“Sit down.”
The old man beckoned the two to sit down.
He then said, “There’s no tea to treat you with; do you mind?”
Chen Changsheng shook his head and said, “Of course not.”
He looked at the old man before him and asked, “So you really are a cultivator from Yizhen Dao Mountain?”
After hearing this, the old man shook his head and smiled, saying, “Nowadays in the Cultivation World, anyone who asks about Yizhen Dao Mountain is basically told it perished over time; in short, it’s existing in name only.”
Patriarch Yun was startled and said, “How could that be? I remember a hundred or so years ago, Yizhen Dao Mountain was still famous and widely known.”
The old man said, “The Cultivation World changes every day; in a hundred or ten years, countless Immortal Mountain sects have vanished; no surprise there.”
Patriarch Yun sighed after hearing this.
Chen Changsheng asked, “Is only you left as a Daoist Friend in this place?”
“Sort of.”
The old man said, “There were a few junior brothers earlier, but they all went down the mountain and left, mostly feeling it was pointless to stay here.”
Chen Changsheng paused for a moment and asked, “Are you staying here for inheritance?”
The old man paused and said, “Who would be so foolish? I just find it comfortable here.”
But his tone was a bit flustered; one glance showed he was lying.
Chen Changsheng smiled helplessly and said, “I once knew a Daoist Priest who was like you; he also stayed for inheritance. His Senior Brothers all descended the mountain, yet he remained alone in the Taoist temple, all for the term ‘inheritance’.”
“I already said it’s not like that,” the old man insisted.
Chen Changsheng nodded and said, “It was my slip of tongue; do not blame me, Daoist Friend.”
The old man coughed once, then said no more.
Chen Changsheng stopped chatting and spoke up, “I came here to consult you, Daoist Friend, about talismans and formation arrays.”
The old man looked at him and asked, “Many people in the world know talismans and formations. If you came all the way from Qingyuan to ask, it must not be simple.”
Chen Changsheng laughed and said, “What you say is right; what I want to ask might be hard for others to answer.”
The old man blinked and said, “Go ahead, tell me.”
Chen Changsheng said, “Have you ever heard of Ancient Script Cultivators?”
Hearing these words, the old man started and said, “You ask about that?”
Chen Changsheng said, “In this matter, I really couldn’t find any information.”
The old man seemed puzzled and asked, “Forgive me for being blunt, but the path of Ancient Script Cultivators is too useless; you should just focus on formations and talismans.”
“Daoist Friend, you misunderstood; I’m not here to learn,” Chen Changsheng said. “I faced a problem: I once found a formation array drawn entirely with Ancient Runes. Without knowing them, that array couldn’t be undone.”
After hearing this, the old man grunted and said, “So that’s how it is.”
“Do you have the formation diagram?”
Chen Changsheng said, “I remember it; I can draw it for you now.”
As he spoke, he took out brush and ink from his sleeve.
He drew the runes from the formation he remembered onto paper.
“Daoist Friend, take a look.”
The old man looked over, saw the formation, and frowned.
“This rune…”
The old man took that paper in his hand and examined it carefully.
After about half a quarter of an hour.
Only then did the old man put down the paper and say, “You two wait here a bit; I need to go inside and search.”
Chen Changsheng said, “Go ahead, Daoist Friend.”
The old man nodded, then entered the house.
Patriarch Yun looked around and asked, “Mr. Chen, may I ask what Ancient Script Cultivators are?”
“It’s a very old method.”
Chen Changsheng said, “There might be old texts left, but few learn it now.”
Patriarch Yun understood and didn’t ask more; he was just briefly curious.
Soon after, the old man returned with a book.
He placed the paper on the table and checked against the book.
He flipped through, eventually reaching the last page.
Only then did the old man lift his head and say to the two before him, “This formation diagram had twelve Ancient Runes total; my Yizhen Dao Mountain has records for only eight; for the rest, I can’t help.”
“But from the eight we know now, this formation was likely for sealing; they were very fierce sealing runes. Such runes are only used for Great Demons or Demon Sovereigns, not common things.”
The old man looked at Chen Changsheng and asked, “Where did you find this formation?”
Chen Changsheng said, “I found it by chance.”
The old man hesitated and said, “You’d better tell me clearly; otherwise, I won’t tell you.”
This was no joke.
If some fiend or beast from Ancient Times was sealed under it, it could bring harm to all life.
Chen Changsheng stared at the old man, thought long and hard, then finally spoke, “Daoist Friend, forgive me, but I truly cannot say plainly. Yet I swear by the Heavenly Dao that what’s under that formation is no great demon or fiend.”
Hearing this, the old man frowned; he hesitated for a long while, not knowing what to do.
He shook his head and said, “What you plan isn’t small; my Yizhen Dao Mountain is weak now; we can’t bear that karma.”
Chen Changsheng said, “I will take all the karma upon myself.”
The old man said, “Is that truly without falsehood?”
“Absolutely without falsehood,” Chen Changsheng nodded.
The old man nodded, then added, “Also, I have a greedy request.”
“Daoist Friend, please speak.”
“If what you do brings endless merit later, please give some to my Yizhen Dao Mountain. Though these are shameless words, I don’t care about dignity for my mountain’s sake.”
Basically, it meant if things went wrong, his mountain wanted no guilt; if they went well, it wanted a share.
It was somewhat shameless, but it was also the only way.
Chen Changsheng heard this and said, “I get your meaning. To me, merit is like passing clouds; if merit truly comes, I definitely won’t forget Yizhen Dao Mountain.”
“Good!”
The old man stated this, then clearly explained the meanings of those eight runes to Chen Changsheng.
These runes all had deep roots; knowing today’s formation runes helped understand those Ancient Scripts easily.
Before long, Chen Changsheng grasped the meanings of the eight runes and their arrays and talismans fully.
These Ancient Runes were indeed profound.
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