I Take Life Seriously 98. Qimen Dunjia (2)

By the nine hundredth meditation, Zhang Mingjing could sense the presence of the Eight Trigrams in his consciousness even while eating, drinking, or attending to other needs. It was as if a fruit had ripened in his mind, a sign that the Eight Trigrams were beginning to be internalized. His swift progress was due entirely to the year of foundational training he had undergone, as well as a certain innate talent for the Dao.

By the time he reached his one thousand five hundredth meditation, even in his sleep, the form of the Eight Trigrams lingered within his awareness. He had achieved the state where he cultivated whether awake or asleep.

Finally, today, at the one thousand eight hundredth meditation, a sudden transformation occurred.

Human consciousness is, after all, a realm of space and time, not arranged haphazardly, though most people never perceive the patterns within. Yet in deep meditation, Zhang Mingjing seemed to enter a dream. He gazed at the misty expanse of his mind, which had always seemed chaotic, but now, it was not. Instead, it first aligned according to the principles of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements, then gradually formed an immense, boundless diagram of the Eight Trigrams.

Each trigram was distinct, and within each, he could glimpse information and energy from four-dimensional space and below. Zhang Mingjing could freely mobilize this information and energy in his mind, swiftly affecting the corresponding information and energy externally. He could even adjust the orientation of the Eight Trigrams in his consciousness, optimizing the flow and storage of energy within his body.

Moreover, through the Eight Trigrams, he could access greater high-dimensional information, though not beyond the fourth dimension. By now, the Eight Trigrams he had meditated upon were entirely internalized as a part of his consciousness.

According to Daoist theory, though he had not reached the highest state of unity between heaven and man, he was at least at the intermediate level.

Even the Five-Dimensional Cognitive Model could not help but exclaim in awe, “Good heavens! You’ve rewritten your own consciousness algorithm so quickly. Such a skill would be top-tier even among lifeforms in the fifth dimension!”

“What?!” Zhang Mingjing suddenly came out of his meditation and opened his eyes wide.

“You have rewritten your consciousness algorithm,” repeated the Five-Dimensional Cognitive Model.

“What do you mean? Was I not just dreaming? What does it mean to rewrite my consciousness algorithm?”

“If you imagine consciousness as a set of building blocks, rewriting it is like rearranging those blocks. You can now alter the layers of your own awareness to some extent.”

“Wow! Does that mean I’ve leveled up again?” Zhang Mingjing was stunned.

“Yes! From now on, your every action will follow the pattern of the Eight Trigrams. Every step will be naturally logical and even prescient. This has far surpassed your previous abilities to read or perform other supernatural feats—it’s the behavior of a truly advanced lifeform.”

“You’re making me blush with praise!”

...

Meanwhile, all the elders in the Fifth Dimension had received the news about Zhang Mingjing’s sudden transformation in his consciousness algorithm, and were collectively dumbfounded.

“How could this happen?!” Elder A was the first to exclaim.

“He’s actually rewritten his own consciousness!”

“It’s not unheard of, but he’s by far the fastest I’ve ever known. In just a few days, this young man has managed what takes others years. It’s beyond my understanding.”

“Such skill is certainly advanced. Even among us elders of the Fifth Dimension, only a few possess such abilities!”

“It seems we were right to seal his consciousness dimension limit.”

“Indeed! ...Will he break through the seal?”

“Don’t be absurd. Neither the Spacetime Monster nor we have ever broken the Seal of Light. How could he?”

At this, one elder remarked, “There’s no need for panic! Until now, both he and the Five-Dimensional Cognitive Model are still in our hands. I believe they won’t escape us in the future, so let them finish their task before we decide what to do with them.”

...

By internalizing the Innate Eight Trigrams Diagram within his consciousness, Zhang Mingjing achieved further optimization of his body and mind.

From this day forth, the computational power of the Innate Eight Trigrams would oversee the flow of energy along the meridians in his body at all times. Even in sleep, his combat prowess and cultivation would continue to rise.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yidao had been working tirelessly to internalize the Post-Heaven Eight Trigrams, which contained sixty-four trigrams, into his consciousness. Yet, the complexity of the information in each trigram made this a daunting task. Though his enthusiasm did not wane, progress was slow.

By this morning, he had only managed to internalize one-third of the Post-Heaven Eight Trigrams, and it seemed to get harder as he went along.

That very same day, a monster appeared in the East Sea, soon to come ashore. It was formed from the same batch of monsters as the ostrich beast that had once killed Mu Xiu.

Although it carried three segments of Spacetime Monster coding, its strength was no longer especially threatening to the Daoist team.

Originally, Zhang Mingjing had only intended Katherine, Jamil, and the two pets to eliminate it. But Zhang Yidao volunteered, saying, “Hey, Zhang Mingjing, I want to test the power of the Post-Heaven Eight Trigrams.”

“You’ve only internalized a third of it. What can you do?” Zhang Mingjing was wary of his eagerness for credit and hesitated.

“A third can still be more than a third as effective!” Zhang Yidao protested.

The Five-Dimensional Cognitive Model supported Zhang Yidao, telling Zhang Mingjing, “If you’re using the Eight Trigrams as part of a weapons system, the best way to optimize it is to gather data through combat.”

“...Well...fine,” Zhang Mingjing relented.

He agreed partly because he wanted to see the potential of the Post-Heaven Eight Trigrams and partly because he believed Katherine, Jamil, and the pets were more than enough to handle the monster. Even if Zhang Yidao’s application of the Eight Trigrams was not perfect, it would not matter.

Yet, Zhang Yidao’s ambition was not so simple. He hoped that with his Eight Trigrams and spells, he could completely defeat the monster, making a name for himself.

Naturally, neither Zhang Mingjing nor the Five-Dimensional Cognitive Model missed his intentions. Zhang Mingjing thought such distractions would only be tempered by setbacks in battle, and so was content to let him try and fail.

...

This time, Katherine led the team, and after an hour, they confronted the monster.

This beast had an enormous mouth, clearly part shark in origin. Its jaws, teeth, and tongue were all large, but its eyes were even larger, giving its face a peculiar cuteness rather than menace. Its mouth was naturally turned up in a smile, its head was round, and though it reached a height of over twelve meters and its body, including the tail, stretched a hundred meters, it crawled low to the ground on four powerful limbs. Its skin was jet-black and glossy, reminiscent of a giant salamander.

Most remarkable was its skin, smoother and shinier than ever seen before, as if polished to perfection—an unprecedented trait among monsters and beasts.

The Five-Dimensional Cognitive Model had already analyzed satellite data and reported, “This skin’s hardness and toughness have both increased by thirty percent. It’s more durable than ever.”

Zhang Mingjing was unimpressed. “Our main strategy now is to absorb the monster’s energy. No matter how tough its hide, it’s pointless, isn’t it?”

“You underestimate the Spacetime Monster coding! Past battle data provided the best mutation optimization. This improvement in its skin is not merely for defense.”

“You’re saying the monster’s skin has other functions?”

“Yes! Do you see those protrusions on its skin?”

“I do. What are they?”

“According to satellite spectral analysis, the temperature around those protrusions is significantly higher than the surrounding skin. This suggests they are either releasing or absorbing energy.”

“I see! You mean the monster can use those protrusions to continuously absorb energy and replenish itself?”

“Exactly.”

“But there isn’t that much energy in the surrounding space for it to absorb!”

“Oh, but there is. If those protrusions can absorb atoms from the air, concentrate them, and then break their nuclei, energy will never be in short supply.”

“Damn! Are you saying the monster has a nuclear reactor inside?”

“Every living body is a kind of nuclear reactor. This monster’s is just much stronger.”

“Wow! The Spacetime Monster coding is truly formidable, optimizing the monster’s body like this. This will be quite a challenge for Katherine and the others!” Zhang Mingjing commented, even as he transmitted the monster’s data to Katherine and Jamil. They were both shocked upon receiving it.

He did not send the data to Zhang Yidao, whose theoretical perspective was entirely different. Even if he received the data, he would neither understand nor bother to study it. Instead, Zhang Mingjing simply told him that the monster could use the protrusions on its back to replenish its energy.

Zhang Yidao’s approach was rooted in Daoist demon-subduing techniques. Hearing the monster could replenish its energy, he remained unfazed. In his eyes, it was just a powerful demon with unique tricks—nothing to be surprised about. In fact, he scoffed, “Ha! For every trick of the demon, the Dao has a countermeasure.”

...

Zhang Yidao had already set up the Eight Trigrams formation, trapping the monster in the Qian position. The formation began to absorb the monster’s energy.

At the same time, the monster started using its protrusions to replenish its reserves. Thus, with energy being drained and restored, the monster’s power waned only slowly. The Eight Trigrams formation’s effect seemed greatly diminished.

Katherine, Jamil, and the two pets had taken up their positions on the Eight Trigrams and were flying between them, launching attacks, but their efforts appeared to have little effect.

As Zhang Mingjing analyzed the battlefield data, he could not help but marvel, “The monster’s optimization this time is indeed highly successful!”

The Five-Dimensional Cognitive Model agreed, “Yes! Never underestimate the Spacetime Monster coding. After all, it’s a fifth-dimensional algorithm. Rewriting the information code for a three-dimensional lifeform is not difficult for it.”