CHAPTER 53: CHAPTER 50 INCIDENT BEGINS (3)

"White Tiger Slaughter World," Junior Brother Xuanfeng, "your White Tiger’s prowess is not as great as Lord Zhen Shan’s Dingshan Tiger." Faced with the gathering of the White Tiger Spirit Form, Xuan Guang spoke lightly and carelessly.

"The White Tiger is just a manifestation of the Four Symbols, it needn’t the pomp of mortals." Faced with Xuan Guang’s psychological attack, Xuanfeng wasn’t fooled.

The True Martial Dao Sect belonged to the Taoist School, which modelled its teachings on nature and the universe, and the universe itself needed no pomp to decorate itself. The White Tiger was one of the Four Symbols, and the Four Symbols were also a natural part of the universe.

"Enough talk, Xuan Guang, meet your demise!"

Xuanfeng could not suppress the rage in his heart. The White Tiger roared to the sky without a sound, instead spewing countless wind blades tinged with Geng Metal Energy, sweeping towards Xuan Guang who was situated high on the second floor.

The Geng Metal Blades sliced through the air, creating a piercing whistling of the wind. Countless Geng Metal Blades shattered the wind itself.

"Well said, why would the Four Symbols need pomp," facing Xuanfeng’s resentful strike, Xuan Guang remained calm and methodical: "If that’s the case, why should the Four Symbols manifest the White Tiger."

His words were deliberate, yet during the moment the Geng Metal Blades assaulted, they reached Xuanfeng’s ears.

Xuan Guang raised his palm, and behind him a giant cyan Dharma Image faintly appeared, then blurred into the color of a white beast, and then cycled through crimson, black, with the Four Colors’ Dharma Images flashing in sequence. On his palm, the colors changed too, finally subtly shifting into a blend of black and white.

He struck out with his palm.

A massive palm, flickering with black and white, materialized and nonchalantly absorbed the sweeping Geng Metal Blades, recycling them, transforming them into a part of the True Qi within the palm. The True Qi giant palm continued to slowly press towards Xuanfeng, and although its speed was slow, it carried an invisible pressure that bore down on Xuanfeng, forcing him to rigidly receive the palm that seemed to solidify the entire space.

"How can this be possible... Heavenly Yan Four Symbols Palm!"

Xuanfeng roared out in anger. The White Tiger Spirit truly manifested the form of the White Tiger, with its body and spirit merging as one, the vivid and lifelike White Tiger charged toward that inescapable palm.

"Boom"

The two forces collided, and the shockwave of the impact caused the robust mountain walls, weathered by wind and sun, to rupture into innumerable cracks and crevices.

Xuanfeng was blasted against the mountain wall, where his body formed a human-shaped crater, also cracking the crevices of the mountain wall into gaping wounds. The other party, Xuan Guang, seemed to have an invisible protective shield around his pavilion; like a steadfast rock in the ocean, it stood unfazed amidst the battering air waves.

With a "crash," a piece of rock above the mountain wall split and tumbled down due to the shock.

"Heh," chuckled Xuan Guang lightly, lifting his right palm high, "Heavenly Yan Four Symbols Palm" struck again.

The rock shattered to bits.

With a wave of his large sleeve, Xuan Guang’s True Qi swept up the wind, scattering the powdered remnants of the rock, which were then carried by the mountain breeze towards Yang City in the distance.

"How can this be... Heavenly Yan Four Symbols Palm..." Xuanfeng, embedded in the mountain wall with blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, struggled to speak.

"How can it not be possible." Xuan Guang advanced through the air, hovering in front of Xuanfeng.

"This... How..." Xuanfeng was still shocked and puzzled, "Riding the wind as if to fly, Divine Communication..."

Xuan Guang shook his head and smiled: "The Divine Realm is just a little out of reach, just a tiny bit."

He gestured with his fingers a small gap in front of Xuanfeng’s face, then grabbed Xuanfeng by the collar, slowly descending.

That tiny bit was like the difference between heaven and earth; if it had been the Divine Realm, he could have easily grabbed Xuanfeng and returned to the pavilion on the wind, not like now, seemingly at an impasse.

"This can’t be possible..." Xuanfeng continued to mutter to himself.

"By all logic, it shouldn’t be." Xuan Guang knew what he meant.

"Azure Dragon Star Coiling, Vermilion Bird Burning Sky, White Tiger Slaughter World, Xuanwu Sea Control. The Four Symbols Ultimate Skills, among the brothers, only you and I specialized in one. You were wholeheartedly devoted, focusing intensively on one. Whereas I, limited by comprehension, could only cultivate one.

Among the brothers, only Senior Brother Xuanfa had exceptional heavenly talent, mastered all Four Symbols, and integrated the Four Symbols Ultimate Skills, cultivating the Heavenly Yan Four Symbols Palm. It was also under Senior Brother Xuanfa’s guidance that I managed to develop the Xuanwu Sea Control."

"Why? Senior Brother Xuanfa took such good care of you, why did you betray him?" By the end of his words, Xuanfeng’s voice was hoarse with exertion.

"Why betray? Ha, Senior Brother Xuanfa cared for you no less than for me, so why betray him? If it weren’t for several of you holding back at critical moments, Xuanfa wouldn’t have ended in such failure and death. Now, it’s uncertain who would be sitting on the Zhenwu Sect Leader’s throne." Xuan Guang sneered disdainfully.

"For the sake of..." Xuanfeng did not finish his sentence; he wanted to say it was for the Zhenwu Sect.

But in the end, it was proven that Xuanfa did not betray the Zhenwu Sect. They had been misled by others and had contributed to Xuanfa’s demise.

"To put it plainly, although Xuanfa’s kindness was significant, there are still things more important," Xuan Guang continued, ignoring Xuanfeng’s silence, "You all believed the True Martial Dao Sect to be more important, so even with mere suspicion, you did not hesitate to betray Xuanfa. I also have things more important to me. Among my fellow disciples, I had the slowest comprehension.

What you could master in a day, I needed three, even four days to achieve. While you cultivated for only two hours a day, I had to cultivate for five, sometimes six or seven hours.

Still, you all progressed far faster than I did. When assigning the Peak Masters, aside from a few younger brothers, among those of the same age, only I was passed over, left to follow Xuanfa, playing the role of a menial errand boy.

Xuanfa did help me a lot, and I was the closest to him because there was nowhere else for me to go. At that time, I realized something while watching others bask in glory."

Xuan Guang’s eyes were wide open, staring at Xuanfeng: "Power, in this world, only sufficient power can earn you attention, respect. And only power will never betray you."

"We have never disregarded you. We grew up together since we were children," Xuanfeng said with a raspy voice.

"So what if we grew up together, Xuanfa and Xuan Chen still fought each other to the death. And us too, we all betrayed Xuanfa," Xuan Guang said with a sneer.

"You say, given the choice of continuing as a nameless lackey under Xuanfa or betraying Xuanfa, advancing to the Divine Realm, and earning the awe of thousands, which one would you choose?"

Without a doubt, Xuan Guang chose the latter, betraying Xuanfa to advance to the Divine Realm.

"It’s impossible, you had just advanced to the True Pill Realm at that time, even at the peak of the True Pill Realm, ascending to God would not be so easy," Xuanfeng argued.

The Divinity Realm, Martial Arts Divine Communication, once one advances, they are no longer ordinary. Even at the peak of the True Pill Realm, the path to advancement is fraught with extreme difficulty, all the more so for Xuan Guang, who had just entered the True Pill Realm.

"Impossible? Ha ha..." Xuan Guang laughed wildly, "How could it not be possible, where would it be impossible? Look, in just five years, I went from just advancing to True Pill to now being a hair’s breadth from Divine Communication. And you, what were you five years ago? You are still the same after five years, not a whit of advancement."

Indeed, where could it be impossible. The fact lay before him; Xuan Guang was on the verge of Divine Communication. And he himself, feeling guilty towards Senior Brother Xuanfa, with a knot in his heart, had done well just to not regress over these five years. Similarly, several other brothers had held back, doubting Xuanfa.

Taoist Martial Arts emphasize Mental State the most. If Xuanfeng could be an unfeeling and unrighteous person like Xuan Guang, Xuanfa’s demise would not affect him at all. Unfortunately, they were not. They cast aside Xuanfa, whom they owed a debt of gratitude for what they believed was a more important True Martial Dao Sect, only to learn thereafter that Xuanfa had not betrayed the sect’s interests but instead it was their own betrayal that led to becoming Xuanfa’s grave-diggers.

However, even if Xuanfa were in his shoes, suspected in the same way, Xuanfeng believed that Xuanfa would make the same choice, for the True Martial Dao Sect was their home, its importance surpassing everything else.

"I am not heartless and unrighteous like you, Xuan Guang. Even having the opportunity to ascend to God, which is hard to prove, we would still choose the former whatever the case."

"Really? An opportunity to ascend to God that can be proven right before us, don’t we in the True Martial Dao Sect have it?" Xuan Guang said teasingly.

"The Zhenwu Jade?!"

The Zhenwu Jade contained the lifelong Martial Arts Enlightenment of the ancestral master of the True Martial Dao Sect. Every hundred years, the jade, powered by an array, would once again manifest the enlightenment of the ancestral master, allowing the participant to advance to the Divine Realm.

To ensure that each Zhenwu Sect Leader had enough strength to lead the True Martial Dao Sect, it was stipulated that only the Sect Leader could comprehend the Zhenwu Jade.

"Do you think, why it took Xuan Chen nearly two years to advance to the Divine Realm, if not because two people took part in the comprehension, shortening the time needed to comprehend the jade?"

According to the records of successive Zhenwu Sect Leaders, after comprehending the Zhenwu Jade, one could advance to the Divine Realm in as little as several months, or up to one year.

And it took nearly two years for Xuan Chen before he successfully advanced. Of course, to the outside world, the statement was that Xuan Chen, moved by inner conflict, slowed his pace. It was also then, feeling secure in his position as Sect Leader, that Xuan Chen relaxed his grip and sent Qing Yu to Qing Province, no longer restricting him to the True Martial Dao Sect.

"This..." Xuanfeng was so shocked he could not speak.

"Alright, Junior Brother Xuanfeng, you know what you need to know now. Rest assured, I as your senior brother will not harm you. I will take good care of you, so you can go back and spread the good deeds carried out by Xuan Chen."

After speaking, Xuan Guang picked up Xuanfeng and leaped into the door on the second floor of the small building.

The door on the second floor closed automatically.

A mountain breeze gently blew, and everything seemed like it had never happened, with only the jagged, split mountain wall bearing witness to the brief yet intense battle.