Chapter 1089 - 448: The True Wenquxing

Chapter 1089: Chapter 448: The True Wenquxing

After Wu Chang True Self left Zhenyue City, he headed straight for Megrez Lake.

Unlike the utterly ordinary, even somewhat despised Kaiyang Mountain, Megrez Lake had already been a famous scenic spot of the Great Xuan before the recovery of Spiritual Qi, lauded as one of the Eight Peerless Views under Heaven and deeply beloved by men of letters.

In the Great Xuan, if some man of letters has never been to Megrez Lake and written a poem after viewing it, that’s the sort of thing that would make people look down on him.

Megrez Lake lies amidst encircling mountains; according to the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, one can see strange trees and curious rocks in the mountains, along with four marvels of rosy clouds and seas of clouds.

The mountain scenery alone provides an endless stream of material for the literary world of the Great Xuan.

After taking in all of Megrez Mountain, entering the mountains to see the lake is not easy.

The terrain is precipitous, forming its own Array Map that tightly conceals Megrez Lake; even if Wu Chang rides a white crane and looks down from the sky, he still can’t see the existence of the lake.

You must have a mountain folk familiar with the terrain to lead the way before an outsider can find the path into the mountains.

Even with mountain folk guiding the way, only at specific times can one see the passage hidden among the mountains.

Wu Chang was delayed by the mountain paths for quite a while, and only at dusk did he finally see the road.

He left the white crane outside the mountains and entered the mountain path alone; after walking for about the time of one stick of incense, he saw the Megrez Lake spoken of in rumors.

Though the scenery around Megrez Lake was picturesque, it didn’t surpass Megrez Mountain by much; but when one looked toward the lake, one could see the reflection on the water split into four, simultaneously presenting the scenes of all four seasons—spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

Inside the lake and outside the lake, it was as if there were two Worlds.

Megrez Lake enjoys extremely high renown in the Great Xuan, but after the Ziwei Demon-Dispelling Grand Array was discovered, this place was also listed as a forbidden ground by both the Human Dao Alliance and the imperial court of the Great Xuan; without a hand-token, idle Cultivators are not permitted to enter.

Relying on his token, Wu Chang entered the range of Megrez Lake and saw that there was a Cultivator marketplace by the shore, similar to the one outside Kaiyang Mountain.

Setting aside how much the Seven Immortal Mansions have enhanced the Cultivators, the seven Cultivator marketplaces alone have greatly boosted the economic development of the cultivation world.

Only, the style of the marketplace here is different from that at Kaiyang Mountain. Outside Kaiyang Mountain, most Cultivators carry sabers, spears, staffs, and the like—one glance and you know they specialize in battle; whereas outside Megrez Lake, most Cultivators are refined in demeanor and properly dressed—one look and you know they come from distinguished families.

On the stalls in the marketplace, compared to Magical Treasures and Elixirs, there are far more various books.

Before coming, Lü Changgeng had said that apart from testing Cultivation, the Megrez Immortal Mansion also tests one’s learning and the Dao of Arrays, and is not suited to all Cultivators; now it seems that was indeed no lie.

But thinking about it, that makes sense. After all, Megrez corresponds to Kaiyang: Kaiyang is Mars, which governs Martial Fortune under Heaven, while Megrez is Wenquxing, which governs Literary Fortune under Heaven.

He had just walked into the Megrez Lake area and hadn’t gone far before a Scholar stepped out to block him.

The Scholar tilted his head up to look at him and said, "You look unfamiliar, brother. Is this your first time coming to the Megrez Immortal Mansion?"

No need to look at his face; just judging by Wu Chang True Self’s frame of over two meters, he already seemed completely out of place at Megrez Lake.

Wu Chang lowered his head to glance at the Scholar—Grandmaster Realm, just one step away from Great Grandmaster. In the current Dungeon Plane of the World, he absolutely counted as a top expert.

Combining that with the Scholar’s face that looked not yet thirty, he was not only an expert but also a genius.

Wu Chang nodded and answered, "Yes, it’s my first time."

The Scholar said, "I am Duan Rui of Qingsong Academy. I’ve been at the Megrez Immortal Mansion for three months already and know the place fairly well. Since this is your first time at the Megrez Immortal Mansion, there’s something you may not know: the trials of the Megrez Immortal Mansion are complex and involve vast knowledge; without accumulation, it is hard to pass."

"In my view, rather than wasting your time here at Megrez Lake, you would be better off going to Kaiyang Mountain. Perhaps you could gain some blessed fortune there."

Wu Chang wrinkled his nose—what was that supposed to mean? Was this looking down on him as uncultured, telling him the Megrez Immortal Mansion is a place for educated folk and he shouldn’t come stick his nose in?

He said, "That’s not quite right. As the cultivation world progresses, we Cultivators should strive for all-round development in virtue, wisdom, physical fitness, and aesthetics. We must not only refine our civilization of the spirit, but also temper the savagery of our bodies."

Duan Rui froze for a moment, then cupped his hands and said:

"I was shallow; what you say is reasonable, brother."

"However, the Megrez Immortal Mansion’s trials are extremely broad. I wonder how familiar you are with books such as the Complete Rites of the Great Xuan, Collected Discourses of the Various Masters, Five Classics Fully Explained, Compendium of Array Maps, and so forth?"

Wu Chang said casually, "Just these? What else is there?"

Seeing Wu Chang so composed, Duan Rui assumed he was confident and continued:

"Aside from literary learning and Arrays, the Immortal Mansion also tests one on qin, chess, calligraphy, painting, astronomy, and geography."

As he spoke, Duan Rui rattled off dozens of different works in one breath, like reading out dishes from a menu.

After listening, Wu Chang nodded slightly, then asked:

"These will be enough?"

Duan Rui said, "If you can understand and memorize these books, you’ll have at least a seventy percent chance of passing the third trial of the Immortal Mansion."

"Many thanks for the guidance, Brother Duan." Wu Chang finished speaking and strode into the marketplace, coming to a bookstall. He recited the list of books Duan Rui had given and asked the stall keeper to find them for him.

Before leaving Zhenyue City, all the various factions, in order to form a good relationship with him and supposedly to make it easier for him to travel in the Great Xuan, had sent him invitation letters along with many local specialties. It was more than enough for him to buy these books.

Duan Rui hadn’t made things up; everything he listed were books commonly used in exploring the Megrez Immortal Mansion, and the stall had ample stock.

Ten-odd minutes later, Wu Chang was hugging a crate of books stacked up like a small mountain as he walked to a quiet spot by the lake where there were few people.

Duan Rui, who had watched the whole thing, followed him over and asked in puzzlement, "Brother, are you planning to start reading them right now?"

Putting aside learning them, just reading every word of these books would take at least two or three years; could this fellow actually be a fool?

Thread-bound books have already become widespread in the Dungeon Plane of the World. Wu Chang casually picked up a thick volume of two to three hundred pages, flicked the pages with his thumb, and in less than a second had flipped through the entire book in front of Duan Rui.