On the evening of October 30th, the twenty-third year of Tianxing, the sun was setting and the sky was dark.
The yard of No. 17 Ping'an Lane is covered with withered yellow ginkgo leaves.
After Gu Xu finished practicing for the whole day, he went to his kitchen and cooked himself an egg, a plate of vegetables, and a bowl of white porridge.
Then he sat down at the dining table, took a spoon, and ate slowly.
This is the normal state of his life.
Just like this white porridge, it is bland and tasteless.
At this moment, the little book boy on the screen suddenly came to Gu Xu, bowed to him and said, "Master, a guest is here."
The little book boy said the word "guest" but did not specify his identity.
So Gu Xu knew that this visitor should be a stranger who had never visited before.
He put on his robe, opened the door, and found a middle-aged man wearing a black robe and a long beard outside the door.
"May I ask you are……"
"I'm He Yiqun. I've heard of Gu Xiaoyou a long time ago. When I saw him today, he turned out to be handsome and graceful." The middle-aged man said with a smile.
Although the middle-aged man's attitude was amiable and unassuming, Gu Xu did not dare to show any slights.
He immediately raised his hands and saluted: "I have met Mr. He."
He knew that this Mr. He was a cultivator in the sixth realm, a junior fellow of Da Qi Imperial Master, a master of Fu Dao, and a guest minister of the Exorcism Department, and his status was extraordinary.
However, because of his unruly love of freedom, he did not hold any formal official position in the Daqi court. Instead, he traveled around the world alone. Even the Imperial Master of Daqi sometimes had difficulty contacting him.
Unexpectedly, He Yiqun would show up at his door today.
"I came to Yishui County today because I was entrusted by Luo Sishou to deliver the "Seven Styles of Burning Heaven" to you." He Yiqun quickly explained the purpose of his visit, "Of course, this is not the most important reason. ——Because if I don’t want to come here, even Luo Sishou can’t order me.”
"Then Mr. He -"
"——I'm just curious about you and want to come and see you in person." He Yiqun interrupted him and explained with a smile.
…………
Gu Xu invited He Yiqun into the room and asked the little book boy to pour him a cup of hot tea.
Then, He Yiqun took out a thin booklet from his sleeve and handed it to Gu Xu's hand.
At this time, Gu Xu saw that the "Seven Styles of Burning Heaven", a high-grade magic spell that was described as miraculous, only had seven pages in total!
"I was lucky enough to learn the first two postures of the "Seven Burning Heaven Postures" under the guidance of my master before." He Yiqun raised the tea cup, took a sip of tea, and said to Gu Xu, "See it for yourself first. If If you don't understand anything, you can ask me.
"But I haven't learned the following moves myself, so you need to figure them out on your own."
Gu Xu nodded and expressed his gratitude.
He opened the book and began to read its contents carefully.
He Yiqun sat beside him and watched quietly.
This junior fellow of Da Qi Imperial Master has always been a person who follows his own desires - his motivation in doing everything is to pursue inner happiness and find all interesting people or things.
Whatever interests him, he will immediately take action without hesitation; and whatever he doesn't want to do, no one can force him to do it.
His interest in Gu Xu mainly stems from "Jinghong Brush".
Because he knew that the slender and fragile brush was a famous instrument for the most picky owner in the world, and it was also the magic weapon that Talisman masters most desired - those who could be recognized by it must be extraordinary.
For example, the girl from the Lu family in Qingzhou more than ten years ago... If Lu Huan had not committed treason back then, she would surely have become an extremely dazzling presence today - you know, He Yiqun once called himself a "wandering poet" and once expressed his disdain for I admire Lu Shiyao's works quite a lot.
In addition, Gu Xu also took the initiative to face the difficulties and chose to challenge the "Seven Styles of Burning Heaven"...
This made He Yiqun feel that there was another interesting person in the world.
He was looking forward to whether this interesting young man would behave differently from ordinary people when facing the "Seven Styles of Burning Heaven".
…………
Gu Xu stared at the first page of the book attentively.
There are countless dots and lines on the pages, some are deep and some are shallow, some are thick and some are thin.
These dots and lines form irregular and complex runes, which look dizzying.
In all the books related to Talisman that Gu Xu had read before, he had never seen similar runes.
"It is indeed the most difficult high-grade spell to learn in the Exorcism Department," Gu Xu sighed silently in his heart, "Even I can't understand its meaning at a glance."
He was not in a hurry to ask He Yiqun for advice.
Because he knows that the most valuable thing in high-grade magic is its true meaning - the answers he gets from other people's mouths belong to other people's understanding and are indirect after all.
The most effective way is to understand it yourself.
Maybe, the process of interpreting spells may be a way of enlightenment.
So he closed his eyes silently.
After a while, in his mind, the first page of "Seven Styles of Burning Heaven" turned into a complex and unpredictable picture composed of dots and lines.
…………
A quarter of an hour later.
The sun has completely set behind the distant mountains, and the sky is a dull orange and deep indigo blue.
The cold wind blew into the small courtyard and rolled up the dead branches and leaves on the ground.
Gu Xu finally slowly opened his eyes.
He Yiqun noticed that the young man's eyes seemed to become brighter.
"Gu Xiaoyou, have you gained anything?" he asked curiously.
Gu Xu replied politely: "Mr. He, if my guess is correct, this "Seven Styles of Burning Heaven" is neither a spell nor a charm, but a diagram, a special formation diagram."
"Why do you make this judgment?" He Yiqun narrowed his eyes slightly.
What Gu Xu said is indeed the correct answer.
However, it took Gu Xu only a quarter of an hour to reach this conclusion, which surprised him.
Gu Xu smiled and explained: "Because I have seen most of the talismans and seals in the world, and I also understand most of the spells - but the writing method of "Seven Styles of Burning Heaven" is completely different from them.
"However, the "Seven Forms of Burning Heaven" is not an ordinary formation diagram.
"The lines on it are not the way the formation is drawn, but the changing path of the formation."
He Yiqun remained silent.
He thought of many years ago, when he locked himself in a room and meditated for seven days before he figured out this key point.
He Yiqun was originally accepted as a disciple by Chi Yangzi, so his talent must be extraordinary.
But the erudition and understanding of the young man in front of him put him to shame.
"What kind of formation diagram do you think is on the first page of "Seven Styles of Burning Heaven"?" After a while, He Yiqun slowly asked.
"Flying around and dragging fire, gathering together but without smoke. The light rain will not extinguish it, but the gentle breeze will burn it," Gu Xu replied, "When I try to imagine the dots on the picture as fireflies at night, and the lines on the picture Imagining the trajectory of their flight, such a picture quickly appeared in my mind.
"I think this should be what Chi Yangzi wants to tell us - the flames that burn the sky start from the tiny fireflies."
He Yiqun took a deep breath and said: "Your understanding is indeed correct. The first page of "Seven Styles of Burning Heaven" is essentially a map of the sword formation, called 'Yingyan'. Teacher Chiyangzi used it back then. At that time, thousands of flying swords were wrapped in flames and flew into the distance. From a distance, they looked like fireflies on countless summer nights.
"It's just, Gu Xiaoyou, if I guess correctly, you don't seem to be a swordsman..."
Gu Xu chuckled lightly and replied: "Mr. He, weapons are tools at our hands, but they are not shackles that bind us.
"In my opinion, the wind in spring, the rain in summer, the fallen leaves in autumn, the snowflakes in winter, everything in this world... can become the so-called sword."
After he finished speaking, he took out the "Jinghong Pen" and waved it gently.
The withered yellow ginkgo leaves on the ground glowed with bright fire and flew into the air.
The sky is like stars falling, and the trees are like flowers.
The screen is illuminated by divine fire, and the curtain is like a pearl at night.
He Yiqun looked at the scene in front of him and murmured: "Weapons are not shackles that bind us... Everything can be a sword... He really understood the teacher's teaching..."
…………
Note:
(1) "Flying around and dragging fire, they gather together but there is no smoke. The light rain will not extinguish it, but the gentle breeze will burn it." - Tang Yanqian's "Ode to Fireflies"
(2) "The sky is like a star falling, and the trees are like flowers. The screen is filled with mysterious fire, and the curtain is like a pearl in the night." - Xiao Gang's "Ode to Fireflies" by Xiao Gang of the Southern and Northern Dynasties
