From the end of the world

Chapter 697 The Fifth Successor
After receiving the explanation from the Water Master Xuanwu, I noticed some issues that I hadn't noticed before, and I also got some answers that I had never been able to get before.

Looking back now, it's truly strange that the Dog (戌狗) possesses power similar to the White Tiger's killing magic. In the past, I thought that Ying Lingyun, as a half-Zhu family member, should have had the opportunity to forge the Yama Sword, so it wouldn't seem unreasonable for him to be able to transform the Dog (戌狗) into that kind of metal-element magic. But in reality, it's quite far-fetched.

Ying Lingyun isn't a descendant of the Zhu family. Even if he had come into contact with the Yama Sword a few times like I have, without magical talent, he couldn't smoothly sense the White Tiger's killing power. Even if he held the Yama Sword in his hand, he couldn't communicate with it, let alone draw out its power. It's hard to believe that he could grasp its essence through simple contact and observation, let alone replicate it on his own experimental subject.

However, if it's said that he himself possesses the White Tiger Seed, the situation is quite different. When it comes to the White Tiger's killing power, the White Tiger Seed is far more authoritative than forging the Yama Sword. Moreover, it's growing on his own body, which isn't just observing it at zero distance, but at very close range.

"After ascending to the Great Impermanence form using the White Tiger Seed, I investigated matters related to Ying Lingyun's death. During this process, I also discovered the whereabouts of his remains based on some clues. Before that, I had no idea that he was actually cooperating closely with the Peach Blossom Village Lord. However, it's normal that he didn't tell me; he was clearly keeping this a secret from everyone. Once it was exposed, the Great Impermanence Fazheng would be the first to punish him." It seems that the Water Master Xuanwu also investigated the relationship between the Humanity Department and Fazheng.

After thinking for a moment, I asked, "When we talked about how the Peach Blossom Village Lord split the Azure Dragon Seed into the Heart Seed, you said that Ying Lingyun did it... Could this also be related to his power to manipulate reality?"

"That's right. The power seed of the Mountain Yin-Yang is a creation of the Third Gate, originally impossible to cut or split. However, if the White Tiger seed, also a creation of the Third Gate, and that mysterious black jade were used, perhaps the Azure Dragon seed could be divided into numerous Heart Seeds." The Water Master Xuanwu pondered. "No... not 'perhaps,' it must be so. The Peach Blossom Village Lord completed the stripping and splitting of the power seed with the help of Ying Lingyun..."

"According to my subsequent investigation, Ying Lingyun once used some means to intrude into the dream network of the Peach Blossom Village Lord, making some of its power work for his own purposes, is that right?"

I recalled what happened when Ying Lingyun resurrected Yin Yue, and then nodded: "Yes."

"That makes all the difference," said Shui Shi Xuanwu. "The Humanity Department's eccentric project was designed by Ying Lingyun to spread the Seed of Heart of Peach Blossom Village. The reason why the experiment wasn't limited to the Humanity Department but also spread to the whole society was to expand the scope of the Dream Network. This is also a win-win situation for the Peach Blossom Village... These two people have turned the Humanity Department into a tool to achieve their own goals."

"Ying Lingyun's deeper purpose is probably to use the immense magical resources of the dream network 'Shangri-La' to raise the 'magical power of more than ten Great Impermanences' necessary to revive Silver Moon. If he directly asks the Lord of Shangri-La, he certainly won't get it; but if he secretly plants the seeds of hacking into the dream network while helping to build 'Shangri-La', and then takes it without asking in the future, the feasibility will be very different."

“Even if the Lord of Peach Blossom Village is the Great Impermanence, Ying Lingyun should still have a considerable amount of White Tiger Killing Magic Power stored up. The Dream Network has the foundation of Wood Element Magic Power, and it is inevitable that it will be hacked at certain times when facing Metal Element Magic Power, which is its natural enemy.”

I recalled the scene when I fought Ying Lingyun in the past. He once used equipment to mobilize some kind of metallic silver-white magic to fight against me, and when that power came into contact with my flames, it was completely suppressed... At that time, I wondered if he had obtained the White Tiger killing magic from somewhere else, but I was unable to determine that he himself was the successor of the White Tiger.

At the same time, it can be seen that the naval commander Xuanwu seems to have also come to believe that the Lord of Peach Blossom Village is the descendant of the Azure Dragon.

The dream network is formed by the Seeds of the Heart… that’s what he said before. This also aligns with what I’ve seen and heard in the past. There’s no doubt that the Seeds of the Heart are inextricably linked to “Shangri-La.” I even used it as a medium to hack into the isolated area of ​​“Shangri-La.”

Unlike the power seed of the Mountain Yin and Yang, the Heart Seed, after being divided into countless parts, does not ruthlessly change the host's attributes. Instead, it stimulates the host's own soul power, making it difficult to discern its wood element nature. However, the dream network constructed by connecting these parts clearly possesses the same nature as Meng Zhang, the Lord of Peach Blossom Spring.

Ying Lingyun did not choose to cut and paste the two power seeds to Taoyuan Township Lord, probably to avoid being unable to successfully hack into the dream network in the future using the metal-wood mutual restraint relationship.

Shui Shi Xuanwu continued, "Regardless of the circumstances, Ying Lingyun has been kind to me. Not only did he transfer the White Tiger Seed to me, giving me the opportunity to ascend to the Great Impermanence, but he also resurrected me from my near-death experience, essentially giving me a second life. While he certainly had his own selfish motives, it is an undeniable fact that I benefited greatly from it. I had previously made a promise with him to repay all the favors he had done for me."

"The Lord of Peach Blossom Village wanted to continue using Ying Lingyun's wisdom, but was also wary of Ying Lingyun's cunning. During my infiltration, I investigated his secret actions. He once wanted to use the technological legacy extracted from Ying Lingyun's biological brain to transform it into a biological computer that could simulate his personality in life, and then control and use it at will..."

"Although this idea was shelved as the 'Shangri-La' project progressed, I will not let this guy who desecrated my benefactor's body get away with it. In the future, I will also try to resurrect Ying Lingyun, just as he resurrected me. Only when I do this will I be able to say that I have initially fulfilled my promise."

"Oh? So, I'm the one who killed Ying Lingyun. Are you also planning to kill me to avenge Ying Lingyun?" I asked.

“Of course,” said the naval commander Genbu with righteous indignation. “I am no match for you now, and I cannot even escape from you… but I will never change my stance.”

Upon hearing this, I looked at him carefully. In the past, I had sublimated into the Great Impermanence at the end of the battle, while he was at the Great Completion stage, so my fate might not have been so strongly restrained; but now we are both Great Impermanence, confronting him, the successor of Xuanwu, and perhaps we really will become unlucky as quickly as Ying Lingyun encountered me.

However, he is now not only the Xuanwu successor who restrains me, but also the Baihu successor who is restrained by me. Although it can be seen that he is merely using the Baihu seed as an amplification device to enhance water-based magic, it is obviously unrealistic for him to restrain me in terms of destiny.

"The reason you didn't suspect I was Shan Liangyi is because I didn't retrieve the seeds of Xuanwu and Baihu after killing you?" I asked.

"Not exactly." Shui Shi Xuanwu shook his head. "You should know that a long time ago, Zhu Yi, the successor of the Vermilion Bird, and the successor of the Azure Dragon, along with me, besieged the Two Forms of Over Mountain. Why do you think I was the only one who survived in the end?"

Before I could respond, he continued, “Because I’m too weak… For the Two Elements of the Mountain, the best time to reap the rewards is after the successor of the Two Elements becomes the Great Impermanence. But even the successor of the Two Elements, not just anyone can become the Great Impermanence.”

"At that time, only Zhu Yi met the criteria. The Azure Dragon successor was his priority target, while the Vermilion Bird successor was not a candidate for the Great Impermanence, and was the most nourishing for him. He did not choose to continue to wait and simply ate him directly... The only one left was me, the Black Tortoise successor who was tasteless but had the qualifications for the Great Impermanence."

"I was spared. I guess he planned to come back and kill me after I became the Great Impermanence. But he probably didn't expect that before I became the Great Impermanence, he would be killed by the Old Fist God and reincarnated first."

Therefore, if it were truly a mountain of two elements, it might not choose to consume the Black Tortoise Seed and the White Tiger Seed, but instead release them and wait for them to mature? That's my conclusion.

Shui Shi Xuanwu paused for a moment, then continued, "I believe there are three reasons why you are not Shan Liangyi. First, you were too weak when you first fought me. Even if Shan Liangyi only possessed the Yellow Dragon Seed, it would at least be at the level of Da Wuchang. Secondly, I am quite certain that you possess the Vermilion Bird Seed. If you were Shan Liangyi who had devoured the Vermilion Bird Seed, you would definitely not be at that level. From the perspective of earth overcoming water, it is impossible for me to be able to restrain you to that extent."

"Secondly, even I, a blind man, can see the spiritual nature you possess, a state that Shan Liangyi has always dreamed of. He repeats the ritual of distributing power seeds in every lifetime precisely to pursue this. If he has already reached this state, there is no need for him to continue working on this seed or that seed."

"Finally, your Earth Eclipse Fire is not a true Earth element power. I can see that it is a wrong evolutionary path that only someone who does not understand the essence of the Four Symbols and Five Elements would take. If it were the Mountain Yin and Yang, it would be impossible to take that path. Just trying that kind of power will harm the essence of your power, and the more you use it, the more poisonous it will become to you."

Yes, my Eclipse Fire, as an earth elemental power, has many contradictions.

Although it's an earth element, its manifestation is still fire, and the damage is still burns. This allows the water-attribute Divine Elixir to heal the damage normally. The high temperature, as a secondary attribute, surprisingly retains its most indelible effect even after injuring the enemy. Even though the fundamental attribute has changed, the mana fluctuation information is still almost indistinguishable from mine.

The earth-elemental yellow dragon power, simulated by the Vermilion Bird seed, still has some inconsistencies, revealing an element of forced manipulation. Similarly, the metal-elemental magic of the Dog (戌狗) can also be perceived as a simulation of the White Tiger's killing power; even if it seems to have fewer flaws, it may still harbor some hidden dangers unknown to me.

It's possible that some of the properties that the true power of the Earth-elemental Yellow Dragon should possess cannot be realized due to the origin of the Eclipse Fire... However, the Eclipse Fire may also be able to do some things that the pure power of the Earth-elemental Yellow Dragon cannot do.

Because the information I had received was so far-fetched that it took me a lot of effort to finally digest it. Then, I repeatedly examined this information, arranging it like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, trying to verify each other and see if there were any inconsistencies.

Then, I noticed an extremely big problem. There was an "extra puzzle piece" on the table that I couldn't fit into the already relatively complete picture, which was incredibly glaring—even terrifying.

"Then... what about King Chakravartin?" I couldn't help but ask. "What's the story behind King Chakravartin?"

He thought that upon hearing this keyword, the naval commander Xuanwu would quickly react, but unexpectedly, he hesitated for some reason, then looked puzzled and asked, "What's wrong with King Yama?"

"When we first met, didn't you tell me that King Yama was also a successor of Yin and Yang?" I asked. "You are the Black Tortoise, I am the Vermilion Bird, Ying Lingyun is the White Tiger, and the Lord of Peach Blossom Village is the Azure Dragon... So, what is King Yama?"

(End of this chapter)