There were many magnificent diagrams and patterns engraved into the surfaces of the Spirit Engraved Pillars. The motifs ranged from living creatures such as birds and beasts, to natural environments like moutnains and rivers, to the horrifying depictions of monsters and demons, and even the embodiments of nature that included ancient trees and beautiful flowers. Each Spirit Engraved Pillar contained its own diagram and pattern, and inscribed within them was their unique enchantment. And concealed within the enchantments were secret Spirit Diagrams.

Throughout the nine hundred odd years of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect"s history, there were only thirty-eight (thirty-nine if you include Liang Shao Yang) people who succeeded in deciphering the mysteries of a Spirit Engraved Pillar. Excluding the deceased Liang Shao Yang, the other thirty-eight people were all the beloved prodigies of their generations, each of them becoming a great master blacksmith and leader of their own time.

Today, I was going to gamble and see if an untalented individual who had nothing to rely on except sheer diligence and unyielding perseverance could join their ranks, and prove once and for all that "talent" had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Sitting down, I took a deep breath and studied the first Spirit Engraved Pillar.

Elder Cheng Ping and Elder Zhao Shi watched me, mystified. Even though I told them that I intended to prove a point, they didn"t seem to believe that I could actually do anything to trigger a response from the Spirit Engraved Pillars.

I didn"t blame them. If it was that easy to trigger a reaction from the Spirit Engraved Pillars, then surely there would be way more than just thirty-nine people who succeeded in comprehending their secrets in almost a thousand years.

"Hey…" Elder Cheng spoke up, but Elder Zhao held him back and shook his head.

"Give him some time," my trusted superior told his colleague, and then returned to watching me. Elder Cheng remained unconvinced, but he nodded and fell silent. He wondered if I would be able to comprehend even a single Spirit Engraved Pillar, like Liang Shao Yang or Elder Hai Mo did. Even though these guys only attained enlightenment from a single Spirit Engraved Pillar in their lives, they were still admired greatly by everyone.

Tang Qi Hong got two, but she was a genius who was on another totally different level. Well, one step at a time.

Pang Feng, Tong Xue, Tang Qi Hong, Lian Rou, Pang Yun, Tian Jian Hao, Yin Jing Jing and the rest of the other disciples had also arrived at the edge of the plaza, only to catch sight of me sittiing down in the middle.

"What is Fei Wu doing?" Tang Qi Hong demanded incredulously.

"Trying to comprehend the Spirit Engraved Pillars," Tong Xue replied as if it was obvious. Well, it was obvious.

"I know. I mean…" Lian Rou groaned. "Does he really think he can waltz in there and suddenly attain enlightenment from the Spirit Engraved Pillars and trigger a response?"

"If it"s Brother Wu, he can definitely do it!" Zi Xiao Ji insisted, ever the one to have complete confidence in me. Zhao Shi and Da Ge chuckled beside her.

"That guy is really full of mysteries," Pang Feng murmured as he shook his head, finally walking on his own without relying on his sister to support him. The Spirit Pills had kicked in and he was well on his way to full recovery.

Taking another deep breath, I looked for the Spirit Engraved Pillar with the most obvious water motif. The one I was studying earlier that morning and had the most affinity with.

No, seriously. Did you expect me to pick the one with monsters and demons just because Liang Shao Yang deciphered that? I was not Liang Shao Yang. I was not superior to him either. I wasn"t going to try and get one over him when I didn"t have the ability. I might as well go for something I had more confidence in, like the ones with the water motifs.

Regulating my breathing, I drew upon my literary knowledge, remembering the a.n.a.lytic skills that my professors hammered into me during my years as both an undergraduate and the even more intense seminars in graduate school. I a.n.a.lyzed and grasped the subtle, deeper meanings behind the water motifs and unraveled the metaphors they embodied.

Perspiration poured down my forehead as I concentrated as best as I could, teasing out the meaning and a.n.a.logies, trying to decipher the patterns and what they could mean. All the while, something monstrous scrabbled at the edges of my consciousness, creepy dark qi tendrils that poked at the arcane spiritual qi barrier that protected me from its predatory grasp. My chest tightened, and my mind sometimes went blank, but I forced myself to calm down and focus on the water motifs and patterns. I could derive meaning from them, I was certain…

And then…the water finally moved. It took me over ten minutes, closer to fifteen (I didn"t check my cellphone for the exact timing), but the river inscribed into the Spirit Engraved Pillar began to ripple and flow powerfully, as if it was gushing down from a mountain. An azure light shimmered and shrouded over the pillar, marking it distinctly from the others.

Everyone held their breath, witnessing what they thought was a miracle.

"Phew…" I exhaled in relief, almost not believing that I managed to somehow succeed. Closing my eyes momentarily, I wiped the beads of perspiration from my forehead. That took me a lot of effort and mental energy, but I couldn"t believe I succeeded!

It"s not over yet.

I didn"t know who said that. My inner voice? Someone from among the spectators? Elder Zhao? Master? Or perhaps the malevolent ent.i.ty that was still trying to force its way through my spiritual defenses?

Nonetheless, I realized that he (it?) was right. Inhaling deeply, I probed the Spirit Engraved Pillar a little more, trying to unravel more meaning from its flowing image.

The river turned into rapids, now streaming forth in increased volume and velocity. It resembled a tidal wave now, washing everything in its path away into oblivion and swirling into an enormous whirlpool. Fortunately, the violent water was constrained by an invisible barrier, almost like an aquarium tank, containing the immense power.

The azure glow around the Spirit Engraved Pillar glowed brighter and then turned into a blinding beam of light that surged toward the heavens, piercing several clouds as it extended on and on. The waters crashed against the azure light that broke through the heavens, but the tidal waves were firmly contained by ethereal forces.

And just like that, the violent flow ebbed and the waters calmed down, slowing down into a tranquil swirl that eventually took the form of a tranquil lake. The spectators could actually see fishes swimming within the now calm waters. Lotuses materialized above, along with a myriad of plants. But it wasn"t just on the surface of the lake – lovely flowers and weeds swayed at the bottom, home to the schools of fish and other marine creatures inhabiting the lake. The spectators gaped, momentarily overwhelmed by the beauty and serenity of the majestic sight.

"Heavens!"

"He actually did it!"

Elder Zhao and Elder Cheng were absolutely astonished by the sight. The former couldn"t help but grin and send the latter an I told you so look, but Elder Cheng was far too taken aback and shocked to pay any attention to his colleague.

"Pang Feng! Report to Sect Leader immediately!" Elder Zhao snapped, having broken out of his stupor to gloat.

Pang Feng was also thoroughly shocked, despite half-expecting me to pull it off. He snapped out of his stupor as well, a stupid grin on his face, and then nodded.

"Right away, sir!" he saluted, and then jumped down the mountain in a single bound.

Bang!

He landed on a poor slab of stone that was palced at the entrance of the sect for decorative purposes, smashing it into bits. Ignoring the stony debris, he knelt within their midst, bowed his head and yelled.

"Fei Wu has triggered a reaction from the Spirit Engraved Pillars!"

Sect Leader Zi Shou De looked amused when he heard that. Rubbing his chin, he c.o.c.ked his head to the side.

"Wasn"t Fei Wu going to the Fire Prison Cliff? Why is he at the plaza and meditating under the Spirit Engraved Pillars instead?"

In contrast, the six Great Elders, who were discussing how to deal with me, immediately fell into a stunned silence and stared at Pang Feng in disbelief.

"Shouldn"t we go check it out?" Sect Lady Zi Da Ji asked with a smile.

First Elder Hai Mo blinked and scratched his head. "Fei Wu? But isn"t he supposed to be a Blood Blade? Why is he poking out with the Spirit Engraved Pillars?"

"W…who cares!?"

The Great Elders couldn"t help but turn around to stare at Pang Feng, their chests heaving and their aged forms practically hyperventilating.

"W…what did you say?!" the second Great Elder demanded of Pang Feng.

"I said, Fei Wu has triggered a response in the Spirit Engraved Pillars!" he repeated patiently, as if he was speaking with a child with intellectual disabilities.

"That"s…that"s…"

The third Great Elder spluttered as he turned to Sect Leader and Sect Lady for directions. But the couple were gone.

"Where did Sect Leader and Sect Lady go?!" the fourth Great Elder demanded.

"Didn"t I say earlier?" Sect Lady Da Ji called out from above the Flame Volcano. "I suggested that we should go check it out with our own eyes. Do you slowpokes really expect us to wait for you? It"ll be over by the time you get your old bones moving!"

"We"ll tell you all about it later!" Sect Leader added cheerfully and disappeared with a wave, his wife following him closely.

"I…impossible!" the fifth Great Elder was coughing violently now, unable to believe his ears. He staggered for a moment, but his eyes shone with vigor that belied his advanced age. He exchanged a glance with his fellow Great Elders.

Then, as one, all six of them dashed up the Flame Volcano and charged toward the plaza. It would have been difficult to believe that they were all old men nearing the end of their lifespans, not when they were sprinting at near supersonic speeds.

"Why the h.e.l.l is a Blood Blade trying to trigger a response from the Spirit Engraved Pillars? Does he want to be a blacksmith or something?"

Elder Hai Mo was stupefied at the turn of events, but he couldn"t help but chuckle under his breath. Shaking his head, he also jogged behind the Sect Leader, Sect Lady and the six Great Elders, easily catching up with the old men.

Obviously, at that time, I was blissfully unaware of all the commotion and was focusing on the Spirit Engraved Pillars. Now that I had triggered the response from one, I wondered if I should try the rest. I knew I wouldn"t be able to light up all nine, of course. That was ridiculous. I wasn"t some Mary Sue protagonist like Qin Lie or an unprecedented genius.

What I did have, however, was literary knowledge. Now that I comprehended the one with water motifs, I could try another that had similar motifs. Of course, each of the Spirit Engraved Pillars had their own unique Spirit Diagrams and were all different from each other, but nonetheless, a small fraction of the remaining still had some relation to water or something.

The one with monsters and demons were out. I sure as h.e.l.l wasn"t going to touch that.

The one with trees and flowers were out too. I had no affinity with the wood element, even if I had spend a relatively long time stuck inside Sen Lin Forest. However, with no affinity for it, even if I tried to apply my literary knowledge, I probably wouldn"t be able to a.n.a.lyze it as well as I could with a pillar that had water.

I wasn"t sure how it worked, but apparently I could combine my affinity with ice element (which somewhat counted as water element in this case) with my literature student background and instinctively a.n.a.lyze and understand it. Yet it didn"t work for other elements. It made no sense, but there it was. A mystery that I filed in the back of my mind and would try to check it out later…only for me to forget it for the rest of my life, but it wasn"t important.

What was more important was focusing on the second pillar that had some water motif on it. Even though it wasn"t a river, this one had the motif of snow. To my frustration, I realized that I should have comprehended this pillar first, because snow was a closer element to ice than water. If anything, this should be the pillar I had most affinity with.

Calm down, I told myself. Concentrate.

And I did. Drawing upon my knowledge regarding literature, I saw through the details. It wasn"t about the coldness or the weather. The snow was a transcient thing, it represented ephemerality. A fleeting beauty, combined with endurance.

Before I knew it, the pillar glowed brightly in response to my thoughts. I took even less time with this fella than the first one.

"The second! The second Spirit Engraved Pillar has lit up!"

Yin Jing Jing shouted, her voice shrill with amazement. Sect Leader and Sect Lady were already present, watching the scene with fascination, their eyes riveted to the two glowing Spirit Engraved Pillars in front of me.

"Holy cow…!" Sect Leader Zi exclaimed. "Am I seeing this right?"

"No," Sect Lady Da Ji a.s.sured him with a squeeze of his hand. "You"re not dreaming."

The six Great Elders, on the other hand, were still far from the sight, but they overheard Yin Jing Jing"s cries and saw the two lights bursting into the heavens.

"The…the sect"s future is so bright!" Luo Zhi Chang exclaimed. I wasn"t sure if he was making a pun after seeing the twin lights punch into the air.

"For the past thirty years, Tang Qi Hong is the only one who succeeded in triggering a response from two Spirit Engraved Pillars. It…it"s a pity that she is a girl." The Third Great Elder"s voice was trembling.

"What the f.u.c.k?!" I yelled, even though I was not supposed to hear him. "So what if Qi Hong is a girl?! Gender equality, you f.u.c.king chauvinists! Don"t be s.e.xists! You make it sound like being a girl is a bad thing! What the f.u.c.k is wrong with you?! Your patriarchal views are outdated! It"s time you accept that women are equal to men!"

Everyone stared at me, not knowing what to make of my outburst. I ignored them plainly. Obviously they didn"t hear the misogynistic remarks the Great Elders were making. I only heard them because of protagonist"s privilege.

Anyway…

"Holy Throne!" Elder Hai Mo exclaimed, his eyes bulging at the two lights shining brightly into the skies. "What the h.e.l.l is that guy doing in Blood Blades?! Shouldn"t he be a blacksmith?! It"s a waste to leave him there!"

Uh, nope. I sucked at smithing and Spirit Engraving. He would be disappointed. The problem was that everyone a.s.sumed the Spirit Engraved Pillars would only recognize genius blacksmiths and Spirit Engravers.

What they didn"t realize was that a literary scholar – especially one who went through graduate school (even though I never completed my PhD and failed my preliminary exam) – could a.n.a.lyze the Spirit Diagrams and patterns in the same manner. A bit of background in art history didn"t hurt, too. These diagrams were more closely related to art than they were to mechanical designs. It took a romantic to understand them clearly.

But if you were to ask me to translate them into blueprints for Spirit Engraved gear, I"m quite afraid you"re out of luck.

"I can"t believe two Spirit Engraved Pillars have been lit up…" the third Great Elder murmured, moved to tears.

"Please give us a lift!" the fourth Great Elder pleaded with the rushing Blood Blades. Apparently the whole Nine-Tailed Fox Sect was moving toward the plaza right now, whether they were outer sect disciples, inner sect disciples, masters or elders or the venerable Blood Blades. Due to their advanced ages, the Great Elders were unable to run all the way.

"Sure!"

One of the Blood Blades rushed to the parking lot, dove into a car, and then drove it forward. The six Great Elders gratefully clambored aboard the hovering car, and the Blood Blade driver then gunned it, skimming above the heads of the milling sect members and speeding toward the plaza.

Right now, one Spirit Engraved Pillar was surrounded by countless rivers, which had turned into a tranquil lake with lotuses floating on top and fish swimming underneath. Water was life, or at least that was the meaning I interpreted from that one.

The second Spirit Engraved Pillar was surrounded by snow. It wasn"t a blizzard, but more like a picturesque painting, with trees covered by snow. A barren landscape, but even so, hardy plants were poking through the snow, surviving through the bitter winter. The snowflakes drifted slowly, each of them sparkling brightly and beautifully before their transcient lifespan was cruelly cut short. Even so, their short lives had contributed to a greater whole, an overwhelming blanket of snow.

"S…Sect Leader…and S…Sect Lady…"

Elder Zhao and Elder Cheng suddenly realized that the two highest-ranking members of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect were present, and they quickly bowed. Sect Leader Zi merely waved dismissively and gestured for them to relax.

"Watch," he replied shortly as he pointed at me.

"I don"t believe it…"

"It"s really him…"

The six Great Elders had finally disembarked from the hover-car and were staring at me incredulously.

"Isn"t this guy more talented than Liang Shao Yang?"

Talent. Again. G.o.dd.a.m.n, but I really hate that word.

"The third one! The third one has lit up!" Yin Jing Jing shouted. Good lord, girl, stop shouting. No one cared who you were. h.e.l.l, most people had probably forgotten who you were by now, having shown up to join the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect at the same time as me, then disappearing for a few dozen chapters, only to show up and act as an announcer here. Why was she even in the story to begin with?

Anyway, everyone watched me carefully, their jaws dropping when a third pillar with stars began to emit light. You might think stars and celestial bodies had nothing to do with water, but the j.a.panese and Chinese name for the Milky Way Galaxy is River (Amonogawa in j.a.panese and Yinhe or Silver River in Chinese), so…yeah. Okay, that might be a stretch, but like I said, this is literature. So just take my word for it, okay?

Constellations were rapidly unfolding across the third pillar, which glowed brightly as if a supernova had just occurred. The stars shone with majestic radiance, their silvery rays imbuing the plaza with gentle hues.

"In the nine hundred plus years history of our sect, there has never been a person who could simultaneously light up four Spirit Engraved Pillars, other than our founder!" Luo Zhi Chang whispered, his voice trembling. "Do you think this boy will be the next…?"

"I wouldn"t be surprised if he lights up a fourth Spirit Engraved Pillar," the second Great Elder agreed enthusiastically.

At that moment I turned around and held both of my hands up in surrender.

"Sorry," I apologized as the three Spirit Engraved Pillars shone vividly behind me, their lights dancing around brilliantly. "But I think I"ve reached my limit."