weddingnovel Chapter 38! I remember everything! I am the Great Sage Equal to Heaven!
Chapter 38! I remember everything! I am the Great Sage Equal to Heaven!
"Croak!"
What's this frog called?
Of course, it's Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan cleared his throat, feeling as if his vocal cords were newly installed parts that still needed to be broken in. He squatted on the table, straightened his upper body, and struck a pose that he thought was dignified, but which Nan Nan actually found somewhat comical.
"Fang...Yuan."
Fang Yuan deliberately made his voice sound hoarse to show that he was highly respected.
"Fang Yuan?" Nan Nan tilted her head and repeated, "Fang as in 'square and upright'? Yuan as in 'source'? It sounds so nice! It doesn't sound like a frog's name at all!"
She blinked, her curiosity bubbling like a kitten's paws: "So... who named you? Was it your father or mother? Or... does your clan have elders who bestow names?"
Quack?
Father? Mother?
Who knows who the frog's parents are? Frogs are oviparous! Besides, a frog's parents wouldn't name it.
Trouble.
How was he supposed to answer that? Was he supposed to say he was from another time? Or that he was a college student who died suddenly while delivering food?
This is clearly inconsistent with his current persona as a "mysterious frog master with unfathomable martial arts skills"!
Besides, even if he were to speak frankly, Nan Nan might not understand or trust him.
However... looking into Nan Nan's big eyes, which were full of curiosity, Fang Yuan suddenly felt that this was not only an opportunity to explain his name, but also a good chance to establish his great image and make her more obedient in the future!
quack!
Since this world is full of strange things, it's not too much for me to make up an awesome backstory for myself, right?
Fang Yuan snorted coldly, his eyes instantly becoming weathered and profound. He stood with his hands behind his back. Although it was a bit difficult to reach his front paws over, Fang Yuan still managed to do it thanks to his powerful external martial arts!
Fang Yuan looked up at the roof beam at a 45-degree angle, staring at the empty beam, his voice low and deep:
"Father and mother? Caw... I was born of heaven and earth, I have no father or mother."
"Huh?" Nan Nan exclaimed, her mouth agape in surprise. "No father or mother? Where did you come from?"
"Hmph, it's a long story."
Fang Yuan turned his back, leaving Nan Nan with a deep, dark green silhouette.
At the same time, he quickly recalled the classic literature he had read before...
Journey to the West.
"Caw! It is said that there is a country overseas in the Eastern Continent of Divine Victory, called Aolai. The country is near the sea, and in the sea is a famous mountain called Miaomu Mountain. This mountain is the ancestral vein of the ten continents and the source of the three islands..."
"Little frog... um... Brother Fang Yuan, what does 'Eastern Divine Continent' mean? And what is 'ancestral vein'...?" Nan Nan blinked, clearly not understanding the original text of Journey to the West...
Fang Yuan blinked, his expression displeased.
Isn't it said that copying the original text of Journey to the West can lead to huge success and tens of thousands of subscriptions? Why can't it work for him?
Oh well, he paused, then made a slight modification:
"Croak~! Back in the day, in the Eastern Continent of Divine Victory... cough, in a faraway overseas land, there was a mountain called Mount Myōboku... At its summit stood a celestial stone, imbued with the essence of the sun and moon, and sensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth!"
"Suddenly one day! This giant rock exploded!"
Fang Yuan jumped suddenly, startling Nan Nan.
"I myself sprang from that stone! I was initially a stone egg, which transformed into a stone frog upon encountering the wind. I was born with divine strength, and my eyes gleam with two golden rays!"
"Later, I crossed the ocean to study under a master, learning seventy-two transformations, and now I can travel 108,000 li in a single somersault!"
Nan Nan was stunned. Although she had no idea what the Somersault Cloud was, it didn't stop her from thinking that "108,000 li" was amazing.
Nan Nan started clapping enthusiastically, her eyes sparkling. She blinked and stared at Fang Yuan, unable to resist asking:
"And...what happened next?"
"And then?" A hint of melancholy flashed in Fang Yuan's eyes. "Later, I mastered my divine skills, called myself the 'Great Sage Equal to Heaven,' and wielded a... uh, Ruyi Jingu Bang (the Golden Cudgel) that I stole from the Dragon Palace of the East Sea!"
At this point, he casually picked up a calligraphy brush from the table and twirled it in a non-existent flourish.
"That golden cudgel weighs 13,500 catties! With it, I'll storm the Thirty-Three Heavens, wreak havoc in the Heavenly Palace, and utterly defeat those heavenly soldiers and generals! Even the Jade Emperor would have to hide under his table when he sees me!"
"Wow!!" Although Nan Nan had never heard of the Jade Emperor, the phrase "Havoc in Heaven" sounded incredibly powerful.
"What a pity..." Fang Yuan sighed, throwing down his brush. "The righteous are one foot high, but the evil are ten feet high. I later fell into a treacherous trap and was... was pressed under a Five Finger Mountain for a full five hundred years!"
"Five hundred years! Caw!"
Fang Yuan slammed his fist on the table in grief and indignation, “I drink molten copper when I’m thirsty and eat iron pellets when I’m hungry! It wasn’t until a few days ago that the seal loosened and I was able to see the light of day again… but most of my once boundless magical power has been lost, and now I can only start practicing from scratch in this state.”
After he finished speaking, he turned around and looked at Nan Nan with a complicated expression.
"So, Nan Nan, do you understand now? Although I am a frog now, my past... is more glorious than you can imagine."
Nan Nan stared blankly at Fang Yuan.
This story is too bizarre, too grand, too... illogical.
A frog, popping out of a rock? And it can even fly into the sky?
Although there were many incomprehensible words, such as "Dongsheng Shenzhou" and "Jade Emperor," but...
But Little Frog looks just like a great hero in distress right now!
Moreover, Little Frog does know martial arts, can talk, and even saved Second Brother... Doesn't this prove the truth of Fang Yuan's words? He's a kind frog!
"Little Frog... no, Fang Yuan!" Nan Nan's eyes were practically overflowing with stars. "So you used to be the Monkey King! That's amazing! Can you turn back into yourself? Can you still somersault 108,000 li in one go? Can you teach me?"
croak.
This little girl is so easy to fool.
Fang Yuan waved his hand, adopting the air of a wise man who let bygones be bygones: "A hero doesn't dwell on past glories. Whether you can recover depends on fate. It's too early to talk about these things now. When I'm stronger and have regained my abilities, I will teach you myself."
But Nan Nan's eyes still shone, and she opened her mouth to ask more questions.
quack!
Stop asking! This is all nonsense!
How would I know if I'd be able to learn the Somersault Cloud in the future?
"Quack, let's not talk about the past anymore!"
Fang Yuan quickly interrupted Nan Nan's attempt to continue asking questions.
The story is over, the show-off's over, now it's time to get down to business.
Although he fabricated an impressive background, he knew in his heart that he was now just a frog in a well, nothing more. To survive in this bizarre world, or even regain his human form, boasting alone wouldn't suffice.
You need to have the ability. Someone who lacks ability just brags; that's all talk. Only capable people can deliver on their promises!
To truly live up to your awesomeness, you need to quickly understand the world.
If you don't even understand the world situation, you might be killed one day without even knowing it!
Fang Yuan needed to quickly figure out what was going on in this world, what those blood jades were, and what the disappearance of the Lu family city was all about.
All of this is predicated on the fact that he must be able to read.
"Quack, enough chit-chat." Fang Yuan pointed to the pile of books he had just bought from the bookstore on the table. "Now, to restore my strength, the first step is to regain my knowledge of the world's written language."
"Nannan, teach me to write."
"Yes, sir! Great Sage Equal to Heaven!"
Nan Nan now obeys Fang Yuan's every word. She immediately spread out Xuan paper, ground the ink, and took out a fine wolf-hair brush.
"Let's start with the simplest thing!" Nan Nan sat up straight like a little scholar, picked up her pen and wrote the character "一" on the paper.
"Fang Yuan, look, this is one."
Fang Yuan leaned over to take a look.
Yes, it's similar to the Chinese character "一" (yī), except that the beginning and ending strokes are slightly different, but it's still a horizontal stroke.
"This is 'two,' this is 'three'..."
Nan Nan wrote and read aloud at the same time.
The initial characters were quite simple.
However, starting from number four, the difficulty increases dramatically!
It's somewhat like saying, "This is offense, this is defense, this is Genichiro Ashina!"
quack!
Damn it, why doesn't learning to read in this other world start with recognizing strokes?
What about the Eight Principles of Yong? Please save it!
Fang Yuan stretched out his upgraded, now somewhat more agile forepaws and clumsily picked up the brush that was a bit too thick for him.
The ability to speak is not only enhanced by the ability to talk, but also by the fine control of hand muscles.
He imitated Nan Nan and drew a crooked horizontal line on the paper.
It's a bit ugly.
But it is not important.
Importantly, when he wrote this down and silently contemplated the meaning of the word, that long-lost, exhilarating indigo square popped up again!
[Calligraphy] (Beginner) (Points can be added)
[Character Recognition and Literacy] (Beginner) (Points can be added)
Quack!!
coming!
Fang Yuan immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as you can add a little bit, there's nothing you can't learn in an instant! If there is, then add a little more!
Although he has used some of his [Daoist Rhyme] to upgrade [Frog Language], he still has enough left to squander on these basic skills.
"Caw! The mere Buddha Tathagata suppressed him for five hundred years, and now he wants to restrict the Great Sage Equal to Heaven from knowing how to read?"
Impossible!
quack!
Deep Blue, start!
Without any hesitation.
Fang Yuan silently recited in his mind, focusing his consciousness on [literacy and character recognition].
Om-!
[Taoist Rhyme] → 2.20
[Character Recognition (Beginner)] → [Character Recognition (Third Level)]!
boom!
A massive flow of information instantly flooded into Fang Yuan's mind.
Countless characters, radicals, components, and their meanings, pronunciations, and evolutions were as if they had been forcibly stuffed into his memory bank.
Originally, the words on those book covers seemed like gibberish, just a bunch of messy scribbles.
But now, that sense of distance has vanished instantly.
The world before his eyes seemed to become clear at that moment.
Those words are no longer cold, lifeless symbols, but have become a carrier of information.
Fang Yuan shook his head, which was feeling a bit throbbing, and threw the calligraphy brush in his hand away.
"Fang Yuan? Why aren't you writing anymore?" Nan Nan was teaching enthusiastically. "Is this character difficult?"
"Quack, no need."
He jumped straight onto the pile of newly bought books.
He was illiterate just a moment ago, but now he can understand the words on the spines of those books at a glance.
Yinyang Local Customs and Scenery
The Chronicle of the Great Qian Dynasty
The Fragment of the "Illustrated Catalogue of Demons and Monsters"
Northern Chronicles
……
quack!
This is exactly what I want!
Fang Yuan's eyes flashed with a sharp light. He stretched out his claws and flipped open the thickest book, "The Chronicle of the Great Qian Dynasty".
"Nannan, you don't need to teach her anymore."
"Huh?" Nan Nan was taken aback.
"I remember now! I remember everything!!"
"That damned Buddha's memory seal on me has been broken under your tutelage! I've remembered everything!"
Fang Yuan flipped through the pages quickly, saying without looking up:
Nan Nan: ? ? ?
She was still holding a calligraphy brush in her hand, and the ink dripped onto the paper, spreading into a black blot.
"Huh? But... but I've only taught you three words..."
She stared blankly at the frog squatting in the pile of books, flipping through them so fast it was like it was fanning itself, her little head filled with big questions.
The Great Sage Equal to Heaven... can he recover his magical power this quickly?
At this moment, Fang Yuan was completely immersed in the world of the book.
It says on it...