NOVEL NEXT Chapter 696: The Fifth Successor
After getting the explanation from Water Master Xuanwu, I noticed some issues that I hadn't before, and also received some answers that I had been unable to obtain in the past.
Looking back now, it's indeed strange that Xu Gou possesses power nearly equivalent to the White Tiger Killing Power. In the past, I thought that Ying Lingyun, as half a member of the Zhu family, should have had the opportunity to come into contact with the Yama Sword, so it seemed plausible that he could transform Xu Gou with such Gold Element Power, but in reality, this seemed quite far-fetched.
Ying Lingyun was not a Zhu Family Inheritor, and even if, like me, he'd come into contact with the Yama Sword a few times, without a magical affinity, he couldn't smoothly perceive the White Tiger Killing Power. Even holding the Yama Sword in his hands couldn't enable him to communicate with it, let alone draw out its power. It's hard to believe he could grasp the essence just through some simple contact observation, much less replicate it onto his own experiment subject.
But if we say he had the White Tiger Seed himself, the matter becomes entirely different. Speaking of the White Tiger Killing Power, the White Tiger Seed is far more authoritative than the Yama Sword. Plus, since it grows on his own body, it isn't just zero-distance contact and observation, but negative-distance contact and observation.
"After sublimating into Impermanence through the White Tiger Seed, I went to investigate matters related to Ying Lingyun's death. During this process, I also traced the whereabouts of his remains through some clues. Before this, I didn't know that he was still in close cooperation with the Taoyuan Village Master. However, it's normal that he didn't tell me, as he obviously concealed this matter from everyone. Once exposed, the Great Impermanence Fa Zheng wouldn't spare him first." Water Master Xuanwu seems to have also investigated the relationship between the Human Bureau and Fa Zheng.
After thinking for a bit, I asked, "Earlier we talked about Taoyuan Village Master splitting the Seed of the Cyan Dragon into seeds of the heart, and you said it was Ying Lingyun's doing... Could this be related to his Power of Cutting Reality?"
"Exactly. The Power Seed of Shan Liangyi is a Third Path creation and originally couldn't be cut or split, but if the mysterious black jade and the White Tiger Seed, also a Third Path creation, were utilized, perhaps the Seed of the Cyan Dragon could be divided into numerous seeds of the heart." Water Master Xuanwu contemplated, "No... it's not 'perhaps,' it must be so. The Taoyuan Village Master completed the extraction and division of the Power Seed through Ying Lingyun's hand."
"Based on my subsequent investigations, Ying Lingyun once invaded the Taoyuan Village Master's dream network with some method, gaining partial power for himself, didn't he?"
I recalled what happened when Ying Lingyun resurrected Yinyue and nodded, "Yes."
"This connects everything," Water Master Xuanwu said. "The Human Bureau's monster project was designed by Ying Lingyun to spread the seeds of the heart of Taoyuan Village Master. Instead of merely limiting the experiments within the Human Bureau, he intended to spread the seeds of the heart throughout society to expand the dream network's scope. This was in line with Taoyuan Village Master's interests as well... These two individuals turned the Human Bureau into a tool to achieve their own aims.
"And Ying Lingyun's deeper objective was likely to use the vast mana resources of the dream network 'Paradise' to gather the 'power of ten above Impermanence' necessary to resurrect Yinyue. If he were to ask the Taoyuan Village Master directly, he would certainly be denied; but if he were to secretly plant the seeds to hack into the dream network during the construction of 'Paradise,' the feasibility would be entirely different in the future.
"Even if Taoyuan Village Master is Impermanence, Ying Lingyun should still have stored a considerable amount of White Tiger Killing Power. The dream network possesses the underlying tone of Wood Element Power, and it's inevitable that at certain times it might be hacked by Gold Element Power, which is its natural enemy."
I recalled past battles with Ying Lingyun, where he once used equipment to mobilize a certain silver-white power to confront me, and when that force came into contact with my flames, it was thoroughly restrained... At the time I thought he might have acquired the White Tiger Killing Power from elsewhere, without realizing that he himself was a White Tiger Inheritor.
At the same time, it's apparent that Water Master Xuanwu seems to have also believed that the Taoyuan Village Master is the Green Dragon Inheritor.
The dream network is formed by linking seeds of the heart... that's what he said before. This aligns with what I've seen. The seeds of the heart and the 'Paradise' are inextricably linked, and this is indisputable. I've even used this as a medium to hack into the 'Paradise' isolation zone.
Unlike the Power Seed of Shan Liangyi, the seeds of the heart, once divided into countless parts, do not dominantly alter the host's attributes but instead inspire the host's own soul power, making it difficult to see its underlying Wood Element color. However, the dream network constructed in this way, very evidently possesses the same color properties as Taoyuan Village Master Meng Zhang.
Ying Lingyun didn't opt to cut and paste the two Power Seeds back to the Taoyuan Village Master, probably to ensure he could hack the dream network in the future through the inverse relationship of Gold Element restricting Wood Element.
Water Master Xuanwu continued, "Regardless of the circumstances, Ying Lingyun was a benefactor to me. Not only did he transfer the White Tiger Seed to me, giving me a chance to sublimate into Impermanence; he also revived me when I was once dead, akin to re-creation. While he certainly had his own ulterior motives, it's an undeniable fact that I gained a lot. In the past, I made an agreement with him to repay all his courtesies.
"Meanwhile, Taoyuan Village Master wants to continue utilizing Ying Lingyun's intelligence while being wary of his cunning. During my undercover investigation, I discovered his secretive actions, where he once planned to use the technical legacy extracted from Ying Lingyun's biological brain to convert it into a biological computer capable of simulating a living personality, and then control and use it at will...
"Although this idea was shelved with the advancement of the 'Paradise' plan, I won't let this desecration of my benefactor's remains go unpunished. In the future, I must also find a way to resurrect Ying Lingyun, just as he brought me back to life. Only when I achieve this will it be the initial step in fulfilling my promise."
"Oh? So, it was me who personally killed Ying Lingyun. Are you planning to kill me too, to exact revenge for him?" I asked.
"Absolutely," Water Master Xuanwu replied with pride, "Right now, I'm not your match, and I can't even escape from you... but I will never change this position."
Upon hearing this, I took a closer look at him.
In the past, I ascended to Great Impermanence at the end of the battle, while he was at the Great Success Rank, so my destiny might not have been so strongly suppressed; but now we are both at Great Impermanence, and confronting him, the Xuanwu Inheritor, might indeed quickly lead to ill fortune, just like Ying Lingyun experienced when facing me.
However, now he's not only the Xuanwu Inheritor, who restrains me, but also the White Tiger Inheritor, whom I restrain. Although it's evident that he merely uses the White Tiger Seed as an amplification device for his Water Magic Power, trying to restrain me in destiny is clearly not very realistic.
"Is the reason you didn't suspect I was Shan Liangyi because I didn't retrieve the Xuanwu and White Tiger Seeds after killing you?" I asked.
"Not really," Water Navy Xuanwu shook his head, "You should know that long ago, I, Zhu Yi, and the Vermilion Bird Inheritor and the Green Dragon Inheritor attacked Shan Liangyi together, right? Why do you think I was the only one who survived in the end?"
Without waiting for me to respond, he continued speaking on his own: "Because I was too weak... For Shan Liangyi, the best time to harvest the Liangyi Inheritor is after they become Great Impermanence, but not just anyone can become Great Impermanence.
"At that time, the only one who met the conditions was Zhu Yi, the Green Dragon Inheritor was his priority target, and the Vermilion Bird Inheritor was not qualified for Great Impermanence, but the most nourishing for him, so he didn't continue to wait and directly devoured... leaving only me, the Xuanwu Inheritor, with the qualifications for Great Impermanence.
"I was spared, probably because he planned to harvest me after I became Great Impermanence. But he certainly didn't expect that before I could become Great Impermanence, he would be killed and reincarnated by the Old Fist God first."
So, if it were really Shan Liangyi, he might not choose to devour the Xuanwu Seed and the White Tiger Seed, but rather let them go to mature? That's how I summarized it.
Water Navy Xuanwu paused, then continued, "I believe you are not Shan Liangyi for three reasons. First, when you fought me for the first time, you were too weak. Even with just the Yellow Dragon Seed, Shan Liangyi would at least be at the level of Great Impermanence; and I'm quite sure you possess the Vermilion Bird Seed. If you were Shan Liangyi who devoured the Vermilion Bird Seed, you certainly couldn't have been at that level. From the perspective of Earth restraining Water, it wouldn't be possible for you to be suppressed by me to that extent.
"Secondly, even a blind person can see that you possess the nature of Manifestation, which is the realm Shan Liangyi dreams of reaching. He repeats the ritual of distributing Power Seeds every lifetime just to pursue this. If he had already reached this realm, there would be no need for these seeds.
"Lastly, your Earth Element Solar Eclipse Fire isn't truly Earth Elemental Power. I can see that this is a wrong evolutionary path only someone who doesn't fully understand the Four Symbols and Five Elements would take. If it were Shan Liangyi, he would never walk such a path. The nature of that power would harm the core of one's strength just by attempting it, becoming more toxic to oneself the more it's used."
Yes, my Solar Eclipse Fire as Earth Element Power has many contradictions.
Although it is Earth Element, its form is still flames, and its damage remains as burns, which also allows the Water Attribute Shen Gui Spirit Pill to normally repair its damage. The high heat as an auxiliary attribute inexplicably lingers as the hardest part to erase even after injuring the enemy. Even though the fundamental attributes have changed, the mana fluctuation information remains almost indistinguishable from mine.
The Earth Element Yellow Dragon Power simulated and transformed by the Vermilion Bird Seed still has certain shortcomings, showing elements of forced twisting. Xu Gou's Gold Element Magical Power also seems to simulate the White Tiger Killing Power, though it appears to lack some flaws, there might be hidden dangers unknown to me.
Some qualities that the true Earth Element Yellow Dragon Power should have may not be realized due to the origin of the Solar Eclipse Fire... However, perhaps the Solar Eclipse Fire can achieve some things that pure Earth Element Yellow Dragon Power cannot.
Due to the series of information received earlier that completely overturned my understanding, I spent some effort to roughly digest it. Then, I repeatedly deliberated on this information, arranging and assembling it like a puzzle, attempting to cross-verify to see if there were any inconsistencies.
Then, I noticed an extremely large issue. A "redundant puzzle piece" appeared at hand, yet it couldn't fit into the already relatively complete pattern, appearing glaringly - to the point of being very frightening.
"Then... what about King Zhuanlun?" I couldn't help but ask, "What's going on with King Zhuanlun?"
I expected Water Navy Xuanwu to quickly react upon hearing this keyword, but unexpectedly, he was perplexed for a moment, then displayed a look of confusion, asking, "What happened with King Zhuanlun?"
"When we met for the first time, didn't you tell me that King Zhuanlun was also a Liangyi Inheritor?" I asked, "You're Xuanwu, I'm Vermilion Bird, Ying Lingyun is White Tiger, Taoyuan Village Master is Green Dragon... so, what is King Zhuanlun?"