My Family Was Great Xia's Number One Rebel

At those words, the Pan father and son immediately grew curious.

Pan Lei laughed. "Dad, you're finally willing to tell me where it came from? I asked you so many times before, and every time you said, 'I'll tell you this secret when I'm dying.' What changed your mind?"

Pan Shou sighed. "Its origins are of grave importance. Not knowing is safer. If it weren't tied to the most important wish our Pan Lineage has held since ancient times, I believe our ancestors would have let its story rot in their bellies rather than tell anyone."

"For generations, each member of the Pan Lineage has passed on this secret only when they were close to death. If someone died suddenly before they could tell the next generation, a will prepared in advance carried the message... I'd planned to do the same."

"But... Little Long's situation is unusual. It brought its origins to mind."

"Dad, stop keeping us in suspense! Tell us already!" Pan Lei was so anxious he could barely keep from shouting.

As a typical Northerner, he had an insatiable curiosity. A mystery that had plagued him for more than a decade was finally about to be revealed, and he was both excited and impatient.

Pan Shou smiled. He looked at his restless son, then at his much calmer grandson, and nodded to himself.

Little Long's temperament is nothing like a Northerner's. Perhaps he really is this treasure's destined master?

He paused to collect his thoughts, then said unhurriedly, "Do you know which lineage rules Great Xia?"

"The Di Lineage, of course," Pan Lei answered at once.

"And where did the Di Lineage come from?"

"In the days when the realm was in chaos, a peerless hero gathered champions from every quarter, united the realm, and divided it into the Nine Provinces. Later, he ascended the throne. His deeds were so miraculous that people believed he was no ordinary mortal, so they called him simply 'Di,' the emperor," Pan Long answered. "When his descendants succeeded him, they found the title fitting. They too set aside ordinary names and used only 'Di' as the sovereign's title. To distinguish one Di from another, they added a name in sequence. Great Xia's founding ruler, the first Di, became known as Di Jiazi. The current sovereign is Di Renchen. By that count, he is Great Xia's twenty-ninth ruler."

Naturally, he knew such basic history.

Pan Shou smiled. "Our Pan Lineage's Classic of Mountains and Seas Fragment actually came from Di Jiazi."

Pan Lei and Pan Long froze and exchanged a glance. Pan Lei hurriedly asked, "Does that mean our ancestor was one of Great Xia's founding heroes?"

"And no ordinary hero, I'd wager," Pan Long said. "The Classic of Mountains and Seas Fragment is no small thing. No amount of ordinary service would have been enough for Di Jiazi to award it as a prize! Our ancestor must at least have saved his life or helped secure his rule... Could the Pan Lineage be one of Great Xia's Eight Founding Dukes? Or were there actually Nine Founding Dukes, with our ancestor as the ninth?"

Father and son both grew animated with excitement.

Great Xia's social Order had strict ranks. At the bottom were the debased, who had given names but no surnames. Above them were commoners, who had full names. Next came the gentry, who also had courtesy names praising their virtue or martial prowess. Higher still were the nobles, who bore titles marking their status. Highest of all was the imperial family, whose members dispensed with personal and courtesy names and used only designations to distinguish one from another.

A founding duke stood at the pinnacle of the nobility. In On Power, standing, and glory, Great Xia's Eight Founding Dukes occupied the peak of the nation's pyramid, second only to the Holy and untouchable Di Lineage.

The Pan Lineage, meanwhile, belonged only to the gentry.

If their ancestor truly had been a ninth founding duke, then even if they could never reclaim his glory, they would have something to feel proud of for a long time!

Watching his son and grandson grow so delighted, Pan Shou gave a mirthless snort. "You're getting ahead of yourselves! Our ancestor was indeed an important figure when Great Xia was founded. But he wasn't a ninth founding duke. He was—"

He deliberately paused. Only when he saw the urgency in their eyes did he continue, his voice edged with mockery. "—the greatest rebel in Great Xia's history. He made Di Jiazi so furious that the man died."

Pan Lei and Pan Long's mouths fell open. They stared at him, unable to say a word.

My ancestor was a rebel?

Di Jiazi, Great Xia's founding ruler, whom people regarded as a god, was driven to death by my ancestor?

What the hell? What kind of madness is this?

And Grandpa, as his descendant, don't you think there's something wrong with so openly calling your own ancestor a rebel?

To become Great Xia's number one rebel, our ancestor must once have been a high official or famous general. He must have had plenty of glorious deeds you could boast about. Why not talk about those instead of bragging about his crimes?

The greatest rebel under heaven, who drove the founding Great Ancestor Di Jiazi to his death—is that supposed to be something to be proud of?

Grandpa, there's something wrong with your values!

Pan Long had a thousand, ten thousand complaints he wanted to voice, but he could not get a single word out. Like his father, he could only stand there with his mouth open.

Pan Shou watched his son and grandson's shocked faces with smug delight. After a while, he laughed. "I know you must have plenty of questions, but don't ask yet. I haven't finished."

"Then hurry up and tell us!" Pan Lei could not help roaring.

His father was getting older, so why did he seem to be growing more childish? Only a child would keep people dangling like this!

Beside him, Pan Long's expression was no better. If his father had not shouted first, he might have been the one roaring.

After his son shouted at him, Pan Shou finally stopped playing games and gave them a proper account of what had happened.

After Great Xia was founded, Di Jiazi held supreme power and lived like a god among men. But he was no god. He aged, and he would die. Worse, he had suffered too many injuries while conquering the realm. Despite his formidable martial arts and profound cultivation, his lifespan had been severely diminished. Before he even reached a hundred, his body had begun to decline, and it was clear he had little time left.

The ruler of Great Xia held power across the four seas and commanded awe throughout the Nine Provinces. Naturally, he lacked no Spirit Medicine to nourish and restore his body. But an ordinary medicine could not cure a failing lifespan. Unless Immortals and Buddhas who had truly entered the Longevity Realm intervened, no amount of medicine could do more than ease his suffering. It could not delay his aging or death.

And the power and status Di Jiazi took such pride in, along with the might of the Great Xia dynasty, meant little to Immortals and Buddhas.

They might not have been able to confront him head-on, but they could hide somewhere. They would not even need to hide for long—only until he died of old age.

A few decades were nothing to the Immortals and Buddhas.

Di Jiazi refused to accept that, so he devised another way.

If the Immortals and Buddhas won't help me, I'll become one myself!

He sent tens of thousands of Warlocks to lay grand arrays throughout the Nine Provinces, linking the land together. In the Imperial Capital, he built the Sky-Reaching Altar to receive the array's power. Then, with the aid of a treasure, he intended to condense that vast, ocean-like force into fuel for his path to longevity. He hoped to use what little time he had left to cross the boundary between mortals and immortals, enter their realm, and gain eternal life.

That treasure was called the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

Its origins could no longer be traced. Perhaps it came from the most ancient Immortals and Buddhas, or perhaps it was a natural spiritual treasure born of heaven and earth. By consuming spiritual energy, it could turn illusion into reality and create something from nothing—anything its wielder desired.

What Di Jiazi wanted it to create was an immortal pill that would grant him Longevity.

No such pill existed in the world. Even the Immortals and Buddhas could not grant someone else Longevity. But with the Classic of Mountains and Seas' power to create something from nothing, it might be possible.

If that had been all, perhaps everything would have gone smoothly. Di Jiazi was a great and Great Sage ruler who enjoyed fervent adoration and unwavering support. People would have gladly seen him live forever and rule the Nine Provinces for eternity.

The problem lay with Di Jiazi himself.

When he discovered that, with the combined power of the Nine Provinces, the Classic of Mountains and Seas could do anything, his thinking changed.

If the Classic of Mountains and Seas can do anything, why should I settle for becoming an Immortal or Buddha and living forever?

I can aim higher. I can achieve something better!

The Immortals and Buddhas had rejected him together, and even the might of an emperor had been powerless against them. The humiliation burned. He resolved to wipe it away and make them regret refusing him.

His plan was to combine the Classic of Mountains and Seas with the Nine Provinces Grand Array, draw the extraordinary power from every living being in the Nine Provinces, and turn it into thirty-six Heavenly Dipper Pills and seventy-two Earthly Fiend Pills. He would give the Heavenly Dipper Pills to his relatives, creating a truly immortal imperial clan, and the Earthly Fiend Pills to ministers loyal to him, creating powerful, long-lived servants of the emperor.

If his plan succeeded, no extraordinary beings would remain in the Nine Provinces. All power would be concentrated among those he trusted, under his sole control.

Then even the Immortals and Buddhas would be cast down into the dust. Ordinary people would never again be able to cultivate extraordinary power and shake his rule.

Di Jiazi had won his realm chiefly through the extraordinary might he and his followers possessed. If that power belonged only to the imperial clan and its ministers from then on, Great Xia's rule would never weaken, even after a hundred million years. Di Jiazi and his descendants could rest easy forever, enjoying an age of peace.

It was an appealing idea. More importantly, the Nine Provinces Grand Array and the Classic of Mountains and Seas really could accomplish it together.

But someone objected.

That man was Di Jiazi's confidant. He had followed and protected him since his rise to power. Even after Great Xia was founded, he wanted no power or rank, choosing instead to devote himself to leading the Imperial Guards.

No one knew what the commander of the Imperial Guards had been thinking. All the Pan Lineage's descendants knew was that, while Di Jiazi was not watching, he sabotaged the Nine Provinces Grand Array and the Sky-Reaching Altar, damaged the Classic of Mountains and Seas—the key to the entire plan—and fled with it.

To keep Di Jiazi from catching him through a bloodline-tracing art, he abandoned his family. Soon after escaping, he found a trustworthy child, adopted him, and entrusted him with the Classic of Mountains and Seas Fragment and the mission to "destroy the Nine Provinces Grand Array completely and end the threat forever." Then he leaped into a volcano, leaving no remains and no trail for Di Jiazi to follow.

After exhausting every means at his disposal, Di Jiazi found only the volcanic crater. Believing the Imperial Guards commander had perished in the volcano with the Classic of Mountains and Seas, he was so enraged that he coughed up blood by the bucketful. He died not long afterward.

The child obeyed his adoptive father's instructions. He took "Pan" as his surname, hid at the edge of the Nine Provinces, and passed down the mission through generations who gathered their strength and waited for a chance to fulfill it.

"The 'Pan' in our surname is really the 'pan' from the word for rebellion." Pan Shou let out a long breath, ending his account of the Pan Lineage's history.

Forgot to post an update again...

(End of chapter)