The heavens change (I)

After Irbu finished speaking, he "saw" Xu Qi'an of the ship. It was as if he had been hit on the head. His pupils dilated slightly, and his expression froze instantly.

"If there's nothing else, I, Master Linghui, will take my leave now."

Irbu withdrew his gaze, said something in a flat tone, and prepared to leave.

"Etc!"

Xu Qi'an slowly exhaled and asked:

Was the ancestral home of the first Director of the Imperial Academy in Xiangzhou?

He asked this question calmly on the surface, but his heart was quietly tense.

Irbu frowned:

How should I know? Even if I do know, why should I tell you?

After taking the opportunity to retort to Xu Qi'an, he turned and left.

In the slightly scorching sunlight, Xu Qi'an sat at the bow of the boat, silent.

"What's wrong?"

Mu Nanzhi, at the other end of the boat, asked a question.

Because of their familiarity with each other, she could sense that Xu Qi'an was not in a good mood. He should have been happy to have obtained the refining materials to revive Wei Yuan, but he was just sitting there in a daze.

Xu Qi'an exhaled, composed himself, and said:

Do you remember the map of the Chai family tomb?

Mu Nanzhi tilted her head and thought for a moment:

"The Chai family ancestors were tomb keepers, but they were wiped out because of a map of the great tomb. The only child, well, was sold into slavery in the Southern Frontier. Later, he returned to Xiangzhou and founded the current Chai family."

She spoke these words haltingly, trying hard to recall them.

Xu Qi'an asked again:

"So whose tomb do you think it is?"

Mu Nanzhi said angrily:

How should I know!

Bai Ji chimed in sweetly, "That's right!"

"Sigh," Xu Qi'an said, half sighing and half exhaling.

"What if I told you that the first supervisor was named Chai Xinjue?"

Mu Nanzhi and Bai Ji both tilted their heads to the left, looking confused and adorably naive.

They didn't quite grasp the concept.

Xu Qi'an couldn't tell for a moment whether they had forgotten the first supervisor or hadn't understood the meaning behind his words.

After all, the information about the first supervisor was kept secret, but due to the sense of historical fragmentation, it is impossible for people to completely forget it.

"The owner of the tomb was the first Supervisor," Xu Qi'an revealed the answer directly.

Then, Mu Nanzhi and Bai Ji simultaneously widened their eyes, making them round and chubby.

"So Chai Xing'er is a descendant of the first Imperial Censor?" Mu Nanzhi thought Xu Qi'an was talking nonsense and looked unconvinced.

"How could that be? There are countless people with the surname Chai. Perhaps it's just a coincidence."

"It's just a coincidence!" Bai Ji repeated.

Xu Qi'an shook his head:

There are many people with the surname Chai, but not many that Xu Pingfeng would personally come to. There are no such coincidences in the world.

"Furthermore, the first supervisor died five hundred years ago during Emperor Wuzong's rebellion. From a temporal perspective, while it cannot prove that the Chai family has a five-hundred-year history, there is no contradiction either."

If we push the timeline back, the Chai family were originally tomb keepers, but they later gave up their status and settled in Xiangzhou. Later, because someone coveted the map of the great tomb, the entire Chai family was wiped out, and their only child was sold into slavery in the Southern Frontier.

More than a hundred years ago, that child returned to Xiangzhou and became the ancestor of the Chai family.

In other words, the Chai family has existed for at least two hundred years.

Therefore, there is no contradiction in terms of timing.

"I've always wondered why Xu Pingfeng would pay attention to such a small-time martial arts Aristocratic Clan. Compared to him, a second-rank Warlock, the Chai family is like an ant. After learning that the Chai family possesses a map to a mysterious tomb, I've started to wonder why this tomb could attract Xu Pingfeng's attention."

Xu Qi'an rubbed his temples. "Later, I thought it was Xu Pingfeng who came into contact with the leader of the Corpse Gu Clan, saw the map from him, and that's how he found the Chai family."

It took Mu Nanzhi a long time to process his words, and she frowned as she said:

"Isn't that right?"

"That possibility cannot be ruled out, but there might be another possibility!"

Xu Qi'an's expression turned somewhat ugly:

"Perhaps Xu Pingfeng learned about the tomb from that lineage five hundred years ago, and knew that the Chai family were the first tomb guardians. There are just a few details I haven't figured out yet."

"What details?"

Bai Ji asked in a crisp voice.

Xu Qi'an did not respond.

First: Why is Xu Pingfeng searching for the tomb of the first generation? The first generation is dead, what value does his tomb still have?

Second: The first Imperial Supervisor died during Emperor Wuzong's rebellion. It's uncertain whether his remains were preserved. Is the body buried in this large tomb truly that of the first Imperial Supervisor?

Jingshan City.

Wearing a linen robe, Salun Agu ascended the stone steps to the altar.

On the vast altar, two sculptures stand facing each other, one of them wearing a wide-sleeved robe, with a youthful face and a crown of thorns.

Another person was dressed in an ancient Confucian robe and wore a Confucian hat, with one hand behind his back and the other placed on his lower abdomen.

Salen Agu walked to the statue of the shaman god, bowed slightly, and then muttered incantations; some words could be vaguely heard:

"The White Emperor, the Gatekeeper, and the First Supervisor—there's a problem with him."

After he finished speaking, Salen Agu lowered his head, gesturing as if to listen.

A few seconds later, Arun Agu raised his head, his eyes slowly narrowing, and muttered to himself:

"In the Great Wilderness, there is only one."

The Western Regions, Aranya.

Wearing a kasaya, the Bodhisattva Guangxian, depicted as a young monk, sits cross-legged under a Bodhi tree.

The crystal bodhisattva, with her black hair flowing like a waterfall, dressed in white, and barefoot as white as snow, carries a jade pot in her hand.

The "rope" of the jade pot is a thin black snake, with its tail hooked around the handle and its head held in the hand of a glass Bodhisattva.

"Is the gatekeeper definitely the supervisor?"

The voice of the Crystal Bodhisattva was melodious, yet devoid of emotion.

"That's what the Gara tree said." The Bodhisattva Guangxian smiled and clasped his hands together.

In my opinion, it's highly likely.

The two Bodhisattvas had only recently learned about the concept of the gatekeeper, thanks to the message sent back by the Bodhisattva Garuda from Qingzhou.

The Lapis Lazuli Bodhisattva nodded, her tone calm:

"Whether it is or not, it doesn't matter."

She handed the jade pot to the Bodhisattva Guangxian, saying, "Be careful not to harm the guardian dragon."

As he spoke, he gently patted the black snake's head.

The Bodhisattva Guangxian picked up the small snake, pressed his index finger and thumb against its abdomen, and pulled it upwards. The black snake suddenly stiffened, as if in great pain, and its scarlet mouth opened abruptly, spitting out a mist of blood with a fishy smell.

The blood mist did not dissipate, but instead gently flowed into the golden bowl in front of the Bodhisattva Guangxian.

The Bodhisattva Guangxian released the small black snake, then picked up the jade pot, poured out the spout, and slowly dripped out a pale golden droplet of water.

The Lapis Lazuli Bodhisattva tenderly cradled the tiny black snake in her palm, carefully protecting it.

The golden bowl rippled with a "golden red" halo, which spread in concentric circles.

Bodhisattva Guangxian tapped the golden bowl lightly with his finger and whispered:

"Rise!"

A golden and red glow rose from the golden bowl, like fireflies or light ribbons, drifting into the depths of Aranda.

A moment later, a blazing sun rose from Arando, its golden rays shining in countless directions.

At the foot of the mountain, believers knelt and prostrated themselves on the ground, hands clasped together, foreheads touching the ground, praising the miracles of Buddhist School.

After the White Emperor appeared, the water element in the air increased dramatically, causing the sea of clouds to surge, overlap, and collide, thus giving birth to thunder.

The sea of clouds beneath the supervisor and others transformed into dark clouds brewing thunder and lightning.

The White Emperor's azure vertical eyes stared at the white-robed supervisor, whose robes fluttered in the wind. Its voice was as deep as ever:

"Gatekeepers don't fall easily. If you're the gatekeeper, then what is the First Generation?"

After meeting Salen Agu, it obtained a relatively satisfactory, yet paradoxical, answer.

The unusual behavior of the first supervisor indicated that he was the gatekeeper, but if he was the gatekeeper, how could he have died so easily?

Seeing that the supervisor did not answer, the White Emperor continued:

"After the Gods and Devils perished, I kept thinking, if there is anything in this world that can symbolize the Heavenly Dao, what would it be?"

Are they spirits of flowers, birds, fish, insects, plants, and trees? Are they Gods and Devils and demons? Are they humans and monsters? Are they the various systems of today?

No, none of those.

The White Emperor shook his head and said, word by word:

It's fate!

"The fall of Gods and Devils and demons is the will of Heaven."

"The rise of the human and demon races is also a matter of destiny. Even now, the Demon Race race is declining, and the human race is gradually dominating the Nine Provinces Continent."

"This is also due to the favor of Heavenly Dao, the destined prosperity of the human race. And all of this is inseparable from destiny."

"Among the two major systems related to destiny, Confucian School absorbs destiny and integrates with it. Therefore, Confucian School scholars cannot achieve immortality; this is a lesser path."

"But Warlock are different. Warlock refine and control destiny. The Fated One is one with the nation; if the nation perishes, he dies, and if it does, he lives as long as the nation. Binding and merging oneself with those favored by Heavenly Dao is the Great Dao."

"Therefore, I have reason to suspect that the first supervisor was the gatekeeper, favored by Heavenly Dao, and thus established the Warlock System."

Xu Pingfeng and the Bodhisattva Garuda listened silently.

The supervisor sat Orthodox God at the front of the chessboard, his expression revealing neither joy nor anger.

"But as I just said, gatekeepers don't die easily, and you killed the first gatekeeper. So I wondered, could it be that the first gatekeeper wasn't the gatekeeper in the first place?"

"The one truly favored by the heavens is the Warlock System, not the first one. After creating the Warlock System, his mission was complete, and then the true gatekeeper, that is, you, took the stage."

"So your true identity is quite a secret."

After Bai Di finished speaking, he stared intently at the supervisor.

The supervisor looked back at Baidi and laughed:

"If you want to know, come and try it yourself."

A fierce glint flashed in the White Emperor's vertical pupils.

Boom!

Lightning flashed in the clouds, followed by a whooshing sound in the void, and a gigantic, illusory black wave, hundreds of feet high, rose behind the supervisor.

He slammed his fist down on him.

This was formed purely from the power of water elemental energy. The White Emperor's attack almost completely drained the water elemental energy within a radius of a hundred miles.

The supervisor slowly rose and stood proudly motionless. As the giant wave crashed in, he stretched his right hand behind him and plunged it into the illusory black wave.

Then, with a sudden jerk of his right arm, he pulled out a jet-black, almost solid longsword.

Behind him, the black giant wave collapsed.

Alchemist!

Ordinary Alchemist refine steel and tools.

Top Alchemist forge magical Law Artifact and divine weapons.

The pinnacle Alchemist is to create hybrids between humans and horses.

When one reaches the level of Supervisor, one refines the elements of heaven and earth, which involve the arrangement and recombination at the microscopic level.

If he wanted to, he could easily turn lead into gold.

Using the water elemental power gathered by the other party to forge a water elemental sword is, of course, within the realm of Alchemist.

"Here you go!"

The supervisor swung his sword with a backhand strike.

The Water Spirit Sword struck only an afterimage; the White Emperor's true form appeared before him, raising his right claw and unleashing a simple, unadorned strike.

Boom! Boom! Boom! The void itself seemed to collapse under the force of this attack.

"Bite!"

From the slant, a thick, dark sword light shot out from the void.

It has been transmitted back.

At the same time, this sword strike was concealed from the heavens, silently and fiercely slashing at the White Emperor's waist.

The sword light exploded into pure water elemental power, and the White Emperor transformed into a white shadow and flew backward. Its four hooves "grabbed" the void, sliding dozens of feet before it could neutralize the force of the slash.

The White Emperor gazed at the distant Supervisor and spoke slowly in a deep voice:

"It's been a long time since I've fought an enemy of your caliber. Interesting."

As soon as the words were spoken, two Dharma forms materialized above the head of the Gara Tree Bodhisattva.

Beneath Xu Pingfeng's feet, a circular array three zhang in diameter lit up, complete with the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, the Five Elements and the Eight Trigrams.

Three top-tier martial arts masters ambushed and killed the supervisor!

P. S.: This level of combat is very exciting to write, but it also requires careful attention. First, I need to convey the power of a first-rank character, and second, I need to avoid writing overly grandiose or empty descriptions. I need to write a separate detailed outline for this fight scene.

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