Drawing on the dialogue between Patriarch Bodhi and Wukong, Li Zhi also began asking and answering his own questions as he studied the scriptures.
Question: "I have three Emperor Scriptures and nine Sage Scriptures. Would you like to learn them?"
Answer: "What is special about the Emperor Scriptures and Sage Scrolls?"
Answer: "The Emperor Scriptures are the scriptures of the Great Emperors, the pinnacle of the Ten Thousand Daos. The Sage Scrolls represent perfection in the five Secret Realms. Those who master them can swallow the essence of Heaven and Earth, absorb the radiance of the sun and moon, roam the vast void, and cross the void with their physical bodies. Destroying stars and shattering the void would be trivial. Holding the sun and moon in their hands and trampling the universe beneath their feet would be no exaggeration."
Question: "Can such Emperor Scriptures and Sage Scrolls grant eternal life?"
Answer: "Lifespan is like water, and time is like a river. How could it ever last forever?"
He said, "If they cannot grant eternal life, I won't study them. I won't."
Question: "I have nine Secret Arts, each of which leads to immortality. Would you like to learn them?"
Answer: "What are the Nine Secrets?"
Answer: "The Nine Secrets are Immortal Arts of the human path: Person, Soldier, Combat, Person, Jie, Quantity, Formation, Before, and Travel. They can stabilize the spirit, control weapons, attack, recover, amplify power, split the mind, establish formations, deduce mysteries, and move with divine speed."
Question: "Can such Secret Arts grant eternal life?"
Answer: "They are like Mirror Flower Water Moon, like trying to carve a boat to find a sword."
Answer: "I won't learn them. I won't."
He raged, "You won't learn this, and you won't learn that. What should you do, then?"
He said, "Hard, hard, hard. The Dao is the most profound thing. Do not treat eternal life as something ordinary. Without meeting a true person who can impart the wondrous Dao, you will chase branches while neglecting the root and fight against Heaven itself. Where does eternal life lie in my Dao? Three words and two sentences cannot explain it all."
Sitting beneath the Longevity Fruit Tree, Li Zhi held the Immortal Gold Scripture in his hands and muttered to himself. It seemed that his entire being had entered a strange state of mind.
"You seek only eternal life and do not strive for the Emperor's Destiny?" Suddenly, a voice that revealed neither age nor gender appeared in the depths of his heart.
"The Longevity Path is severed. What does the Emperor's Destiny matter? If I cannot see through the limitations of Heaven and humanity, an entire lifetime will amount to nothing. In this life, I seek only eternal life." Li Zhi answered firmly without thinking.
"Good. Remember your words." That mysterious voice appeared in Li Zhi's heart once more.
"Who is speaking?" Li Zhi came to his senses and instantly withdrew from that state of mind, looking around in alarm.
He looked left and right, but there was nothing unusual around him.
Suspicion filled Li Zhi's face as he seemed to think of something. He immediately asked in a low voice, "Senior Deity, was that you speaking just now?"
His voice was soft and his movements gentle, as if he were afraid of disturbing the Deity's rest.
Unfortunately, the Deity seemed to have gone home to sleep and did not answer Li Zhi.
Li Zhi instead revealed a hint of delight and shouted on the spot, "Get out."
Nothing happened.
Li Zhi felt somewhat awkward.
Could I be using the wrong posture?
He then changed into a posture as if preparing to run and shouted again, "Get out for me!"
Still, nothing happened.
His old face reddening, he ran beneath the Longevity Fruit Tree, patted its trunk, and said, "Brother Tree, how do I get out?"
The Fruit Tree did not move in the slightest and ignored him.
Li Zhi then stared at the Ginseng Fruit hanging from the tree and asked, "Brother Fruit, we're the only two here who look human. At least give me a hint. How do I get out?"
Just as Li Zhi was growing disappointed, the Ginseng Fruit suddenly swayed once.
Li Zhi was overjoyed and hurriedly asked, "Brother Fruit, tell me quickly."
Unfortunately, the Ginseng Fruit had already stopped swaying and made no further movement.
It seemed that the fruit had swayed because his breath had been too strong when he spoke, blowing against it and making it move.
"Maybe it was just an illusion." After trying several times without receiving a response, Li Zhi muttered to himself.
He then sat beneath the Longevity Fruit Tree and prepared to cultivate the Primordial Longevity Art right there.
At this point, it was no longer the time to consider whether he could take advantage of the opportunity presented by the Nine Dragons Coffin Transport.
If he did not open the Bitter Sea and give birth to magic power, he probably would not be able to leave.
Yet just as he inhaled a breath of spiritual energy, that unfamiliar voice came from the depths of his heart again: "Return to where you came from."
To the Deity of the Hundred Herbs Diagram, every wisp of spiritual energy in the Small World was extremely precious.
If Li Zhi were allowed to open his Bitter Sea here and swallow the already scarce Heaven and Earth Essence, he might cause the Small World to wither prematurely, leaving it with no hope of revival.
"Thank you for your guidance, Senior."
The mysterious voice appeared once more. Overjoyed, Li Zhi immediately picked up the scripture and ran down the mountain.
Both his strength and speed had nearly doubled. Moreover, he held a scripture forged from the firm and imperishable Eternal Blue Gold, so the journey down the mountain was far easier than he had expected.
It took Li Zhi only one day to reach the foot of the mountain.
He then walked to the place where he had entered and, with a thought, said, "Go back."
After that, Li Zhi felt the world spinning around him before he crashed heavily onto the floor of Longevity Hall.
Holding his lower back, Li Zhi rose from the floor and respectfully bowed to the Hundred Herbs Diagram. "Senior, the outside world is temporarily in the Age of Dharma Decline. Please restrain your aura. When I find an opportunity, I will take you away from this Ancient Star and bring you to an Ancient Star where cultivation is possible, so that you can recover your essence."
As soon as he finished speaking, the Hundred Herbs Diagram, floating in midair, began to shrink and roll itself up.
In the end, it became a scroll barely over a foot long.
Li Zhi easily picked it up.
He then picked up the Snakeskin Bag and Luoyang Shovel from the ground.
The remaining fruits in the Snakeskin Bag had already rotted, so Li Zhi dumped them out. He planned to pick some fresh fruit outside and bring it back for Zhou Mei and the two little ones to taste.
He then put the Luoyang Shovel and Hundred Herbs Diagram into the Snakeskin Bag.
After tying the Snakeskin Bag around his waist like a skirt, he strode out of Longevity Hall.
The reason he did this was that he had no habit of showing off while naked.
The last scrap of clothing on his body had already drifted away on the wind while he was coming down the mountain.
His backpack, meanwhile, was still on the platform at the entrance to the Secret Realm.
At this moment, the Array Barrier outside the hall had also vanished because Li Zhi had taken away the Hundred Herbs Diagram.
After reaching the foot of the mountain, Li Zhi first found a small river and thoroughly washed himself inside and out, finally regaining some of his freshness.
His hair, which nearly reached his shoulders, was no longer a tangled mess.
He casually tied it into a ponytail at the back of his head with a grass cord.
Then Li Zhi went to pick fresh fruit.
Meanwhile.
Li Zhi had been missing for nearly a year, and Zhou Mei had finally run out of patience.
She began asking around everywhere for news of his whereabouts.
Before leaving, Li Zhi had told her that the place he was going might not have a mobile signal and asked her not to worry.
But nearly a year had already passed, and Li Zhi still had not called back.
Zhou Mei ultimately could not sit still any longer.
That day, she even went to Ye Fan's home to ask him about Li Zhi's whereabouts.
After entering Ye Fan's home, Zhou Mei asked directly, "Ye Fan, do you know where your Brother Li went?"
Ye Fan had just returned from a class reunion at Bright Moon City by the Sea. The smell of alcohol had not yet faded from him, and his head was still somewhat muddled. He looked at Zhou Mei blankly.
Seeing this, Zhou Mei explained, "Ten months ago, your Brother Li said he was going out to handle something and would be back soon. But he's been gone for ten months now without a single word."
Ye Fan finally understood Zhou Mei's question. He said, "Sister Zhou, did Brother Li tell you where he was going before he left?"
Zhou Mei said, "I think it was Mount Tai."
Ye Fan understood. He felt that Li Zhi had gone to handle some more unsavory business again, so he nodded and said, "As it happens, my classmates and I are going sightseeing at Mount Tai the day after tomorrow. After the reunion, I'll help you ask around near Mount Tai for news of Brother Li."
A trace of anxiety still lingered between Zhou Mei's brows. She said, "Ye Fan, Brother Li often says that you are someone blessed with great fortune. Whether you can find him will be up to you."
Ye Fan comforted her, "Sister Zhou, don't worry too much. Brother Li is destined for wealth and honor. He'll definitely be fine."
At the same time, Ye Fan wondered to himself whether Li Zhi had found something remarkable again and needed so much time to deal with it.
He had never believed that the shrewd Li Zhi would disappear for no reason.
Although Ye Fan did not know Li Zhi's exact strength, he knew that Li Zhi was definitely not a weakling whom anyone could casually manipulate.
After wandering around the mountain forest in the Secret Realm for quite some time.
After carefully picking and choosing, Li Zhi still filled an entire large bag with fruit.
He packed the Snakeskin Bag until it was completely full.
He weighed it in his hand. It was probably sixty or seventy pounds. Only then did Li Zhi contentedly carry it toward the terrace where he had entered.
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