Chapter 29: Supreme Inheritance

Hum!!!

The moment Li Guanyi's palm gripped this divine bow, the ancient bronze cauldron at his chest began to tremble violently; this phenomenon came not from the cauldron itself, but from the freshly branded Bai Hu dharma-image upon it.

It was as if seeing an old acquaintance, as if seeing a being of the same bloodline.

It began to tremble and struggle violently; layered flowing light suddenly lit up on the bronze cauldron, no longer suppressing as in days past, but converging into a surging stream of wind that clustered around the Bai Hu dharma-image, causing the red dragon that had just poked its head out to be branded back down directly.

In Li Guanyi's eyes, wisps of aura began to gather.

In the eyes of the Xue family grandfather and grandson, nothing had happened at all.

They only saw that young man eager to try, walking to the side of the war bow, and then placing his palm upon it.

But in Li Guanyi's eyes, some kind of aura clearly began to flow upon the bow; he wanted to move his hand away, yet could not, and the Bai Hu dharma-image on the bronze cauldron crawled onto his shoulder, as if standing atop a peak, roaring loudly toward the front, while aura gathered unceasingly.

Li Guanyi saw that upon that war bow, an additional transparent palm had appeared.

It lifted its head.

The gathered qi transformed into a tall man, clad in ancient armor, his features unclear; beside him, a Bai Hu that seemed utterly real paced back and forth, its gaze icy cold, as if it could glimpse the mysteries of all things, with spreading mountains and rivers behind it, a soaring lofty mountain range and a towering city.

Two people, two Bai Hu dharma-images.

As if spanning the long years, they gazed at each other.

The wind passed over the lotus pond, bringing the fierce sound of battle flags from a battlefield five hundred years ago.

Five hundred years ago.

A ruthless, heartless yet supremely talented and visionary king appeared on the grasslands; he killed his own father, and according to the grassland customs of that era, forcibly took his own stepmother as his wife, conquered the entire tribe, and swallowed up the grasslands with the force of a rolling mat.

In ten years, the eighteen tribes of the grasslands were twisted into a single rope.

Once a year they held a great assembly on the grasslands; all set aside their differences, drinking, eating meat, wrestling, and racing horses like brothers, and gradually only one voice spread across the grasslands, only the name of one king carried on the wind.

So they took up long spears and short bows, mounted upon hardy grassland horses, gathered an army of three hundred thousand to devour the Central Plains, and even besieged the great Emperor of the Central Lands in a fortress, nearly killing him; the Emperor, upon his return, appointed the Xue family's divine general to go resist these enemies of the grasslands.

The two sides were to decide victory and defeat beneath the mighty pass; the Xue family divine general sat cross-legged inside the camp, quietly polishing the war bow in his hand, the Bai Hu lying beside him on the ground; the young man's palm stroked the war bow, sensing its excitement, and he looked up toward the distant sacred mountain of the grasslands, saying: "We are about to accomplish the greatest feat of this life."

"The ancient famous general was granted the title of Wolf of Mount Juxu at eighteen; my ambition is greater than his."

"I will shoot the king of the grasslands dead beneath the sacred mountain where they hold their sacrifices, so that those people who grew up on horseback will not dare to invade our Central Plains lands for three hundred years, sheltering our descendants for generations to come in peace and health."

"Such a feat of war should not be buried in the dust of history; with this divine weapon as the guide—"

"Engrave the five hundred years before, and the five hundred years after—an unmatched grand deed that none can rival."

The great Bai Hu yawned.

The young man, gripping the war bow five hundred years ago, said: "I think that if a later descendant can pick up this bow, they should also be able to see the resolve of us; I will shoot an arrow through their so-called sacred mountain, and those who come after, if fated, may go to the hollow within that sacred mountain; I will leave something there."

"Your Majesty was besieged, and I will slay him; my fame is too great, and so there will be backlash; naturally I worry the Xue family's legacy will perish, so I leave my war halberd here, and only the bow is passed down within the Xue family—this self-inflicted loss preserves my descendants."

The young man smiled slightly: "Finally, please accept this greeting from the bygone years."

"People of later ages."

"How do you fare?"

"Is the world of the future still at peace?"

Five hundred years ago, the divine general's strategists entered the tent, curious: "General, what are you saying to the war bow?"

The young man looked up and said: "It's nothing."

"I was just thinking, if this war bow doesn't break, one day, perhaps someone can hear the words I speak? Maybe ten years, maybe a hundred, perhaps even longer—even if by then I am already dead."

"Just like finding the handwriting left by predecessors in an old book."

"Isn't that also something that brings a pleasant smile?"

The strategists exchanged glances, sighing: "Has the general's divine will already become imperishable for a thousand years?"

The young man only gently stroked the war bow without answering, looking toward tomorrow's battlefield.

Outside the tent came the clashing of arms and the sound of banners flapping in the great grassland wind; these sounds gradually faded away, and the scene before his eyes was like dust and smoke, reflected in Li Guanyi's eyes, and he heard the words left by that once foremost divine general five hundred years ago.

As if sensing something, he raised his head.

An incomparably vast ancient Bai Hu dharma-image, one that had even taken on divinity, stood before him; its pupils were golden, the fur on its head had grown a little longer, flowing in the wind like the light of dawn.

If one said that such a Bai Hu dharma-image was the descent of the Bai Hu Star Lord from the heavens, no one could refute it.

And the Bai Hu dharma-image on Li Guanyi's shoulder struggled to stand steady.

Its body trembled slightly; its two furry front paws lifted and pressed down, as if massaging Li Guanyi's shoulders; finally its tail tensed tight, like a drawn spring released in one breath, and its whole body pounced out—when it pounced it was like a small steel ball, then it stretched out in midair.

Plop.

It landed upon the body of this matchless dharma-image gathered from divine weapons.

The great Bai Hu beside the Xue family ancestor lowered its gaze, looking at the little white tiger that had grabbed its whiskers, tucked in all four limbs, even its tail clamped down and trembling; an expression of indulgence and a sigh seemed to appear on its face; it lay prone on the ground, lowered its head, and pressed its forehead against the little white tiger's forehead.

A faint flowing light appeared on both Bai Hu.

And the lingering divine resonance of the Xue family ancestor suddenly dispersed, transforming into a streak of flowing light that flew straight into Li Guanyi's brow; Li Guanyi's face turned pale in an instant, and a great mass of knowledge suddenly appeared in his mind—it was the martial art inheritance carried by the divine will.

"Nine Heavens Ten Earths Fixed Heavenly Gang"

"Ten Directions Six Directions Infinite Regret"

"Slay Heaven," "Break Clouds," "Suppress the Nine Provinces"

Name after name flashed by, but Li Guanyi had no way at all to see their contents. His realm was too low; he could not comprehend them.

A summer insect cannot be spoken of with ice.

It was like making an elementary school student recite the analysis of the final problem in advanced mathematics.

Mathematics could still be tackled by rote-memorizing reference answers, but these martial inheritances did not even qualify for rote memorization.

Li Guanyi groaned, forcibly holding his mind together; and at this moment, when his mental state was in turmoil, a melody suddenly surfaced in his mind—it was his aunt's qin music; for some reason, the originally irritable, nauseous state actually began to ease.

A passage of text suddenly swept past Li Guanyi's "vision."

【Treatise on the Three Vehicles of Entering the Realm】! This one could barely be read.

Li Guanyi forcibly steadied his mind, enduring the dizziness and urge to vomit, his face deathly pale, yet he forcibly branded this scroll of text into his brain, without even time to comprehend it; then that streak of flowing light left Li Guanyi's body and transformed before him into the appearance of the divine general.

The divine general's body was transparent; the meridians and acupoints of his physique lit up one by one, flowing along a special trajectory.

Ahead, there seemed to be dozens of enemies; Shanhe rose from the land.

The divine general suddenly stepped forward, his body like a Bai Hu roaring, and used his shoulder to send the enemies ahead flying.

Then, taking advantage of the momentum, he loosed an arrow.

On the arrow shaft, domineering golden wind coiled, tearing forward.

The Bai Hu roared, and the enemies ahead were torn apart completely.

Shanhe cracked apart.

Dharma Aspect Absolute Art · 【One Arrow, Light and Cold】! Then he took out two arrows, nocking them both on the bowstring at the same time; faintly, the sound of Lei Ting stirred around him. Compared to the move just now, it was stronger by several times at the very least—clearly, an even more formidable absolute art.

But at this moment, the zither music also seemed unable to maintain Li Guanyi's spiritual stability.

His realm was far too low.

Especially far from that once-world's foremost divine general who had accomplished supreme great deeds.

The gap was so vast that even receiving the inheritance was an enormous pressure for Li Guanyi at this moment.

From beside his ear came a response without self-will, simply calm and even.

"Your realm is too low."

"When your Archery has reached Minor Completion, and after you enter the realm of Major Completion, then come receive this inheritance."

All the strange phenomena shattered, and could no longer be seen clearly; the many changes before the youth's eyes vanished. Only that enormous Bai Hu remained, passing something on to his own little Bai Hu Dharma Aspect. Li Guanyi only felt his forehead splitting with pain, gasping for breath, his complexion visibly turning pale.

Li Guanyi's heart held a clear realization: he was not yet qualified, did not yet have the strength to use this bow.

But he also had a feeling.

One day in the future, he would be able to draw it.

Perhaps he could not accomplish the feat of piercing through a mountain range with one arrow, shooting through three hundred and eighty li, but relying on the divine weapon, one arrow for fifty li—that might well be possible.

He noticed Xue Daoyong's gaze, startled and uncertain, and let go of his hand, saying regretfully:

"It really is heavy; I can't lift it."

The old gentleman of the Xue family, his expression of startled uncertainty returning to normal, laughed heartily: "Hahaha, after all, this is an ancestor's divine weapon—able to shoot three hundred and eighty li with one arrow. The heaviness and domineering force of this bow are naturally extraordinary."

Li Guanyi thought for a moment and said: "Perhaps it's just that my cultivation is insufficient."

"Senior, may I wait until after I enter the realm, and then come try again?"

He had only obtained the inheritance of one arrow and one merit.

Li Guanyi was very curious about the absolute arts that came after.

As for speaking of it? Speaking of having obtained the Xue family's inheritance—Li Guanyi could forget for the rest of his life about leaving the Xue family and the Chen Kingdom with his aunt.

Xue Daoyong only thought it was the spirit of a young man, and that in front of a girl of the same age he couldn't save face, so he spoke in a fit of pique. In his heart he felt this was more like a young man ought to be; in any case, without the Bai Hu Dharma Aspect, he absolutely could not lift this bow. Such a favor was naturally to be granted in the flow of things, so he laughed loudly: "Hahaha, good! A young man with courage, with a heart of defiance and unwillingness—this is a Meng Dahao thing! Waiting for You to Enter the Realm, then come try again!"

"Thank you, Senior."

The old and the young drank tea, both feeling they had made out splendidly.

Xue Shuangtao's eyes lit up; she also wanted to try, but unfortunately the girl did not possess the Bai Hu Dharma Aspect.

Nor did she have any other divine intent. She struggled for quite a while, and in the end, even her Bai Yu-like face flushed completely red, she still could not lift it. Fine sweat seeped from her forehead; feeling somewhat embarrassed, she turned her back, unwilling to let Li Guanyi and her grandfather see the sight of sweat clinging to the hair at her temples.

Li Guanyi, however, had not seen such a radiant, girlish sight.

He forced himself to drink tea, using the bitterness to steady his spirit.

And at this moment, that enormous Bai Hu also slowly dissipated. Li Guanyi's Bai Hu Dharma Aspect had just now existed outside by relying on the aura of the divine bow; now that the divine weapon had returned to quiet, naturally, like a weary bird returning to the woods, it came back and fell upon the bronze cauldron.

Li Guanyi's movements paused slightly.

When the Bai Hu Dharma Aspect returned—

Ninety-eight percent of the bronze cauldron's jade liquid—

Instantly became complete!

(End of this chapter)