Before the precipice.
The sheer cliff face lay ahead.
A withered tree, the flight of birds.
A ground strewn with carved wooden wine gourds, and the green-robed youth sitting amidst them.
The white-haired elder walked over from the narrow path: “You have been carving these wooden wine gourds for a month and a half now. It is time we commence the true second stage of your training—my teaching of the Yin-Yang among the Ten Iron Laws.”
The Yin-Yang among the Ten Iron Laws.
Having learned Reincarnation, even if only grasping its initial understanding, Lu Yuan knew the profound utility of the Reincarnation Dao. The Reincarnation Force, even at its inception, was remarkably useful, and there was still the Five Elements Reincarnation, the Spacetime Reincarnation, and the Life-and-Death Reincarnation awaiting gradual accumulation of experience and power enhancement.
“I should not have taught you Yin-Yang so early. The Dao of Reincarnation is vast and profound; you have barely stepped through the doorway. Five Elements Reincarnation, Spring-Autumn Reincarnation, Spacetime Reincarnation, Life-and-Death Reincarnation—you have mastered none of them. But since time is pressing and you must journey to the Central Celestial Dynasty, I must impart this knowledge ahead of schedule.”
“Yes.” Lu Yuan instantly straightened his demeanor, listening with utmost seriousness.
“The ten most fundamental forces between heaven and earth constitute the Ten Iron Laws,” Zhou Qingxuan settled down, beginning his discourse. “Among these are the Reincarnation Force and the Yin-Yang Force. The Yin-Yang Force is truly the Force of Yin-Yang Balance. While we speak of balance, this power is actually about seeing through balance. Only by mastering balance can one destroy balance.”
“The reason Ren Du was so easily defeated by me was precisely because I saw through his Yin-Yang balance and immediately seized upon his flaw.”
“The reason I had you carve wooden wine gourds for a month and a half was to make you feel what Yin-Yang balance is, and to realize that in this world, true balance never exists, never has, and perhaps never will. It is rumored that the legendary Gate of Eternity possesses perfect balance, but whether this is true, I do not know,” Zhou Qingxuan mused with a hint of emotion.
“In a month and a half, you should have perceived the subtle balancing force inherent in the cosmos. This most fundamental force seems non-existent, yet it is everywhere.”
“To see through all balance is naturally to find the point of imbalance, and the point of imbalance is the enemy’s weakness.”
“This, is the Yin-Yang Balance Force, one of the Ten Iron Laws.”
Lu Yuan listened to Zhou Qingxuan’s seated discourse, reflecting on the insights gained over the past month and a half, nodding in agreement. It was precisely so. Indeed, without the groundwork laid by carving the gourds, he would not have assimilated this knowledge so naturally. Over that period, he had truly grasped much.
There is a grand balance between heaven and earth. All things in existence possess balance.
Lu Yuan fell into deep contemplation, and within that quiet space, the myriad things of the world floated through his mind.
“You have comprehended much from this discussion. Now, we can begin the method of cultivating Yin-Yang Balance,” Zhou Qingxuan stated. “Reincarnation differs from Yin-Yang. Senior Brother Yan was a singularly self-contained person, and his Reincarnation is the same. His Reincarnation is based on the Five Emperors and Five Sovereigns Reincarnation Sword Dao, generated from the breath of Emperors and Sovereigns. Once the Five Emperors and Five Sovereigns Reincarnation Sword Dao is mastered, it forms its own world, utterly disregarding everything else, forcefully pulling all things in heaven and earth into its cycle. This is the tyranny of Reincarnation.”
“Reincarnation is tyrannical; it cares nothing for myriad things, holding no emotion. Even the fairest beauty cannot withstand the relentless flow of time—this is Reincarnation. Whether you wish to die or not, death will eventually come. This is Reincarnation,” Zhou Qingxuan continued. “But Yin-Yang lacks the tyranny of Reincarnation. Yin-Yang demands your understanding of all things between heaven and earth. With the cosmos in your heart, you master the balance of all things, and thus, the moment an enemy shows a flaw, you know it. This is the Yin-Yang Balance Force.”
“In the Central Celestial Dynasty, there is a swordsmanship called Dugu Nine Swords. However, a sword technique born from this Iron Law of Yin-Yang Balance would resemble the Turning of Stars and Shifting of the Great Universe, akin to Reincarnation. Yet, the imitation level of Dugu Nine Swords is far higher than that of the Turning of Stars and Shifting. The Dao of Yin-Yang is not only achievable through the methods I have created; training the Dugu Nine Swords to an extremely high realm can also achieve it.”
“The cultivation method I created is the Nine Yin and Nine Yang.”
“Yin is taken—”
“Yang is the extreme of numbers.”
“Nine Yin is the world’s ultimate Yin; Nine Yang is the world’s ultimate Yang.”
“Nine Yin and Nine Yang encompass all Yin and Yang in the world. Once mastered, Yin-Yang balance forms naturally.”
“And what constitutes Nine Yin and Nine Yang is another matter. When this epoch began, at the moment of creation, first came heaven and earth itself. On the second day, light appeared. On the third day, mountains and rivers formed. On the fourth day, the celestial bodies appeared—the sun, the moon. On the fifth day, the meteorological phenomena of heaven and earth. On the sixth day came the flying things in the sky, the vegetation, and the animals. On the seventh day came the sentient beings with spiritual wisdom—the myriad forms of life. Nothing in existence can transcend these seven fundamental categories.”
“Therefore, Nine Yin and Nine Yang represent: Heaven and Earth, Light and Darkness, Mountains and Water, Sun and Moon, Thunder and Lightning, Grass and Beasts, and the essence of Man—that is, Man’s Good and Evil. These represent the Seven Yin and Seven Yang of Creation.”
“Afterward, the myriad things began to move, gaining dynamism.”
“Myriad things gained life and death—that is, Life and Death.”
“These represent the Nine Yin and Nine Yang: Heaven, Light... Mountain, Sun... Thunder and Lightning, Beasts, Good... Motion—these are the Nine Yang. While Obscurity, Darkness, Water, Moon, Rain and Snow, Plants, Evil, Stillness, Death—these are the Nine Yin.”
“Among these Nine Yin and Nine Yang, the sword intents you have mastered are seven kinds: Mountain Sword Intent, Water Sword Intent, Moon Sword Intent, Thunder Sword Intent, Rain Sword Intent, Snow Sword Intent, and Grass Sword Intent.”
“Now, we shall begin by learning one Yin and one Yang: that is, Mountain and Water,” Zhou Qingxuan instructed.
“Learning Nine Yin and Nine Yang differs from the Five Emperors and Five Sovereigns Reincarnation Sword Dao. Reincarnation focuses on cycling, whereas Yin-Yang focuses on breaking. Therefore, in this Nine Yin and Nine Yang, you must learn these twenty sword intents, and also learn to break these twenty sword intents. Only by breaking the utmost Yin and utmost Yang in the world—the Seven Yin and Seven Yang of Creation, plus the two derived Yin and Yang—can you break all things between heaven and earth.”
“Next, I shall recite the General Canon of the Nine Yin and Nine Yang…” A long string of the canon was recited, and Lu Yuan felt an immense amount of information being inputted into his brain.
“For Nine Yin and Nine Yang, you must study one Yin and one Yang at a time, starting from the First Yin and First Yang. Since you know Mountain Sword Intent and Water Sword Intent, today you must challenge and break the Mountain Sword Intent and Water Sword Intent.”
“Find the flaws within Mountain and Water.”
“Remember, the Mountain here represents the mountains and hills of the world, and Water represents rivers, lakes, and even the vast seas, as well as the rain between heaven and earth.” In Zhou Qingxuan’s hand appeared a sword wheel, from which a continuous stream of diverse sword strikes began to unleash: “Great Mountain Limitless,” “Stone Unity,” “Mount Tai Flow”... “Accumulated Peaks and Cessation,” and so on—all mountain-attributed sword moves.
“You may only counter sword move with sword move, to see how you break them,” Zhou Qingxuan stated.
Countering sword moves was, Lu Yuan thought privately, not something he worried about greatly. Indeed, Lu Yuan considered himself quite proficient in swordsmanship; after all, he possessed the aura of a Sword Emperor now. But this time, he discovered these moves were extremely difficult to break. It felt as though he was sparring with someone whose swordsmanship was no less than his own, perhaps even slightly superior.
“What? You can’t even handle half of my sword techniques?” Zhou Qingxuan laughed heartily.
This was only half of Uncle-Ancestor Zhou’s swordsmanship? Lu Yuan’s heart tensed. He focused, beginning to break the techniques. The opponent used only mountain-attributed moves, which were vexingly difficult to counter. Mountain moves were not necessarily overwhelming in attack, but their defense was maddeningly impenetrable, tightly woven.
Normally, facing such an opponent, Lu Yuan would eliminate others first and save the mountain specialist for last—how does one attack an impenetrable tortoise shell? But now, there was no choice; he had to break it! Moreover, he couldn't use brute force; he needed an ingenious method. Lu Yuan exchanged hundreds of moves, trying dozens of sword styles, all to no avail.
According to the Five Elements theory, Wood overcomes Earth! But the moment he unleashed Wood-attributed sword strikes, the mountain moves shifted, hardening like solid stone. While Wood can overcome common Earth, it cannot overcome stillness or true rock—that was the problem. Or perhaps Water Sword techniques would work? But these proved useless; Water Sword strikes couldn't even shake such massive mountains.
The great mountain stood majestic, utterly unshakable.
Faintly, an immense, towering mountain materialized before Lu Yuan. The sword strikes released by the sword wheel coalesced into mountain after mountain before him, and these mountains continued to grow. Zhou Qingxuan stood with his hands behind his back. Mountain sword techniques wielded by different people naturally yield different effects, and those from Zhou Qingxuan’s hands were beyond ordinary comparison. Lu Yuan would likely need a long time to break this—at least half a month. However, for the Nine Yin and Nine Yang, mastering even one Yin and one Yang provided substantial benefits that would undoubtedly aid Lu Yuan in the Hundred Kingdoms Assessment.
Dripping water penetrates stone!
These four words suddenly surfaced in Lu Yuan’s mind. A flash of inspiration struck, and he immediately activated his Water-attributed sword moves. The strikes shifted, becoming incredibly dense and fine, starting to wear away at the towering mountain. Lu Yuan’s previous style leaned towards rapid strikes; he rarely employed such attrition-based techniques, but now he had no alternative.
The attrition between Water and Mountain continued. The moment the mountain moves showed a weakness, the clinging water would transform into a terrifying, roaring tide.
Water can conquer Mountain!
He had finally found the mountain’s weakness. The mountain appeared vast and strong, but it was not a singular entity. As long as one slowly wore it down, bit by bit, that was the mountain’s flaw.
The Great Yong Kingdom, Great Yong City.
“Hahahaha! This young master has finally broken through!” Mo Zihe roared with laughter. “Lu Yuan, descendant of the Immortal Splendor Peak lineage! This young master, with so many spiritual treasures, resources, and renowned tutors here in Great Yong City, has now achieved a breakthrough. Just wait for the final assessment; this young master will crush you utterly, making you lick this young master’s boot!”
Mo Zihe was elated, proud, and arrogant.