Chapter 245 (1/2)
Chapter 245
So this was it . The proverbial ball had started rolling .
Squaring his shoulders, Li Yundong took a step towards his mentor . ”I take it the drill is ready?” His eyes darted briefly towards the canvas bag on the coffee table .
Zi Yuan reached down and pulled out a flat, palm-sized object from the bag; Li Yundong found himself leaning forward involuntarily, his eyes glued to the delicate object now resting on top of Zi Yuan's palm .
”Hey . . . Isn't that… Isn't that some kind of Feng Shui tool?” Li Yundong's eyes snapped to Zi Yuan's face . ”A geomantic compa.s.s, right?”
Zi Yuan cradled the object in both palms .
”Behold, the Purple Gold Jade Plate . ”
Li Yundong returned his eyes to the jade plate . The thing looked like a perfect square with a circular disk at its center .
Li Yundong held out his palm . ”May I?”
Zi Yuan gave him a small nod before placing the plate onto Li Yundong's open palm . Its lack of size notwithstanding, the thing felt surprisingly st.u.r.dy and solid . Li Yundong raised the object to eye level and studied it .
Upon a closer look, he could understand why this thing was called the Purple Gold Jade Plate—its body was made entirely of purple jade . That realization brought an inadvertent smile to his lips . First a purple ribbon, and now a purple jade plate? Clearly there was a pattern here . Not that the pattern was hard to see, of course: the ”Zi” character in Zi Yuan's name literally means ”purple . ”
The jade plate's top surface held tiny engravings which were arranged in a perfect circle—like those typically found on geomantic compa.s.ses . When he flipped the plate over, he realized that its bottom surface was covered in unknown symbols . For some reason, he thought the symbols looked quite similar to those found on Taoist talismans .
”Fascinating,” Li Yundong whispered, handing the jade plate back to Zi Yuan .
”The Purple Gold Jade Plate is one of the Linggong Sect's three signature magical objects,” Zi Yuan said, her voice thick with emotion . ”My master . . . He…” She cleared her throat . ”He left this in my care . ”
A wave of sympathy washed over Li Yundong .
Not for the first time, Li Yundong found himself wondering about w.a.n.g Yuanshan . How did the man die? Why did he pen down that prophecy? What could w.a.n.g Yuanshan possibly see in someone like Li Yundong? Had w.a.n.g Yuanshan foreseen Li Yundong's murder of He Shao?
His reverie ended when Zi Yuan released a soft chuckle .
”Wushuang-qianbei cracked the problem,” Zi Yuan said without taking her eyes off the Purple Gold Jade Plate . ”Your best bet is not to get hit at all . ” Zi Yuan smiled wryly . ”That's the only way you can survive the Heavenly Thunder before the Jinshen phase . ”
Li Yundong blinked a few times . ”So let me get this straight . . . ”
Zi Yuan raised her gaze from the jade plate right then . There was an uncomfortable lull where they stared at each other wordlessly .
Li Yundong shook his head slightly . ”You're saying I have to dodge lightning in order to survive . ” He cleared his throat . ”That's… That's basically what you're saying . ”
So help him G.o.d he had tried his best to keep the incredulity out of his tone .
”Yes . ”
”Well . ” Li Yundong blinked a few times . ”s.h.i.+t . ”
”Technically,” Zi Yuan added seconds later, ”you have to dodge 81 bolts of lightning successively . ”
And he thought going to Tibet on foot was bats.h.i.+t crazy .
”Is it even physically possible? I mean . . . ” Li Yundong shook his head slightly . ”I mean, do you think I can do it?” He shot her a hopeful look .
”With enough training, you might . ”
Might . He didn't like that word at all .
”And this is where the Purple Gold Jade Plate comes into play,” Zi Yuan continued with a small smile, which didn't seem all that rea.s.suring .
Was it just him, or did Zi Yuan seem oddly calm about all this?
h.e.l.l, who was he kidding; Zi Yuan was always calm .
”So . . . um . . . Let me guess . ” He pointed at the jade plate . ”That thing's gonna shoot lightning bolts at me, and then I have to practice dodging them?”
Li Yundong eyed the Purple Gold Jade Plate warily, suddenly feeling defenseless against the tiny magical object which, for all he knew, could fry his b.a.l.l.s within a fraction of a second .
Li Yundong looked away from the jade plate when Zi Yuan didn't answer . He frowned . The bottom half of the woman's face was obscured by her hand, and her shoulders were shaking . Mirth shone through her eyes like fine beacons .
”What?” Li Yundong asked warily . ”Did I say something funny?”
A giggle burst through Zi Yuan's lips . ”Shooting lightning bolts . . . ” Zi Yuan shook her head as another giggle tore past her lips . ”G.o.d . . . ”
Li Yundong's cheeks heated up . ”Well, you said you prepared a training drill . . . So I thought . . . I thought you meant…” He cleared his throat harshly . ”I don't see how the jade plate can help me train otherwise . ”
”No, silly,” Zi Yuan said, her eyes sparkling with amus.e.m.e.nt . ”The jade plate won't be hurling lightning bolts at you, don't worry . ” She paused as though she was reconsidering her words . ”Not in the way you imagined, anyway . ” She ran a finger along the plate's surface . ”What this does . . . among many other things…” Zi Yuan glanced at him . ”…is allow its user to create a simulated world . ”
”A simulated world,” Li Yundong repeated .
Zi Yuan nodded . ”The user can then transport anyone within the plate's vicinity into that world . ”
Something clicked in his mind . ”I see . So the training drill will take place inside the simulated world . ” He looked towards Zi Yuan for confirmation . ”You used the jade place to create a simulation of the divine punishment so that I can practice surviving it . ”
Zi Yuan nodded . ”That's the plan . ”
Li Yundong laughed . ”That way I won't die even if I get hit . Coz it's just a simulation . ”
Going around the obstacle instead of going through it .
Very clever, Ao Wushuang . Very clever .
”You can go through the drill as many times as you like,” Zi Yuan said . ”But bear in mind that although the jade plate's spiritual energy reserve is vast, it's still limited . ” Zi Yuan paused to look at him . ”With every simulation, the jade plate's spiritual energy drains a little . ” Zi Yuan gave him a pointed look . ”And I'm sure you know what that means . ”
Li Yundong nodded . ”It means I gotta learn how to dodge 81 successive bolts of Heavenly Thunder before the jade plate runs out of spiritual energy . ”
”Indeed . ”
Li Yundong gave her a strange look . ”Can't you just, I don't know, recharge it or something?”
Zi Yuan snorted . ”I wish it were that simple . ” Zi Yuan ran her fingers over the jade plate .
Li Yundong waited patiently for more explanation .
Moments later, she sighed . ”Recharging it is technically possible . But it will take a lot of time . ” Their gazes locked fleetingly before Zi Yuan went back to studying the jade plate . ”The only reason the jade plate can even come close to emulating the Heavenly Thunder is because it has been around for a long time . ” There was a pause . ”Long enough for it to absorb and store a vast amount of Nature's spiritual energy . ”
”How long are we talking here?”
”Thousands of years . ”
”Thousands of—” Li Yundong stared at Zi Yuan in shock . ”Seriously?”
Zi Yuan smirked . ”What can I say? The Zhengyi School has a long history . ”
”Oh, wow . ” Li Yundong shook his head slightly . ”Now I'm afraid to ask how long the Fan of Seven Treasures has been around . . . ”
Zi Yuan's smirk widened just a tad . ”So . Do you have any other questions before we start?”
”Okay, um…” Li Yundong cleared his throat . ”Just to recap a bit…”
Li Yundong waited until Zi Yuan gave him the go-ahead signal before continuing .
”So basically, I'm gonna be transported into this Matrix thingy and then play lightning dodgeball with this simulated version of the Heavens . . . ”
Zi Yuan's lips twitched slightly . ”Yes . ”
”Right . ” He pointed at the jade plate, then shot a questioning look at Zi Yuan . ”How long do you think it'll take?”
”I can't really tell,” Zi Yuan said, looking into his eyes . ”Maybe days if you're quick on the uptake . But bear in mind that figuring out how to dodge the Heavenly Thunder is no easy task . ” Zi Yuan sighed . ”No one has ever attempted it before . ”
Moments went by in silence .
”How much time do I have before the real thing comes?” Li Yundong glanced at her apprehensively . ”Can you tell?”
Zi Yuan's expression instantly turned grim . She sighed instead of answering .
Li Yundong's heart sank a little . ”That bad, huh?” He chuckled . ”Think it would buy me more time if I visit a temple right now and then give the Heavens an offering?”
Zi Yuan glanced towards the sliding door, evidently ignoring his lame attempt at humor .
”When you saw the Heavenly Eyes earlier, you said that they had distinct forms,” she said without looking away from the sliding door .
”Yeah . ”
”Then I'm guessing a week . Two weeks, at most . ” There was a long pause before her gaze s.h.i.+fted back to his face . ”You're gonna have to up your game . ”
Li Yundong walked towards the couch and sat down . He bent forward until his elbows were resting on his knees . Closing his eyes, he steepled his fingers before pressing the tips of his index fingers against the bridge of his nose .
A week didn't sound like a lot of time considering the sheer difficulty of the task . Could he figure out how to dodge the Heavenly Thunder within a week? Was there some kind of trick to it? Or was it all about reflexes?
No . The speed of his movements mattered too . Even if he could predict when the Heavenly Thunder would strike, it would be pointless if he didn't possess enough speed to move out of the way in time .
Which meant he probably had to do some side training (aside from the simulation drill) to increase his movement speed .
Li Yundong opened his eyes and regarded Zi Yuan for a moment .
”Can you tell me more about the simulation?” Li Yundong leaned back against the couch . ”How real is it?”
”As real as they come . ”
”So it's like a virtual reality thing . ”
”Virtual reality?” Zi Yuan scoffed . She seemed strangely affronted by his choice of a.n.a.logy . ”There's nothing virtual about this, trust me . ” Her regal gaze zeroed in on his face . ”The Purple Gold Jade Plate acts as a container . When you're inside the simulation, you are, quite literally, inside the jade plate as well . ”
”Wait . How does that even work?” Li Yundong frowned and shook his head slightly . ”I thought the whole point of the simulation is so that I wouldn't actually die if I get hit? But what you said just now sounds like the version of me inside the simulation is the real me . ” He shot Zi Yuan a questioning look . ”Doesn't that defeat the purpose?”
Zi Yuan shook her head . ”The jade plate stores your physical body, that's true . But it'll also create a copy of your body . ”
”Oh . So the copy is the one that shows up in the simulation?”
”Yes . ”
”Okay…” Li Yundong frowned again . ”But wouldn't the copy have its own consciousness as well? Can I feel what it feels, or make it move with my own will? Like, are our consciousness even linked? How does that even . . . ?” Li Yundong shot her a helpless look . ”Sorry . But I still don't understand how it works . ”
”Don't be sorry,” Zi Yuan said with a smile . ”It's always a good thing to ask when there's something you don't understand . ” Her smile faded . ”This is no joking matter after all . ” She shook her head slightly . ”Anyway . To answer your question, yes, your consciousness will be linked to the copy . And here's how it works . ” Zi Yuan glanced at him . ”Right after the jade plate stores your body, it creates a copy of you, but only the physical aspects of you . ”
”And that includes what? Bones, muscles, organs, blood . . . ”
”All of that, plus your Qi and Essence . ” Zi Yuan cleared her throat . ”Once that's done, the jade plate will extract your Spirit from your real body, and then insert it into the copy . ”
Li Yundong nodded . ”That way my consciousness will be linked to the copy, not my original body . ”
”Exactly . ” Zi Yuan smiled . ”But that's not all . It will also create a copy of your Vital Orb using your Spirit . ”
Li Yundong went silent in thought . ”So basically, everything I feel inside the simulation . . . ” He looked towards Zi Yuan .
”Will be exactly the same as what you feel in the real world,” Zi Yuan said with a nod, completing his sentence for him .
Li Yundong hummed . ”And when the simulation ends, my Spirit will be returned to my real body . ”
”That's right . ”
”Which means the memory of my experiences inside the simulation will be transferred back to my body . ”
”Not just your memory . ” Zi Yuan smirked . ”Any physical changes the copy experiences during the simulation will also be carried over to your real body . ”
Li Yundong stared at Zi Yuan blankly .
”Muscle memory?” Zi Yuan continued, clearly having misconstrued his lack of response as confusion . ”Muscular and sensory enhancements?” One of Zi Yuan's brows arched high . ”Even the increase in strength of your Vital Orb and spiritual energy . ”
Li Yundong blinked a few times . ”T- That's . . . fascinating . ”
A small chuckle pushed its way past Zi Yuan's lips . ”The look on your face right now . . . ” Zi Yuan shook her head, clearly amused by his sudden lack of eloquence .
”What an amazing tool . ” Li Yundong shook his head in awe . ”I mean, you could train for as long as you like inside the simulation . And once you get tired, all you have to do is end the simulation and start over . ” He held Zi Yuan's gaze for a second . ”Coz the jade plate will just create another copy based on your real body, which was asleep the whole time during the simulation! That way, you can begin a new session right away feeling completely fres.h.!.+”