Chapter 366

Ghosts of the Mine (XII)

This little side quest that I was basically just handed out of the big blue sky netted me an insane 200,000 MID-grade spirit stones.

Two. Hundred. Thousand.

That's a two with five zeroes after it.

See this, system?

This is how you reward a quest!

If it hadn't been astonishingly embarrassing, I would have hugged and kissed her and promised her to polish that damn hairpin every single day until we bury it.

Alas, from the look on her face, she thought she got the better end of the bargain, as the method she wanted to teach me was likely far more expensive. But how the hell would I have sold it? It would have just yielded more attention than necessary and brought up questions I could not answer.

Money, especially when there's no big bad tax department to scrutinize every cent of it, is the best. Nobody asks where it came from, what'd I do to earn it, or where I plan on spending it; they just care that I hand it over to them for whatever it is that I'm trying to buy.

Here and there, I do get a bit taken aback with the lack of some of the things I've gotten accustomed to, the aforementioned taxes being one of them. I still have it basically seared into my brain to the point that, any time I get any Spirit Stones, my first thought (or, at least, one of the first) is 'how much do I have to pay in taxes? Is it deductible? And can I get away with not reporting it?', only to come to and realize that shit doesn't exist. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Well, I'm sure it exists--there are likely kingdoms and empires, mortal and otherwise, that do have a tax code or two, but as a discerning vagabond, I'm cool not living in any of them. What security will some random-ass kingdom afford me that the system, or that old monster over there eyeing me like a hungry ghoul, wouldn't?

"I smell--"

"--can it," I interrupted him immediately. "It will be evenly distributed. For now, let's eat, and then we'll talk in the tent."

The reason I mentioned it is because I picked up on the fact that he'd always lay down some sort of soundproofing mechanism that didn't let anyone else spy on us. And since I was going to reveal the existence of the Enlightenment Formation...

... well, let's just say, either God help me, or it will turn out to be the least impressive thing ever.

We ate rather quickly and parted ways just as fast, with the group of six retiring to their 'cargo'--honestly, the sheer dedication you gotta have to do what she's doing... Did I ever believe in anything that sincerely?

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At the same time, the kids, Lao Shun, that old bag of cheese, and I went into the tent. I immediately saw Long Tao fiddle with something, which was my sign.

"Wait a moment, everyone," I said as they tried to disperse to their corners. I then dug around the one spatial ring and procured all ingredients for the formation, as well as several parchments indicating how to set it up. "Help me set this up." I handed them to Long Tao, Lao Shun, and Wan Lan.

The three took them with some curiosity in their eyes, which was quickly replaced with a faint bout of confusion--even for Long Tao.

... maybe he's not well versed in formations?

"Is this a... formation, Master?" Wan Lan asked.

"Yes," I nodded. "As it's not easy to set up, I waited for the right moment. Set the materials where indicated, and then we'll talk."

While they handled the rest of the materials--which ranged from dried tree bark as black as tar to a piss-yellow feather as hard as iron--I drew a few minuscule circles at the center of the tent and poured about 20,000 mid-grade Stones on top of them. Luckily, instead of filling up the tent, the circles on the ground sucked 'em all up within the blink of an eye, beginning to shimmer in faint jade-green.

Just in time, too, as the others came back, having done their tasks.

"You remember the little parchment I left you?" They nodded. "It is meant to help with something we'll be doing on this mountain. As such, you have to learn it quickly. This formation will help you with that."

"How? What kind of a formation is it, Master?" Dai Xiu asked.

"It's called Ephemeral Comprehension Array," I said. "And, for one hour after I activate it, it will help your comprehension of the art."

"Ooh!" Surprisingly, nobody reacted that strongly; whether it was because they got used to my 'miracles' or because this here wasn't really a 'miracle' at all... I couldn't tell.

"So, for the next hour, concentrate on mastering the art as much as you can."

"Yes, Master!"

They all went to their corners; I sat by the center of the array and, per the instructions imprinted in my mind, I activated it.

Despite having a Minor understanding of it, I decided to spend the hour contemplating it, too.

I'd rather hunker my butt down and study than be possessed by ghosts.

Alright.

Here goes nothing.

**

Long Tao sat down in a comfortable lotus position, closed his eyes, and waited.

Though he was a bit curious as to what his esoteric Master was planning this time around, it turned out to be something rather ordinary.

After all, comprehension-boosting arrays were rather common and beyond well understood. Unlike with alchemy, which had its ebbs and flows of mastery throughout history, arrays and formations have largely suffered the 'continuous improvements' over the span of history. As such, even if Master did unearth some ancient comprehension-boosting array, it was unlikely to be all that good.

Energy slowly began to pulse, and a familiar pattern of comprehension arrays began to emerge; it was soft, like a tingling vibration of air. Such Qi palpitations would 'stimulate' the mind, affording a slight boost in clarity.

... suddenly, however, it changed.

It wasn't soft; it was overpowering--and it wasn't Qi... no, it was Dao.

Long Tao wanted to stand up and get out, but he couldn't move--there was a melody of Dao being sung invisibly around him, and it felt as though each note was a cosmic shower for his mind.

Swallowing a knot, he closed his eyes and imagined the Heartless Yin-Repelling Art; he felt he was already close to a minor understanding, but the moment the frame of it emerged in his mind, he emerged too.

It was a new world, one shorn of physicality, where the vast letters and pages of the art began to morph and distort and twist, all until they became a faceless figure draped in heavenly robes. And then the figure spoke, its voice deep and sonorous, echoing like thunder in his mind.

"Yin and Yang are two yet one; of each the other undoes and yet does; to repel Yin is to embrace Yang, yet of Yang it cannot be done. To undo Yin and to repel it, a heart must become less, and it must..."

... was, was the art itself explaining itself to him? In his mind?!!