanished Milky Way water from Inverted Moon Cave, squinting slightly. However, this matter should have no relation to Floating Pagoda fragments, so he didn't mention it.
He asked quietly: "What Gao Tianhao wanted was Floating Pagoda fragments, because of the heavenly characters on the fragments, believing the heavenly characters contained methods to strip away Strange Fire?"
"That's what Gao Tianhao said, but the specific operation method can only be known after obtaining the fragments." Yu Sui said: "Since Gao Tianhao knew Senior Brother before, maybe you can remember something too."
Mei Liangyu looked at Yu Sui strangely: "What did Gao Tianhao tell you?"
Yu Sui scratched her head and told him about World Destroyers' death resonance, adding: "Taiyi and the six kingdoms should have learned about this from Yu Xian this time too."
Only then did Mei Liangyu understand why she had appeared so uncomfortable in the Military Formation Dragon Fish Formation last time. The burning from golden lightning marks was also painful, but Junior Sister only looked delicate, she wasn't truly fragile. She wouldn't be driven to tears just from golden lightning discomfort.
The text and images didn't record how Yu Xian died, or perhaps people simply didn't care what Nine Schools Arts killed him.
Mei Liangyu asked Yu Sui: "What was it?"
Yu Sui understood what he meant and didn't hide it: "Legalist Judgment Arts, Death by a Thousand Cuts."
After speaking, she smiled at Mei Liangyu: "Last time when Senior Brother was injured in the outer city, your hands were destroyed by Judgment Arts Death by a Thousand Cuts. Just watching made me feel terrible. Senior Brother, you're too good at enduring pain. Being hurt like that without making a sound."
But not everyone in this world could endure like Mei Liangyu.
The power of Judgment Arts that Gu Qian used was also different from the power coming from Saint level.
Mei Liangyu looked at Yu Sui smiling at him but didn't dare move rashly. He just gazed at her with deep eyes. Whether pity or heartache, expressing it in any way at this moment would seem frivolous or irrelevant to Yu Sui.
What he wanted to do wasn't yet permissible with just his identity as Senior Brother.
In the end, Mei Liangyu only lowered his eyes slightly, his broad palm gently stroking along her long hair, wordlessly and tenderly caressing.
The two discussed Floating Pagoda matters for a long time, only separating after noon when Yu Sui had to attend class.
Yu Sui went inside to change clothes while Mei Liangyu waited outside, checking messages on his Wind-Listening Ruler.
Xing Chun hadn't seen him for days and was frantically sending messages asking: "Food?"
Mei Liangyu glanced at the closed door and replied: "Food."
Xing Chun was overjoyed. Having solved the eating problem, he continued tinkering with his star chart.
Yu Sui changed into a dark blue dress. Perhaps afraid of keeping Mei Liangyu waiting too long, she simply bound her hair and used a golden foil begonia flower tassel hairpin to secure her hair ornament diagonally in her black hair.
On the way to the Taoist School, Mei Liangyu asked: "Why are you attending these introductory classes again?"
"New ideas." Yu Sui didn't come to the Taoist School often, so she looked around with curious eyes while explaining: "I want to observe more about the flow of Five Elements energy when using Nine Schools Arts. Only in introductory classes do instructors demonstrate this in detail."
Mei Liangyu said: "Then shouldn't you attend Ghost Way School classes?"
Yu Sui faced Mei Liangyu, walking backward, and waved at him: "Observing other schools can also teach me something. Senior Brother doesn't need to escort me anymore. The study hall is just ahead."
Mei Liangyu stopped and said: "Watch where you're walking."
Only then did Yu Sui turn around and enter the study hall alone to attend class.
Before the instructor arrived, Yu Sui organized the information she'd received today and sent it all to Xue Mushi.
Learning that Taiyi and the six kingdoms wanted to announce to the world for World Destroyers to voluntarily go to the Water Vessel, Xue Mushi couldn't help but stare in shock, not reacting for quite a while.
After a long moment, Xue Mushi patted his head, thinking: who would dare go there?
......
At noon, Mei Liangyu took time to eat with Xing Chun. He went to the dining hall to pack food and brought it to the Yin Yang School's Star Observatory.
The Star Observatory was one of the Yin Yang School's largest buildings by area and also the Yin Yang School's tallest building.
A straight Milky Way separated the left and right paths, with thick circular platforms on both sides. Dense clusters of circular platforms were independent yet interconnected.
The circular platforms looked small from afar, but up close you realized it was like being in the universe.
Each circular platform contained a huge astrolabe. When the mechanisms turned, they made slow, deep sounds. Xing Chun had been circling the astrolabe, but seeing Mei Liangyu in the distance, he stopped and waved at him.
Mei Liangyu walked over on the flickering starry path on the ground, placed the food box on a small table nearby, and looked up at the star chart the astrolabe projected onto the black screen above.
Xing Chun sat down, opened the food box, and began wolfing down the food.
Mei Liangyu glanced at him sideways: "Haven't eaten?"
Xing Chun took time to hold up a finger: "Haven't eaten all day!"
"Won't starve to death." Mei Liangyu looked at the black screen star chart: "How many revolutions is your star observation at now?"
Xing Chun didn't look up: "Controlling it within 72 revolutions, there's some hope."
"Want Nian Qiuyan to calculate it for you?" Mei Liangyu leaned back against his chair: "I'd like to know if he can figure this thing out."
Xing Chun stopped chewing with bulging cheeks and sighed: "Don't scare me. What if he really calculates it? If he can even calculate how many revolutions someone else's star sea chart can have, if he doesn't ascend to Saint level on the spot, I should curse heaven for being unfair."
Mei Liangyu rubbed his chin: "True."
"You've been invisible these past days. Where did you go fool around?" Xing Chun asked: "Outer city?"
"Jueyun Peak." Mei Liangyu said.
Xing Chun asked: "Challenging the Twelve Heavenly Steps? How many steps can you reach?"
Mei Liangyu answered: "Ten."
Xing Chun laughed: "Thought so."
Mei Liangyu remembered the purple-clothed woman's Yin Yang School Nine Schools Arts in Night Rain City. He tapped the table with his finger and looked at Xing Chun: "Do you know what Yin Yang School heavenly mechanism arts involve water and fire compatibility?"
Xing Chun glanced at him and said: "There are too many of those. What are you looking for? Anything more specific?"
"I'll write down the corresponding star positions for you to see." Mei Liangyu scanned the table for paper and pen, finding none, and frowned at Xing Chun: "How do you observe star sea charts without bringing paper and pen?"
Xing Chun looked baffled: "What paper and pen? I have a brain."
All Yin Yang School Nine Schools Arts could correspond to related information and positions based on celestial stars.
Each Yin Yang School disciple had their own star sea chart recording their Five Elements energy flow and their power growth and weakening rules.
Understanding an Yin Yang School disciple's star sea chart was equivalent to mastering that person's power operation rules.
Because the Yin Yang School worshipped celestial star power, and celestial star movements had traceable patterns, their power also had barely perceptible operation rules.
Mei Liangyu took out paper and pen from his mechanism box. Xing Chun held his rice bowl and peered over. Before he could start writing, Xing Chun said: "Northern water, southern fire. You need to find corresponding powers from the Black Tortoise Seven Mansions and Vermillion Bird Seven Mansions."
After Mei Liangyu marked out the positions of the 14 mansions, Xing Chun pointed at the astrolabe ahead: "Why write? After writing, you'd still need to use School of Names Nine Schools Arts to animate them, so troublesome. Just look at this directly."
Mei Liangyu put down his pen and expressionlessly watched Xing Chun adjust the astrolabe, eliminating all other stars on the black screen, leaving only the 14 mansion chart of Black Tortoise and Vermillion Bird.
The Vermillion Bird Seven Mansions occupied 59 stars. As Mei Liangyu examined them one by one, his Wind-Listening Ruler buzzed. Today was month's end, so voice transmission was possible.
Nian Qiuyan sent him a voice transmission request. Mei Liangyu accepted and heard him say somewhat helplessly: "Mei Mei, there's a kid at the academy entrance asking everyone to find you. Do you want to come take a look?"