Chapter 394: Knot-Making and Knot-Transforming

After having essentially completed control of the entire "Observation Hall" through Deputy Hall Master Cao Bin, Meng Zhou's originally somewhat uncertain plan became completely clear.

After having a precise plan, the biggest problem before Meng Zhou became one: time.

He had too much preliminary preparation to do, and his time was limited.

Of course, if he is willing to endure the state of "the peak of pill formation and no progress" in his cultivation for a long time, then he has plenty of time.

But obviously, no cultivator can endure such a state.

Naturally, Meng Zhou couldn't either.

Therefore, in Meng Zhou's mind, when his cultivation reaches the peak of pill formation, the next step should be to charge towards Nascent Soul.

The whole process is smooth and silky, with no pauses in between.

Meng Zhou had even basically drawn up a rough "planning schedule" in his mind.

Based on his current progress, after he completes the retreat practice at the age of ninety-nine, his cultivation will reach the limit of his current state, and there will be no progress.

If you don’t want to waste your time, your next retreat will be the time to charge towards the Nascent Soul realm.

At that time, no more, no less, he happened to be over a hundred years old.

Not to mention anything else, just at this age, she looks full of a mysterious and unique beauty.

"This is the day appointed by God!"

But in this case, time is very tight.

Now, Meng Zhou is in the second half of his ninety-fourth year.

There are still five years and a few months left until he reaches the age of 100.

And if you exclude the retreat period in January every year, there will be even less time left.

In his plan, within this limited time, he must frequently enter and leave different "wild areas". This is an essential step in Meng Zhou's plan.

Meng Zhou imagined in his mind that if the conditions in the other seven wilderness areas were similar to the five areas he once practiced, that is, the "Juye Wilderness Area".

So, if he can make full use of these five years or so, he can complete all the layout before he is a hundred years old, and he can even push the time forward a little.

But if he stays in a "wilderness" for too long due to random uncertainties in the return application from various wilderness areas, then the limited time will be very tight and even become insufficient.

The best way is just like the "Hongze Wasteland" he has determined at the moment.

Ten days later a monk entered, and he entered with him;

Fifty-five days later, another monk left, and he left with him.

There is a clear return time before entering, and the interval is not too far away. This avoids the possibility of him entering a "wilderness" and being trapped there for a long time.

"It would be great if everything was like this in Hongze Wasteland." Meng Zhou thought in his heart.

But Meng Zhou knew that it was accidental that the interval between transfer applications from the same "wilderness" was so short.

More often than not, the time interval between transfer applications for the same "wilderness" will exceed two months. In other words, he cannot determine the next "hitchhiker" before entering a previous "wilderness". The time to return to Xingxiu Sea.

When he thought of this, Meng Zhou naturally had an idea in his mind.

"After entering a certain wilderness, before starting other actions, can I choose a new target, and through secret guidance, let the monks who originally applied for return months later apply for return immediately?

In this way, I can basically control the time it takes to enter each wilderness area to about two months. "

With a clear time plan, there is a stable prerequisite for the plan to be fully implemented.

Meng Zhou felt that the idea he came up with was a good idea, and the problem was properly solved.

But soon, Meng Zhou felt relieved again.

"wrong!"

The solution he came up with certainly solved his own problem very well.

But if you look at it from the perspective of the "Observation Hall", you will see a subtle sense of disharmony.

Originally, the intervals between transfer applications in the same "wilderness" were relatively random, and it was extremely rare that the interval was within two months.

But after handling it like this, "random" is no longer truly random. There are fixed rules, and "extremely accidental" situations are no longer accidental.

If this situation only happens three or five times in a row, it might be possible to get past it.

But if it continues for three to five years, unless the top management of Xingxiu Palace are all blind or fools, it will be impossible to get through it!

It is not an exaggeration to say that the "Observation Hall" is now the most important department of Xingxiu Palace. Not only can it mobilize all the alchemy monks, it can even influence the schedule of the Nascent Soul Lord. It is watched by countless pairs of eyes.

This seemingly easy-to-solve problem actually did not solve it, but instead created a bigger problem.

"Then...how should we do it?"

Meng Zhou thought in his mind.

Meng Zhou, who was thinking hard to no avail, was suddenly startled when his thoughts fell on Cao Bin. Then he suddenly enlightened and laughed at himself:

"There is clearly an upright solution, why do you think about it in a shady direction?... It must be under the influence of 'Uncle Zheng', it must be!"

…

Cave, study.

Cao Bin was holding a jade slip in one hand, and his index finger was like a small sword moving flexibly in the air. From time to time, sharp sword energy would shoot out from his fingertips.

Before these sword energies are shot at the surrounding walls and other objects, they will be blocked and disintegrated by a tough but invisible force.

The blocked sharp sword energy quickly dissipated and dissipated into the void.

What Cao Bin didn't know was that in his body, there was a wonderful spiritual connection connected to a small snake in the beast bag on his waist.

There was nothing wrong with this spiritual connection itself, which was his reliance on controlling this little snake.

If there was no contract connection, his control over this little snake would be out of the question.

Therefore, even if he realized the existence of this spiritual connection, he would not think there was anything wrong.

What he didn't know was that at this moment, a wonderful and obscure force was quietly infiltrating his body along this contract connection.

Some thoughts that he had thrown into the corner on his own initiative were like sediment, floating in his mind for no reason.

This inexplicable thought even affected his coherent and focused thinking, and the smooth sword energy at his fingertips suddenly stopped.

Cao Bin was stunned.

When he understood the reason for those unprovoked thoughts, he was even more surprised.

He was the nominal second-in-command of the Observation Hall, but actually the first-in-command.

At the beginning, in order to avoid arousing the suspicion of the real hall master, in order to show that he was not keen on this position, and not the type to like to seize power, he tried to be a "non-stick pan" for a while when the Observation Hall was just running.

He did not make decisions on everything by himself, and all decisions were discussed by everyone.

Brainstorming.

Everyone can make suggestions on how the Observation Hall should be run.

In the end, how to do it can be voted on according to the principle of minority obeying majority.

But later it was found that this efficiency was too low.

A lot of time was wasted on meaningless discussions of different opinions.

For this reason, it even attracted severe criticism from the Yuanying Patriarch.

"Where do so many opinions come from? Where do so many discussions come from?"

"Is it necessary to distinguish the pros and cons so clearly?"

"For many things, you can do this or that, and everyone can give some reasons.

Do you really want to figure out everything one by one?!

Before you figure it out, do we all have to wait?"

"Make a decision, what you have to do is make a decision immediately, idiot!"

This thought that Cao Bin had actively thrown into the corner of his memory suddenly came to his mind, making Cao Bin feel sick as if he had suddenly been stuffed with shit.

Along with it, there was another related memory.

At that time, after being severely reprimanded, Cao Bin's style suddenly changed from "brainstorming" to "dictatorial".

Soon, as Cao Bin made one decision after another decisively, the operating rules of the "Observation Hall" were also determined.

At that time, among the many choices he had to make, there was such a choice.

"Do the Jindan monks who join the Observation Hall need to go to the outer domain of the Eight Wasteland?"

At that time, this question caused a very heated discussion within the Observation Hall.

Finally, the Observation Hall reached a consensus that it was not necessary.

After the Xingxiu Palace came out again, it was necessary to send a large number of Jindan monks to the outer domain of the Eight Wasteland for garrisoning. With such a large and long-term demand, it was naturally impossible to require all the Xingxiu Palace Jindan monks to carry forward their style and apply for it on their own initiative.

If so, there would not be enough people at all.

So, it must be a mandatory task. Every Xingxiu Palace Jindan monk must complete a certain number of years of garrisoning tasks within a certain number of years.

There was no objection from the Observation Hall to these, and the attitude was very clear and unified.

But when the "blade" was directed towards the Observation Hall itself, the problem arose.

Do the Jindan monks of the Observation Hall also need to be forced to carry out the garrisoning tasks of the outer domain of the Eight Wasteland?

After sufficient discussion within the Observation Hall, a clear attitude was reached that it was not necessary.

The reason was also sufficient. Whether we were in the Xingxiu Sea or were arranged to go to the outer domain of the Eight Wasteland, we were serving the same goal. The importance of our work is also unquestionable, and even irreplaceable.

As for the mandatory tasks, aren't we doing "mandatory tasks" now?

It can't be voluntary labor, right? Can we quit at any time?

We have already assumed important responsibilities. If we are forced to go to the Eight Wastelands in the outer domain, this... Isn't this bullying honest people!

Cao Bin disagreed with this set of perverse ideas.

Cao Bin believed that if other Xingxiu Palace Jindan knew about such a debate inside the Observation Hall, they might break their defense directly.

Not greeting all the eight generations of Jindan ancestors in the Observation Hall one by one, they were considered to be well-mannered.

But at that time, this had become the consensus of the Jindan in the Observation Hall.

He had been reprimanded by Yuanying Zhenjun in person for his inefficiency. In order to make the whole chain move faster and more properly, Cao Bin chose to compromise and comply with the "public opinion" inside the Observation Hall.

This was also the only time Cao Bin compromised and gave in among all the decisions he made "arbitrarily".

It is also because of this "only" that this compromise and concession is particularly eye-catching.

From a certain perspective, Cao Bin even regarded it as a "stain", intentionally or unintentionally fading it from his memory and throwing it into the corner of his memory.

At this moment, this memory fragment suddenly emerged from the corner of his memory for no reason and floated to his mind. It was so annoying that he suddenly felt like something stuck in his throat.

"Why did I suddenly think of this? It's so inexplicable!" Cao Bin muttered in his heart.

He subconsciously wanted to throw this memory back to the corner of his memory, out of sight, out of mind.

But before doing so, Cao Bin paused.

With his cultivation to this point, he knew very well that thoughts sometimes cannot be suppressed.

At this moment, this thought suddenly emerged from the corner of his memory. It seemed to be for no reason, but it was very likely that his "God" warned him when he was unconscious.

Remind him that this is a knot in his heart.

Such an opportunity is not something that everyone can encounter. He should be grateful for such an encounter!

It cannot be handled casually.

No matter how small the knot is, it may become a stumbling block on the road ahead!

And since it is a knot, it must be untied!

What's more, it is not difficult to untie this knot.

Perhaps, this would alienate the entire Observation Hall from him, but apart from the Jindan cultivators in the Observation Hall, all the Jindan cultivators in the Xingxiu Palace would support him.

Even the four Yuanying ancestors would certainly stand on his side.

At the beginning, the concerns that made him choose to give in no longer exist.

Could anyone dare to openly sing the opposite tune and give up the task?

Wouldn't that be courting death?

After careful consideration, Cao Bin sent out a message, and soon, twelve Jindan cultivators with different cultivation levels came to his cave one after another.

These were all the Jindan cultivators in the Observation Hall except him.

After everyone gathered, Cao Bin looked around at everyone and announced his decision.

"Starting from the beginning of next month, all of us must take turns to go to the outer domain of the Eight Wastelands and take on the task of guarding the place that originally belonged to us."

As soon as he said this, everyone was in an uproar.

"Why did you suddenly do this?"

Everyone looked at Cao Bin, their eyes wide open, as if asking again, are you sick?

Cao Bin did not argue with these people, and waved his hand very straightforwardly:

"This matter has been decided. If you are not satisfied, then we will ask the four ancestors to arbitrate?!"

Everyone's face collapsed when they heard this.

This matter was originally taken advantage of by them. If it is really exposed, which side will the public opinion go?

But they are absolutely unwilling to accept their fate.

"I am in charge of the teleportation array. Without me, who will be responsible for this matter in the future?"

"Do you know how important the heart-searching array is, Deputy Palace Master Cao? What if there is a mistake because of your decision? Can you afford it?"

"..."

Everyone talked about the importance and irreplaceability of their duties.

Cao Bin listened to them quietly one by one, and then said lightly:

"If you go out, someone will naturally come back. Can't they take on your little work?"

Everyone shut up again.

Everyone is a Jindan of Xingxiu Palace, and no one is higher than anyone else.

They entered the Observation Hall only because of good luck, but they dare not think that they are stronger than other Jindan.

What they can do is that those who replaced them in Xingxiu Palace can also do it.

Everyone was silent.

In fact, the moment Cao Bin, the deputy hall master, did not sit on their side and took the initiative to expose this little benefit that they had kept secret, there was no room for rebuttal.

After the initial stalemate, everyone had given up the meaningless "resistance" and began to consider more specific issues.

"How should we do it? We will start to rotate from the beginning of next month. How will we rotate?

I remember that two people should apply to return in the beginning of next month. We have already selected the replacements. Should we discard all the selected candidates? Should we replace them?

Now it happens that someone applies to return at the beginning of next month, but what if there is no one?

What if there are a lot of people applying to return at the beginning of a certain month?

You haven't explained anything clearly. How can we implement it?!"

Cao Bin smiled faintly and said:

"I have thought about all these very clearly.

The set of rules I am proposing now is consistent with the set of rules we are currently implementing. They do not interfere with each other.

How to arrange it in the past, and how to arrange it now How to arrange it, it will not affect it. "

"Because of the importance of the Observation Hall, stable operation is a prerequisite.

Therefore, we cannot arrange too many people to go out at one time, and the time interval cannot be too close, so that other replacements can be given time to slowly adapt. "

"Including me, there are thirteen of us in total. I think it is more appropriate to arrange one out every two months and replace one back, and complete the replacement in two years. "

"After two years, after our group of people are replaced, this set of rules cannot be stopped and must continue to operate.

However, it will not be us who need to consider this matter at that time, and we don't need to worry about it. "

After listening to Cao Bin's story, everyone was silent again.

Cao Bin's clear-minded story immediately brought a vivid picture to their minds.

In the future, the Observation Hall's Jindan will no longer be a fixed person like them, but will be rotated in a week of two years and two months.

Everyone will only stay in this position for a maximum of two years and two months.

When the time is up, whether you like it or not, you have to give up your position.

——And they know how idle the affairs of the Observation Hall are.

Since they are very clear about the situation of all the Jindan in Xingxiu Palace, and the process from receiving the return application of the external guards to their return has been fixed and clear, more than 90% of the operations do not even need to leave the cave, and only need a few communications to solve them.

And because of their efforts, the observation hall Jindan and the external guards Jindan are also to earn credit.

This benefit that was originally enjoyed by them alone has become a "little sweet" covering the entire Jindan group in Xingxiu Palace.

"Such a good thing, everyone wants to take advantage of it, so who should they do it for? If it is not handled properly, won't it cause trouble out of thin air?"

Cao Bin smiled faintly, obviously he had a clear thought about this, and was not troubled by this question.

"It's very simple. Just set a standard that no one can say anything about."

"Let's talk about the eight wastelands in the outer domain first. Let's draw up an order and rotate them every two months. No one will suffer."

"It's also very simple to replace who comes back in a specific wasteland. Whoever guards there the longest will enjoy this benefit!"

At this point, Cao Bin looked around at everyone and smiled faintly:

"What do you think? ... If you have better suggestions, you can also make them.

Anyway, we will decide on this matter today and inform other fellow disciples."

There was a silence.

No new suggestions.

But someone raised a very important question.

"Then what about our previous...?"

Cao Bin said frankly:

"Laws cannot be retroactive. This set of rules is proposed now. What does it have to do with the past?

Moreover, this is something we took the initiative to propose. In the past years, we have also made important contributions to standardizing the duties of the Observation Hall. Who can still gossip about us?"

After hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Some even think that Cao Bin, the deputy hall master, has not completely sat on the wrong side of the seat, and his heart is still with us.

After the matter was completely finalized and everyone left, Cao Bin put aside other things and immediately looked inward.

After a long time, Cao Bin opened his eyes again, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

As he expected, because of his actions just now, the knot in his heart no longer existed.

Looking back at that memory, he no longer needed to deliberately avoid it, and no longer felt like a fishbone stuck in his throat.

Compared with this, what's the big deal about the countdown to his position as the deputy hall master of the observation hall?

Besides, he didn't want to be the deputy hall master for a long time.

Now, there is a legitimate reason to get rid of this "shell".

...

When Cao Bin was in a good mood, Meng Zhou was also very happy.

"Solved."

Under his skillful hands, a knot was created out of thin air.

When Cao Bin resolved this "knot", his problem was also solved.

The whole process was smooth and seamless, and even several Yuanying ancestors could not find any problems in front of him.

With this fixed operation every two months, plus the original and more frequent random return applications, he can basically enter and exit any place in the outer eight wildernesses at will.

Even if his luck is bad, as long as the wilderness he enters is in sync with the rolling rotation of the observation hall, he can return on time two months later.

Since then, the whole process has been run through without any obstacles. (End of this chapter)