Book 4, Chapter 154: Old Ritual
Book 4, Chapter 154: Old Ritual
Back in the forest, Chen Chuan carefully drew the ritual array on his overcoat based on Xue Shou’s instructions.
This array was different from the ones he had learned from Lei Guangcheng. It had a vintage flair to it.
Was there a difference between them? Of course there was. For all the previous rituals he drew, he had multiple templates as reference, so all he needed to do was copy them to produce whatever effect he wanted. That was why he could use rituals the moment he started dabbling in them.
But this was different. There was no fixed limit to any stroke he drew. However, there was a condition behind it: He had to understand the meaning behind each stroke. If he didn’t, no matter how many ritual materials he used and how prettily he drew the ritual array, it wouldn’t have the desired effect.
Xue Shou told him all the key points he needed to know before he started drawing.
After hearing about them, Chen Chuan’s understanding of rituals increased. Or at the very least, his understanding of rituals like these.
In the past, this knowledge was a secret of the former national religion. Only its successors would be allowed to learn it.
“Don’t place too much importance on what I said,” Xue Shou said. “As long as you can achieve your goal, anything goes, and there are multiple methods to achieve any one thing in the world. You don’t need to rigidly stick to the rules. The rituals used now are definitely more suitable for everyone and are right for current times.
“The rituals in the past had a high threshold and couldn’t be spread, so they were bound to only be mastered by a select few. This isn’t a good thing. It means that for decades and even centuries, these people might not come up with any new techniques. In the current era, though, things change every couple years. The things that seem to be lacking now will be perfected sooner or later. Some might even find ways to surpass this current method. It’s only a matter of time before that happens.
“Oh. Good line. You have to draw it this way. Make sure the next one is smoother and a little more graceful. When you’re about to focus your power at the tip, remember to maintain control over key structural points, just like how you’d cross your arms and protect your head when you’re fighting, but don’t be too rigid about it. You need some flexibility.”
Chen Chuan kept those thoughts in mind and drew a circle. The line was smooth and beautiful. Its end seemed to be connected to the tip, but also not.
“Good. Alright, you can add another line outside,” Xue Shou said.
Chen Chuan did it without hesitation.
Xue Shou nodded. Hesitation and overcaution was the greatest bane of such rituals. The foundation for success was drawing it with firm certainty. If the caster doubted himself, how could they possibly hope that the ritual would be effective?
Just then, he thought of something. “By the way, you should know that you need to give up on one of your strengths when you try to reach the Fourth Limit, or to embrace something you hate. Have you thought about it?”
“Yes,” Chen Chuan answered.
His plan was to reach the Fourth Limit after fusing with his second self. Then, he would have absolute power and not need to give up on anything or do anything he disliked.
“Good that you have. You can’t hesitate when it comes to this. Don’t think about anything else when you’re at the crucial moment. Otherwise, things will go wrong. As for the rest, as long as you use the right method, you’ll be fine. But since you’ve made it to your current stage, these steps shouldn’t be difficult for you.
“In short: If you can reach a breakthrough, you will. If you can’t, you won’t.”
This was the same as what Zhuan Liang said. Chen Chuan nodded and asked, “Mr. Xue, since every martial artist has to give up on something or embrace something, what’s General Wei’s situation?”
“Him? Based on all that we’ve gathered so far, we think that he can’t talk more than a certain amount of words a day. We have informants in the imperial army, and they found that he’s very concise. They’ve calculated the number of words he’s said. Over the years, he never went past a hundred words, even in his longest conversations.
“It wasn’t hard trying to find his previous achievements either. He was once a chatterbox. The moment he opened his mouth, he could drive a person up the wall, but ever since he became a martial arts master, he has become very quiet. That’s why we think that this is what he gave up.
“As I’ve said, the greater the sacrifice, the greater the reward.”
He chuckled. “Of course, this is just our guess, because some people can and do make use of others’ weaknesses and likes. That’s why, sometimes, martial arts masters hide or make up quirks to misdirect their enemies. After all, Wei Guochan isn’t just a martial arts master. He’s also a general. He can’t let other people learn about him too easily. Honestly, though, whether this is true or not doesn’t affect his fighting strength.
“Besides, I don’t think that this is a weakness at all. For example, some people have to keep talking after becoming a martial arts master, and they have to do it nonstop. That’s more troublesome.”
He seemed to have remembered someone, and he pinched the center of his brow.
Chen Chuan understood what he meant and asked, “What about Mr. Yao?”
“Him?” Xue Shou suddenly laughed. “You’ll know soon.”
Upon hearing this, Chen Chuan didn’t ask any further questions. He had already reached the last line of the ritual. With a twist of his wrist, he drew a round, smooth circle.
Once he was done, he took a step back to take a look and found that the array on his overcoat looked free-flowing instead of orderly. Even so, he could decipher its meaning. It was different from all the ritual arrays he had drawn in the past, but he could tell what sort of effects it had and how long it would last, as if this knowledge had become embedded in his mind.
He turned to Xue Shou. “Please take a look, Mr. Xue. Are there any mistakes?”
Xue Shou inspected it and said, “It will do. This was your first time drawing this sort of array, and you already did well by being able to draw it. Your materials held you back, though, so you won’t be able to gain much more from it. Still, you can only use this ritual once, so being able to draw it at all is enough.”
He then looked at the forest. “If you go there, you should run into a large battalion with artillery set up. It’ll be the same wherever you go. You should be careful about the artillery and avoid it. If there is anything out of the ordinary, I’ll warn you. You’ll be choosing what’s going to happen. If you’re in danger, activate the ritual immediately. I’ll block some attacks for you.”
Chen Chuan nodded. His second self was only a step away from completely catching up to him, but there weren’t any suitable opponents at the perimeter of the undeveloped area. That wasn’t too much of a problem, though. If Wei Guochan showed up, the powerful external stimulation should push his second self to resonate with him. Then, they would become equal in strength.
If the martial arts master from the World Ring Defense System and Yao Zhiyi stopped Wei Guochan before he could find Chen Chuan and nothing else happened, that would be fine too.
Chen Chuan had a plan. If the second situation happened, he was going to open a gap, go inside, use the external stimulation and threats to complete the final resonance, and reach the Fourth Limit this way.
In other words, he was prepared for everything.
He put on the overcoat. In order to prevent the omnipresent corruption from affecting the array, he also put on a raincoat.
Then, he called out to Dawncall and had it follow him, but not too closely. He got on his horse, tugged on the reins, and headed out.
According to Chen Bitong’s map, the World Ring Defense System’s base was in the south, while Chen Chuan was at the northern part of the undeveloped area. The battalions from the imperial army were likely to be spread everywhere around him.
The campsite of the Great Shun Republic was in the west, so Chen Chuan had to pass through the place. He had actually been headed there previously, so he wasn’t far away from it. At most, it would take him half a day to reach it.
He turned away and headed to the military base instead. He did not pass by the campsite.
If he continued straight at this speed and nothing popped up to stop him, he would reach the military base in around three days. But the imperial army wasn’t going to let him travel uninterrupted.
Its battalions stationed around the Great Shun Republic campsite were waiting, but when they saw the light moving away, they realized that the situation had changed. After sending a telegram to base, they moved out.
The airship parked with them changed direction and flew to where Chen Chuan was. Then, a large number of cavalrymen escorted artillery guns dragged forward by mules.
The Great Shun Republic’s campsite also saw Chen Chuan changing direction. After all, the light was obviously moving away. Then, they saw the airship changing direction. A large number of scouting birds flew east, and clouds of dust rose in the secluded valleys far ahead. It was then that they realized there had been battalions lying in ambush there.
A military officer whipped his head around. “Lieutenant Colonel Xin, our comrades don’t seem to be coming to our campsite anymore. This means there’s no point in us defending this place.
“Please don’t tell us anymore that we can hold back the enemy line here. The imperial army doesn’t care about us. They’re after our comrades.”
“That’s right. Sir, we don’t need to defend this place anymore. Why don’t we go to provide cover for them?” another military officer asked.
Lieutenant Colonel Xin looked ahead and said, “We can’t move out yet.”
The military officers wanted to argue, but Lieutenant Colonel Xin stopped them with a raised hand and defended his decision calmly. “It’s noon now, and the sky will start turning dark in another four hours or so. How far do you think we can go, and what do you think we can do in that time?”
The military officers calmed down. That was true. The imperial army had an absolute advantage in the merged space because they could travel at night. Meanwhile, the Great Shun Republic’s army couldn’t fight them without a fort. If they left and were intercepted before they could come back, their lives would be as good as gone.
Lieutenant Colonel Xin cast a glance at the light and continued, “Let’s wait until tomorrow. The enemy airship has left, and tomorrow, we’ll have airships coming to support us. Once we gather up, we’ll attack the imperial army from the rear and hold them back. Also, dig out the weapons we’ve buried. We don’t need to keep them on standby anymore. We’ll be using them all tomorrow.”