landbeastnovel Chapter 123 The Waterfall Stagnates
Chapter 123 The Waterfall Stagnates
Chapter 123 The Waterfall Stagnates
Lin Mu quietly returned to the inn, but still worried, he peeked out and looked around.
After confirming that no one was following them, they bolted the bamboo door shut.
He took out the two rolls of parchment from his pocket and spread them out on the table one by one.
Moonlight filtered through the gaps in the bamboo curtain, falling onto the parchment and illuminating every single golden thread on the golden-winged beast pattern.
He placed the rubbings of the original mark side by side, bent down, and scanned the two pieces of paper back and forth several times.
The same.
From the main trunk from the back of the neck to the coccyx, and from the branches from the shoulder blades to the fingertips, every arc and every angle of turn is perfectly precise.
The primordial mark is the embodiment of the demonic source within a demon beast, while beast patterns are the transformed form of this mark on the human body.
The relationship between the two is like that of a seal and the imprint it leaves on paper—they share the same origin and form, only differing in their medium.
However, there are some original markings on the animal pattern that are not found on the rubbings.
They are distributed at the joints where the main trunk and branches of the pattern intersect. Each one is only the size of a grain of rice and has a different shape, like some kind of hieroglyphic or some kind of mysterious rune.
He gently touched the surface of the parchment with his fingertips and could feel that the symbols had tiny, dense bumps, as if they had been engraved with some kind of very fine needle tip, and the depth of each engraving was so uniform that it was almost perfect.
A certain ancient vibration faintly emanates from the depths of the engraving.
This fluctuation was somewhat similar to the feeling he got from the Mind-Cleansing Technique.
He chanted the Heart-Cleansing Mantra, concentrated his power at his fingertips, and gently touched a symbol on the beast pattern.
The blue light flashed and then disappeared, the symbol remained motionless, and not a single crease was left on the parchment.
Unconvinced, he switched to his own righteous energy and placed the faint white light on his fingertips.
There was still no response.
He held up the rubbing of the original mark under the moonlight, trying to examine it through the shadows, but still found nothing.
He then stared at the beast patterns and the origin mark for a full half hour, but none of the martial arts techniques reacted.
Without a demon to drive it, its operating trajectory cannot be captured, nor can it be observed.
The animal patterns remain unchanged, and they have also failed to be replicated.
After working through most of the night, two diagrams were laid out in front of me, one I couldn't solve and the other I couldn't use.
I don't know if I've gained anything.
He rolled up the parchment again, stuffed it back into his bosom, lay down on the couch, and closed his eyes.
The sound of the waterfall faded into the distance, and he gradually fell asleep.
The next morning, Lin Mu arrived at the waterfall as usual.
The torrent of water crashed down on my head. At first, I was able to keep my balance with my stance training, but then my head started to spin. In the mist, a flock of golden birds that weren't there before started circling around.
It also makes "chirp chirp chirp" sounds.
He gritted his teeth and persevered for a few more moments, but when he could no longer breathe, he instinctively activated his body-strengthening technique.
The cocoon of energy in his dantian vibrated with a buzz, and the cocoon chain stretched from his dantian all the way to the soles of his feet. Two dewdrop cocoons were activated at the Yongquan acupoint at the same time, and a strong burst of force surged up from the soles of his feet, forcibly pushing back the falling water for a moment.
For a moment, the waterfall paused slightly above his head before crashing down again.
In that instant, he had already inhaled a breath of cool air, thick with moisture.
I instantly regained my senses.
Then the water came crashing down again, and he continued to endure it until he was out of breath. He then activated the dew cocoon to counterattack, and the water flowed again.
He paused for a moment, then took another breath.
The backlash caused the water flow to pause for a moment.
I can't breathe.
Rebound again, pause for a moment, then inhale.
This cycle repeats itself, and from a distance, the waterfall appears to pause briefly every so often when it hits his head, as if the waterfall itself is breathing in some kind of rhythm.
In that brief moment, he suddenly sensed an elusive state.
It felt as if the entire body had been compressed into a tiny point by a torrent of water, and consciousness shrank into the deepest part of the cocoon of breath in the dantian.
The roar of the surrounding waterfall, the misty spray, and the soreness in my muscles all became distant and blurry, as if I were looking at the outside world through a thick, transparent cocoon.
That feeling lasted only a moment before it dissipated.
He suddenly opened his eyes, and the mist rushed towards him, while the roar of the waterfall filled his ears once again.
He tried to recapture that feeling, but no matter how he adjusted his breathing, activated the cocoon chain, or countered the water flow, he could never reproduce it.
On a blue stone platform not far away, several disciples of the Xianzong sect who were practicing the Azure Light Wall technique finished their training.
A lean disciple collected the lingering aura of the blue light wall into his palm, tilted his head, and looked towards the waterfall for a moment.
"What is this person doing?"
"I learned the techniques from Qiu San, a powerful master of the Idle Sect, and practiced the waterfall stance, hoping to use this martial art to condense my inner core."
"Won't practicing martial arts like this cause someone to become mentally impaired by the waterfall?"
A short, stocky disciple next to him chimed in, his tone carrying a hint of disdain.
"These days, whether you cultivate literature or martial arts, which is easier than martial arts?"
"Who still uses the old-fashioned, clumsy method of hand-rubbing?"
"Traditional hand-rolling method, accumulated knowledge and experience, don't talk nonsense if you don't understand."
Jiang Wang continued the conversation.
He was still wearing that faded blue robe, still looking tired as if he hadn't slept enough, arms crossed, the back of his head against the cold stone pillar.
The waterfall's mist soaked his clothes, but he remained motionless, his gaze passing over his junior brothers who were still muttering, past the mist, and fixed on Lin Mu's stubborn figure beneath the waterfall.
For a moment, his squinting eyes shone with an amazing light, and the weariness that seemed to suggest he could never get enough sleep disappeared from his face.
"interesting."
He discovered a very regular rhythm, as if the waterfall itself was breathing in sync with someone's breathing.
He had seen this rhythm before.
Back then, that senior from the Xianzong sect stood under the waterfall for seven days and seven nights, and the water flowed in the same way, stagnating and stopping, until on the seventh day, the entire waterfall surged up from the bottom of the pool.
Jiang Wang propped himself up from the stone pillar and stood up straight.
"You grasped it quickly."
"I haven't had a chance to tell him what will happen if the waterfall condenses into elixir."
Then it returned to its original state, leaning against the stone pillar, squinting its eyes.
An hour later, Xiaoxiao ran out from the bamboo forest path, her two crooked ponytails bobbing high in the wind.
She ran to the waterfall, bent down, and shouted twice into the mist, but the sound of the water was too loud, and Lin Mu below the waterfall didn't hear her at all.
She stomped her foot, and without saying a word, she was about to rush into the waterfall.
Jiang Wang grabbed her by the back of her collar and lifted her up, letting her short legs kick in the air.
"They can't hear you shouting like that."
"I'll do it."
He took a step forward, raised his right hand, his fingers loosely clenched, palm facing the waterfall.
The pebbles on the bluestone platform suddenly trembled slightly, and a sharp aura filled the air.
"Look! That's Senior Brother Jiang Wang's signature move, 'Water-Severing Flow'!" a sharp-eyed disciple exclaimed.
Jiang Wang flipped his wrist and unleashed a horizontal slash.
The waterfall is broken in the middle.