When the Spirit Gathering Array was not set up in Lanting, the three of them practiced separately, continuously strengthening their foundation-building skills. After the Spirit Gathering Array was established on the second floor, the four of them gathered to train together, sharing their insights and learning a lot in their spare time.
For example, Lu Yang learned that Man Gu does not recite the "Words of the Sage" while doing the horse stance, as he believes it is disrespectful to the Sage, but he does perform the horse stance while reciting the "Words of the Sage."
Man Gu found out that Meng Jingzhou often visits brothels during the day to train his mental strength, only listening to songs and not engaging in anything else, which is quite admirable.
Meng Jingzhou learned that Lu Yang uses his cow hair sword energy to pick food stuck between his teeth, which is a whole new way of practicing.
Lanting discovered that the Central Continent was once refined by the stars.
"Is there really such a thing?" Lanting was stunned; this information had a big impact on her and cleared up some of her confusion.
"What confusion?"
Lanting thought for a moment and felt it was nothing too secret to share: "You all know that the name of our Moon Laurel Celestial Palace has a double meaning. One is that the palace is filled with laurel trees, and the other is that the palace believes the moon has some special significance."
The Moon Laurel Celestial Palace is built on top of a snowy mountain to be closer to the moon, showing the moon's importance in the palace.
"When I joined the Moon Laurel Celestial Palace, I asked my master why the moon has special significance, what about the sun, and the other stars? Can we draw power from the stars, like the Big Dipper?"
"My master said that the moon and the sun are originally one entity. As for the other stars, she just smiled meaningfully at the time and didn’t say anything."
"But my master always smiles like that when faced with something she doesn’t understand, so I didn’t think much of it."
"Listening to you all, I feel like she probably knows the truth about the stars."
Lu Yang frowned, "The moon and the sun are one entity?"
Lanting nodded, "At first, I didn’t know what that meant. Later, after one class, I overheard two senior sisters talking and one of them said, ‘After the sun goes out, there comes the moon.’"
"After the sun goes out, there comes the moon?" Lu Yang was surprised; he had never heard this saying before.
Could it be that the countless stars in the sky are illusions, while the sun and moon are real, and they are two sides of the same existence?
The sun burns during the day, and at night it goes out to become the moon?
The sun's energy is incredibly terrifying; there’s a belief that the sun is the source of all life. Even now, some people practice using the sun, either visualizing it or contemplating it.
If the sun is the moon, then where does all that energy go after it goes out? It must be an enormous amount of energy!
At night, does the sun hide this power, storing it within and transforming into the moon?
"Speaking of which, why did the ancient nameless one refine all the stars but not the sun?" Lu Yang murmured to himself.
Without the sun, the world would be dark, and all living beings would wither away. Who knows how many lives would be lost? According to Captain Chu, the ancient nameless one viewed human life as insignificant and probably wouldn’t spare the sun out of mercy.
Meng Jingzhou suddenly asked, "Do you know about the Radiant Sun Sect?"
"Isn’t that one of the four great evil sects?" Lu Yang knew very little about it.
"Yes, the Radiant Sun Sect worships the sun, believing it has some kind of divine power. When the sun revives, all things perish. They advocate self-destruction before the sun revives to reach the paradise of bliss."
Meng Jingzhou said, "I don’t mean to offend the Celestial Palace, but if the sun and moon are one, then the Radiant Sun Sect’s view has some similarities with the Celestial Palace. Both believe the sun and moon have special significance and terrifying power."
Lanting shook her head, not thinking Meng Jingzhou was being offensive. There are similar views within the Celestial Palace, and even more radical opinions exist.
Meng Jingzhou speculated, "It’s possible the ancient nameless one is hidden within the sun. The sun has hung in the sky since ancient times, and no one doubts it; it’s a blind spot in thinking."
Lu Yang offered another guess, "It could also be that the sun contains some enormous power that even the ancient nameless one wouldn’t dare to touch."
No matter which possibility it is, the sun and moon are definitely not as peaceful as they seem.
"Forget it, let’s not think about it anymore. It’s rare to have the Spring Festival coming up; let’s go out and have some fun." Meng Jingzhou gave up on thinking and encouraged everyone to relax.
Instead of pondering here, it would be better to go home and ask the clan elders.
Those people surely know more than they do.
Just like how they know he has a single spiritual root but refuse to tell him, saying he should go to the Daoist sect to find out what kind of spiritual root he has.
As the Spring Festival approached, the atmosphere grew thicker, and various shops began to hold events to welcome a large influx of customers. The barbecue shops also entered a preheating stage, offering free tofu masks with skewers, which children loved.
Everywhere on the street, colorful little flags could be seen, a tradition of Yanjian County organized by the government, said to mimic the colors of spring to welcome the season.
It was said that the county governor, Li, specifically instructed that the flags should be put up quickly without disturbing the normal lives of the people, and many people were mobilized for this.
In fact, the speed of putting up flags wouldn’t affect the people’s lives; it was just the county governor putting on a show for the public.
"Once these little flags are up, it really does feel festive," Meng Jingzhou said with a smile, noticing even the barbecue shop had a small red flag at its entrance.
"Come and take a look! These are books you rarely see!" An old man with yellow teeth was calling out on the street, catching the interest of the four.
"What kind of books are you selling?"
"Martial arts manuals, rare techniques, everything you can imagine!" the old man with yellow teeth laughed.
Meng Jingzhou casually flipped through the books and suddenly his eyes lit up when he found a martial arts manual: "Lu Yang, look at this book! It’s definitely perfect for you. If you’re willing to practice, you’ll definitely reach the highest level."
Lu Yang glanced at the cover: Frog Skill.
"Get lost!"
Soon, Lu Yang found a martial arts manual and suggested it to Meng Jingzhou: "This manual is practically tailor-made for you! If you’re willing to practice, it’s not impossible for you to become a martial immortal in the future!"
Meng Jingzhou looked at the cover: Sunflower Scripture.
The two exchanged glances and chuckled, both kindly buying the manuals for each other.
Man Gu saw the first page of the Sunflower Scripture that read, "To practice this skill, one must first undergo castration," and fell into deep thought: "Does that mean women can’t practice this martial art?"
Lanting didn’t hear Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou’s teasing; she was focused on reading a serialized novel.
The novel told the story of a famous courtesan who sought to redeem herself and pursue true love, dedicating her life to a scholar. However, the scholar was weak and selfish. Although he truly loved the courtesan, he was too embarrassed to marry her, and with his friends’ instigation, he ultimately betrayed her, leading to the tragic ending of the courtesan drowning herself.
Lanting was moved to tears, feeling sorry for the courtesan.
Seeing Lanting so absorbed, Lu Yang stretched his neck to look too, thinking the story was indeed vivid and touching.
He turned to see the title of the book.
"Dreams of the Brothel."
Lu Yang: "..."
He felt that the title had a particularly strange vibe to it.
(End of Chapter)