Shi Feiyang left the Capital and flew to Huaiqing Prefecture, first seeking out Prince Zheng Palace, then Zhu Zaiyu.
When Zhu Zaiyu’s father was accused of a cri at the age of fifteen, one would expect him to live in anger and anxiety, appearing older than his peers. Yet, in reality, he was robust and hale, over sixty years of age, his hair silver but ticulously grood, held in place with a wooden hairpin, and clothed in plain, common fabric. His simplicity exuded an ethereal air of immortality.
Shi Feiyang did not descend directly from the sky but instead landed three miles away and walked to the residence to pay a visit. He was not particularly respectful when facing the Emperor, but he showed great reverence toward Zhu Zaiyu, a "virtuous man".
Zhu Zaiyu was quite surprised to see him.
A few days before Shi Feiyang set out, the Capital had sent an urgent ssage saying that the newly titled "Master Yuan Yang of the Nine Heavens" would co to see him, advising him to prepare.
Zhu Zaiyu was not impressed. His father had been punished for advising Emperor Jiajing not to favor Taoists excessively and to pay more attention to state affairs, leading to nearly twenty years of confinent. Zhu harbored a deep disdain for Taoists, especially those who used low-level tricks and shams from Jianghu to beguile the Emperor and follow the Demon Path.
However, despite his disdain, he still had to show enough respect; otherwise, he would be slapping the Emperor’s face and courting unwarranted trouble.
But upon eting, he had not expected Shi Feiyang to be such a young man, and more importantly, he sensed that Shi Feiyang’s deanor was notably different from those of the past Taoists!
When they t and their eyes t, both recognized the divine energy in each other that was not of ordinary people. It was not about detecting each others’ ability in spellcasting, but the kind of essence and spirit manifesting from their souls after pondering the Heavenly Dao.
When Confucius t Laozi, he returned saying Laozi was like a dragon, unfathomable. He did not an Laozi possessed great mana or was deft with words, but described the impression Laozi had left on him.
Clearly, Zhu Zaiyu did not know spells, but it was evident he was a person who had comprehended the Heavenly Dao. Likewise, he felt the sa characteristic in Shi Feiyang.
Zhu invited Shi Feiyang into the house. Indeed, Shi Feiyang was unlike those previously favored Taoists: he neither perford tricks nor spoke of gods and spirits, but instead asked Zhu about music theory.
This suited Zhu Zaiyu’s temperant perfectly. The two started discussing the original tuning from Ancient Tis, initially using the wing bones of an Immortal Crane, combined with tools to asure the shadow of the sun, fixing holes to produce the sounds of the natural Earth Sound, known as bone flutes. They talked about using the Twelve Musical Scales to determine the solar terms, thods of tuning to complent the Yin and Yang, including the thod of three-point loss and gain, eventually leading to the movents and cycles of the sun, moon, and five stars. Finally, they even touched upon dical thods outside of music theory, like the five tones therapy for curing diseases.
Zhu Zaiyu, who had read extensively and could cite various sources, left no knowledge unexplored. Shi Feiyang did not dare to show off his learnings from high school; his knowledge was not on par to discuss with Zhu, who quoted Song Dynasty’s Zhang Zai, classifying sound phenona into four types: Qi compressing Qi, Form compressing Qi, Form compressing Form, and Qi compressing Form. He said that in archery, the sound does not co from the arrow, and in music, the sound does not co from the string. The sound that the ears perceive is generated by Qi. While Qi has the principle to generate sound, it cannot create sound by itself; it needs the harmonious interaction to...
Finally, Shi Feiyang produced writings from Guang Chengzi’s Heavenly Book, selecting so content from the Yellow Emperor’s era to discuss.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Zaiyu’s eyes lit up, showing an eager desire to learn. Combining his understanding of that era, he asked consecutive questions. So Shi Feiyang could answer directly; others, he needed to ponder before explaining. There were also questions he had no idea how to address, requiring him to compare them with other parts of the Heavenly Book. After careful deliberation, they deciphered many texts, corrected so previous misconceptions, and made several previously unclear concepts crystal clear.
The two of them exchanged ideas, growing more delighted with the discussion, each gaining a deeper understanding of Ancient Tis and the origin of the Heavenly Dao.
At one joyful mont, Zhu Zaiyu suddenly asked him to wait a mont, went inside, and returned shortly with a wooden box in hand. Opening the box, there was a silk scroll inside: "This is the ’Classic of Mountains and Seas’. As soone from the Immortal Path, Master, have you heard of this classic?"
Shi Feiyang opened the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" to find that it was quite different from the versions that would circulate in later tis, with more content and a thick large scroll adorned with illustrations of various animals, plants, minerals, and more. To his astonishnt, the accompanying text was in Tadpole Script!
The beginning featured common animals and plants from around the world, but as he scrolled further, things beca stranger. There were illustrations of creatures like the god fish Kun and the Sea Sheep—identical to the god Kun in his cauldron and the one he had encountered in the North Sea. He also ca across Immortal Herbs such as Queen Mother Grass, Purple River Grass, Poison Dragon Pearl, and Green Spirit Grass.
Among the dragon species were many: Flood Dragons, Tuo Dragons, Qiu Dragons, Ying Dragons...
He finally found his own kind, which shed its skin every thirty years, nad Kuijiao. It stated that after three thousand years, they would transform into True Dragons. What irked him the most was the last line: "Consuming it prevents nightmares and cures hemorrhoids!"
Damn it! As if eating could treat hemorrhoids?! My na is Kuijiao, not "Ma Yinglong"!
Shi Feiyang was tempted to tear that section out!
Suddenly, he recalled the original records about the "Classic of Mountains and Seas."
The "Classic of Mountains and Seas" consisted of three volus with fifty-four Chapters in total. Acquiring the upper volu could allow one to beco an Earth Immortal, while the middle volu could extend one’s life. The scroll in Zhu Zaiyu’s possession was the lower volu, which detailed birds, beasts, insects, fish, Immortal Grass, Spiritual dicine from different parts of the world, and also included thods of preparation for creating outer elixirs.
Back then, a woodcutter on Taishan ca into possession of the middle and lower volus. Emperor Qin Shi Huang, eager for the Elixir of Immortality, sent people everywhere in search of the secret to eternal life and laid hands on this woodcutter. Employing the trickery of a Demon Human nad Shi Ji, the woodcutter was lured to the palace under the guise of high honors as the State Preceptor, and pressured to surrender the Daoist books so both emperor and subject could study them together. The woodcutter refused, prompting Shi Ji to launch a surprise attack, activating an ambush that trapped him within a ticulously prepared pitfall, which was then sealed with an unmarked monolith.
The monolith was hollow inside, containing talismans and Prohibitions. Although the woodcutter had mastered so spells that rendered him immune to ordinary weapons, Shi Ji’s thod subdued him.
Shi Ji killed the woodcutter, located the lower volu within a cave on Taishan, and returned to present it to Emperor Qin Shi Huang. After a while, Shi Ji disappeared without a trace.
Emperor Qin Shi Huang couldn’t understand the Tadpole Script on the lower volu. Only Li Si was able to decipher it, and after translating, it was found to contain descriptions of flora and fauna as well as so dicinal herbs. Disappointed, the Emperor sent Xu Fu with a copy of the book to search for the Elixir of Immortality overseas. Xu Fu eventually ran off with the book and never returned to Central Earth.
Shi Feiyang inquired about the book’s origin, and Zhu Zaiyu responded, "When my father was imprisoned, I read many of the imperial family’s hidden books, including these two volus of the ’Classic of Mountains and Seas.’"
"Two volus?" Shi Feiyang’s eyes lit up. "You an you have two volus of this book? This is just one of them?"
Zhu Zaiyu nodded, "But it’s all in Tadpole Script from Ancient Tis, really challenging to decipher. Over the years, I’ve scoured nurous texts, sent people to places with surviving Tadpole Script inscriptions to make rubbings and compare them. I’ve only managed to piece together about one-tenth of it."
Shi Feiyang, unable to contain his excitent, eagerly sought instruction from Zhu Zaiyu, who went back to an inner room to retrieve another book. Flipping it open, the contents were a side-by-side comparison of Tadpole Script and modern writing—so already deciphered by him, plenty yet to be cracked, and so translations differed from Shi Feiyang’s own.
He imdiately singled out the differing passages, cross-referencing with Zhu Zaiyu. So errors were his, while others were Zhu Zaiyu’s.
Shi Feiyang was overjoyed within his heart. With Zhu Zaiyu’s input, he was now close to surpassing half in the translation of Guang Chengzi’s Heavenly Book!
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