“Seeing the Vermilion Bird again, do you have any new feelings?”
“No…?”
“Don’t you think it is alive?”
“Master, do you think so?”
The master and apprentice had made their way out of the crowd at this time, walking along the Vermilion Bird Avenue towards the south. Listening to the words of Master Yan Se, Ning Que asked in surprise as he could not help turning around to take a look at the Vermilion Bird that was already out of his sight due to the crowds.
Master Yan Se ignored him and kept going forward. “What kind of existence can be surely regarded as being alive, or animate?”
Ning Que turned around to chase him up, thinking that most of the time he was sleeping while Sixth Brother asked this sort of questions.
“Of course, this’s a relatively difficult question, and it hasn’t much to do with why I take you here to see the Vermilion Bird today.” Master Yen Se continued, “I bring you here for I want to tell you that the portrait on the Vermilion Bird Avenue has nothing to do with an art sculpture. Instead, it’s a Divine Talisman of Chang’an City.”
Ning Que was slightly stunned. He really did not relate the Vermilion Bird with Talisman Taoism, because somewhere he could feel that the Vermilion Bird had a sense of terrifying power, an awful atmosphere from ancient times, which seemed different from the talisman, a magic with a subtle existence.
“You said before, that we Talisman Masters regard all the cultivation methods in the world as talismans… this is a very narcissistic mentality, but I can tell you with certainty that the Vermilion Bird is a talisman, a Divine Talisman left by ancestral Sages.”
Ning Que tightly wrinkled his brows when words as Sage and Divine Talisman appeared in his mind. He then asked after a long silence, “Master, according to you, only when Divine Talisman Masters take the step over, can they move the world with talismans. Had the ancestral Sage who left the Vermilion Bird portrait taken the step forward?”
“Thousands of years ago, the Empire’s capital was in Chang’an, expanding its realm to the basis of the original cities, but the Divine Talisman of Vermilion Bird was already there. The Sage who painted the Vermilion Bird had inevitably exceeded the Knowing Destiny State, but was just not sure of the Tianqi or No Rules. But last time I told you about moving the world, I guess… it needs a bit more profound.”
“Did he become an immortal? Is there such a great Grand Cultivator in the world?”
“The last state of cultivation on Haotian Taoism is to ascend to heaven and become immortal after going beyond Tianqi, which means immortality. Although I haven’t personally seen it before, the number of predecessors who can ascend to heaven and become immortal in Taoist Classics isn’t too small.”
“Myths are just myths, after all.”
Master Yan Se raised his brows and asked, “If an ordinary mortal meets a Divine Talisman Master like me, do you think he may regard me as an immortal?”
Ning Que said with uncertainty, “…Maybe.”
“Therefore, to ascend to heaven and become immortal in Taoist cultivation is not that difficult as what people imagine. However, I guess these immortals, different from those in mythical novels, should be Grand Cultivators who have really detached themselves.”
“Master, I’m still very curious about mortal life stories. I believe the Divine Talisman of Vermilion Bird must be particularly scary in might, but the problem lies in that Talisman Taoism is always calm and collected by nature. In this case, who can motivate this Divine Talisman?”
Master Yan Se casually added, “The Vermilion Bird has been lying quietly on the stone avenue since the founding of the Tang Empire, and it has never been touched. However, once it’s activated, judging from the observation of someone from the Academy and the last Master of Nation, its power will be probably equivalent to a full-blown attack from a Grand Cultivator who is at the top level of the Knowing Destiny State, or even more formidable in some aspects. ”
“Only the top level of the Knowing Destiny State, ah.”
“Only? What sort of attitude is this?”
“Master, you are at the peak of the Knowing Destiny State, so is Liu Bai. I guess Master of Nation and the eldest Brother are also in the same state but I dare not guess the state of the Headmaster of Academy. Now I know many Grand Cultivators in Knowing Destiny State, such as Second Brother and Chao Xiaoshu. Even my foolish friend is a genius entering the Knowing Destiny State. Is the Knowing Destiny State… really rare?”
“Ning Que.”
“Yes, Master.”
Master Yan Se shook his head as he looked at him, and said, “You’re very lucky, or should I say you’re unlucky.”
Ning Que confusedly asked, “Master, what do you mean by that?”
“It’s the West-Hill Divine Palace and the Academy that own the largest number of Grand Cultivators in the world. You’re a student from the Second floor of the Academy and my apprentice, a Great Divine Priest of this Divine Hall, so you can come into contact with many powerful people of the Knowing Destiny State, while ordinary cultivators may be unable to meet such strong men in their lives. Hence, I say you’re very lucky. However, you’ve already been in contact with so many powerful men though you’re weak in might. I really worry that you’ll lose the courage to climb and transcend the mountain in front of which you’re standing in awe.”
“Don’t worry, master. In fact, I’m also a very narcissistic person.”
“That’s good.”
…
…
Unconsciously, Master Yan Se and Ning Que had crossed the whole Southern City along the Vermilion Bird Avenue, arriving near the gate of Southern City in Chang’an City. The towering and majestic city walls shed a shadow which covered a large area of the street nearby.
Master Yan Se and Ning Que were walking up towards the city wall. It was strange that none of the disciplined city guards came to stop them or to check their identities as if the master and apprentice were totally invisible.
Ning Que was surprised and did not know why the master brought him to ascend the city wall, but he was too lazy to ask, staring at the lower hem of the dirty robe swinging up. With regard to the matter about the power of the Vermilion Bird, he was still confused and could not help asking, “Master, how powerful is the Knowing Destiny State? I invited someone to make a performance once, but I’ve never seen cultivators of the Knowing Destiny State fighting together.”
Master Yan Se frowned and asked, “Which Grand Cultivator was so silly as to show you his performance?”
Ning Que implied that the Grand Cultivator was Chen Pipi, who was an idiot in living knowledge, but a good guy nonetheless.
Master Yan Se growled, “As for the fight between people belonging to the Knowing Destiny State, do you want me to have a fight with Liu Bai again?
Ning Que explained with a bitter face, “Don’t get me wrong, I’m just curious.”
They two climbed the tall city walls, while the wind blowing from the plains rose up along the ancient but still solid city walls with a few shrill cries from eagles, which made their robes to fly.
Master Yan Se, standing on the edge of the gate tower with his hands brushing the bricks, watched the clearly visible mountain in the south, and suddenly said, “Your Second Brother in the Academy just needs to glance at you, and you would be dead. This is the Knowing Destiny State.”
Ning Que, standing next to him, stared at the mountain where he had spent more than a month living and studying, and silently thought.
A glance, and you’ll die.
Ning Que carefully considered these words and feeling rather awed, he replied honestly after a moment of silence, “… Master, I understand. I’ll be certainly more respectful to you and Second Brother from now on.”
Master Yan Se took him to another side of the gate tower where Chang’an City could be seen.
Chang’an City, composed of innumerable squares and buildings, had turned into a puzzle at the foot of the tower. The Imperial Palace at North City did not seem so tall as before. If the Vermilion Bird Avenue right below was like a sharp and straight sword, then the Imperial City was the hilt.
“What have you seen here?”
In the last few days, Master Yan Se had taken Ning Que to tour around Chang’an City, visiting a lot of monuments, and Ning Que was asked questions in every place they visited. Ning Que understood that his master was trying to speed up his perception on Talisman Taoism. In fact, be it the eave of Spring Breeze Pavilion or those statues of animal-carvings on eave, they could really make his own comprehension of Talisman Taoism deepen. However…
Standing on the gate tower and viewing the city, they could see the entire Chang’an City in front, which had cast off the lively coat and only left the quietness and sense of separation after drawing back the light. Ordinary people were screaming in excitement to locate their homes. In terms of art and literature, one could probably be aware of the vicissitudes of history endowed by thousands of years, but as for Talisman Taoism, what could be seen out of that?
“Chang’an City, in fact, is a big array.”
Ning Que was shocked speechless by Master Yan Se’s answer.
“The magnificent city that collects the wisdom of numerous precedent cultivators and takes the Tang Empire Thirty years to expand and complete its construction will be surely taken for granted as the world’s most powerful array tactical, named god-stunning Array.”
Ning Que opened his eyes to watch the Chang’an City underneath, trying hard to make out the approximate appearance of the array tactical, but he found nothing at all.
Master Yan Se looked at him and could not help smiling, and then said, “Chang’an City, a god-stunning Array, naturally can’t be observed with the naked eye, since most of its parts are buried in the ground. What I can tell you is that the array center is at the bottom of the Imperial Palace, while the array root is the Vermilion Bird Avenue.”
The old Taoist pointed to the direction of the palace, and then his fingertips slowly moved down along the Vermilion Bird Avenue, and continued: “The array root extending beneath our feet, is Vermilion Bird South Gate. However, it diverges through the city walls and then returns from all the city wall archways of the inner and outer city. ”
“You can also see Chang’an City, the big array, as a vast and extremely complicated Talisman incantation that consists of countless Divine Talismans. If only the array eye opens, this great Talisman incantation will be motivated to protect this grand City and its residents.”
Ning Que looked at the dense buildings in Chang’an City and the crowds who were as busy as ants, but still joyful. Listening to Master Yan Se’s words, he could not help feeling uneasy, becoming speechless due to the sense of awe and reverence.
“The Vermilion Bird we saw just now is the most powerful Divine Talisman in this great Talisman incantation.”
It was a long time before Ning Que could suppress the surprise in his heart. He murmured, looking at the grand city, “What would the city look like if this big array opened, darkening the sky or rolling the black clouds, or trembling the earth while the city remains where it is…”
“No one knows how the scene would look like, not the designer nor those precedent cultivators who were responsible for building the array. And certainly they don’t want to know, neither do I .”
Master Yan Se looked at him and seriously said, “The launch of the frightened mind array indicates Chang’an City is about to be conquered. If it that day really comes, it only means that the Great Tang Empire has got to the brink of destruction.”
Ning Que suddenly thought of a key question, and then seriously said, looking at Master Yan Se,”Master, you shouldn’t have told me such things, especially of the array center and array root. It’s not good.”
Master Yan Se calmly said, “Do you know who is responsible for Chang’an City, this big god-stunning Array?”
“Who?”
“Your master, me.”
Master Yan Se smiled and looked at him, saying, “You are my only successor, who will be in charge of the god-stunning Array after I leave this world, so it’s perfectly justified for me to let you in on some related information in advance.”
Ning Que did not say anything, but turned around to gaze at Chang’an City under the city tower with his pale face. He shook his head and made some strange voices in his mouth as if he was scolding someone or breathing cold air, but more like he was unconsciously talking to himself.
A long time passed.
He glanced back at Master Yan Se, and said with resentment, “Master, don’t scare me like that.”