Value Beyond Price

At that moment, Ding Songyan felt he had almost perfectly reenacted that joke:

"What scenes haven't I seen?"

"This scene, I really haven't seen."

Not long ago, he had been caught up in a dangerous storm over the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas, thankful that the thing had already been traded away and that he had long since "forgotten" everything about it. Otherwise, endless trouble would have followed. Yet now, turning around, he had dug out a copy in his own home?

Was this some rotten vegetable leaf in the marketplace, something one could pick up whenever they pleased? No, it was even easier to pick up than rotten leaves. He had not even needed to snatch it...

Hiss. Hadn't they said the former owner of this body was timid? How had he secretly copied out a version and hidden it at home? Comparing the handwriting and annotations with several storybooks, it should indeed have been copied by the former owner...

At this thought, Ding Songyan narrowed his eyes slightly, and a plausible yet unpleasant suspicion suddenly surfaced in his heart:

If I were the former owner, before leaving Dingjiang Prefecture, I would definitely have come back to take this copied Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas. Otherwise, wouldn't I have copied it for nothing?

Moreover, leaving it at home would endanger his family. After all, as his "disappearance" dragged on, his parents, elder brother, and younger sister would inevitably sort through his "belongings." If they did not understand the importance and danger of the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas, and failed to keep it secret, the calamity of extermination would be right before their eyes.

When the former owner left the city for the ruined temple, he had not been fleeing far away. Did he have another purpose?

Had he intended to finish something, return home to take this Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas, leave a few words for his family, and then depart Dingjiang Prefecture?

That was more reasonable, and safer too. It would also prevent the future risk of his family searching everywhere for him...

Wait. There had actually been another question he had yet to answer: where had the former owner obtained the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas?

Before leaving Dingjiang Prefecture, he had not even cared to return home first, insisting on visiting that ruined temple outside the city. Could that have been connected to the origin of the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas?

Had the true supplier of the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas killed Ding Songyan and taken the money meant for it?

Why does this never end?

Ding Songyan could not help mocking himself:

"You've really made my life miserable.

"If you were going to die, then die. Why did you have to leave behind such a mountain of trouble for me?"

After the matter with Chen Fanzhu, the tactic of startling the grass to frighten the snake and throwing stones to test the road likely would not work again. Ding Songyan only dared to mention once more before Cousin Nuansheng or Mr. Yu that "the true origin of the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas has yet to be investigated, and perhaps someone else intended to murder me." He did not dare reveal that a copied version was hidden in his home.

Now, he could only pray that the Zhen Estate had seemingly let the matter go, while in truth they had already realized there was another supplier of the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas behind it, and had quietly continued their surveillance and investigation. Or perhaps that supplier had already fled far away after receiving the silver. Or perhaps, after lying low for many days, that person had inferred the "truth" of the matter from Chen Yuliang's death, learned that Ding Songyan had lost all his memories, and decided to let the matter rest rather than dig it up again.

Things have already come this far. I want to see what exactly this damned book contains... Ding Songyan gritted his teeth, gathered his focus, and began reading the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas, whose cover was plain white paper.

Before the description of Feiyi, there were records of some characteristics:

"Its form resembles a quail, with a yellow body and a red beak..."

According to his little sister, would cultivating a technique related to Feiyi eventually make one grow wings and fly? Ding Songyan casually flipped through the pages while keeping an ear out for Ding Qingyan washing clothes:

"Celestial Emperor: Central Yellow Emperor, foremost of the Five Emperors. United with the Great Dao, he commands yin and yang, governs all things, administers Heaven and Earth, and establishes the fate of living beings."

Could one become this powerful through cultivation? This did not look like something martial arts could achieve at all. It was clearly Dao cultivation! Unfortunately, Heaven and Earth had been severed for far too long... There was no "eating it," so what the Celestial Emperor left behind should have been a cultivation method. He wondered which sect was connected to it. One of the holy lands? Ding Songyan felt a hundred emotions churn within him as he read, his feelings rising and falling.

"Northern Emperor Zhuanxu: virtue of water, lord of winter, source of the myriad stars. He commands northern calamities, sets prohibitions, and establishes laws.

"...

"Torch Dragon: eating it opens chaos, illuminates the Nine Yin, commands day and night, shifts the four seasons, and summons wind and rain."

Wait, there was an "eating it"? Who had eaten the divine body left behind by the Torch Dragon? Where was the sect founded from it, and where were the techniques it had created? Ding Songyan was both astonished and envious.

"Xiangliu: eating it corrodes the earth, devours mountains and peaks, poisons generations for a hundred years, its nine heads acting separately.

"...

"Houtu: virtue of earth, mother of the land. She dwells at the center and bears all things, nurtures and transforms the myriad beings, and rules the netherworld.

"...

"Queen Mother of the West: governs heavenly pestilence, commands the five remnants, reaches the netherworld, ends untimely death, and conceives blessings and produces gold.

"Taotie: eating it expels evil and avoids calamity, devours heaven and consumes earth, melts away all things. Its greed knows no end, its desires no bounds.

"...

"Dayi: eliminates fiends and evil, shoots down nine suns, pities a hundred hardships, the pinnacle of mankind.

"...

"Lizhu: eating it governs the great sun, purifies all yin, perceives the slightest detail, and sees ten thousand miles away.

"...

"Phoenix: eating it commands the hundred birds, bears the five virtues, brings peace to the world, is reborn through fire, and gathers all colors beneath heaven.

"...

"Shengyu: eating it subdues a hundred fish, imitates the Phoenix's dance, and floods an entire nation.

"...

"Shetuo: eating it governs righteousness, judges merit and fault, divides the Three Talents, and possesses light. (Note: pronounced 'tuo.')

"...

"Xiegou: eating it excels at climbing, carries the five plagues, and wherever it goes, epidemics abound.

"...

"Ancestor Yu: eating it endangers the human heart, governs darkness, spits sand to shoot people, and wounds the shadow as well as the body.

"Yu: eating it excels at lurking and hiding, spits sand to shoot people."

After quickly skimming a dozen or twenty key entries, Ding Songyan discovered a certain pattern in these descriptions:

Some had five sections, some four, some three, and some only two...

Most of those called "Emperor" had five sections of description. The lesser divine monsters and strange beasts had four. The ones he had barely even heard of had only three, or two... Was that a classification from strong to weak? Yes, that should be it.

Xiaoming, Zhuhuo: light of stars, fire of candles, illuminating the long night and piercing deep darkness. Four sections—not bad. As expected of my target sect. Its cultivation method was just a little incomplete...

When he had read the Classic of Mountains and Seas before, he had swallowed it whole without chewing, but he remembered there being a Nine-Tailed Fox... Found it, found it... Qingqiu Fox, also called Celestial Fox, Nine-Tailed Fox, and Tushan Clan. Eating it brings freedom from gu afflictions; it changes into ten thousand forms, toys with all living beings, and bewitches the world... He wondered which sect it belonged to...

He also wondered whether eating two kinds of divine monsters or strange beasts would cause a conflict...

Excited, Ding Songyan flipped left and right through the pages, imagining what he would become if he could obtain the corresponding inheritance or eat the appropriate divine object...

As his thoughts wandered, he suddenly froze:

For the current me, none of this has any meaning at all...

Divine monsters and strange beasts had long gone extinct. Without great fortune resting upon him, it would be difficult even to encounter one, let alone face the very serious question of whether he could defeat it. Who would eat whom was still uncertain;

And those top sects with corresponding inheritances were not places he could join;

Even if he memorized the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas so thoroughly that it rolled off his tongue, it would mean little for changing his current circumstances or shaping his future.

Not only was it meaningless, it could even bring immense danger!

"The Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas is most useful to experts with some strength who do not belong to great sects or major schools. First, they can use it to identify divine objects, especially fruits and trees. Some grant photographic memory when eaten, some allow one to command weapons or become impervious to blades and spears, some promote fertility, some cause barrenness, and some are simply elixirs of immortality;

"Second, through descriptions of their traits, one can grasp a target's strengths and weaknesses in advance and make preparations. For example, those skilled in cultivation methods involving gu insects must never confront inheritances related to the bird Feiyi or the Nine-Tailed Fox head-on. They should flee as far away as possible... Likewise, those who wield martial arts of plague and calamity must never provoke inheritors of the bird Feiyi. And inheritors of the bird Feiyi should not wander before a Phoenix. Commanding the hundred birds is absolutely real... Of course, that was on the premise that one already knew which Celestial Emperor, deity, divine monster, or strange beast the relevant sect originated from, or could judge from the characteristics of its martial arts...

"From the perspective of such experts, the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas is worth a city of gold. Even at the risk of enormous danger, they would try to gather it.

"No wonder Chen Yuliang had been willing to pay such a high price for it..."

As Ding Songyan analyzed the value of the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas, the more he thought about it, the more he felt as though he were begging while clutching a mountain of gold, entering a treasure vault only to return empty-handed.

After taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, several ideas surfaced in his mind:

"Just burn it and cut off all future trouble, so no one discovers it someday.

"It's a pity I'm not a disciple of some great sect or major school. Otherwise, I could openly possess the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas. But disciples of great sects and major schools can themselves read the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas. They have private collections within their ranks, though many are incomplete.

"Incomplete..."

Ding Songyan's eyes suddenly lit up.

Use the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas in exchange for a chance to join a sect?

Once he became a member of a sect, he could openly read the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas again!

Yes, but only on the condition that the sect's Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas was incomplete. Yet they could not lack it entirely. That would mean they had no foundation and were not strong enough, and they might kill him to silence him and conceal the secret.

Also, he needed to find one with relatively righteous trait descriptions. Since cultivating a method to the end could partially alter one's body, one's heart and spirit should also be affected to some extent. Those described with light and justice would more or less be more upright, which would be more beneficial to him and less dangerous...

One related to Shetuo would be suitable: possessing light and governing righteousness. But he did not even know which family or sect it corresponded to, or what country it was in... The Xiaoming Sect was not bad either. Starlight and candle flame, illuminating the long night and piercing deep darkness—it could not be too wicked, could it? Besides, it was local, so he would not need to risk a distant journey...

First, he would find a way to ask whether the Xiaoming Sect possessed the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas, and whether it was complete. Then he would decide.

If he could join the Xiaoming Sect, he would no longer need to fear the true supplier of the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas!

Having found a path and clarified his direction, Ding Songyan felt as if his whole being had become clear and transparent.

He only felt that the sky was high and the earth vast, and even the sunlight had grown much brighter.

Hearing Ding Qingyan's footsteps suddenly ring out as she entered the main room, he hurriedly put down the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas, hid it within the pile of books, and picked up a storybook the former owner had used for telling old tales.

"Second Brother, what are you reading?" Ding Qingyan shook the water from her hands and asked casually.

"I'm preparing to return to my old trade." Ding Songyan brushed off his sister as he pretended to flip to a certain page.

The writing on this page was sparse. At its beginning was written:

"Qi did not inherit the imperial throne; he was only the Human Emperor."

Note: The divine monsters, strange beasts, and races in this book's Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas will be somewhat more numerous than those in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. For example, among the Four Fiends, only three appeared in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. As someone with obsessive-compulsive tendencies, I could not have only three fiends, so I added the remaining one. Also, there are not many divine monsters or strange beasts suited to assassination and killing, and they are not very strong, so I divided Yu into Ancestor Yu and ordinary Yu to raise the power level. There were other reasons for adding them as well.