Chapter 234: A Day to See All the Qianling Steles
The twenty-eight characters Chen Changsheng saw on the stele formed a poem when combined.
"A river's misty waters shine in the clear haze, houses on both banks adjoin painted eaves, a touch of autumn light amidst sparse lotus, the fragrant wind rolls up ten miles of pearl curtains."
This poem was written two thousand years ago by the Lord of the Daoist Sect when he entered the Mausoleum of Books to observe the steles. The first Heavenly Book Stele in the Mausoleum of Books was named Zhaoqing, precisely because of this.
The method Chen Changsheng used to decipher the stele was to take fragments of the inscription and form his own meaning.
This method of deciphering steles was actually very simple, very primitive.
Countless years ago, when the Heavenly Books fell upon the continent, the still-ignorant ancient people finally overcame their fear and cautiously approached this stele.
The first ancient person to understand this stele used a similar method, except what he saw might have been a simple picture. That picture could have been an ox, a sheep, or a dragon. Then, someone saw more complex pictures on the Heavenly Book Stele, with numbers, with more information, and thus, writing was born.
This method was also the purest, because no extraneous thoughts were attached to it.
In the beginning, the ancient people certainly wouldn't have thought that these strange stones hid some mystery that needed to be solved, nor would they have thought that there was any true essence flowing within those lines.
Just as he had discussed with Gou Hanshi before.
The Lord of the Daoist Sect two thousand years ago saw a poem on this Heavenly Book Stele, and he thought that poem was a question. In the countless years that followed, countless cultivators tried to find the true answer from that poem, but they always came up empty.
Chen Changsheng also saw this poem today, but that didn't mean he used exactly the same method of deciphering the stele as that peerless expert from two thousand years ago. Because he didn't think that poem was a question; he thought it was what the Heavenly Book Stele wanted to say.
The celestial light varied in darkness and brightness, the lines sometimes appeared and sometimes hid. The incredibly complex lines could reveal countless characters.
These characters could combine into countless possibilities; they could be a poem, or they could be a grand rhapsody.
The stele was silent, yet it formed its own text.
He had sat before this stele for over twenty days, and he didn't know how many characters he had seen. He could now, at any time, find countless poems, lyrics, and rhapsodies that already existed in the human world from those lines. But he was keenly aware that those poems, lyrics, and rhapsodies were already within the inscription of the Heavenly Book Stele.
The observer of the stele only needed to find, to see, to understand; no other extraneous thoughts were needed.
All the various methods of deciphering steles in the world, whether they focused on meaning, form, or momentum, were all about cracking, learning, and imitating the information in the inscription.
But the Heavenly Book Stele had never waited for anyone to crack, learn, or imitate it.
The Heavenly Book Stele had always been waiting for someone to understand it.
Chen Changsheng tried to prove this, and in the end, the Mausoleum of Books proved that his understanding was correct.
Thus, he deciphered his first Heavenly Book Stele, and then he saw the second Heavenly Book Stele.
Deep in the lush forest, there was a hut with a stele. Beside the stele was also carved a poem, inscribed by a certain great scholar, the poem titled "Guan Yun Shi."
The second Heavenly Book Stele was the Guanyun Stele.
Over twenty people were sitting outside the stele hut, looking at a somewhat flat and wide stele under the hut. Some were frowning in thought, some were muttering to themselves.
Chen Changsheng walked to the front of the hut and saw some familiar faces in the crowd.
That little junior sister from the Holy Maiden Peak, Ye Xiaolian, heard footsteps and looked up. Seeing it was him, she was momentarily stunned.
Some people also noticed Chen Changsheng's arrival and were just as stunned. These days, the people observing the steles in the Mausoleum of Books had long been accustomed to seeing Chen Changsheng's figure outside the Zhaoqing Stele hut. Seeing him suddenly appear before the Guanyun Stele today, they were momentarily unable to react.
The next moment, everyone understood that Chen Changsheng had finally deciphered the first Heavenly Book Stele.
There was a faint stir among the crowd outside the stele hut, followed by some mocking discussions.
"Only now can he decipher the first stele; what's there to be proud of?"
"Exactly. I always thought my talent for understanding scriptures was poor, but now it seems I'm at least a bit better than someone."
Chen Changsheng wasn't proud. However, his appearance brought an inexplicable pressure to the people outside the stele hut. It was like a student who had always had excellent grades suddenly falling to last place in a certain subject. The students at the back had been gloating for days, only to suddenly find that the student was slowly catching up—how could they not be nervous?
Especially thinking about their mockery of him in previous days, some couldn't help but panic.
To relieve this pressure and erase the panicked mood, even more excessive mockery naturally appeared.
Chen Changsheng ignored these discussions and continued walking forward, entering the stele hut, arriving before the Guanyun Stele, and raising his right hand.
A cry of surprise erupted outside the stele hut.
Chen Changsheng had deciphered the Zhaoqing Stele. This news spread like the wind, extremely quickly, out of the Mausoleum of Books, into the various mansions of the capital, and also into the Imperial Palace and the Li Palace.
Hearing this news, some people finally breathed a sigh of relief, like Archbishop Merisak. Happy laughter rang out from the Commandery Prince's mansion. Mo Yu was holding a brush, dipping it in cinnabar, and upon hearing her subordinate's report, she was momentarily stunned, then said with a hint of sarcasm, "Only now deciphering the first stele, what future can he possibly have?"
Several students from the Heavenly Dao Academy were feasting in a restaurant. When the wine was flowing, they naturally talked about deciphering steles in the Mausoleum of Books. They were just mocking Chen Changsheng and the National Academy when they received this news. The table fell silent. After a moment, a student said mockingly, "At this rate, it's still a question whether Chen Changsheng can understand the second Heavenly Book Stele this year. Senior Brother Zhuang was already at the third stele two days ago; how can they be compared?"
Another student sighed, "Gou Hanshi is still the scariest one. He could probably rank in the top three of the decade, right?"
The previous student, upon hearing Gou Hanshi's name, was silent for a moment before saying, "If he can maintain his current speed of deciphering steles, he might even make the century list."
Just then, a fellow student from the Heavenly Dao Academy rushed upstairs, his face covered in sweat unable to hide his panicked expression, his voice trembling as he said, "Chen Changsheng... just deciphered the second stele."
These several Heavenly Dao Academy students were greatly shocked. They hurriedly stood up, knocking over several plates of food and wine on the table.
They stared at their fellow student, asking incredulously.
"What?"
"How is this possible?"
"Didn't he just decipher the first stele? How could he immediately decipher the second?"
No one answered their questions.
The restaurant instantly fell into dead silence.
There were seventeen steles in the Qianling of the Mausoleum of Books. The third stele was called Zhegui. Compared to the Guanyun Stele, there were far fewer people around this stele hut. Besides a few old observers of the steles, among those who participated in this year's Grand Examination, there was only that senior sister from the Holy Maiden Peak, one person from the Star Plucking Academy, Zhong Hui and Zhuang Huanyu, and then the four guys in the thatched hut. One must know that the Heavenly Book Steles became harder to decipher the further you went. For them to reach the third stele in just over twenty days of entering the Mausoleum was already quite remarkable.
Seeing Chen Changsheng appear, people were shocked, because in the early morning, they had clearly seen him outside the first stele hut. Didn't this mean that he had only used half a day to decipher two steles in a row? Tang Thirty-Six bounced up from the ground, walked up to him, and stared wide-eyed, saying, "Hey, what's going on with you?"
He looked a bit fierce, but the look in his eyes as he gazed at Chen Changsheng was full of surprise and joy.
Chen Changsheng didn't know how to explain.
Zhe Xiu's face was still expressionless, but his eyes were subtly burning. He asked, "There must be some reason."
Chen Changsheng thought for a moment and said, "The Heavenly Book, first and foremost, should be a book."
Hearing this, some people outside the stele hut seemed deep in thought, while Zhuang Huanyu just snorted coldly.
Chen Changsheng said to Tang Thirty-Six, "I'll go first."
"You're going back now? Right, you should get some good rest."
Tang Thirty-Six said subconsciously. In his mind, Chen Changsheng had used half a day to decipher two Heavenly Book Steles, which must have consumed a great deal of his mental energy. It was indeed time to return to the thatched hut to rest and calm his mind.
Chen Changsheng was momentarily stunned, then pointed at the stele hut and said, "I mean going there."
Tang Thirty-Six was dumbfounded, staring blankly as he walked to the stele and reached out his hand.
Seeing this scene, Zhuang Huanyu's expression changed drastically.
Zhong Hui, who had been sitting by the hut in silence all along, had a face that turned deathly pale.
The fourth Heavenly Book Stele was called Yinjiang Stele. This stele happened to be on a cliff edge, the terrain somewhat treacherous.
There were quite a few people in front of this stele hut. Basically, those who had entered the top three in last year's Grand Examination and thus entered the Mausoleum of Books to observe the steles and hadn't left since were all here.
Qi Jian was sitting at the very edge of the stele hut, his frail body buffeted by the wind on the cliff, always giving a feeling of being about to fall.
Chen Changsheng was a bit surprised. This little junior brother from the Li Mountain Sword Sect was actually faster at deciphering steles than Guan Feibai and Liang Banhu.
Of course, even more surprised were Qi Jian and the people present.
Seeing him walk over and sit down beside Qi Jian, the faces of the people showed expressions of shock.
Compared to the first three Heavenly Book Steles, the inscription on the Yinjiang Stele seemed a bit simpler. More accurately, the lines on the stele's surface were still complex, but they vaguely seemed to have some kind of pattern. Having a pattern wasn't necessarily a good thing for the observer, because the mind could easily be disturbed or constrained.
After exchanging a few words with Qi Jian, Chen Changsheng turned his gaze to the stele and began to observe it seriously.
"How many days did it take you and me to reach the Yinjiang Stele back then?"
In the empty hall of the Li Palace, the voice of the Holy See Archbishop echoed. He looked at the dozens of statues of former sages, his expression somewhat dazed, a trace of shock still lingering in his eyes.
As one of the six giants of the State Religion, another Holy See Archbishop didn't answer this question. After a moment of silence, he said, "Although the Qianling steles are easier to decipher, this is still far too fast."
Perhaps some people thought that Chen Changsheng had taken over twenty days to reach the fourth Heavenly Book Stele, but great figures of the State Religion like them naturally knew it shouldn't be calculated that way. From the time he started deciphering steles until now, Chen Changsheng had only used half a day. So, it was half a day.
"One year of cultivation to reach Tongyou, half a day of observing steles to see Yinjiang... worthy of the child His Holiness the Pope values."
Conversations like this were happening all over the capital, in this way dissipating the shock brought by Chen Changsheng.
When news came that Chen Changsheng, unlike before, didn't directly decipher and move on but sat down before the Yinjiang Stele, many people breathed a sigh of relief at the same time. Those people didn't have any hostility towards Chen Changsheng, like Prince Chenliu and Priest Xin. It was just that they felt all this was too unreal. Chen Changsheng stopping his forward progress at this moment actually made them feel that what had happened today had a sense of reality. Gou Hanshi's performance in the Mausoleum of Books these days had already shaken the entire capital. Chen Changsheng's performance today was even more jaw-dropping. If he were to continue, who could withstand it?
However, as the saying goes, reality is often more unbelievable than imagination. Not long after, everyone in the capital knew a piece of news.
Chen Changsheng stood up from the cliff edge.
Chen Changsheng walked into the stele hut.
Chen Changsheng deciphered the Yinjiang Stele.
Immediately after, Chen Changsheng deciphered the fifth Heavenly Book Stele—the Jiyu Stele.
Chen Changsheng arrived before the sixth Heavenly Book Stele.
This stele was called Dongting Stele.
Last year's top scorer in the Grand Examination, Liang Xiaoxiao of the Divine Kingdom's Three Laws, had been trying to decipher this stele for several months.
When he saw Chen Changsheng's figure, his cold and proud expression instantly vanished, leaving only shock and intense confusion.
Chen Changsheng nodded to him in greeting but didn't stop his steps.
Before the seventh Heavenly Book Stele, there was only Gou Hanshi.
He was looking at the distant mountains. Hearing footsteps, he turned around and was surprised to find that it was Chen Changsheng who had arrived. He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow slightly.
Chen Changsheng walked up beside Gou Hanshi.
Gou Hanshi was silent for a moment before saying, "Remarkable."
Chen Changsheng didn't know what to say, so he said nothing.
Looking at him, Gou Hanshi's emotions stirred. He said, "For the first time, I feel that you have the potential to become my senior brother's opponent."
His senior brother was Qiushan Jun. Even until now, he only thought Chen Changsheng had this possibility.
Chen Changsheng was silent for a moment, then said, "The method of deciphering steles is still problematic, but there's no time. I can only take it step by step for now."
Gou Hanshi sighed, "Take it step by step? If others heard these four words, besides shame and anger, what other emotions could they have?"
Chen Changsheng glanced at the stele and said, "I'm ready to go."
Gou Hanshi didn't misunderstand like Tang Thirty-Six. Looking at him, he said, "It seems you've decided to go to the Zhou Garden."
Chen Changsheng thought for a moment and said, "Take it step by step for now."
Still those four words.
For many observers of the steles in the Mausoleum of Books, taking even one step forward was as difficult as ascending to heaven.
For him today, it was as if he was just casually strolling.
There were two people before the eighth Heavenly Book Stele.
He had seen these two before. A few days ago, they had specifically come to the Zhaoqing Stele hut to see him and said some things.
That evening, Tang Thirty-Six had told him their names and backgrounds.
Seeing Chen Changsheng, those two looked as if they had seen a demon lord, their faces full of shock.
Chen Changsheng walked towards the stele hut, then suddenly stopped, turned to them, and asked, "Are you Guo En and Mu Nu?"
That day in front of the stele hut, they had asked him: "Are you Chen Changsheng?"
Chen Changsheng, after all, wasn't a little girl selling steamed buns, but a young man in the prime of his youth. How could he have no temper at all?
So before leaving, he also asked a question.
In the clear breeze swirling around the stele hut, the faces of Guo En and Mu Nu were flushed bright red, burning hot.
Arriving at the eleventh Heavenly Book Stele, it was finally quiet. Not far from the hut was a clear stream, the gurgling sound of water very pleasant to hear.
Given Chen Changsheng's level of cultivation, he didn't know that several Stele Attendants of the Mausoleum of Books were watching him from afar.
Ji Jin's face was extremely ugly. That night, to help Zhong Hui break through his realm and decipher the stele, his energy had been greatly depleted and was hard to recover.
Nian Guang watched Chen Changsheng walk towards the stream, silent, his mood extremely complex.
The State Religion had instructed him to look after Chen Changsheng in the Mausoleum of Books. He hadn't done anything, because neither before nor today was there any need for him to do anything.
Many years ago, he was a key student cultivated by the Ancestral Temple, but he was suppressed by those geniuses from the National Academy until he could barely breathe. Finally, in utter despair, he decided to enter the Mausoleum of Books as a Stele Attendant. Today, seeing Chen Changsheng decipher ten Heavenly Book Steles in a row, he naturally thought of those old acquaintances from the National Academy back then. Logically, he should have been somewhat angry, but for some reason, he felt a bit gratified. Just like over a decade ago, when he learned that those geniuses from the National Academy who had once suppressed him until he couldn't breathe had all been killed, he didn't feel happy; instead, he felt some sadness.
A Stele Attendant said, "He's the fastest in ten years, even faster than Wang Po and Xiao Zhang back then."
Nian Guang was silent for a moment before saying, "Not just faster, but much faster, so fast it's shocking and outrageous."
Chen Changsheng walked to the stream, washed his face, felt a bit refreshed, and then continued deciphering the stele.
Watching the clear breeze rise again in the stele hut, the Stele Attendants were silent.
There were naturally still many people in the Mausoleum of Books who had gone further than Chen Changsheng. Not to mention observers like Xun Mei, it was rumored that there were even cultivators in the Seventh Mausoleum who had been observing steles for hundreds of years.
But... Chen Changsheng had only used one day.
Ji Jin recalled his own past. When he reached the eleventh stele, it had taken him a full seven years. For a moment, he felt dazed, experiencing unprecedented doubt about his own cultivation career. His divine sense trembled and became unsettled. The injuries from the energy depletion a few days ago flared up internally. Leaning against an old tree beside him, he swayed as if about to fall, on the verge of tears.
Nian Guang and the others didn't notice his abnormality, as they were still immersed in their shock.
"If his surname wasn't Zhou, I would really suspect if he was a descendant of that person..."
The evening glow filled the sky. He finally felt a trace of fatigue.
He looked into the distance, seeing the capital magnificent in the twilight.
He stood quietly for a while, then turned around, facing the setting sun, and walked into the stele hut.
There were only seventeen steles in the Qianling of the Mausoleum of Books. This was the last one.
Before, there was Zhou Dufu; now, there was Chen Changsheng.
A day to see all the Qianling steles.
(At the beginning of the month, please vote for monthly tickets. On Monday, please vote for recommendation tickets. Thank you, everyone. Please trouble you to vote a few more, thank you, thank you. Also, I told you in the previous chapters, this section about deciphering steles definitely wouldn't have any novelty. Just designing the method exhausted me, where would I have the energy to care about novelty? What we want is straightforward pleasure... but... wait, do you really think there's no novelty at all? Do you think you can guess me? You underestimate me too much. What did Tang Niu say? Watch closely in the next day or two. It's called a brand new future. Young man, continue to create miracles!)