Unconventional [Rebirth] - Chapter 21

Jiang Rui lived at the Rong estate for a full week, traversing every nook and cranny of the entire residence, yet he failed to discover anything that could affect a person’s mind. Instead, he found that the spiritual energy in the place where the house was built was slightly richer than in other areas. Furthermore, the vital energy flowed extremely regularly within the residence. Clearly, someone had deliberately arranged it.

Although he had cultivated for a long time, he had no involvement in either feng shui (geomancy) or array formations, only able to perceive a little through a cultivator’s sense of spiritual energy.

Miao Xuan should have some knowledge of this, but it was inconvenient for Jiang Rui to enter the Secret Realm while he was there, and communicating with Miao Xuan outside would be a great drain on it. The last time, Miao Xuan was only forced to speak out because he was in danger of developing an inner demon.

Jiang Rui finally bid farewell to Uncle Cheng, using the excuse that he needed to go to the city for errands. Uncle Cheng tried to persuade him to stay, but seeing Jiang Rui’s mind was set, he reluctantly sent him off.

Rong Jingtang knew Jiang Rui was leaving and specially sent Sui Ming to see him off, but Jiang Rui refused.

Having suffered a loss once, he finally understood that someone of his humble background could not afford to take advantage of ‘Master Rong.’ The business matter was only resolved amicably because the other party had compromised; such a good thing would likely not happen a second time.

Jiang Rui went to the city and found an opportunity to enter the Secret Realm.

Miao Xuan had been concerned about the earlier instability in his mental state. Although it was one with Jiang Rui and could sense his condition, upon meeting, it immediately asked, “Master, is your state of mind stable?”

Jiang Rui detected Miao Xuan’s worry and felt a slight warmth in his heart. He smiled and said, “Yes, don’t worry, everything is fine.”

Miao Xuan then said, “Fortunately, fortunately. Master, if it is convenient for you, do not go to that estate again.”

Jiang Rui’s heart sank, and he quickly asked, “You know there is a problem with that place?”

Miao Xuan replied, “Normally, it is inconvenient for me to pay attention to the Master’s affairs in the outside world. I was only startled when the Master’s state of mind was shaken. Upon subsequent investigation, I discovered that an array formation for confusing the mind has been set up in that residence. Living there for a long time is extremely harmful to one’s psyche! Cultivators are more sensitive to this type of formation, hence the effect manifests quickly. Logically, given the Master’s ability, an array formation of this level should be completely useless against you. However, this Spirit-Confusing Formation can curiously stir the spirit through dreams. That day, the Master fell asleep just like a mortal and did not operate his cultivation technique, which allowed the formation to seize an opportunity. Combined with the fact that the Master still had some lingering resentment about his experiences in his previous life, this provided further assistance to the formation, which almost gave rise to an inner demon…”

Jiang Rui understood upon hearing this.

“Then how does this formation affect mortals?”

“In the short term, the effect of the formation on mortals is not obvious, but mortals do not have cultivation to protect themselves as cultivators do. After long-term residence, the minor effects include spiritlessness and insomnia; the severe effects include mental confusion and loss of reason.”

Jiang Rui was greatly alarmed! Mental confusion and loss of reason—wasn’t that saying a person would go mad?

For someone of Rong Jingtang’s proud nature, he would absolutely rather die than live in madness. The person who set up this scheme intends to put him to death!

Miao Xuan added, “Is the Master worried about your friend living there? That formation is concealed by the surface feng shui layout of the residence. Since the Master is not versed in this path, to break it, I fear…”

“If I am not versed, I will learn. Would I, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, be afraid of an array set up by a mortal?”

He could certainly advise Rong Jingtang not to live there anymore, but what would be his reason? Moreover, the person behind the scheme could dig such a large pit in a temporary residence; who knows about other places? Who knows whether there are dark hands involved in other aspects? After all, feng shui and array formations are widely used, and not just limited to residences!

Thinking of this, Jiang Rui suddenly felt that Rong Jingtang’s influence on him seemed excessive.

They had only met a few times, and the time they spent together was never long. Their last conversation could even be counted as ending unhappily. Why did this person have such a great influence on him that, upon hearing he was in danger, he subconsciously wanted to find a way to solve it for him?

Jiang Rui was not a man who had never been moved by affection. For a moment, he even suspected he had developed feelings for Rong Jingtang. Leaving aside the other’s temperament, purely in terms of appearance, Rong Jingtang was the most outstanding man Jiang Rui had ever met, and he feared he would be hard-pressed to encounter someone more excellent in the future. However, considering Rong Jingtang’s assertiveness and the essence beneath his perfect exterior, he did not look like someone who could ever submit to another. Jiang Rui decided he must be overthinking things.

Perhaps he simply regarded Rong Jingtang as a friend. Jiang Rui did not dwell on this issue for too long; there was a bigger problem to solve right now.

Under Miao Xuan’s guidance, Jiang Rui found many jade slips related to feng shui and array formations in the wooden tower. Fortunately, he had an exceptional memory. After spending five days in the Secret Realm, he had finally memorized the contents of these jade slips seven or eight times over; even if he could not fully comprehend them, he could still commit them to memory.

Jiang Rui focused on the Spirit-Confusing Formation, looking through hundreds of jade slips before finally finding one that recorded a method for quickly breaking this type of mind-bewildering formation.

This method is to destroy an array with an array. By setting up another kind of Heart-Clearing Formation at the array’s core, the array can be instantly broken. Furthermore, that mind-bewildering array will, conversely, be borrowed by the Heart-Clearing Formation, greatly benefiting the resident of the estate.

Of course, the Heart-Clearing Formation used to break the array cannot be just any one; only the ‘Tongming Huixin Formation’ (Formation for Clear Enlightenment and Wisdom of Heart) recorded on this particular jade slip has the best effect.

The minimum requirement for setting up this formation is the aid of ten low-grade spirit stones. Jiang Rui selected two large, undivided water spirit stones from the wooden tower, which were enough to replace more than ten normal-sized spirit stones.

Spirit stones in the cultivation world look similar to jade, differing only in color due to their Five-Element attributes. However, the spiritual energy contained in the spirit stones is gentle; even if the attributes are different, cultivators can still transform and absorb it within their bodies. Water spirit stones are closest in color to the white jade of the outside world and are the most suitable type of spirit stone to use when setting up the Tongming Huixin Formation.

The original spirit stones were too large and noticeable, so Jiang Rui simply took some effort to carve the two stones into a pair of Pixiu (mythical auspicious beasts). In his previous life, he had specially learned carving to please Ye Wenbin and personally carved a Guanyin (Bodhisattva) for him. However, the other party did not think much of his craftsmanship, and the jade was not a top-tier one. After Ye Wenbin accepted it, Jiang Rui never saw him wear it.

However, because of that time he learned carving, Jiang Rui grew to love the craft. Firstly, it calmed his mind, and secondly, he felt a great sense of accomplishment looking at the things he had carved. He even formally apprenticed himself for it.

Jiang Rui’s carving skills were not exquisite, mainly because he had only been exposed to it for a few short years; to those master carvers, he was only just learning the basics. Yet, his former carving master had once praised him, saying that his carvings possessed ‘spirituality,’ a quality that most jade carvers spend their whole lives trying to achieve.

To avoid any accidents, Jiang Rui repeatedly deliberated over the Tongming Huixin Formation in the Secret Realm. Since it was inconvenient to set up the array using external objects, Jiang Rui directly used the array talismans from the wooden tower; all he needed to do was cast a Fire Magic spell according to the array’s orientation and burn the talisman.

Jiang Rui had already memorized those directions thoroughly and had set up the Tongming Huixin Formation no less than a thousand times in the Secret Realm. Only after confirming he would not make a mistake did he take the pair of Pixiu and head to the Rong estate.