Chapter 2: Chapter 2

Chu Yunsheng turned off his computer. He believed that things would continue to get worse, but he didn’t have the time to keep himself up to date on the latest developments. What he needed to do most was to practice the various techniques described in the antique book and prepare for the near future.

His first priority would be to learn how to create a Yuan Fu, a type of Taoist talisman. In fact, he already knew how to make one after comprehending 300 symbols from his book. He also made a few talismans as well. However, since none of the talismans worked as the book described, he lost interest in trying to make more of them.

Around noon, the day after the Sun disappeared, he noticed that one of the talismans he created emitted a bright golden light. This was the exact thing the book mentioned would happen after succeeding in creating a talisman. The text on the original talisman was projected in the air and it was briefly visible in the golden light. After a few seconds, the text suddenly shrank and flew back. The talisman floated in the air as if there was a force holding it up, until Chu Yunsheng grabbed it.

Chu Yunsheng suspected that the disappearance of the Sun was caused by the changing laws of nature as mentioned in the book. It was the start of the prophecy. “Tian Gui will return.” and “All the laws will become one.” The talisman he made was suddenly activated by a mysterious force, allowing it to now function.

He went back to carefully study his book to understand the various rules involved in creating talisman. Eventually, he discovered that the text written on the talisman created a channel. This channel allowed a kind of energy called “Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi” to imprint various incantations into the core of the talisman. That was why when one created a talisman, the person had to use Yuan Qi to write specific incantations on the talisman so that it could be activated later.

When he first attempted to make a talisman, he did not have any Yuan Qi. He wondered how the talisman worked when he couldn’t use Yuan Qi. Soon he concluded that the talisman worked because the light emitted from the book might have changed the structure of the talisman when it was placed inside the book as a bookmark. He didn’t know when the book would glow next, and as he was already running out of time, he decided to stop thinking about it.

What he needed to do now was to gather the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi. According to the book, Yuan Qi was a fundamental force of the universe that was cut off from the solar system for the past 5000 years. The reason was unknown but for the past 5000 years, the solar system was isolated from the rest of the universe. As the book said, Tian Gui was sealed.

It was a while since the Sun disappeared and Chu Yunsheng discovered the inner workings of talisman. He inferred that based on recent events, the time for Tian Gui to return was near. Yuan Qi might already be starting to leak into Earth. According to the book, the best way to find out was to start gathering Yuan Qi.

At first, the focus must be placed on the Qi. From Chu Yunsheng’s understanding, he needed to sense pure Yuan Qi, which was Qi without the numerous elements of nature. He needed to absorb this Qi and let it circulate throughout his body.

The trickiest part of the whole process was to perceive Qi and allow this Qi to flow in his body. In general, this was said to be the most difficult part of cultivating Qi. Yuan Qi existed in nature but it didn’t have any form, shape, smell, sound, taste or color and that was why the five senses were useless in sensing Qi.

The easiest way to gather Yuan Qi was through the use of a Heaven and Earth talisman. It can be used to establish a channel between Yuan Qi and the human body, thus enhancing the sixth sense in the 4th dimension that helps create a resonance with the Yuan Qi.

Unfortunately, Chu Yunsheng did not have any Heaven and Earth talisman. The only one that worked was the Li Huo Fu, which could be used to summon ‘God’s flame’. So he had to gather Yuan Qi the old fashioned way, going deep into meditation while repeating incantations that were mentioned in the book. From what Chu Yunsheng understood, a spirit would awaken in the 4th dimension which would act as his sixth sense. However, there were two prerequisites – one, the practitioner was required to be talented; and two, the area where he cultivates had to be filled with Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi.

Chu Yunsheng already knew that he was not talented. According to the book and based on his own self-assessment, he was far from being a talented person. He was a bit upset by this fact but he still felt that he was blessed compared to others because he had his book to rely on.

Chu Yunsheng sat on the floor while holding the book. He used to think that the cultivation methods mentioned in Xuanhuan novels were easy but now that he was the one trying it, he realized how difficult it was. He was puzzled because he wasn’t able to sense anything even after six hours of meditation. Maybe this was because the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi in the area was too thin or maybe because he really just wasn’t talented enough.

After the disappointing and exhausting night, the sound of his phone ringing woke Chu Yunsheng up.

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It was his colleague, Yu Xiao Hai, calling him. Xiao Hai was his best friend. Chu Yunsheng had previously warned him about the coming apocalypse but Xiao Hai didn’t believe him.

Chu Yunsheng answered the phone straight away.

“Brother Chu, I should have believed you. We need your help…” He sounded very anxious.

“Are you talking about the disappearance of the Sun? The news article explained…” Chu Yunsheng replied, unhurried. He was tired of his friends making fun of him.

“Please! This isn’t the time to mess around. The Sun disappeared again! It’s been almost half an hour now. Don’t you know that?!… The whole world’s gone crazy now! Take a look outside, everyone is going crazy!” he said with a raised voice.

“Disappeared again?” Chu Yunsheng didn’t know anything about it. After he failed to sense Qi, he immediately went to sleep. But the disappearance didn’t surprise him anymore as he already knew that this would happen.

According to his antique book, because of the return of Tian Gui, all the laws will become one. It will create a burst of cosmic energy that will temporarily block all particles including photons from reaching Earth. That’s the reason why the whole world was in the dark. Since the laws and algorithms in the book were immensely complex and the fact that Chu Yunsheng didn’t understand most of the symbols written in the book, he didn’t know how long this blackout would last.

“Brother Chu, what do we do now? Is it really the end of the world?” Xiao Hai said with a trembling voice.

“I have already told you all of this before. Why do you believe me now? Didn’t you guys have a lot of fun pulling my leg?” After being called ‘crazy’ and ‘insane’ for the last three months, he could finally prove that he was right. Chu Yunsheng felt much better now.

“Brother Chu, please stop mocking us. Do you know what is really happening right now? Are we all gonna die?”

“No! I don’t know much. I don’t know how long it’s going to last. All I know is that on the 28th, the world will plunge into darkness. You need to prepare as much food, water, and…” Chu Yunsheng told him what he knew.

“What? The whole world? What about the Sun?! If it disappears, what would Earth orbit around now?! If Earth stops revolving, how are we gonna survive?!?”

“You don’t need to worry too much. The Sun isn’t really gone. Astronomers have already explained that if we lose our Sun we would all die. The Sun is still in our solar system. We just cannot see it. Maybe it will reappear later on and everything will return to normal…” Chu Yunsheng tried to soothe Xiao Hai. This was all he could do now. If he tried to explain his book to him, God only knew how long it would take. He didn’t even know if Xiao Hai would believe him.

“We are relying on you now. If you learn anything new, please give me an update.”

“Three days ago you guys thought I was crazy. Now you guys are relying on me, you f***ers.” Chu Yunsheng laughed.

“Hello? Hello……? Fuck! … Lost signal again!” On the other end of the phone call, Xiao Hai furiously put down the phone and quickly left the office. Global communication was in chaos at the moment and only a few people still remained inside their office building. Almost everyone felt adrift in the face of the unknown.