The moment the game unfolded, Zhang Zhiwei keenly sensed the turbulence of the natural energy around him. The natural energy that was originally in a chaotic mess actually began to arrange itself into categories.
The arrangement is very complicated and seems to be divided into two major categories. Zhang Zhiwei has a strong perception and can find some subtle patterns.
With Zhuge Yunhui as the center, the natural energy of fire was arranged to the south, the natural energy of water to the north, the natural energy of thunder to the east, the natural energy of metal to the west, the natural energy of wind to the southeast, and the natural energy of earth to the southwest...
Although Zhang Zhiwei had never studied the sorcerer's Qimen Dunjia, as a cultivator, he still knew some basic knowledge of the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams.
The northwest Qian belongs to metal, and its symbol is heaven; the southwest Kun belongs to earth, and its symbol is earth; the southeast Xun belongs to wood, and its symbol is wind; the east Zhen belongs to wood, and its symbol is thunder; the north Kan belongs to water, and its symbol is water; the south Li belongs to fire, and its symbol is fire; the northeast Gen belongs to earth, and its symbol is mountain; the west Dui belongs to metal, and its symbol is marsh.
By matching the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams with the natural energy distribution around Zhuge Yunhui, Zhang Zhiwei naturally came to the conclusion that this should be the direction of the Eight Trigrams in Zhuge Yunhui's Qimen Bureau.
If Zhuge Yunhui wants to use that kind of land magic, he must stand in the corresponding natural energy area, that is, the direction in the land.
If he wants to cast a fire spell, he has to run to the direction of Li. If I go one step ahead and stand in that position, will he be confused?
No, it is not that absolute. The Qimen Bureau is just an auxiliary function. Some sorcerers with high cultivation can perform magic even without the help of the Qimen Bureau.
As Wang Ye said before the battle against Jin Yong, the only techniques he could perform without relying on Qimen were the Kun earth escape technique and the Dui illusion technique.
It's just that the power of magic spells performed out of thin air is much smaller than that in the Qimen Bureau. Generally speaking, the Qimen Bureau is the sorcerer's livelihood.
Zhang Zhiwei understood many things from Zhuge Yunhui's decision. The so-called Qimen Bureau by the sorcerers is essentially an application of natural energy.
The sorcerer casts spells by deducing the changes in the situation and mobilizes the natural energy in this strange situation to fight the enemy.
Of course, this is just a simple conclusion drawn by Zhang Zhiwei. In fact, the things that a warlock has to consider when fighting against the enemy are much more complicated.
But the truth is simplicity is the best. Complex things are definitely not as easy to use as simple ones. Zhang Zhiwei seems to have grasped some of the tricks.
"Senior Brother Zhang, how do you feel?" Zhuge Yunhui said, spreading his hands.
"There's something here!" Zhang Zhiwei exclaimed.
"Just a little bit of something? As expected, Senior Brother Zhang's cultivation is far higher than mine. Even though he stood in a very dangerous position in Qimen, which was extremely unfavorable to him, it did not cause too much negative impact. If he were an ordinary person, I am afraid that most of his strength would have disappeared by now!" Zhuge Yunhui praised sincerely.
Zhang Zhiwei: “…………”
I'm in a very dangerous position...are there any negative effects...?
Zhang Zhiwei felt it carefully and soon discovered the clue. He seemed to be standing in a not-so-good position.
At this position, the surrounding natural energy subtly formed a Feng Shui Qi Bureau, a Feng Shui Qi Bureau that was a sign of great misfortune.
When I stand here, I am impacted by this Feng Shui situation.
However, his strength was far greater than Zhuge Yunhui's, and the impact of this omen of great misfortune he created on him was negligible. In addition, he was concentrating on observing the Bagua pattern of his territory, so he did not notice it for a while.
Zhang Zhiwei laughed dryly, "I do feel a little uncomfortable. This sorcerer's methods are really hard to guard against. If you're not careful, you'll fall into their trap!"
"For those who don't understand the methods of sorcerers, it is indeed true. But Senior Brother Zhang, I remember that you disciples of Longhu Mountain would all be taught some knowledge about numerology. Why didn't you learn it?" Zhuge Yunhui asked with a puzzled look on his face.
What he said was actually correct. The elders who taught martial arts in Longhu Mountain could indeed teach. During the Luotian Dajiao ceremony in the plot, Zhang Lingyu saw through Zhuge Qing's methods at a glance.
But just because the elders taught didn't mean Zhang Zhiwei had to learn it. Zhang Zhiwei remembered that when he was taught the art of Qimen, the dry knowledge gave him a headache. In addition, he had just been taught the Yang Five Thunders at that time, so he simply didn't listen and focused on condensing the Yang Five Thunders' innate heart fire qi and innate lung gold qi.
"I spend more energy on inner alchemy. How about you explain it to me?" Zhang Zhiwei said with a smile.
"Brother Zhang, you're too kind. I don't deserve to be taught by you. We're just exchanging ideas and teaching each other!"
Zhuge Yunhui was somewhat flattered that such a great master as Zhang Zhiwei was asking for his advice, so he naturally began to explain:
"As everyone knows, Qi Men Dun Jia is divided into four plates: Earth Plate, Sky Plate, Human Plate, and God Plate. What we sorcerers have to do is to deduce the changes in these four plates based on the solar terms in the plates. Among sorcerers, mastering the deduction of one plate is considered a master!"
Zhuge Yunhui spread out his hands and said proudly, "As for me, I'm proficient in both territory and people. Like most Qimen practitioners, when starting a Qimen game, they need to use the opponent as the center to determine the game and make adjustments themselves. This is inherently passive, but with the Wuhou Qimen inherited from my Zhuge family, I can use myself as the center to determine the game, giving me an inherently active advantage."
"So, when we first started the martial arts arena, I had already calculated the location. From the very beginning, Senior Brother Zhang, you were standing at the Death Gate position, which I had determined as one of the eight gates of the human body. This is a very ominous sign. From this position, the surrounding natural energy will invade the meridians and cause damage to the human body."
"If the difference in strength between the two parties is huge—oh... I mean, if the sorcerer who decides the outcome has a much higher level of cultivation than the one being cast, then the one being cast might even die on the spot. And if their cultivation levels are similar, the one being cast would also be significantly weakened!"
Hearing this, Zhang Zhiwei understood instantly that this was actually a very common method used by sorcerers. In the plot, during the Luotian Grand Ceremony, Zhuge Qing used it against the little fire god of Huo Dezong. He led him to the Kan position where the natural energy of water attribute was condensed. The natural energy of water attribute invaded his body, making half of his fire control ability useless.
"There are eight kinds of gossip in the territory and eight kinds of people in the human circle. What a complicated setting!" Zhang Zhiwei exclaimed.
"Senior Brother Zhang is right, it is indeed very complicated, and these are just two of the plates!"
Zhuge Yunhui said, "The four plates of Qimen Dunjia are ever-changing, full of all the variables in the world. Let alone mastering them completely, just getting started with two plates is extremely difficult. A sorcerer who can master all four plates is rare in decades!"
"Brother Zhang, let me explain the basics. In Qi Men Dun Jia, when the ground rotates clockwise, it is Yang, and when it rotates counterclockwise, it is Yin. There are nine Yang rounds and nine Yin rounds, for a total of eighteen rounds."
"The layout rules for the celestial and divine plates are the value symbol plus the time stem, while the layout rules for the human plate are the value agent plus the time branch. The value symbol and value agent are determined by the ten-day start and the earth plate. Once you know the time column, you can deduce the ten-day start."
"So, as long as you know the ground and hour columns, you can deduce a complete Qimen four-plate layout. There are sixty different hour columns, so eighteen times sixty equals one thousand and eighty layouts. Once you master these one thousand and eighty layouts, you can learn all four layouts... But that's only four layouts. Combining the four layouts will yield many more variations..."
After a long and obscure speech, Zhuge Yunhui sighed:
"Brother Zhang, do you understand? The path of a sorcerer has no limit, and the power of a sorcerer also has no limit. It's just that it's too difficult to find!"
“It’s hard to understand!”
To be honest, Zhang Zhiwei had some understanding of Zhuge Yunhui's meticulous talk about things like value symbols and value messengers. After all, he understood the basic Taoist knowledge of "understanding one law leads to understanding all laws."
But when these complex things are combined, it becomes as obscure as a heavenly book, and it is really hard for Zhang Zhiwei to be interested.
However, for some things, the more detailed you know, the more confusing it becomes. The fewer rules you know, the more you can understand the essence of it.
The truth is simple. Some principles are often very simple, but it is difficult and complicated to explain them. However, you cannot regard complicated explanations as the truth.
Zhuge Yunhui: “…………”
"Brother Zhang, was I not thorough enough?"
"No, you're very detailed, but it's also too complicated and too rigid. We can learn from the experience of our predecessors, but there's no need to memorize them by rote. Complex things can produce more complex effects, but complex things are also destined to be less solid than simple ones. I prefer simplicity in everything I do!"
Zhang Zhiwei stretched out his hand and easily destroyed the extremely bad feng shui position set by Zhuge Yunhui without using any means.
"Thanks to Brother Zhuge for clearing up my confusion. I've gained something. Come on, I won't use my skills to suppress you. In this strange game, I'll use my sorcerer's methods to play with you!"