Light Fortress
Chapter 328 - 23: Visualization (Request for Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 328: Chapter 23: Visualization (Request for Monthly Tickets)

"This is the legendary..."

"An S-Level?"

Outside the Fourth Judge Daoist School in Snow Forbidden City.

Across a street block, on the rooftop of some building, stood two young men, one fat and one thin, one seated and the other standing.

They did not join the crowd outside the dojo to "spectate."

The fat one’s forehead was strapped with a pair of goggles, which he did not lower. His body was round like a meat mountain, and his eyes narrowed into slits. He sat obediently with his hands on his knees, perched on the edge of the rooftop. The biting wind was brisk, carrying with it the occasional flurry of fine snow that fluttered his red plaid scarf like a red tassel.

He sat there smiling like a Maitreya Buddha, still and silent.

In front of him, the drifting snowflakes seemed to be manipulated by some invisible spiritual power, gradually diffusing into a hazy scene.

A square fighting platform.

A youth in seated meditation.

An ancient sheepskin scroll.

The sight looked similar to what was happening inside the dojo with Gu Nanfeng’s Lan Qie imitation, but in reality, it was a completely different type of display... Lan Qie required a great deal of control to construct the flowing air, whereas the scene before them was a "projection" caused by the theft of spiritual power, with the snowflakes serving as a medium carrier.

The thin one knitted his brows, gazing at the scene projected from inside the dojo and called out the nickname of the fat one, asking, "Nangua... Was Shen Li defeated by this kid?"

Nangua slowly nodded.

The thin one frowned and said, "He doesn’t seem that strong."

"...He’s quite weak."

Nangua finally spoke up, frankly saying, "Probably only... the Deep Sea Fourth Level?"

"I’ve sparred with Shen Li before... The ’Iron Eater’ once unleashed can exponentially increase his combat power in a frenzied state." The thin one recalled the scene from the previous fight inside the dojo, the image of Shen Li getting beaten up while pinned down, and to this moment, he still couldn’t figure out what power Gu Shen had used.

Was it that strand of Chi Huo?

"However, more than defeating Shen Li... what concerns me more is that this kid has only cultivated for half a year, yet he already wants to integrate the second scroll of the breathing technique." His expression grew serious, "If I remember correctly, among the younger generation of Changye, the only one who has managed to integrate two breathing techniques is that ’Bai Wudi.’"

The smile on the fat one’s face gradually faded.

He remembered a face flashing through his mind.

Just thinking of that face... he found it hard to smile.

"They are... different."

Nangua thought for a long time and then earnestly said, "Old Gong, I don’t like Bai Xiu, but I don’t dislike Gu Shen."

"I don’t like Bai Xiu either, who likes Bai Xiu?" Old Gong scoffed coldly, expressing his disgust, "Those who come from the Bai Family all like to claim they’re invincible. In Changye, you randomly pick someone with the surname Bai and they say they are invincible; how can there be so many invincibles in the world... Also, how many times have I said it, don’t call me Old Gong, call me by my name, Gong Zi!"

After a moment of silence, the fat one complied obediently, "Alright, Old Gong."

...

...

"A lot of people are watching you."

Within the stilled Grain Rain Volume Spiritual World.

Countless thin raindrops no longer merely reflected one person... numerous fine streams of light converged beside Gu Shen, as Chu Ling solidified her form and stood upon the wilderness.

"It’s not just the prison, the command center, the Judgement Institute, the grand families behind the scenes of Changye, the Gu family, the Bai family, and some others... those that haven’t yet shown themselves, all kinds of big and small powers, have been watching you ever since you opened the Grain Rain Volume and haven’t moved their gazes since."

Gu Shen smiled and asked, "Are they keeping time?"

"Exactly," replied Chu Ling with some emotion.

Those outside were waiting... waiting to see if Gu Shen could comprehend the Grain Rain Volume, and how long it would take him to do so.

Compared to his initial comprehension, Gu Shen’s progress was huge... this progress was not reflected in the speed of the Dream Interpretation, but in his attitude towards the "Dream" itself.

To remain calm and at peace despite the numerous eyes focused on him.

"You don’t seem to be in a rush."

Chu Ling accompanied Gu Shen as they stood quietly in the midst of the Grain Rain World. As a "source code," her data bank stored many Dream Sealing Object decoding programs, but she could not directly decipher the Jingzhe and Grain Rain scrolls inscribed with ancient characters.

All she could do was to keep him company.

"Interpreting dreams requires a peaceful state of mind; being in a hurry is of no use," Gu Shen said with a smile.

"Moreover, this place is really beautiful... It’s a different kind of scenery from the Four Seasons Wilderness in my Spiritual Domain," Gu Shen candidly said, "That’s why I want to take a closer look."

The tiny flame between his eyebrows had long since sprung out and was struggling in the palm of Gu Shen’s hand, trying to burst free, yet it was held by five loosely clenched fingers, like a wronged cub, anxiously awaiting the time to be released from its cage.

Gu Shen and Chu Ling strolled on the Grain Rain wilderness where "time had come to a standstill."

"Mr. Gu Changzhi told me..." he said, "he is looking forward to me finding the scattered breathing techniques, to cultivate a complete ’Four Seasons Wilderness’."

Looking at this incredibly familiar scene, Gu Shen couldn’t help but remember his conversation with Mr. Gu Changzhi in the Golden Divine Domain.

"After comprehending Jingzhe, then Grain Rain... That should be the complete Spring Breathing," he murmured, raising his head.

And if he wasn’t mistaken, he quietly said, "This is only corresponding to one of the seasons in the Four Seasons."

"There’s spring, summer, fall, and winter..."

Gu Shen came to a halt.

He gently reached out, attempting to grasp a droplet of water.

However, just when he touched the droplet in the world of the Grain Rain Volume, a strong urge to be immersed within it welled up from deep within his soul, and Gu Shen quickly withdrew his hand, taking a deep breath.

This feeling was all too familiar.

To others, the "Jingzhe Scroll," difficult to comprehend... for Gu Shen, it was merely being showered in a spring rain.

Comprehending Jingzhe was as natural and effortless as breathing, naturally occurring.

Similarly... an inner intuition told Gu Shen that comprehending the Grain Rain Volume would be the same!

But a deeper intuition was reminding him.

There was something deeper, much deeper, in this volume’s comprehension.

"If the secret of the Visualization method is inscribed in ancient script, and later generations need to touch the script, following the guidance of the predecessor’s spirit, to immerse themselves in the world of Visualization," he pondered aloud.

"Then how did the first person visualize?"

It’s like a road.

There was no road in this world at first... but as more and more people walked, a road was made.

After pondering briefly for a second, Chu Ling softly asked, "Maybe the first person... didn’t even think it would become a road?"

"Indeed... Perhaps the first person never thought it would become a road."

A streak of enlightenment flashed through Gu Shen’s mind.

He slowly sat down, looking up at the sky and murmured, "Mr. Gu Changzhi is a genius, but is the path he took upon touching the Grain Rain Volume... really the right one?"

Chu Ling was somewhat bewildered.

She didn’t quite understand what Gu Shen meant, but she knew... what she needed to do at the moment was to keep quiet.

The vast wilderness was serene and silent.

Time had frozen.

Time was also passing.

Engrossed in thought, Gu Shen didn’t touch a single droplet, nor did he start comprehending the Grain Rain Volume... He simply maintained his posture, staring up at the sky, his gaze gradually becoming vacant and then profound, as if he had turned into an old tree connected to the wilderness.

Apart from Gu Changzhi, no one else had considered this question...

The question of whether the "road" was the right one.

To people of the world, a "dead-end road" that was originally impassable, suddenly cleared into a path leading towards the light, seemed to be "right" already.

But, when looked at from a different angle... perhaps on this parchment, there is another, broader road leading to a vast expanse of light?

After a long time.

Gu Shen’s voice slowly squeezed out from his throat.

He murmured, "I feel something is missing here... The Four Seasons Wilderness shouldn’t be like this."

...

...

(Continuing to ask for votes~ There’s a big Chapter tonight~)