184: Chapter 184 The Book of Nonsense

The Skill Transmitting Elder was dumbfounded.

Only now did he clearly see Zhao Yi's face.

After reacting, he glared furiously at One Who Listens to Emptiness.

"You despicable villain! You're a Mahayana Cultivator and a Sect Head in vain—how dare you scheme against me?"

Zhao Yi...

...felt a headache coming on.

"Where are the Cultivation Techniques and Secret Manuals of the Lower Profound Sect?"

"I'll take them out right now."

The Skill Transmitting Elder did not hesitate for a moment. A short while later,

Zhao Yi was buried under a mountain of Jade Slips, leathers, and books.

"Ancestor Zhao, put them here."

A white tower floated in the palm of One Who Listens to Emptiness.

"Use this as the new Scripture Pavilion."

Zhao Yi...

"Don't let it happen again."

The white tower in One Who Listens to Emptiness's hand, along with the manuals brought out by the Skill Transmitting Elder, vanished along with Zhao Yi.

Confirming that Zhao Yi had left,

The Skill Transmitting Elder's eyebrows flared as he prepared to strike.

"You despicable villain! If you hadn't deceived me, how could I have failed to recognize the Ancestral Master?"

One Who Listens to Emptiness swatted away the Jade Ruyi in the Skill Transmitting Elder's hand.

"Hmph!"

"If you hadn't been so headstrong, why would I have gone to such trouble?"

"For heaven's sake, the Lower Profound Sect is already in this state, yet you remain so selfish, not caring at all about the Sect's major affairs. Can you face the former Sect Head?"

Regarding this Skill Transmitting Elder, One Who Listens to Emptiness felt both hatred for his misfortune and fury at his lack of ambition.

He was either indulging himself or on the path to slacking off—a typical case of occupying a position without doing any work.

Otherwise, One Who Listens to Emptiness wouldn't have had to bring Zhao Yi into this.

The Scripture Pavilion.

Zhao Yi was utterly speechless.

He hadn't expected the white tower prepared by One Who Listens to Emptiness to be so large and tall.

This white tower had a total of one hundred and eight floors, each three meters high.

One hundred and eight floors meant three hundred and twenty-four meters.

At this moment, Zhao Yi was on the one hundred and eighth floor.

"Basic Respiration Method, Essentials for Qi Induction, Preliminary Explanation of Five Elements Guidance, Brief Talk on Light-Body Technique..."

"What kind of garbage techniques and manuals are these?"

Zhao Yi rubbed his brow, his face full of exhaustion.

Three days later, he finally saw a few decent Cultivation Techniques:

Nine Revolutions Profound Origin Technique, Void Qi Condensation Art, Azure Underworld Sword Canon, Profound Yin Body Refining Technique, and so on.

Setting down the Profound Yin Body Refining Technique, Zhao Yi frowned deeply. These were just ordinary techniques that could only reach the Undergoing Tribulation Realm.

"No wonder the Lower Profound Sect has fallen into such decline."

Such a large Sect didn't even have a single immortal technique or art for a Human Immortal to study.

"Hmm?"

"What is this?"

A yellowed book caught Zhao Yi's eye.

"Nonsense Sutra?"

"What sutra?"

Approximate emerged from between Zhao Yi's brows.

"Let me see."

"Holy crap,"

"It really is the Nonsense Sutra?"

The three crooked characters on the cover looked like they had been scribbled by someone who was drunk; the brushstrokes were wild and carried a hint of roguishness.

The edges of the pages were curled and brittle, appearing as if no one had flipped through them for years; they shed dust at the slightest touch.

Approximate carefully flipped to the first page with his dragon tail and read along with Zhao Yi. It said:

The Great Dao is Simple, yet the people of the world love to play God. Thus, I have composed this sutra specifically to treat all kinds of defiance, ignorance, lack of enlightenment, and lack of self-awareness.

The path of cultivation lies not in meditation, not in Alchemy, and not in slaying demons with Flying Swords, but in—

Talking nonsense.

Zhao Yi...

Approximate, however, was overjoyed beyond measure.

"What a great scripture!"

They continued reading.

What is talking nonsense?

First: Bragging without a script, speaking with such certainty that others believe it.

Second: Playing the fool, avoiding the real to focus on the imaginary, and confusing the enemy's mind.

Third: Passing off the fake as real, mixing truth and falsehood to deceive heaven and earth.

Fourth: Self-deprecation and irony, hiding a sharp edge within a smile to turn defeat into victory.

One who talks nonsense does not truly speak gibberish; rather, they use the void to control the solid, use skill to break strength, and use words to disrupt the Dao.

Zhao Yi's brow gradually furrowed.

This seemed absurd and erratic, yet between the lines, a hint of profound mystery faintly emerged.

He suddenly remembered a saying he had read in his previous life:

"A lie repeated a thousand times becomes the truth."

And what this book described seemed to be that if one could spin a lie perfectly, it could also become a path.

He flipped a few more pages and found that the back was actually appended with 'Nonsense Mind-Cultivation Formulas,' 'Twelve Techniques to Turn Falsehood into Reality,' 'How to Make Others Believe You Have Already Attained Ascension,' and 'On the Seven Realms of Posturing.'

The title of the final chapter read strikingly:

"I originally had no Dao; only by talking nonsense is there a Dao. Today I talk nonsense; tomorrow I shall succeed."

Zhao Yi remained silent for a long time before suddenly letting out a low chuckle.

"What a 'Nonsense is the Dao'..."

"Approximate, what do you think?"

Zhao Yi waited for a while, but Approximate didn't respond.

Turning his head, he saw Approximate coiled in the void, his dragon eyes staring intently at the Nonsense Sutra, with the spiritual light of Laws constantly flashing around his body.

He was muttering to himself,

"Today I talk nonsense..."

"Tomorrow I shall succeed..."

"Nonsense today..."

"Success tomorrow..."

He had actually entered an Epiphany.

"This..."

Zhao Yi didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He had gone to such lengths to find techniques and immortal arts, even giving up on digging for Immortal Stones for this,

Only to have Approximate reap the benefits.

"This Silly Dog is really lucky."

Glancing around, he saw another page of paper next to the Nonsense Sutra; it had just fallen out of the book.

Zhao Yi picked it up to look.

It actually contained a single immortal art.

However, looking at this immortal art, Zhao Yi almost ground his teeth to pieces.

"Immortal Art: Digging the Ground Three Times."

Digging the Ground Three Times: one dig, two pries, three scrapes.

It didn't talk about any Great Dao of Heaven and Earth; it was just about being labor-saving and convenient.

"Holy crap—"

"This is truly the will of heaven working in mysterious ways."

What could be more suitable for Zhao Yi than this immortal art?

Casually setting up a defensive formation for Approximate, Zhao Yi rushed out of the Scripture Tower and appeared in the Immortal Stone mine.

"Ancestral Master."

Zhao Yi waved his hand. When he had left, the Immortal Stone mine was guarded.

"Come!"

With a light shout,

The great sumeru treasure hoe appeared in Zhao Yi's hand.

One dig, two pries, three scrapes.

Imitating the posture in the illustration, Zhao Yi constantly adjusted himself.

"Loosen the soil, pry the rocks, bury deep, and dig a hole to hide."

"Digging the Ground Three Times!"

With a crash,

A large piece of crystal-clear mountain rock was dug out by Zhao Yi.

"Wow, it worked."

"This speed is indeed much faster than before."

After mastering 'Digging the Ground Three Times,' Zhao Yi went nowhere else.

He spent all day in the Immortal Stone mine, swaying his hips and mining with strange postures.

In the blink of an eye, thirty years passed.

The retaliation from the Netherworld Hall did not come, and Approximate was still at the top of the Scripture Tower comprehending the Nonsense Sutra.

In the Immortal Stone mine, Zhao Yi's eyes were bloodshot.

Thirty years.

Thirty years without rest or sleep.

The immortal art 'Digging the Ground Three Times' had long since been etched into his very marrow.

But...

Looking at the mountain-like pile of rocks outside the mine shaft, Zhao Yi's mouth was full of bitterness.

"System,"

[Miner: Zhao Yi]

[Cultivation: Mid-stage Human Immortal Realm (Insufficient experience points, cannot be promoted)]

[experience points: 0/100]

[Rewards: None]

On the System panel, that '0' was particularly eyesore.

Yes, thirty years had passed, and even though Zhao Yi had used all his strength, he still hadn't dug out a single Immortal Stone.

"It seems I have to wait for Approximate to finish his secluded cultivation."

"Bumping around like a headless fly like this is just a waste of time."

His mind thought this, and his mouth said this, but his body did not act accordingly.

Bang!

The great sumeru treasure hoe sank into the mountain rock.

The immortal art activated.

Zhao Yi's hoe felt heavy; he actually hadn't scraped this piece of rock off yet.

"Could there be something?"

Immortal power surged into the great sumeru treasure hoe.

The veins on Zhao Yi's arms bulged, and his face turned red from the effort.

"Come out!"