95. Exhausting

[Starfall Mountain Standard Formation Scripture Volume 348]

[Notes: Final volume contains extremely limited knowledge about primitive formations. Includes 7 specifications of Immortal Realm level formations. Requires 3 Profound Point(s) to comprehend at Master level.]

[Profound Points: (-602) 1457 -> 855]

Han De reviewed his knowledge once more. Unfortunately, there was absolutely no mention of the so-called noble numbers. The only idea that came to mind was that they were prime numbers, just with a different name.

'S#$%... I should've picked up some standard sealing scriptures…'

On Earth, prime numbers were useful for encryption. Somehow. Han De's knowledge of the subject came from hearsay. Therefore, it made sense to him that sealing techniques might use prime numbers as well. Somehow. Emphasis on somehow.

A total of 348 Starfall Mountain Standard Formation Scripture Volumes were inserted into his brain, at the Master comprehension level. This amount of data dwarfed everything else he had comprehended thus far. Yet, Han De had the feeling that he had only scratched the surface.

Considering he was hoping to interact with a planetary array that was made millions of years ago, that feeling was quite understandable. The chasm between an ancient array and the Immortal Realm array that Han De comprehended was vast.

He sighed with annoyance.

'How can there be nothing about noble numbers or the reverse lotus pattern?!'

Keep safe. Observe. And go with the flow. That was Han De's motto right now, yet he found it hard to follow that through.

Not that he had any delusions of being capable of saving the remains of his homeworld. Even if he did deactivate the seal, a crazy maniac was on his way to destroy everything. Han De was only hoping to save whatever he can, maybe make it easier to transport some people away before the inevitable.

Under the circumstances, maybe being crazy was far more preferable than being responsible for countless deaths.

Han De shook his head and took deep breaths.

<Sebastian, find the closest expert with the highest cultivation.>

Since even Sebastian had no idea what noble numbers were, or what the reverse lotus pattern meant, Han De could only rely on the remaining old monsters.

'Wait, didn't I see a genuine grandpa just recently?!'

<Bring me back to the sect we were before.>

|By your will young master.|

Han De had no time to regret his order, he was instantly teleported back to the same location. The more he learned about the power of space, the more uncomfortable he became. He used to think that flying at high speeds was extremely dangerous and wished that he could use teleportation! How naive he was!

His thoughts were interrupted by the sight of a strange trio.

That disgustingly hot woman was still here, but it almost seemed she was in a Mexican standoff between an old monk and a brown fox.

'A fox? Fox?'

The brown fox's instincts told it to flee. Its intuition as a Transcendent Realm expert told it to use everything, its body, and soul, to run away. At all costs. Thankfully, the brown fox wasn't a random Transcendent Realm expert, its mental faculties were strong enough to ignore distractions. Therefore, it immediately started acting like a normal brown fox, silently tried to walk away.

<Sebastian, what's that fox's cultivation?>

<|Young master, he is at Late-Stage Transcendent Realm, only a breath away from a breakthrough.|>

<…>

The old monk's eyes lit up with recognition upon seeing Han De. Aside from the Tan family in the Brass Stallion city, he was the only one that knew this was Han De of the Starfall Mountain.

Meanwhile, Li Ling's mind went to overdrive. She thought of many different possibilities in a split second.

Earlier, when this man did not budge against her cultivation pressure, she surmised he had much higher cultivation than her own, which was the reason why she didn't say anything afterward. She did not fear higher cultivation experts thanks to her identity, but if she met a country bumpkin, that could be problematic in the short term.

Looking at the elegant features of the man though, she had a hard time imagining him not being from a major family.

"Hold it right there while I'm asking nicely."

The brown fox froze, this time it couldn't go against its instincts.

"Have you heard anything about the term Noble Numbers and Reverse Lotus Pattern?"

The brown fox shook its head furiously, which rubbed the Han De in a wrong way almost immediately. He lowered his voice and narrowed his eyes without realizing it. The last time he saw a fox like this in the wild, he ended up fleeing for his life. The memory was too fresh to forget.

"Think. Very. Very, carefully. Noble numbers. Reverse Lotus pattern. It is related to arrays, and maybe seals. Think. As if your life depends on it."

Unfortunately, the brown fox really didn't know anything. Tears started to accumulate as the brown fox shook its head with all its vigor. At some point its body started shaking, making it look all the more pitiful.

Han De, however, couldn't care less about the fox's plight. He snorted at the fox, for the first time since he transmigrated to this Xianxia universe, he genuinely snorted.

He made no attempts to hide the disdain in his voice. "Useless!"

'Where the F#$% is that grandpa? Whatever, might as well ask everyone.'

<What's that monk's cultivation?>

<|Early-Stage Divinity Formation, young master.|>

Anything up to Immortal Realm was relatively easy to discern, but Han De had no experience with any of the higher realms. He specifically asked to use their cultivation as a point of reference for the Reality Sense.

Upon inspecting the monk, he realized it was the same monk that was thrown out by the extremely courageous street vendor. The old monk's cultivation was obviously lesser than the fox's, but Han De couldn't help but think there was something weird about it. He chalked those concerns up as inexperience. Sebastian had already confirmed it anyway, there was nothing to worry about!

'F#$%!!!'

That was obviously wrong! Very, very wrong. Extremely wrong. Han De immediately moved up the old monk's danger rating by five whole levels! Anything that could trigger Reality Sense in uncertain ways had to be treated with the utmost respect!

On the spot, Han De gave a respectful Dao salute to the old monk. His movements suddenly didn't have any excess and evoked an innate feeling of balance.

"This junior wishes to ask the same question to senior. The question is of utmost importance, this junior hopes the senior would not be offended."

Sudden attitude change caught both the brown fox, and Li Ling off guard. The former was still shaking, while the latter thought there was something wrong.

Meanwhile, the old monk smiled warmly at Han De.

"Benefactor, please don't be so polite with this old monk."

Han De focused on the word benefactor. Was it a deliberate choice of words, or just a habit? There was no memory of the cultivation idiot interacting with the Buddhist sects.

The old monk guessed what was going on in Han De's mind, but decided not to mention anything in front of outsiders.

"Amitabha. I don't know anything about noble numbers, or a reverse lotus pattern. Unfortunate!"

Seeing the old monk's regretful expression, Han De gave another salute, then confirmed with Sebastian. The old monk wasn't lying, as far as Sebastian could tell anyway.

Finally, Han De turned towards the Jade Beauty Template A (Ice-cold series), Variation 1 (Harem Candidate).

"Same question."

As Li Ling stared at the man's abyss-like eyes, she felt her heart skip a beat. This… was an unusual phenomenon to her, to say the least!

Naturally, as an Immortal Realm expert, she had immense control and awareness over her psyche, and quickly figured out the reason. Fear.

She felt that if she were to deceive him in any way, she would definitely die, in body, and in soul. No amount of treasures could help her. Not even the threat of her family meant anything here. She would cease to exist in an instant.

In truth, Li Ling didn't know anything. She would've answered truthfully anyway since there was nothing to hide. Yet the fact that her intuition was warning her like this unsettled her greatly.

"I have never heard of either."

Seeing the man's frown her heart skipped yet another beat, but thankfully the man turned his attention towards somewhere else. The relief she felt from that, disgusted Li Ling to her very core. How dare this person suppress her to this degree! She nearly bit her lips out of frustration.

Li Ling didn't forget that she tried to make him puke blood, but that was just a little payback for his rudeness. An equivalent exchange, or so she thought at the time. Perhaps she should be grateful that she didn't go overboard.

She!... Should be thankful? The very thought was revolting!

Han De was completely oblivious to the generic cold beauty's thoughts. In his meticulous plans, there were also specific sections on how to deal with Jade Beauties of any template. If Li Ling wasn't so good at hiding her expressions, and if Han De wasn't so preoccupied, he definitely would've extinguished any sort of enmity, no matter the source!

Unfortunately, he used his spiritual sense to locate the MC, and the grandpa, instead.

'… They're nearby, I should just walk…'

The MC seemed to be cultivating some distance away from the suspended platform.

'Wait, why is my aura there?'

An important side effect of the Primordial Light Qi was its semi-persistent state. Normally, leaving evidence behind was a serious, and unacceptable matter. While the conversation with his grandmother Long Juan had affected him, that shouldn't have stopped him from cleaning up after himself.

Han De reflected on his actions and wanted to disperse the remaining aura. But…

Seeing the sight of the MC cultivating, he couldn't help but smile. This boy, was actually using the remnant aura of the Heaven Defying Tyrannical Scripture, to temper himself! What a legendary sight to behold!

'This is it. This is what I'm talking about! An aura left accidentally by a Hidden Expert, guides the MC and forms an invisible karmic connection! This is what a Hidden Expert should do!!'

All of a sudden, the MC had gotten a lot more pleasing to the eye!

Han De inadvertently entered the Profound Teacher mode and continued to observe with his spiritual sense.

'…'

His enthusiasm lasted less than a minute. The only thing more boring than cultivation was watching someone else cultivate. However, he did appreciate the taste of the MC, and by proxy, the grandpa. The Heaven Defying Tyrannical Scripture was at the legendary [Very Weak] realm. Same realm as the Blazing Sun Scripture of Ning Bi, and the Celestial Storm Scripture of Yao Qing. This was rare stuff!

'Maybe this will be easier than I thought!'

Han De smiled and closed the distance with Through the Starlight scripture. Just as he was about to speak, the MC started coughing up blood. Even without using spiritual sense, Han De could feel the Qi in MCs body was wreaking havoc.

'F#$%, are you that weak? Seriously? Oh wait, maybe he is that type of MC. Hmm, good to know. Good to know.'

Han De dispersed the remnant aura and used the Golden Spark spiritual spell to heal the MC.

Ping Xiang, the MC in question, was dumbfounded.

'Did I… tame the sword aura? Why does it feel so comfortable?'

He heard a long sigh inside his head.

'Just the edge of the aura was enough to destroy your body, did you really think you were able to tame it? You got lucky, if it wasn't for that healing technique you would've become invalid already. How many times do I have to say it?'

After yet another sigh, Dong Wang's tone became serious.

'Quickly thank the expert that healed you. Mind your words, don't say anything unnecessary.'

Ping Xiang slowly opened his eyes, and audibly gulped. In front of him was the same, beautiful man. There wasn't any cultivation pressure that was pressing Ping Xiang down, yet he felt an inexplicable weight while meeting the man's intense gaze.

Han De remembered that the boy had a sword art. Instead of trying to remember it, he just did a status-check once more.

[Name: Ping Xiang]

[Race: Human (100%)]

[Gender: Male]

[Age: 14]

[Cultivation: Qi Condensation (4/13) (10.9747%)]

[Constitution: None]

[Bloodline: None]

[Roots: Metal (13.67%)]

[Potential Points (Total: 24)]

-------------------------------------------

[Will: 7]

[Talent: 5]

[Comprehension: 5]

[Luck: 7]

[Cultivation Methods]

-------------------------------------------

[Five Invincible Shadow Mountain Scripture (Incomplete)]

[Power: Extremely Weak]

[Comprehension: Beginner (5/6)]

[Stage: Qi Condensation (4/13)]

[Expand to view more...]

[Martial Arts Methods]

-------------------------------------------

[Infinite Monarch Slaying Sword Scripture (Incomplete)]

[Power: Extremely Weak]

[Comprehension: Beginner (19/64)]

[Stage: Qi Condensation (4/13)]

[Expand to view more...]

[Fate]

[Divine Sword Saint]

[Notes]

[Cannot be accepted as a disciple.]

Han De inwardly sighed once again. With low comprehension and talent, this guy was an ideal disciple. Unfortunately, his total Potential Points were too low.

[Sync point confirmed and verified]

[Congratulations]

[Host's disciple Jin Shu successfully reached the Late-Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm!]

[Issuing 2000 Profound Points as a reward.]

[Congratulations!]

[Host's disciple, Jin Shu, has created a new cultivation scripture!]

[Issuing 1000 Profound Points as a reward.]

[Congratulations!]

[Host's disciple, Jin Shu, has completed a self-created cultivation scripture!]

[Issuing 10000 Profound Points as a reward.]

[Boundless Renewal Scripture (Mortal III)]

[Power: Very Weak]

[Profound Points: (+13000) 855 -> 13855]

Han De suppressed his smile. It almost felt like Jin Shu was asserting her dominance.

"Not bad. You have some success with the Infinite Monarch Slaying Sword Scripture."

Ping Xiang's eyes widened, not at Han De's words, but at the words of his master.

'S#$%...'

Did his master, who kept bugging him about his speech and demeanor for months, just say 'S#$%'? Ping Xiang couldn't believe his ears. No, he must've heard wrongly…

Han De chuckled inside. The status-check really worked in his favor when it came to bluffing. In reality though, Ping Xiang had no idea what he was talking about.

'Master, what is this Infinite Monarch Slaying Sword Scripture? Is it related to the Seventy-Six Demon Slaying Sword that I practice?'

Han De went through the motions and profoundly stared at the distance. Then, he gently nodded and turned his gaze towards the MC once more.

"It seems there is some fate between us."

Ping Xiang stiffened upon hearing those words. In his experience, nothing good would follow when a senior started talking fate.

"H-Ha, how could that be, senior? This juni-"

"I know you have inherited a legacy."

Seeing the man's sharp gaze Ping Xiang reflexively gulped once more. What legacy? When did he inherit one? At that moment though, he couldn't even refute. Maybe he did inherit a legacy, but he didn't know about it?

Of course, Han De was only trying to give the MC a good excuse. Mentioning a legacy was a pretty good way to do that.

First, there were legacies all over the place. If one didn't care about the quality, finding a dozen of them a day was easy. Even a Core Formation expert could make a tomb and technically leave a legacy behind.

Second, proving or disproving someone had a legacy was nearly impossible. It always ended up with a he-said/she-said festival. The most surefire method was soul-searching, if one didn't care about frying the brains in question.

Han De chuckled in a profound manner, and made a mental note to use the legacy excuse more often!

"Relax, how could I, a sword cultivator, covet a junior's hard-earned fortune? I just want to ask you a couple of questions, if you answer them truthfully, I will impart you the completed version of the Infinite Monarch Slaying Sword Scripture."

Ping Xiang heard another sharp comment from his master.

'F#$%!!'

This time, Ping Xian understood that these expletives were leaking from his master's inner thoughts.

'?!? Uhh, master? What's going on?'

But unfortunately, no answer came.

Han De spoke slowly, just to make sure both the MC and the grandpa inside him heard everything correctly.

"Have you encountered any mention of either Noble Numbers, or Reverse Lotus Pattern?"

Ping Xiang's confusion was visible to the naked eye, exactly as Han De expected.

"Take your time, think about it carefully. It may be related to arrays, or even seals. Even if you don't know, that's fine, just give me an honest answer."

Ping Xiang nodded then consulted his master at once.

'Hmm... let me think…'

Dong Wang mumbled for some time, then sighed with frustration.

'Those should be invented after my time. If it was alchemy, I could've deduced their true nature even in this state…'

Dong Wang knew of Ping Xiang's temperance and preemptively answered. Otherwise, the boy might start asking dangerous questions to the expert.

'This man should be …Song Nuan's disciple. They might be a little… Well, you don't need to worry about them keeping their word. The less you involve yourself the better. Just answer him.'

"T-This junior is stupid and doesn't know anything about Noble Numbers, or Reverse Lotus Patterns."

Han De narrowed his eyes and watched the MC's nervous bow. He resisted the urge to click his tongue. In an ideal world, he would've talked to the grandpa directly, but for now this would have to do.

The chances of discovery were slim to begin with. The Xianxia iPad was over 400 billion years old. Terms and definitions would've changed a million times by now. Asking around was only a fool's hope.

Dong Wang spoke after a deep sigh.

'Thank the heavens that you have no talent for the sword.'

'?!? Hey, old man, didn't you praise me for my talent when we first met? What do you mean I have no talent?'

After a moment of silence, Dong Wang answered with a serene tone.

'I praised your persistence, not your innate talent.'

Ping Xiang was shocked. When he thought back, he realized Dong Wang really did praise his persistence. The old man's wording was too precise!

'Then why did you say I was born to cultivate sword techniques?!'

No, something was wrong. Ping Xiang tried to remember the old man's words. That day, they were talking about Ping Xiang's usual training methods. After listening for a long time, the old man had sighed and said, 'Ping Xiang, you were really born to cultivate…'

Dong Wang couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed.

'You may not have a talent for sword, or for spear, or halb-… Ehm. What you have is a strong will, one of the strongest that I've ever seen. That is a talent in and of itself. That is why I've accepted you as my disciple. Sword, saber, spear, halberd, you can master any of them, through your own efforts!'

Ping Xiang had always thought that hard work was its own reward. He trained and cultivated diligently, often far more than others. So long as he was steady, good things would come! Surely!

Even then, hearing that he doesn't have talent, in anything, was a bit too much. Who wouldn't want to be special? Who wouldn't want to be a genius that could cultivate for twice the result with half the effort? Yet Ping Xiang didn't have a talent for anything. Not for martial arts, not for cultivation, not even for fine arts! How could heavens be this unfair?!

Ping Xiang felt indignant, but these thoughts and feelings were only there for a fleeting moment.

'I'll just have to work harder! Harder than anyone!'

Dong Wang's confident voice reverberated in Ping Xiang's mind.

'As I said, you have the right temperament.'

"Are you sure you know nothing?"

It seemed like the MC was having a serious conversation with the grandpa, right after the MC claimed he didn't know anything. Suspicious!

"This-this junior kept thinking about it but still couldn't remember anything…"

"Hmmmm…"

Han De clicked his tongue from the inside.

'This guy's luck score is 7, he'll probably make it out alive even without his shotacon sugar mommy. Antagonizing a 24-point MC won't do me any favors.'

"Very well. Give me your incomplete method and I will fill in the parts that are missing."

Since this guy's cultivation and talent were low, he was bound to write down some of the stuff he learned from the grandpa. It didn't matter if the key parts weren't there, the System could handle that. Han De wouldn't shy away from a few hundred Profound Points if he could establish good relations with an MC. Even a few thousand was a cheap price!

Ping Xiang, with permission from Dong Wang, searched the cosmos bag. Among the entire wealth of the Silent Silhouette Sect, finding a mini scroll case was surprisingly easy, because the said case stood out quite a bit.

"This is the one, senior…"

Han De saw the layers and layers of caked sweat on the case…

'I'm not touching that.'

Thankfully, the System only required proximity, not physical touch.

[Infinite Monarch Slaying Sword Scripture (Incomplete)]

[Completion: 3%]

[Power: Extremely Weak]

[Notes: Requires a sword to operate. Requires 2 Profound Point(s) to learn.]

[Infinite Monarch Slaying Sword Scripture requires 34 Martial Arts Fragments to fully complete it. Partial completion not possible]

[Infinite Monarch Slaying Sword Scripture requires 3 Profound Points to advance to intermediate level]

[Infinite Monarch Slaying Sword Scripture (Earth III)]

[Power: Extremely Weak]

[Comprehension: Intermediate (0/262)

[Stage: Early-Stage Nascent Soul]

[Martial Arts Method Fragment] [x166]

[Profound Points: (-5) 13855 -> 13850]

After reviewing the Infinite Monarch Slaying Sword Scripture, Han De became aware of an important issue.

'S#$%, why is this scripture so damn long…'

Sometimes, pretending was so exhausting! Writing down everything was simply too daunting of a task!

'F#$% it. Illusion it is. Deal with it.'