Lin Feng knew what Xia Xue was surprised about. He pulled Xia Xue onto the sofa and carefully recounted the experience of her being captured by the fox demon.
"Lin Feng, you're saying that Huang Zhenzhen and the others were killed by the fox demon?!"
Upon hearing about demons, Xia Xue felt her worldview had been completely overturned.
"Xiao Xue, in reality, our perspective is still too narrow. There are many things in this world that we are not yet aware of."
"How about this, I'll have Mubei escort you back. You get a good night's sleep, and tomorrow, after you've rested, I'll explain it to you in detail."
Lin Feng knew that Xia Xue couldn't accept so many new things all at once, and he was eager to decipher the mysteries of the wordless scripture with Duan Liang.
Thus, he instructed Mubei to send Xia Xue back first.
After Xia Xue left, only Lin Feng and Duan Liang remained in the room.
Duan Liang unfolded the wordless scripture and placed it on the ground, scrutinizing it intently.
"Brother Lin Feng, there isn't a single character on this paper. What do you expect me to decipher?"
Duan Liang asked, bewildered.
"Daoist Master, this celestial scripture requires a special type of flame to bake it before the characters can appear. I saw Brother Ying operate it this way."
"So, if we want to explore the mysteries of the celestial scripture, we first need to be able to produce the special fire like Brother Ying's."
Lin Feng mused.
"What do you mean by special?"
Duan Liang was still confused.
"This fire is a cold flame, capable of releasing cold temperatures, the opposite of normal flames."
Lin Feng described.
Duan Liang seemed to grasp what Lin Feng was saying: "You mean ghost fire? Ghost fire is a type of cold flame, and I can generate it with a simple incantation."
As he spoke, Duan Liang took out a yellow talisman from his robes. The talisman spontaneously ignited, emitting a verdant green flame. As the flame burned, the surrounding temperature plummeted, and a thin layer of frost appeared on the ground.
"Daoist Master, I feel like the color of this flame is a bit off."
"Brother Ying's flame was blue, but yours is green!"
Lin Feng pointed out.
"It's fine, as long as the function is similar. Next, we just need to use fire to bake it."
Duan Liang said indifferently and immediately placed the wordless scripture over the ghost fire.
The result was that as soon as the ghost fire touched the wordless scripture, the scripture burst into flames.
In the blink of an eye, it had turned into a pile of ashes.
"Damn it, how could you just burn the celestial scripture to ashes!"
Lin Feng swore loudly. This old fellow Duan Liang was too impatient. He hadn't even confirmed anything and had just set it ablaze.
"How can you blame me? You told me to use ghost fire, and who knew it would turn to ash so quickly."
Duan Liang looked innocently.
Lin Feng was speechless. He didn't know what to say.
This wordless scripture was something he had painstakingly tricked Chen Fan out of. Now, not only had he failed to decipher its mysteries, but he had also burned it to ashes.
What kind of joke was this?
"Wait, look! Don't the ashes resemble a character?"
Duan Liang crouched down, cradling the ashes on the ground with his hands, afraid they would be blown away by the wind.
Lin Feng looked closely upon hearing this.
Indeed, when the ashes were scattered on the ground, they formed a character.
However, this character did not look like a simplified character found in a dictionary; it was more like a traditional character.
"Brat, don't just stand there, quickly write down this character."
Duan Liang urged him.
Lin Feng knew that this character might hold a secret. He found paper and a brush and immediately began to trace it.
As he began to write, Lin Feng clearly heard a strange sound in his mind, like the striking of a bell.
He unconsciously calmed down.
While drawing the character, Lin Feng felt as if his arm weighed a thousand pounds, making even lifting it difficult.
It was as if the character itself was incredibly heavy. Lin Feng exerted all his strength to draw it, feeling as though each stroke was like moving his hand through quicksand.
"What's going on? Is it this difficult to write a character?"
Duan Liang, seeing Lin Feng sweating profusely and struggling to write, asked in confusion.
"No, I can't write anymore. You try."
Lin Feng was exhausted, his arm feeling like it was about to break.
This character was too bizarre, as if some force was preventing Lin Feng from completing it.
He had used all his might but had only managed to draw half of it.
Duan Liang didn't believe it. He took the brush and continued writing the half-finished character.
However, as Duan Liang drew the remaining half, he encountered the same problem as Lin Feng.
His hand moved with great difficulty, as if stirring tons of cement, and he almost crushed the brush handle.
"This is strange, truly strange!"
"There exists a character in this world that cannot be written. This character must have condensed the power of heaven and earth, symbolizing some mysterious and great power."
Duan Liang was overjoyed. Despite the arduous writing process, he was enjoying himself.
"Daoist Master, what do you mean by that? Do you know something?"
Lin Feng, knowing Duan Liang's vast knowledge, asked curiously.
"Kid, we've struck gold this time."
"You must have heard of the Nine-Character Mantra, right? They are ordinary words, but in the eyes of cultivators, they can subdue demons and banish evil."
"This character is surely similar in principle to the Nine-Character Mantra, and even more terrifying."
"Look closely, doesn't this character resemble the character for 'seal'?"
Duan Liang said excitedly.
Lin Feng quieted his mind and looked closely. He found that this traditional character did indeed resemble the simplified character for 'seal.'
"If I'm not mistaken, this character must have been written by an ancient deity to seal ancient demons and fiends."
"You must understand that the great deities of ancient times were born with heaven and earth. They could perceive the workings of the Dao, and the characters they wrote contained infinite meaning."
"In other words, this character, while seemingly ordinary, embodies the great forces of heaven and earth, capable of sealing ancient powerful beings with a single stroke."
Duan Liang became more animated as he spoke, finally managing to complete the remaining half of the character with all his might.
As Duan Liang finished his stroke, with a loud boom, the ancient character that Lin Feng and Duan Liang had transcribed suddenly exploded.
It disintegrated and vanished like a wisp of smoke.
"Heavenly!" It's truly a character left by an ancient deity. We simply cannot replicate it!"
Duan Liang exclaimed, both surprised and regretful.
He speculated that if this character could be successfully replicated, perhaps even someone like Ying Tianqing could be sealed with a single stroke.
Unfortunately, this character was beyond their reach.
"Daoist Master, what do we do now? If we can't keep it, won't our efforts be in vain?"
Lin Feng was also anxious. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them.
After all, when Ying Tianqing used the blue flame to reveal the characters on the wordless scripture, the characters that appeared were not this one, but numerous dense characters.
This meant that Ying Tianqing might not have even grasped the true mystery of the scripture.
However, he and Duan Liang had inadvertently glimpsed the true terrifying essence of the scripture.
"Brat, no matter what, we have to preserve this character."
"With this character, even if you and I fall out with Ying Tianqing in the future, we will have a fallback to suppress him. This is a golden opportunity for us."
Duan Liang was also a shrewd man. He knew that his "boat" with Ying Tianqing was bound to capsize sooner or later, and before that happened, they needed to find an alternative.
This ancient character was the perfect trump card.
"Daoist Master, since it's a character from ancient times, ordinary paper and brushes surely cannot withstand such power."
"I think we might need to find a medium with similar power and engrave the character onto it."
Lin Feng's mind raced, and he thought of a possible method.