Chapter 89

"Huh, with these, it's almost done."

Zhou Xian spent the entire afternoon making over five hundred talismans and then prepared a small bag specifically for storing them.

Unlike mages, most of the spells used by Taoists require pre-made talismans, otherwise, they would be like duds.

Therefore, these talismans were essential.

By the time he finished these tasks, the sun had already set, and the stars in the suburban sky began to gradually appear. Although the Milky Way was not visible, such a starry sky was indeed a rare sight, something that could never be seen in modern cities.

"Zhou Xian, I've brought you dinner~"

Beidou held a bento box and walked in with a smile.

"Eh? Have you all finished eating? Why didn't anyone notify me?"

"Well," Beidou scratched his head and said, "Li Chuyu made dinner tonight. Uh, but she seemed a bit strange, so no one came to call you over."

Did I offend her?

Zhou Xian didn't seem to remember anything like that.

"Then what's this bento box for?" Zhou Xian asked.

"It's not a bento box, it's a bento! Bento!" Beidou was unexpectedly stubborn about this.

"Alright, alright, bento, bento." Zhou Xian took the bento box from Beidou.

Opening the lid, the box was neatly arranged with various dishes, and it seemed to be warm.

"Even though no one called you over, I saved a portion of lunch for you. ——Eh, are these all talismans?"

Beidou walked over and saw the talismans on the table.

"Yep, just made a few for backup."

Zhou Xian picked up his chopsticks and started eating.

"By the way, Beidou. I forgot to ask, are you familiar with arrays and runes?" Zhou Xian suddenly thought of Zhang Taihao, who was still researching the puppet. Inside the puppet's core, there were various runes, and perhaps Beidou could help him in this area?

"Sort of. But you seem to know quite a bit too."

Beidou picked up Zhou Xian's Tianxiang dagger and waved it casually.

"The Four Directions Array inside this dagger is quite remarkable. Using the Four Directions Array to drive the Beidou Seven Stars Array, it's quite ingenious... Well, it's a bit unconventional, and if the old Taoists from a thousand years ago saw it, they would probably criticize it to death... But in the current World of Legend, no one seems to care about these things anymore."

"The history evolved in this game sometimes really gives a feeling that it's not just a game. Beidou, what do you mean by unconventional?"

Zhou Xian asked curiously.

Beidou seemed to be getting excited: "Yi Wood Azure Dragon, Tai Bai White Tiger, Li Fire Vermilion Bird, and Xuan Ming Black Tortoise, corresponding to wood, metal, fire, and water. This is the orthodox Five Directions Great Array. In the end, this is the orthodox one. Your array, with the Earthly Disaster Black Tortoise and the Netherworld White Tiger, is considered unconventional, and calling it 'unorthodox' would be an understatement. As for the Heavenly Flame Vermilion Bird and the water attribute Azure Dragon you created for this array, they are even rarer combinations."

"Is that so?" Although Zhou Xian knew about arrays, he wasn't very familiar with the peculiar things Beidou mentioned.

"Your so-called Four Directions Array lacks the Earth attribute Qilin, so you used the Earthly Disaster Black Tortoise, which is 'earth attribute,' to guard the center. However, this caused the entire array to have too much negative energy. But the creator of this array took a different approach, using the Netherworld White Tiger to generate and control negative energy. However, this made the entire array too yin, so they changed the Li Fire Vermilion Bird to the Heavenly Flame Vermilion Bird."

"I understand the first part, the Earthly Disaster Black Tortoise is probably earth attribute, and the White Tiger should have both killing and yin attributes, but what's the difference between the Li Fire Vermilion Bird and the Heavenly Flame Vermilion Bird?" Zhou Xian asked curiously.

"Li Fire is the orthodox fire, like the Three Pure Fires. But Heavenly Flame is an extremely yang fire, which can only be controlled by the power of the dragon clan, a terrifying flame full of violence and destruction. In terms of 'yang,' it far exceeds Li Fire, but in terms of 'orthodoxy,' it falls short. Understand?" Is Teacher Beidou really omniscient? Zhou Xian nodded in amazement.

"Right, but because of this, the White Tiger and Vermilion Bird have too much violent energy, so the water attribute Azure Dragon replaced the original Yi Wood Azure Dragon to eliminate the violent energy. On the other hand, water overcomes fire, and earth overcomes water, so even without the central position, the 'earth' in the center is strengthened... I must say, this person is really impressive. If I hadn't seen this, I probably wouldn't have thought of such an array. Using this method to form the Four Directions Guardian Array, even without the central Qilin, it can still exert about 80-90% of the power of the Five Directions Great Array, which is hard to imagine."

As Beidou said, although Zhou Xian's array was just an unconventional product, its practical value seemed to be quite significant.

"But, where is the Qilin?" Zhou Xian couldn't help but ask curiously.

"Of course, it ran away~" Beidou shrugged.

"Ran away? Isn't this an array?" This was a bizarre explanation.

"Um... This involves the entire background... In short, it's a history that you probably wouldn't understand even if I told you. But it's worth a look — Zhou Xian, check what your Divine Beast Summoning skill summons."

The Divine Beast Summoning skill allows Zhou Xian to summon the unique divine beasts of Taoists.

But after hearing Beidou's explanation, a piece of information flashed through Zhou Xian's mind.

"...Qilin..."

—That's right, the true race of the "divine beast" is "Qilin."

"In this world, there is only one Qilin. The Qilin summoned by Taoists, whether in its original form or as a special existence with added powers, can basically be considered a manifestation or projection of that one Qilin. Of course, unless you sign a contract with some dragon clan or Vermilion Bird and summon their projections, which would be an exception. But modifying the Divine Beast Summoning ability is probably not easy."

Beidou gazed at the stars in the sky, as if muttering to herself.

"So, when this Qilin no longer projects its power, the original Five Directions Great Array naturally loses its original power. The Four Directions Guardian Array you constructed is probably also affected by this."

But if that's the case, why can Taoists still use their skills?

Zhou Xian's Four Directions Guardian Array was obtained from the lowest level of the underground palace in the center of the game map, which was once the ruins of a country that controlled the entire World of Legend.

Could this Qilin have a conflict with the person who constructed the array? Or with the superpower that the array once protected?

If that's the case, it makes sense.

"How do you know all this? Miss Beidou, the all-knowing?" Zhou Xian asked in amazement.

"The Xuanwu Kingdom's national library has information about the Four Directions Array, and the Vermilion Bird Kingdom's royal secret archives have secrets about the Taoist lineage. In the central city of Zhongzhou, there are also legends about the Qilin. Combining all this information naturally leads to the answer."

"How much time did you spend digging up all this gossip?" Zhou Xian was surprised by Beidou's answer.

Being able to access the Vermilion Bird Kingdom's royal secret archives, going to the Xuanwu Kingdom's library, and then gathering various legends in Zhongzhou, these were not impossible tasks, but they were definitely very labor-intensive.

Teacher Beidou, please take me as your disciple!

"It didn't take much time." She shrugged. "Actually, the most troublesome part was the constant flow of people."

"Then you..."

"—Look, it's the Big Dipper!" Beidou interrupted Zhou Xian.

"Huh?" Zhou Xian also came to the window.

Beidou moved over to let Zhou Xian lean in.

"Really, the Big Dipper. So, the bright star corresponding to it should be the North Star, right?"

Zhou Xian rarely saw such a beautiful sky in the real world, but he immediately recognized the Big Dipper in the sky.

"Speaking of which, it's really incredible. The game world is completely different from the real world, but the stars in the sky are exactly the same." Beidou sighed.

"Right. Just like the Big Dipper, it exists in this world and in that world... Hmm, but there seems to be a slight difference between the two."

Zhou Xian looked at the sky curiously.

"Of course, they are different!" Teacher Beidou seemed ready to reveal more secrets.

"—Well, of course, because the Big Dipper in that world is not in its true position but is obscured by some hidden truth, right?"

Great, Zhou Xian has learned to answer before being asked.

"Eh?! You actually know?"

Beidou pouted, seemingly a bit unwilling about Zhou Xian's sudden revelation. She seemed to enjoy such scientific explanations?

"Cough, although there are many things I don't know, I'm not that ignorant. After all, I'm one of the Emperor players."

If he had to wait for others to explain everything to him, Zhou Xian would be quite embarrassing.

At least some things he could handle on his own.

"By the way, here, take this."

Beidou suddenly handed Zhou Xian a piece of cardboard not much larger than his palm.

"What is this?"

Zhou Xian glanced at the board, which seemed to have a rather complex array on it.

"Of course, it's the orthodox Five Directions Great Array. Take it as a reference."

"Thank you very much."

This is the so-called "orthodox" array? But why is the back a mirror? The basic structure of the two arrays is similar, but the Five Directions Great Array has the additional elements of the five elements' interactions and the central Qilin, making it more complex.

Zhou Xian subconsciously opened the system panel to check this item. But he was surprised to see a strange piece of information pop up in front of him...

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