Chapter 2546: Reading Ancient Books and the Nine Linked Rings

Even a family was drying grain on the threshing floor, letting their five-year-old child play there; when the child got closest to the haystack, it was less than five or six feet away. The monster could reach it with just a stretch of its hand. That's why, when we captured the monster, they were all frightened out of their wits.

But it never attacked? For three whole days, it stayed in the haystack just watching?

Yes, at least it didn't attack the farmers.

Dong Rui pondered: "It seems it knows how to distinguish threats."

That monster killed the guards of Lingyun Palace without blinking, yet it harmed no unrelated hired hands—clearly it possesses basic spiritual awareness, able to judge that ordinary people pose no threat to it, and it knows how to endure.

This already shows more spirituality than many fierce beasts.

"Does it eat people?"

"It does. In those few days, it ate several pursuers, twice leaving behind half a corpse for us."

"Very ferocious, but it didn't eat the hired hands' children." Dong Rui mused, "Whether from lack of hunger or fear of trouble, it may have the ability to resist temptation."

He Lingchuan's concern, however, lay elsewhere: "Wait, why do the hired hands in the suburbs have children?"

The entire Baishong City suffers from reproductive difficulties.

"Then I don't know. Anyway, that farm has three or four little children. The adults treat them as treasures, doting on them excessively."

In a place like Baishong City, a child that can be born is a treasure.

Mingke Xianren interjected: "In Lingyun Palace, how many heavenly gods are there?"

"I don't know. I've seen two."

Dong Rui then asked: "After the captured monster was sent back, how was it handled?"

Wang the steward didn't know, because he couldn't enter the core area of Lian Valley.

"No!" Dong Rui thought it over, "Each small world in Lingyun Valley is isolated, connected only by the Cloud Terrace, and entry and exit require rune passes. Even a clever living person trying to sneak in would find it difficult—how did those demon puppets escape Lian Valley and enter the suburbs of Baishong City?"

Upon hearing this, everyone felt it made sense.

Theoretically, if they couldn't obtain the rune pass stamped for passage, those monsters couldn't leave the small worlds of Lian Valley.

"They were let out." He Lingchuan said slowly, "Lian Valley wants to test their reactions in the wild, outside experimental grounds."

"So some monsters are captured alive and brought back." Dong Rui nodded, "If they show value, they'll continue to be studied."

He Lingchuan took out the book《Shigu Shu》, flipped through a few pages, then glanced at the last two pages:

"The book's content describes the basic situation of Song State, local customs and products, and includes several miscellaneous records."

Mingke Xianren and others didn't quite understand: "What does that mean?"

He Lingchuan closed the book: "This is a textbook from Song State's academy, likely used for students aged eight to ten."

Having followed Master Sun and examined countless textbooks from the Shumin Xuegong, some of which he even helped compile with Master Sun,

in familiarity with teaching materials, no one here can surpass him.

"Ah?" Everyone was startled, looking at each other, "How could it be for children?"

He Lingchuan then took out the Nine Linked Rings:

"This is an intelligence toy; even adults may not necessarily be able to solve it."

The nine rings are interlinked, arranged in a pattern; solving it requires considerable skill.

Ling Jinbao asked, and Wang the steward said again that two months ago, Deng the Supervisor had asked him to procure a few literacy primers, saying Lian Valley needed them.

Then came the toys, then the candies.

Someone asked: "Could it be that a prominent figure's family in Lingyun Palace needs these?"

Dong Rui suddenly spoke: "Are they for the demon puppets?"

Mingke Xianren exclaimed in surprise: "Aren't these the skins prepared by the heavenly demons for themselves? If they are skins, what use is spiritual awareness?"

Zhu Xiuer interrupted him: "Wasn't the monster that escaped earlier and killed many pursuers already possessed of spiritual awareness?"

"These are probably not ordinary skins?" Dong Rui said solemnly, "I have a premonition that the research conducted in Lingyun Palace has likely already achieved a breakthrough. Our trip here was timely."

Ling Jinbao shuddered: "Not long ago, wasn't the heavenly demon already declared to have achieved complete divine descent successfully? Even Wutu's skin was presented as a result. In that case, are they still dissatisfied and want to continue research?"

"Obviously not satisfied." He Lingchuan replied, "The divine descent plan has been advancing for many years, regarded by the entire heavenly realm as the sole possibility of returning to the mortal world. Lingxu Holy Venerable uses this plan to gather hearts and strengthen the Lingxu multitude, but this plan also faces unprecedented immense pressure due to the heavenly realm's great expectations. Once research achieves a breakthrough, the Lingxu multitude will immediately announce it to the heavenly realm and simultaneously invite all opponents to come observe—only then is it convincing."

Those in high positions have their own worries. These immortals before us, being idle and accustomed to ease, find it hard to empathize with their situation.

The pressure borne by Lingxu Holy Venerable in that position can only be understood by He Lingchuan. Even half-baked plans must be brought forth to face the world, merely to relieve pressure and opposition—his state of mind is also only comprehensible to He Lingchuan.

"But then, one success doesn't mean every success; one success doesn't mean research into the divine descent body doesn't need continued improvement."

Dong Rui also took up the thread, explaining to these outsiders: "Research into the divine descent body is a complex and delicate engineering endeavor. I have studied Wutu's divine body skin, and it is still very far from 'perfect.' Aside from other matters, the divine descent skin receiving the heavenly demon's descent without rupturing or damage is merely the most basic requirement."

Ling Jinbao gasped: "This is still just basic? If the heavenly demon can achieve complete divine descent, wouldn't it then be able to cause great destruction to this world?"

"The heavenly demon is a soul descent; the strength and capacity of the skin determine the upper limit of its manifestation." Dong Rui calmly and objectively said, "Even if I don't personally lead research in this direction, I can see that Wutu's divine body skin still has considerable room for improvement. Moreover, the production of such skins is especially arduous—each one counts, and mass production is impossible. You know this, right? Only when heavenly demons descend on a large scale can they threaten us. If they descend sporadically like Wutu, it's merely seeking their own death."

"But 'complete divine descent' itself is an excellent publicity stunt, proving this path's feasibility. Lingxu Holy Venerable only needs to announce this to the heavenly realm, and support will naturally follow." He Lingchuan said, "Most heavenly demons' minds are not notably superior to humans'; hearing this, they assume their own divine descent is promising, utterly unaware of how far true implementation still is. But Lingxu Holy Venerable must seize this time, urgently advance the divine body research. The terraced fields of Lingyun Palace were dug only after the heavenly demons heard the news that the divine artifact 'Yangguan Dao' was destroyed—clearly this is their latest countermeasure, worth deep investigation."

The struggle between heaven and earth has now entered a stage of no holds barred.

He Lingchuan said to Xiao An: "You also go to Douke Garden. Lian Valley doesn't require two people to go together."

Dong Rui rubbed his palms, eager: "Hurry up, hurry up—we're going to see the forefront of divine descent body research, to see how far it has progressed."