Eternal God Emperor: Only I Am Emperor One

Chapter 45 Loyalty, Filial Piety, Benevolence, and Righteousness (Entering the second round of reading, please continue!)

Emperor Yi struck through the roof with a single palm strike, drew his Crow Cry Sword, and transformed into a streak of light, descending from the sky to strike the core of the four people's internal energy circulation, hitting their vital point with a single sword strike.

The original complete flow of true energy was interrupted, and four completely different types of true energy ran rampant in the four people's bodies.

"puff!"

"puff!"

Four consecutive sounds of vomiting blood rang out in the hall. The violent true energy sent all four of them flying, each seriously injured.

"Who are you?"

The eldest brother, Zhao Quanzhong, clutched his chest and looked at the black-clad swordsman who had descended from the sky, his heart filled with horror.

It was bad enough that he sneaked in silently, but what was even more terrifying was that he actually saw through the flaws in the four brothers' martial arts techniques. They knew this divine skill all too well; even the Heavenly Realm martial artists who had fought against them before couldn't detect the slightest flaw in it.

The swordsman in black robes should not be at the Heavenly Realm, yet he was able to find the flaw, unless he had cultivated the same technique as them.

"So they've finally come knocking on our door?" Zhao Quanren, the third brother, sighed.

“Third brother, what’s there to sigh about? When the four of us brothers chose to cultivate this Four Symbols Divine Art, weren’t we already prepared for people to come knocking on our door?” the fourth brother, Zhao Quanyi, shouted.

The second brother, Zhao Quanxiao, was the calmest. He carefully examined the black-clad swordsman in front of him and recalled the sword strike just now. It was sharp and domineering, but the true energy he used seemed to be completely different from the Four Symbols Divine Skill.

"Are you a master of the Four Symbols Sect? Have you come here to reclaim the Four Symbols Divine Skill?"

Di Yi was slightly surprised. He glanced at him and laughed, "So you knew that you were cultivating the Four Symbols Heavenly Technique of the Four Symbols Sect. I thought you obtained it by chance and chose to cultivate it because of your ignorance."

"My three brothers and I did indeed obtain the Four Symbols Divine Skill by chance in a secret realm. At the time, we were ignorant and regarded it as a treasure, thinking it was something left behind by a powerful force in the Heavenly Demon Ridge. We thought that even if they came looking for us, we could just leave the Heavenly Demon Ridge in the future, so we started cultivating it. It wasn't until we had achieved some success in our cultivation that we realized that the Four Symbols Divine Skill actually came from the Four Symbols Sect in the Central Region. But by then, it was too late to regret it. The world is vast, and if the Four Symbols Sect found out, where would my brothers and I have a place to hide?"

Seeing that the black-clad swordsman was patient in listening to their story instead of killing them outright, Zhao Quanxiao felt a surge of survival instinct.

"If you are a master of the Four Symbols Sect, my four brothers and I are willing to destroy our cultivation and return the divine skill, just to spare our lives. If you are not a member of the Four Symbols Sect, my brothers and I are willing to share the Four Symbols Divine Skill with you, and we will share both good fortune and hardship in the future."

Di Yi smiled, glanced at the four people, and said, "I am indeed not a member of the Four Symbols Sect, but today, I want the Four Symbols Heaven-Reaching Technique, and I also want the lives of the four of you."

Zhao Quanxiao looked desperate, knowing that he and his four brothers would not escape death today. He said coldly, "It is easy for you to take the lives of my four brothers, but it is absolutely impossible for you to obtain the Four Symbols Divine Skill. In the Heroes' Gathering, apart from my four brothers, no one else knows where the Divine Skill is."

"Only death!"

"It's just death!"

"My four brothers and I were born on the same day, month, and year, and we will die on the same day, month, and year. What more could one ask for in life?"

The other three also expressed their willingness to perish together with the enemy.

Upon seeing this, the emperor was quite impressed with the four brothers; their brotherly affection seemed genuine.

He laughed and said, "The Four Symbols Sect is a first-class sect in the Central Region. If you steal the Four Symbols Sect's supreme martial arts and are discovered, you will have nowhere to escape. Not only the Four Symbols Sect, but also the Taiji Dao, the Liangyi Sect, and the Bagua Sect are of the same lineage and are closely related to the Four Symbols Sect. If these four major forces join forces to hunt you down, let alone you few, even a half-saint would not be able to escape death. The world is vast, but there is absolutely no place for you to hide."

"However, if you are willing to join my ranks and risk your lives for me, I can protect you. With my backing, even the Four Symbols Sect wouldn't dare to come knocking on our door."

The four men exchanged glances, their feelings a complex mix as they looked at the man in black. Was he trying to recruit them?
"May I ask your background? And who is your backer? You seem unafraid of the Four Symbols Sect?" Zhao Quanxiao asked.

Di Yi chuckled and said, "I come from the Black Market First-Class Hall. Do you think I'm afraid of the Four Symbols Sect?"

"What, the Black Market's First-Class Hall?"

The four gasped in surprise, utterly shocked.

Having operated in Qinghe Town for many years and coming into contact with both the legitimate and underworld figures, they had naturally heard of the formidable reputation of the Black Market's Yipintang.

The leader of countless forces in the Eastern Region's black market, the leader of the Eastern Region's evil sects, and a behemoth of evil sects capable of rivaling the Martial Market Bank, the Eastern Region Holy King's Mansion, and the Two Elements Sect.

This man in black robes was actually from the Black Market's First-Class Hall; no wonder he could recognize the origin of the Four Symbols Divine Skill.

The four had no doubt that anyone who could recognize the Four Symbols Divine Skill, even if not from the Black Market's First-Class Hall, must have come from another major power. Now that they had a chance to live, they naturally didn't want to die.

The four exchanged glances, made a decision, and knelt down on one knee, bowing to Emperor Yi.

"We are willing to follow you, sir."

……

Qinghe Town was still brightly lit, but more than a hundred elite members of the White Horse Gang had entered the town with the help of Di Yi, and then took over many key locations with the intervention of Zhao Quanxiao.

In the past two days, Lei Kaishan gathered a group of scattered White Horse Gang disciples along the way and sent messages to all sides, instructing all disciples who received the message to gather in the direction of Qinghe Town.

Although the disciples of the Heroes' Guild were all confused, the Second Guild Master personally intervened, leaving them with their doubts and allowing the White Horse Gang to take over all the key points in the town.

The next day at dawn, inside the Sihai Hall.

Before Emperor Yi lay four fragments of tortoise shells, on which were recorded the Four Symbols Divine Skill, also known as the Four Symbols Heaven-Reaching Technique, cultivated by the four Zhao brothers.

The tortoise shell was incomplete, with only a small portion remaining intact. The cultivation techniques recorded on it were only complete for the first three levels, with significant damage occurring from the fourth level onwards. It's no wonder that the four Zhao brothers, despite having reached the Great Perfection of the Earthly Realm for many years, were unable to break through to the Heavenly Realm.

If the cultivation method is flawed, attempting a breakthrough rashly will only lead to certain death.

The Four Symbols Connecting Heaven Technique is a part of the innate Taoist methods. Just as the Heavenly Demon Stone Carving is divided into thirty-six pieces, the innate Taoist methods are also divided into several parts.

Taking Taiji as its core concept, it is the innate Daoist method. Dividing it into Yin and Yang, it is the Taiji innate Dao of the Two Forms School. Transforming it into the Four Symbols, it is the Four Symbols Heaven-Connecting Formula of the Four Symbols School. In addition, there are the Five Elements, the Eight Trigrams, and finally the method of the Sixty-Four Hexagrams.

Taiji Dao, Liangyi Zong, Sixiang Zong, and Bagua Zong each inherited a part of it, but the sixty-four hexagrams, which represent the five elements and the ultimate, have long been lost.

Similar to the Heavenly Demon Stone Carvings, every part of the innate Daoist methods is a smooth path to the peak. The cultivation methods on each stone carving of the Heavenly Demon Stone Carvings are divided into eighteen levels, and Di Yi has now cultivated the Heavenly Demon Prison Suppression Diagram to the fifth level.

The Four Symbols Heavenly Technique is divided into nine levels, enough to cultivate to the pinnacle of the Great Sage.

The cultivation method of the Four Symbols Heavenly Technique recorded on the tortoise shell only reaches the Fish-Dragon Realm at its highest level, and it is severely incomplete, with almost no possibility of being completed.

The fourth level of the technique is not missing much, and Di Yi is somewhat confident that he can make some minor repairs. Although it cannot compare to the original version, it should not be a problem to cultivate it to the Heavenly Realm.

(End of this chapter)