Director Lei walked over to the desk, picked up the chess-like pieces arranged on top, and set them out in an expanding pattern.
He turned to Chen Chuan and explained, "Look, let’s assu these pieces represent the rituals of the old era. In that case..."
He took out a pen and drew several lines between them. It wasn’t a simple series of connections; different lines linked pieces at varying distances, and no two connections were the sa.
Chen Chuan looked at the assorted pieces and the lines drawn beneath them, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Do you see it now?"
Director Lei tapped the lines with his finger. "Because his rituals were never a single, unified whole, linking them together is incredibly difficult. I suspect he spent a great deal of ti connecting them and patching the gaps. But a ritual constructed this way can’t possibly respond in unison. It has to be activated section by section."
"When he activates it, that pieceal approach gives us enough ti to react. We can target the sections one by one. The more we disrupt, the less effective the overall ritual will be."
"But this takes ti. And he’s certain to be using a core component that plays a crucial role. We need to find it. Until we do, we can’t guarantee we can destroy the entire ritual. In the anti, we’ll need you to hold the line."
"And since he has the initiative, we can only react. We’re not sure how many old-era rituals have been co-opted, so it’s difficult to put a specific tifra on this."
Chen Chuan nodded. This ant that until the Esoteric Ritual was completely destroyed, or until a victor was decided, he would have to bear the brunt of any rituals aid at him.
He didn’t feel this was much of a burden. After all, he had his Second Self. ’It’s just a contest of attrition.’
He currently had eighteen Hours of overlap ti. While excessive harm would continually diminish this duration, he wasn’t just going to stand there and take it. Besides, he wasn’t fighting alone this ti.
Director Lei said gravely, "We won’t have you face this unprepared. I’ll do my best to prepare various rituals for you over the next few days to resist the attacks. But that’s not enough. At the critical mont, you’ll still need to find a way to counter or destroy the ritual yourself."
"Frankly, if necessary, we would inscribe Esoteric Rituals directly onto your skin. However, the ntal corruption from Esoteric Rituals is severe. The effect on a person is too great, and it would likely make it impossible to remain sane."
"If you were purely an Esoteric Ritual practitioner, we could have soone on standby to administer drugs or have a replacent take over if your condition deteriorates. But you’re also a Fighter. You need to maintain a clear mind and ample stamina, so I don’t think that thod is suitable."
"The only other option, then, is to adorn your clothing and other items with Secret Ceremony Patterns. We can even prepare multiple sets for you to use in countering their effects."
Chen Chuan nodded. ’That’s the right call. Even though my Second Self can transfer the damage, it’s better to use other thods first if they’re available.’
’No matter how long my Second Self’s overlap ti is, once a fight begins, every single second has to be used judiciously. It’s a matter of life and death, after all.’
Director Lei continued, "Secret Ceremonies all require advance preparation. They use large amounts of ti and materials to leverage anomalous substances, so everything has to be prepared beforehand, even things you might use on the fly."
"It’s like a hand of cards. When you enter the ga, all the cards you can play are already in your hand. It all cos down to how you play them and how you utilize the function of each one."
"However, you’re a Fighter, not a pure Esoteric Buddhism expert. So all of this is just support. The goal is to let you play to your strengths without interference."
"Over the next two days, I’ll teach you how to quickly identify types of Esoteric Rituals and simple thods to counter them. That should be enough. I’ve already had my people start preparations. Teaching with physical examples will make a deeper impression. For now, take so ti to get your affairs in order. We’ll begin shortly."
Chen Chuan agreed. After finishing his conversation with Director Lei, he called his old team mbers. He told them there was a commission to eliminate an ard group and asked if they were available.
As expected, everyone readily accepted his invitation.
Even setting aside their personal relationship, the jobs Chen Chuan brought were always high-quality with huge rewards. They couldn’t be compared to ordinary commissions. There was no way they were going to miss out.
However, the confidentiality level of this commission was too high to go through the company. Chen Chuan didn’t want to trouble Director Lei with it, so he called Gao Ming and entrusted him with handling the matter.
After Chen Chuan had successfully been cleared by the Judgent Court, Gao Ming’s reputation within the Litigation Master community skyrocketed. Although it seed Chen Chuan got off because Molan Company itself was being targeted, Gao Ming’s ability to use that information, judge the situation, and successfully leverage it to achieve his objective was a rare skill indeed.
For a ti, many Litigation Master firms tried to poach him, and so influential figures from the Upper Layer sent him invitations, hoping to hire him for their own legal teams.
But Gao Ming refused them all. He didn’t use his sudden fa to take on any major cases, either. Instead, he quietly accepted a few minor ones and did his best to fade from the public eye.
As he put it, his own value would truly increase only when Chen Chuan successfully entered Central City. There was no need to make a na for himself so soon.
This period of lying low was for a greater payoff in the future.
So when he received Chen Chuan’s call, he readily agreed. Chen Chuan was more than just his cousin; he was now his number one client. Naturally, his top client’s needs ca first, and everything else was secondary.
After making the calls, that afternoon, Director Lei took him to a training hall. The floor was already covered with all kinds of pre-drawn Secret Ceremony Patterns.
Director Lei walked to the center of a Secret Ceremony Pattern and said grimly, "There are nurous types of Esoteric Rituals. Learning how to counter them requires long-term training and repeated practice. Not only is it a huge investnt, but it’s also incredibly taxing on a person’s psyche. We have neither the ti nor the desire to put you through that."
"So, we’ve prepared counter-rituals for you in advance. You just need to be able to identify which ritual you’re facing and use the correct counter."
"This judgnt is critical, and the window to react is very small. While most Secret Ceremonies can be broken after they’re activated, so will give you no chance to fight back once they’re underway. You must try to act before that happens. It all depends on your observation skills and acuity."
As he spoke, he handed Chen Chuan a dozen or so exquisite cards, each bearing a different Secret Ceremony Pattern.
"These are the Secret Ceremony Patterns we’ve prepared to be put on your clothes. In a mont, I will activate the Secret Ceremonies here. Your job is to identify the ceremony in the shortest ti possible, find the corresponding card, and use it to counteract the ceremony’s effects."
Chen Chuan glanced at the cards in his hand. They were intricate and ornate, and at first glance, they all looked similar. It wouldn’t be easy to morize them and tell them apart.
Fortunately, his diligent study of the files had paid off. That, combined with his keen observation skills, allowed him to tell them apart after a few monts of study.
Director Lei said, "If you’re ready, let’s begin."
Chen Chuan nodded. "Director Lei, I’m ready."
Just as he spoke, Director Lei clapped his hands. At the sa instant, Chen Chuan suddenly saw a faint trace of incorporeality appear on his Second Self, indicating the ritual had already been silently activated.
He thought for a mont and decided to experience the ritual’s effects directly, so he stopped his Second Self from resisting.
The instant he acted on that decision, he suddenly felt Director Lei’s clap recede, as if it were coming from far away.
The light around him seed to dim. He felt as if he were in a deep, hollow cavern, enveloped by a sense of loneliness and anxiety. Even his own limbs felt like they were drifting away from him, and so part of him was willing to let them go, to sink into the abyss.
He imdiately recalled the docunts he’d read. According to their descriptions, when not leveraging supernatural phenona, most Esoteric Rituals were actually psychic attacks. There could be physical damage, but it was usually not as intense.
’I can resist this under normal circumstances,’ he thought, ’but this is just a test. The real thing must be much stronger, which would make it difficult to handle. If an enemy were here right now, it would be extrely dangerous.’
He remained calm and looked down at the cards in his hand, only to find it was now difficult to make out the patterns. Relying on mory, he quickly selected one. The mont he did, the strange sensations rapidly faded, and his surroundings returned to normal.
Director Lei looked at him and said, "Very good. You clearly read the materials carefully." He paused. "Now, let’s continue."
For the rest of the ti, with Director Lei’s guidance, Chen Chuan repeatedly practiced using these pre-set rituals. Since the parts he needed to learn weren’t complex, he had mastered them by the end of the afternoon.
When they finished, he asked Director Lei a question.
"Director Lei, I’d like to ask a question. That Life Secret Sect from before could transfer a person’s Primordial Qi. If soone had more manpower and financial resources, could they use that to achieve longevity?"
Director Lei said slowly, "That is a very dangerous topic. The purpose of Esoteric Rituals is to pursue visions that humans cannot achieve on their own. But they must be accomplished through established rules and channels. What is possible is only what the rules themselves permit. Fortunately, as of now, no such thing has ever happened."
Chen Chuan said, "But just because it hasn’t been discovered doesn’t an it isn’t possible, right?"
Director Lei said, "That’s correct. Since the old era, people have been constantly striving toward that goal. Even though no one has ever succeeded, they haven’t completely given up. They are all searching for that possibility."
"The Life Sect’s so-called transfer of Primordial Qi can’t actually be sustained for long. Initially, the recipient might feel full of energy, but before long they return to their original state, as if nothing changed."
Chen Chuan thought for a mont. "So, it’s like taking an energy-boosting drug?"
Director Lei nodded. "That’s a fitting analogy. In fact, the real effect is even weaker than just taking a drug, and it can also co with all sorts of side effects."
"You might be wondering, then, why would anyone spend so much money and manpower on sothing with such a weak effect?"
"It’s because compared to any material benefit from the ritual, the spiritual pleasure and satisfaction it brings are unforgettable. In particular, that feeling of Primordial Qi entering the body, that sensation of being reborn, is sothing many people find themselves unable to give up. They even beco addicted."
At this, his voice grew heavy. "The use of any ritual brings psychic stimulation. Many employees in the Esoteric Bureau now take injections to alleviate the side effects from frequent use. But to truly resist these urges, the only way is through self-control and an unshakeable will."
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