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墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
In just ten minutes of Kung Fu, Shen Sipan had dug down nearly half a meter deep, and the diameter of the hole was at least one and a half meters. I couldn't help but ask, "Did you often do farm work at home?"
"No!" Shen Sipan replied casually without stopping, his tone steady and without a hint of breathlessness.
I was even more surprised. "You seem quite skilled at digging."
"Two years ago, I spent a year robbing graves with someone!" Shen Sipan spat, seemingly recalling a painful memory. "Damn, for that whole year, all I did was dig."
"Well, that's not too bad; at least you learned a skill," I could only comfort him.
After about an hour of digging, Shen Sipan had gone down two meters deep. I sat beside the pit, watching the soil being tossed up with each scoop.
"Here, have some water." I tossed him a bottle.
Shen Sipan caught the water and gulped it down in one go before tossing the empty bottle aside and grabbing the Iron Shovel to continue digging.
"Take a break and have a smoke?" I asked as I pulled out a cigarette.
"Later," Shen Sipan replied as he plunged the shovel down again. There was a clang, as if the shovel had struck something metallic.
Hmm, could it be that he uncovered some kind of array? I couldn't help but stand up and walk over to the edge of the pit to take a look.
Shen Sipan swung the shovel around, revealing a Metal Plate in front of us. I couldn't tell how large it was since Shen Sipan's efforts didn't reveal its edges. Moreover, this Metal Plate seemed to be made of an unknown material; it looked somewhat like stainless steel but had an unusual shine to it.
Shen Sipan glanced at me and stopped digging, clearly unsure of what to do next.
I jumped down into the pit and began to clear the dirt off the Metal Plate with my hands. Underneath, there were simple patterns etched onto its surface. I couldn't tell what they depicted, but they didn't seem to be carved in. Frowning in thought, I took out my dagger and scratched at the Metal Plate. It was extremely hard; despite several attempts, there were no marks left on its surface.
Cursing softly, I continued to observe and noticed a faint gap about eighty centimeters in diameter in the center of the Metal Plate, resembling a manhole cover. In the very middle, there was a slight depression. Clearing the dirt inside the pit revealed a dark hole.
I extended a finger into it, feeling that the Metal Plate was not very thick, perhaps only two centimeters at most. However, when I pulled on it with some effort, it felt unusually heavy.
I had Shen Sipan step back. Taking a deep breath, I lifted the round Metal Plate. Goodness, this Metal Plate must weigh over two hundred pounds.
Setting the Metal Plate aside, I focused my attention. Beneath it was a metal pit with an eighty-centimeter diameter; it wasn't very deep, around half a meter. In the center of the pit was a metal hemisphere, about the size of half a basketball, glowing blood red. To my surprise, hundreds of silver Starbursts floated and danced above the hemisphere, creating an incredibly fantastical sight.
Directly above the Metal Hemisphere was a groove about the size of a business card. Clearly, this Metal Hemisphere was what one would call a magic circle. Moreover, four large traditional characters were engraved next to the groove—Shu Tanlang. With such an obvious hint, it would be hard not to notice.
It seemed that as long as I released The Scroll of the Greedy Wolf from within me, the magic circle beneath this keyhole would be activated.
I glanced at Shen Sipan; although his eyes were filled with astonishment, his face did not show much surprise. After all, he had witnessed too many incredible things in just these past few moments.
"Wait for me outside for a bit; I don't know what will happen next," I said in a low voice.
Shen Sipan responded with an "oh," dropped his Iron Shovel, quickly climbed up, and ran off. I could vaguely hear his footsteps fading away. This young man is quite clever.
Sitting on the ground, I placed my hand over the keyhole and silently recited the incantation Jin Manyuan had taught me. I felt a stream of energy slowly flowing from my Dantian to my palm. This energy felt alternately cold and hot, yin and yang; clearly, it was energy from the Book of Life and Death.
However, why was this energy so weak now? If the Yin-Yang Energy that surged into my body was like a roaring river, then what emerged now was merely a trickling stream.
What could be going on? Could it be that this Yin-Yang Energy hadn’t fully awakened yet?
Once this energy flowed into my palm, I sensed that a page from the Book of Life and Death was gradually taking shape there. However, I did not see any dazzling white light; only occasionally did a faint gray light sweep across the surface of the Metal Hemisphere.
Wasn't Jin Manyuan's absence of dazzling white light considered normal? Now that there was no white light, could that also be considered normal?
The Book of Life and Death in my palm seemed to have taken shape when suddenly a pulling force came from the keyhole, drawing my palm's Book of Life and Death down into it. Then came a soft click; the blood-red Metal Hemisphere abruptly turned black, and the previously floating silver Starbursts vanished without a trace. It felt as if a neon sign had suddenly lost power in the dead of night.
The hand remained on top, but there was no further movement. What was going on? Had the array already been activated? Or was it that the Yin-Yang Energy within me was impure, causing the array to short-circuit?
After hesitating for a moment, I couldn't help but take out my phone and call Jin Manyuan. The signal wasn't great, but it was enough for a conversation. I explained the situation here, and Jin Manyuan laughed, saying, "That Metal Hemisphere is called the Greedy Wolf Platform. There are a total of seven such Metal Hemispheres, each named corresponding to the Seven Pages of Life and Death Manual. By the way, there should be some characters engraved on this Greedy Wolf Platform, right? Those were engraved by me last time... cough cough, I digress. Anyway, after I released The Scroll of the Greedy Wolf into it last time, the array was activated, and when the Greedy Wolf Platform turned black, it meant that the array had been successfully activated."
"Don't you have dazzling white light? Why didn't I see it?" I asked again.
"No dazzling white light? How is that possible? As long as your palm has the Book of Life and Death starting to take shape, there will be an extremely glaring white light." Jin Manyuan's voice was filled with confusion.
"What could be going on?" I suddenly felt anxious; could something have gone wrong?
"I don't know either. Hehe, maybe the Greedy Wolf Platform is out of power. In any case, the array of the Greedy Wolf Platform has been activated; everything else doesn't matter." Jin Manyuan chuckled a couple of times before hanging up.
Motherfucker, out of power? Could you think of a more bizarre reason?
However, at least I now knew that this array had been activated. Retracting my hand, I found that the groove above the Greedy Wolf Platform had indeed disappeared; the entire Greedy Wolf Platform now resembled a complete hemisphere as if that groove had never existed. The only trace left was a few patterns from the Book of Life and Death slowly swirling in place of where the groove used to be.
A thought suddenly popped into my mind: this The Scroll of the Greedy Wolf had now fused with the Greedy Wolf Platform. I wondered if when I summoned Judgment of Life and Death later, this page from the Book of Life and Death would scatter across Central Plains again, waiting for the next fated person to collect them one by one.
Standing up, just as I was about to cover the Metal Plate again, I suddenly noticed that there was already some energy flowing within me. Besides Devouring Energy, there were also Thunder Element and Fire Elemental Magic. Additionally, the old Yin-Yang Energy that had been faintly present in my body seemed to be stirring restlessly.
Could it be that my energy had recovered? I formed a Spell and raised my hand to unleash a Nine Divine Thunder. Sure enough, a bolt of lightning struck directly at the wall of the pit. However, what was frustrating was that this lightning was far too weak; it was about as thick as a chopstick and only a foot long. After striking, it left only a small dent in the wall—honestly speaking, my spit would have more impact than this.
I tried another move with Five Thunder Strikes, but this time there wasn't even lightning as thick as a chopstick.
It seemed that only by sending out all Seven Pages of Life and Death Manual from within me would my magical power return to its previous level. Looking at my watch, it was now two-thirty in the afternoon; that meant I had to activate all arrays before two-thirty tomorrow afternoon.
Damn, I needed to hurry.
I covered the Metal Plate back up and climbed out of the pit. I saw Shen Sipan standing at a distance near a gap in the Great Wall and called him over. The two of us casually filled in the pit and then tossed aside some bushes we had cut earlier without paying much attention to it.
I took out the Red Space Portal and began setting up the second location—the Main Hall of Shaolin Temple.
This was the location that Jin Manyuan had told me about. On WeChat, it said: "To the left of the square outside the Main Hall, there is a deep well, and the Martial Star Platform is right inside."
After setting it up, just as I was about to teleport, I suddenly thought that it was broad daylight now, and the Main Hall was bustling with people. If we suddenly popped out, those with weak hearts might get scared to death on the spot.
No, I should first go to places with fewer people and visit Shaolin Temple later.
Looking at WeChat, besides the Greedy Wolf Platform at Wan Li Great Wall, the other six locations were: Giant Gate Platform at Changbai Mountain Pool, Wenqu Platform at Emei Golden Summit, Luzhong Platform at Shennongjia, Lianzheng Platform at Taklamakan Desert, Martial Star Platform at Shaolin Temple's Main Hall, and Breaking Army Platform at Kunlun Mountain Death Valley.
How about going to Taklamakan Desert first? After all, that place is deserted all year round.
I reset the location and pushed open the door. The blazing sun shone down, and yellow sand stretched for miles; there was no sign of life in sight, as if all vitality had been extinguished here.
As I stepped forward, just as I arrived there, a Heat Wave hit me. The air here was unusually hot and dry; after taking just one breath, it felt like there was a Furnace burning inside my lungs. Behind me, Shen Sipan also stepped out, frowning as he covered his mouth and nose with his hand and said in a muffled voice, "Boss Zhong, this place really isn't fit for humans."
I chuckled lightly, "It's fine; it'll get better soon."
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