Shi Ying explained very patiently this time, “Before he died, the Sea Emperor, Pure Brilliance was able to seal his blood somewhere, allowing his power to be preserved. After a long period of time, it will then be transformed into a corporeal fetus and become incubated into someone else’s body, thus allowing the interrupted bloodline to continue again.”
This time Zhu Yan didn’t get sidetracked and said bluntly, “Then… isn’t that a spaced generation birth?”
“Yes.” Shi Ying nodded in a rarely seen gesture, “You are correct.”
“How can that be!” She shrieked rising, “Is there such a spell?”
“It’s not a magic spell, it’s just the way of heaven.” Shi Ying spoke in a calm tone, “A shark is different from a human. The creation is miraculous, between the Six Harmonies, everything changes in a thousand ways – have I told you about the ‘Six Harmonies and Four Births’ before? Between the Six Harmonies, there are four ways for everything to be born, remember which Four Births they are?”
“Ah…” she didn’t expect to be suddenly checked for homework again and froze for a long time before stammering, “Wet birth, fetal birth, oviparity and… and viviparity?”
She actually got it correctly for once. Shi Ying nodded: “Between heaven and earth, insects are born wet, humans are born in the womb, winged races are born in the egg, while a very few powerful gods, such as the dragon god, can be born in the flesh by metamorphosis – only sharks can be born both in the womb and in the flesh. But there are only a few sharks who can metamorphose, unless they are as powerful as the Sea Emperor.
“What?” Zhu Yan’s eyes widened, “Are you saying that… the last Sea Emperor secretly preserved his bloodline before the extermination of his kingdom and being killed, and then used the method of incubation to bring his descendants back into the world?”
This is the legend of the so-called ‘Return of the Sea Emperor’ among the sharks.” Shi Ying nodded, actually approving her words wholeheartedly “Seven thousand years ago, when the Emperor Xingzun led his army to slaughter the Blue Sea, Pure Brilliance, knowing that the great tribulation of his clan was imminent, saved a drop of his blood in the Bead of Brightness on the eve of the battle, guarded by the High Priestess of the Mourning Tower, Minghuo – but after the fall of the Sea Kingdom, the Emperor Xingzun killed the Sea Emperor, but did not find that Priestess in the Mourning Tower, nor did he find that strand of blood.”
Zhu Yan froze for a moment, “Then… why didn’t they keep searching for it at that time?”
Shi Ying went silent for a moment, as if considering whether or not to continue, and finally said, “Because, at that time, Empress Baiwei had already given birth to her Royal Son, returned to the court, learned of the news that the Sea Kingdom had been slaughtered by Emperor Xingzun, and in her fury, drew a sword and broke with her husband – the Yunhuang civil war thus broke out, and Emperor Xingzun no longer had the energy to continue his search for the bloodline of the Sea Emperor.”
“White… Empress Baiwei broke with the Xingzun Emperor? How is that possible!” Zhu Yan muttered aloud, “Didn’t they all say that the two of them were the most loving emperor and empress? The Book of Six Harmonies clearly says that Empress Bai Wei died because she gave birth at an advanced age and died… yes, from a difficult birth!”
Shi Ying remained silent, without saying a word.
When Zhu Yan saw that he did not deny it, she could not help but feel relieved and muttered, “You must be lying to me, right? Don’t bully me for reading so little history books… and for making such a big roundabout…”
Shi Ying frowned slightly and sighed, “You are wrong. The Book of Six Harmonies that can be seen in later generations is actually nothing more than a forgery that has been altered by the historians according to the emperor’s wishes, and there are many things that have not been recorded faithfully.”
“Huh?” She froze, ” What do you mean by that?”
“It means that, like most of the other people in Yunhuang, the history you know is all false!” The Great Priest of Jiuyi Mountain paused for a moment, his voice stern, “The only true version is kept in the Purple Pavilion of the Zichen Hall and is only available for members of the Royal Family to look through.”
“Really? Then how would you know about it…” she blurted out in consternation, then froze for a moment as she remembered who her Master really was – yes, of course he would know, he was the first-born son of the Emperor and carried the purest imperial blood in Kongsang!
For a moment, the person in front of her appeared to be suddenly unfamiliar, extremely close, yet extremely far away.
Yes, when she first met him as a child, she knew nothing about the identity of that white-clothed boy who was cultivating hard in the empty valley. Now that she thought about it, that lonely teenager must have had an extremely special identity to be able to come and go freely in that forbidden place, right? When she was thirteen, they were almost killed in the Cangwu Abyss – when she climbed out of the abyss with him on her back and stumbled along, she didn’t even stop to think: why on earth would anyone want to kill such an ordinary young priest?
The actual prestige of his status ended up being more than she could have ever imagined. But if he was the firstborn son of the Empress, why on earth would he leave the Imperial Capital since he was a child and train alone in a deep, empty valley? Growing up in ignorance, she had never really come to know the man beside her – in fact she had never really known him.
“After the end of the civil war, several emperors in the Piling Dynasty had dispatched warships to search for the whereabouts of the Sea Emperor’s blood on the Seven Seas, at one point almost capturing the Minghuo Priestess, but in the end, they came back empty-handed.” Shi Ying’s voice was low and distant, as if coming from the other side of time, “Now that the Sea Kingdom has been extinguished for seven thousand years, the Sea Emperor’s bloodline seems to have truly been cut off – until five years ago, when I suddenly witnessed that void of returning evil on the Blue Sea!”
“Return of evil?” Zhu Yan froze for a moment.
“Yes. It appears to be a star that is not a star and a cloud that is not a cloud, somewhere between reality and emptiness.” Shi Ying suddenly turned his head to look at her and asked again, “What does Returning Evil represents in astrology?”
Not expecting to be tested again, she subconsciously stammered out a reply, ” Returnee… a returner?”
What a first-class luck today, although it was a bold and wild guess, this time the answer was actually correct again. Shi Ying nodded and whispered, “If you see the Returning Evil, there must be a Returner. And that piece of returning evil rises from the depths of the Blue Sea! So, the rising of the returning evil represents the return of the dead, who have been sleeping at the bottom of the sea for a thousand years!”
“…” Zhu Yan inhaled a cold breath and refrained from speaking.
“These celestial mysteries were originally not supposed to be disclosed to you.” Shi Ying sighed and shook his head, “According to the rules, any stargazer should individually store the celestial chances in his heart even if he sees them – because once they are leaked and made known to a second person, they will add unknown variables.”
But… In spite of this, why Master still informed her? He no longer considered the risk of doing so in order to redeem her and keep the Master and disciple from breaking up.
Zhu Yan remained silent, refusing to open her mouth to admit it, but in her heart, she already had a vague feeling that what Master said might all be true. At that moment, her heart sank lower and lower, only feeling a heavy pressure that caused her to gasp for breath.
“Now, are you convinced?” Looking at her expression, Shi Ying’s voice remained unmoved, “The reason why I have patiently spoken so much to you today is that I had to enlighten you a little on account of your young age and the fact that you were only momentarily blinded by your personal feelings – I believe that after listening to these words, you should be able to judge correctly.”
“I… I…” She opened her mouth and hesitated for several moments, unable to utter a single word.
Yes, at this point in the conversation, there was naturally nothing much for her to say. Yet, a sense of resignation and disbelief burned in her heart that she could not contain.
Shi Ying’s tone was cold: “Therefore, that person, I am determined to kill!”
Zhu Yan fiercely shivered and raised her head to look at her Master, exclaiming uncontrollably, “But even if it’s true that the Sea Emperor is reborn, that person may not be Yuan! What if… what if you are wrong? Once you kill the wrong person, it will be irreversible!”
“In order to defend that man, you even dare to doubt on me?” Shi Ying suddenly shifted, with suppressed anger between his eyebrows, “That leader of the Restoration Army, not only was he able to get all the sharks to do his bidding, but he also possessed power beyond the limits of his race, enough to stand up against me! This is not something an ordinary shark could do; how could it be possible if he didn’t inherit the bloodline of the Sea Emperor?”
“…” Zhu Yan stopped talking and lowered her head, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably.
At that moment, she raised her hand and touched the jade ring around her neck, remembering something, and her heart suddenly went cold – yes this jade ring! This jade ring was a gift from him, yet it was sealed with ancient dragon blood and was inextricably linked to the Dragon God, so if Yuan wasn’t of extraordinary status, how could he be in possession of it?
But if… that person is really Yuan, then that means he is the enemy of the entire Kongsang? It is also indisputable that the Master must be his enemy and wants to kill him. But… But how can she stand by and watch her Master kill Yuan?!
“Don’t kill Yuan!” In that instant, her heart swirled a thousand times, she could no longer stop the tears from falling and choked up, “I… love Yuan so much! I don’t want to see him die… Master, please, don’t kill him!”
Hearing those words, Shi Ying’s shoulders shook slightly and he stepped back.
“I really didn’t expect… that the one I worked so hard to train would be a disciple like you.” Shi Ying looked at her and sighed long and hard, “For your own selfishness, you put ten million of the people of Kongsang in danger!”
“No… it’s not like that!” Zhu Yan knew what this harsh tone meant, and if it were any other day, she would have given in long ago, but at this moment she still shouted in resistance, “If Yuan really brings great suffering to Kongsang in the future, I will be the first to stand up and stop him! But… but it’s not certain that it’s him at this time! Why do you have to kill an innocent man for something that didn’t happen? It’s not fair!”
“…” Not expecting her to say that, Shi Ying staggered for a moment.
“So, you don’t believe my prophecy?” He examined the tear-faced disciple and found her whole body shaking violently, wondering what it was like to be in her heart, but still sounding unmoved. “Or do you actually believe it already, but still resign yourself to it?”
Zhu Yan shuddered slightly as she was stabbed in the heart with a single word: “As you said, Master, Heaven’s will is unpredictable – if I have not seen it with my own eyes, I… cannot allow Yuan to be killed just like that!”
“You won’t give up your heart until the last moment, would you?” Shi Ying let out a long sigh, a layer of gloom quickly shrouded across his eyebrows, stepping back, speaking in a low tone, one word at a time, “In that case, we, Master and Disciple, will have to end our fate here.”
“Master!” The last words fell into her ears like thunder, Zhu Yan trembled slightly, holding the piece of lapel that he slashed, and lost her voice, “Don’t!”
“If you still want to defend him, our bond as Master and disciple will be broken here today. From now on, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” Shi Ying’s voice was cold, cutting down between them like a blade, “If you dare to stop me from killing him again in the future, I will kill you along with him!”
He spoke in a harsh and decisive manner, and after saying that, he waved his sleeve and turned around. When Zhu Yan saw him turning around, she could not help but utter a cry and subconsciously climbed up to tug on his sleeve: “Don’t leave!”
But the pull actually came up short and she fell with a hard thud. With a slight turn to the side, he dodged away, his eyes hiding deep and complex feelings. She panicked, fearing that he would really leave in a fit of rage, and didn’t wait to get up, she instantly took a step forward on the ground and stretched out her hand, trying to hug his feet and beg bitterly. However, just as she reached out her hand, he instantly retreated by ten feet.
Shi Ying looked at her pathetic figure on the ground, and his eyes suddenly revealed a kind of irritation that was hard to suppress as he said in a stern voice, “Well, don’t pull and tug like that, getting entangled! Since you have chosen that person, you will inevitably have to become my enemy and the enemy of the entire Kongsang – this cannot be reconciled, don’t hold any delusion!”
“Master!” Zhu Yan’s heart was tremendously shaken, her mind went blank, she just subconsciously murmured, “I… I don’t want to be your enemy… I don’t want to be your enemy!”
“Then give him up and don’t do such a thing.” Shi Ying said coldly, using the last of his patience, “You are the Princess of the Red Clan, even if you can’t kill him yourself for Kongsang, at least you shouldn’t stand in my way!”
“No… I can’t!” She shook her head desperately, “I can’t watch Yuan die!”
Shi Ying’s eyes darkened all over again and his tone grew cold: “Since you can’t do it, then forget it.”
At the end of the sentence, he turned his head and waved his sleeve away.
Zhu Yan looked at his back and felt a sharp blade plunging straight into her heart, making her whole body tremble with pain. She took a few steps forward to chase after him and shouted in a trembling voice for Master, but he wouldn’t even turn his head around.
“Master… Master!” Seeing that he was about to leave, her tears finally couldn’t stop any longer and gushed out like a broken dam, staring at his back and crying out, “Do you… you really don’t want me anymore? You said at the Cangwu Abyss that you would never leave me behind in this lifetime!”
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