The Simplest and Most Difficult

Chapter 035: The Simplest Yet Most Difficult "What scripture is this?"

Despite Yuan Tianzong's extensive knowledge, having read numerous Buddhist and Taoist texts, as well as various unorthodox scriptures, he found himself completely lost with the text before him, having no clue where to begin.

It had transcended Yuan Tianzong's basic understanding of scriptures; there wasn't a single character, nor any diagrams depicting the body's energy circulation routes.

He didn't have much of a connection with the Old Celestial Master, so he figured the latter wouldn't try to deceive him.

Furthermore, the Old Celestial Master already knew he was a Grandmaster. Why would he act foolishly and seek trouble for himself?

Either this was truly a scripture.

Or, the Old Celestial Master himself had been deceived, believing it to be a scripture.

After careful consideration, Yuan Tianzong concluded that it was likely a scripture, one recorded using a special method. To comprehend it, he needed to find the correct way to "open" it.

With this thought, Yuan Tianzong cleared his mind once more and meticulously observed the pattern again—a pattern resembling a spacetime tunnel, with white streaks outlining a profound effect of traversing time and space, drawing his gaze towards an unknown shore.

He stared for a long time, still with no success.

Yuan Tianzong rubbed his temples, sat down cross-legged, propped his chin with his right hand, and tilted his head to examine the scroll spread on the ground.

In his eyes, the white streaks seemed to detach from the scroll and float in mid-air.

There were many white streaks, at least thirty to forty thousand of them, densely packed. Looking at them for too long would cause eye strain.

Besides these white streaks, the entire scroll was filled with darkness as dim as the universe.

"If this is truly a scripture, then the so-called 'scripture' can only be these white streaks."

"Could the white streaks be a form of writing that I cannot recognize?"

Yuan Tianzong was immersed in his reasoning, constantly muttering to himself.

The Bone in the distance, though unsure what he was doing, sensed his prowess and quietly retreated, not wanting to disturb him.

"One, two, three, four, five..."

Yuan Tianzong's eyes gleamed with focus as he concentrated all his thoughts, beginning to count the number of white streaks on the scroll.

"Forty-nine thousand."

"So many."

Yuan Tianzong sighed, completely unable to grasp its profound meaning.

Feeling slightly fatigued, he twisted his neck and looked up at the sky.

Just then, a flock of birds flew across the sky above the forest, forming a V-shape.

His casual gaze suddenly sharpened, and a flash of lightning seemed to strike his mind. He thought of a possibility!

The flock of birds habitually flying in a V-shape wasn't without reason; such a formation could reduce wind resistance to a certain extent—the leading bird would be more tired, but it would make it easier for the birds behind.

This formation allowed the flock to fly longer during their long migrations, only needing to rotate the lead bird periodically.

Shape, position...

Different positions would lead to different results.

Armies had formations.

Cultivation groups also had various battle formations.

In that case, could the arrangement and layout of these white streaks be the key?

Following this line of thought, Yuan Tianzong formulated a plan: he would follow the positional arrangement of the white streaks and use his true energy to simulate them, forming a true energy model based on the pattern.

This idea seemed simple enough: simulating the white streaks with true energy.

However, its actual execution was as difficult as reaching the heavens—solely because there were forty-nine thousand white streaks. Such a massive number required extremely high-level true energy control and meticulous precision to simulate with true energy.

Even Yuan Tianzong felt a sense of suffocation facing this task, a hint of retreat creeping into his heart.

Yet, after taking a deep breath, he decided to give it a try.

With a thought, a stream of pure white and scorching true energy surged out of his body—it was true energy refined by the Extreme Yang Genesis Technique, integrating various supreme true energy skills from the era of Dharma's End, created specifically to break through the shackles of the Grandmaster realm.

Whoosh~

Air currents surged, and streaks of white true energy condensed behind him. The simulation officially began.

These white streaks were sometimes straight as a line, sometimes like a brushstroke, sometimes curved like a hook, sometimes a semi-circle, a full circle... The immense undertaking rapidly drained Yuan Tianzong's mental energy, and fatigue set in after simulating the hundredth streak.

Two hundred streaks...

Three hundred streaks...

Around Yuan Tianzong, streaks of white true energy floated, slowly unfolding like scripture.

He had no time to consider the positional arrangement, only able to exert his utmost effort in controlling the true energy.

Four hundred and eighty-seven streaks...

With a muffled sound, all the true energy streaks around him exploded, stirring up a chaotic surge of air.

The Bone was startled and quickly ran over, worried that its master was in trouble.

Through the dust, heavy panting could be heard.

A moment later, Yuan Tianzong emerged from the dust, his face smudged with dirt and sweat, looking quite disheveled.

Ever since he had stepped into the Grandmaster realm, he hadn't experienced anything like this. In the past, accomplishing anything was as easy as flipping his hand, doing whatever he pleased. He had never felt so stifled, to the point of being defeated by a mere scripture.

Four hundred and eighty-seven white marks, and that was achieved without being able to divide his attention to simulate their positional arrangement.

Judging by this, there was still a long way to go to simulate all forty-nine thousand white marks and then arrange them properly according to their respective positions.

"A challenge, good." Yuan Tianzong stretched languidly, a brilliant smile of newfound amusement spreading across his face. A gust of wind suddenly swirled around him, shaking off all the sweat and dust, leaving his face clean and unblemished.

"Dada!" Bone waved its bony hand beside Yuan Tianzong, clumsily trying to sweep away the remaining dust.

"It's alright, just a bit of dust." Having spent so much time with Bone, Yuan Tianzong had gradually come to understand the meaning behind some of its actions, no longer needing to rely on writing to communicate.

Footsteps approached, and Yuan Tianzong looked up. The newcomer was Xue Ding from the Celestial Master Temple.

He had been sent by his Grandmaster to build a connection, and happened to hear the muffled thuds, thinking something had happened, so he rushed over with his sword.

"Senior Yuan, what happened?" Xue Ding asked, looking at the swirling dust around them with a face full of confusion.

Yuan Tianzong shook his head. "Nothing serious, why are you here?"

"I... Huh? A demon?!" Xue Ding suddenly spotted Bone, startled. The long sword in his hand immediately unsheathed half an inch, his righteous true energy surging erratically.

"His name is Bone, and he's with me." Yuan Tianzong replied calmly, subtly stopping the other party's move to eliminate evil.

With you?

Xue Ding was inwardly surprised, slowly sheathing his ancient sword.

He found it truly remarkable that a pile of white bones could possess such sentience, even understanding how to fan Yuan Tianzong, acting like a servant.

"By the way, what brings you here?" Yuan Tianzong asked again.

Hearing this, Xue Ding scratched his head and spoke frankly, "Senior Yuan, please don't laugh. My Grandmaster and Master sent me to build a connection with you and deepen our friendship."

"I figured that was the reason." Yuan Tianzong understood and didn't object. With a Grandmaster like himself nearby, it would be abnormal for the Celestial Master Temple to make no move.

Xue Ding's straightforwardness actually made him feel more favorably towards him.

"Alright, I've been tired of eating roast meat these days anyway. Go get me something else to eat. If it tastes good, I might give you some pointers, that's all."

Xue Ding was overjoyed and quickly cupped his hands. "Thank you, Senior Yuan! Don't worry, my cooking skills are quite good."

"Just saying isn't enough, we'll know after we taste it."