FVN 54. Breaking the Problem
54. Breaking the Problem
The results of the "Martial Arts Verification" have been revealed. Of the original hundred or so martial artists who passed the first stage, fewer than forty remain. It is already difficult enough to last for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, let alone to use skill to overcome brute force and directly "defeat" the martial arts puppet like Lin Mo. Such a performance can only be described as astonishing.
On the high platform, the gazes of several elders lingered on Lin Mo for a moment, especially Elder Feng from the Sword Hall, whose eyes burned with undisguised admiration. Elder Han remained composed, but a hint of satisfaction flickered in the depths of his eyes when he looked at Lin Mo.
"The second round is over. Thirty-seven people have passed." Elder Han's voice echoed throughout the venue. "Take a quarter of an hour's rest, and then we will proceed to the third and final round—'Solving the Puzzle with Wisdom'."
Upon hearing this, the remaining thirty-seven people, including Lin Mo, were all invigorated. Having passed two trials and being only one step away from becoming a guest elder of the Seven Absolutes Sect, no one would relax at this moment. At the same time, curiosity and vigilance arose in everyone's hearts. What form would this test of "wisdom" take?
A quarter of an hour passed quickly. Led by the disciples in charge, the group left the training ground and headed deeper into the mountain along a quieter stone path. Ancient trees towered on both sides, vines hung down, the light became dim, and a peculiar smell of decay and ink filled the air.
After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a huge stone hall built against the mountain came into view. Above the lintel of the stone hall hung an ebony plaque with three large characters carved in ancient seal script: "Cangji Pavilion". The hall door was open, and the interior was dimly lit, with the shadows of rows of towering bookshelves and fine dust floating in the air.
"The third test will take place inside the Hidden Mechanism Pavilion." Elder Han and the other elders had also arrived at the hall. He pointed to the deep interior of the hall and said, "The Hidden Mechanism Pavilion contains many ancient books, rare books, and fragments collected by our Seven Absolutes Sect over the past hundreds of years. It also stores some ingenious mechanisms and puzzle diagrams left by our predecessors. This test requires you to find an 'ancient mechanical puzzle' and solve it."
Elder Feng added, his tone carrying a hint of meaning: "Although the pavilion contains many books and artifacts, they are not for you to browse at will. Each riddle is hidden within certain books, artifacts, or environmental arrangements, requiring sufficient observation, imagination, and knowledge of martial arts tales, mechanisms, and divination techniques to discover and solve. Time limit: two hours."
Another elder, short and stout with a smile, chimed in: "A word of caution to everyone: the Hidden Mechanism Pavilion is riddled with traps and mechanisms, and some areas are protected by restrictions. Forcing your way in could lead to unforeseen disasters. You must use your wits, not your strength. Furthermore, you may gain some unexpected rewards while solving the puzzles, which can be considered a reward for your wisdom."
With the rules clearly explained, the thirty-seven martial artists, each with their own feelings, stepped into the mysterious Hidden Machine Pavilion.
Stepping inside felt like entering another world. The outside sunlight, filtered through the extremely high windows, left only dappled beams of light illuminating the dust motes dancing in the air. Bookshelves stretched as far as the eye could see, piled high with bamboo slips, silk scrolls, thread-bound ancient books, some even bound in animal hide. Besides the bookshelves, scattered throughout the hall were stone platforms, bronze tripods, and wooden shelves, displaying all sorts of strangely shaped objects—some resembling compasses, others astrolabes, and still others whose purpose was completely unidentifiable, their surfaces covered in a thick layer of dust.
The musty smell mixed with the scent of ink in the air became even stronger.
The crowd immediately dispersed, some heading straight for the seemingly mysterious artifacts, while others began poring over the vast sea of books, hoping to find even a single clue. Soon, the hall was filled with the rustling of pages turning, and the occasional slight clicks and soft gasps of surprise caused by the activation of some inconspicuous mechanism.
Lin Mo didn't wander around aimlessly like a headless fly. He stood at the entrance, adjusting his gaze to the dim light, and slowly scanned the general layout of the Hidden Machine Pavilion. His rich experience from his previous life told him that the more seemingly chaotic a place was, the more its core secrets were often hidden in the most logical or the most illogical places.
He didn't rush to peruse the vast sea of books, but instead focused his attention on the non-book objects and the overall layout of the space. He walked slowly among the bookshelves and objects, his eyes sharp as an eagle, not missing a single unusual detail.
Time slipped by unnoticed, and more than half an hour had passed. Some people seemed to have found some clues and were pondering deeply over an ancient book; others tried to solve a complex nine-linked ring puzzle but couldn't find a way; still others tried to push a heavy stone plate, sweating profusely but unable to budge it.
Lin Mo stopped in front of a row of bookshelves against the wall. These bookshelves were no different from the others, but their tops didn't directly touch the top of the stone hall; instead, there was a gap about half a foot high. Something seemed to be embedded in the gap, but due to the angle and lighting, it wasn't very clear.
His gaze shifted downwards, noticing a few bamboo scrolls arranged somewhat jarringly on the right side of the bottom shelf. While the other scrolls were inserted vertically into the shelves, these few were laid horizontally, and the dust on them seemed thinner than the surrounding area.
With a sudden thought, Lin Mo squatted down and carefully brushed away the dust from the several scrolls of bamboo slips lying horizontally. The bamboo slips were old, and most of the inscriptions on them were blurred, but at the end of one of the scrolls, there was an inconspicuous symbol—a swirling vortex pattern with seven tiny stars in the center.
"The Big Dipper Rotation Mechanism..." Lin Mo immediately recalled a record he had seen in an extremely obscure manual on mechanical arts in his previous life. It was an ancient mechanical lock designed using the principle of changes in the positions of stars.
He looked up again at the gap at the top of the bookshelf, and could vaguely see a metallic sheen inside. Could the mechanism be there?
He tried to move the several horizontally laid bamboo slips. When his hand touched the bamboo slip engraved with the symbol "Big Dipper Rotation Machine", he found that it was not completely fixed and could rotate slightly.
Lin Mo held his breath, recalling the description of the Big Dipper's changing positions on the fragment, and tried to gently rotate the bamboo slip in a specific order and at a specific angle.
"Click...click...click..."
An extremely faint, almost inaudible mechanical sound came from the top of the bookshelf. Lin Mo would have been completely oblivious to it if he hadn't been paying close attention.
When he completed the seventh rotation, aligning with the position of the "Yaoguang" star at the end of the handle of the Big Dipper, a soft "click" sound suddenly came from the gap above his head.
Lin Mo stood up, tiptoed, and reached into the crevice. His fingertips touched a cold, intricately patterned metal object. He carefully removed it.
It was a palm-sized bronze disc, with the Big Dipper pattern engraved on the front. The seven stars were connected by fine lines, forming an intricate star map. The disc also had a sliding scale around its edge and several tiny raised buttons. The entire disc was exquisitely crafted and exuded an antique charm.
"Is this the puzzle itself?" Lin Mo carefully examined the bronze disc in his hand. He discovered that there was an extremely subtle indentation at the position of the "Tian Shu" star in the Seven Stars, which seemed to require something to be placed inside to activate it.
His gaze returned to the bookshelves, finally settling on an inconspicuous corner on the side of the shelves, where a line of small characters, almost blending into the wood grain, was engraved: "Guided by starlight, the cardinal mechanism begins to move."
Starlight? Where would starlight come from in this dimly lit Hidden Secrets Pavilion?
Lin Mo frowned in thought, his gaze inadvertently sweeping over the dappled beams of light projected into the hall. He suddenly realized that the positions of these beams of light seemed to be moving extremely slowly over time.
He looked up at the tall windows, calculating the location and time in his mind. About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea later, a beam of the brightest light moved right up to the vicinity of the bookshelves, the edge of the light spot illuminating the spot at the top of the bookshelves where the disc had just been taken out.
Is it...
Lin Mofu had a sudden inspiration and immediately put the bronze disc back in its original place, so that the beam of light shone precisely on the "Tian Shu" star in the center of the disc.
A wondrous thing happened. The concave area of the "Tian Shu" star, which had absorbed the light, began to glow with a faint milky white halo, as if it had been infused with stellar power. At the same time, the lines on the disk that had been static seemed to come alive, beginning to slowly rotate, making the star map dynamic and three-dimensional.
"I see. It requires the help of the sunlight at a specific time to activate the 'Starlight' in order to start this 'Big Dipper Rotating Disc'." Lin Mo understood. This design was indeed ingenious. If one did not know the principle and had keen observation skills, there would be no way to start it.
Once activated, the spinning disc displays a complex, dynamic star map that forms a puzzle. To solve it, you must deduce the patterns of change based on the flowing lines of the star map, slide the edge scales, and press the correct raised buttons.
This was like a book written in the heavens to ordinary people, but Lin Mo had extensive knowledge in his previous life, and was quite proficient in astrology, mathematics, and mechanical formations. He observed intently, his mind racing with calculations, and his fingers began to carefully and quickly manipulate the disc.
"Left three, right seven, press Tianxuan, turn Yuheng..."
As he completed his final step, the entire bronze disc emitted a deep hum, the star map on the front suddenly lit up, and then all the light contracted inward, finally converging on the star "Tian Shu".
"Click."
A thin crack appeared in the center of the disc, and a sheet of paper, as thin as a cicada's wing and shimmering with pale gold, slipped out from the crack and drifted down.
Lin Mo reached out and caught it. The paper was of a peculiar texture, neither silk nor paper, and cool to the touch. It was covered with intricate diagrams of human-shaped energy movement patterns and densely packed ancient seal script characters drawn with cinnabar. At the very top were four powerful characters—"Tai Xu Sword Steps".
"A lost martial arts technique... a fragment of a manual?" A glint of light flashed in Lin Mo's eyes. This was clearly an extremely profound movement technique manual. Although it was only a fragment, the profound meaning contained within it was similar to some of the top movement techniques he knew from his previous life, and even more refined in some aspects, especially emphasizing the coordination with swordsmanship, with an aura as ethereal as the void.
He carefully put away the tattered page, and at the same time, the cracked bronze disc completely lost its luster, returning to being an ordinary antique.
Just then, a clear bell rang out from inside the Hidden Machine Pavilion, signifying that the two-hour time limit had expired.
The martial artists, scattered throughout the area, displayed a variety of expressions. Some wore joyful faces, holding clues they had found or tokens obtained from solving parts of a puzzle; others were dejected, clearly having gained nothing; still others were still deep in thought, staring at a certain object, and looked annoyed when they were awakened by the sound of the bell.
Several elders slowly walked into the pavilion and began to check everyone's work one by one.
When Elder Han and Elder Feng approached Lin Mo, Lin Mo presented them with the fragment of the "Tai Xu Sword Steps" manual.
"The Tai Xu Sword Steps?!" Elder Feng took the fragment, glanced at it, and exclaimed in disbelief. "This...this is said to be the unique skill of the 'Void Sword Immortal' from three hundred years ago, long lost. I never imagined that its fragments would be hidden in this 'Big Dipper Spinning Mechanism'!"
Elder Han carefully examined the tattered page, then gave Lin Mo a deep look, and exclaimed, "To discover and solve the mystery of this 'Big Dipper Rotation Mechanism' is already quite remarkable. What's even more commendable is that this mystery is extremely well hidden, requiring a comprehensive understanding of observation, association, astrology, mechanisms, and many other aspects. Lin Mo, you have once again astonished me."
The other elders also gathered around, and upon learning that Lin Mo had actually found the lost fragment of the "Tai Xu Sword Steps," they were all greatly shocked, and their gazes toward him became even more different.
Without a doubt, Lin Mo once again passed the third challenge, "Solving the Puzzle with Wisdom," with an absolute advantage, and gained additional valuable rewards.