Chapter 331 The Past of the Four Symbols
Not long after I came across the clues related to the Yin and Yang of the Mountain with the Xuanwu of the Navy, I learned from Elder Zhu that Zhu Yi, the ancestor of the Zhu family, was a Yin-Yang successor just like me. Although it wasn't entirely without warning, this feeling of being drawn by destiny was truly wondrous. I couldn't help but glance again at Ma Zao, who was conducting experiments with Zhu Shi in the distance.
“The two elements give rise to the four symbols… Xuanwu told me that there are four inheritors of the two elements, corresponding to the four divine beasts. And the four divine beasts are the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise… Which one is Zhu Yi?” I asked.
“It is the White Tiger,” Master Zhu replied. “It is said that our ancestor Zhu Yi corresponds to the White Tiger among the Four Symbols, wielding the power of ‘metal and slaughter.’ Therefore, he not only possesses extremely sharp and destructive white magic, but also has the talent to master all weapons in the world without a teacher.”
"Swords, spears, axes, hammers... as long as a weapon falls into his hands, he can wield it to a level beyond the ordinary. Even ordinary ironware without any special features will automatically upgrade into an extremely high-level divine artifact once he uses it. And even super magical treasures that require strict conditions to use, he can ignore all prerequisites and use them directly once he gets his hands on them."
"And even without any magical training, he could easily split steel and city walls with a tree branch he picked up from the ground, without using any magic power. He could even inexplicably unleash sword energy and easily repel an army of 100,000 with his mortal body."
Can someone unleash sword energy without using magic? Is this even human?
Although the thought came to me reflexively, I can now achieve miracles that are unimaginable to ordinary people without using any magic power or even the laws of heaven and earth, so I am not completely baffled.
It's not surprising that Zhu Yi corresponds to the White Tiger. If I were the Vermilion Bird, and excluding the Black Tortoise, then Zhu Yi could only be the White Tiger or the Azure Dragon. Zhu Yi was probably the Great Impermanence, who was skilled in swordsmanship in the past. Compared to the Azure Dragon, which corresponds to the Wood element, the White Tiger, which corresponds to the Metal element, is more likely.
The four symbols each have their corresponding colors: the Vermilion Bird is red, the Black Tortoise is black, the Azure Dragon is blue, and the White Tiger is white. The magical power stored within the Yama Sword is a dazzling silver-white.
"The Black Tortoise corresponds to 'water and alchemy,' the Vermilion Bird corresponds to 'fire and weapon crafting,' the White Tiger corresponds to 'metal and slaughter'... So what does the Azure Dragon correspond to?" I wondered.
Mr. Zhu replied, "According to the notes passed down in the family, the Azure Dragon corresponds to 'wood and cultivation'... As for its specific manifestations, I'm not very clear. The notes passed down in the family have many gaps, and I only know the general outline."
Wood and cultivation... Compared to alchemy, weapon forging, and warfare, the word "cultivation" sounds rather rustic. That said, since it originates from the innate qualities of the two elements of the mountain, it's certainly more than just turning the soil and weeding. The more difficult it is to interpret literally, the more mysterious it becomes.
Perhaps the most important thing is this "cultivation".
"You initially asked about how our ancestor Zhu Yi died, right? To be honest, due to the loss of past records caused by various accidents, I'm not entirely clear about the whole truth either. I can only tell you what I know for now," said the old man. "First of all, it is said that after realizing that his power had endless potential for harm, our ancestor Zhu Yi wanted to solve this problem completely. In order to prevent the Mountain Two Elements from taking away his power, he decided to find the Mountain Two Elements first and defeat them."
"Because he wields the power of metal and killing, he possesses the strongest offensive power among all the successors of the Yin-Yang lineage. During his Great Completion stage, he already possessed the power to overthrow the Great Impermanence, and after becoming the Great Impermanence, he became even more unstoppable, and there was no one in the world he could not kill."
That's utterly outrageous! I even suspect that Old Master Zhu is secretly boasting about his ancestor. To defeat the Great Impermanence... even with the Water Master Xuanwu's ultimate move that reached the Great Impermanence realm, combined with attribute advantages, defeating me, a newly promoted Great Impermanence, would be as difficult as ascending to heaven. The gap between the Great Completion level and the Great Impermanence is like a mountain.
Is the White Tiger's killing power really that formidable? If so, then even if Shan Liangyi is a super being surpassing Da Wuchang, he might not be able to ignore Zhu Yi's threat.
"Our ancestor Zhu Yi was not arrogant because of his killing power. Before the final battle against Shan Liangyi, he also found the Azure Dragon and Vermilion Bird of that era, as well as the Black Tortoise... and gathered the power and wisdom of the four to launch the final battle against Shan Liangyi." Old Master Zhu said slowly, "As for the ending... unfortunately, you can probably guess that since our ancestor Zhu Yi passed away prematurely, it means that they ultimately failed."
"At the end of that battle, only Xuanwu of that era survived with severe injuries... He is the Xuanwu we all know."
The Water Master Xuanwu actually participated in battles at that level in the past; appearances can be deceiving. How did he survive? Or was he actually much stronger in the past than he is now, but only possessed the power of a Great Completion level due to severe injuries?
Furthermore, it turns out that besides me, there were other Vermilion Birds in the past... It seems that the successors of Yin and Yang were not just in one batch, but may have existed in different eras.
However, judging from the tone of the naval Xuanwu, he seemed quite certain that in his era, there were only four inheritors of the Yin-Yang principle, and the Vermilion Bird he sought could only be one. Does this mean that in the same era, the number of inheritors of the Yin-Yang principle was at most only four?
So what about the Wheel-Turning King? In my understanding, the Wheel-Turning King is an ancient figure comparable to the Great Impermanence of Xuanming, and the Water Master Xuanwu is very certain that he is also one of the successors of the Two Elements. This seems to contradict the historical record that "only the Water Master Xuanwu survived from the Two Elements successors two or three hundred years ago" and the speculation that "there were only four Two Elements successors in the same era."
I tried asking Mr. Zhu, and he looked surprised: "That's right, there were only four successors of the Yin-Yang lineage in the same era, and the surviving notes also say so... But King Yama was also a successor of the Yin-Yang lineage?"
It seems he doesn't know much about the inside story either.
The naval commander Xuanwu should know the truth, or possess the knowledge to explain the contradictions. Unfortunately, I have already killed him.
"In fact, our ancestor Zhu Yi did not die in vain. He left behind something very important... that is, the forging of the Yama Sword."
Old Master Zhu seemed to be recalling something, and then continued, "What I'm about to say is some speculation made by the descendants of the Zhu family in the past, based on the contents of the notes passed down, regarding the forging of the Yama Sword. Before knowing the true power of the Yama Sword, I always thought those speculations were just baseless rumors..."
"Among those speculations, Ancestor Zhu Yi had already foreseen his future defeat and death, or at least mentally prepared himself for his defeat. In order to prevent the power he had painstakingly cultivated and accumulated from being taken away by Shan Liangyi, he had been gradually transferring his magic power to the weapon he carried with him for a long time."
"The Yama Sword was originally just an ordinary sword called the Impermanence Sword, a weapon he carried with him when he grew up as an ordinary demon hunter. Because he had the power to temporarily transform ordinary weapons into divine artifacts, he didn't need to change his familiar weapon. Not only that, the ordinary Impermanence Sword underwent a qualitative change with his years of use, becoming a magical artifact similar to half of his body."
"Even though all his power was taken away by the Mountain Two Elements after his death, the weapon was not the one designated by the Mountain Two Elements ritual, and still retained his Great Impermanence power. At the end of that decisive battle, the details of which are unknown, Xuanwu took the Yama Sword from the battlefield while fleeing, and then returned it to the Zhu family, saying that he wanted to fulfill the agreement between him and Zhu Yi."
Hearing this, I couldn't help but admire once again the naval commander Xuanwu's insistence on fulfilling the agreement.
If he hadn't insisted on killing me, we might have had a chance to become partners.
Mr. Zhu seemed to have finished explaining everything he knew about the Yin and Yang of the mountain. Meanwhile, as we were talking, Ma Zao and Zhu Shi, who were far away, finally made significant progress.
The two were facing each other, holding hands, and closing their eyes simultaneously, as if communicating telepathically. I could feel the fluctuations of the power of return resonating within Ma Zao; the magical energy was not spreading outwards but rather densely entwined around Zhu Shi.
The power of time reversal did not "rejuvenate" Zhu Shi, nor did it cause any other visible changes. Ma Zao's goal was merely to reset Zhu Shi's talent to the correct position of Heaven and Earth; any other changes would only mean a dispersion of power.
Gradually, an unprecedented and wondrous aura began to emanate from Zhu Shi.
(End of this chapter)
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