Chapter 338: The Grand Pattern

The Cripple wondered, "What is it?"

Qin Mu stroked his chin, then plucked a flourishing beard hair. "I think the cultivation technique in this book might be a method to connect the divine bridge."

The Cripple didn't hear clearly: "What bridge?"

"The divine bridge."

Qin Mu continued to measure, looking down. "Because the divine treasure is not like the meridians and collaterals of the human body, which are simply there, allowing you to try and activate a technique just by looking at a cultivation diagram. The divine treasure is an empty space where vital qi flows. Every minute detail of its movement involves different spatial dimensions. Therefore, specific spatial dimensions need to be measured. It's difficult to determine coordinates in space, and any oversight could lead to errors."

The Cripple's expression was blank, somewhat dazed, as he stared at Qin Mu changing scales and continuing to measure the patterns on the golden book.

Qin Mu took out paper and a pen to note down his measurements, not looking up. "An error in spatial dimensions, even a slight blur, can lead to a divergence of a thousand miles. I need to measure accurately, calculating even beyond the point of blurriness. Moreover, the size of the person in the drawing is different from a real person's body size, and the size of their divine treasure is also different from a real person's. I will first calculate the basic values. Although each person's divine bridge and divine treasure vary in size, with these basic values, one can cultivate according to spatial proportions. This way, the 'Magpie Bridge Technique' can be mastered..."

The Cripple paused, stunned. "What bridge?"

Qin Mu, feeling puzzled, chuckled, "The Magpie Bridge. Grandpa Cripple, you seem to be distracted. I won't talk to you about it anymore; the measurements here are very troublesome, and the calculations are difficult. It will take a long time..."

Suddenly, the Village Chief's head poked out from inside the carriage, and he asked excitedly, "What bridge?"

Qin Mu was even more puzzled. "Village Chief, you're distracted too? The Magpie Bridge!"

"No!" The Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace twisted his head around to face his back and quickly said, "That's not right! You clearly said 'divine bridge' before 'Magpie Bridge'!"

"Exactly!" The Cripple quickly added, "I also heard 'divine bridge'!"

The Village Chief nodded repeatedly. "It was 'divine bridge'!"

Qin Mu suddenly understood and laughed. "The divine bridge of the person in this drawing is broken. The cultivation technique in the drawing is called the Magpie Bridge Technique, and it's for repairing the divine bridge. I was just calculating the mathematical principles needed for the Magpie Bridge Technique. This technique is very difficult to cultivate and requires too many measurements..."

"A cultivation technique to repair the divine bridge!" The aura of the three people in the carriage suddenly surged. The flying palanquin, suspended in mid-air, was instantly torn apart by their combined auras, then shattered into dust by their terrifying presence!

Qin Mu quickly flew into the air, clutching the precious golden scroll and his calculated data to his chest. His clothes were also a mess, stained with ink.

The Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace, the Village Chief, and the Cripple almost simultaneously reached out to grab the precious golden scroll. Seeing Qin Mu cradling the book, they quickly stopped and withdrew their hands, their excitement indescribable.

Qin Mu complained, "Fortunately, this is a golden book, so it's not afraid of being ruined by ink. Otherwise, your sins would be immense."

The Village Chief quickly said, "Let's land first!"

The four landed. Corpses lay all around, and in some areas, fires burned, sending thick smoke billowing into the sky—these were traces left by fire-element divine arts. In front of them, the chaotic army of the Barbarian Tribes was fleeing and attacking Helan Pass. The defenders of Helan Pass, however, were grimly holding the city gates, unwilling to open them and let their own soldiers in, fearing that the Eternal Peace army would take the opportunity to breach the pass.

These defeated troops were actually furiously attacking Helan Pass. The tall city walls constantly crumbled under the bombardment of numerous powerful cultivators, sending debris flying. Fortunately, the walls were wide enough; they had only breached the outer wall, with the inner wall still intact. The defending soldiers, regardless of friend or foe, activated their divine arts and spirit weapons, blasting towards outside and below the city. They even killed comrades with whom they had fought side-by-side. Below the city, crude and offensive curses filled the air, making the scene even more unbearable. Corpses piled up like mountains beneath the city walls.

In front of Helan Pass, the Sword Hall Master and the fleet led by Yu Yuan Chu Yun stopped sixty miles away and did not attack. Instead, the beams from their vital qi cannons continuously fired, shattering the city towers and gates.

Instantly, countless fleeing soldiers surged into the city like a tide.

Inside the city, Ban Gongcuo felt a chill spread through his limbs.

With the city gates breached and the defeated army rushing into the city, Helan Pass no longer had any means to resist the enemy's attack. The fleeing soldiers clashed with the defending garrison inside the pass, making it impossible for the defenders to form ranks, so they too joined the rout. The enemy seized the opportunity to pour in, systematically slaughtering, ensuring the complete defeat of the plains.

"Take me away immediately!" Ban Gongcuo hardened his heart and ordered the shaman king beside him, "Abandon the city! Retreat from Helan Pass!"

The shaman king quickly led him away, flying out of Helan Pass. Ban Gongcuo sternly commanded, "Have all the disciples of my Golden Palace withdraw from the battlefield!"

The shaman king's heart trembled, and he stammered, "Great Esteemed One, if the disciples of my Golden Palace withdraw, the armies of the various tribes on the plains will have no way out!"

"But the Golden Palace still has a way out," Ban Gongcuo said calmly. "Forcibly resisting will only lead to my Golden Palace disciples dying in this city. We must preserve the strength of the Golden Palace. The true battlefield will be on the plains. The Golden Palace's prestige was not offered up or built by various tribes. If the Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace wants to occupy the plains, he must pay a sufficient price!"

The shaman king immediately channeled his vital qi, transforming it into an earth-shattering roar that echoed across the battlefield, ordering the Golden Palace disciples to retreat.

The moment he gave the order, the scene became even more chaotic. Morale completely collapsed. Everyone wanted to flee for their lives, desperately rushing towards the city gate behind the pass. People were pushing and trampling each other. Some who had cultivated flying divine arts soared into the air, only to be shot down by vital qi cannons.

Yu Yuan Chu Yun controlled the sky, preventing the Barbarian Tribes' divine arts practitioners from escaping by air, while the Sword Hall Master controlled the ground. However, he did not block their escape from behind the pass. Instead, he first cleared out the enemy forces on the ground ahead, forcing them into a desperate retreat.

Below the naval ships, the Eternal Peace army surged forward, clearing the remnants of the battlefield.

Ban Gongcuo looked back. Helan Pass had already begun to collapse. Flames raged within the city, thick smoke billowing upwards. Barbarian Tribes soldiers who escaped the city were frantically scattering for their lives. Countless others, unable to escape the city, attempted to climb Helan Mountain, only to fall and be crushed to death.

Many great shamans and shaman kings flew over, gathering around Ban Gongcuo. Their faces were filled with terror and despair, but Ban Gongcuo grew even calmer. He instructed, "All of you, scatter immediately. Poison all the water sources on the plains with shamanic toxins, and let plague run rampant. If the Eternal Peace army invades the plains, let them die without a burial place!"

"Great Esteemed One!" The hearts of the great shamans and shaman kings were greatly shaken. One shaman king said with a tearful voice, "Our tribespeople on the plains will also be poisoned to death!"

Ban Gongcuo calmly replied, "The plains are vast enough. As long as the poison isn't put in the major cities on the plains, a portion of the tribespeople can be saved."

"But most of the people on the plains are from small nomadic tribes..."

Ban Gongcuo said expressionlessly, "Those are the common people; it's worth it for them to be buried with Eternal Peace's divine arts practitioners. You must scatter immediately and lay the poison without delay. Otherwise, when the Eternal Peace army arrives, their first target will be the Golden Palace!"

Many great shamans and shaman kings, in a daze, scattered in all directions.

Ban Gongcuo looked back at Helan Pass. War smoke and fire enveloped the collapsing stronghold. He turned and walked towards the Golden Palace, murmuring, "It's been so many years, perhaps seven or eight thousand years? My heart has been as still as an ancient well, unable to stir even a ripple. This is probably the first time I've felt that same desperate struggle as in my first life... Eternal Peace, Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace, Heavenly Devil Cult Master, you have made me regain my fighting spirit!"

On the battlefield, Qin Mu moved a few corpses aside, then opened the precious golden scroll, allowing the Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace, the Village Chief, and the Cripple to examine its contents.

The three of them pressed their heads together, nervously studying the few characters and patterns in the precious golden scroll, frantically calculating and memorizing the diagrams and text in their minds.

"Ingenious, truly ingenious! How did the people of Carefree Village devise such a clever method, one that can actually connect the divine bridge in this way?"

"How enormous must the calculations be to derive such precise trajectories and then transform them into a cultivation technique?"

"As expected, this is the next cultivation technique, calculated based on the Magpie Bridge. The Profound Guidance Technique is incredible; it's almost like building pavilions in the air! To be able to calculate to this extent is absolutely divine!"

"This cannot be calculated by one person alone. It must have required the combined wisdom of everyone in Carefree Village to calculate the second step of the technique!"

The three watched for a while. Suddenly, a loud noise and cheers came from afar. Qin Mu looked up, cleared his throat, and said, "Gentlemen, Helan Pass has been breached."

The three remained silent, continuing to look at the precious golden scroll. Qin Mu shook his head and continued to observe the distance. "Shouldn't we go over there? It's getting late. If we stay in the Duck Tongue area, there will be danger from the dark invasion at night. This is the Great Ruins, after all."

The three still remained silent.

Qin Mu, bored, waited for a moment before he couldn't help but say, "No matter how carefully you look, it's useless. If you don't calculate the mathematical principles contained within the technique, rashly cultivating it will likely lead to failure."

Only then did the three look up, reluctantly averting their gaze from the precious golden scroll. Qin Mu quickly asked, "Grandpa Village Chief, are you confident you can repair the divine bridge?"

The Village Chief shook his head. "My lifespan is not long. Whether I can repair the divine bridge before I die of old age depends on my own fate. Judging from the three cultivation techniques in this book, repairing the divine bridge is not an easy task."

The Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace nodded. "Before that, we need to calculate the mathematical principles contained within these three techniques. This is extremely important. We must quickly establish the mathematical models for all three techniques; only then can they be popularized."

The Cripple sneered, "Imperial Preceptor, you want to popularize this cultivation technique that can make people gods or devils, making it accessible to everyone. But have you asked the people of Carefree Village, the Qin family? After all, these three techniques are not yours!"

The Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace was slightly taken aback, then said apologetically, "I never considered whether this technique could be widely spread, so I forgot to ask the owner. Cult Master Qin..."

Qin Mu chuckled, "I haven't thought about hoarding it either. I was just thinking that it should be passed on; there's no need to cling to it as a personal treasure."

The Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace gazed into his eyes, seemingly trying to discern his true thoughts, but could only see Qin Mu's incredibly clear gaze. He then sighed, "Old Human Emperor, I finally understand why you chose him as your successor. He truly possesses the qualifications and broad-mindedness to be a Human Emperor. Although he is young, his vision is grand!"

The Village Chief calmly said, "Mu'er was taught by us, so naturally, his vision is broad enough!"