Chapter 520: Spirit Seal

Before Spirit Pattern existed, how did humans obtain power?

Lu Yibei looked at Qing Ji with a blank expression, stunned for a moment. She had never really thought about this question.

Although before the nights began to grow longer, hauntings were not that numerous, they did exist.

Facing hauntings, humans wanting to protect themselves would surely come up with all sorts of methods.

Making weapons should count as one. Although ordinary weapons couldn’t truly destroy hauntings, they could drive them back. If the weapons were made through Alchemy, they would have some killing power against hauntings.

Spell formations and talismans should also count. Some low-tier spell formations and talismans only required psychic potential to use. Even without Spirit Pattern, mastering spell formations and talismans could still provide some combat ability.

Could there be people who directly devoured the core entity of a haunting? If one could control the intake, allowing humans to reach a half-haunting transformation state, that could also deal with hauntings.

Just like the residents of Taoyuan, praying for the protection of high-tier hauntings was also a method.

It’s said that some psychics even mastered the means of “inviting deities.”

Perhaps there were even those who tamed and raised hauntings.

And… and…

Seeing Lu Yibei lost in thought and silent for a long time, Qing Ji interrupted her, “Alright, I guess you’ve already thought of many possibilities. I can responsibly tell you that every method you can think of, someone has already tried.”

“What I want to tell you is only limited to methods related to Spirit Pattern.”

Hearing this, Lu Yibei looked at Qing Ji and nodded thoughtfully.

Has everyone already tried them?

Makes sense. Throughout history, there have been countless brilliant minds. If I can think of something, others surely have as well.

Lu Yibei thought, withdrawing her thoughts, and sat up straight like a student waiting for the teacher’s lesson, waiting for Qing Ji to explain.

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Qing Ji glanced at Lu Yibei and said seriously, “According to the records in the Great Pure Palace, the first person to possess Spirit Pattern appeared about a thousand years ago. The timing may not be exact, but it shouldn’t be far off.”

Hearing this, Lu Yibei suddenly thought of something, her eyes trembling slightly.

A thousand years ago should be the Song Dynasty, when tattoo culture was prevalent. The “Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital” even mentioned that young people with tattoos could often be seen on the streets.

The birth of Spirit Pattern might be related to the trends of that era.

Lu Yibei thought, pursed her lips, and focused again on listening to Qing Ji’s explanation.

“Before that, there were three ways to obtain power closely related to Spirit Pattern: totem, Spirit Seal, and devouring hauntings.”

At this, Lu Yibei raised her fair little hand and interrupted, “Ancestors, I can understand totem and devouring hauntings, but what is Spirit Seal?”

In a sense, Spirit Pattern is a kind of totem, and the core entity of hauntings and alchemical materials used in drawing Spirit Pattern are similar in principle to devouring hauntings.

As for Spirit Seal, Lu Yibei had never heard of it.

Qing Ji waved her hand, signaling Lu Yibei to be patient, and explained, “The so-called Spirit Seal can actually be considered a variant in the process of totem transforming into Spirit Pattern.”

“Simply put, with the aid of a Visualized Diagram or by directly observing a haunting up close, one imprints the power into their body with their mind, thus gaining strength. It’s very similar to Spirit Pattern.”

“This method doesn’t have a high success rate, does it?” Lu Yibei frowned.

The same thing, seen by different people with subjective consciousness, will always look different.

Just like how old perverts see everything with a hint of lust, and Bull-headed man warriors see everything with a bit of green.

What’s more, relying solely on willpower to leave an imprint in the body, the stability surely can’t compare to Spirit Pattern, Lu Yibei thought.

“A bit clever,” Qing Ji nodded. “Relying on a Visualized Diagram that may not be completely accurate, plus everyone’s own interpretation, those who can condense a Spirit Seal are already very few. Even if they succeed, they can only obtain a small portion of the power.”

“What’s more, viewing a Visualized Diagram is equivalent to directly peering at the true form of a haunting. The risk is great, and if you’re not careful, you’ll lose your mind.”

I get it, I get it! Looking directly at a deity, SAN drops to zero, right? Lu Yibei complained inwardly.

“From what I’ve seen in the Great Pure Palace’s records, Spirit Pattern was probably created by someone who mastered Spirit Seal, totem, and the mysteries of devouring hauntings, and was then improved upon by many successors. It’s a method of obtaining power,” Qing Ji said.

Mm, that makes sense! Lu Yibei nodded.

Most technologies in this world go from nothing to something. The effective and widely used techniques today are all the result of countless people carefully verifying, summarizing experiences, and boldly improving.

According to the records on Spirit Pattern in The Midnight Tome, Spirit Pattern is a miracle born from in-depth research and analysis of a haunting’s power, then reconstructed using the haunting’s core entity and alchemical materials.

Compared to the Spirit Seal, which relies on subjective will, brute memorization, carries great risk, has a high failure rate, and is difficult to achieve advancement with, Spirit Pattern is clearly far superior.

If a haunting is like a movie packed with information, then Spirit Pattern is a high-definition pirated copy, while Spirit Seal is at best a fan-made edit.

The only advantage of Spirit Seal might be that you don’t need the haunting’s core entity or alchemical materials to practice it.

But, was the first person to draw a Spirit Pattern perhaps just someone who failed at practicing Spirit Seal, got angry, and simply tattooed the Visualized Diagram onto their body, accidentally mixing a bit of haunting tissue into the ink during the tattoo process, and ended up succeeding by chance?

After all, the lucky ones in this world can stumble into greatness even when courting disaster.

As Lu Yibei thought about this, her doubts grew, and she pressed on, “But what does all this have to do with treating Spirit Pattern out-of-control?”

“Heh heh.” Qing Ji smiled meaningfully, looking a bit smug. “That’s because I’ve practiced Spirit Seal…”

Lu Yibei’s eyes lit up, sitting up straight. Her intuition told her Qing Ji was about to reveal something incredible.

“…but didn’t fully succeed.”

Lu Yibei, “…” Then why even bring it up?

Seeing the look of disdain in Lu Yibei’s eyes, Qing Ji sneered, “It’s not that I couldn’t learn it, but because Spirit Pattern is special–no matter how many Spirit Seals I practiced, they’d all be devoured by the Spirit Pattern.”

“However, even though I didn’t fully succeed, I discovered that Spirit Pattern and Spirit Seal can coexist. In other words, if you succeed in practicing both, a psychic would essentially possess multiple Spirit Patterns.”

Possess multiple Spirit Patterns at once? The name “Zhang Shuo” suddenly flashed through Lu Yibei’s mind.

According to intel from the haunting chat group, this Eclipse Society member codenamed Offering Epidemic was one of only two psychics or hauntings involved in the ambush on Lu Ming whose psychic energy fluctuation level had reached A+ or above.

And he had mastered more than four Spirit Patterns.

Could that guy have practiced Spirit Seal, allowing him to possess multiple Spirit Patterns at once without losing control? Lu Yibei wondered.

“If the multiple Spirit Patterns you possess restrain or complement each other, then when one goes out of control, you can use the others to suppress or correct it,” Qing Ji said.

“Mild Spirit Pattern out-of-control can be treated with incense and such, but for Zhang Huainan to claim he’s the best in the world, he must have mastered the treatment for severe Spirit Pattern out-of-control. I suspect he uses Spirit Seal.”

“As far as I know, the Great Pure Palace does preserve Visualized Diagrams, and I also taught that kid the method for practicing Spirit Seal.”

“So, after hearing all this, don’t you really want to learn?”

Lu Yibei, “…”

Why would I want to learn that?

Practicing Spirit Seal requires looking at the Visualized Diagram, and if you’re not careful, your SAN value drops to zero.

Right now, my Spirit Pattern out-of-control symptoms aren’t severe; incense should be enough to cure it, right?

Thinking this, Lu Yibei stared straight into Qing Ji’s eyes and said solemnly, “Of course I want to!”

It never hurts to have more skills. Learn it first, and decide whether to use it later.

“Unfortunately, I can’t teach you right now.”

Lu Yibei, “…” Old bastard, you’re just messing with people, aren’t you?

Deceiving an innocent young woman… Wait, no, the role I’m playing in front of the Ancestors is more like a young married woman?

Tch, deceiving a young married woman, what a pervert! Lu Yibei thought fiercely.

Seeing the annoyance in her peach blossom eyes, Qing Ji gave a wry smile. “It’s not that I don’t want to teach you, but I don’t have a Visualized Diagram on hand. If I tried to draw one from memory, there’d probably be errors.”

Hearing this, Lu Yibei nodded in agreement.

She’d already experienced Qing Ji’s unique art style earlier. If she practiced using his Visualized Diagram, it wouldn’t just be a slight error–it would be a huge one.

It’d be like looking at BIG MOM and being forced to imagine her as the Empress.

“But I still think you have a good chance of condensing a Spirit Seal. After all, you have an innate advantage…” As he spoke, Qing Ji looked at Lu Yibei, his gaze dropping to the area between her chest and abdomen.

What’s that supposed to mean? Don’t look at me like that, your eyes are seriously weird!

Feeling Qing Ji’s stare, Lu Yibei frowned and crossed her arms in front of her, blocking his line of sight.

“Don’t you have the power of the Hundred-Armed Giant inside you? If you could witness the true form of the Hundred-Armed Giant, maybe you could condense that power into a Spirit Seal and steal its power.”

Hearing this, Lu Yibei was delighted, but then she sighed helplessly.

Easier said than done. That thing isn’t a monkey in a zoo–you can’t just see it whenever you want.

Forget seeing the true form of the Hundred-Armed Giant; even finding a portrait of it would be hard.

Besides, even if I had the chance to encounter the Hundred-Armed Giant, I wouldn’t dare observe it. If it got annoyed, one punch and my brains would be splattered everywhere, Lu Yibei thought.

A moment later, Lu Yibei bid farewell to Qing Ji and returned home.

He opened his eyes, stared at the ceiling, and after a few seconds of silence, let out a quiet sigh.

Before leaving, he suddenly thought that once the Pure Lotus Sword became the vessel for the Divine Land’s embryonic form, perhaps he could let the Ancestors enter the embryonic Divine Land. That way, at least they wouldn’t be so lonely.

But after a brief consideration, he still didn’t say it out loud.

“There’s no telling when I’ll be able to get the last fragment from the Great Pure Palace. It’s better not to let the Ancestors have too much hope too soon.”

Muttering to himself, Lu Yibei got up and went to the bathroom to wash up and get ready for bed.

——–

3:17 a.m.

Lu Yibei lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

He had insomnia.

Maybe it was the twisted expression on Li Xuan’s face earlier that had left a deep shock on him. Now, every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was Li Xuan’s figure.

An excellent way to stay awake!

Lying in bed, lost in thought, Lu Yibei vaguely heard a sound coming from Wang Yingying’s headphones. His eyes lit up slightly, and he sat up.

Since he couldn’t sleep anyway, he might as well get up and play “ball”!

Thinking this, Lu Yibei turned to look at Wang Yingying on the nightstand, silently picked up the headphones on it, and gently put them on his own head.

“Everyone in the <Single Blade Society> knows…”

Hearing the crosstalk segment coming from the headphones, Lu Yibei curled his lips, picked up the backup phone connected to the headphones, turned off the crosstalk, and switched to <Advanced Mathematics Online Course Recording-1>.

“Function definition: a kind of correspondence between variables (single-valued correspondence)…”

“Mhm!” Hearing the clear lecture in his ears, Lu Yibei nodded in satisfaction and put the headphones back on that ball of flesh.

Half an hour later.

He took off the headphones again, put them on himself, and switched <Advanced Mathematics Online Course Recording-1> to <Country Z Ancient Art Appreciation-1>.

Even if it’s prenatal education, the children of our Old Lu Family must develop in virtue, intelligence, and beauty!

Besides, according to the Void, Wang Yingying’s current state is similar to a vegetative person. Letting it listen to more different things might have some unexpected effect!

Thinking this, Lu Yibei listened to the content playing in the headphones, made sure there was no problem, and put them back on it.

Half an hour later.

“Let’s try some English listening practice next…”

——–

Meanwhile, in a budget hotel not far from Li Xuan’s home.

The clean and tidy suite was dark. Huá Sāng sat cross-legged on the bed, the Black Iron Ruler across her knees, eyes closed, gradually entering a meditative state.

She was a bit puzzled and wanted to ask that mysterious senior for answers.

Her thoughts seemed to turn into a thin mist, blown far away by the wind. In a trance, the massive phantom of a turtle and snake surfaced in her mind.

Just as she thought she would, as usual, enter a deep meditation and meet that mysterious senior, a strange voice suddenly drilled into her ears.

She heard a man with a slight Jinmen accent say by her ear, “Everyone in the <Single Blade Society> knows… Liu, Guan, and Zhang swore brotherhood in the Peach Garden, the three of them… just like real brothers, and then the three of them protected Tang Seng on his journey to the West. There’s this story in <Dream of the Red Chamber>…”

The voice was intermittent and not very clear.

Huá Sāng: “???”

What the heck? What’s going on? Where’s that voice coming from?

After a brief confusion, she perked up her ears and listened carefully for a while. Once she was sure the voice was gone, she calmed herself, focused her eyes on her nose, her nose on her mouth, her mouth on her heart, her heart on her dantian, and after a few minutes, finally re-entered a meditative state.

“Function definition: a kind of correspondence between variables (single-valued correspondence)…”

That voice appeared in her ears again, feeling just like a radio device suddenly picking up the wrong frequency.

Half an hour later.

“During the Qin and Han periods, important art creations were all carried out under government supervision…”

And so, her mind was thrown into chaos again, and her meditative state was instantly broken.

Huá Sāng: “…” A strange problem had arisen.

Harassed by that inexplicable voice, she felt her already pitifully little energy was on the verge of exhaustion…