Chapter 81: No Picky

The Nine Mountains Patriarch waved his hand lightly; four dazzling beams of Jin Guang shot from the four runes atop the mountain peak, forming four light pillars that converged upon Zheng Fa.

Zheng Fa unconsciously sat cross-legged on the ground; with his eyes slightly closed, he seemed to see Shanhe flowing, the sun and moon rising and setting, and the ages withering and flourishing.

When he returned to his senses, the snow-white mountain peak and the Nine Mountains Patriarch were gone before him.

Only four golden runes remained, supporting the sky above and connecting to the earth below, filling the world before his eyes.

With just one glance, Zheng Fa felt he was about to faint...

He began to understand why even the Nine Mountains Patriarch had failed to comprehend the True Form Talisman of Shanhe—compared to the talisman diagrams he had seen before, this thing was on an entirely different level of complexity.

Whether those talisman diagrams in the Seventh Young Master's study or the talismans and incantations drawn by Zhang Shijie were all isolated figures.

But the True Form Talisman of Shanhe before him could even be called a grand assembly of talisman diagrams.

They stood one beside another, hand in hand and heart to heart, connected to each other, dancing together as if attending an exceptionally joyous bonfire party.

From a distance, Zheng Fa thought these were four runes.

But upon approaching, he discovered they were actually a composite of countless talisman diagrams; indeed, he found it hard to determine which diagrams combined to form the four runes before him—because most of the diagrams were not even the basic diagrams corresponding to the basic Yang Yuanfu.

This was somewhat like the joke Zheng Fa had seen before—

"I've just learned one plus one, and you're testing me on calculus in the final exam?"

"That's way beyond the syllabus!"

The people of the Xuanwei Realm probably felt even more at a loss than he did.

There were two problems here:

First, why could originally isolated talisman diagrams combine, even so harmoniously, appearing as if they were originally one, and what function did the combination of talisman diagrams serve?

This was also something Zheng Fa could not understand.

His understanding of talisman arts was insufficient to let him grasp this problem.

But the other problem was slightly easier for him—facing unfamiliar talisman diagrams, most cultivators in the Xuanwei Realm had no way to deal with them.

Judging by the Xuanwei Realm's current analysis of Yang Yuanfu, they mostly first drew the talisman diagrams to see what effect they produced.

Then they grouped diagrams with identical effects into one category, and finally selected the simplest figure within that category as the basic Yang Yuanfu.

This method was basically equivalent to Shennong tasting the hundred herbs—I don't know what this thing is, but let me take a bite to see.

They had not yet summarized a universal method.

Before topology developed, almost no one regarded polyhedrons and spheres as the same thing; when the standard for classification did not even exist, classification was out of the question.

White Nascent Soul, I'm counting on you!

Zheng Fa looked up at the myriad talisman diagrams above his head, attempting to apply the patterns from his notebook to these unprecedented diagrams.

Among the colorful clouds below the mountain was also a vast plaza where those descending from the plank road were gathering.

The Seventh Young Master was in a state of depression.

He felt he could have gone further, but his fear of heights still affected his performance.

While indulging in self-pity, a figure suddenly walked before him, interrupting his troubled thoughts.

The Seventh Young Master looked up and saw it was Zhou Qianyuan; Zhou Qianyuan stared at him with a dark face, looking distinctly unfriendly.

Clearly, he was not here to make friends.

The Seventh Young Master did feel somewhat guilty; he had been too arrogant up there, seemingly affecting the other's assessment.

Thinking of the other's talent rating of Purple at the initial level, he grew even more panicked.

"Do you have something to say?"

Upholding the principle of losing the person but not the momentum, the Seventh Young Master asked coldly.

"What you said earlier, that your path of talismans was taught by him, is it true?"

Unexpectedly, Zhou Qianyuan seemed to care more about this point.

"... About a small part!" The Seventh Young Master straightened his chest: "Mostly it's because I have extraordinary talent!"

Zhou Qianyuan looked at him suspiciously, as if wondering if what he said was true.

Just as the two locked eyes, a beam of Jin Guang that pierced the heavens and shook the earth suddenly came from the horizon.

Everyone looked up and realized this light was coming from the Ninth Peak.

Within the Jin Guang, a figure sitting cross-legged on the ground was extremely conspicuous.

The complex talisman diagrams before him, dazzling to the point of confusion, were also exposed before the crowd.

"Zheng Fa!"

The Seventh Young Master recognized the person sitting cross-legged on the ground.

Zhou Qianyuan, however, stared at those talisman diagrams, frowning as if attempting to analyze them.

More people were curious about what the person sitting cross-legged was doing; immediately, they found out.

Some talisman diagrams, as if attracted by Zheng Fa, flew out from the four runes, landed beside him, circled around him, and illuminated his figure.

Slowly, these complex talisman diagrams gradually stretched, twisted, and deformed in the air, finally becoming some figures that looked exceptionally simple.

"Yang Yuanfu?"

Zhou Qianyuan murmured, his eyes fixed on the Yang Yuanfu circling around Zheng Fa, somewhat enlightened: "He is analyzing the talisman diagrams! I have never seen these Yang Yuanfu before; does he actually have a method to analyze them?"

The Seventh Young Master returned to his senses, glanced at him, and then looked at the others.

He noticed that their gazes upon those Yang Yuanfu were all dazed.

Probably none of them had ever seen them before.

"You said you learned from Zheng Fa, then what... requirements does he have?"

Zhou Qianyuan looked at the Seventh Young Master, pressed his lips together, and suddenly asked.

"Requirements?"

Seventh Young Master was stunned, not understanding his meaning.

"Does he teach anyone? Or does he look at other things? Spirit Stones? Talent? Character?"

Zhou Qianyuan explained a sentence.

Seventh Young Master understood a bit; this was someone coming to steal his master!

He felt quite a sense of urgency in his heart.

No, why would a genius like you think of becoming a disciple just because of a setback!

How are people like us supposed to live?

Wouldn't it be better if you were a bit more arrogant and unruly?

"Ahem! His requirements are very high!" Seventh Young Master coughed lightly and said, "Take me for example; I've sent countless Spirit Stones to become a disciple, but those are trivial matters!"

"First, he looks at talent! Only someone with talent as astonishing as mine barely managed to enter!"

"But what he values most is character!" Seventh Young Master intimidated Zhou Qianyuan, "A steady and pure nature is the basic requirement. After entering, one must serve tea and water, work like an ox and a horse, humble oneself, and endure all grievances to show respect for the teacher. A genius like you cannot endure such grievances!"

Zhou Qianyuan looked at Seventh Young Master and nodded slowly, as if he understood.

"Since you accept everyone, it seems he isn't very picky about people." He suddenly spoke.

"... Hmm?"

On Jiushan, Zheng Fa felt somewhat depressed—Bai Lao seemed to have lost by a slight margin this time.

The Yang Yuanfu he could actually analyze did not exceed ten percent.

He could understand it; quick methods have the limitations of quick methods, especially since these were patterns summarized specifically for those basic talisman diagrams.

Even though Zhang Shijie thought this method pointed directly to the essence.

But Zheng Fa knew in his heart that this was merely an exam-taking tactic—slightly better than "choose the shortest when three are long and one is short," but essentially still gambling on probability.

Looking at the Yang Yuanfu flying around him, Zheng Fa shook his head and prepared to stand up.

"So the old man actually waited for this!" The Jiushan Ancestor suddenly appeared, exclaiming to him, "A talisman Dao talent rare in ten thousand ages!"

"Ah?"

"The number of Yang Yuanfu that old man analyzed in his entire life is just as many as you have now!"

"..."

Is Bai Yuan Ying that strong?

Zheng Fa turned his head, looking at those four talisman runes; his admiration and longing for the original Jiushan Ancestor in his heart faded considerably at once.

"Let me think... with talent like yours, you may choose two items from what the Ancestor left behind."

... My, Zheng Fa's, respect for the Ancestor is witnessed by heaven and earth!

The Jiushan Ancestor pointed his finger at the four talisman runes; amidst the flashing of the runes, two vermilion red gates appeared on the mountainside.