Word Count: 3,217
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Zhao Xuanzhen continued his first journey through the Elementary Spirit Ascension Platform, moving through the boundless primordial forest in search of prey.
Spirit beasts had an extremely strong sense of territory. This stretch of the Outer Region had been occupied by the Wind Baboon troop, and any other spirit beast had either been driven away or reduced to food. As a result, after searching for quite a while, Zhao Xuanzhen found only a 300-year Ghost Vine disguised as an ordinary vine.
In this day and age, a spirit beast whose attributes weren't strong enough and whose bloodline wasn't noble enough was hardly worth mentioning. Zhao Xuanzhen flattened the Ghost Vine with two punches and collected thirty years of cultivation feedback without breaking a sweat.
After a short rest brought his spirit power and stamina back to their peak, he set out once more. Traveling alone was one of life's dullest affairs, so he summoned the Auspicious Spirit Capybara to keep him company.
Finding a partner for the trek was not even the main point. Zhao Xuanzhen recalled that a Spirit Master who fused with a sufficiently powerful Spirit Soul could release it during battle for a righteous two-on-one beating. As an auspicious beast renowned for riding crocodiles and commanding eagles, the Auspicious Spirit Capybara definitely had a few tricks up its sleeve!
The little capybara padded along beside him on its stubby legs without a word of complaint. With its steady temperament, even if it had no desire to come out and fight, it would never put up much resistance. At most, it would quietly talk itself into acceptance: Got stuck with this. Nothing to be done about it.
Dense forest pressed in on every side. The deeper man and beast ventured, the richer the life energy grew, yet a faintly oppressive aura drifted toward them from the unseen darkness ahead.
A soft rustle reached Zhao Xuanzhen's ears. The Auspicious Spirit Capybara twitched its own ears in response. The air ahead carried an extra trace of something raw and fishy, laced with faint sweetness.
"Something's delivering itself to our doorstep. Capy-capy, you're up." Zhao Xuanzhen narrowed his eyes and peered into the distance.
"No."
"You have to."
"...Fine."
So concluded their spectacularly brief exchange. The Auspicious Spirit Capybara resigned itself to fate and waited in silence for the approaching spirit beast.
Whoosh—
The bushes exploded into motion. A dark green serpent shot across the ground at blinding speed, its body stretching over seven meters long. It barreled forward with savage force, sweeping aside every obstacle in its path!
The serpent spotted Zhao Xuanzhen and the capybara blocking its route, and agitation flickered through its ruby-red eyes. Its jaws parted in a sharp, warning hiss!
A 700-year Datura Snake!
Its cultivation fell a notch below the Wind Baboon King's, but in raw combat power, the Datura Snake outclassed any Wind Baboon by miles. If the two ever fought, the odds would be nine to one: the Datura Snake would whip the Wind Baboon like a top nine full spins in a second!
The Auspicious Spirit Capybara did not so much as flinch at the Datura Snake's warning. The Datura Snake was one of the forest's apex predators. When had it ever been so thoroughly ignored?!
Its maw gaped open in a viscerally shocking display. The Datura Snake's jaws split to a full hundred and eighty degrees, showcasing the grotesque skeletal flexibility unique to serpents. A tongue bright as fresh blood flicked between fangs that gleamed with venomous cold in the sunlight, and the beast lunged viciously at the tiny capybara!
The Auspicious Spirit Capybara dug its forepaws into the earth. Its moist nose quivered as yin-yang cyclones wrapped around its body and solidified into a black-and-white round shield. This was Zhao Xuanzhen's first spirit skill, Qi Follows the Heart's Will. After all, the skill had belonged to the Auspicious Spirit Capybara in the first place!
Screee—
Shield and fang met with a harsh screech like nails dragged across slate. The clash did not last long. Fine cracks spread across the Datura Snake's prized fangs the instant they struck the yin-yang shield. The gap between them was plain for all to see!
Once in battle mode, the Auspicious Spirit Capybara shed every trace of clumsiness. The moment it seized the upper hand, it pressed the advantage without mercy. Three streams of airflow split apart and clamped onto the snake's head, body, and tail. For the first time in its life, the Datura Snake experienced the suffocating grip of a python's constriction!
Hard scales burst open in sprays of blood, and the searing pain tore another furious roar from its throat. The Datura Snake was utterly enraged!
Its dark green scales flared with a faint sheen of light. The serpentine body turned boneless and slick, sliding free of the restraints like water through a net, and it lunged at the capybara once more.
By then, however, the capybara had already finished gathering power. It became a black-and-white meteor woven from yin and yang. The flowing currents condensed into solid form and forged a radiant horn at the mark on its brow.
The destructive aura radiating from that horn struck the Datura Snake like a physical blow, and the terrible truth finally dawned: the little creature across from it was the hunter. It had been the prey all along, too blind to see. In a panic, it spat a gout of poison, but the poison broke apart into countless motes of light the instant it touched the Auspicious Spirit Capybara.
A crisp crack rang out like crystal shattering. The skull broke. Scales exploded inch by inch along the line of its skeleton, and the Datura Snake's final howl pierced the sky!
The Auspicious Spirit Capybara stood unharmed atop the serpent's ruined head. As the last flicker of life drained from the Datura Snake's eyes, spirit power flowed into Zhao Xuanzhen's spirit ring and pushed its age to nine hundred years.
"Those two are an excellent match."
Leng Yaozhu smiled before the Spirit Screen. The Bai sisters nodded in full agreement, understanding exactly why Zhao Xuanzhen had let the Auspicious Spirit Capybara fight alone.
In the current era, a Spirit Soul was an integral part of a Spirit Master's combat strength. Since Zhao Xuanzhen had fused with the Auspicious Spirit Capybara, he naturally needed to know just how much power it could bring to bear.
The Datura Snake had been dispatched as easily as chopping melons and slicing vegetables. Beneath that soft, harmless exterior, the capybara concealed astonishing power. A Spirit Master's first Spirit Soul was the one that stayed with them longest. Capy-capy would be one of Zhao Xuanzhen's most important allies!
On the Spirit Screen, Zhao Xuanzhen was busily kneading the Auspicious Spirit Capybara. Bai Haoze beamed. "To have done this much on his very first time in the Spirit Ascension Platform... Xuanzhen is far more outstanding than I ever imagined. And here I was, worried he might end up on the losing side."
"Mm-hm, and his first spirit ring looks like it's nearly ready to evolve."
Bai Zhicen studied the ring, already flecked with tiny points of purple light, and ran a quick calculation in her head. "If a 1,000-year spirit beast showed up right now, that ring would ascend on the spot."
"Don't jinx him!" Bai Haoze laughed, giving her sister a playful smack.
A 1,000-year spirit beast and a 100-year spirit beast were two entirely different things. If one actually appeared, the unlucky soul would almost certainly be Zhao Xuanzhen.
"No. What Xiao Bai said has already become reality." Leng Yaozhu's expression darkened slightly.
"Huh??"
Bai Zhicen's face drained of color. She had only been joking!
"The Datura Snake is sinister, vicious, and bloodthirsty by nature. Yet when it first saw Xuanzhen and the Auspicious Spirit Capybara, its immediate reaction was to try and scare them off. Why do you suppose that was?"
The Bai sisters' faces fell in unison. They replayed the Datura Snake's behavior and the answer hit them at once. That hiss had not been a predator's challenge. It had been a desperate attempt to frighten away whatever stood in its escape route. The snake had been running for its life!
If a 700-year Datura Snake had been scared into blind retreat, whatever was chasing it needed no introduction. Even if the pursuer wasn't a true 1,000-year spirit beast, its strength could not have been far off!
The Spirit Screen continued its faithful broadcast. Up in the dense canopy above Zhao Xuanzhen, a massive black shadow hung from a single strand of purple silk, descending without a sound. On its abdomen sat a human face, hideous as a demon's mask.
"Man Faced Demon Spider!"
Another old acquaintance, right on schedule. Following the Wind Baboons, the Ghost Vine, and the Datura Snake, the next spirit beast to grace the stage was none other than Douluo Continent's legendary beast king of a bygone era, nightmare of lesser spirit beasts, the consummate evil killer: the Man Faced Demon Spider!
Bai Zhicen's offhand joke had become prophecy. She shut her eyes and buried her face in her hands. This Man Faced Demon Spider had broken through to the 1,000-year level, making it one of the most dangerous spirit beasts in the entire Elementary Spirit Ascension Platform!
The Man Faced Demon Spider was cold-blooded, brutal, and endlessly patient. For the sake of a killing blow, it would gladly lurk in silence for as long as needed. It had watched the Auspicious Spirit Capybara kill the Datura Snake from beginning to end, and with one battle barely concluded, the timing could not have been riper.
Without a sound, it raised its needle-sharp forelegs, each as deadly as a drawn blade. Bloodlust and savagery flashed through all eight of its beast eyes as it plunged straight down with everything it had!
"Kun Trigram, Earth Tremor."
The earth split apart at his command. A stone python erupted from below and launched the boy skyward!
Spirit Connection Realm spiritual power granted Zhao Xuanzhen extraordinarily keen perception. The Man Faced Demon Spider believed its concealment was flawless, but in truth, it was riddled with gaps!
The Man Faced Demon Spider recoiled in horror. Its supposedly invincible spider lances struck the stone python and threw off nothing more than two meager sparks. The human above gazed down with an overwhelming pressure that drove the spider stumbling backward!
Zhao Xuanzhen stood atop the stone python, and his pitch-black eyes shifted to a deep, unearthly blue. The warmth that usually defined his presence vanished without a trace, replaced by a cold and absolute indifference. Within his pupils, patterns of Taiji and the Eight Trigrams flickered and revolved, as though they sought to draw all things beneath heaven into themselves and bring them into perfect equilibrium!
Body as nation, qi as citizens, heart as emperor!
(TL/N: A Daoist metaphor for internal harmony: the body is a kingdom, qi its people, and the mind/heart its ruler.)
Daoist Art, Eight Trigrams Qimen!
The Bai sisters stared blankly at the Spirit Screen, too stunned to utter a single word. Even Leng Yaozhu, who had seen more in her lifetime than most, leaned forward with visible effort:
"Is this... a Martial Spirit talent of True Self?"
She could not make sense of it. In the end, she could only attribute what she was seeing to an innate ability born from awakening a God-level Body Martial Spirit.
She was half right. Eight Trigrams Qimen was a Daoist art from Zhao Xuanzhen's previous life in the Liangyi Sect. Beyond the foundational comprehension needed to grasp the Qimen Formation, it demanded a body and spirit powerful enough to bear the weight of the array.
In his previous life, chronic frailty from childhood had prevented him from ever cultivating Eight Trigrams Qimen to a truly profound level. This life was different. He had awakened a Body Martial Spirit. Every ability he possessed became part of his body, and that body became his True Self!
Heaven. Earth. Human. Divine!
(TL/N: Tian, Di, Ren, Shen. Often refers to the four aspects or plates in Qimen Dunjia.)
Heavenly timing, earthly advantage, human harmony, divine assistance!
(TL/N: These are the four crucial factors for success in Qimen Dunjia and Chinese strategic thought, representing cosmic, environmental, social, and spiritual alignment.)
With body and spirit at last powerful enough to bear the strain, the Daoist arts of all four plates of Eight Trigrams Qimen were finally unleashed!
The days of using Qimen as nothing more than an air conditioner were over!
Zhao Xuanzhen recalled the Auspicious Spirit Capybara and gazed down at the Man Faced Demon Spider, which glared back up at him like a cornered beast facing its doom. Eight Trigrams Qimen was a terrifying art, yet in his previous life it had only compounded the damage to his already broken body. Now, at long last, he could wield it without restraint!
"Kan Trigram, Heavy Water."
Eight Trigrams Qimen, Earth Plate Daoist Art!
The world wore countless faces, but none could escape the single principle of change. Eight Trigrams Qimen was the art of mastering those very changes.
Qian, Kun, Xun, Zhen. Kan, Li, Gen, Dui. The Innate Bagua formed its foundation, each trigram corresponding to a primordial force of nature, and from them the Qimen Formation took shape. Zhao Xuanzhen stood at its center as the Qimen Master. By altering the formation's structure, he could reshape everything within it, and once he reached the art's deeper realms, even time and space inside the Qimen Formation would bend to his will!
Thousands of water droplets condensed from thin air and arranged themselves into eight suspended curtains before the Man Faced Demon Spider. Bone-piercing cold spread in silence, and the water's surface reflected the spider's own stark terror back at it. The instant its spear-like legs crashed into those curtains, the Heavy Water detonated. Innate Kan Water qi surged into the Man Faced Demon Spider's hardened carapace!
Heavy Water continued to ravage flesh and blood. Yellow-green ichor sprayed in every direction, and plants touched by the venomous blood withered on contact. The Man Faced Demon Spider rolled and thrashed across the forest floor, and wherever its massive body swept past, ancient trees splintered as if struck by a storm. By the time it stilled, the surrounding area lay in complete ruin. Not a single plant survived.
"Xun Trigram, Wind Rope."
Wind howled through the empty space. Cyan cords woven from the gale itself lashed out and coiled around all eight of the spider's legs. Flexible yet unyielding, the wind ropes pinned the Man Faced Demon Spider firmly to the earth.
The Man Faced Demon Spider howled in fury. It strained against the wind ropes with brute force while simultaneously spitting out a web that swelled in the wind and expanded into a massive net five meters across, shimmering with a sinister violet sheen!
Innate Spirit Skill, Spider Web Restraint!
Unlike ordinary spider-type spirit beasts that slowly spun silk and wove their traps, the Man Faced Demon Spider could unleash its web in an instant. Tough, ferociously sticky, and laced with devastating neurotoxin!
"Li Trigram, Blazing Flame."
Fire erupted the instant the words left his lips. A massive fireball trailing a blazing tail descended from above, and the surging heat swept outward like a tidal wave that slammed straight into the web.
Poison vaporized under the searing heat. The fireball blasted through the web and kept going, its force undiminished, until a sea of flame engulfed the Man Faced Demon Spider entirely. Its already battered carapace began to melt and drip away. Firelight illuminated the twisted terror on that human face and the agonized shrieks that burst from it one after another.
A nauseating stench of scorching flesh filled the air. Driven by a violent will to survive, the Man Faced Demon Spider ripped free of the wind ropes. Its abdomen was a ruin of open wounds, and the human face there let out a shriek like an infant's wail. All eight legs churned in frantic rhythm, trailing a chain of afterimages.
Heedless of its grievous wounds, the spider forced its way through the inferno. Every last shred of power in its body erupted at once as it launched itself skyward, straight at Zhao Xuanzhen atop the stone python. Its lower abdomen swung into full view, and the hideous human face etched in white markings swelled rapidly in his vision. Violet eyes brimmed with cold, all-consuming hatred!
This spirit beast loathed Zhao Xuanzhen with every fiber of its being. It wanted nothing more than to tear him to shreds!
Its long legs rose high in midair, curving into a flawless killing arc. Corrosive venom coated every limb, and combined with the spider's innate spiritual poison, even a glancing touch would be enough to kill a Spirit Master, let alone a direct stab!
Zhao Xuanzhen heard the shrill tremor of spider legs carving through the air and saw the deadly aura of condensed venom with perfect clarity. A single murmured line, and the Qimen Formation shifted. Four stone pillars erupted from the earth, their ancient, weathered surfaces proclaiming the heavy majesty of mountains to all who dared look!
The Man Faced Demon Spider stared in disbelief. Even with the intelligence of a 1,000-year spirit beast, it could not understand how this human was able to command so many elements, each one suffocating in its pressure, each one absurdly powerful!
You're cheating!
There was nowhere to dodge in midair. The Man Faced Demon Spider twisted its body desperately, but the struggle was doomed before it began. The four pillars had already predicted every possible evasive path and pierced its massive, millstone-round body from four directions with merciless precision.
"Gen Trigram, Giant Rock."
BOOM—
The Man Faced Demon Spider plummeted to earth. Four horrifying holes had been punched clean through its body. What blood remained trickled down the stone pillars in winding streams, and acrid green smoke hissed where it met the ground.
Deep blue light flowed through Zhao Xuanzhen's eyes. The earth heaved upward like an awakening beast. Trigrams pulled and the terrain obeyed, shifting, pressing, breaking apart. The ground beneath the Man Faced Demon Spider rose into a solitary peak as everything around it collapsed into a ring-shaped abyss.
"Dui Trigram, Flowing Abyss."
The Man Faced Demon Spider had no strength left to resist. Its breathing came in weak, nearly imperceptible gasps. Even at death's door, all eight of its sinister eyes stayed locked on Zhao Xuanzhen, as though determined to carry their hatred into the next life. Had this been a real spirit beast rather than a simulation inside the Spirit Ascension Platform, it would almost certainly have dropped an External Spirit Bone.
"It's over."
Lightning flickered across the sky as thunderclouds slowly gathered overhead.
The stone python dissolved into dust. Zhao Xuanzhen walked past the dying beast.
"Zhen Trigram, Thunder."
The thunder finally fell!
Lightning annihilated the Man Faced Demon Spider. Its remains scattered into the wind as dust, and the legendary spirit beast vanished without leaving so much as a trace. A full hundred years of spirit power surged into Zhao Xuanzhen's first spirit ring, and brilliant purple light blazed to life!
Spirit Ascension—1,000-year spirit ring!
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Author's Note:
Eight Trigrams Qimen draws inspiration from both the Eighty-One Daoist Arts and Feng Hou Qimen from The Outcast, though its specific effects in this story differ from either source.
The Earth Plate contains the protagonist's most commonly used Daoist arts and serves double duty by suppressing the Silver Dragon King's elemental power. Those familiar with Old Tang know what's coming: the Heaven Plate will be the protagonist's crowning moment, while the Divine Plate's Eight Deities will form his trump card for the eventual confrontation with the Twelve God Kings.
Translation Note:
The Eight Trigrams (Bagua) are foundational symbols in Daoist cosmology representing eight core natural forces: Qian (Heaven), Kun (Earth), Xun (Wind), Zhen (Thunder), Kan (Water), Li (Fire), Gen (Mountain), and Dui (Lake/Marsh).
Qimen Dunjia, commonly shortened to Qimen, is an ancient Chinese system of divination and metaphysics associated with strategic advantage and mastery of cosmic patterns.
The Liangyi refers to the two primordial polarities of Yin and Yang, central to Daoist philosophy and practices such as Tai Chi.
The "four plates" (Heaven, Earth, Human, Divine) are structural components of the Qimen Dunjia framework, each governing a different aspect of existence.