Chapter 93: The Precious

It was as if Wei Mo had just realized that the act of calculating about the small numbers of worldly matters was much more exciting than deriving the great numbers of heaven's way. He said absent-mindedly, "You are right, the master teacher's brother is an expert in deriving the small numbers. All the common matters in the world can never escape his calculation."

Wen Leyang inhaled a long breath as his gaze caught the little monk Hope Voice's gaze. He finally understood why the One Word Palace was interested in inquiring about the whereabouts of this master teacher's brother of the Heaven-Teller Sect. If this person was truly as described by Wei Mo and could calculate anything and everything in the world, then it must be terrifying. Let alone the One Word Palace, it was estimated that the Zhongnanhai Imperial Garden would be looking all over for him.

Wen Leyang sized Wei Mo who was standing before him. He appeared almost sixty to seventy years old already. Wen Leyang asked, "May I know what is your venerable age this year?"

"Err...I will have to calculate this."

The little stutterer Hope Voice understood Wen Leyang's thoughts. He said from the side, "You master t-t-t-teacher's brother is s-s-still alive, you must have cultivated in Qi and lived a l-l-l-long life!

At that time, the seven fat men returned. The entire mountainside was filled with rocks. Occasionally, there were a few spring water heads, some mushrooms grew in the humid areas. Otherwise, there was nothing else there, the fat men played for a while before losing their interest, so they were making a lot of noise about leaving.

Wei Mo looked towards them as if they were monsters, "The mountain has collapsed, the exit path is, of course, sealed off too!"

Wen Leyang and the seven fat men laughed. One of the fat men suddenly stretched out his arm and grabbed the air. He raised his big floral-engraved ax high up on the air. He shouted loudly before slamming the weapon onto the ground. The shattered rocks flew in all directions as a deep pit of two to three meters appeared out of thin air before their eyes.

Wei Mo stared towards the fat man arrogantly, "This is the mountainside of Mount Emei. There are still thousands and millions of miles of mountains outside there. You can try to smash for many years but you may never get out!"

Wen Leyang chuckled as he shook his head, "It is alright. Even though the tunnel is sealed off, it is still not too deep or too far away from the surface. We can return to the path we came from and start knocking our way out from there." This paved path was originally carved out by the predecessors; it should be the nearest pathway that would lead them to the outside.

The little stutterer shook his head, "J-j-just....collapsed. If you smashed through it... will collapse again."

Wen Leyang stopped speaking. He chose a huge piece of rock in front of him that was heavy on the tip. Inhaling, he tightly pressed himself onto the rock.

A moment later, everyone including the seven fat men, stared in bewilderment, as Wen Leyang's entire body rippled in the Faulty Punch. The Poison of Life and Death within his body spread recklessly, layers upon layers of huge rock were pulverized into ashes by the Faulty Punch. It only took him a while before the entire person of Wen Leyang sunk into the rock.

The countless joints of Wen Leyang's entire body exerted strength simultaneously. He was using his Yin energy only, producing almost no vibration. The huge rock steadily dropped onto the ground. It almost did not vibrate at all.

The little monk was elated. He clapped his hands excitedly, "He is out, he is out!"

Wen Leyang had just leaped onto the top of the stone step valiantly and spiritedly and started walking into the tunnel that led out to the mountainside. He took a turn and was dumbstruck. The path before him was firmly sealed off by the huge mountain rocks. Other than the little portion of the pathway near to the stone steps, the long tunnel had utterly collapsed.

Wen Leyang gave a forced smile as he stretched out his hand and felt around the icy-cold huge rocks. He turned around and asked Wei Mo, "Is there anything to eat and drink here in the mountainside?" When Wen Leyang was not absorbing strong poison, he still had the need to eat. He could withstand hunger better than ordinary people. He was still strong despite not feeding for two to three days. However, if he were to stop eating for half a month or twenty days, it was possible that he would be starved to death.

He had an important task on hand right now, which was to use the Faulty Punch to punch a new pathway so they could leave.

Even though he did not know how deep was the tunnel, when Wen Leyang came in with the fat men on his body, he plodded for a long while. If he was planning to punch his way out, it was not a task that could be accomplished in a day.

Wei Mo nodded his head and answered, "Of course there is food here, it's the mushrooms!"

The moment Wen Leyang heard Wei Mo's answer, he felt as the goosebumps erupted all over his body, he gave a 'ha!' Without any further objections, he inhaled a deep breath in preparation to slam into the huge rock before him. Wei Mo grabbed him, "You are right about the part where the tunnel is the closest pathway to lead us outside, but the tunnel is all twisted and bent. If you are not careful you might punch in the wrong direction!"

"So what do I do then?" Wen Leyang was astonished. He had not thought through this matter. If he were to punch in the wrong direction, he could be stuck here for the rest of his life. He would then be mining for ores underneath the Mount Emei.

Wei Mo revealed his mouthful of brown teeth as he smiled in a professional manner, "I can calculate for you."

Following that, there was nothing much Wen Leyang and the rest could do. Wei Mo was awfully busy. He frowned every day. Sometimes, he was measuring the distance with his footsteps, sometimes he was calculating the length of a purlin on the huge rock. He gathered data before sketching out a nomogram for his calculation. He was extremely preoccupied. By the fifth day, Wen Leyang and the little stutterer's cellphones had run out of battery.

Ever since that day, Wen Leyang completely lost track of time. He spent his days eating mushrooms and drinking fountain water in the mountainside, he recuperated and built up his energy while he waited for the day he could start working. One day, Wei Mo came looking for Wen Leyang joyously with a large piece of fabric in his hand.

The diagram for Wen Leyang to punch a hole through the tunnel was completely drawn on the fabric. A thick black-colored line curved and twisted, every turning point on the path was marked by a distance measured using footsteps. Wen Leyang calculated roughly and immediately sparks flew before his eyes. Even if the diagram was on point, he would need to punch through a total of twenty thousand steps worth of distance!

In addition, there was also a finer red-colored line, it overlapped with the black-colored line for a portion then, it took a sharp turn in another direction. The distance was a total of fewer than five thousand steps.

Wei Mo explained from the side, "The black-colored line makes up a total of twenty thousand steps. It is the route for you to punch through to the outside. While the red-colored line..." As he was saying that, his expression turned puzzled, "About five thousand steps away from where we are now, there is a rock vault."

Wen Leyang frowned once, "An obscure cultivator's vault?"

Wei Mo shook his head, he answered determinedly, "Impossible, there is only us the descendants of Heaven-Teller Sect in the vicinity. The vault is unlike any other immortal's cave."

Wen Leyang took a close look at the diagram, then he peered towards Wei Mo. His eyes were filled with suspicion, "Is it dependable?"

Wei Mo suddenly burst into a fit of temper, "The descendants of Heaven-Teller utilize the divination skill to derive the entire universe, as large as the sun, moon, stars, mountains, lakes, seas, as small as..."

Wen Leyang hastily interrupted him, he muttered to himself smilingly, "What a waste Ji Fei is not here. Otherwise, the both of you will certainly be speaking the same way."

Wei Mo was stunned for a moment, "Who is Ji Fei? He knows how to do the telling as well?"

"He does not do the telling, but he speaks like you."

The little monk Hope Voice was right next to them, he pointed towards the thick black-colored line, as he shook his head towards Wen Leyang, "Not twenty thousand...steps, f-f-fat men!" As he was saying that he pointed towards the seven fat men running towards them merrily.

Wen Leyang patted once on his head in realization, he finally understood the little monk. Using the Faulty Punch to dig through the mountain wall, if it was only him who went through it, then it would only take twenty thousand steps according to the diagram. However, if he were to bring along these fat men, he would need to dig the hole bigger. Judging by the Rainbow Brothers' figure, he would at least need to punch through two holes side by side in order to allow all of them to pass through. Twenty thousand steps multiplied by two. That would be forty thousand steps!

The seven fat men ran over. The moment they saw Wen Leyang all of them were simultaneously stunned, "Wen Leyang, why do you wear such a sad face?"

The little monk pulled on the hem of Wen Leyang's shirt. He pointed towards that stretch of red-colored line leading towards the rock vault, "Try...punch through this first, see if his calculation is a-a-a-accurate or not!"

Considering that most parts the red-colored line and the black-colored line were overlapped. Only the final one-third of the lines were separated. If he were to punch through and discover that the rock vault truly existed, then Wei Mo's calculation of the exit path was dependable.

Wen Leyang nodded his head. He had another thinking. It was impossible for a rock vault to appear out of thin air within the mountainside. If there was truly such a rock vault, then certainly it would be connected to the other exit paths. Perhaps one of those paths was not occluded by the mountain's huge quake earlier.

Wen Leyang started digging immediately.

He was dumbstruck very soon.

Mount Emei towered aloft the world for thousands of years, the rock quality within the mountainside was rigid and hard to its extent, it was not difficult for Wen Leyang to punch through the rock using the Faulty Punch for a few steps. However, if he were to truly punch his way step by step into the depth, even a drill bit that was used to open up a mine would be exhausted before the end! After Wen Leyang completed his tenth-year final examination, other than the few times of involuntary opportunities, he trained hard on the Faulty Punch every day without skipping. Nonetheless, in comparison to this, his tough training regime in the past was virtually nothing but a child's play.

After he absorbed all the Poison of Earth from within the earth-shocking toad in the Miao stockade village, Wen Leyang's Art of Poison had greatly improved. With the Poison of Life and Death intertwined together and merged with his muscles and bones, he could even squeeze a piece of iron lump into plasticine dough/. However, facing the hard and thick soaring mountain rock, Wen Leyang was nothing but an ant that was slightly stronger than the rest of his same species.

When he first started digging the hole, he could only dig twenty to thirty steps at most. Wen Leyang would not be able to sustain anymore. The muscles and bones of his entire body were almost broken. He could even feel that every single bone in his body was covered in fine cracks. Any movement would result in a deep piercing pain. The period that he used to rest far exceeded the time he spent digging the hole.

Wen Leyang finally understood what it meant to be 'undead but suffer terribly alive'. It was true that he had a great fortitude ever since he was born. However, this was twenty thousand steps. He would need to multiply the effort by two in order to widen the hole, and that turned into forty thousand steps. Every time he took dozens of steps ahead using the Faulty Punch, he felt as though the muscles and bones of his entire body were shattered. The pain was so agonizing it could drive a person to death. He thought about eating mushrooms in the mountainside, and drinking fountain water and lived the rest of his life there. This form of extremely monotonous life that could only be endured by a living dead. Nonetheless, when he was using the Faulty Punch to dig through the hole, that thought turned into a heaven-like temptation!

However, Wen Leyang did now know that using the Faulty Punch to dig the mountain rock was an opportunity of a lifetime for him. The result of taking dozens of steps was stronger than his half a day's worth of training in the Red Leaves Forest.

The Monk's Path cultivation mostly focused on the cultivation of Qi, one must conquer the internal demons in him and combine himself to the heaven and earth to become part of nature. Only then, one could absorb all the energy scattered between the heaven and earth and melt it down for his own use.

What were the internal demons? According to the Buddhism's way of saying, the internal demons were the evil spirits forbidden by the heaven and earth. However, for an ordinary person, the internal demons was the person's ego, which was also one's temperament and also one's unfettered freedom to do as one pleased. The flying immortals of the Monk's Path cultivation sought to obliterate these great humanly desires.

The cultivation method of turning thehuman body into a saint left behind by Wen Lazi utterly disregarded these notions. For Wen Lazi, the heaven belonged to the heaven while the earth belonged to the earth. He belonged to himself. The eternity of the heaven's path had nothing to do with him. Hence, his ascension to an immortal or demon or becoming a cow or a horse should not concern the heaven and earth either!

Turning the human body into saint utterly was not related to the mental cultivation method, nor was it on the same path as the internal demons. In order to allow the body to further improve, one could only refine oneself through repeated practice.

The human body was originally like a mud lump. It was extremely soft and loose. After the Poison of Life and Death remodeled Wen Leyang's body, he turned into a piece of hard iron, harder than a mud lump. Nonetheless, he was still far from being cooper refined iron marrow by miles. The hard iron could only be turned into steel after refining multiple times. So, one must repeatedly practice and refine oneself, repeatedly remold oneself thoroughly. Each time the body was at its limit and was almost shattered, it would be an opportunity for one to be reborn again.

The mountainside was an abyss of darkness. It was impossible to tell how much time had passed. Wen Leyang slumped to the ground weakly every time. When he was exhausted, he felt as if he had turned into a pottery figurine filled with cracks. Any light touch would smash his body into pieces and grind his bones into powder. It was also at this time, the intertwined Poison of Life and Death within his body would flow out quietly, from all directions before converging into small streams. The poison brought along a gush of refreshing chilling sensation, capable of penetrating his bone marrow. It flowed along joyously through the bones underneath every inch of his bones soundlessly and smoothed away all the cracks.

In the beginning, when Wen Leyang exhausted all his powers, he would need to rest for a long time before gathering his strength to stand up with difficulty. However, after a thousand steps, the time he needed to rest became shorter. He became healthier and more vigorous after each rest. The Rainbow Brothers and the little monk were all left speechless by his performance.

Wei Mo, on the other hand, did not care. He was still calculating nonstop every day. Occasionally, he would make corrections to the original diagram and helped Wen Leyang to search for the correct direction.

It was unknown how much time had passed since then. Wen Leyang deviated from the black-colored line and was digging towards the direction led by the red-colored line. The small streams converged from the Poison of Life and Death, began to surge more and more frequently. Initially, the poison would only flow out when he had exhausted all his strength and could not move to blow away the agonizing pain and recuperate his strength. After that, as long as he felt slightly weakened, the Poison of Life and Death would start flowing joyously in between his skin and bones. As a result, he could dig longer and longer. His speed increased substantially as well.

By now, Wen Leyang could experience the sensation of using his blood and flesh to resist the huge mountain. This incident could only be described as the resistance between the heaven and the man. It was exceptionally beneficial for him to refine his body using the Faulty Punch. According to the original plan, it would only take a trip for him to dig through the red-colored line's portion as he did not plan to widen the hole, such that the fat men could pass through. Instead, Wen Leyang would walk into the rock for a few steps before retreating and pushed the edge of the hole he dug earlier to widen it before he continued.

Wei Mo followed behind Wen Leyang every time he advanced for a distance. He would erase the red-colored line according to the route Wen Leyang had already punched through. Up until this day, the red-colored line was only left one tiny red dot. They were only dozens of steps away from the rock vault. Everyone's eyes were brimming with excitement. Wen Leyang screamed out in surprise. He leaped down from the stone wall and pulled along Wei Mo and the little monk as they retreated in great strides.

Wei Mo was an evil contractor. He staggered along as he retreated backward. He opened his eyes widely and shouted, "Continue to dig through then!"

The Rainbow Brothers behaved rather silly usually but this time they reacted fast. They shouted loudly simultaneously, "Is there an enemy?" As they were saying that each of their hands grabbed out to the air and lifted out their big weapons.

The gigantic weapons immediately got stuck in the narrow tunnel and the seven fat men were also squeezed into a ball. They started cursing at one another, it was unsure who was directing the curse to who.

Wen Leyang was at a loss whether to cry or laugh as he shouted, "Put away all the weapons! It is not an enemy." On the stone wall before him, the dust was dropping in a rustle. At first, it was just a few strands of silver-colored rays that were penetrating from within. After a while, the rays became brighter and brighter. The moment all the dust powder settled down, an arch-shaped silver-colored light barrier firmly blocked everyone's vision and footsteps.

Gigantic ancient runes that were plain and rough repeatedly flash past the light barrier.

After a while, Wen Leyang cautiously walked ahead. He used his palm to press onto the solid-like rays. The light barrier felt fragile and thin to his touch. Nonetheless, there was a gush of resistance firmly resisting Wen Leyang's palm.

Wen Leyang turned around and asked the people behind him, "What is that?"

All the nine men were on the same frequency. Similar to the electric fans displayed on the exhibition stand of a mall, they shook their heads in unison.

The light barrier appeared to be thin but not transparent. It was difficult to see clearly what was hiding underneath it. Even Wen Leyang could not see through it.

Wei Mo pondered for a moment before speaking hesitantly, "Do you want... me to calculate this?"

Wen Leyang could not help but to laugh, he asked, "Is it easy to calculate?"

Wei Mo's entire face was reflected into a ghastly pale by the light barrier. He nodded then shook his head, "It is actually quite easy to calculate but I am uncertain of the accuracy of the calculation. I have never tried this before..."

The little stutterer shook his head strenuously, "C-c-curiosity k-k-kills the c-c-c-cat!"

Wen Leyang roared with laughter, "Cough, don't stutter twice at that final word of yours." As he was saying that he inhaled deeply and pressed his entire body onto the arc-shaped light barrier. He gave a low groan suddenly and launched the Faulty Punch from his entire body vividly.

Wen Leyang was not a saint that took no interest in foreign objects. The extraordinary sight panned out before his eyes. He would not sleep for the next half a year if he were to not enter and take a look.

The light barrier was different from the mountain rock. Its resistance was somber yet gentle. Following the increase of the Faulty Punch's strength, the resistance grew stronger. After slamming into the light barrier, Wen Leyang's strength was akin to a pile of cotton being firmly glued together using superglue. His effort was futile. However, the peculiar rhythm of the Faulty Punch was capable of breaking spells. At first, there seemed to be no change. However, after some time, the silver-colored rays became dimmer.

At that moment, Wen Leyang could punch through the mountain rock a hundred steps at one go. Yet, in the face of the light barrier, he had already taken eight rest breaks. The light barrier had already dimmed down. It seemed to be left with only one thin layer.

Everyone was not only left speechless. Tossing aside the discussion that the Faulty Punch was capable of breaking spells, Wen Leyang rested eight times. That signified that the strength he accumulated bit by bit was enough to puncture through almost a thousand meters' worth of mountain rock. Let alone the old demon rabbit, even if Chang Li were to exhaust her cultivation base and all her strength to cast a great supernatural power, it was impossible for her to punch through a thousand meters' worth of mountain rock.

If it wasn't for Wen Leyang's Faulty Punch that was capable of breaking spells and slowly eroding through the magic spells within the light barrier, they could never realize or thought of any power capable of puncturing such a barrier.

Finally, as Wen Leyang dashed into the light barrier for the ninth time, at the sound of a light 'pop', the impregnable light barrier was akin to a fragile soap bubble that burst into nothingness. The silver-colored rays exploded like an abruptly extinguished candlelight and completely disappeared.

A circular stone cave the size of a straw hut was revealed before the eyes of everyone. Wen Leyang gave out an 'oh no' before tumbling forward into the hole.

The little monk immediately splashed out a string of Buddhist prayer beads into the hole, preparing to chant an incantation when he suddenly screamed out in surprise. The moment the Buddhist prayer beads entered the circular stone cave, the beads immediately vibrated in a rumble and rolled out of the cave.

The little monk's injuries had yet to fully heal. His face became even more ghastly pale, "....here...p-p-p-prohibition spell!"

The moment Wen Leyang's body touched the ground, he bounced up immediately. The skin on his entire body tightened abruptly. The stone cave was spacious and silent. There was only a jade knife, as long as a finger's length, laying quietly on the ground.

Wei Mo stepped into the cave. He sized the surroundings attentively. The surrounding walls were made of thick and heavy mottled rock walls. There was no exit path. Wei Mo was suddenly enlightened, "The rock vault is not dug out through a man's manual labor, but... something within the mountain must have been exuding the God's power. It pushed out the mountain walls as time passes."

Wen Leyang had already lowered his head and picked up the jade knife. He asked Wei Mo, "You mean this?" The jade knife was scarlet in color and felt warm to touch. It did not appear to be a mortal object, similar to the 'welcome gift' given by Ji Fei to Wen Leyang back when they first met on Mount Emei.

Wen Leyang subconsciously rubbed his fingers against the knife. This knife did not lose its color.

Wei Mo retracted his arms into his sleeves. He received the scarlet jade knife cautiously with his hand separated by his sleeves. He repeatedly examined it for a long while and finally shook his head, "I have never seen this before."

The little monk and the fat men who were trying to squeeze into the stone cave shook their heads as well. The commonly used precious instruments and treasured weapons by cultivators would be engraved with old Guzuan calligraphy. On one hand, the treasured object could share the master's mind, while on the other hand, it could also enhance the treasured weapon's power.

However, this red jade knife here had a smooth and silky body. The blade was made up of a sheath of scarlet-colored material as if red blood would seep through it anytime. The little monk clenched hard on his teeth as he tried to probe into the knife with his mind, yet there was not an ounce of response from the knife.

The little monk tried to knock the jade knife lightly against the stone wall. The stone wall remained calm and peaceful as usual. The jade knife was not sharp either. He had no idea what sort of treasured weapon this was.

One of the fat men snatched over the jade knife. He studied it for a while before he biting the knife. Wen Leyang was so startled that he snatched it back at one go, "Be careful it might be spicy!"

The fat man reacted as if he was facing a great enemy. He anxiously leaped back by one step and squeezed himself and his brothers into a ball.

Wei Mo still had the look of being faced with an impasse, "It should be this object here that was exuding God's power. It squeezed out a hole forcefully from the heart of the mountain.However, it should not look so tired!" The stone wall was covered in cracks and fissures from the pressure exerted from the knife. Yet, there was no way to tell whether the jade knife was shot into the heart of the mountain from the outside.

In the end, Wei Mo heaved a long sigh. He took the matter upon himself, "I shall help you to calculate this matter, but it will take a very long time. It is not a task that can be accomplished within a day and a night."

Wen Leyang suddenly thought he should make Wei Mo follow him back to the village, so that he could teach the two silly uncles to do some calculation and telling.

He picked up something that he knew was good from the fork in the path, yet he was unsure what was good about the scarlet jade knife. The other good news was that Wei Mo's calculation on the pathway was accurate. At least the red-colored line was correct. Everyone became more confident now. Wen Leyang resumed the role of pangolin once again. If 'Po Tu' were to see him now, Po Tu might immediately kneel down and give him a kowtow to formally acknowledge Wen Leyang as the master teacher.

As the tunnel hole was punched deeper and deeper, Wen Leyang's Faulty Punch was becoming more and more proficient in matching with the rhythm of the Poison of Life and Death within his body. The Poison of Life and Death intertwined within his body that only converged into small streams and flowed out of him when he exhausted of all his strength initially, had started to flow out the moment he felt slightly weakened. As he punched through the hole for almost ten thousand steps, whenever he exerted the Faulty Punch, the Poison of Life and Death would flush out of every part of his body and converge to the point where the Fault Punch was being exerted.

The small streams formed by the Poison of Life and Death flowed as it pleased. Wen Leyang could feel that the gush of surging poison power felt alive. As long as he was thinking about it, it would start flowing out of every joint of his body. The small streams then converged into a deluge, surging and roaring within his body. They burst forth along with his punch. Initially, the Faulty Punch was only used to make his strength stronger. It then turned into the converging point to exert strength in his entire body.

The Poison of Life and Death was like water, while his body was like a plastic funnel. The point where the Faulty Punch was exerted was the corner where the water had the highest pressure when the plastic funnel was flooded with water.

When he could finally do that, the Faulty Punch's power was way stronger than before. Every time the poison streams started to surge forward, the heaviness that he felt slowly vanished. When Wen Leyang started moving about again, he lost his prior powerful mannerism, instead, his speed and agility were vastly enhanced that he could not believe it. The seven fat men were joyful as well. They simultaneously talked all at once, criticizing that Wen Leyang's Faulty Punch was useless, or not effective. They insisted to teach Wen Leyang of the cultivation method they learned from huge snakes, wild horses and centipedes.

It was worth noting that Wei Mo made repeated corrections on the diagram on a few occasions halfway through their journey. Fortunately, he managed to realize that he was wrong in time. Otherwise, it was estimated that Wen Leyang would turn into a saint and ascend into a flying immortal even before he punched his way out of Mount Emei...

The scarlet jade knife laid soundlessly within Wen Leyang's pocket, there was utterly no movement from it at all. While he dug through the tunnel, which got deeper and deeper, everyone's emotion was filled with anticipation. Until the final day...

Wen Leyang's expression was slightly nervous. He raised the map as he asked Wei Mo, "Five more steps?"

Wei Mo nodded his head full of determination, "Five more steps!"

According to the map, they were only five steps away from the outside. Wen Leyang was slightly agitated. He hesitated for a while, before shouting towards the fat men, "First Brother."

Two fat men simultaneously responded in unison as they squeezed forward.

Wen Leyang added, "The First Brother who uses the hook sword."

One of the fat men stayed, while the other fat man retreated shyly.

Wen Leyang signaled the First Brother to the mountain wall before them, "The final blow, you should do it!"

First Brother agreed in a low, muffled voice. He spat twice onto his palms. He then abruptly grabbed the gigantic hook sword out of thin air and jabbed repeatedly onto the stone wall before him for an unknown amount of times. Suddenly, with a loud bang, immense sunlight started flowing through the hole and wrapped around everyone intimately!