Atlas of Heaven and Man.

Chapter 763 Old Rituals
In the dense forest, Chen Chuan followed Master Xue's instructions and carefully depicted the esoteric rituals on his robe.

Different from what he had learned from Director Lei before, this ritual pattern was more retro.

What is the difference between the two? The previous esoteric rituals had a variety of templates to refer to. Whatever effect you want to achieve, just take out these templates and copy them, so you can basically use them after getting started.

But this is different. Every time you make a stroke, there is no fixed limit, but there is a premise that you must understand the meaning it represents. If you don't understand, no matter how much esoteric material he fills in, no matter how accurate and beautiful the painting is, it will not produce the desired effect.

So when describing it, Xue Shou would repeatedly tell him the key points that he needed to grasp.

But at the same time, after learning this, he felt that his understanding of the esoteric rituals, at least the part related to the rituals at hand, had become more profound.

He knew in his heart that in the past, this esoteric knowledge might have been the more secret knowledge in the state religion, and if one was not a true descendant of the state religion, there was no way of knowing it.

Xue Shou then said: "Don't take what I said too seriously. As long as the things in the world can achieve the goal, there are many ways to do it. There is no need to stick to certain established methods. What is widely used now must be in line with the current situation and suitable for most people.

In the past, these things had high barriers to entry and were difficult to spread, so they were destined to be in the hands of only a few people. This is actually not a good thing. The secret skills that may not have changed for decades or hundreds of years may change every few years in the new era. The areas that seem to be lacking at present will be achieved and exceeded sooner or later. It is only a matter of time.

Well, this stroke is good. This stroke should be done like this, more rounded and tactful. When you use the brush to concentrate the tip, you need to have the intention of guarding the key parts, just like in a fight, hugging your arms to protect your head, but you can't guard it to death, there must be some in and out..."

Under his guidance, Chen Chuan kept this in mind and quickly drew a circle. The lines were beautiful and smooth, and the end of the circle seemed neither closed nor parted.

Xue Shou praised: "This is a good deal, um... we can add another one outside..."

Chen Chuan wrote again without hesitation.

Xue Shu nodded. The most important thing to avoid in arranging this kind of ceremony is doubt. It is essential to look ahead and behind and be resolute in your will before you take action. If you even doubt yourself, how can you expect the ceremony to work?
At this time, he seemed to have thought of something and asked again: "By the way, you should know that when you break through your limits, you must give up one of your strengths, or embrace something you hate. Have you thought about it?"

Chen Chuanshuo said: 'I have already thought about it.'

But what he was thinking was to use his absolute strength to break through that boundary after overlapping with his second self, so he wouldn't have to give up or embrace anything.

Teacher Xue said: "It's good to have thought it through. You can't hesitate here, and you can't think about other things when you reach the critical point, otherwise there will be problems. As for the rest, as long as you use the right method, you can get to where you are today, and these steps should not be difficult for you.

In a word, if you can get through it, you can get through it, and if you can’t get through it, you can’t get through it.”

Chen Chuan nodded. This was almost the same as what Mr. Zhuan said. He thought about it and asked, "Teacher Xue, since every fighter has something to give up and endure, I wonder what the situation is like for General Wei?"

Xue Shou said: "Well, based on the intelligence we have gathered before, we have determined that Wei Guochan is likely to be unable to speak more than a certain number of words a day.

We have spies in the old imperial family, and we found that he spoke very concisely every day. We even did a statistics, and found that over the years, when he interacted with outsiders, the longest conversation he had ever made did not exceed a hundred words.

It is not difficult to find out his previous resume. He used to be an eloquent person who could bring the dead back to life. But since he became a fighter, he has become taciturn, so we think that this is what he gave up.

But the more he gave away, the more he got back.”

At this point, he chuckled and continued, "But this is just speculation, because some flaws or preferences are likely to be exploited by others, so sometimes they will deliberately cover up or conceal them to mislead others. After all, he is not only a fighter, but also a general, so some things are not so easy for people to master. But in fact, whether it is true or not, it does not affect his combat effectiveness.

And I don’t think this defect can be called a defect. For example, some people will constantly look for people to talk to after they become adults, and they will talk all the time, which will actually be a headache for others.”

Having said that, he seemed to think of someone or something, and couldn't help rubbing his eyebrows.

Chen Chuan understood immediately, and he asked again: "Then what about Principal Yao?"

"Principal Yao."

Xue Shou suddenly smiled and said, "You will know soon."

After hearing what he said, Chen Chuan did not continue to ask. At this time, he had come to the last stroke of the ceremony. With a turn of his wrist, he left a smooth stroke. After finishing, he stepped back and looked at it. He saw that the pattern on the coat was very elegant and not so regular, but he could feel a special meaning from it. And it was different from the patterns he had drawn before. He knew what effect it would have and how long it would last at a glance, as if it was embedded in his perception.

He looked at Xue Shu: "Teacher Xue, please take a look, are there any loopholes?"

Xue Shou took a few glances and said, "It's OK. This is your first time to master such a ritual. It's very good that you can depict it like this. However, due to the limitation of the material, it is impossible to push the ritual to the highest level. But this ritual can only be used once after all, so it is good enough to be able to draw it."

He glanced outside the forest for a few times. "If you go any further, you will probably run into a large group of troops from the old imperial family and the gun positions that have been arranged in advance. But it's the same no matter which direction you go. Just be careful to avoid the shells. If you encounter special circumstances, I will warn you. It's up to you what to do. If the situation is critical, start the ceremony immediately and I will cover you."

Chen Chuan nodded. Actually, his second self was just a little bit away from catching up with his ego, and it seemed that there were no suitable opponents outside. But it was not a big problem. If a fighter came, this strong external stimulation would be enough to push his second self to resonate with himself and achieve unity with his ego.

And if the fighter sent by the Ministry of Defense and Principal Yao can stop the general, and no other variables arise in the process, that would actually be considered good.

He had already thought it through. By then he could cut open the rift and enter the other side of the world. With the help of external stimulation and threats there, he could complete the final resonance and take this opportunity to break through his limits.

In short, there are countermeasures on both sides.

At this time, he picked up the coat and put it on. In order to prevent the ubiquitous erosion of the fusion land, he put on a protective raincoat on the outside.

At this time, he called out to Chao Ming, asking him to follow from a distance and not to get too close. Then he jumped on the horse, pulled the reins, and galloped in a certain direction.

According to the map information provided by Chen Bitong, the Defense Department's headquarters is located directly at the bottom of the map, while the unknown area where he is located is at the top of the map, where the troops mobilized by the old imperial family may be distributed.

The Dashun camp, which was on the edge of the unknown area, was located on the left side of the map, right on the route he was taking at the moment. He had been heading there before, and it was actually not far away, only half a day's journey at most.

But at this moment, he suddenly turned around and headed straight towards the distant camp, almost passing by it.

If he maintains his current speed and travels in a straight line without any obstruction, he can reach the defense base in about three days. However, the people of the old imperial family will not let him get here so easily.

The old imperial troops that were arranged around the Dashun camp had originally set up a net to wait and see, but based on the glow in the sky, they saw the situation and realized something was wrong, so after a flurry of telegrams, they began to make changes.

First, the airship that was parked here turned and moved in the direction where Chen Chuan was moving, and then a large group of cavalry escorted the artillery pulled by mules and horses and followed.

At the Dashun frontier camp, they also saw Chen Chuan change his route. After all, the direction of the glow was very obvious. Then they saw the airship turn, and large numbers of scout birds began to fly eastward. The hidden valley in the distance was filled with smoke and dust, and they realized that those were the troops ambushed there.

One of the officers turned around and said, "Colonel Xin, it seems that those comrades who seized the lost items are not going to come to our camp, so there is no point for us to stay here.

Colonel, please don't say anything like we can hold back the enemy here. Now the troops of the old imperial family don't care about us at all. They are just chasing after their comrades."

Another officer said, "Yes, Major, we don't need to defend here. Why don't we go over and help provide cover?"

Major Xin looked outside and said, "We can't move yet."

The officers wanted to say something, but Major Xin raised his hand to stop them and said calmly, "It's already afternoon, and it will be night in three or four hours. How far can we go now? What can we do?"

Everyone calmed down immediately. This was indeed the case. The reason why the old imperial family had an absolute advantage in Jiaorongdi was because they could gallop freely in the wild at night, while the Dashun army had no way to fight them in a place without a garrison. Once they left too far or were intercepted, they would be killed.

Major Xin glanced at the sunset glow and continued, "Let's wait until tomorrow. Their airship has left, and tomorrow we will have airship support. After we gather together, we will find a way to launch an attack from behind them to tie down their strength. Also, take out the special weapons that were buried. There is no need to keep them. We can use them together tomorrow."

……

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(End of this chapter)