Stranger Danger-Chapter 1253: Flowing In The Six Places, Flowing Endlessly

Ye Qing slowly sank into some sort of profound enlightenment. His consciousness hadn’t just become one with the mountains, it was sinking deeper into the endless stretch of land that carried the mountains, and spreading further across the innumerable earth that nurtured humanity.

Ovre time, he clearly felt the depths, density, and boundlessness of the earth. Buried deep within the depths and density were the mountains, rivers, and precipitation of countless living beings, and spread across the boundlessness was the exaggeration known as the endless expressions of humanity and fickleness of life and death.

The earth was merciful. It gave birth to all living things, made history and created civilizations.

The earth was diverse, conjuring all sorts of scenes and spectacles. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

Equally, the earth was merciless. It viewed everything equally and treated them all like lifeless tributes.

The earth was monotonous. It was eternal and unchanging.

Right now, Ye Qing’s consciousness was currently flowing between the mercifulness and mercilessness; diversity and monotony of the earth. Sometimes he understood, sometimes he did not.

It was impossible to say how much time had passed. It could be an instant, or it could be an infinity. At some point, as if his consciousness had reached its limit, he abruptly pulled back into himself like an ebbing tide.

As soon as his consciousness returned to his body, his blood began flowing once more, his breathing returned to normal, his heart thumped rhythmically, and he exited that profound enlightenment that he could never describe.

At first, Ye Qing felt lost and disappointed. It was as if he was missing a part of himself, though he couldn’t explain what or why.

The strange sensation was quickly replaced by ecstasy though. Right now, he was overflowing with strength. He discovered that he had progressed further in the “Earthly Sovereign True Scripture”, and he had reached perfection in the Great Grandmaster stage. Now, he only needed an opportunity to be able to become a Half-Sage.

Not only that, he had made progress in the “Records of Laojun Studying The Dao On A Bull”. His spirit was flawless, and his mind was perfect.

A new Magia had also appeared in his mind. Its name was, “Flowing In The Six Places”.

“Flowing In The Six Places” originated from a book called “I Ching”. There was a quote in “I Ching” that went something like this:

“Its method is marked by the frequent changing. They change and move without staying, flowing about into any one of the six places. They ascend and descend, ever inconstant. The strong and the weak lines change places, so that an invariable and compendious rule cannot be derived from them; - it must vary as their changes indicate.”[1]

To put it in simpler terms, the ways of the world were not unchanging. They changed and moved without staying in one place; cycling back and forth between heaven, earth, and the four cardinal directions. The six places inter-promoted and inter-restrained one another, and they were never constant. Therefore, the only way to deal with the changes was to adapt as the circumstances saw fit.

Based on the “I Ching”, rooted in yin and yang, and centered around the six places, “Flowing In The Six Places” was a movement art that allowed the practitioner to flow endlessly via mastery of the changes of the six places. When the practitioner had mastered the art, they would understand the changes of the six places and the principles of interpromotion and interrestraint. They would be able to see through all Magias and all natural barriers and overcome them. There would be nowhere in the world where the practitioner couldn’t go; no place they couldn’t flow endlessly.

In other words, mastering “Flowing In The Six Places” would enable Ye Qing to overcome any human danger, and travel to any part of the world. It was an unparalleled art of self-preservation and tribulation avoidance.

Considering his current circumstances, “Flowing In The Six Places” was exactly what Ye Qing needed right now.

Ye Qing was a master of many martial arts. His one weakness was his lack of a movement art or an escape Magia. It wasn’t that he didn’t know any movement art or escape Magia, but they did not fit his current level and were almost useless as a result. Not only that, neither the “Paranirmitavaśavartin Heavenly Demon Sutra” nor the “Earthly Sovereign Scripture” taught a movement art, which was why he relied mostly on brute strength and a half-baked Earth Escape he picked up from the “Earthly Sovereign Scripture” to dance during battles. His speed was extraordinary, but his agility was poor. He was lacking in flexibility as well.

Against a weaker opponent, his strength was enough to overcome any deficiency. But against an opponent who was an expert in movement arts or escape arts; against a foe whose cultivation level was equal or greater than his, he almost always fell into a reactive position.

He was very likely going to face not one, but many such opponents in the near future. There was no way he could master “Flowing In The Six Places” immediately, but just grasping it would improve his situation a lot. Its appearance could not be any more timely.

“Master the changes of the six places to flow endlessly, huh? “Flowing In The Six Places” truly is wonderful, wonderful!”

Ye Qing was excited to put it mildly. The “Records of Laojun Studying The Dao On A Bull” truly was the ultimate tribulation avoidance art that even a celestial like Xuanyuan Kun coveted. Sure, neither the Yin Yang Spell Eyes or “Flowing In The Six Places” boasted any offensive power whatsoever, but so what? They were unparalleled in terms of protecting his life. In his opinion, this quality alone made them far more useful than a pure offensive-type Magia.

Ye Qing did not hesitate. He immediately sat down and began studying “Flowing In The Six Places”.

The trap he had set for Westwind Inn needed time to mature. It also took time for the news of his departure from Cloud Hue Pass to spread. So, he might as well focus on “Flowing In the Six Places” first.

What was the saying again? One cannot master the spear in a day, but at least the spearhead is going to be shiny!

......

Inside a dark, humid cave, a young man dressed in black was sitting on the ground. He was surrounded by a thin, black fog.

Actually, it wasn’t wholly accurate to call him a young man. After all, his face kept changing between male, female, old and young. It was quite strange.

Suddenly, the young man seemingly sensed something and looked at the pond next to him. It wasn’t the only pond in the cave. At least dozens of them were surrounding him from all sides.

The next moment, an old face surfaced from the pond he was looking at. It was none other than the face of Sunlao Taijun. “Thousand Change...” Sunlao Taijun greeted the young man.

“Sunlao Taijun? It’s only been a few days since we last met. What happened to you?” The young man a.k.a Thousand Change asked puzzledly.

“This is my true appearance.”

Sunlao Taijun did not linger on this subject. She asked directly, “Are the preparations ready?”

“Of course.”

Thousand Change did not prod, though he asked another question, “The Mad Lord is still at Cloud Hue Pass though. What are you going to do?”

Sunlao Taijun answered, “I received word that he left Cloud Hue Pass yesterday.”

“Are you certain about this?” Thousand Change asked. Maybe it was because he was excited, but the ponds inside the cave were trembling as well.

“Naturally.”

Sunlao Taijun answered, “This is something Taoist of Sleep himself told me. You’re aware of his Magia, right? He can enter one’s dream and spy on their memories without being detected. He found out about this while he was spying on the guards guarding the general’s residence. Therefore, it has to be true.”

“Then why haven’t we heard anything until now?” Thousand Change asked.

“Because Taba Xuanwu is covering up his tracks from him.”

Sunlao Taijun explained, “Taba Xuanwu cannot protect Ye Qing due to the pressure he’s facing, but he can cover for him for a bit and give him a head start.”

“Can’t deny it’s a sound scheme.” Thousand Change grunted. “Do you know where the Mad Lord is right now?”

“We do. We’re watching him in real time right now,” Sunlao Taijun answered. “Therefore, we can proceed as planned.”

“Very good!” Thousand Change nodded. “I’ll tell my men to get ready immediately.”

1. Translation taken from: https://ctext.org/book-of-changes/xi-ci-xia/ens , but changed slightly to fit the context of this story. ☜