54 Rising (XII)
Hui Lan stood in the same position while observing those pillars that were moving around her. Her cat-like eyes would from time to time squint as she looked at them.
All of the pillars around her were all in different sizes and different heights. Some of the pillars even had symbols or pictures carved onto them.
While some looked similar to the other, some were completely different.
Moreover, all were moving at the same time but all in a different direction. On the opposite side from her and beyond the tree was where the pillars descended down to the ground. It was where she needed to go, but it was also these pillars that were moving around her at the same time.
The only pillar that was not moving was hers.
However, the more she looked and focused on the descending pillars and traced the rest of the pillars to hers, the more her eyes felt dizzy.
...Or could it be that they were all made for her to be dizzy and get out of focus? If so, then their formation was doing it well...
Nevertheless, in every formation, there must be a pattern and that pattern is what she must find...
Hui Lan closed her eyes slowly to calm her own mind. Sometimes, you just needed to clear your mind for it to work.
Soon after, she reopened her eyes again. This time, she began observing the pillars nearest to her first and to the next row of pillars and to the next.
It seemed like they were moving in...
...Circles, no, the main shapes were circular motions. Just like this circle arena, it seemed these pillars were also circulating around in circles as well.
After examining the directions, she was sure that they were moving in circular motions, Hui Lan then began looking at the objects that were further away.
There was still the gigantic tree in the centre of this formation. She then looked up to see what else could there be that would come of use to familiarizing the person behind this formation.
The ceiling of this arena was rather impressive. It was a painting of a night sky. However, on the ceiling, there was a moon and a sun in the same night sky.
...It was not the normal night sky as one might see with their bare eyes, was it, huh?
...If there were the sun and moon, should there not be earth?
Hui Lan's brows became more furrowed as she was lost in her thoughts. She looked from the two moon and sun and in between. However, there was nothing else between them.
A slight sense of disappointment flashed through Hui Lan's eyes as she looked down from the painting on the ceiling. However, just as she looked down, her eyes caught onto the enormous tree that was in front of her.
...Earth?
Could this tree be the representation of the earth, of life on this planet?
...Then, if I could add them together...Sun, Moon, and Earth…?...Circular motions…?
...Could it be...this formation?
Questions after questions bubbled up in her head as she thought her way to find any connections between them. Nevertheless, her historical/scientific training was beginning to kick in.
The only thing that was connecting to this idea of hers was how each pillar would turn in circular motions with each other.
...Just like how the moon was to the earth and the earth to the sun.
...With the looks of how this formation was designed. There must be more than just one circle going around this floor...so, there might just be a way for her to focus on one of these circular motions and find her way to get around them.
Hui Lan's heart began accelerating as her ideas were all coming together.
...Although it might not be one hundred percent correct, since this might just be her hypothesis, then it should be tested out.
As Hui Lan settled her heart to test out her plans, she began observing more carefully at the pillars that were surrounding her again.
If there were to be three circular formations like she thought, then these three pillars close to her might just be the start to all of them.
Hui Lan picked one of the pillars and began mapping a circular pattern, but to her surprise, as she looked further on, the circular formation that she had aimed for turned out to be moving in a half-moon rather than a full moon.
She then turned to look at the pillar beside it and was able to picture it out to be the Earth's shape; oblate spheroid.
...How were these people in this period able to know of such knowledge? The earth was not a perfect round shape.
Then the third closest pillar to her seemed to be moving something like a flower shape and not truly circular. However, could it be that the Sun was representing the yellow flower in the sky?
Hui Lan then traced her eyes to the smallest pillar that was on the other side of the tree.
...That was where she needed to go...and it happened to be that the pattern that was moving like the earth was the pattern she needed to go.
Hui Lan then did not hesitate and took a small leap from her tiny platform onto a bigger platform. The only good part of these pillars was that they were close to each other.
Hence, she was able to land onto it in one leap that did not require much strength, but she would have to balance herself for all the pillars were twirling around in circles as their own orbits.
After landing on one platform, the rest was easy.
...The more she jumped from one pillar to the other, the more she became excited to reach for the end.
However, as she reached behind the tree, there she encountered an unexpectable obstacle.
There were no more pillars in front of her to jump. The circular pattern was correct, but it was just that there was a much larger gap in between the descending pillars.
Hui Lan's soft brows became slightly furrowed.
...This was really built for those without any martial arts ah.
Nevertheless, since the big tree had blinded her from this spot, now that she was able to observe the pillars that led to the smaller pillars.
However, unlike she had expected, she could not find which formation it belonged to.
Eventually, she placed her hand gently on her head and began massaging it.
Then, the next moment, she began thinking of the way again.
...What if the formations were forged into one another...maybe that was why she couldn't trace it…
...Tch, all this thinking just to test her...sigh...so this was how her students must have felt like.
...Well, no big deal, she'll just start again.
Then, off she went to her beginning platform.
...Since these formations looked like they were connected with each other, then there could be a possibility that all of them were connected together.
...Right, then, I'll think of their connections first.
...Sun, Moon, and Earth...yes, that's right...these would be their orders in the solar system.
...However, did these people have such knowledge?
Once again, Hui Lan became doubtful, but...this was the only way she could think of.
Again, Hui Lan began following the pattern that she had in mind. She'll take the route of the sun first, then to the moon...and then to the earth.
As Hui Lan made her way onto the Sun-like formation, just as she thought she would come to an end, she could finally see the next linking pillar.
Just below the platform, there was a shape that was drawn looking very similar to a...crescent moon?
The moon pattern!
Hui Lan did not hesitate and jumped onto the next pillar.
She then proceeded to the pillars that were following her beginning point. As she moved, she kept the half moon shape in mind as she connected the pillars together.
In no time, she finally reached the last point of the half moon and as she reached her final point, she began looking for a pillar that could possibly have a symbol of 'earth' that she could jump onto.
However, there was none, but instead, there was a symbol that looked very much like a tree...that was still alright, that was enough.
Hui Lan then jumped onto it without thinking much and proceeded on her way.
Meanwhile, Elder Yi got up from his seat in a hurry as if his seat was hot.
...This girl? She had cracked it up so soon.
On the other hand, Feng Furen who had already been standing up this whole time glanced over to the Elder Yi.
...Hm, it seemed, Hui Lan was almost done then…
...Sigh, that was good. If Hui Lan continued, then she would be forcing her body too much.
Then in a balcony that was hidden in the shadows of the arena and from outsiders to see, there was a middle aged man with a peerless white fan in his hand.
He closed his fan in one whiff.
...It seemed she was really the one Grand Master has been looking for.
...This formation was created 22 years ago for the one Grand Master had been waiting for.
The girl from the future...was her.
