Chapter 395 (1/2)
Chapter 395: Reading the Tomes of Arcane
The old scroll in Ning Que's hand was the Tome of Arcane, the ”Ming” Handscroll.
Last year, during autumn, the West-Hill Divine Palace issued an order for all Central Plains countries to form a coalition with the Northern Expedition Left King's Palace. Yet silently, there were numerous strong fighters hidden deep in the Wilderness. All of these strong fighters were waiting for the opening of the Front Gate of the Devil's Doctrine in response to Heaven and their main reason for entering the Devil's Doctrine was none other than this Tome of Arcane.
However, no one knew that this Tome of Arcane, the only Haotian Taoism handscroll that has lost its traces for thousands of years in the wild, has always been casually slotted by the waist of the Eldest Brother in the Academy.
Beside the bonfire in the forest of the Wilderness, Ning Que and Eldest Brother once had a conversation about this Book of Heaven. They had even flipped open the cover page of this Tome of Arcane, which responded to that West-Hill Great Divine Priest of Revelation's prophesy. However, at that time, he was still incapable of even taking a glance at the Tome of Arcane.
Ning Que held on to the ”Ming” Handscroll as though he was grabbing a thick stack of large notes, yet it also seemed like he was holding onto Second Brother's high crown. He was exceptionally nervous, to the extent that his arm began to s.h.i.+ver a little.
”Senior Brother, I seriously do not dare read it.”
Eldest Brother looked at him and grinned, as he said, ”Since the Teacher told me to deliver this scroll to you after you've broken out from the cave, I believe you should be able to understand some of the content now. You have to understand that this scroll is the most unique one out of the seven Tomes of Arcane. Try to understand as much as possible. I trust that it will be beneficial for you in some way or another.”
Ning Que recalled the horrifying pressure his sense of perception had experienced when he opened the Book of Heaven ”Ming” Handscroll on the Wilderness. He smiled bitterly and said, ”I'm not too sure if that benefit is worth that level of pain.”
Eldest Brother said, ”The historical origin of the Divine Hall Revelation Department came from this scroll. Some of the important ideas in the Buddhism Sect are related to this scroll as well. The Devil's Doctrine was directly produced from the basis of this Tome of Arcane. This Tome of Arcane has directly created many changes in our world. Do you think it is worth it?”
Ning Que suddenly felt curious and asked, ”Eldest Brother, since you always bring this Tome of Arcane with you, I suppose you have read it for a long time. What kind of benefits did you achieve?”
”Concrete benefits may not necessarily be benefits.”
Eldest Brother hesitated for a moment before he replied honestly, ”Moreover, I have difficulty understanding many parts in this Tome of Arcane.”
Ning Que thought of a matter and said, ”Senior Brother once said this before: If the seven Tomes of Arcane were opened in this mortal world, premonitions will definitely appear in front of everyone. Senior Brother has the capability of isolating the aura from Tomes of Arcane, but I don't have such abilities. If I were to open this ”Ming” handscroll now, isn't it equivalent to me telling the others that this Tome of Arcane is within the Academy?”
Eldest Brother gazed towards the cliff cave.
Ning Que understood instantly.
Walking into the cliff cave, Sangsang had already swept and tidied a portion of the ground in advance. Ning Que folded his legs and sat down. After he calmed his heart and mind, without any hesitation, he reached out his arm and slowly opened the cover page of this Tome of Arcane, ”Ming” Handscroll.
The moment his fingers opened the cover page, an extremely peaceful and indifferent aura jumped out of the pale yellow paper as it began to diffuse towards the entrance of the cliff cave.
The aura of the Tome of Arcane, ”Ming” Handscroll, was non-mortal and it would, no doubt, spread towards the Heaven. If this aura was to reach the Heaven, it would then display a premonition via an extraordinary method right before all mortals' eyes, announcing its own activation to the world.
Ning Que had no idea how and through what method Eldest Brother had used to contain this clear and peaceful non-mortal aura when he read this Tome of Arcane. However, he was not worried that the Tome of Arcane will be discovered by the strong fighters on earth when he flipped open this Tome of Arcane today.
That was because he was currently reading the scroll in the cliff cave and this cliff cave was inhibited by the Headmaster of the Academy.
Indeed, the clear and peaceful aura produced by the ”Ming” Handscroll was unable to blend well with the aura of everything in the cliff cave as it indifferently yet stubbornly diffused towards the entrance of the cliff cave.
Yet right at the entrance of the cliff cave, the aura of ”Ming” Handscroll met with the aura left behind by the Headmaster of the Academy.
The two auras met each other. There was no earth-shattering image, nor was there any repulsion. The auras just silently stared at each other, as they gradually quietened down.
According to some county in the Tang Empire, ”reading the Tome of Arcane” usually meant the existence of a type of dividing line between the reader and the object that was being read. It was impossible for the reader to understand anything from the object.
After being imprisoned in the mountain cliff for three months, Ning Que 's state had advanced, where his energy and temperament had improved tremendously. However, as compared to the legendary Tome of Arcane ”Ming” Handscroll, there was still a vastly huge distant apart.
Yet, it was also due to the bitter cultivation and penance he had endured through for the past 3 months, which enabled him to control the vigorous concussion that was affecting his sense of perception with extreme difficulty. He could finally lay his eyes on the pale yellow paper.
Till now, he was still unable to truly understand the Tome of Arcane, but at least he could finally see the characters on the pages clearly and remembered some of the mysterious sentences. It was just the clear and peaceful aura from the Tome of Arcane was unable to blend with the nature of the earth; hence, those sentences became increasingly broken in his mind.
A few moments later, Ning Que closed the cover page of the ”Ming” Handscroll without any hesitation.
At this time, he had only read the first page of this Tome of Arcane.
It was as if he was worried that he could not resist the temptation of reading the Tome of Arcane, he no longer took a glance at the cover page of this Tome of Arcane, to the extent that he just shut his eyes tightly and frowned.
His sense of perception had reached its extreme limit and he could no longer bear the cold stare of the clear and peaceful aura from the ”Ming” Handscroll. Thus, he must vacate himself from this world, which was way beyond his own ability.
Those old and simple wordings on the first page of the Tome of Arcane were still circulating in his mind, yet they were broken into tiny bits and pieces. They were like gravel falling after the mountain had collapsed, where one could no longer see how magnificent the mountain had been.
Reading the Tome of Arcane was indeed just about reading the Tome of Arcane. There was no way one could understand it, or even memorize it.
Ning Que felt somewhat disappointed.
Then again, without the appearance of the Headmaster of the Academy, he had managed to teach Ning Que some things via enclosing Ning Que in the cliff cave for three months.
That was apparently the patience and courage he once thought of.
Ning Que was not willing to give up that easily. He shut both his eyes firmly and he frowned his brows tightly as he clenched both his fists at his knees. He began to attempt to restore all these broken wordings from the Tome of Arcane back to its original form.
Such attempt required brainstorming, and once a human began to brainstorm, the Tome of Arcane seemed to be sneering at him at a s.p.a.ce of nihility, causing pain to his sense of perception.