Chapter 309: 32 Chapters Ji Jiji
He walked past three halls and crossed five halls, where a phantom-like figure turned to the right, silently entering a courtyard and through into the building.
And the closed doors and windows didn’t make any sound, as if they had never been opened or closed.
This was a cassock room, a place for Taoists to practice and reside. The spacious living room was furnished with tables and chairs, and around it stood three bookcases against the walls, fully stocked with scrolls.
Further inside, there was a retreat room with its door open, revealing a meditation cushion inside.
"This Daoist temple really corresponds with the Iron Pillar Temple," Jiang Li remarked to Tianxuan.
In his right eye, the figure of Tianxuan also saw the surroundings and said, "The cassock room of the temple master of the Iron Pillar Temple?"
Judging from the layout of the room and considering Jiang Li’s words, Tianxuan naturally first guessed it might belong to the highest-ranking temple master.
"Indeed," Jiang Li nodded.
He had once eavesdropped outside Tong Yuanzi’s window using Dream Butterfly, and was thus quite familiar with the temple master’s cassock room. While the arrangement of this cassock room was different from Tong Yuanzi’s, it still revealed the high status of its owner.
If he wasn’t mistaken, this place was likely the living quarters of the founder of the Iron Pillar Temple.
Jiang Li swept his gaze across the room and then walked straight to the bookshelves.
"Strange, all these scrolls are made of bamboo," Jiang Li frowned slightly.
In this era, the writing tools had long developed to paper and about four hundred years ago, some major powers had already started to record information on jade scrolls.
As long as one’s Divine Sense could exit the body, information could be inscribed into the special jade, and the threshold for the readers was lowered, as for those jade scrolls not imposed with restrictions, all information could be transferred into the mind through a touch of spiritual power.
Unless these scrolls were ancient books from a thousand years ago, theoretically, they should not exist in the form of bamboo slips.
"They are not ordinary bamboo slips; these are made from Golden Thunder Bamboo," Tianxuan spoke up.
On closer look, Jiang Li indeed noticed that all the bamboo slips were not the oxidized yellow but rather a subtle golden yellow. He picked up the bamboo slip on the far left and the bamboo pieces clinked together, emitting a sound like jade chimes.
Tianxuan continued, "Under the same conditions, the lifespan of a paper page is less than that of bamboo slips. If jade slips encounter an Essence Qi collision, they could develop errors in the information. Compared to these, the most primitive bamboo slips, especially made from this Golden Thunder Bamboo, can be the easiest to preserve for a long period."
This meant that this either held important ancient texts or was something the first-generation temple master intentionally left for future viewers.
Recognizing this point, Jiang Li unrolled the bamboo slip, and amidst the faint golden light unique to Golden Thunder Bamboo, all the information inside was displayed.
"I, Xuan Hao, mundanely known as Ji Jiji, if you descendants have come here, you must have seen the scrolls I left in the Imperial Palace. In that case, you should know, —— (blank), only —— (blank), —— (large blank)"
Aside from learning that the temple master’s name was "Ji Jiji," there wasn’t much useful information.
Noticing this, Jiang Li’s eyes moved slightly, and he immediately picked up the second scroll next to him.
"I hope through —— (blank), let our Great Zhou —— (blank)"
"Judging by the space, this should be a two-word blank, and representing Great Zhou could be..."
—— Emperor.
This was information related to the Emperor of Zhou.
"—— If this move isn’t successful, it indicates the move was effective if failure is met by death."
What did this mean?
The failure yet effective?
"That means, if it’s just a failure, it doesn’t lead to death," Jiang Li whispered softly.
"If he died after failing, then perhaps it means that the method was correct, and he was killed," Tianxuan followed.
And judging from the materials of these bamboo slips, the real name of the significantly unfortunate first-generation temple master deliberately preserved the information, and arrangements were made both inside the Imperial Palace and here.
He did this well, much better than those incomprehensible seniors in the novels of previous eras who only spoke in riddles, waiting until the protagonist was at his wit’s end before suddenly unraveling the riddles for a grand reversal.
The downside was that this method still didn’t convey any useful information.
The first-generation temple master didn’t want to be a riddler, but the information he left was even more debilitating than riddles. Looking at it this way, it might have been better to be a riddler; maybe then, he could have passed on some information.
"Take a close look to see if the characters have been erased," Tianxuan suggested.
"Hm?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Li’s gaze focused on the blank areas of the bamboo slip.
"They haven’t been erased," his pupils slightly constricted.
If the carvings on the bamboo slips had been erased, the blank spaces would appear slightly thinner than other areas. These traces might not be obvious, but they could not deceive Jiang Li’s eyes.
But now, all the blank spaces appeared intact.
This meant either the blanks had never been inscribed initially, or whoever removed the information did it not by directly erasing it but by restoring the bamboo slips as if time had reversed.
Moreover, this elimination didn’t remove all the text but selectively erased the related information.
"It’s like having specific information singled out and erased directly rather than scrolling through it all and then erasing the relevant information."
Jiang Li continued to browse through the bamboo slips.
Sure enough, most of the remaining slips also contained large portions of blank space, leaving only some unimportant information behind.
"This kind of divine skill..." Jiang Li murmured hesitantly, "it’s just like the blossoming of flowers in the Divine Capital."
In the Divine Capital this autumn, it was like spring with flowers blooming in abundance, all because of the Emperor’s Oral Heavenly Decree.
Now, this situation was remarkably similar.
It was something that could be done with just a sentence.
Once the Emperor used his Dao Fruit Divine Power to command, all information would automatically vanish without leaving any excess traces.
However, one peculiar thing was that there was still a bit of information left, enough to deduce certain matters.
It was like how Jiang Li deduced the Emperor from the two missing characters.
If it were Jiang Li, with his prudence, he would definitely erase all information... No, he would pulverize the entire Cave Heaven Blessed Land to ensure no disadvantageous elements were left behind.
Tianxuan didn’t reply, only pondering deeply for a long time. Even through a veil, Jiang Li could feel the heaviness in her heart.
Jiang Li still browsed through the bamboo slips, wanting to see if there were other useful pieces of information.
However, before he could finish, Dream Butterfly under the eaves sensed someone approaching.
No, correction—he didn’t need to approach; he was already there.
By the time Dream Butterfly became aware of the other party, he had arrived at the doorway of the cassock.
In a single green robe, outstanding and with a natural elegance and poise.
The Green-clothed Young Master appeared outside the door, not at all out of place, and chuckled lightly through the door, "I didn’t expect someone else to arrive here first. Are you Jiang Li from Dinghu Sect or someone who enjoys Lawless Freedom?"
"Could it not be someone else?" Jiang Li stopped his actions and replied indifferently.
"Earlier, about thirty miles away, there was a great storm which I presume was caused by Jiang Li from Dinghu. And a moment ago, in the forest nearby, four Daoist men died from Sword Intent. Such a direct and soul-stirring sword only fits someone from Lawless Freedom in today’s Divine Capital."
The Green-clothed Young Master calmly said, "As for others, I haven’t found any. It seems they’re lucky not to have been drawn into this place."
"What does it matter whether it’s Jiang Li or Lawless Freedom?" asked Jiang Li.
"If it were Lawless Freedom, I indeed have the desire to make an acquaintance and possibly exchange teachings on the Sword Dao, but if it’s Jiang Li..." he chuckled again, but this time with a sense of distance, "I won’t hide it from you, I have no fondness for Jiang Li."
"Oh?"
A thought flashed through Jiang Li’s mind, then, gathering his Innate Qi, he said, "I’m unaware of having offended you."
He wasn’t concealing his identity, both because he wasn’t disguising his voice and because he sensed something unusual about the person outside.
As if... he would be exposed anyway.
’Does he have the ability to see through lies?’
With such a guess, Jiang Li straightforwardly admitted his identity.
"It’s not really about offense," the Green-clothed Young Master said, "but you killed someone dear to me, so unavoidably, I must become your enemy."
"So it seems we really can’t be friends."
As Jiang Li spoke, he calculated silently, "Since we are enemies, how should we proceed?"
"That would naturally be—"
The Young Master outside elongated his tone, abruptly snapped his fingers, and sent a Sword Qi towards the inside of the room. "By exposing you."
This Sword Qi passed through the door silently, refined to the extreme, without showing any excess Qi Mechanism but seemingly holding a hidden secret within.
’Sword Intent!’ Jiang Li was alert.
The Sword Qi held intentions, and if it hit Jiang Li, it would constantly resonate—a resonance so strong that Jiang Li would become the most conspicuous figure within dozens of miles, attracting anyone sensitive to the fluctuations of Sword Intent until it was dispelled.
This attack was sudden, but Jiang Li was well-prepared.
With a flick of his finger, he discharged a beam of Innate Qi that silently neutralized the refined Sword Qi.
The Green-clothed Young Master, sensing the situation, did not activate the Sword Intent, allowing it to dissolve.
Had it not hit Jiang Li and instead triggered the Sword Intent, Jiang Li could have hidden himself, and Zuo Zhao would have failed to find him.
After dispelling the Sword Qi with a finger, Jiang Li countered with a palm strike, his Innate Qi hitting the door but making no sound, only manifesting faint talisman traces outside.
"Bright Light Talisman!"
The Green-clothed Young Master decisively closed his eyes and sidestepped, preparing to launch another Sword Qi, "I didn’t expect such distinguished lineage from Dinghu Sect to lack elegance."
Had he not reacted promptly, the talisman would have undoubtedly blinded him.
"Do you consider yourself elegant? Feel fortunate that Yuan Zhen was defeated by me openly and honorably and not by these ’lacking elegance’ techniques," Jiang Li spoke calmly, also changing his position.
At the same time, through that barely detectable fluctuation, Jiang Li confirmed that the closely related person mentioned by the other party was indeed Yuan Zhen.