Weapon System 11. Trading Blessings
When Zhang Mingjing returned home, his anger still hadn’t dissipated. Unwilling to get into another argument with Zhang Yidao and Xiao Nüxia, he locked himself in his room. Lying on his bed, he was enveloped in gloom. Reading about Xiao Nüxia absentmindedly humming a tune while stroking Yuhua and Chengxian only made him angrier; reading about Zhang Yidao kneeling before the ancestral master, begging for a hint of magical power, made him seem both pitiable and contemptible. And then, thinking of how his own parents had tricked him into being a monster-catching Daoist for a few days, only to end up losing a hefty sum of silver, his frustration grew more intense. In the end, he decided he would return to school that afternoon and never again hunt monsters, draw talismans, or tell fortunes.
Just then, he sensed someone calling him. Startled, he quickly sat up. He scrutinized the information in his mind and finally realized it was the alien contacting him again. At that moment, the alien’s voice grew steadily clearer.
It was Elder A reaching out to him, sharing their plan for decoding the sun—specifically, warning him that monsters would be produced during the decoding process, and explaining how they intended to deal with them.
“What? Monsters!” Zhang Mingjing’s shock was a natural reaction. He immediately pressed for answers. “Why don’t you just deal with them yourselves? Why do I have to clean up the mess? Isn’t this a bit roundabout? Or is it that, since I’ve taken your cognitive model, I now have to fight for you?”
“That’s not it! You’ve already done us a huge favor today. But as higher-dimensional beings, we have our own codes—we can’t use force against lower-dimensional life. No matter how evil those monsters are, they are still three-dimensional, so the job falls to you.”
“I don’t get it. If you can intervene with the sun, why can’t you do something about a few little monsters?”
“We haven’t done anything to the sun. We’re just decoding the seal of light that locks it away—remember, that’s a fifth-dimensional construct!”
“But isn’t that space-time monster two-dimensional? Didn’t you throw it onto the sun to die?”
“The space-time monster is a cognitive model from the fifth dimension, so in principle, it too is a five-dimensional being.”
“Er… so by that logic, I’m a five-dimensional being too, right? Since I have the five-dimensional cognitive model? Shouldn’t you issue me an ID card or something?”
“Haha… Your five-dimensional model is just parasitic on your consciousness at this point—it’s not something you were born with.”
“I see! In the five-dimensional world, you’re citizens, and I’m basically nothing.”
“Haha… you’re overthinking it!”
Suddenly, Zhang Mingjing thought of Zhang Yidao. He grinned and said to Elder A, “I’m not afraid of dying—defending Earth is my duty. But I’d like to ask you for a favor.”
“Hehe! You want us to give Zhang Yidao a five-dimensional cognitive model as well, don’t you?”
“That’s right!”
“Haha… You probably don’t know this, but it took us a whole year of debate before we decided to give you yours.”
“Oh! So he’s out of luck, then.”
“You just want to help him realize his dream of cultivating Dao, right?”
“Yes!”
“Your human bodies have their own energy meridians. If you activate them, you’ll gain all sorts of extraordinary abilities.”
“You mean the Eight Extraordinary Meridians? But if he doesn’t have the five-dimensional model, how could he activate them?”
“You can help him!”
“Really? You want me to use internal energy to unblock his meridians?”
“Haha… I haven’t really studied that, but if you make good use of the five-dimensional cognitive model, I don’t think it’ll be hard to find a way.”
“Oh! Understood.”
“Alright! I’ve delivered the message. You’d better prepare well—especially that lightsaber of yours. Try to make it bigger; at its current size, it’s only fit for killing mice or cats. It won’t handle monsters.”
“Hehe! Got it.”
After ending the conversation with Elder A, the first thing Zhang Mingjing thought of was using the opportunity of unblocking Zhang Yidao’s meridians to bargain for more money—he wanted to strike a deal with his father.
“But after all, he’s my old man. I’d better make sure I can truly help him clear his meridians before I take his money. I can’t just scam him!” Zhang Mingjing thought. He closed his eyes, withdrew his consciousness, and entered a meditative state; the five-dimensional cognitive model resonated with him instantly.
The moment he formed the intention to help someone open their meridians, the five-dimensional model began rapid calculations. Five minutes later, he actually understood exactly how to do it.
He slowly opened his eyes, marveling to himself. “So that’s how it works! If I set my intention, the five-dimensional cognitive model can program it for me; then I implant that program into Zhang Yidao’s meridians, and they’ll be activated. All the blockages will automatically expand, letting energy flow freely. Isn’t this just like using the lightsaber? It’s all controlled by will. So human intention is just a kind of program!”
It took Zhang Mingjing mere minutes to master the technique of opening the Eight Extraordinary Meridians. Wearing a smug smile, he went to find Zhang Yidao.
The moment Zhang Yidao saw his face, he felt like giving him a smack.
Zhang Mingjing began, “Zhang Yidao, haven’t you been praying to the ancestral master for magical attainment lately?”
At first, Zhang Yidao denied it, but hearing his tone, replied mockingly, “Nonsense! Why would I beg the ancestral master for that?”
“Come on, stop pretending. The ancestral master told me everything!”
“What!” Zhang Yidao was startled. “Is that true?”
“What’s true or false? The ancestral master asked me to pass on a message: don’t ask him for that again—it’s beneath you!”
“The ancestral master speaks English now?”
“He said that my magical attainment isn’t something he gave me; it comes from the good fortune I accumulated in past lives, now being withdrawn and used. As for you, you’ve already spent all your accumulated fortune from past lives—there’s nothing left to gain.”
Zhang Yidao’s face fell in disappointment.
“But, the ancestral master was moved by your persistence. He asked me to tell you there’s a shortcut to gaining magical attainment.”
“A shortcut? Really?”
“I said you were beneath him, and you really are. Would the ancestral master lie?”
Zhang Yidao jumped up, trying to smack Zhang Mingjing’s head, but Zhang Mingjing dodged.
“Well, out with it. What’s the method?” Zhang Yidao, excited, slowly sat back down.
“You can spend money to buy someone else’s good fortune.”
“You can buy good fortune?”
“Of course!”
“Even if you could, who would sell?”
“Hehe! You look for someone with overflowing good fortune.”
At this, Zhang Yidao looked at Zhang Mingjing and smiled. “The ancestral master doesn’t mean I should buy it from you, does he?”
Zhang Mingjing sat down, looking smug. “Precisely.”
“You’re not trying to scam me out of money, are you?” Xiao Nüxia interjected from the kitchen.
“You can receive the goods first and pay later. But I warn you: if you take the goods and don’t pay, you’ll face karmic retribution in your next life.”
Zhang Yidao thought, “Getting the goods before paying could work, and besides, Zhang Mingjing really does seem blessed with good fortune.”
Xiao Nüxia, who had been eavesdropping, grew more curious. “Is there really such a thing?!”
“Alright! It’s a deal. What’s the price?” Zhang Yidao finally asked.
“No problem! I’ve discussed this price with the ancestral master. Since you’re my father, I’ll give you a fifty percent discount.”
“What’s the price after the discount?” Xiao Nüxia was quick to ask.
“To open the minor circulation, it’s a hundred thousand; the major circulation, a hundred and fifty thousand; to open the Ren and Du meridians, two hundred thousand.”
“What?” Zhang Yidao shot to his feet, and Xiao Nüxia rushed over, exclaiming, “Zhang Mingjing, have you nothing better to do than rob your own father?”
But Zhang Yidao had a completely different reaction. “Is that really the price?”
“That’s right! No haggling.”
“Fine! I want all three.”
Both Zhang Mingjing and Xiao Nüxia were stunned.
Zhang Mingjing asked timidly, “You’re sure? That’s four hundred and fifty thousand in total!”
“I’m sure.”
“You can’t back out or pay in installments, or you’ll face retribution,” Zhang Mingjing emphasized.
“I know!”
Xiao Nüxia, thoroughly annoyed, dragged Zhang Yidao into the bedroom, locked the door, and began questioning whether he’d lost his mind.
Zhang Yidao retorted, “You really are all hair and no brains. That money will end up being his anyway, sooner or later. If he can really give me a cheat code, I’ll live an extra ten or twenty years—won’t I make another ten or twenty million?”
Xiao Nüxia pondered, still unable to see his point.
Zhang Yidao continued, “Think about it: some people spend their whole lives and never manage to achieve this. I did it all for less than half a million—what a deal! If you don’t let him sell me his surplus good fortune, would you rather he sell it to someone else? Why let outsiders benefit?”
It seemed Xiao Nüxia was beginning to understand.
“If this really works, you should buy some of his good fortune too. Then we can both have cheat codes!”
Now Xiao Nüxia was fully convinced.