Chapter 279: Chapter 265 The Old Man

The officiant was replaced from Zhao Nandi to Zhou Leng.

No ancient male costume, Zhou Leng wore normal camouflage clothing, standing in front of the table reciting the prayer texts.

After completing six steps, everyone knelt on the ground.

Silently, nothing happened.

An inexpressible sense of frustration permeated the crowd.

Many people knelt down in a daze.

To enter here, many had incurred debts, spent huge sums of money, and paid a great price.

Even so, even if they died in the Ancient River Trial, they were willing, but who knew that this trip was in vain and the trial couldn’t even begin.

Rao Mingxing looked at Zhou Leng’s back and smiled slightly.

Initially, he hadn’t taken Zhou Leng to heart, preparing to make Zhou Leng embarrass himself at the institute.

But after learning that Zhou Leng was inseparable from the Divine Text expert Zhao Nandi, he decided to wait a bit longer.

After entering the Ancient River Sect, he planned to act again.

It turned out, not just one Divine Text expert was inseparable, but all Divine Text experts and Elder Song were inseparable from Zhou Leng.

He decided to wait again.

Discovering that Zhou Leng was the main officiant, he was very cautious, in case Zhou Leng succeeded, his influence would surely increase greatly.

Now, with this result, he was very pleased.

Zhou Leng stood at the front, slightly bowing, staring straight at the inscriptions on the copper furnace.

Direct pronunciation was impossible.

However, if using the mind to pronounce, it was still possible.

After pondering for a moment, Zhou Leng attempted to use his mind to pronounce, reciting the eight Divine Texts.

Eight rotating Divine Texts emerged in his mind, using his mind, he recited these eight Divine Texts.

At the instant when the eight Divine Texts finished transmitting through his mind, the copper furnace made a soft sound.

The inscriptions above began to light up from the initial eight characters, one by one, faster and faster.

In no time, all the inscriptions lit up, emitting a bizarre sound of copper and iron striking.

That sound contained peculiar power, making everyone’s head spin, nauseated, and want to vomit.

Some with weaker willpower blacked out and fainted.

Zhou Leng seemed to hear celestial music.

This was the Chaos God’s Ode, a sound imbued with Divine Text power.

He had previously faced the test of the Chaos God’s Ode at the dwarf’s relic.

In an instant, Zhou Leng felt his mind clear, and his vision opened wide.

A strange bell sound rang out from the Transmission Hall.

The bell sound spread from this space, traveling to distant places at a speed surpassing light within a strange force field, further and further.

A transparent little elder walked out from the water membrane door of the Transmission Hall.

He somewhat resembled the Old Immortal, with a prominently bulging forehead, sparse white hair on both sides, and a head unusually large.

Dressed in a white Chinese robe, the robe was filled with cloud patterns and water motifs, holding a dragon-headed cane.

Standing one meter tall, the cane was two meters.

The little elder surveyed the crowd in strange attire in front of the copper furnace, glanced at Zhao Nandi, and finally looked at Zhou Leng.

“Who are you?” the little elder opened his mouth with standard Divine Text.

Divine Text is an extremely special language, if not understood, it forms a chaotic Chaos God’s Ode.

Among everyone present, except Zhou Leng, what the others heard was a scattered buzzing sound, like a swarm of giant bees flying and colliding, crashing to the ground.

Zhou Leng barely managed to use Mind Divine Text to reply: “Junior is a trial taker, arrived here to join under Ancient River Sect to learn Ancient River Divine Skill.”

To his surprise, after hearing, the little elder looked up at the sky, stood still for a long time, and sighed deeply.

The little elder didn’t speak, everyone except Zhou Leng remained kneeling diligently.

After a long while, the little elder slowly said, “I am Ancient River Sect’s Master Wu, keeper of Ancient River heritage. Things have come to this, no need for more words. My Ancient River Sect heritage spans a million years, not just any disciple is accepted. First, I’ll impart you a basic technique, only those who master it may continue.”

Everyone except Zhou Leng furrowed their brows.

Because what they heard was an extremely chaotic noise, causing them to develop tinnitus.

Even the Divine Text experts’ faces almost crumpled.

They could understand some Divine Texts, but truly couldn’t comprehend the words.

The elder’s sound transmission was different from Celestial Ladder.

Celestial Ladder sound transmission included Divine Text and translation, leading to Zhou Leng’s increase in Divine Text proficiency.

These Divine Text experts were like someone who studied English text for a year, but didn’t learn pronunciation nor heard English, directly placed at the Eagle Alliance podium, listening to the speaker gesturing while lecturing.

It was utter darkness to them.

Zhou Leng understood half, guessed the remaining half.

The little elder walked around the square, speaking to himself with a cane.

“Star Gazing Technique, is crafted by our Ancient River Sect predecessors through a million years of contemplation on celestial movements, creating the Qi Refining and Body Absorption method.”

“This technique overview comprises twelve Divine Texts, subtle and profound, far surpassing ordinary techniques.”

“Now, the old master will recite the twelve Divine Texts Overview…”

The rest of them heard their heads buzzing.

Be it Divine Text expert or Yunhua, whether astonishing perception or strong physique, before the high-level civilization language, all were equal.

Only Zhou Leng exerted all his strength, barely gathering four unstable Divine Texts in his mind.

“Exploring heaven’s extremity, gathering countless stars; exploring humanity’s extremity, transforming the origin’s life; exploring Qi’s extremity, nurturing body enlightenment…”

Regarding the following eight, he dared not think, for if thought, the preceding four might collapse.

Zhou Leng knew deeply that being too greedy ruins everything, he constantly recalled the first four Divine Texts in his mind.

Thanks to the years of persistence in studying Divine Texts under the ancient frosted tree, and using the most rudimentary rote memorization method, today they finally come in handy.

The small old man finished reciting the overview and continued reciting the subsequent cultivation techniques.

The rest continued to feel dizzy; Zhou Leng repeatedly memorized the first four words of the “Star Gazing Technique”.

After the small old man finished reciting, he glanced at the crowd and said, “I have completed the recitation. You all must diligently cultivate. Next, I will assess your learning progress, rewarding those who excel and punishing those who fail, lest you indulge in trickery and sully the sacred text of our Ancient River Sect.”

After saying this, the small old man sat on the ground, a wine gourd appearing in his hand, and took several large gulps while leaning back his head.

“Ah…”

He wiped his mouth, gazing into the distance, his eyes deep and mysterious.

The small old man had a large forehead and giant head, with a slim and lonely figure.

Zhou Leng feared forgetting those four words, constantly memorizing.

This time, not only memorizing the words but also the pronunciation, which was ten times more difficult than before.

The others knelt on the ground, eyes wide open like a group of small mice, constantly turning to look at each other.

The Divine Text experts were also panicked. Who is this person who came right in, babbling non-stop, completely unintelligible?

Could they still be recognized as Divine Text experts in the minds of everyone afterward?

Zhao Nandi looked at Zhou Leng’s back, both pleased and confused.

Sure enough, with Zhou Leng in charge, it worked.

She sneaked a look at Song Juesi and found the old man with his head down, lost in thought.

After a while, the Divine Text experts started discussing quietly.

“Did anyone understand?”

“No.”

“I suspect even the Mysterious Master is confused; surely no one could understand such a rapid outpouring.”

“I fear we’re in for misfortune this time. The old man’s last few words sounded very severe.”

“I also feel uneasy.”

“What do we do then?”

“What do you mean, what do we do? We are here as Divine Text experts to study the Divine Text. The Old… Immortal’s words have nothing to do with us. We don’t understand; let’s continue researching the Divine Texts.”

“Sounds quite reasonable, actually…”

Everyone listening to the Divine Text experts’ exchange was both amused and troubled.

Initially thought to be mere grumbling, but the more they listened, the more off it seemed.

They truly couldn’t understand what the Old Immortal was saying and gave up on deciphering it.

Or, they lacked the ability altogether to decipher it.

The Divine Text experts chatted for half an hour and officially gave up.

The trial takers were wailing, discussing countermeasures.

Rao Mingxing slowly woke up, rubbed his swollen head, asked about the situation, and sighed.

Zhou Leng had successfully completed the ritual.

Then they waited a bit longer.

Zhou Leng stood motionless, still maintaining a slightly bowed stance.

Zhao Nandi hesitated for a long time, walked over to where Zhang Xinglie and Elder Song were.

They were also engaged in intense discussion.

Zhao Nandi glanced at Song Juesi and said, “Zhou Leng might be considering ways; let’s also brainstorm by having each person share their opinion, starting with Elder Song.”

Song Juesi initially did not understand Zhou Leng’s intention to impersonate an identity, but over the days had slowly come to realize that he was being mistaken as a Divine Text Master.

He watched as Zhou Leng stood there nonchalantly and sighed, “If it’s ordinary Divine Text, I might manage to ponder it, but when it comes to Divine Text pronunciation, I am powerless. For instance, the newly disclosed Divine Text pronunciation, when I learned it felt like my tongue was glued inside my mouth, completely unable to articulate.”

“Is there really no hope?” Rao Mingxian asked.

Song Juesi glanced at Zhou Leng, pondering, “From my experience, this time the Divine Text pronunciation doesn’t test our knowledge but our perception and luck. Zhou Leng, this young fellow, may not match experts in Divine Text skills, but in perception and luck, he surpasses everyone. Furthermore, among the people who entered the Celestial Tier Battlefield, he is the only one proficient in Divine Text, and can still remember the Divine Text and pronunciation from the Celestial Ladder, perhaps he gained something.”

Rao Mingxian whispered, “I also entered the Celestial Tier Battlefield.”

“Do you know Divine Text?” Li Yuanhe asked.

Rao Mingxian remained silent.

Zhao Nandi said, “Elder Song makes a valid point. Zhou Leng suddenly completed the ritual, perhaps deeply related to the fate here!”

Li Yuanhe said, “Last time, when entering the Ancient River Illusion Realm, Zhou Leng and the Blood of Tyranny both became registered disciples, perhaps the Old Immortal is offering special training just for him.”

“Indeed! The venerable Old Immortal of the Ancient River Sect cannot ignore registered disciples.”

Everyone turned to look at Zhou Leng, their eyes filled with anticipation.

Song Juesi conveyed the earlier words to Zhou Leng, advising him not to reveal the truth.

Zhou Leng stood for a full half-hour, the four Divine Texts of the Divine Texts Overview finally stabilized in his mind.

Next, he only needed to continually review.

Zhou Leng breathed a sigh of relief, turned around.

Others were talking among themselves, Zhao Nandi and the others gazed at him collectively, showing signs of expectation.

Song Juesi hurriedly pointed at the Demonized Watch.

Zhou Leng read Song Juesi’s message on the Demonized Watch, then glanced at Song Juesi, indicating he understood.

Zhou Leng slowly considered, then approached Zhao Nandi, whispering, “Sister Nandi, gather the Divine Text experts for an important meeting.”

Zhao Nandi’s eyes lit up, she said, “Let’s go.”

Zhou Leng and the experts walked a distance away, forming a circle.

All the experts looked toward Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng said, “A few days ago, I mentioned during the transportation of the Ancient River Jade Stele, I accidentally entered the Ancient River Illusion Realm, incidentally becoming a registered disciple of the Ancient River Sect, do you all remember?”

Everyone nodded.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep