Chapter 4191 Eternal Bone Stele
Within the palace, hundreds of white stone steles graced the surroundings. These stone steles, reminiscent of jade, were the source of the immense pressure Long Chen sensed.
When Long Chen examined those stone steles, his heart skipped a beat. They were actually not stone steles but the bones of lifeforms that had reached the Eternal realm.
The bone steles were inscribed with densely packed characters, and a divine radiance enveloped them, lending an air of holiness and sanct.i.ty to their presence.
“This is… the Sword Dao’s inscription?”
Mu Qingyun let out a startled cry and immediately flew toward one of the bone steles. She looked as if she had been bewitched, as if her soul had been drawn out by the bone stele. She just stood there motionlessly.
Upon looking at the surrounding bone steles, Long Chen and the others saw hundreds of other disciples in the same state. Most likely, their minds were fully immersed in the bone steles as they comprehended what was on them.
“These are secret arts recorded with original Jiuli immortal characters, which can contain all things and manifestations. They are, in essence, the most ancient of characters, from which runes as we know them today were derived. These words or runes serve as vectors of power and as characters themselves, each carrying a portion of the Jiuli immortal characters’ power. But when they are merged, they are not Jiuli immortal characters,” said Bai s.h.i.+s.h.i.+’s mother.
“Now you’ve lost me. If one was split into two, once they’re merged back together, are they not the original one? Senior, can you please explain it some more?” asked Xia Chen curiously.
Bai s.h.i.+s.h.i.+’s mother smiled. “One is split into two? It’s not so simple. What if it was ten split into two, or a hundred split into two, or a thousand split into two?”
“Then…?” Xia Chen was at a loss for words.
“Original Jiuli immortal characters are said to contain the greatest secrets of the nine heavens and ten lands. No one can truly understand them. If you wish, you can view Jiuli immortal characters as an enormous measuring instrument capable of appraising everything within the nine heavens and ten lands. It is also capable of appraising the ten thousand laws and Daos of the universe. Our human race was at the bottom of the food chain back in the primal chaos era, merely slaves to the ten thousand races and livestock for slaughter. But the appearance of Jiuli immortal characters was what changed the fate of our human race, allowing us to rise to the peak of the ten thousand races.
“However, good things don’t last forever. After the great battle of primal chaos, the human race plummeted from their peak. It was this battle that caused the inheritance of Jiuli immortal characters to be severed. Currently, we can only decipher up to third-generation Jiuli immortal characters. As for second-generation characters, even the Calligraphy Sect of the four immemorial sects can only recognize sixty to seventy percent of them. When it comes to first-generation Jiuli immortal characters, their comprehension is limited to a mere ten to twenty percent. If we have to talk about the original Jiuli immortal characters, they cannot be understood by anyone,” Bai s.h.i.+s.h.i.+"s mother lamented, her voice tinged with regret and helplessness.
“Wait a moment. Senior, are first-generation Jiuli immortal characters not the original Jiuli immortal characters?” asked Xia Chen.
“There is a difference. First-generation Jiuli immortal characters were deciphered by the Jiuli race. At the same time, they also managed to decipher runes of power. Those runes are different from immortal characters as they are used to unleash things, while immortal characters are used to pa.s.s things on. In order for something to be pa.s.sed on, future generations must understand it. However, when the Jiuli race translated first-generation Jiuli immortal characters, the range was too vast for them, so it was not precise enough. Thus, from the foundation of first-generation Jiuli immortal characters, second-generation Jiuli immortal characters were born. Then comes the third generation and fourth generation. The characters we currently use are mostly from decomposing fourth-generation Jiuli immortal characters. Through practice and consideration, we have reached the point where people can communicate accurately and precisely with these characters. Thus, some things can now be pa.s.sed down with just words and not practice. That looks to be a good thing, but in truth, it is terrible.” Bai s.h.i.+s.h.i.+’s mother shook her head sadly at this point.
She continued, “We originally had an enormous instrument to measure the world. However, we disliked it because it was too troublesome and began to break it apart piece by piece, simplifying it. It’s like we took apart a ten thousand-mile ruler into many tiny rulers for measuring every hair, every millimeter. Well, it became more convenient to use, but we would never be able to use them to measure vaster s.p.a.ces, vaster worlds. Thus, we have basically turned ourselves into frogs at the bottom of a well.”
“Senior, is that really such a problem? Can we not just add all those smaller rulers up again to measure vaster s.p.a.ces?” interjected Guo Ran.
She bitterly smiled. “How could it be so easy? If you fit billions of smaller rulers together, perhaps then you will have a giant ruler. But are you sure that this giant ruler is still accurate?”
“It shouldn’t be a problem, right?” said Guo Ran.
“Then can you guarantee there won’t be the slightest mistake in your fusion? It has to be known that the slightest mistake will result in miles of difference,” said Bai s.h.i.+s.h.i.+’s mother.
Guo Ran didn’t know what to say, but he understood now. After all, this ruler was nothing more than a metaphor. What original Jiuli immortal characters measured were the world, not just distance. It could measure both the visible and invisible, the incorporeal and the corporeal.
“So it was the Jiuli race who took original Jiuli immortal characters and turned them into first-generation Jiuli immortal characters? Why would they translate their own characters into new ones? Unless…” Long Chen suddenly frowned, his heart skipping a beat.
Could it be that the Jiuli immortal characters were just like Lord Brahma and the Nirvana Scripture? Lord Brahma didn’t create the Nirvana Scripture. First came the Nirvana Scripture, and then came Lord Brahma.[1]
If first came the Jiuli immortal characters and then the Jiuli race, that would make sense. The Jiuli race themselves were unable to understand them, so in order to pa.s.s them on, they intentionally translated the original into first-generation Jiuli immortal characters.
But that didn’t make sense either. If they were unable to understand those characters themselves, how did they translate them? Long Chen was stumped.
“Aunt, can I ask who was the first to obtain the Jiuli immortal characters?” asked Long Chen.
Bai s.h.i.+s.h.i.+’s mother shook her head with a bitter smile. “How could I possibly know that? When I was younger, I asked the sweeping elder, but he only told me not to ask anyone that question.”
“The sweeping elder?”
Long Chen’s heart shook. That elder sweeping the academy was too mysterious. Just who was he?
“This is all I can say about Jiuli immortal characters. In truth, I only know this much. What you are seeing are original Jiuli immortal characters, the most primitive immortal characters. But don’t vainly try to understand them. You would be wasting your time. Furthermore, once the martial stage activates, these bone steles will vanish. You should just try to understand as much as you can. Also, just as a warning, if you try to forcibly comprehend something you have no destiny with, your soul might crumble and become bedeviled. Don’t force things here. I will teach you a simple method. These bone steles have different things recorded on them. Use your heart to sense them. You will then feel a resonance with some immortal rune or stroke. If you can understand the realm of a single stroke here, that will be enough to benefit you for a lifetime. Don’t be too greedy and end up losing everything. Just look at Qingyun. She is staring at a sword-shaped stroke. She has already entered a meditative state. Once she comprehends it, her potential will be limitless.”
After Bai s.h.i.+s.h.i.+’s mother finished saying that, everyone didn’t tarry. They closed their eyes, focusing their minds. As expected, they began to sense different things calling them. Thus, they started to go separate ways and walk to their own destinies.
“Boss, I sense too many things summoning me! Am I just too outstanding or what?” Guo Ran cried out excitedly. He felt like every bone stele was calling him.
“Outstanding my a.s.s. You have too many distracting thoughts. Stop being greedy and sense it calmly,” scolded Long Chen. This fellow’s heart was so unsteady that even his Blood Qi fluctuations were still active. He clearly was too excited to sense any summons.
“Oh.”
After that scolding, Guo Ran calmed down a great deal and started focusing.
“Long Chen, I feel a summon from above. What about you?” Bai s.h.i.+s.h.i.+ opened her eyes.
“I’m feeling something from above too.” Long Chen smiled. He already sensed it when he reached this place.
Bai s.h.i.+s.h.i.+’s mother said, “Then let’s go up!” She then led Long Chen and Bai s.h.i.+s.h.i.+ up the palace.
[1] The term 梵天 (literally Brahmanism Heaven) means both Nirvana and Lord Brahma, so I called the scripture the Nirvana Scripture (梵天经) and the character Lord Brahma( 大梵天), but they are the same words in Chinese.