Chapter 23: Not Enough Knowledge

From a distance, Su Yun and the four foxes appeared to be standing on a cloud, with a white elephant carrying a divine being galloping on a cloud further away.

Lightning flashed and thunder roared in the clouds, with bolts of lightning continuously striking downwards.

Thunder rumbled constantly within the high-altitude thunderclouds.

The Jiaolong’s tribulation had reached its most critical moment, with lightning striking in waves, like a tide surging towards the Snake Ravine.

Below the clouds was a bottomless abyss; if one were to fall, they would undoubtedly be smashed to pieces!

Let alone falling, even a glance would make one’s heart pound, muscles weak, and bones ache.

Yet, high above, the gale force winds were fierce, not always blowing in the same direction; the wind here was strange, frequently shifting, causing even a treasure like the Immortal Rope to ripple and tremble.

Su Yun stood sideways on the rope, one hand forward, one hand back, his body rising and falling with the undulations of the Immortal Rope.

He kept his eyes straight ahead, his ears deaf to distractions, oblivious to the dangerous situation, and deaf to the thunder, always staring at the two characters emerging from the clouds.

The two characters transforming into a divine being riding an elephant and charging did not surprise him in the slightest, but the four foxes behind him gasped in surprise.

Spiritual abilities were inherently strange.

These two characters, weakened by the lightning in the clouds, were already quite tattered, much worse than before.

But this was a spiritual ability!

Achieving a spiritual ability was extremely difficult; only after reaching the sixth stage of a foundation-building cultivation method could one enter the Spirit Nurturing Realm. In the Spirit Nurturing Realm, one could be called a Spirit Master, but it didn’t necessarily mean one could cultivate a spiritual ability; rather, it was the process of using vital energy to strengthen and cultivate the spiritual ability.

Only upon cultivating to the Spirit Movement Realm could one utilize spiritual abilities.

In other words, there might be a difference of two realms between Su Yun and the Confucian scholar Tong Xuan!

Qiu Shuijing had also told Su Yun that different realms had different cultivation methods; no single method could span all realms, nor could any single method be applicable to all realms!

The “Furnace Transmutation Qi Nurturing Chapter” cultivation method could only be used in the Qi Nurturing Realm; upon entering the Spirit Nurturing Realm, one must switch to a cultivation method for the Spirit Nurturing Realm.

This meant that the strength gap between different realms could be an insurmountable chasm!

The white elephant, carrying the divine being, charged towards him, letting out a loud trumpeting sound that was still extremely clear amidst the thunder; the colossal elephant galloped, treading on clouds, with unparalleled impact!

Although the divine being’s body was also tattered, its momentum was like a rainbow, and using the white elephant’s charge, it wielded a halberd and slashed down at Su Yun!

The white elephant’s impact, combined with the divine being’s own strength, meant this strike could absolutely cleave Su Yun from head to heel, splitting him directly in half!

“However…”

Su Yun’s eyes gleamed, forcing the sword shadow in his pupils to retreat again and again; his blood surged, and a deep dragon roar emanated from his chest.

His blood-qi flood dragon, with its two front claws resting on his shoulders, raised its head from behind him, about two feet taller than him, its whiskers dangling by his ears, swaying slightly in the wind, also letting out a deep dragon roar.

At this moment, his aura expanded; it was as if wind was swirling and billowing beneath his clothes, puffing out his chest and making his sleeves and pant legs round.

“This Confucian scholar from the Tong family seems to have insufficient scholarship!”

Su Yun and the blood-qi flood dragon attacked almost simultaneously, meeting the descending halberd; his blood-qi had transformed from crocodile dragon qi to flood dragon qi, and the six moves and thirty-six scattered techniques of Crocodile Dragon Roar also transformed into the six moves and thirty-six scattered techniques of Flood Dragon Roar.

He immediately unleashed the scattered technique of “Dragon Wandering in Winding Marshes,” his arm meeting the descending halberd, his palm resting on the halberd, the “Dragon Wandering in Winding Marshes” technique making his arm as flexible as a flood dragon, coiling around the halberd.

At the same time, his blood-qi flood dragon also coiled around the halberd.

One person and one dragon, with endlessly soft scattered techniques,

attempted to dissipate the power of the white elephant and the divine being.

The impact of the golden-armored divine being and the white elephant surged over almost overwhelmingly; even the “Dragon Wandering in Winding Marshes” scattered technique and the blood-qi flood dragon could not completely dissipate this terrifying power!

Su Yun’s feet made a hissing friction sound, forced to slide on the Immortal Rope by the divine being and white elephant’s power, his soles immediately feeling the heat from the friction, his shoes so hot they felt like they were burning!

That divine being’s strike forced him back six or seven zhang, and on the rope, the four foxes hastily fled.

However, Su Yun retreated too quickly, sending the four foxes flying.

“My life is over!”

Just as Flower Fox and the others thought this, they suddenly found themselves sitting astride the rope, as the Immortal Rope had caught them.

The four foxes scrambled to their feet, only to see the Immortal Rope slowly moving in the clouds, forming a spiral pattern, five and a half circles in total.

They had landed precisely on the outer circle, while Su Yun, the white elephant, and the divine being were currently in the inner circle.

“Oh, this Confucian scholar from the Tong family seems to have insufficient scholarship…”

Flower Fox’s eyes lit up, also discerning the hidden problem in the Confucian scholar Tong Xuan’s spiritual ability, and hastily said, “Little Moon, Little Fan, Buping! We can help!”

The four foxes immediately scurried along the rope, charging towards the white elephant.

Flower Fox shouted, “This time we’re going straight for the lower body! We’ll get under the elephant’s belly and tear apart the big white elephant with Crocodile Dragon Roar!”

The three little fox demons were greatly encouraged.

The divine being, failing to kill Su Yun with one blow, forcefully lifted the halberd, tossing Su Yun and his blood-qi flood dragon into the air; the halberd spun, vibrated, and hissed, breaking Su Yun’s “Dragon Wandering in Winding Marshes” technique and making the blood-qi flood dragon unfurl.

He wielded the halberd, performing various moves like thrusting, lifting, wiping, paring, chopping, and hooking, brimming with killing intent!

Su Yun, in mid-air, once again performed the “Dragon Wandering in Winding Marshes” scattered techniques, the six techniques constantly changing and being used, as if they were thousands of moves; sometimes coiling around the halberd, sometimes clinging to it, or even standing on it.

Even if the divine being shook him off, he couldn’t completely dislodge him; his limbs were as flexible as a flood dragon’s, whether his four limbs or other parts of his body, with a light touch, cling, or hook, he would again land on the halberd.

At the same time, his blood-qi flood dragon pounced, the white elephant swung its trunk, and the flood dragon attacked, dragon and elephant fighting each other.

The divine being found it inconvenient to sit on the elephant’s back, so he simply stood up. Su Yun, taking advantage of the brief moment he stood, also landed on the elephant’s back, closing in, rushing within three feet of the divine being, forcing him unable to unleash the full power of the halberd.

The halberd’s combat range was between four feet and two zhang; holding a halberd, if the enemy was within four feet, one would step back and use the small blade to strike; if the enemy was two zhang away, one would step forward and use the main blade to stab.

Su Yun was precisely three feet away, outside the halberd’s attack range; his Crocodile Dragon Roar transformed into Flood Dragon Roar, and the thirty-six scattered techniques changed endlessly, like a multi-headed, multi-tailed, multi-clawed flood dragon divine demon, attacking the divine being in a storm.

The divine being retreated again and again, then suddenly found his footing empty, falling from the elephant’s back, his two feet spreading apart and landing on the Immortal Rope.

Just then, the four fox demons darted under his crotch, getting beneath the white elephant’s belly.

Su Yun followed closely, his body in mid-air, performing “Flood Dragon Waving Tail,” his right leg sweeping out fiercely.

The divine being tilted his head and blocked with the halberd held horizontally; Su Yun’s leg swept heavily against the halberd’s shaft, then he spun in mid-air for another “Flood Dragon Waving Tail,” but this time with his left leg.

The divine being’s head was knocked askew by this kick; Su Yun landed, his left hand performing “Flood Dragon Emerging from Abyss,” his five fingers splayed out and reaching forward, gripping the halberd’s shaft.

A dragon roar came from behind him; the blood-qi flood dragon abandoned the white elephant, and with a “Flood Dragon Emerging from Abyss” strike, bit the divine being’s head.

“Today, I’ll turn this ‘god’ (shen/god) character into a ‘First’ (jia/armor) character!”

Su Yun and the blood-qi flood dragon exerted force simultaneously; one snatched the halberd and immediately thrust it into the white elephant, while the other bit off the divine being’s head.

The divine being exploded with a bang, transforming into a “First” (jia/armor) character.

At the same time, beneath the white elephant, the four fox demons each performed Crocodile Dragon Roar, breaking the white elephant’s four legs; the white elephant exploded, turning into a “waived” (mian/rabbit) character.

—Because a halberd was stuck in its backside, the “waived” character looked somewhat odd.

The divine abilities contained within the characters “god” (shen/god) and “elephant” (xiang/elephant) were broken, transforming into “First” (jia/armor) and “waived” (mian/rabbit); the light of the two characters gradually faded and finally disappeared.

Su Yun breathed a sigh of relief, about to speak, when Flower Fox preempted him, saying, “This Confucian scholar from the Tong family has poor scholarship! ‘The origin of human culture comes from the interpretation of Taiji, subtly aided by divine beings; the hexagrams of the I Ching are paramount.’ This quote is from the ‘Wenxin Diaolong,’ and Mr. Wild Fox taught us this!”

Su Yun nodded. The “Wenxin Diaolong” was a classic of the old sages, and Mr. Wild Fox taught the old sage classics most often.

He and Flower Fox were both students of Mr. Wild Fox; Su Yun had studied for six years, while Flower Fox had studied for a full seven years, so they were both very familiar with many old sage classics.

However, the three little foxes had studied for a shorter time and hadn’t learned many old sage classics, so they immediately sought guidance from Su Yun and Flower Fox.

“This sentence means that human culture originated from explaining Taiji, probably secretly aided by divine beings, and thus the sages used the hexagrams in the I Ching to explain Taiji.”

Su Yun tried to restrain his blood-qi as he explained to them, “The ‘divine beings’ here refer to human ancestors, not gods formed by spirits after death, nor gods worshipped by religion.”

Flower Fox took over from Su Yun and continued to explain, “The ‘elephant’ (xiang/image) in ‘Yi Xiang Wei Xian’ (Yi Xiang Wei Xian) doesn’t refer to an animal like a white elephant, but to hexagrams. The Confucian scholar from the Tong family clearly misunderstood these two characters, taking them to mean divine beings and a big white elephant.”

Misunderstanding the classics would greatly diminish the power of spiritual abilities, and similarly, his future progress would be difficult!

“This is the consequence of not having a good teacher.”

Flower Fox, mimicking Mr. Wild Fox’s tone, said earnestly, “If the meaning of the classics is distorted or misunderstood, it’s very likely to hinder one for a lifetime. Therefore, having a good teacher is crucial! We are very lucky to have Mr. Wild Fox and Mr. Shuijing teaching us, laying a very good foundation.”

The three little fox demons seemed to understand vaguely.

Fox Buping asked doubtfully, “If Mr. Wild Fox is so powerful, why was he still beaten to death by bad guys?”

Zhai Zhu: Recommending a sci-fi novel, “Nine Star Poison Milk,” by Yu, a regular on the sales charts~