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墨書 Inktalez
Kui Niu!
Li Hong immediately recognized that the creature on the central platform was the legendary ancient celestial beast Kui Niu. According to the "Classic of Mountains and Seas," it is described as "shaped like a cow, azure in color without horns, able to walk on one leg, causing wind and rain when it enters water, its gaze like the sun and moon, its voice like thunder, known as Kui. The Yellow Emperor killed it and used its skin to cover drums, its sound heard five hundred miles away."
However, the true Kui Niu is a colossal being, while this one is not only small but also appears hazy and indistinct, merely resembling a Phantom of Kui Niu.
Little Kui Niu is clearly a Spirit, meaning it has already been killed. The Spirit has been captured within this black little flag and has become an Artifact Spirit.
This is quite cruel, but Li Hong knows that all ancient texts on artifact forging mention that if a newly crafted high-quality treasure, such as a Superior Spirit Artifact, incorporates the soul of a recently deceased celestial beast, this Superior Spirit Artifact can immediately be upgraded to a low-grade Celestial Artifact. Therefore, it is quite common for Celestial Artifacts to contain the souls of celestial beasts as Spirits.
Artifacts and spirit beasts Spirit can complement each other. High-grade artifacts, especially those above Superior Spirit Artifact, can automatically absorb the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth or the owner's spiritual power to nurture spirit beasts Spirit. It is said that some Celestial Artifacts have spirits or Artifact Spirits that can eventually detach from the artifact itself and reshape into their original forms; this is one of the benefits that artifacts provide to spirits. Similarly, good spirit beasts Spirit can enhance an artifact's power and make it easier to control. As the level of the spirit beast increases, so does the artifact's power; for instance, incorporating a celestial beast's Spirit into an artifact is significantly more powerful than using low to mid-tier spirit beasts Spirit. This illustrates the advantages that spirits bring to artifacts.
All of this hinges on the fact that spirit beasts Spirit are best when they are freshly dead—meaning they have just been killed—at which point all their memories and spiritual energy remain intact, making them most potent when placed into an artifact. Furthermore, it is preferable for the artifact to be newly created. For example, a Celestial Artifact, which is inherently a clever creation born of heaven and earth's essence, will gradually develop a conscious Artifact Spirit over time even without incorporating a spirit beast or celestial beast's Spirit. When a spirit beast Spirit is added later, it may result in effects similar to possession or lead to either the original Artifact Spirit being eliminated by the spirit beast's celestial spirit or vice versa. This poses significant danger to celestial beast spirits Spirit. Generally speaking, even placing a spirit into a Superior Spirit Artifact without an existing Artifact Spirit is much safer than directly inserting it into a pre-existing Celestial Artifact with an established Artifact Spirit.
At this moment, the Little Black Flag contains this Kui Niu Spirit, which clearly belongs to the former category; it must have been freshly killed for the purpose of forging this little flag as a new Celestial Artifact. This made Li Hong think of the Cosmic Bag, and he couldn't help but smile wryly. Since both originated from the temple, it seems that the ancient god who forged this batch of artifacts truly wasted nothing.
With this thought in mind, the reason why the Little Black Flag effortlessly recognized its master became clear.
The Little Kui Niu Spirit was still sound asleep and completely unaware that Li Hong's Divine Consciousness had been observing it for quite some time. Feeling curious, Li Hong decided to try waking it up.
The Divine Consciousness transformed into a large hand and gently poked at the body of Little Kui Niu.
It seemed that Little Kui Niu sensed something; it rolled over and flicked its long single leg but did not wake up. However, an obvious wave of energy surged from its body and gently pushed towards the hand manifested by Li Hong Divine Consciousness.
Startled, Li Hong felt that this energy wave was very familiar. A thought crossed his mind, and he suddenly understood.
After considering it for a moment, he broke off a piece of Supreme Celestial Stone, holding it in his left hand while directing his Ten Infants to accelerate their operation. A stream of iridescence flowed up along his left hand's Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian, converging into his Ren Meridian and rapidly rushing towards his Upper Dantian.
The Ten Infants began spinning quickly; like colorful dragons, their absorbed five elements spiritual energy grew stronger with each passing moment. Meanwhile, with a thought from Li Hong, the five elements spiritual energy refined by the Ten Infants transformed into his own awareness. It flowed down through his Du Mai channel towards his right hand's Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian, infusing into the little black flag through his thumb.
While doing this, Li Hong's Divine Consciousness still divided a part to enter the Little Black Flag, paying attention to the movements of the Little Kui Niu Spirit on the high platform in the center of space.
The Little Black Flag received the infusion of its master's Awareness, and one Three-Dimensional Array Diagram after another began to operate and shine. All the array diagrams absorbed Awareness as eagerly as sand soaking up water. The high platform beneath Little Kui Niu started to glow, and as the faint light flickered, Li Hong took a closer look at the Divine Consciousness and was suddenly startled. This was no ordinary high platform; it clearly held some mystery.
This high platform was made from some special material, circular in shape, divided into eight areas, each engraved with a Tadpole Ancient Seal Character. Although he did not recognize what these eight characters were, Li Hong guessed their meaning!
If his guess was correct, these eight characters should be "Life, Injury, Rest, Block, Scene, Death, Shock, Open," which are part of the famous Qimen Dunjia Eight Formation Diagram!
According to legend, during the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Kongming once piled stones into an Eight Formation Diagram by the Riverside, creating an unpredictable and ever-changing phenomenon. Du Fu once wrote: "His achievements overshadow three kingdoms; his name established through the Eight Formation Diagram. The river flows without turning stones; regrets linger over Wu's loss."
This Eight Formation Diagram is said to have been created by Kongming himself. Li Hong had read the Records of the Three Kingdoms and had been intensely curious about Kongming's statement regarding "deducing military strategy to create the Eight Formation Diagram," which had captivated him for a long time. Therefore, when these eight ancient seal characters came into view, even though he did not recognize Tadpole Ancient Seal Characters, Li Hong immediately understood what they were.
This was quite interesting; it indicated that the Eight Formation Diagram was not originally created by Kongming but was likely learned from someone special, perhaps related to Ancient Gods.
A flash of insight struck Li Hong; he realized he had truly stumbled upon a treasure! If his guess was correct, this Little Black Flag should be the Eight Formation Flag!
Thinking of this made Li Hong extremely excited. He increased his input of Awareness, and indeed, the high platform's brilliance grew brighter and brighter. Li Hong's Divine Consciousness could clearly "see" a portion of Awareness flowing into Little Kui Niu's body along the surface of the platform. Its Phantom body became increasingly solidified, and its snoring quieted down.
This meant that the Artifact Spirit was about to awaken.
Before long, this Supreme Celestial Stone was depleted. Kui Niu's snoring stopped, its tail-like single leg shook slightly as it "stood" up.
Li Hong quietly "watched" it and felt very excited inside: "It was you who saved me before, right? That's why you suffered great energy loss and fell into slumber. Thank you."
Little Kui Niu blinked its eyes and conveyed its thoughts: "It was me. I'm glad you're okay, Master."
Li Hong realized that the energy fluctuations surging from Kui Niu were very familiar; they were exactly like those from the Blacklight Cocoon made of pure energy that had wrapped around him when he was severely injured and fell into the lake while being pursued by Yandao Demon Lord.
Little Kui Niu continued respectfully, "Master, what command do you have for me?"
"Ah, no need to be formal. I just want to ask you some questions."
"Please go ahead, Master."
Li Hong thought for a moment and decided to start with the "dream" he had while injured. Now that he knew it wasn't a dream, there were some questions that needed clarification.
"How did you know there was a Spiritual Vein beneath the Underground?"
"Master, I am a celestial beast and naturally sensitive to Spiritual Energy. When I was alive, I loved Kanshui Spiritual Energy the most and often searched for it along the Spiritual Vein. I accidentally discovered this secret. The reason there isn't much Spiritual Energy on the surface is that Five Elements Spiritual Energy prefers to travel along certain routes underground, and places where it surfaces often have Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. Master, this secret is actually not hard to find," Little Kui Niu answered quietly, with wisdom shining in its gentle eyes.
Li Hong sighed, "Do you remember who killed you?"
Little Kui Niu's expression changed dramatically, and deep fear appeared in its eyes. "It was terrifying! I didn't even see what he looked like before I died! All my abilities were completely useless!"
Li Hong nervously touched his nose and continued to Ask the Way: "Were there many of them?"
"Not many, just that one person. I lived in the Yunmeng Marsh, and one day he suddenly appeared, lying in wait on my way home. I died without seeing anything clearly, and then I became the Artifact Spirit of this treasure. But there hasn't been a master for so many years; this treasure has never been used! I've almost died of boredom inside. Luckily, Master took me in. By the way, Master has a familiar aura that resembles my family."
A jolt went through Li Hong. Family? Could it be that he was mistaken? Was this Kui Niu not the one used to refine the Cosmic Bag? The Ancient God was almost like the predecessor of the Demon Sect. How many celestial beasts and spirit beasts had they killed!
His scalp tingled, and Li Hong firmly decided not to mention the Artifact Spirit or the Cosmic Bag, fearing complications. He recalled what Little Kui Niu had said about "Yunmeng Marsh" and realized that he wouldn't be able to gather much information about the Ancient God today. After all, the Yunmeng Marsh only existed in ancient times; today's Yunmeng Marsh had long since dried up, and the Azure Sea no longer existed.
"Alright then, since there's nothing else to do, tell me how to use this Eight Formation Flag?" Li Hong decided to start testing.
Little Kui Niu looked surprised and flattered: "Master is truly brilliant! I hadn't even mentioned that this treasure is called the Eight Formation Flag, yet Master already knows! You are amazing! Master, please take care of me from now on. Recently, to save you, I used up all my accumulated spiritual energy. However, being loyal to Master is my duty. If I have any shortcomings, please punish or scold me; you can even hit me..."
Little Kui Niu lowered its head more and more as it spoke, wearing a submissive and compliant expression that resembled the eunuchs and palace maids Li Hong had seen in Lin'an Palace during the Song Dynasty. They all had that same obsequious look when they referred to themselves as servants.
Kui Niu is a Great Deity spirit beast, how could it possibly have such a demeanor? Li Hong found it amusing and interrupted its incessant flattery with a smile: “Little Cow, why don’t you tell me how to use the Eight Formation Flag?”
“Little Cow? Great! I have a name now, thank you for bestowing it upon me, Master!” Kui Niu bowed its large head so low that it nearly touched the surface of the high platform. When it raised its head again, its bovine "face" still wore a fawning expression.
Just as Li Hong was about to laugh and scold it, he suddenly froze, clearly seeing the fear deep within the cow's eyes. Although Kui Niu was masking it well and showering him with compliments, that hint of fear was still clearly visible in its gaze.
Recalling the legends about Kui Niu, Li Hong began to understand. It was said that Kui Niu is one of the most gentle types among the Ancient Spirit Beasts. They prefer to live in deep mountains and marshes, rarely surfacing because whenever they do, thunderstorms and torrential rains would erupt within a hundred miles. The spectacle of their appearance would attract enemies and predators. Their innate abilities made Kui Nius cautious by nature. This particular Kui Niu, having died without even seeing who killed it, must have been greatly shaken. Now that it was fortunate enough to be alive, it naturally sought to please its master as much as possible; part of this was due to its nature, but another part stemmed from its fear of humans.
Li Hong sighed and said earnestly: “Little Cow, I’ll say it again: you don’t need to be afraid of me. I am very grateful to you. If you hadn’t saved me recently, I would have been captured by the Demon Sect Monster. In the future, I will think of a way; perhaps I can return your freedom.”
Little Kui Niu was skeptical: “Really? Can I really be free?”
“Spirit beings like you can indeed reshape their bodies under certain circumstances. As for how to do it, I don’t have a method yet, but I promise you that if I find a way, I will definitely return your freedom. I, Li Hong, never lie. We can be friends.” As Li Hong spoke these words, he conveyed immense confidence and determination through his Divine Consciousness to Little Kui Niu.
Little Kui Niu immediately sensed this and its eyes sparkled with joy: “Thank you, Master.” It surprisingly stopped bowing.
“Alright, now you can tell me how to use the Eight Formation Flag.” Seeing that Little Cow had let go of its worries, Li Hong smiled as well.
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