Chapter 24 of 100
Chapter 24
8 min read1,901 words
Those two were terrified, but Shen Lang was not at all anxious.
He said calmly, "There's a saying, 'No destruction, no creation.' If the mess cannot be cleaned up, then there's no need to clean it up. It's better to treat the mess as a new setup."
Then, his divine consciousness and senses, along with his emotions, seemed to be寄托 (entrusted) to the world of the spirit array diagram, completely immersing his mind.
In the spirit array diagram, his consciousness rapidly moved through the starry sky, with the stars racing around without any hindrance.
At this moment, the starry sky in the spirit array diagram was in great disorder, with many stars deviating from their original orbits, wildly dashing about.
The rumbling sounds continuously reached Shen Lang's mind, making him frown slightly.
Without any hesitation, his divine consciousness controlled a few stars in the corner, guiding them to slowly follow his path.
He was guiding, not blocking.
At this moment, the stars in the spirit array diagram were extremely violent, all rapidly moving without fixed orbits. However, in Shen Lang's view, guiding the rapidly moving stars was even easier than activating a stationary star.
He only needed to slightly nudge a rapidly moving star with his divine consciousness, like using a small force to move a heavy object, easily changing its orbit!
In this way, everything became much simpler.
In a short while, he controlled a few stars to form a constellation, which began to operate according to a set orbit.
Once the constellation was formed, these stars immediately stabilized, no longer posing any threat.
The concept of the moon orbiting the Earth and the Earth orbiting the Sun was something even children knew in the place Shen Lang came from before he crossed over.
And the memories he obtained in his dream made him a master-level alchemy craftsman, so all of this was quite simple.
Originally, when drawing the spirit array diagram, it required a considerable amount of divine consciousness to activate a single star and form a pattern with other stars. However, now Shen Lang used the momentum of the stars' orbits to cleverly guide them, dividing them into numerous regions and forming many constellations, each operating independently.
Creating a spirit array diagram essentially involved controlling the stars within it to form a complex pattern.
And what Shen Lang was doing now was to first form a constellation from the numerous rapidly moving stars, stabilizing the chaotic star domain.
When constellations like Libra and Taurus were formed, the entire starry sky finally stabilized.
At this point, Shen Lang began to treat each constellation as a star, starting to draw spirit lines to connect them!
This might sound simple, but it was actually quite challenging, as it required several very strict conditions.
First, each constellation, whether complex or simple, was actually a spirit array diagram, and each one was distinctly different. If two identical spirit array diagrams appeared in one diagram, they would conflict and cause other constellations to become chaotic.
Therefore, to do this, the person creating the spirit array diagram needed to have learned many different spirit array diagrams, otherwise, it would be impossible.
However, spirit array diagrams were scarce resources. Even a fourth-rank spirit alchemy craftsman like Mo Liusheng only knew a few third- and fourth-rank spirit array diagrams. Even if he included lower-rank ones, it still wouldn't be enough for such extravagance.
Second, of course, was the strength of the divine consciousness. If the divine consciousness was weak, even knowing all this would be useless.
Shen Lang's only shortcoming was that his divine consciousness was not yet strong enough, making the task a bit strenuous.
However, it was only a bit strenuous, not too difficult, as Mo Liusheng's spirit array diagram was only a high second-rank.
Just as Mo Liusheng and Xiao Qifeng were feeling bitter, Shen Lang suddenly opened his eyes, moved his right hand, and the long knife in his hand spun, emitting a blinding blue light and embedding itself in the black iron table!
"It's done. Unfortunately, my divine consciousness is too weak, and your materials are quite ordinary, so it's probably a first-rank mystic weapon," Shen Lang said, wiping his sweat with the towel Xiao Qifeng handed him.
"Done... really done? Don't play with me, I'm an experienced old man..." Mo Liusheng's face was as sweaty as Shen Lang's, and his fingers trembled as he gripped the hilt, channeling his divine consciousness into it.
"Mystic weapon? Don't joke around, these materials can't even reach the mystic level, let alone the spirit array diagram... Holy crap!" The usually dignified and respected Dean cursed, then stood there, completely stunned.
Xiao Qifeng was startled and wanted to pull out a few of his beard hairs to ask if this "Holy crap" was good or bad.
Shen Lang was already terrifying enough, always mysterious, and every action he took could scare people half to death...
But the Dean wasn't the type to be so easily stunned. Whether it was good or bad, success or failure, he should at least say something!
At this moment, you're just standing there in a daze. If I could beat you, I'd give you a couple of slaps to wake you up!
The Dean, of course, didn't know about Xiao Qifeng's chaotic thoughts...
His divine consciousness was still examining the spirit array diagram, and his excitement was growing, almost to the point of tears.
He was no longer young, though being in his seventies or eighties wasn't much in this world. Still, he was an old man with a long white beard.
After practicing to this level and focusing on alchemy, he had been a fourth-rank spirit alchemy craftsman for a long time without any breakthrough.
He had even given up on himself, just wanting to live a peaceful life at Ta Yun Academy.
Now, a young man suddenly appeared, reorganizing the original third-rank spirit array diagram into a first-rank mystic array diagram... It was like a window had been opened in front of him, and a bright path had been laid out. He could already faintly see the higher levels of the alchemy path, beckoning to him...
In everything this young man had shown, what was once difficult now seemed laughable.
What fourth-rank, what fifth-rank... He saw the path of a master-level alchemy craftsman!
The legendary path of a master!
They say that in life, besides one's own efforts, one also needs opportunities and the help of influential people. This is such a person!
This opportunity is absolutely once in a thousand years, rare and hard to come by!
Mo Liusheng's heart was extremely excited, his long beard trembling, and his demeanor becoming extremely humble, even bowing deeply to Shen Lang...
And it was a student's bow!
Xiao Qifeng, though he guessed that Shen Lang had indeed succeeded, still experienced a moment of brain freeze at this scene.
"You don't have to do this. I do know a bit about the path of alchemy. I came here to exchange ideas with the Dean," Shen Lang said, uncomfortable with the excessive respect, not really caring about Mo Liusheng's status but feeling a bit uneasy about the age difference and the deep bow.
Mo Liusheng, his face red, waved his hands, "No, no, no, no need to call me Dean. In the path of martial arts or alchemy, the one who achieves more is always the leader..."
"Alright, alright..." Shen Lang couldn't bear his gaze and hurriedly said, "Actually, I came here for a reason..."
"What is it?" Mo Liusheng was slightly stunned, then remembered that Shen Lang hadn't come here to belittle or show off to him.
Xiao Qifeng had been guessing for a long time and immediately perked up his ears when he heard Shen Lang finally get to the point.
"I need six months' worth of cultivation points from the alchemy hall. That's all. Can you help me with that?" Shen Lang smiled, finally revealing his purpose.
"Six months? No problem, I can even give you sixty years!" Mo Liusheng patted his chest.
This wasn't a lie. As the Dean of the Alchemy Hall, getting some cultivation points was as easy as pie.
Letting Shen Lang take over the Alchemy Hall wasn't out of the question either.
"Thank you. I'll leave Ta Yun Academy in six months. During this time, if you have any problems, you can send someone to find me in the first martial arts class when I'm not practicing. But don't come personally; I don't want to cause trouble." Shen Lang put the Tian Shui Blade back into his ring and said, "You've already seen the spirit array diagram inside. I'll have someone send you a tutorial on a jade slip later. How much you can understand from it is up to you."
Mo Liusheng, extremely excited, waved his hands, "No, no, no, how can I let you send it? In a few days, I'll... cough, I'll send someone to pick it up in three days."
"Then... what about me..." Xiao Qifeng, emboldened, spoke in a very small voice.
"You?" Shen Lang was slightly taken aback, then smiled, "I'm sure the Dean wouldn't mind taking on a disciple who can create third-rank spirit weapons, right?"
"Ah, calling me 'Dean' sounds so harsh. Fine, I won't call you 'Dean' either. If you don't mind... I'm a bit older than you, so you can call me 'Old Brother.' As for this... cough, if you're willing to learn from me, I'll take you as my last disciple!" Mo Liusheng, being quite cunning, quickly understood Shen Lang's personality and used a few words to draw him closer.
"Last disciple..." Xiao Qifeng's legs went weak, and he almost fell over again.
This happiness came too quickly, and he hadn't fully processed it yet.
Perhaps the words "last disciple" were heard by someone outside, and the door to the Alchemy Hall was forcefully pushed open. Xiao Chunfeng, looking like a madman, rushed in.
"Dean, don't be deceived! This Shen Lang is a waste of the Shen family, a well-known failure at Ta Yun Academy! He just knocked me out when I wasn't paying attention during your lecture, completely disregarding you! You absolutely can't give such a person such good treatment, and you can't exclude us while giving this waste special instruction! He should be punished, hung on the Mystic Ice Cliff for three days and three nights!" Xiao Chunfeng almost roared.
He didn't notice that Xiao Qifeng was looking at him as if he were already dead...
Mo Liusheng's face darkened, "Waste? Instruction? Punishment?"
You little brat, do you know what you're saying?
Do you know that the waste you're talking about can become a master-level alchemy craftsman?
I want him to teach me!
I spent so much time understanding his personality and treating him as a brother, and you come to ruin it. Do you have a grudge against me?
"Really, the students outside can vouch for me. This waste just knocked me out! Dean, you must do something about this!" Xiao Chunfeng didn't notice Mo Liusheng's murderous gaze, thinking he was angry about the incident.
"You little bastard, daring to knock me out in the Dean's class. You're finished, completely finished! No one in heaven or earth can save you! Just wait and see how the Dean punishes you!" Xiao Chunfeng looked at Shen Lang with a smug smile...
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