644: Chapter 640: Ancient Map 644: Chapter 640: Ancient Map “Gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah————”
The giant ape, drenched in pain from Ye Tian’s beating, howled out loud, but Ye Tian’s onslaught only grew fiercer, ready to pursue further.
However, Ye Tian’s body had already descended, and no matter how formidable the sword maneuvers, their force would diminish during a fall…
“What’s going on?”
Ye Tian was extremely surprised, for as his body fell, the body of the giant ape in front of him stayed suspended in midair.
Such a phenomenon, completely defying the laws of nature, astonished Ye Tian greatly!
“Could it be that this beast can fly?”
Ye Tian’s mind was full of astonishment, as the giant ape was indeed hovering in the air.
“No!
I can’t let this creature get away!”
Ye Tian gritted his teeth, his toes suddenly tapped on the treetops in the jungle, leveraging his body to leap back toward the direction of the giant ape.
“Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh~~~~”
Ye Tian swung his sword vigorously three times, leaving no room for the giant ape to escape.
Just when Ye Tian thought the giant ape would be struck once again by his wooden sword, it suddenly leaped upward from its position, resembling the cloud-riding motions seen in fairytale films!
With that leap, Ye Tian’s attack missed completely, and the giant ape actually began to fly in the air.
Ye Tian had exhausted his moves, and his body couldn’t stretch any further forward; he fell again, now dozens of meters away from the giant ape, and even if Ye Tian fell again to leverage, he likely couldn’t catch up.
Hence Ye Tian could only grit his teeth in frustration and give up on chasing the giant ape…
“It can actually fly?
I’ve never seen such Qinggong in my life!”
Since he gained nothing, Ye Tian had no choice but to return to Lingyin Temple by the same path.
While returning, Ye Tian reflected on it.
In all the martial arts Ye Tian knew, there were numerous high-level qinggong techniques, like Wudang’s ‘Stairway to the Clouds,’ which allowed one to leverage off minuscule dust particles and appear to dance in the sky.
But even so, what’s called qinggong is still far different from “flying”!
According to common physical knowledge, it’s impossible for humans to fly in the air, even if the qinggong expert is highly skilled…
Yet the giant ape Ye Tian encountered today actually stopped in midair and then took off into the air without any leverage, fleeing by flying.
No matter how you look at it, the giant ape’s movements were akin to flying, something Ye Tian had never seen before, not expecting it to be exhibited by a mere beast!
As Ye Tian pondered, he unknowingly returned to Lingyin Temple.
“Ye Tian, you’re back, the Abbot wishes to see you!”
Bai Lan was overjoyed to see Ye Tian return, and the Abbot of Lingyin Temple came to Ye Tian immediately.
“Benefactor, I didn’t expect your martial arts skills to be this good; I truly misjudged you initially!”
Since Ye Tian had displayed extraordinary martial prowess in front of all the monks, the Abbot of Lingyin Temple now looked at him with newfound respect.
Of course, Ye Tian’s reason for returning was not merely to hear a few flattering words from the Abbot.
“Abbot, I believe you have much to tell me, like why Huang Bo came to Lingyin Temple to provoke, what his intentions were, and such!”
Ye Tian got straight to the point, and the Abbot helplessly shook his head, knowing that with the current capabilities of Lingyin Temple, it was impossible to cover everything.
Since Ye Tian’s martial prowess was so great, it might be better to cooperate with him.
“Thank you, benefactor.
Please follow me!”
The Abbot sighed and then led Ye Tian.
As for Bai Lan, although a familiar face, he wasn’t much help to Lingyin Temple, so the Abbot did not invite him to come along.
The Abbot led Ye Tian straight to the scripture archive of Lingyin Temple!
Having been here before, Ye Tian was quite familiar with the items in the archive…
“Benefactor, please!” the Abbot invited Ye Tian to a corner of the archive, pointing to an ancient book, “This book is their target!”
Looking where the Abbot pointed, wasn’t that the very “Tribute of Yu, Nine Provinces Map” Ye Tian had been studying?
So, Huang Bo and the Sima Family’s target was, in fact, this map!
Even though he had studied the book thoroughly, Ye Tian still had to pretend he knew nothing…
“Abbot, what’s this book about?
Judging by its name, it seems to be a book of maps, right?”
Ye Tian curiously asked, the Abbot carefully took the “Yu Gong Jiuzhou Map” from the shelf.
Since the book was very old, even the slightest force might cause it to crumble, so after taking it down, the Abbot did not dare to hold it in his hands but gently placed it on the table.
“Indeed, benefactor, this is an atlas, and an ancient one at that!”
“Hmm.”
Ye Tian nodded, looking at the “Yu Gong Jiuzhou Map” in front of him, but did not speak.
“Benefactor, may I ask your name?”
The Abbot asked directly, and Ye Tian did not hide his identity, saying, “I am Ye Tian, ‘Ye’ as in night, and ‘Tian’ as in sky!”
“Master Ye!”
Since Ye Tian had already declared his name, the Abbot no longer hid anything in front of him.
“I am known as Ling Tong, the 34th Abbot of Lingyin Temple.
Lingyin Temple has been settled in Jiang City for over a thousand years.
Lingyin Temple is a branch of Shaolin Temple, hence, the martial arts practiced by the monks here to protect the temple all originate from Shaolin Temple.”
Ling Tong Abbot slowly narrated to Ye Tian the origins and history of Lingyin Temple.
A thousand years ago, Jiang City faced a great disaster that killed many people, which is why the court decided to establish Lingyin Temple in Jiang City to guard the spirits of the deceased.
However, what exactly that “great disaster” was, even the successive Abbots of Lingyin Temple did not know.
All that was passed down were the eight characters: “The universe changes, seas turn to mulberry fields.”
Apart from protecting Jiang City, the scripture hall of Lingyin Temple also houses an important map, the “Yu Gong Jiuzhou Map.” Compared to the other ancient books in the scripture hall, this map is incomparably significant.
The universe changes, seas turn to mulberry fields.
These eight characters have been interpreted by generations of Abbots of Lingyin Temple to be related to topography, thus the “Yu Gong Jiuzhou Map” has been held in high regard, prohibiting anyone from browsing through it …
of course, viewing it from a distance is not a problem…
“The ‘Yu Gong Jiuzhou Map’ is a map from the pre-Qin period, and this one here is a handwritten copy from the Song dynasty.
Even so, it is immensely precious.
In this ancient handwritten map, the most important part is the ancient map of Jiang City!”
Saying so, the Abbot gently flipped through it, landing on the page of Jiang City’s ancient map, the very one marking “Longzhou,” which Ye Tian had memorized.
Upon seeing this, Ye Tian was immediately thrilled.
However, Ye Tian had to restrain his excitement.
He pointed to the word “Longzhou” on the page and asked, “Abbot, it says ‘Longzhou’ here.
Does this mean that Jiang City was called this name in ancient times?”
“Yes.”
The Abbot nodded emphatically.
“Master Ye, regarding the ancient name of Jiang City, others might not be aware, but only the Abbots of Lingyin Temple have passed it down through generations!
It was because of that great disaster in Longzhou that the court thought this name to be too ominous, so they changed the name and even erased the ancient name of Jiang City from history!”
“Really?”
Ye Tian was surprised by this, as changing a city’s name and erasing its previous name reflected how much the court wished to forget that “great disaster!”
This meant that it was a significant event that the court and officials wanted desperately to forget, so much so that they were determined to erase it completely!
“Longzhou sounds quite nice though!
Why would they consider it unlucky?”
Ye Tian wondered aloud, and Ling Tong Abbot responded, “I am not sure about that.
Whether from the perspective of fate or the principles of the Five Elements and Bagua, ‘Longzhou’ indeed sounds nicer than ‘Jiang City.’ Successive heads of Lingyin Temple have had varying opinions on this, most of whom believe that the land of Jiang City, being barren, doesn’t deserve the word ‘dragon’.”
“Doesn’t deserve?”
Ye Tian found this reasoning quite agreeable.
It was like giving a low-born child a noble name like ‘Proud,’ ‘Majestic,’ ‘Noble,’ or ‘Proclaim,’ which could clash with the child’s innate fate, preventing the child from thriving.
Could it be that Jiang City really fits this theory?
“Abbot Ling Tong, could it be that the term ‘Longzhou’ is related to the ‘dragon veins’ of Jiang City?”
Ye Tian asked again, which made the Abbot look at him in astonishment.
“Dragon veins in Jiang City?
This is the first time I’ve heard of it!
However, I think it is unlikely.
Jiang City has barren lands, and its mountains are as sharp as knives—not a place of good Feng Shui, and it is also defensively weak without much strategic value.
For a remote city like this, it’s unlikely to even be designated as a capital or a provincial seat, so how could it have dragon veins?”
“…”
The Abbot’s words left Ye Tian speechless.
The theory of Jiang City having dragon veins was something he had heard through the grapevine, so it was not impossible that he had been misled!
He wasn’t the only one deceived; several martial artists who had heard the rumors and came to Jiang City were also duped!
“Abbot Ling Tong, is there a historical record of that ‘great disaster’?”
Ye Tian asked again, and after some thought, the Abbot pointed to the open map of Jiang City and said, “I heard from the previous Abbot of Lingyin Temple that the clue to that ‘great disaster’ from over a thousand years ago lies in this map.
If this ancient map of Jiang City is compared with the current map, there will be clues!”
“Really?”
Ye Tian was skeptical, and although he wasn’t sure if what Abbot Ling Tong said was true or false, this gave him more leads to follow…