Cipher Deciphered, the Current of the World

"Oh?"

Li Yan glanced at Kong Shangzhao, somewhat surprised.

He had of course witnessed the young man's abilities, but he had not expected him to decipher Xu Fu's lost bamboo strips.

This Seeking Immortality Chapters was somewhat different from the Qin Palace Chapters they had obtained earlier.

Although both used the "Golden Crow Script," this one employed a great deal of esoteric Daoist code.

The history of such esoteric code stretched back a long way. After all, profound teachings could not be passed on lightly.

In ancient times, Daoist knowledge had been monopolized by the priests. Later, for various reasons, it could not be shown to others easily, so many Daoist classics employed secret languages.

The Book of Han: Treatise on Literature recorded that books on "divine immortals" and "lead and mercury" in the Fangji category "often used hidden language and were not to be transmitted to the wrong people." A surviving fragment of the Classic of Great Peace also mentioned, "Spiritual diagrams and talismanic commands take cloud script as their form; neither ghosts nor gods can peer into them."

The varieties of secret language were also diverse.

There was "cloud script" and "dragon script." Outsiders could not understand them, yet they were also crucial to casting spells.

Daoist terminology could be used to conceal meanings as well. For example, "Lead and mercury" and "dragon and tiger" might very well refer to entirely different things. If the person who obtained the scripture began cultivating rashly, they would inevitably suffer cultivation deviation.

Beyond that, there were all kinds of secret incantations, some even concealed through Daoist numerology.

The transformations involved were as numerous as the stars. Without the mnemonic formulas, understanding them was like a blind man trying to size up an elephant.

The first part of this Seeking Immortality Chapters