Chapter 192

192. Chapter 190 Modern Shocking Exposure! The Snake Immortal in Myth!

One day calculates three hexagrams, three hexagrams determine the world.

As the Dragon King Temple's fame grows louder and louder, the number of people coming here to worship has also increased, all attracted by this mysterious temple priest, the incense is thriving, and those coming for divination are also endless.

Even if this master only calculates three hexagrams a day, it cannot dispel people's enthusiasm, hoping the master will choose them, the chosen ones are even happier than winning a million lottery ticket, under the envious and jealous gazes of the surrounding people, they walk into the room inside.

Incense smoke curls, white smoke slowly drifts out from the small furnace of the bronze entwining branch flower bird, plus the heavy blue curtain, adding some indescribable mystery.

The worshippers who came for divination, although they cannot see the person opposite, still devoutly bowed and said, "Thank you, master, for resolving my doubts."

No one expected that behind the curtain, a faint green light flickered within.

That slender creature had horns on its head and four claws on its abdomen, clearly resembling the jiao dragon recorded in ancient texts, though its size had shrunk several times, making it about the same size as an ordinary green snake.

As the worshipper's words fell, Ye Qin could clearly feel a mysterious aura being injected into the temple from his body, this aura cannot be caught by the naked eye, only perceptible through spiritual energy.

During this time, he had already seen countless such auras gathering in the sky above the temple.

Not everyone has it, and among these auras, some people's auras are mottled, only a fine thread that scatters when blown by the wind, while others' auras are very pure and as thick as a thumb.

Especially those who came for divination, compared to other visiting worshippers, their auras are relatively good.

These are all the intentions of the myriad beings.

Originally, there was only a thin layer of such intention above the Dragon King Temple, but as time passed and he came into the temple to tell fortunes for people, this thread of intention has already reached a certain scale, and given time, it will surely achieve climatic conditions.

Ye Qin also witnessed the growth of the temple's beings' intention.

As he guessed, the formation of beings' intention requires not only a large number of people but also sincere faith and offerings; only then can beings' intention be generated.

The higher the population and the more sincere the faith, the faster the formation of beings' intention, and vice versa.

"But how would beings' intention give birth to a guardian?"

On this point, Ye Qin still does not understand, but he deduced that this might allow his idea of 'time fragments' combined with 'alternative longevity' to come true.

However, the specifics still need exploration.

As for why he had this idea, naturally it is because Ye Qin wants to use it to deduce the path of longevity in future cultivation.

After confirming the idea in his heart, Ye Qin saw no need to stay longer, as he did not intend to keep telling fortunes; so-called fortune-telling is merely a way to experience the mortal world and witness the formation of beings' intention.

Now that the goal has been achieved, he will continue his travels.

When the second day came and people returned to the Dragon King Temple, they found a resting sign hung at the room's door.

"Ah, why is the master resting today? There are only three slots a day, so today there's no chance? I even came specially from the neighboring city."

"What are you talking about? I heard there's a master here who is very accurate in divination, coming from other provinces, who would have thought he's resting today? Really unlucky."

"Why not suggest to the master next time to increase a few slots? I can offer a lot of incense money!"

"The master is truly a person of noble integrity, he wouldn't look down on these vulgar riches; if he wanted to make money, he would have charged long ago."

"That's also right, I heard this divination involves heavenly secrets, it's very draining, and might even affect lifespan, perhaps that's why the master only calculates three a day."

The people shook their heads and sighed, but could do nothing, after all, others rest, they can't drag the master out, originally planning to come again tomorrow.

But they never expected that on the third and fourth days, the resting sign was still at the door, making those who came by name suddenly anxious, they found the Dragon King Temple's manager to seek an explanation.

The manager was also bewildered, because even they had never seen the master's true face, which is really abnormal; facing the worshippers asking for the master, the manager also wanted to cry but had no tears.

The master appeared as if out of thin air, also without signing any contract, seemingly a mysterious force affecting their memory and perception; as for how this master was hired and took office, there is actually no impression at all.

The key is that everyone felt it was very reasonable, and when the person disappeared, their perception became clear, discovering the unusualness.

The manager had no relevant data about the master on hand, asking other temple staff also yielded unanimous replies that they had never seen this person.

Facing the temple's statement, the worshippers were also in an uproar, finding it unbelievable, but looking at the manager's expression, it didn't seem like lying.

The master's appearance and disappearance is like a riddle, people discussed it endlessly.

"Could the master be an immortal? Otherwise, how could he be so mysterious?"

"Very possible, so when the time comes, the master also suddenly disappears."

"You say, could it be the Dragon King's incarnation, coming to the mortal world to travel!"

"No wonder the master's divination is so accurate, it seems he has a background, I said ordinary people couldn't reach this level, the master is indeed extraordinary."

"I really regret it, if I had known the master's background was extraordinary, I should have come earlier, maybe I could have let the immortal help me calculate a hexagram!"

Many people beat their chests and stamped their feet, sighing with regret; those fortunate enough to be chosen by the master for divination were even more elated, faces full of smiles, after all, they are among the few lucky ones.

Regarding the master's background and identity, the more they talked, the more mysterious it became, some said he is an immortal, others said he is the Dragon King's incarnation, in short, opinions varied widely.

Because the master's divination is too accurate, plus his sudden appearance and disappearance, and even the Dragon King Temple's manager doesn't know his true identity, all these factors combined have shrouded this matter in many mysterious colors, even eventually evolving into a local legend.

Although people have already left, the Dragon King Temple's popularity did not increase but decrease, yet more and more people come to worship, hoping to one day meet the mysterious master again.

Ye Qin was completely unaware of the stir he caused after leaving; at this moment, he has already embarked on a new journey, traveling southward, and soon left Dongshan Province.

Planning to return via Wu Du Longyuan Mountain.

After all, it's been over a year since he left, it's time to go back and take a look.

……

Although his size has shrunk considerably, Ye Qin's speed is not slow, it can be said he travels a thousand li a day; the massive jiao dragon body is even faster, but that would be too conspicuous, this size is convenient for him to wander the world.

After transforming into a jiao dragon, he has a better perception of heavenly and earthly spiritual energy, Ye Qin can faintly sense which places have richer spiritual energy, and soon stopped beside a lake.

Here the mountains are green and the waters clear, the scenery is not bad, perhaps because he transformed into a jiao dragon, he particularly likes water areas.

The sun sets behind the western mountains, the sunset casts a layer of light, shimmering and golden, as if fish schools gather there, in the distance cooking smoke rises slowly, the water surface shows a thin mist like green smoke, faintly discerning the gray hazy mountain shadow.

The land is vast and people sparse, only a few small villages nearby, plus it's already late, so there are hardly any people.

Beside the lake stands a stele, inscribed with ancient characters reading "Sheyang", this stone tablet should be quite old, spiderweb-like cracks cover its body, also overgrown with moss, the setting sun pulls the shadow of this stele extremely long.

"There is an aura of time fluctuations here."

Ye Qin carefully sensed it, confirmed this place has extraordinary fluctuations, released his mental power, and soon connected with that mysterious aura.

In the torrent of time, no one noticed, a small fragment began to slowly flow backward.

Previously, entering time fragments required consuming a lot of time, but as Ye Qin's primordial spirit became stable and strong, the time spent afterward became less and less, almost instantaneous to complete.

Ye Qin walked out of the Shangqing Temple, and in reality it was already dusk, but here it seemed the sky had just brightened.

The sky showed a faint fish-belly white, the morning mist had not completely dissipated, the surroundings were shrouded in a light gauze, the breeze rippled, causing the distant lake surface to ripple in layers.

The lake's surface area was much larger than when Ye Qin had seen it in reality, and there was an additional thatched hut around it, as if someone lived there.

Ye Qin curiously crawled over, only to see the thatched hut's window half open, allowing a clear view of the entire interior, the furnishings were few and looked rather shabby.

Beside the window was a table with a young man vigorously writing, apparently dissatisfied with what he wrote, he grabbed the paper, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it into the corner of the room, such paper balls were scattered on the floor, who knows how much paper he had wasted.

The young man bit the pen holder, even getting ink on his face without realizing it.

Probably because Ye Qin's gaze was too intense, the young man finally noticed, originally thinking it was a small animal passing by the lakeside, he instinctively looked up, meeting a pair of emerald-green pupils.

The young man stared fixedly at the horns on Ye Qin's head, couldn't help but rub his eyes, then excitedly jumped up from his chair.

"Jiao dragon! I knew there must be dragons in this world."

"Let me think, what should I write for the next story?"

He spoke excitedly and incoherently, not knowing what he was saying, sometimes laughing happily, sometimes burying his head in thought, his behavior and demeanor looked completely different from ordinary people.

Ye Qin had already traversed many time fragments, and in the process had encountered many people, but never had he met anyone like the young man before him.

The young man also realized his own gaffe, after coming to his senses, he gave Ye Qin an embarrassed smile, "Sorry, seeing you has excited me, I've made you laugh."

Ye Qin shook his head, "It's fine, may I ask how to address you?"

The young man instinctively puffed out his chest, proudly saying, "I am the Scholar of Sheyang."

As if thinking of something, he continued, "Perhaps you haven't heard this name now, but in a hundred, even a thousand years, my name will surely be recorded in history! Passed down through the ages!"

What a big mouth!

Ye Qin's interest grew, he climbed onto the young man's desk, the yellow draft paper was already half-written, likely he was writing a story.

Although the handwriting was still somewhat immature, the diction was simple, the conception unique, the depiction delicate, a few strokes sketched out a world of ghosts and monsters, making one want to keep reading.

"I plan to start with Yu the Great's treasure cauldron for flood control, writing several small stories around this cauldron, these stories are independent, yet each interweaves, in the dark having some connection with this treasure cauldron, what do you think?!"

The young man spoke more excitedly, his thoughts flowing freely, not even bothering to wait for Ye Qin's reply, he picked up his pen and began writing.

Ye Qin watched from the side, also remaining silent so as not to disturb, after all he had never met such an interesting person before, his originally restless heart instantly calmed down.

Before, when entering time fragments, most were spent discussing the Dao with people, but watching someone write a novel was truly a first.

One person and one jiao got along exceptionally harmoniously.

The atmosphere became extremely quiet, only the sound of the young man's pen scratching could be heard, like a long ancient melody, making one unable to help but sink into it.

The breeze floated, bringing a faint ink scent, for some reason Ye Qin actually felt a bit drowsy, those tiny characters like ants, drilling into his field of vision, soon becoming somewhat blurred.

Even the friction sound of paper and pen seemed to become especially distant.

Ye Qin felt he had already walked a long distance, when he opened his eyes, what he saw was pitch black.

A black curtain draped over the surroundings, wrapping them tightly, as if in the universe, yet no stars could be seen.

"Strange, I wasn't in the time fragments, how did I suddenly come to this place? Where is this?"

Ye Qin's expression was somewhat confused, clearly remembering he started at the young man's desk, seemingly watching him write a novel, how in the blink of an eye he came to an unknown place.

He quickly sensed something wrong with his body, instinctively lowered his head, his long limbs came into view, a white robe as pure as snow, graceful and elegant, swaying beautifully.

Ye Qin finally understood where this sense of dissonance came from.

He was no longer in serpent form—but human form!

Because at this moment, he had actually transformed into the primordial White Bone, and it was the appearance of White Bone in life, female form.

"How did even the primordial White Bone come out."

Ye Qin couldn't help but mutter, all this was strange, yet before he could figure it out, the dark sky above suddenly flashed a blinding light, he couldn't help but raise his hand to block it.

He focused his gaze, it was a glowing sphere, like a meteor speeding, dragging a long tail as it slid down from the air, then fell into the boundless darkness.

"Boom!"

Only a huge roar was heard, countless firelights exploded outward, like tens of thousands of fire butterflies leaping out of the abyss, then scattering around, sinking into this dark world.

Ye Qin continued walking forward, feeling like a firefly walking alone in the dark, not knowing how long had passed, finally he saw points of light.

A magnificent galaxy flowed slowly, like a silver ribbon, the originally unchanging dark scene finally gained some other color.

Inside the river were many glowing small creatures, swimming to and fro, as if they had their own lives, upon hearing footsteps, they all hid, even their light became much dimmer.

Ye Qin looked at the surrounding strange scenery, the doubts in his heart grew, "What exactly is this place?"

Under the vast night sky, silver ribbons entwined, small glowing creatures emitting faint light, with various strange appearances, they gathered in groups of three or five, becoming the only color in this void world.

Ye Qin couldn't help but touch them with his finger, the light instantly scattered, these small creatures had no physical form, after a while they slowly reassembled.

He stepped into the strange and wondrous world inside the novel, his gaze wherever it fell, all were landscapes completely different from the real world.

Occasionally on the horizon there were huge spheres, dragging long tails, falling into the void, splashing countless gorgeous sparks, such a scene made one feel incredibly magnificent and shocking.

Deep and vast, void and illusory, this was his impression of this realm.

Not knowing how long he had walked, black finally gradually faded, replaced by a piece of barren land, yellowish-brown soil looked nutritionally poor, Ye Qin felt no trace of spiritual energy.

Not to mention green plants, not even a weed could be seen, this place had already become a forgotten land of life, looking around, only Ye Qin was a living person.

Ye Qin could only continue walking forward, the corner of his eye seemed to notice something existence, "Huh, what is this?"

Not far away was a strange structure, black in appearance stacked into a pagoda shape, refracting cold light, unknown what material it was made of, above it there was also a long thin thread.

Ye Qin felt a strange fluctuation on it, but could not specify what, just as he was preparing to examine it closely.

"Fellow Daoist, don't touch randomly, be careful the Heaven Sect finds trouble for you."

A cold female voice suddenly sounded, Ye Qin turned his head, behind him at some point a woman had appeared, he hadn't noticed at all.

The woman wore a green dress, the material extremely special, as if moonlight flowed slowly, her face covered with white gauze, her true appearance unclear, only a pair of amber eyes visible outside, flashing with a cold light.

This woman's temperament was extremely transcendent, as if a fairy who had stepped on the moon.

"Who are you?"

Ye Qin felt from the woman a strong spiritual energy fluctuation, his face couldn't help but show some surprise, after all in this world only he could cultivate, he had never seen other cultivators before.

Now a female cultivator suddenly appeared, and she even carried such strong spiritual energy—how could Ye Qin not be surprised.

Could it be that I have crossed over again?

Ye Qin's heart filled with many doubts; the female cultivator did not answer him, but instead pointed to the pagoda-like building on the ground and said: "This is the Signal Tower built by the Heavenly Sect; the Heavenly Sect is not to be trifled with, so it's best not to touch it."

Heavenly Sect? Signal Tower?

Hearing the various terms from the female cultivator's mouth, Ye Qin felt a sense of absurdity due to temporal confusion—these words he had never heard before.

Ye Qin remained calm, suppressing his surprise, and probed indirectly.

"However, this Signal Tower is currently of little use to the Heavenly Sect; they plan to rebuild one in the wilderness."

Ye Qin asked curiously: "Where exactly is this wilderness?"

"Just not far ahead."

At the moment the female cultivator's words fell, she waved her hand, and silver spiritual light poured out from the center of her palm; her slender jade hand seemed like an immortal pointing the way, with starlight gathering within, forming a huge transparent water mirror, inside which appeared vast stretches of desolate scenery.

Ye Qin originally thought the place he was in was already barren enough, but he did not expect the land there to be even more desolate—black rocks exposed on the surface, merely thinly covered with a layer of soil, looking shocking to behold.

Ye Qin could not help but exclaim: "This place is too desolate, isn't it?"

"After all, it is a wasteland."

As Ye Qin was viewing the water mirror, a faint blue shadow flashed into his view, inexplicably giving him a sense of familiarity, his heart stirred, ripples rising faintly.

Ye Qin could not help but mutter: "What is this."

Unfortunately, the view inside the water mirror was not complete; Ye Qin suddenly lunged forward, his speed so great that he almost left afterimages in the air, even the surrounding small creatures were blown by the gust he kicked up into the void beside them.

Ye Qin quickly arrived at the scene displayed in the water mirror.

A azure-colored sphere floated beneath the night sky, its blue-and-white hues conveying rich vitality and undulations within, becoming a special existence in this wilderness.

Feeling the familiar undulations coming from above the sphere, Ye Qin's heart surged with shock and awe, and he blurted out instinctively: "Is this Earth?!"

"So this barbaric star is called Earth—how did you, fellow Daoist, come to know this?"

The clear, cold female voice appeared again; the female cultivator once more appeared beside Ye Qin, and for her appearing and disappearing mysteriously, Ye Qin was no longer as surprised as the first time.

The female cultivator's face showed a hint of regret.

"This star's spiritual energy is thin, the Heavenly Dao is incomplete, making cultivation impossible, yet it seems to carry abundant vitality—unexpectedly, in this barren wilderness, life and technological civilization could still arise, only regrettable."

Ye Qin was somewhat puzzled: "What does this mean?"

"Didn't I just tell you? The Heavenly Sect plans to build a new Signal Tower here, and this planet will affect the tower's construction."

Upon hearing this, Ye Qin's heart tightened involuntarily: "Then what will happen to this planet?"

"It might be dismantled, or moved elsewhere. After all, this place has given rise to technological civilization and life, so it won't be easily erased; they should be relocated, moved to other places in the universe."

The female cultivator spoke very casually, even somewhat nonchalantly, as if moving a planet were no different from moving an ordinary object—clearly, such things are quite common here.

Ye Qin was uncertain whether his current state was another crossing or something else, but his intuition told him this planet was the Earth he once lived on.

"But there is still life on this planet?"

The female cultivator sized up Ye Qin, puzzled by his agitation: "Just a barbaric star—where do you, fellow Daoist, come from? Since you can wander the cosmic wilderness, you must surely be from a great sect?"

Ye Qin opened his mouth, about to retort.

Only to see the female cultivator's gaze freeze, looking into the distance; Ye Qin followed her line of sight, and a huge white light, like a ferocious beast, devoured everything.

Under the influence of the white light, all scenery exploded, with crackling sounds unceasing; engulfed by this radiance, a bottomless vortex quickly formed, continuing to spread into the void.

The female cultivator's figure had long vanished; gazing at the nearby profound vortex, Ye Qin's heart trembled, his soul split into countless tiny fragments, a dense, aching pain spreading.

As this world collapsed, he too fell with it, his body transmitting a clear sense of weightlessness; he wanted to struggle free, but the pull from within the white light was simply too great.

It seemed someone was calling in his ears; Ye Qin snapped his eyes open, only to meet the curious gaze of a young man.

"So even flood dragons sleep? Just now I heard you talking in your sleep—were you having a nightmare?"

Ye Qin's eyes were dazed, still not fully back; he surveyed his surroundings—the familiar thatched hut, the wafting scent of ink, everything was both familiar and strange.

He clearly was still in the fragments of time; it turned out what just happened was merely a bizarre dream.

Recalling the bizarre scenes in the dream, Ye Qin felt somewhat absurd—he had not dreamed in a long while, but this dream was especially strange, feeling as real as if he had personally experienced it.

However, entering the mottled fragments of time—such strange things exist—so having a dream full of mysteries is not particularly surprising.

Moreover...

Glancing at the classical novel on the table, Ye Qin suddenly understood.

This dream was clearly influenced by the mottled fragments of time, which is why he had such a wild, novel-like dream.

Ye Qin caught sight of the young man's writing already covering the entire manuscript paper—apparently he was in good form, his thoughts flowing freely, gradually entering a fine state, unaware he had already written so much.

Noticing Ye Qin's gaze, the young man beamed with pride: "I've already written the beginning of this story—would you like to take a look?"

Faced with the young man's warm invitation, Ye Qin became interested: "Very well."

"After you've read my story, could you tell me about the dream you just had? Perhaps I can write it in."

"Oh?"

Ye Qin expressed surprise, but did not refuse, and began to recount his dream slowly.

Hearing the latter part, his eyes lit up, gradually revealing an obsessed expression, immersed in Ye Qin's words, a vast starry universe scene slowly unfolding before him.

Unfortunately, when they reached the most exciting part, Ye Qin suddenly stopped; the young man could not help but urge:

"Why stop? What comes next? And just what is that female cultivator's background, and the Heavenly Sect—are they really going to dismantle Earth?"

"I also want to know the answer, but unfortunately, by the time we got here, the dream woke up."

The young man pounded his chest and stamped his feet, scratched his head and tugged his ears, simply unable to sit still—for him, hearing a story halfway with no continuation was worse than having his life taken.

"This dream is truly wondrous, truly beyond anything I have ever seen in my life—I never imagined that cultivators in this world could be like this? Then wouldn't it mean that if there are immortals in this world? They all live in heaven?"

"I finally have inspiration!"

He boasted that he had traveled many places and heard many local oddities, recording them all as novel material, yet none could compare to what Ye Qin had just described.

The young man had never felt his vocabulary so lacking; having exhausted all his learning, he still could not depict what Ye Qin had described.

The human mind cannot imagine such a magnificent and grand scene; perhaps only by seeing it with one's own eyes can one know what true shock is, but unfortunately this is Ye Qin's dream, and he cannot witness it in person.

The young man had originally been pleased with himself for having just written the content of his novel, feeling that his imagination was extraordinary and that he had constructed a bizarre and wondrous world, but now he showed a look of disdain.

He again crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it into the corner of the room, with no regret over any effort being wasted.

Ye Qin could not help but be somewhat surprised, "This is the beginning you spent a great deal of time writing, and throwing it away like this is not a waste?"

The young man shook his head, "I already have a better idea in my heart; a writer naturally strives for perfection, bringing the best story to the world."

Having said that, he again took up his brush and wrote furiously.

Ye Qin watched the young man's frenzied and obsessed appearance, and could not help but shake his head; no wonder his novels have been passed down for thousands of years and are known to every household in later generations—such spirit and perseverance even make Ye Qin feel ashamed of himself.

Soon a familiar fluctuation came, and it was time for Ye Qin to leave; unfortunately, he could not see the young man's newly written content.

Unbeknownst to him, the sun was already setting westward; in the evening light, the originally somewhat dilapidated thatched cottage was gilded with a thin layer of gold.

A breeze came, and only then did the young man lift his head and stretch, rubbing his numb and sore arm from writing, "The beginning I have already written; this story will definitely——"

The words stopped abruptly, and all that could be seen was that the place where the blue shadow had once swirled was now empty.

The young man searched up and down, but found no trace of the flood dragon that had brought him countless inspirations; it was truly mysterious to the extreme, coming without a sound and disappearing without a trace.

"Could it be that everything that just happened was my dream?"

The young man scratched his head, his gaze fixed blankly on the void, his expression somewhat forlorn, but soon he recovered.

"Whether it is a dream or not, my story will continue."

Having said that, he continued to hold his brush, and the breeze caused the nearby paper to rustle with a hualala sound; faintly visible on the grass paper were a few flying dragon and dancing phoenix large characters—《Yu Ding Ji》

……

The wind of a thousand years has remained unchanged since ancient times, blowing from the primordial world to the present; only the stories long buried in the wind and sand are full of mystery and wonder, waiting for humanity to uncover and explore.

At this moment in the real world, Qi Xueqing is still researching the story of the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, as well as the Dragon King events circulating in coastal regions.

This research trip has ample time, so he has plenty of time; originally the next destination was the Confucian Temple or Mount Song for a visit, but plans cannot keep up with changes, and a phone call urgently summoned him back.

"Senior Brother, what matter is so urgent? My research here hasn't ended yet."

"The teacher's side sent word that, it seems, in some grave, several pages of damaged ancient texts were found, related to Mr. Wu Cheng'en, and have great research value; the phone call couldn't explain it clearly in a few words, but in short, you must come back quickly."

After hanging up the phone, Qi Xueqing immediately bought the nearest train ticket and hurried back.

His professional teacher is a well-known old professor in the history department, and also holds multiple positions, serving at the archaeological center and research institute; he can be said to be highly respected and morally upright.

Every time a cultural relic with major research significance is discovered, he summons his students to observe it, and by following him one can learn much useful knowledge.

When Qi Xueqing hurried back, most people had already arrived; besides some familiar faces from the history department, there were also some unfamiliar faces, and judging by their attire, they should be from the research institute.

"After our research and appraisal, these few pages of damaged ancient texts are very likely one of the lost chapters of the 《Yu Ding Ji》 that has been lost for a long time."

Hearing this, everyone's hearts surged with passion.

The author of the 《Yu Ding Ji》 is the renowned Wu Cheng'en; mentioning this name, perhaps few would find it unfamiliar, as it directly evokes the household name 《Journey to the West》!

Almost no one in Daxia is unaware of these three characters; every Daxia person's childhood was spent in the journey of the four disciples seeking scriptures, and moreover, every year Central TV alternates broadcasting it during winter and summer vacations.

Wu Cheng'en, courtesy name Ruzhong, style name Sheyang, from Shanyang County, Huai'an Prefecture, ancestral home in Anhui, fond of reading unofficial histories and strange tales.

The 《Huai'an Prefecture Gazette》 records that he was "intelligent and wise, extensively learned, composing poetry and prose with ease upon putting brush to paper, fond of reading books about immortals, ghosts, fox spirits, and monkey demons, such as 《Bai Guai Lu》 and 《Youyang Zazu》 and similar novels or unofficial histories."

Influenced by these, Wu Cheng'en wrote 《Journey to the West》, 《Yu Ding Ji》, 《Sheyang Ji》 four books in four volumes, 《Spring and Autumn Biographies Preface》, and a series of other works.

The most famous of these is undoubtedly 《Journey to the West》, which has been continuously adapted by later generations into novels, television dramas, and films.

It is regrettable that many of the novels Wu Cheng'en wrote have been lost; for the history and culture of Daxia, this is simply a great loss.

Even just his 《Journey to the West》 is already so splendid that one dares not imagine how wonderful his other stories might be.

Wu Cheng'en, with his rich and unique artistic imagination, vivid and twisting plot, and humorous and witty language, constructed a bizarre and wondrous world, yet one can see the projection of real society within it.

The damaged ancient texts found by Teacher Weizhong of Qi Xueqing are indeed one of the long-lost chapters of the 《Yu Ding Ji》, possessing immense research value, which is why Qi Xueqing was urgently summoned back.

After careful translation and restoration by Weizhong and others, the content on the ancient texts has finally been presented.

"The four directions above and below are the universe, from ancient times to the present is the cosmos; I once thought that beyond the universe there still exists vast天地, when suddenly a guest arrived, bringing dreamlike anecdotes, saying: in the barbaric lands of the Huanyu, there is a spherical body named Earth, on this earth a treasure tower was built for cultivators to communicate with each other, therefore this star shall be eliminated or migrated" (End of Chapter)