Chapter 625 - 572: Origins
Jiang Yuebai was surrounded by Zhuge Xiu and Zhuge Yi, engaged in a heated debate. Zhuge Hongjian returned and joined in after listening in for a bit.
Jiang Yuebai, facing various questions one-on-three, answered them eloquently, splitting a Divine Thought to record insights. For the questions she couldn’t answer, she used another Divine Thought to jot them down in a Jade Scroll.
She also had another Divine Thought secretly organizing the doubts generated during the earlier exercises, seizing the opportunity to consult the three Great Elders of the Zhuge Family.
Everyone had their areas of expertise and specialty, serving as teachers to each other, discussing and learning together, thus progressing.
But the three couldn’t keep up with Jiang Yuebai’s rapid thought process; one question led to three or four new ones. First, the elder with the eight-character mustache, Zhuge Xiu, admitted defeat.
"Wait a minute, let me take a drink and check these formulas; you guys go ahead first."
Zhuge Xiu moved aside directly, grabbed a teacup and gulped down a mouthful to calm himself, puzzling over how Jiang Yuebai could do arithmetic so fast, so quickly...
The squinting Zhuge Yi accidentally flipped through Jiang Yuebai’s booklet and found various Array Dao issues recorded in it. Some he had known for a long time and found unsurprising, yet some were intriguing ideas, like reverse engineering an array, which captured Zhuge Yi’s interest.
This reverse arraying method was the topic Jiang Yuebai brought up during her first consult with Zhao Fuyi at the Land of Azure Flame in the Earth Spiritual Realm years ago, where she got thrown out after just three days.
Later, Zhao Fuyi took interest, and after years of validation, summarized it into a set of methods. This method isn’t suitable for all arrays, especially as the failure rate for beginners using this method for arraying is very high.
But it’s especially effective in the application of arrays in Artifact Refining.
Zhuge Yi had previously attempted to first draw the embryonic form of a talisman array on an Armor, then dismantle it, completing each part separately, finally recombining it to prevent loose connections between array compartments.
This was indeed reverse arraying, but Zhuge Yi considered it impractical due to numerous failures, until he saw the notes in Jiang Yuebai’s booklet.
She actually succeeded!
"Senior Sister Hongjian, wait a bit before asking, let me first; I’m really urgent, urgently urgent!"
Zhuge Yi shuffled Zhuge Hongjian aside, pushing Jiang Yuebai’s booklet into her face.
Zhuge Hongjian pulled Jiang Yuebai back a step. "Junior Brother, don’t rush, we haven’t finished talking here yet. Junior Sister Wangshu, let’s continue..."
The scene was somewhat chaotic with Jiang Yuebai being snatched from.
Tie Wanjiang was standing by the table in the Quiet Room, took out a small cauldron the size of a head, placed a finger-sized Silver Frost Bamboo inside, and poured the bottle filled with Purple Jade Grass Dew straight into the cauldron.
Purple Jade Grass Dew quickly drowned the Silver Frost Bamboo, and Zhuge Shou, Supreme Elder Zhuge Jing, Moh Baichun, and Zhuge Ziqian all gathered around to peer into the cauldron.
Tie Wanjiang, arms crossed, exuded confidence.
A bitter cold surged from the Silver Frost Bamboo, and in the blink of an eye, it froze all the dew in the cauldron into a lump of ice.
Tie Wanjiang glared, pointing at the cauldron, "See, I told you it’d freeze solid; this method is totally impractical!"
Tie Wanjiang’s voice boomed like thunder, attracting the attention of the three discussing beside him, as well as Zhuge Xiu, who was bent over doing calculations.
Jiang Yuebai merely glanced over indifferently, her lips briefly curling before withdrawing her gaze.
Tie Wanjiang was about to speak, but the Family Head Zhuge Shou raised a hand to interrupt, "Pay close attention to that Silver Frost Bamboo."
Tie Wanjiang squinted, staring at the silver bamboo frozen centrally. It seemed to lose color, gradually fading silver, soon blending in with the entire ice lump.
Jiang Yuebai’s voice came, "Elder Tie, now you only need to use Elixir Fire to heat with the cauldron for a quarter of an hour, evaporate the moisture, and what remains is exceptionally pure, utterly waste-free Bamboo Essence."
Tie Wanjiang was already dumbfounded, not expecting it to actually work.
The original method required six whole hours of continuous Elixir Fire scorching to extract Bamboo Essence, whereas now, soaking took only about a quarter of an hour, saving half a day.
Obviously, the Bamboo Essence derived this way was purer than through fire forging, leaving no residue, ensuring the quality of the refined product to be higher.
Tie Wanjiang blinked his copper bell-like eyes, instinctively glancing at other answers in the exercise set, beginning to wonder if all those methods were indeed feasible?
Supreme Elder Zhuge Jing laughed heartily, "Elder Tie, the new waves of the Yangtze River push on the old, your Artifact Refining techniques need updating; although the methods passed down by seniors are reliable and stable, they aren’t necessarily the most effective. Sticking to old ways will only halt your progress."
Zhuge Ziqian and Moh Baichun nodded gently on the side; opening up the talents widely, the Zhuge Family aims to innovate constantly, across all aspects, to remain at the forefront of the Cultivation Realm.
"Alright, Zhuge Shou, invite her outside; I have a few questions to ask."
Supreme Elder Zhuge Jing was the first to leave the Quiet Room, Zhuge Shou interrupted Jiang Yuebai and the others, leading her to the Inner Affairs Hall plaza to meet Supreme Elder under the Bronze Giant Puppet.
"Let’s speak openly; are you truly willing to stay in the Zhuge Family as a Guest Elder?"
Zhuge Jing asked Jiang Yuebai, gazing at the colossal Bronze Puppet in front.
Jiang Yuebai knew Zhuge Jing wanted to know her intentions in joining the Zhuge Family.
For the Zhuge Family, apart from some negligible unpleasantness, overall, she liked the atmosphere and the people here, especially the few Great Elders who truly possessed profound knowledge in certain aspects, allowing her to learn and grow.
Thus, Jiang Yuebai nodded, choosing not to conceal anymore.
"Frankly, I’m looking for a Refining God Method, crucial for my cultivation, which is one of my purposes for coming to the Zhuge Family. Additionally, I have to apologize, I didn’t intentionally hide it, actually, I’m not a Loose Cultivator; I have sect affiliation."
Upon speaking, Zhuge Shou looked at Jiang Yuebai in surprise.
Supreme Elder Zhuge Jing seemed unsurprised though, nodding with a smile, "Just as I thought, a sect capable of fostering such an outstanding disciple like you must be a well-known and prestigious sect?"
Jiang Yuebai chuckled, glanced at the Bronze Giant Puppet, and asked, "I wonder if the senior has heard of the Earth Spiritual Realm’s Heavenly Interence Sect?"
This time, it was Zhuge Jing’s turn to look over in surprise, scrutinizing Jiang Yuebai.
"You’re a disciple of the Earth Spiritual Realm’s Heavenly Interence Sect, of Immortal Monarch Lu Xingyun’s Heavenly Interence Sect?"
Jiang Yuebai’s heart stirred slightly, "Yes, that Heavenly Interence Sect. Does the senior know of our Heavenly Interence Sect’s Ancestor?"
Zhuge Jing inhaled deeply, nodding, "Speaking of which, the Zhuge Family owes its current status entirely to the guidance given by the Immortal Monarch to our forebearers. The various systems the Zhuge Family uses are all proposed by the Immortal Monarch back then, including this."
Zhuge Jing gestured towards the Bronze Giant Puppet.
"This was also brought out from the Earth Spiritual Realm by the Immortal Monarch and gifted to the Zhuge Family. It contains the Immortal Monarch’s innovative ideas for modifying Armor. The Zhuge Family’s now-prestigious Armored Technique was learned from here, so strictly speaking, the Zhuge Family is also the Immortal Monarch’s legacy."
"Actually, the Zhuge Family also encountered several Divinity Transformation True Venerables from the Heavenly Interence Sect in other realms and even housed some temporarily. Meeting you today is also fate."