Chapter 334
Are You Going to Become a Buddha Soon?
The glow of the setting sun faded, twilight arrived.
Mist also gradually filled the atmosphere.
“Eldest martial sister, the setting up of the camp and dinner are both done.”
Lu Zhiruo came to search for Li Ziqi after noticing she hadn’t returned despite such a long time. “Baiwu’s luck today isn’t bad, she got a wild boar.”
Li Ziqi sat on a huge rock at the river’s side and was like a statue, silently sitting there.
“Eldest martial sister?”
Lu Zhiruo jumped in fright and immediately ran over. When she looked carefully at the little sunny egg, she discovered that Li Ziqi’s countenance was pale and her forehead was full of sweat.
“What’s wrong with you?”
The papaya girl was worried. Why was Li Ziqi so fatigued? She seemed to be even more tired compared to someone doing a day of hard physical labor!
“Zhiruo, do you think there’s a mistake with this map?”
Li Ziqi asked.
Through these many years, Li Ziqi was already used to her photographic memory. Even if she didn’t intentionally try to memorize stuff, she would still be able to memorize many details if she took a glance at something.
During this hour, Li Ziqi had been trying to recall the map she saw in the White Dew Building. She even drew a map on the ground at the side.
Overall, there weren’t many wrong areas. In total, there were two places with wrong names and four paths that were incorrect.
This indicated that it was highly possible that the endpoint, Honglu Island, was not where it was marked on the map. Even if everyone worked hard to reach that place, all their efforts might be for naught.
“No, maybe I’m thinking too much. This might be a printing problem!”
Li Ziqi consoled herself.
“How can the map possibly be wrong? The Saint Gate absolutely wouldn’t make such a careless mistake!”
Lu Zhiruo’s tone was very sure.
“That’s true!”
Li Ziqi laughed in a self-mocking manner. She suddenly thought of something. “Oh ya, back then when we were traveling, you said that the other path on the fork is the correct one. How can you be certain?”
“Ah?”
Lu Zhiruo scratched her head, she had a puzzled look on her face. “Did I?”
“Are you a goldfish? Does your memory only last for seven seconds?”
Li Ziqi was speechless. (You can even forget the things that happened yesterday?)
Actually, it wasn’t that the papaya girl was forgetful. Rather, her heart state was vast and she wouldn’t bother about such small details.
It was just like when you randomly asked someone what they had for lunch yesterday, that person would have to think back carefully before answering you. They wouldn’t be able to answer instantly.
And as for Li Ziqi, she was someone who paid close attention to details. In fact, she could even remember the details of every incident that occurred a week before.
Lu Zhiruo bitterly smiled. “Ever since I was young until now, my instincts have always been very accurate and I’ve never lost my way!”
“Are you sure?”
Li Ziqi didn’t dare to believe it.
“Eh, well, I might lose my way occasionally.”
The papaya gave an embarra.s.sed smile. “But that’s because I found another better location to go to!”
“Where do you think Honglu Island is?”
Li Ziqi felt that as long as someone like Lu Zhiruo who was innately born with an extremely strong sense of direction confirmed the location, they would absolutely never lose their way.
“Mn!”
Lu Zhiruo thought a little. She pointed to the 11 o’clock direction as she carefully snuck a glance at Li Ziqi’s face. “Over here?”
Li Ziqi had no expression.
“Eh, it might also be in this direction?”
Lu Zhiruo changed her direction.
Li Ziqi sank into her thoughts again because the direction that the papaya girl pointed to for the first time was different from the location of Honglu Island on the map.
“If the map is fake, where is the real endpoint?”
Li Ziqi’s gaze landed on the creek’s side.
The papaya girl followed the little sunny egg’s gaze and saw a map that was drawn very detailedly there.
“What’s going on with you two?”
Ying Baiwu and Tantai Yutang came over. “The food is about to turn cold!”
The sickly invalid immediately noticed the map drawn on the ground. Also, due to instinct, he verified a few important locations on the map instantly.
“Our eldest martial sister says that the map we received is wrong!”
Lu Zhiruo made an explosive allegation.
“It can’t be, right?”
Ying Baiwu frowned while Tantai Yutang revealed a contemplative look.
“I can’t be sure either!”
Li Ziqi shook her head. What would their teacher do if he encountered such a situation? Through a.n.a.lyzing Sun Mo’s way of doing things, Li Ziqi felt that her teacher wouldn’t be as conflicted as her and would directly confirm that the map was fake. After all, her teacher was much more confident in himself in comparison to her.
“Eldest martial sister, you should be more confident in yourself!”
Lu Zhiruo felt that Li Ziqi was too unduly humble. “Teacher has always admired your intelligence and talents very much. If you are not confident, wouldn’t that mean that you don’t believe in our teacher’s judgment?’”
“What?”
Tantai Yutang rolled his eyes. He had wanted to say ‘what the h.e.l.l is this logic?’, but in the end, he saw Ying Baiwu who was beside him nodding. Evidently, she approved of these words.
(You three girls actually wors.h.i.+p Sun Mo so much?)
After hearing that, Li Ziqi’s eyes brightened.
“That’s right, I should be more confident in myself. Also, this is a test by the Saint Gate, and we cannot judge things by logic. We should inspect all available choices before deciding, and even if the result is illogical, it might be true!”
Li Ziqi took in a few deep breaths and focused. She started to think back to the map she saw back in the White Dew Building. Not only so, but she also recalled each action taken by the head judge, Tong Yimin, and even each sentence he spoke.
After that, Li Ziqi thought back to each incident that they had experienced from then on...
Lu Zhiruo knew that her senior sister was pondering over important things, hence, she remained silent. But a moment later, she had a look of shock on her face as she called out.
“Eh?”
The little sunny egg’s body was suddenly covered with a layer of golden light. It was extremely conspicuous during the night. “What’s going on?” Ying Baiwu was shocked. After all, she had just started her education recently, and her knowledge was too little. She had no idea what was going on. However, Lu Zhiruo and Tantai Yutang were both stunned.
The light from Li Ziqi seemed to be an effect of a great teacher halo. However, there were no great teachers here, right?
An hour later, Li Ziqi opened her eyes and looked at Tantai Yutang.
“I want to hear your opinion about this map.”
“There’s a problem!”
Tantai Yutang went straight to the point.
“Why didn’t you say anything earlier?” Li Ziqi frowned.
“Because I’m also not certain!”
Tantai Yutang didn’t quibble by saying he didn’t know because that would be an insult to Li Ziqi’s intelligence. She would surely not believe him.
“Tantai Yutang, I don’t care what your motive is for acknowledging our teacher. It’s fine if you did it to idle away time or just because you were present at the right time. But...” Li Ziqi leaned forward and stared straight at Tantai Yutang’s eyes. She was like a large cat defending her family. “If you dare to harm Teacher or any of our martial siblings, I will absolutely make you regret it your entire life. I, Li Ziqi, hereby vow to do so!”
Regardless of the little sunny egg’s tone or expression, both were extremely solemn. This caused the atmosphere to freeze. Lu Zhiruo was so frightened that she didn’t dare to breathe.
However, Li Ziqi at this moment truly had the demeanor of an eldest martial sister.
“Hehe!”
Tantai Yutang was happy.
“Swish-“
Li Ziqi brandished White Bird and slashed it down beside Tantai Yutang’s ear. “Alright then!”
Tantai Yutang retracted his frivolous expression. He could feel Li Ziqi’s determination. At the same time, he also understood that when Li Ziqi asked him for his opinion on the map, it wasn’t that she was uncertain and wanted him to verify it. Rather, she wanted to confirm his intention to be in this group.
“Let’s go!”
Li Ziqi jumped down from the huge rock, but the flowing water on the ground beside the creek was too slippery. Her feet slipped and she wasn’t able to stabilize herself, leading to her stumbling
“Eh!”
Li Ziqi wanted to cry. (I initially planned to leave in a calm and composed manner, leaving behind an impressive back view for my junior martial siblings, but this stumble has spoiled everything.) “Eldest martial sister, why did your body suddenly glow with light?” Lu Zhiruo stretched out her hand in pa.s.sing to support the little sunny egg. There was a look of curiosity on her face. “Are you going to become a buddha soon?”
“You are then the one who is becoming a buddha!”
Li Ziqi angrily retorted and rapped the papaya girl’s forehead. “That’s because I’ve comprehended a great teacher halo by chance!”
“Huh?”
Lu Zhiruo took a few steps back and seriously surveyed the little sunny egg.
Tantai Yutang frowned, he really wanted to tell Li Ziqi to stop joking. (How old are you now? 12? What nonsense are you talking about by saying that you have just comprehended a great teacher halo?!)
If this was true, it would mean that she had broken the Saint Gate’s record, becoming the youngest person ever to comprehend a great teacher halo!
Li Ziqi’s lips twitched. She then snapped her fingers.
Swish
A golden-colored halo erupted forth with the little sunny egg at the center. Its light radiated to the surroundings and the range was slightly over ten meters.
As a recently comprehended halo, this was already considered very impressive.
“Which halo is this?”
Tantai Yutang asked.
“Retentive Memory!”
Li Ziqi didn’t do this to show off, instead, she was doing this to intentionally suppress Tantai Yutang. She wanted to tell the sickly invalid that he shouldn’t look down on others just because he had high intelligence.
Tantai Yutang was speechless because he already felt the ‘Retentive Memory’ effect. At this moment, his mental state was extremely good and could remember anything he saw.
“Wow, it’s actually such a practical halo!”
Lu Zhiruo was envious. As a stupid person who couldn’t remember the content of any books she read, she had always hoped to have a retentive memory.
Being able to remember things after just a glance...she would be able to use the rest of the time to play then. What a wonderful thing!
Although Ying Baiwu didn’t say anything, her gaze was filled with admiration when she looked at Li Ziqi. Because of her teacher, she had also thought of becoming a teacher before so she could help others.
But after checking the information, the iron-headed girl discovered that for the teaching profession, it wasn’t something you did just because you wanted to. You had to first comprehend the ‘self-taught’ halo before you had the qualifications to become a great teacher.
“Wait a minute, I remember that before comprehending any great teacher halos, you have to comprehend the ‘self-taught’ halo first!”
Lu Zhiruo suddenly came to a realization. “When did you comprehend it?”
“A few months ago, during the tempering exercise in the Darkness Continent.”
Li Ziqi didn’t conceal things.
The little sunny egg wouldn’t forget the warm memory of her conversation with her teacher that day. If there wasn’t him, she wouldn’t be able to find her path and would remain in a state of self-loathing because of her inferior athletic abilities.
Ding!
Favorable impression points from the little sunny egg +1,000.
“I willingly concede!”
Tantai Yutang was won over. Because his body was too weak, the sickly invalid was someone extremely proud mentally. In addition to his extremely high intelligence, he had always looked down on people.
He always felt that no matter what others could do, he would be able to do that thing better. For example, he was the first to discover a mistake with the map, but he simply didn’t reveal it.
The sickly invalid felt very happy when he watched these people putting in so much effort yet eventually gaining nothing.
But now, he was defeated by Li Ziqi.
This was because Tantai Yutang wanted to become a great teacher, but he wasn’t able to do so. Not only was talent required, but one’s heart state was important too. The sickly invalid’s state of heart wasn’t up to the mark.
The Saint Gate concluded that great teachers needed several years of acc.u.mulation to prepare their mental states before they could comprehend a great teacher halo.
Why did so many teachers comprehend the ‘Retentive Memory’ halo? Because throughout these many years, the teachers had been in a similar state when they studied. However, only a rare few among them had photographic memories. This was why the vast majority of them didn’t really understand it.
Li Ziqi was able to comprehend this now because she already possessed a photographic memory. Also, she was very confident in herself. Such a state of heart slowly transformed and became a great teacher halo.
“Stop wasting time, let’s look for Zhang Yanzong!”
Right now, Li Ziqi could only pray that the other student groups didn’t discover that the map was wrong. If not, the distance between their group and the others would be too great apart and they wouldn’t be able to catch up.
At their temporary camp, a bonfire crackled merrily. The fragrance of cooked meat permeated the atmosphere.
After barging through the human-faced canyon, they obtained spider mounts that could save them a great deal of time in traveling. Leaving aside the first place, there absolutely wouldn’t be any problems with them being in the top five, right?
Hence, everyone’s mental states were relaxed. They were all chatting idly. However, when Li Ziqi returned and said her conjecture, everyone was dumbfounded. “It can’t be, right?”
Xu Jialiang frowned. “Could it be that you remembered it wrongly?”.
“I absolutely won’t remember it wrongly!”
Li Ziqi’s tone was resolute. “Group leader, we have to change our plan now.” Zhang Yanzong took the map and furrowed his brows. “Which part is wrong?”
Li Ziqi immediately pointed them out.
Zhang Yanzong glanced at the six spots and felt a headache. If the map was wrong, what should they do? Speaking of which, being a group leader was truly exhausting. There seemed to be countless problems emerging one after another.
Zhang Yanzong kneaded his forehead and felt extremely stressed out.
When Tantai Yutang saw this, his lips twitched. This meant that Zhang Yanzong’s ability to resist pressure was lacking. Zhang Yanzong definitely had never encountered such a test before. This was why he seemed as though he wasn’t able to endure it any longer.
On the contrary, Li Ziqi had never revealed such a cowardly expression from the start to the end.
No, maybe she did reveal it, but she wouldn’t reveal it in front of the other group members as this would affect their morale.
“Cough! Cough!”
Li Ziqi coughed as a reminder. Zhang Yanzong’s intellect wasn’t low. He also realized that his behavior was inappropriate and he immediately turned solemn.
“I can’t possibly determine that this map is wrong just because you said so!”
Zhang Yanzong spoke. But before he could finish, he was interrupted.
“So, we have to head to one of these six locations nearest to us tonight. If there’s nothing there, it would prove that the map is fake.”
Li Ziqi had long since considered this. “If you can’t go, I’ll go!”
Ying Baiwu took the initiative to volunteer.
Zhang Yanzong swept his gaze around and discovered the thoughts of others. There was no solution to it. Let alone being on the Darkness Continent, even in the Nine Provinces, it was extremely dangerous when traveling at night.
“I think it’s better for me to go!”
Xuanyuan Po, who was meditating, came over after hearing the commotion. “Sleeping is too boring. I want to find some monsters to kill as well!”
“I’ll go too!”
Zhang Yanzong stood up. “Let’s not waste time, we will move out now. When I’m not here, Ziqi will take my place as the group leader!”