Six Strategy Plate

Over the next several days, Xu Yan lived a full and busy life.

At dawn, he cultivated inside his cave dwelling. After noon, he went to the summit of Talent Peak to study translated Edict Script texts and seek guidance from Senior Brother Wang Heng. Though Wang Heng's cultivation was somewhat lacking, he had quite a few insights into the study of Edict Script.

In his remaining time, Xu Yan moved about widely and interacted with the senior brothers and sisters of his academy, picking up some knowledge of the unorthodox arts of the Mystic Gate.

That day, he also took a Dragon Breath Pill and shattered through his bottleneck.

His cultivation naturally advanced to the sixth level.

This sixth meridian-opening barrier was called the Earth Threshold Pass. It lay in the latter half of the Spirit Meridian, at the rear waist of the Dao body.

Once this pass was fully opened, the Dao body would become wholly integrated, and the blood vitality and Mystic Qi throughout the body would surge greatly, though spiritual awareness would not yet improve.

The Spirit Meridian barriers of these middle three passes offered little improvement to spiritual awareness. The main gains would come from the final three barriers.

Xu Yan slowly rose from his meditation cushion. His dark Eight Trigrams robe billowed, while his Primordial Mystic Qi, pitch-black and unfathomably deep, flowed around his body like a surging river.

The Spirit Meridians of his Dao body had become like flawless jade, appearing utterly untouched by dust.

Only the final three barriers remained: the Heavenly Threshold Pass, the Jade Pillow Pass, and the Baihui Pass.

The Heavenly Threshold Pass lay at the center of the back, where the eight extraordinary meridians converged from all directions. Once this pass was broken, the meridians throughout the body would become like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, incomparably smooth and unimpeded.

The final Jade Pillow Pass was located at the Spirit Meridian behind the head, while Baihui lay at the Niwan Palace on the forehead. Both were major barriers of spiritual awareness.

Only when all nine Spirit Meridian barriers were broken would one undergo a complete transformation and cast off the mortal fleshly body.

"I wonder what grade my meridians are. Have they reached the superior rank..."

Xu Yan examined his Dao body, thoughts stirring within him.

The vast majority of Daoists possessed meridians within the upper, middle, and lower ranks. Better disciples might attain upper-upper-grade meridians, but those with flawless Spirit Meridians had numbered only a handful within the Dragon Ridge Hundred Academies over the past century.

As countless thoughts turned in Xu Yan's mind, he looked back toward the Tianshu Bottle inside the cave dwelling.

"The Taiyi Alchemy Book does contain a method for refining the Heaven Mending Pill, but most of its ingredients have now been lost. I wonder if there are lower-grade spiritual materials that can replace them."

Xu Yan pondered inwardly.

He had also read through the Taiyi Alchemy Book. It recorded the refinement methods for many ancient pills, but most of the required ingredients had either been lost or could not be found in Cang Province, making things truly difficult.

With the Tianshu Bottle in hand, Xu Yan could refine flawless Embryonic Pills. The hardest step had already been completed by the Tianshu Bottle.

Xu Yan only needed to use other supplementary ingredients and rely on furnace fire to form the pill, allowing him to refine a perfect-grade medicinal pill.

"Take it slowly. There's no rush."

Xu Yan was not impatient.

Even if he could not refine the Heaven Mending Pill, there were other pills capable of improving the grade of one's Spirit Meridians. Those pills were outrageously expensive, their effects far inferior to the Heaven Mending Pill, and exceedingly difficult to refine. Only perfect-grade pills could bring out even some of their medicinal power.

However, this was no difficult matter for Xu Yan, who possessed the Heavenly Pivot Treasure Vase.

At noon, Xu Yan was inside his cave dwelling reading Thousand Strands Dao Script.

This book had been written in ancient Edict Script, but the remaining passages all had translated annotations. Wang Heng had prepared it when he first began learning Edict Script, and had now lent it to Xu Yan for study.

Just as he was absorbed in reading, the sound of someone knocking against the mountain rang out from outside.

"Junior Brother, are you in?"

It was Wang Heng's voice. Xu Yan immediately walked out of the cave dwelling.

"Greetings, Senior Brother."

Wang Heng's complexion was rosy as he said from midair, "Junior Brother, come quickly and pay respects to the Seal Master!"

Three days had passed, and that Gongsun Seal Master had finally returned.

Hearing this, Xu Yan did not dare delay. He immediately stepped on Mystic Qi and followed behind Wang Heng.

The two headed toward the mountaintop.

Talent Peak was wreathed in clouds and mist, like a treasure land hidden among immortal mountains. Ancient palace halls and pavilions appeared and vanished through the haze.

Not far away, Xu Yan saw several senior brothers and sisters gathered before the main hall's entrance.

There was Senior Sister Huang Caiying of the formation arts, Senior Brother Xu Yao the alchemist, and Senior Brother Liu Yu the artifact refiner.

The moment Xu Yan landed, the three of them came over to greet him.

"Junior Brother Xu, the Seal Master is waiting for you in the main hall. Hurry in and pay your respects," Huang Caiying said with a smile.

"We'll wait outside for you," Liu Yu added.

"Alright!"

These senior brothers and sisters seemed to have more to discuss and were not merely gathered for idle chatter. Xu Yan did not ask further and walked straight into the hall.

The hall doors stood open. Within the main hall, a Daoist stood reading a Daoist scripture and a formation plate in his hands.

The Daoist appeared to be only thirty or forty years old. He had white hair and the face of a child, with handsome and refined features. Though his hair was entirely white, not a trace of age showed between his brows.

Xu Yan's expression turned solemn. He walked forward steadily, stopped at the entrance, and cupped his hands in salute.

"This disciple, Xu Yan, greets Seal Master."

"Come in. No need for excessive ceremony."

Gongsun Yan spoke in a crisp voice. He set down the Daoist scripture and formation plate in his hands, smiling as he looked toward Xu Yan with his hands clasped behind his back.

Light seemed to flow within his Spirit Eyes. With a single glance, he saw through Xu Yan's innate constitution. From the corner of his eye, Xu Yan noticed that he was using a meridian-reading technique.

Gongsun Yan raised a brow and stroked his chin in some puzzlement.

"Xu Yan, I heard that you once received guidance from the Dharma King?"

"Yes." Xu Yan immediately replied, "At Dragon Whisker Ravine, the Dharma King bestowed upon me the meridian-opening cultivation method Eight-Nine Profound Art. It was through this Dao art that Xu Yan achieved what he has today."

Xu Yan did not conceal anything.

He would be cultivating in the Talent Academy in the future. If he hid even such a matter from this master, how could the latter feel at ease enough to teach him?

"Eight-Nine Profound Art..." Gongsun Yan seemed lost in thought. Then he drew a deep breath and looked at Xu Yan. "With your gifts and innate constitution, you should be cultivating in the Upper Three Academies. Why did you come to my Talent Academy?"

After a brief pause, Xu Yan said, "When this disciple was at the Dragon Ridge Immortal Treasury, I encountered the Mystic Gate Sky Boat and the Great Teleportation Token. I was deeply interested in those two divine artifacts, as well as the ancient path of Edict Script. I heard that Seal Master... is a descendant of those families from the recent ancient era, so I came to yearn for the Talent Academy."

Without haste or hesitation, Xu Yan clearly explained why he had come to the Talent Academy.

Gongsun Yan looked at him with his hands behind his back and remained silent for a while. Several breaths later, he finally smiled and said solemnly, "Rest assured. Since you have joined my Talent Academy, I, Gongsun Yan, will never allow your gifts and innate constitution to be buried here."

"Xu Yan thanks Seal Master."

Hearing this, Xu Yan immediately cupped his hands and bowed.

According to the rules of the Hundred Academies, he should have performed the ceremony and served tea. However, Gongsun Yan was somewhat averse to such formalities and did not care for them, so he waived them outright.

He picked up the formation plate beside him.

This did not resemble an ordinary formation plate, but a Mystic Gate plate. It had only six gates, engraved in ancient Edict Script with the characters "Script," "Martial," "Dragon," "Tiger," "Leopard," and "Hound." It appeared extremely ancient and seemed capable of piercing into one's mind. Stare at it too long, and even one's consciousness felt as though it would be swallowed inside.

"This is the Six Strategy Plate, your gift upon meeting your master."

Gongsun Yan handed the Six Strategy Plate to Xu Yan. Then, as if nothing had happened, he took a sip of tea and said, "This plate can determine the feng shui and terrain of mountains. Like an ordinary formation plate, it can also be inscribed with formations using spiritual awareness. Each of the Six Strategies has its use. You may study it slowly on your own."

Aside from laying formations with formation flags, the simplest method was to use a formation plate. One could inscribe a formation into it beforehand with spiritual awareness, then activate it with one's own Mystic Qi or spiritual materials such as spirit stones.

"Thank you, Seal Master," Xu Yan said respectfully.

"I heard from Wang Heng that you wish to study Edict Script?" Gongsun Yan asked casually.

"Yes. This disciple is extremely interested in Edict Script. Back when I was still a Rogue Cultivator, I once obtained an ancient Daoist book written in Edict Script and was troubled because I could not understand it," Xu Yan said.

Xu Yan was referring to the Plum Blossom Qimen that the wandering Daoist had gifted him back in Green Ox Town.

That Mystic Gate Daoist book had been recorded in Edict Script.

Gongsun Yan nodded and said decisively, "Come to the study in the side hall every day at three quarters past noon. I will personally teach you Edict Script."

"This disciple obeys." Xu Yan nodded.