I stole divine power in Daxia

Chapter 566 Jiang Taiyi's Knot
Amid the lingering aroma of tea, Li Jing picked up her teacup and took a sip before saying, "I knew that history can be used as a mirror to understand the rise and fall of nations, but I didn't know that history books can not only record the past, but also write the future."

Hu Wenlang smiled and said, "If a school of thought cannot guide people's future lives and only looks back on the past, then this school of thought is bound to be corrupt and cannot be passed on. Historians actually do a good job in this regard. They hide under the dynasty, and most of the time they are right to 'correct justice' because they represent the interests of the dynasty itself. As long as the dynasty does not fall into absolute corruption, it represents the will of the people. Of course, the influence of some historians' personal emotions and preferences is inevitable."

"And [The Final Judgment] uses the dynasty's fortune as its writing brush and the remaining holy power of the Confucian sages in the academy as its support. It sees both the past and the future. This is to use one's own heart to replace the will of heaven. Therefore, for so many years, historians have always had a close relationship with Confucianism, just like twin babies."

"At the beginning, Emperor Wu of Wei and the historians joined forces, and the Qingshi scrolls cooperated with the situation in the court, which aggravated Ren Tu's arrogance. That's why Jiang Taiyi wanted to fight it out on the Luo River. At the same time, the Qingshi scrolls can also be regarded as a tributary of history."

"Historical tributary?"

Li Jing interrupted and asked, he really didn't know about this, he had not personally experienced the situation in the library at that time.

Hu Wenlang explained, "In all classics, the long river is used to metaphorize history and time, which is actually very appropriate."

Li Jing nodded slightly, indicating that she understood this.

Hu Wenlang continued, "Since it is a long river, it has mainstreams and tributaries. The same is true for history and time. The 'world' we live in is the mainstream. The mainstream is vast and powerful, with the fate of billions of lives as its source. Even a saint cannot stop its flow."

"But outside the mainstream, there are ways to form tributaries, preserve a period of 'past' time, and graft it onto the 'future' you want when needed. The revival of champion Hou Xiao Yuanshan is one of these cases."

Li Jing's eyes gleamed, "You mean the "history" of Ren Tu's weak time is preserved in his "Final Judgment" scroll?"

"It is also a reality that contradicts the 'mainstream'." Hu Wenlang added, and he wrote a few words in the air, "The Biography of the Butcher, Jiang Taiyi died on March 28, the th year of Wei Wu."

Li Jing thought seriously for a moment and understood the mystery. By using the national destiny and divine power, historians have actually been recording a parallel period of human slaughter. However, this period of time is hidden in the scrolls most of the time, and the small amount of dissipated power only guides future events based on reality.

Only in the most extreme cases will historians write a result that directly contradicts "reality", and at the same time make this period of time no longer exist in the scrolls, but directly connect to the mainstream of history.

This would lead to a historical paradox, making Ren Tu have two completely different attributes of life and death at the same time, thus causing backlash from the mainstream of history, directly covering up all of Ren Tu's experiences from the root, allowing them to settle at the bottom of the long river of history and be buried by history.

After thinking it over, Li Jing looked at Hu Wenlang seriously again, "It's so real that it can be mistaken for a fake."

Hu Wenlang chuckled, "Actually, this is well known. Novelists come from unofficial history, and unofficial history has always been inseparable. We and historians have always been two sides of the same coin. In the long history, who can say that they have recorded all of history comprehensively, fairly, and objectively? They just picked out some things they like to write."

"Historians have always said that we are not objective, because we novelists like to use the public's preferences to write a fantasy world and make people believe it. But historians are even more outrageous. They use existing history to influence the public's preferences and promote the future process. In this process, we novelists will affect their right to speak, so historians have always disliked us."

Li Jing picked up the tea again and took a sip. "So this is the debate between novels and biographies. Biographies can give a final verdict on a person, but novels can make up some false stories to open the sealed coffin..."

At this point, Li Jing's eyes lit up, "What about Jiang Taiyi's seal?"

Hu Wenlang said, "The final step of the historian's final conclusion is to let the parallel 'history' in the Records of the Grand Historian appear in the mainstream world, creating a temporary reality, so that the subject of the treatment is in a contradictory state, and thus covered by the long river of history. But in fact, it is not accurate to describe it as 'covered'. It is more accurate to say that it is a repetitive 'knot', which is woven on the mainstream. The subject is indeed in a state of neither life nor death, so this period of history is both correct and incorrect, and will remain there until one day people can untie it."

"Jiang Taiyi's situation is more complicated. He is already a sub-sage, close to a state of neither life nor death. At the same time, for the sake of the warriors who followed him, he finally chose to repeat the battle of that day in that knot, waiting for the day to escape."

Li Jing frowned and said, "That is to say, if Jiang Taiyi's seal is opened directly, Jiang Taiyi can be resurrected in a complete state."

Hu Wenlang shook his head slightly.

Li Jing was puzzled, "Did I guess wrong?"

Hu Wenlang smiled and said, "Have you forgotten the origin of the formation of this 'knot'? This is the superposition of two 'real' histories. Jiang Taiyi has two outcomes, life and death. As for whether he is alive or dead, it depends on the 'result' seen by the person who untied the knot. When the person who untied the knot saw that Jiang Taiyi was dead for a moment, then Jiang Taiyi was dead in the present history. If the person who untied the knot saw that Jiang Taiyi was alive for a moment, then he was alive in the present history."

"Unbelievable, really unbelievable!"

Li Jing used the word "unbelievable" to describe his feelings. Although he had always known that the realm of a saint was difficult to understand, he had never thought that the life and death of a sub-saint could be determined by the results seen by one person.

"Then how do we determine this 'result'?"

Li Jing's eyes were burning. Although it sounded simple, there were so many 'loopholes' and 'contradictions' hidden in this method that she would make mistakes whenever she thought about it. As soon as she had an idea, another idea would come to disprove it. It was difficult to think clearly.

Hu Wenlang looked at the tea in front of him. "This is actually not that simple. First of all, to untie this 'knot', we must at least learn to actively use the forbidden objects of the three schools of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism and the historical bamboo slips. This will allow this 'person' to at least have basic thinking ability. As for whether he is human or not, it is not important."

"If you have the ability to think, you can observe and learn things, so you probably know about Jiang Taiyi's life. The more you know, the more you will be in awe of him, until you know that he is a sub-sage. Even if you think he is 'dead', he can still be resurrected with the ability of a sub-sage, which in turn intensifies the fact that the result you see is 'a living Jiang Taiyi'."

"There is only one way to confirm the result that 'Jiang Taiyi is dead'."

"what way?"

Li Jing had already been completely intrigued by Hu Wenlang at this time.

"That means entering that period of history and killing Jiang Taiyi with your own hands. The moment you kill Jiang Taiyi with your own hands, you will untie the knot of history. Naturally, Jiang Taiyi will be dead."

"How is this possible?" Li Jing answered without thinking. If a person could kill Jiang Taiyi by casually entering the knot of that period of history, then what was the point of the various schools of thought taking so long to prepare for it?
Hu Wenlang smiled and asked, "Why not? This is not the same time as that time. Doesn't Jiang Taiyi know that he is in a knot? Do you think he hopes to continue to cycle in a knot, or to risk his life in order to survive? Death is never the end for them. Maybe it is just a new beginning."

Li Jing was stunned. Yes, even if Jiang Taiyi was born in the knot, with his knowledge, he was able to clearly realize that he was "sealed". At this time, a person entered and told Jiang Taiyi that the condition for unlocking the seal required him to die once first.

This result was not unacceptable to Jiang Taiyi, at least it was much better than being sealed.

"What about this person?"

Hu Wenlang smiled and continued, "This is actually a very dangerous thing. We are just thinking from the most favorable perspective. What if Jiang Taiyi wants to test the situation outside and deliberately delays? Of course, for those inside, no matter how long it is delayed, it will repeat in a day, so as long as we are patient enough, we will naturally wait until the day when Jiang Taiyi agrees. This is a dangerous and patient thing, and now there happens to be someone who can do it."

"Gao Wencan!"

The two said in unison.

Then Li Jing continued to ask, "Then sir, tell me about this?"

Hu Wenlang smiled and said, "What a coincidence. I, a novelist hated by historians, just happen to have a way to enter that repetitive knot. I wonder if Your Highness the Fourth Prince would be willing to give it a try?"

Li Jing held his breath slightly. He no longer cared why Hu Wenlang had this method. Anyway, he would not get the real answer if he asked, and it would only cause unnecessary resentment.

Now he was thinking about another important thing.

"Did you tell your brother about this, sir?"

The smile on Hu Wenlang's face faded. "Although I became the editor-in-chief of Tianjing Newspaper, it was a deal. He is him and I am me. I don't need to tell him everything. What do you think, Your Highness?"

Li Jing's eyes lit up, and he immediately said, "Please cast a spell, sir!"

Hu Wenlang smiled and said, "Don't worry. Gao Wencan just went to find the Confucianists to make arrangements today. Even if it is activated, it will take at least the next day or the day after tomorrow. If you go in early, you may not be able to grab a good deal. It is better to go in at the right time."

······
Taihang Divine Court, in the Palace of All Spirits.

This was a special banquet palace in the divine court. Even though the dishes of delicacies had been replaced three times, they were already cold on the table. No one picked up their chopsticks. In the magnificent hall, goddesses danced one song after another.

However, most of the people in the palace felt bored and uncomfortable, except for people like Prince Ning, who enjoyed the food while toasting to Ju Zidan, the Red Emperor Dan Ling Zhenlao, who was sitting next to him.

Suddenly, thunder drums sounded outside, playing magnificent music. The goddesses stopped dancing and retreated to the sides with respectful expressions. The gods who were sitting with them also stood up. The solemn and tense atmosphere forced the guests to stand up as well.

"Welcome my Lord."

Cao Shan led the group of gods to worship, and colorful rays of light gathered from all directions of the temple. In the light, human figures condensed to form a majestic god wearing twelve chapters and with a sun disk on his head. The god's face changed infinitely between men, women, young and old, as if all living beings were one.

However, where there are people who worship, there are also people who curse.

Not all of these invited pacification envoys were people who would leave Zhou Tieyi alone. Many of them had been fighting against Shintoism all their lives, and many even lost their families in the battle with Shintoism. This was a pain that even Ju Zidan, a first-rank official, had not experienced.

Ju Zidan might be able to accept that Zhou Tieyi has been a god who supports humanity since the beginning of history, but these people only live in the present. They have only experienced the era of fighting against gods, and for them, the era of fighting against gods is their entire life. Even if the distant history is the truth, it is meaningless.

"Zhou the traitor!"

Among the crowd, there were two people with red faces. The reason why they waited until now to attack was because they knew that previous attacks could not shake Cao Shan, a second-grade god. Only now could they disgust Zhou Tieyi, but it was only to disgust Zhou Tieyi.

Cao Shan frowned and was about to shut the two men's mouths.

Zhou Tieyi raised his hand to stop him. "It's just a few scoldings. I've been scolded a lot by Confucianists as an official. Being a god and getting scolded a few times won't stop others from talking."

Then he looked at the two people who were cursing, "If you want to continue cursing, I will lock you up in another hall and release you when you have cursed enough. If you haven't cursed enough, I will lock you up until you die. Of course, you can also shut up and listen to what I have to say before you speak."

To be able to become a pacification envoy, he must be smart. Seeing that Zhou Tieyi didn't care about their thoughts at all, they couldn't help but look at the other pacification envoys. Pacification envoys like Sha Youcheng who were close to Zhou Tieyi were silent, obviously ready to listen to what Zhou Tieyi was going to do.

King Ning suddenly spoke up to save the situation, "So should I call you the Marquis of Shengshi of Daxia, or one of the Nine Ancient Gods, the most mysterious Lord of Yanhuang?"

Zhou Tieyi turned his head and looked at King Ning, "Both of them are me, and it is legitimate. Since this place is my divine palace, King Ning will call me Yanhuang."

After answering King Ning, Zhou Tieyi strode to the main seat of the banquet. After sitting down, he looked around and said, "I invited you all here this time mainly to discuss the livelihood of the people in and around Taihang Mountain. Today, a severe drought is imminent. As a human, I want to save the people from the flood and fire. As a god, I want to sort out the mystery of the inverted yin and yang. So the first topic is how to make ordinary people accept the existence of gods."

(End of this chapter)