971 Coordination (1/2)
Inside the spacious cabin with the fresh flowers and beauties, the Night Emperor was holding a chess piece in his right hand, his eyes filled with passion for great things. Everything was poetic and dreamy, but the inspecting ambassador of the Heavenly Way Alliance Yin Feilong was unable to appreciate this scene, his mind filled with various thoughts and wild guesses.
The Night Emperor seemed to be implying something, could he really have discovered that matter?
But it cannot be determined just like that, there's also a high chance that he's just acting mysteriously. There's a need to test further…
Hu Yanran smiled out of politeness as she said, ”Mister Lishang, you're a supreme in today's world. How would we be able to guess a supreme's thinking? It's just that the Island of Ten Magnificence is my teacher's residence, and you not paying my teacher a visit upon arrival would invite malicious gossip.”
She avoided Meng Qi's question, pointing at the core of the question euphemistically and politely.
Meng Qi held a chess piece with his thumb and index finger, smiling jovially, ”The Island of Ten Magnificence has the largest offshore street system, its port is opened to all martial arts practitioners and marine passengers, but I'm the only exception?”
Well… Hu Yanran was speechless. The Island of Ten Magnificence had indeed no rules stating that Dharmakayas were forbidden, but couldn't the Night Emperor consider her teacher's feelings and also the possibility of a conflict?
It is said that the Night Emperor is unrestrained by formalities and does whatever pleases him. Indeed there's a reason behind this, and looking at things now, it is certainly the case!
Facing a Dharmakaya whom no one knew what he would do next, Hu Yanran didn't dare to use her teacher, the Heavenly Way Alliance, and also the five old deities to push others, in case it backfired.
All of a sudden, the place was quiet and the atmosphere became strangely awkward. But Meng Qi was relaxed and composed as he appreciated the contemplating beauty with knitted brows, showing no signs of contempt in his eyes.
Yunyue who was serving at the side gave it a quick thought before interrupting smilingly, ”Sister Yanran, you're well-known for your beauty and it is indeed true now that I've seen it. I really pale in comparison to you.”
When exchanging identities, Huo Lishang had mentioned not to provoke a Dharmakaya supreme, because the strength transmitted through the Thousand Illusion Mask was limited and could easily result in blunders. Therefore, Yunyue and the others dared not provoke the Yin Master's people. Seeing the situation turn bad, she quickly chipped in to liven up the atmosphere.
With her taking the lead, Liushang, Xiapei, and the other concubines also joined in the conversation, and the place was suddenly bustling. They chatted from Hu Yanran to the Yin Master, and from the Island of Ten Magnificence to the different islands and cultures of the Seven Seas, including the exotic plants and remains of various residences. Hu Yanran made use of this opportunity to get out of the situation, chatting happily. Meng Qi also chipped in from time to time, and everything became merry and joyous.
Yin Feilong listened quietly at the side, his mind filled with numerous thoughts. Testing such things required much intelligence — he couldn't talk too much and let others discover any secrets or clues, and also couldn't harp on unrelated matters as that would be of no use. Knowing how much to say and when to stop was a challenge.
After thinking for a while, he had a plan. He caught on Liushang's words and joined in the chat smilingly, ”I've also visited many remains and mausoleums these few years and discovered some ancient books. Their descriptions of the Seven Seas and Twenty-Eight Worlds were strange and mysterious, and very thought-provoking.”
”What kind of descriptions are they?” Yunyue asked curiously, showing her pretty dimples.
Yin Feilong looked at Meng Qi, only to see the Night Emperor smiling cooly as usual, showing no change at all. Hence, he pretended to ponder a bit before saying, ”They described the Seven Seas and Twenty-Eight Worlds as the real world, the real pure land or the Heaven of Daluo.”
Speaking until here, he stared at Meng Qi's eyes, wanting to see if the Night Emperor had any unusual reaction, but those eyes were dark and deep like an illusory night sky without any ripples.
”Real world, real pure land, Heaven of Daluo…the wordings and terms seemed to reveal the specificity of our world…” Hu Yanran seemed to have heard this kind of description for the first time, while Yunyue, Liushang and the other concubines were also surprised and curious.
Real world, real pure land, Heaven of Daluo… this outside celestial world sounds interesting… Yin Feilong and the Yin Master seemed to have some unusual secrets… Qu Baimei's death was probably not so simple, it wasn't just about the identity exposure of a member of the Immortal World or the leak of the Golden Turtle Island matter… Meng Qi was a little affected from listening, but his emotions were completely masked by his slow-beating heart.
He slowly placed the chess pieces in his hand onto the chessboard, forming a huge dragon, before looking back at Yin Feilong with a smile, ”You're indeed knowledgeable, Ambassador Yin.”
Having said that, he looked around at Hu Yanran, Youhu, etc., with a faint smile, as though solving the doubts of the beauties, ”Dao encompasses everything; there is nothing else before or other than it. There are no words to describe it, as everything said would be wrong. One just needs to know that every living thing is born from Dao; spiritual by nature but polluted by external factors, like a wanderer far away from home and unable to return to it, which is extremely sad.”
”From the beginning of Dao, heaven and earth separated — clean air rose to become the Nine Levels of Heaven while foul air went down to become the nine realms of hell. The middle became the four elements which formed where we are, which is the most basic part. The other worlds derived from here, changing their rules as the air here changes. Thus, they are not stable and have a feeling of unreal. In contrast, here is real and unchanged since ancient times, hence the real world.”
”In the real world, the 'ego' is the 'self,' and the remaining breathing ones in the world would be 'additional selves'... although an 'additional self' could also turn into a 'self'... it serves to show the eminence of the real world, which is also the Legendary path.”
Meng Qi used words that corresponded to the Night Emperor's identity to describe the real world, which weren't accurate enough but sufficient to make people understand.
Hu Yanran's eyes shone from listening, looking as though she had a great realization. The Seven Seas and Twenty-Eight Worlds had endless inheritance, so she had a certain understanding of the Legendary path. However, the manuals and scriptures were often difficult to understand unless one had attained a certain level. But now, the Night Emperor describing the real world with the help of the Legendary path had made her completely understand what the Legendary path, as well as 'self' and 'additional self' were. Similarly, she had also understood the concept of the real world.
Yunyue and Liushang, etc., looked at one another blankly after listening. The Night Emperor would usually also mention related things, but had never been this clear and thorough and had never talked about the term real world. To think this fake Night Emperor actually knew so many secrets!
He's a member of a mysterious organization, so it's not unusual for him to know so many secrets… they consoled themselves this way.
Yin Feilong lost himself from listening, and his mind only had one thought:
The Night Emperor knew!
The Night Emperor knew about that matter!
With thoughts running and his brain feeling as though it was boiling, Yin Feilong forced a smile and said, ”I've made a fool of myself in front of the expert talking about the real world in front of Mister Lishang. It's getting late now, we shall make a move.”
Meng Qi looked at him smilingly without saying much. Although Yin Feilong was a guru, there was still Yin Master Xu Bei above him so he wouldn't know many secrets. It was good to let him go back and report so as to see the Yin Master's reaction.
Yin Feilong and Hu Yanran bowed and walked toward the outside the cabin. Just before reaching the door, Yin Feilong's expression changed and suddenly turned back, saying in a low voice, ”Yin Master will come and visit you.”