Chapter 548: Origin of the Five Elements Combat Method

"It is finally done."

Lu Yang stretched his limbs; under the guidance of the Inheritance Elder, their learning progressed at a lightning pace, and the Five Elements Battle Method had begun to yield minor results.

Stroking his white beard, the Inheritance Elder nodded slightly. "Not bad. I have nothing left to teach you."

Among all the disciples he had ever taught, Lu Yang and his four companions were the fastest to master the Five Elements Battle Method. Part of this was due to the powerful divine senses of Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, which played a dominant role in their cultivation.

Another crucial factor was their remarkable solidarity, which allowed them to achieve twice the result with half the effort during their studies.

"The Five Elements Battle Method is indeed formidable."

Li Haoran nodded inwardly; had the Nine Nether Sect mastered this battle method, Qin Haoran and the four vice sect masters combined might well have been able to repel those chasing them for debts.

Provided, of course, that the four vice sect masters were aware of the sect's current deficit and could remain united in the future.

"Speaking of which, since this Five Elements Battle Method is so miraculous, which senior of such monumental talent invented it?" Lu Yang asked curiously.

"This battle method was created by the founding ancestor of our Five Elements Sect, Master Tiankui. The old gentleman was a prodigy of his generation who laid down numerous foundations for our sect, of which the Five Elements Battle Method is one."

Master Tiankui was illustrious in the Great Xia, a supreme power of his era who, a hundred thousand years ago, shared equal fame with Heavenly Venerate Guiyuan of the Dao Seeking Sect, and he helped drive the establishment of the five great immortal sects.

A look of reminiscence appeared on the Inheritance Elder's face as he recalled the stories passed down by word of mouth within the Five Elements Sect.

"Master Tiankui was born into a scholarly family during the late Yu Dynasty and was deeply influenced by the doctrines of the ruler's and subject's duties, and the father's and son's roles. Originally, he wanted to achieve academic honors, enlist in the military, and lay the groundwork for a future rebellion. Then, with a single call answered by thousands, he would declare himself king—would that not be splendid? ...These last two sentences are Master Tiankui's original words from his diary, not mine."

"What a pity. Before he could even attain his academic honors, the Emperor of the Yu Dynasty was gone, assassinated right upon the imperial throne, and his path of joining the military to rebel collapsed entirely."

"...Elder, wait a moment. You just said Master Tiankui was deeply influenced by the doctrines of rulers, subjects, fathers, and sons, and then he decided to rebel?" Although it was improper to interrupt an elder, Meng Jingzhou simply could not restrain himself.

"Precisely. Master Tiankui grew weary of studying that whole system of rulers and subjects, fathers and sons, so he wanted to see what would happen if he did the exact opposite."

Man Gu came to a sudden realization. So there were Confucian cultivators who operated like this, who did not merely read books blindly but used practice to verify whether the texts were correct. His own past studies had been far too rigid.

"When the world fell into chaos, Master Tiankui's cultivation was insufficient to vie for the realm. Thus, he cultivated diligently, using slaughter to sustain slaughter on the battlefield, causing his cultivation to grow rapidly."

"Despite Master Tiankui's rare talent and exceptionally fast cultivation speed, by the time he became a regional overlord, the Jiang family had already triumphed and claimed the imperial throne. He was a step too late."

"Mired in melancholy all day long, Master Tiankui traveled the world to ease his mind. One day, he accidentally stumbled into an immortal realm and obtained a grand fortuitous opportunity."

"An immortal realm?" Lu Yang caught on to the word "immortal." Generally, such places were called secret realms; for a place to be qualified as an immortal realm, it must certainly be related to immortals.

"It is merely related to immortals. Look how easily startled you are. In front of this Immortal, what does an immortal realm amount to?" The Immortal Fairy spoke lazily, completely indifferent. She herself was an immortal; anything she did could be considered related to immortals.

Lu Yang looked at the Immortal Fairy suspiciously, as if she spoke as though she actually knew the location of an immortal realm.

If only you knew the location of even a single immortal realm.

Feeling despised by Lu Yang's gaze, the Immortal Fairy proudly sought to prove her worth: "This Immortal is staying inside your spiritual world, so the place where this Immortal stays is an immortal's spiritual world. Put simply, this place is the Immortal Realm!"

This was the first time Lu Yang had ever heard the Immortal Realm explained in such a manner.

He rolled his eyes, snapped out of his thoughts, and continued to listen to the Inheritance Elder's story.

"According to Master Tiankui's records, that secret realm featured a layout left by immortals, planning across eternity with profundities hidden everywhere. He even saw the phantoms of immortals preserved through the ages, as if ancient history were replaying before his eyes, though the faces of the immortals were invisible, shrouded in a complete blur!"

"Two immortals played a game of strategy upon a chessboard, the pieces divided into black and white. Their strategy was exquisite; every move was decided only after careful deliberation, taking months just to place a single piece, as if what they played was not a game, but the eternal ages, the very common souls of the world!"

"During the game, a third immortal transformed into a woodcutter and came to watch the match."

"Master Tiankui became utterly immersed in it, and when he finally came to his senses, a century had already passed!"

"Watching the black and white pieces clash on the board, struggling for so long without managing to connect five pieces in a row, he experienced a sudden enlightenment."

"Master Tiankui believed that five pieces corresponded to the five elements, and connecting five pieces in a line to achieve ultimate victory meant the unification of the five elements, possessing immense power that could move even immortals."

"He entered secluded cultivation right then and there, using this as a foundation to create the Five Elements Battle Method, and established the Five Elements Sect after emerging."

"Regrettably, upon Master Tiankui's emergence from seclusion, the phantoms of the immortals vanished, never to appear again."

"Master Tiankui claimed his own talent was dull, having only comprehended ten or twenty percent of it. He believed there ought to be deeper layers to that game which he failed to uncover—for instance, why the third immortal woodcutter came to watch, what the meaning behind chopping wood was, whether it used all living beings as firewood, or if it was to signal a neutral stance."

The Inheritance Elder shook his head in regret. There were too many mysteries left unexplained; the ancient era was deeply enigmatic, and to this day, their understanding of it amounted to nothing more than a few scattered fragments.

Lu Yang: "..."

He remembered the Immortal Fairy mentioning that Immortal Yingtian and Immortal Qilin, in order to avoid eating the food she cooked, had used playing chess as an excuse, stubbornly refusing to leave. The Immortal Fairy had told Immortal Jiuchong to chop wood for cooking, and after chopping the wood, Immortal Jiuchong went over to watch the game. The three immortals had actually stared at the board for a whole century.

Lu Yang originally thought that a chess game lasting a hundred years must surely be Go, something containing the mysteries of heaven and earth.

Turns out you two were playing Gomoku!

"See what this Immortal told you? Immortal Jiuchong fused Yin-Yang and the Five Elements into the chessboard to enlighten later generations. Is this not a perfect example right before us?" The Immortal Fairy spoke with righteous confidence, having finally encountered a piece of evidence to prove she was telling the truth.

"By the way, Elder, does that immortal realm still exist?"

"It does. Although the phantoms of the immortals vanished and no one could ever comprehend anything from it again, Master Tiankui felt that it was an immortal realm after all, so he moved it back to our sect."

Lu Yang thought to himself that it was no wonder the first-generation Elder of the Metal Lineage had moved several mineral mountains back to the sect; even their founding sect master went around moving entire immortal realms.

But now was not the time to complain about that.

"Can we enter the secret realm to observe the immortals' chess game?"

After all, it was a place where three immortals had stayed; perhaps there would be some clues.

Hearing Lu Yang's words, Meng Jingzhou and the others also grew interested. This was something related to immortals; they had to see it no matter what.

The Inheritance Elder pondered for a moment. "I must consult the Sect Master regarding this matter. I expect the Sect Master will agree."

(An extra chapter will be updated at midnight.)

(End of Chapter)