The Emei sect leader watched attentively, and that thing was none other than the Wordless Book that had just fallen into the pool.
Strangely enough, the Wordless Book emerged from the water completely dry. Xiao Kai held it in his hand, examined it repeatedly, but couldn't figure it out. As for the pool water, since the Wordless Book returned, it had suddenly calmed down again, gradually removing its blue color and becoming clear and transparent.
At the same time, the hundreds of pearls on the surrounding mountain walls also slowly dimmed, no longer emitting light, and the entire cliff bottom, plunged into darkness.
"What's going on?" Xiao Kai asked Xuefeng.
"I don't know what's going on," Xuefeng said with a wry smile, "but I know that all the restrictions here have been broken, and from now on, the Emei Spiritual Gathering will be a thing of history."
"So... shall we go up now?" Xiao Kai guessed Xuefeng's intention.
"Not yet, let's wait," Xuefeng gritted his teeth. "We can't return empty-handed from Mount Baoshan. Let's see if there's anything good here!"
If anyone said that Xuefeng wasn't jealous, that would certainly be a lie. Although Xiao Kai was a newbie, he was a sensible person. He could tell that the spiritual energy here had been completely absorbed by the Wordless Book, even the mystery of the pool water had been destroyed by the Wordless Book. Of course, now that the restrictions here and the large array overhead had all been invalidated, if they just went up like this, it would mean that Xiao Kai had taken all the advantages. If he risked his life exploring this dangerous place, it would be truly pointless. Therefore, no matter what, he had to do one more thing, after all, Xiao Kai had mentioned it, the immortal implements were still in the pool.
The pool was actually not very deep, and there was a big hole at the bottom of the pool with a gleam of metal underneath. Xuefeng didn't hesitate and flew directly down. As he passed, the pool water parted, and he didn't get any on him.
"Tch tch, he's truly a master." Xiao Kai sincerely praised him.
After a minute, Xuefeng was seen flying out from under the water, carrying a large pile of strange objects. He threw them on the ground and said with frustration, "It’s over, they are all useless."
The objects on the ground were all familiar to Xiao Kai, but the difference was that not long ago, they were emitting various lights around the mountain, but now, each one lay rusted and black on the ground, looking nothing like immortal implements.
"Right, they are no longer immortal implements," Xuefeng said gloomily, "Your book is truly the bane of immortal implements, it destroyed all of these immortal implements, even those pearls were destroyed."
Xiao Kai's mouth dropped open, not knowing what to say.
"Look at your book," Xuefeng said listlessly, "I reckon it's about to react now."
"No reaction, look," Xiao Kai flipped through the book, but indeed, there was no response. It had absorbed so much energy, caused so much commotion, and even absorbed the energy of so many ancient immortal implements. The result was that nothing was shown, just like a very popular novel that, after a vigorous prelude and development, suddenly gets castrated by the author at the end.
Xuefeng wouldn't go get his book for him. Song Feng's experience was a stark warning to anyone. Xiao Kai certainly didn't expect that, after Song Feng's appearance, no one dared to snatch his Wordless Book, because everyone knew that Xiao Kai carried a precious treasure. This was truly an unexpected turn of events.
There was nothing left to say about going up. Xuefeng didn't need Xiao Kai to navigate, so he directly flew up with him, only to find that it was already dusk, and the two of them returned to the Huangshan Villa to find a place to rest.
At this point, the Huangshan sect didn't yet know that its spiritual veins had been destroyed, and as it was getting dark, several responsible disciples had already gone inside, so Xiao Kai and Xuefeng passed through smoothly, except when Xiaolin saw Xiao Kai and grabbed him, asking him where he had been all afternoon. Xiao Kai mumbled and hesitated, reluctant to say, and it was Xuefeng who stepped in and said, "Something happened this afternoon, I will personally go to explain to Senior Song Feng, so don't ask anymore."
Xiaolin was indeed very respectful towards her seniors, so she stuck her tongue out and said to Xiao Kai, "Come, follow me to bed."
"Huh? This...," Xiao Kai looked amused when he saw the girl. "Is this how warmly the Huangshan sect treats its guests?"
"What are you saying?" The girl gave him a stern look and realized that Xiao Kai was sneakily scanning her up and down. She suddenly realized her mistake, bit her lip, and gave Xiao Kai a hard twist. It was so painful that Xiao Kai gasped a breath of cold air.
"Uh, Xiaolin...I want to ask you for something..." Xiao Kai stammered, "I want...a sword, any sword will do."
"Tch, you don't even have a flying sword," Xiaolin gestured to a side character, "Give him your sword."
"What about me, Master Uncle?" The man handed the sword to Xiao Kai with a distressed expression, "I've been refining this sword for a month, it's almost responsive."
"Alright, Xiao Kai, don't worry, I'll help you find a sword tomorrow," Xuefeng assured him.
When they finally got to rest, Xiao Kai found that no matter what, the Huangshan sect's hospitality was truly different.
"Enough with the chatter, do you believe I'll smack you?" Xiaolin waved her jade hand, and the man quickly scurried away.
Xiaokai discreetly stuck out his tongue, finally seeing the haughty side of the young girl.
When he reached the bedroom, Xiaokai carefully shut the door, bolted it, and took out the wordless book from his pocket. He spread it out on the desk and tried to turn the first page. Indeed, he couldn't even turn the first page. He took out the sword, a truly fine blade, sharp as can be, glistening white under the light. Xiaokai trembled as he extended his index finger and lightly cut it on the blade. He then sharply inhaled as the blood gushed out of the wound, drop by drop onto the wordless book.
This time, it wasn't just a few drops of blood; Xiaokai's wound had clearly widened. As he watched more than ten drops of blood gather on the book page, unable to be absorbed, Xiaokai could only grit his teeth and continue. He had already dripped more than twenty drops, and his face was turning pale with nervousness. Finally, he heard a faint "ch" sound, and a large amount of blood suddenly seeped into the book's cover.
The wordless book immediately emitted a golden light. Xiaokai casually tore a piece off his robe, wrapped his finger hastily, and tremblingly started to flip through the book.
The first page... still wouldn't turn...
Xiaokai swallowed some spit, and with a forceful flick of his finger, "crack," the first page still didn't open, but the second page did.
As soon as he turned it, Xiaokai's eyes widened!
Before him were four old men, to be precise, four identical old men.
The page looked as if it had been hollowed out entirely and a three-dimensional square inserted. Xiaokai felt as if he were looking down from the top of the square, seeing four miniature old men sitting quietly inside. They sat there solemnly, not saying a word. When the square opened, all four old men looked up, and after seeing Xiaokai, one of them resolutely shouted, "Who are you?"
Though small in stature, this old man's voice was full of vigor, with a hint of royal air. Xiaokai was taken aback and looked around in a panic, luckily, no one heard.
"I... I'm Xiaokai," stammered Xiaokai, "Please may I ask your name?"
"Xiaokai? What kind of thing is that? Which school do you belong to? Who's your master?" another old man, full of arrogance, demanded, "You must tell me your identity right away!"
"I'm just called Xiaokai," Xiaokai was bewildered, "What else do you want to know?"
"Hmph, seems like an ordinary man," the third old man snorted and didn't speak to Xiaokai anymore. He closed his eyes, adopting a meditation posture.
"Elders, who are you? Can you tell me?" Xiaokai politely inquired, "I assume you are senior experts, right?"
All four old men coldly snorted and remained silent.
"Um... have you all finished your meals here?" Xiaokai started struggling for conversation.
The four old men, identical in appearance and movements, looked at Xiaokai contemptuously, all crossed their arms, and continued to remain silent.
"Um... don't you feel bored here?" Xiaokai tried to speak again.
One of the old men opened half an eye and spoke in a weird tone, "Kid, don't waste your effort. Based on your identity, you're not qualified to talk to us. You'd better give up."
"What's your status?" Xiaokai asked.
The four old men continued to remain silent.
"Darn it, I refuse to believe I can't handle you all," Xiaokai muttered to himself, and then tried another approach, "You seem quite lonely in there, how about I tell you a joke?"
This time, even the four old men didn't bother to respond.
The four old men started to show signs of exhaustion, and even their beards began to tremble. Xiaokai noticed that each of the four old men had an expression of extreme pain on their faces, and their eight withered hands also began to tremble.
"Do you submit?" Xiaokai sneered, "Let me tell you, no matter what your status is, now that you are in my territory, you have to listen to me. Whether it's being a tiger falling into a net or a dragon trapped in shallow water, if you don't listen to me, I can kill you."
The four old men lifted their heads together, glaring at him angrily. Although they all looked uncomfortable with their mouths gaping open like dead fish, not a single one of them showed any sign of submission.
"Alright, you're tough," Xiaokai gritted his teeth and forcibly extracted some vital energy. With this extraction, the little grid was almost as void as a vacuum.
The four old men suddenly raised their hands, fiercely clutching their throats, and their eight eyes also began to roll up, their faces slowly turning gray.
"Do you submit?" Xiaokai asked.
The four old men, looking close to death and trembling all over, had no strength to answer his question.
Xiaokai snickered and injected some vital energy again, asking, "Do you submit?"
With this injection of vital energy, the four old men greedily and forcefully took a breath, then turned to look at Xiaokai together, who was looking at them expectantly. The four old men struggled to say, "We won't...submit...to death!"
"Damn it, I'm really angry!" Xiaokai wasn't lying; he was truly angry. With a single thought, he extracted all the remaining vital energy, leaving the grid completely void.
"Thud, thud." The four old men just fell flat on the ground, not moving at all.
"Oh gosh, are they dead already?" Xiaokai, being a good young man of the new generation, couldn't help but feel a twinge of compassion when he saw the four old men lying motionless. He hurriedly injected some vital energy again and asked in a low voice, "Hey, are you okay? Are you still there?"
It took a good three minutes before the four old men slowly regained consciousness and weakly raised their gray faces, then stared weakly at Xiaokai.
"How about it, have you submitted?" Xiaokai explained, "You may have misunderstood me; actually, I'm a good person..."
"You...jerk!" Xiaokai's words were interrupted again, as the four old men, with an extremely resolute tone and a determined look, stared at Xiaokai, gritted their teeth, and spoke those five words. Then they hung their heads, gasping for air as if they were barely alive.
Xiaokai finally felt a bit helpless.
"Aren't you...afraid of death?" Xiaokai couldn't understand, "Don't you know that your life and death are in my hands?"
"Hmph, what's to fear in death?" one of the old men said proudly. "We uphold righteousness and won't shrink from death!"
"Yes," another old man said, "Evil must be eradicated!"
"Exactly," the third old man said, "Although we don't know what method you used to trap us, our spirits will not be conquered."
"Indeed, we are brothers," the fourth old man passionately embraced the other three's shoulders and said, "Although we have all lost our memories, the righteousness and justice that have long been ingrained in our blood will never be extinguished!"
Xiaokai was once again dumbfounded.
"Alright, alright, if you don't submit, I will," Xiaokai sighed, feeling he couldn't deal with them anymore. As he reached out to turn off the book, ready to go to sleep, the four old men suddenly called out, "Wait a minute!"
"What now?" Xiaokai asked listlessly.
"Alas, the days of cultivating immortality are tough. In the past, we could still play chess to pass the time, but in here, there is nothing. We don't even need to sleep. Could you at least bring us a set of chess?" Perhaps because they had just been reprimanded, the four old men started speaking more.
"Where do I get a chess set for you?" Xiaokai asked, feeling annoyed. "These days, who even plays chess?" As he looked around, he surprisingly saw a set of Mahjong in the corner. "Fine, you guys make do with this Mahjong." He tossed the Mahjong in and immediately closed the book without a second thought.
A night of silence.
The next morning, the first thing Xiaokai did was to open the book. To his surprise, the four old men were all sitting in a half-dead state, facing a mess of over a hundred Mahjong tiles scattered on the ground in front of them.
"What's wrong with you guys?" Xiaokai cautiously asked, "This is..."
Suddenly, the four old men lifted their heads, and all eight of their eyes were bloodshot, as if they hadn't slept for three days. "Young man, what is this thing called Mahjong and how do you play it?" their voice sounded weary, husky, and almost on the verge of tearing their vocal cords.
"Have you guys been studying this all night?" Xiaokai asked cautiously.
"Yeah, in these five hours, we have conducted 957 different experiments, but still couldn't figure out how to use this thing. Could it be that the strength of the demon world has developed to such an extent that even a small demon like you can comprehend this profound and unfathomable Mahjong?" One of the old men sighed.
"Also, this Mahjong is far from simple," another old man chimed in, "In addition to the numbers 7 and 9, from my understanding, the characters and drawings on these Mahjong tiles contain deep meanings, including the amalgamation of the numbers 7 and 9, but this combination of 7 and 9 has never been heard of. The 7 represents the killing energy, while the 9 represents completeness, fundamentally incompatible. So, there must be something profound that we can't understand inside."
"Moreover, this Mahjong is even more complicated," another old man continued, "Besides the combination of 7 and 9, according to my understanding, the plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum together with spring, summer, autumn, and winter form a simple version of the innate Bagua, with the former four representing the essence of plants and the latter four representing the changes in nature. This contains the great wisdom of the universe and earth, and with my limited understanding, I just can't comprehend it entirely."
Xiaokai was at a loss for words, but the four old men weren't done talking. Another old man continued, "The number 7 is also extremely strange, unlike anything recorded in any ancient texts. It's simply the seven characters of East, South, West, North, Red, White, and Green. The first four characters can still be understood, but the last three characters are completely incomprehensible. However, upon careful consideration, it has its own unique flavor. Even after thoroughly racking my brain, I can scarcely fathom anything about it. If it's not being used to mislead us, then it's bound to be an extremely extraordinary item."
"Isn't it...aren't you overthinking this?" Xiaokai interjected, "Actually, it's just used to..."
"No, absolutely not!" Finally, the fourth old man who had been silent spoke up: "Besides these hidden meanings, this mahjong itself is an absolute treasure!"
It has to be said that after speaking for so long, this sentence was the most shocking. Xiaokai jumped up, exclaiming, "A treasure?"
"Yes, a treasure," the old man looked at Xiaokai in amazement. "This mahjong is indeed a treasure, but it is very strange. It seems that each mahjong tile does not have any attacking power. According to my estimation, they must be combined in a certain way to be effective."
Xiaokai was dumbfounded again. This treasure was quite precious. Although the Wordless Heavenly Book had destroyed many treasures yesterday, according to the current records of the cultivation world, there were only ten great treasures in the entire cultivation world. If every set of mahjong in this room is a treasure, would that mean there are eleven great treasures in the entire cultivation world? But since it is a treasure, why would it be inexplicably placed in a guest room?
"Young man, judging by your expression, you definitely don't know that this mahjong is a treasure," the old man finally regained some confidence. "The strange and faint aura of the immortal spirit contained in this mahjong is very peculiar. Unless one's cultivation level reaches our level, it's difficult for ordinary people to feel it."
"So," Xiaokai felt his heart pounding, "what is its use?"
The old man shook his head. "I don't know."
Xiaokai was stunned.
"Each tile of this mahjong contains a strange immortal spirit's aura. The distribution of this immortal spirit's aura is very strange. If my estimation is correct, when all 144 tiles are arranged according to a certain formation, it will form a rather formidable array. The power of this array should far exceed that of the Five Thunder Heavenly Sword Formation by at least ten times," the old man sighed. "Unfortunately, no matter what, I can't figure out its arrangement."
Xiaokai was entirely ignorant of the common knowledge of the cultivation world. He certainly didn't know that the Five Thunder Heavenly Sword Formation was the foremost mountain-guarding array of the top four sects, the Mount Emei Sect, which was almost insurmountable in the current cultivation world. If he knew, he wouldn't know how shocked he would be.
However, upon hearing the old man's words, he was also moved. He said, "I can try to set up this array."
"Oh, that would be great!" The old man's voice couldn't hide his excitement. "I wonder if young friend would let me witness."
"Of course," Xiaokai readily said, "Keep your eyes on me."
The mahjong was in the small box, and the entire box was under Xiaokai's control. Therefore, he didn't need to use his hands. He just needed to think, and the mahjong would begin to arrange according to his wishes.
Xiaokai didn't set up any array or use all 100+ tiles. He just randomly picked a dozen tiles and laid out a standard mahjong winning hand.
The four old men held their breath, watching as Xiaokai laid out three 1-bamboos in a row, then successively arranged one each of 2-9 bamboos, and then three 9-bamboos.
Once these thirteen tiles were laid out, the four old men suddenly took a deep breath, stood up together, and exclaimed, "Marvellous!"
"What's wrong?" Xiaokai, startled by their exclamation, paused his movements.
"This array is truly powerful!" the four old men said in unison. "It is indeed far superior to the Five Thunder Heavenly Sword Formation, but... why does it always feel like something is missing?"
"So, where do you think this missing piece should be added?" Xiaokai was beginning to understand the trickery involved, and became more confident in his expression and actions.
"It should be here," the first old man pointed to a spot.
"No, it should be here," the second old man pointed to another spot.
"No, it's here," the third old man pointed to yet another spot.
"You are all wrong. This is the best place," the fourth old man's finger pointed to a completely different spot.
The four old men's judgments were completely different, and as they looked at each other, they felt stunned and amazed. The peculiarity of this array was truly unprecedented.
Xiaokai smiled slightly and casually inserted a 1-bamboo tile.
His addition was not in any of the spots indicated by the four old men, yet when the formation was completed, the four old men suddenly stepped back in unison, obviously startled by its power.
Xiaokai smiled again and casually withdrew the 1-bamboo tile, then picked up a 7-bamboo and inserted it.
This time the four old men didn't move, but when the array was complete, an imposing, murderous atmosphere arose. Even an idiot would know that the array had been completed.
Xiaokai's thoughts didn't stop as he continuously swapped out nine different tiles, forming nine different arrays, all of which were successful and powerful without exception. For the four old men, such a situation was unprecedented and unimaginable.
Xiaokai couldn't help but smile. He was well aware that the array he had constructed was actually the "Nine Connected Treasure Lamp", a hand that could win Mahjong, capable of forming nine different arrays; and that was not the maximum. If it were the "Thirteen Orphans", there would be a full thirteen ways to win, but he didn't know what kind of shock the four old men would be in.
He didn't know who the genius was who designed this treasure, to seamlessly incorporate Mahjong techniques, but it was truly a brilliant idea. Xiaokai was almost certain that as long as a winning hand could be formed with Mahjong tiles, it would definitely form an array. When he thought of the numerous and diverse winning hands in Mahjong, Xiaokai couldn't help but feel excited.
This treasure was equivalent to hundreds of large and small arrays. Its effect was simply greater than all of the other ten great treasures combined!
The four old men were completely awed by Xiaokai. At this moment, when they looked at Xiaokai again, it was not a disdainful look, but a worshipful one. In the end, this world was still all about strength. Even in the cultivation world, it couldn't be avoided. The four old men couldn't help but start asking for guidance, "Friend, your knowledge is profound. I wonder if you could explain to us?"
From "trash" to "young man" to "friend" and then to "fellow daoist", Xiaokai finally succeeded in transitioning roles and could speak loudly, "This involves extremely profound innate numerology, which is the knowledge passed down in my school. It's really inconvenient to reveal it to outsiders..."