Chapter 222 – The Teenager who Embraced the Monolith (2/2)

Gou Hanshi walked in front of the Reflecting Monolith, yet he did not close his eyes in thought, nor did he examine those lines on the monolith. Gazing, as always, at the distant mountain, he placed his right hand on the monolith.

The cool breeze blew again. The birds in forest took flight, and with the fluttering of their wings, his figure had already ceased to be.

At this point, everyone there finally understood that Gou Hanshi had long ago comprehended the Reflecting Monolith. He had only been waiting for his three juniors to comprehend it too.

In other words, did it not mean that as he long as he wanted to, he could have very easily become the first this year to comprehend a monolith? They thought back to how, in the early morning after Zhong Hui had successfully comprehended the monolith, when those two Scholartree Manor students were so excited and proud, and they could not help but feel that it was now somewhat embarrassing. At this time, those two young Scholartree Manor scholars that still remained in front of the monolith truly did seem rather embarrassed.

The reason Gou Hanshi could comprehend the monolith but choose not to move on was because he was waiting for his fellow disciples. Then what about Chen Changsheng? Very naturally, they were drawn to this question. Was he like Gou Hanshi and had deciphered this Heavenly Tome Monolith long ago? If that were true, then who was he waiting for? Or was it as Zhong Hui had said, that he had insufficient skill to comprehend the monoliths?

Discussion gradually stirred, then gradually died down once more.

After not much time had passed, Zhuang Huanyu walked up to the monolith hut. As this year’s strongest student from the Heavenly Dao Academy, many people recognized him. It was just that for some reason, after he entered the Mausoleum of Books, he had disappeared. No one knew where he had gone, or what he had been doing. Even in the early morning when Zhong Hui was breaking through, he was nowhere to be seen. They could not help but feel surprised.

Zhuang Huanyu’s shirt was covered with grass and leaves, as if he had actually spent two nights out in the woods. He cut a somewhat sorry figure, but his expression was extremely calm and there was a sense of self-confidence about his appearance.

Tang Thirty-Six looked at him and asked, “You didn’t go to the Green Forest Dorm?”

The Six Ivies had always been in the capital, thus they were extremely close to the Mausoleum of Books and could obtain many conveniences. In the past few years, the Heavenly Dao Academy had been the most well-off of all the academies in the Zhou Dynasty, so naturally they would have made previous arrangements for their students in the mausoleum. The Green Forest Dorm was the dormitory for the Heavenly Dao Academy’s students within the mausoleum. The other academies, like the Temple Seminary and Star Seizer Academy, also had similar arrangements.

“I didn’t go to the Green Forest Dorm, because I had no time.”

Zhuang Huanyu brushed the dirt and leaves off of his body, before walking inside the monolith hut.

Tang Thirty-Six looked at his back and said, “Even if you succeed now, you can only be placed sixth. Is it really worth all the trouble?”

Zhuang Huanyu held his right hand in front of the monolith and said, “But at the very least, I’m still in front of Chen Changsheng, right?”

Saying this, he rested his right hand on the monolith.

Not long after, Su Moyu stood up and walked to the monolith hut, becoming the seventh person this year to succeed at comprehending the monoliths.

Seeing one person after another succeed, how could such a proud person as Tang Thirty-Six not feel nervous? Especially since Su Moyu had placed behind him in the Proclamation of Azure Sky, he became even more pressured.

After a moment, he sobered up, slightly frowned, then closed his eyes, no longer thinking about these matters. He sent his consciousness out of his body, not dwelling on the monolith. At some moments it even seemed like he had actually fallen asleep.

When he woke up, it was already twilight. The glow of the sunset suffused the sky and the mausoleum’s vibrant forest seemed to burn in the light.

He stood up and began to walk towards the monolith hut. As he passed Zhexiu, he said “Tell Chen Changsheng that he can start eating without me.”

He walked up to the monolith and happily laughed. He spread his arms wide then gave that ice-cold monolith a giant embrace.

To comprehend the Heavenly Tome Monoliths would give off a sort of indescribable feeling. To cultivators, this feeling was more delicious than dragon marrow, more fascinating than the stars. There was a sense of immense satisfaction, the so-called only after eating the marrow does one know the taste. The vast majority of cultivators, after comprehending the first monolith and arriving at the second, would lose themselves in the monoliths and forget the passage of time.

(TL Note: 食髓知味 is an idiom that translates to “Eating the marrow to know the taste”. It means that once one eats the bone marrow, it tastes so good that they want to immediately eat it again.)

Tang Thirty-Six knew that he was powerless to resist such intoxication. He knew that he would spend the night in the company of the stars embracing the second monolith until he fell asleep, thus he told Zhexiu to bring a message back to Chen Changsheng to eat without him. Just like him, Zhong Hui, Zhuang Huanyu, Qi Jian, and the rest were all sitting in front of the second monolith, not knowing how to even write the two words “go back”.

However, the world always would have people that stood out from the masses. The exceptionally gifted and strong-willed would never be confused by external forces.

Accompanied by the sunset, Gou Hanshi returned to the grass hut.

Smelling the fragrance of egg soup emanating from the kitchen and seeing Chen Changsheng sitting at the doorstep staring blankly at the setting sun, he asked, “Just what are you waiting for?”