From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

This is absolutely nonsense.

But I could sense a peculiar yin energy flowing within these three Eclipse Heavens...

If I'm not mistaken, the nine legs and eight sides of this bronze cauldron also correspond to the principle of eight and nine. These three Eclipse-like beings were perhaps placed inside the cauldron at the end, where they would be dissolved by the viscous black liquid within, using yin energy to stimulate yang energy, thereby further gathering sea energy and accumulating power for the Jianmu tree's ascension.

Having said that, Jiang Liu pulled, and all the black liquid in the cauldron was drawn out, revealing a nine-square grid pattern inside, resembling a rotating disc, engraved with numerous tortoise-shell and bird-script characters—

It is almost identical to the jade plate held up by the four-armed bronze statue under the bronze hall!

Jiang Liu reached into the bottom of the cauldron and fiddled with the rotating divination plate inside. The nine legs of the cauldron also rotated along with it and were adjusted to the position of the "Zhen" trigram.

However, unlike the innate Zhen trigram of the stone cauldron at the bottom of the sea, this nine-legged, eight-sided cauldron is to manipulate the acquired Zhen trigram.

The Zhen trigram in the pre-heaven arrangement is fourth, with one yang and two yin, nine yang and eight yin, one yang and four nine is thirty-six, one yin and four eight is thirty-two, and one yang and two yin is one hundred.

The Zhen trigram in the Later Heaven Bagua is the third in the sequence. Although it also consists of one yang and two yin, the Later Heaven Bagua emphasizes the dynamic changes of the interplay of yin and yang and the alternation of the four seasons.

According to the arithmetic, it is not Yang Jiu and Yin Ba, but rather Yin Ba is added by one, which means to supplement the innate with the acquired, so as to turn eight into nine, thus becoming the number Yin Jiu.

Eight is Yin, and nine is Yang.

The nine-day period of the lunar calendar, known as the Double Ninth Festival, is a combination of the nine-day period of the lunar

Pure Yang!

Therefore, the Zhen hexagram in the Later Heaven arrangement is the third one. One yang hexagram yields the number 3927; one yin hexagram also yields the number 3927. With one yang and two yin hexagrams, the number 27 multiplied by three equals the number 9981!

When Jiang Liu manipulated the divination plate in the cauldron and rotated the nine legs of the cauldron to a specific position, the eight sides of the cauldron vibrated steadily. The original bronze relief fell off, revealing eight images of Kun transforming into Peng and Peng transforming into Kun, as well as eighty-one holes.

Undoubtedly, it was also used to set pearls.

Duanmu Ying, unfamiliar with gossip, was puzzled and asked, "Since it can also be opened by holding the Moon Pill, why is it necessary to sacrifice the Heavenly Eclipse?"

"Isn't this unnecessary?"

Jonathan couldn't understand Jiang Liu's actions at all, nor could he comprehend the concepts of innate and acquired Bagua. However, he did understand one thing: the switch could be activated simply by placing a special pearl inside, without the need for sacrificing living people or infants.

But why did the king at that time still insist on sacrificing people?

“You treat the Pre-Heaven Bagua and the Post-Heaven Bagua as two combination locks. The Kun tribe and the Peng tribe respectively control the Pre-Heaven Zhen Gua and the Post-Heaven Zhen Gua.”

Jiang Liudao said, "The complete code cannot be controlled by the same person or the same tribe. This has been the case since ancient times."

Besides mutual checks and balances to prevent one side from becoming too powerful, the remaining purpose is probably to prevent one side from acting recklessly and causing the entire group to be wiped out.

Jonathan understood this.

After the Kun tribe of the Hentian Kingdom destroyed the Peng tribe, they most likely did not obtain the "password" to activate the cauldron from the Peng tribe, so they came up with another way to activate the cauldron.

thereafter.

The Qi of Guixu underwent a slight change, as if it had become more active. The dragon fire in the space continuously converged towards the nine-legged, eight-sided cauldron, then flowed to the stone cauldron at the bottom of the sea, and finally gathered at the Jianmu tree, accumulating power.

If Jianmu (建木) did not exist, the Qi pattern within Guixu (归墟) would be a combination of acquired Qi supplementing innate Qi, with innate Qi governing the entire universe, allowing Qi to flow north and south, and enabling Kun (鳳) to roam the four seas and Peng (鹏) to soar through the nine heavens.

However, he lost his "carefree life" because he craved the elixir of immortality from Chang'e on the moon.

Although Jiang Liu has now obtained the Kunpeng Talisman Seal through the Dharma Image Talisman Seal and comprehended the principles of Kunpeng, he has never truly witnessed the power of Kunpeng.

Therefore, for Jiang Liu, the only way to truly return to the origin is to enable the Jianmu tree to "ascend" and allow the Guixu Qiju to roam freely across the world and enjoy the mountains and rivers in the great cycle of heaven and earth.

[Brother Jiang, where are you? We've arrived!]

Coming right away!

Upon receiving Lu Jin's message, Jiang Liu asked Gu Qian, "What would be the best place for the Hentian Clan to belong?"

Born at sea, raised on a boat, and buried at sea.

Gu Qian answered without hesitation, "But—"

Halfway through his sentence, Gu Qian hesitated, "Since the Hentian clan split into two tribes in ancient times, we should be descendants of the Kun tribe, while the remains piled up here are those of the Peng tribe. I'm not sure if their traditions are the same as ours."

"They must be the same."

Jiang Liu comforted them, "No matter what, they can't be buried in the sky, can they? Whether it's the Kun tribe or the Peng tribe, they are both the Hatred-to-Heaven clan. Since they live in Guixu, their final destination must be to be buried in the sea, thus creating a cycle."

Upon hearing this, Gu Qian and Gu Kun nodded in agreement.

"So, you all help move their remains to the Jianmu tree. Then, as the Jianmu tree rises and the sea air rises, it will carry their bodies upwards, eventually sinking into the sea... I will also call the other passengers on the Alexander to help later. If they want to help, they should put in some effort, right?" Jiang Liu instructed.

Gu Qian and Gu Kun had no objection to this, except—

"What about the Moon Pills? You definitely don't have enough Moon Pills on hand right now, and the old captain's bag must also have a limited number." Gu Qian said with some concern.

"Let me ask the old captain. If it's really not enough, then we'll go to the ancient coral reef below to look for the ancestor of the clam." After saying that, Jiang Liu and Duanmu Ying walked out from a cracked rock wall nearby and returned to the outside of the bronze hall.

"Did you encounter any sharks on the way?" Jiang Liu asked with a smile, seeing that Lu Jin, the old captain, the security captain, Gu Dui, and others had safely escorted more than a dozen people over.

"With Mr. Lu and six brave men who fight sharks in the sea, we will naturally be in no danger!" the old captain exclaimed excitedly.

After exchanging pleasantries, Jiang Liu brought up the matter of needing the Moon Pill to activate the Jianmu tree, and the need for the crew of the Alexander to transport the remains.

Although the old captain was reluctant, he trusted Jiang Liu and took out all the pearls. However, there weren't many Moon Pills among them. Including the Moon Pills he had previously obtained from Jonathan, there were a total of thirty-five.

To activate the mechanism, one hundred bronze statues are needed on the stone tripod and bronze platform, and eighty-one statues are needed on the nine-legged, eight-sided tripod, for a total of one hundred and eighty-one statues.

# Chapter 499 Seizing the Elixir at Sea

"You want us to move the body?"

"That's outrageous!"

"We won't do it!"

"..."

After more than ten trips, when all the passengers and sailors on the Alexander arrived at the bronze palace, some passengers, upon hearing that they were to be asked to do work, either complained or felt resentful.

In their minds, the shipwreck was the captain's fault, and now they were being forced to do manual labor, specifically the kind of work that involved moving corpses!

This is absolutely humiliating!

The old captain was helpless.

But Jiang Liu wasn't going to tolerate them. He bluntly said, "If you don't help or put in any effort, then find your own way out."

“It’s going too far to make us move the bodies,” someone retorted.

but--

Swish!

Jiang Liu channeled his inner energy, creating a gust of wind that shocked the passengers, turning them pale and leaving them speechless. He said, "This isn't a business deal; there's no room for negotiation! If you don't agree, then stay!"

Seeing that no one objected, Jiang Liu said, "Since you all agree, I will take it as your consent. Let's get to work! Children under twelve, the elderly over fifty, or pregnant women do not need to work."

Immediately, parents with children or elderly people felt relieved.

Then.

Jiang Liu called to Lu Jin, who carried the coffin containing the corpse-like creature, and then asked Shang Gu Dui to act as their guide, so they could go into the water together to collect pearls.

"Me too!"

Duanmu Ying wanted to follow, but Jiang Liu stopped her, saying, "No, you stay here and watch them. If anyone does anything wrong, shoot them dead. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures... By the way, have you ever killed anyone?"

"No."

Upon hearing that someone was to be killed, Duanmu Ying's eyes trembled, and she quickly shook her head, saying, "No matter what, I hold myself to the standards of a doctor. I only save lives, not kill them."

Is that so?

Jiang Liu didn't insist. He called over Gu Kan and Gu Xun and asked them to watch over the crowd. Then he said to Duanmu Ying, "Then you'll be in charge of watching them. If anyone gets poisoned by the corpse while moving the bodies, you can help detoxify them, right?"

"That's possible."

Duanmu Ying nodded vigorously, then blinked and said, "You really do have a sinister aura, just like many rumors about other extraordinary people."

Jiang Liu did not answer, but took out the Heavenly Golden Rhinoceros Horn from his storage ring, and amidst the shocked gazes of the onlookers, he, Lu Jin, and Gu Dui parted ways and entered the water.

Entering the bronze palace at the foot of the mountain, Lu Jin stood firmly on solid ground, gazing at the ancient coral reef ahead and the merfolk that seemed to have been waiting there all along. He marveled at the vastness and wonder of the world, exclaiming in surprise, "There really are creatures that are half human and half fish!"

"You'll be even more surprised when you see the Mermaid later," Jiang Liu said with a smile.

"By the way, Brother Jiang, what's that thing you're carrying on your shoulder? Why don't you put it in your storage ring?" Lu Jin asked.

"It contains corpses..."

Jiang Liu explained how he had channeled the innate Qi from the Jade-Winged Golden-Scaled Mermaid into the Corpse-Body-Slaying Beast. "In short, it's highly likely that the mermaid melted her life force into her innate Qi before she died, in order to achieve the effect of reincarnating with her memories... I agreed to her request, but I still have to be careful."

at the moment.

They wanted to find the Clam Ancestor to seize the elixir, and the Corpse Demon needed a clam shell, so they could place her inside the Clam Ancestor's shell.

Furthermore.

The corpse-like creature was also used by the Dragon Otter people to steal the pearl from the Clam Ancestor when they went to sea. It was used to lure the Clam Ancestor into opening the clam shell so that they could take the opportunity to cut off its flesh and take the pearl.

It can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

If this corpse demon has other plans in the end, then it would be perfect to throw her, along with the clam ancestor we find later, into the lair of the mermaid.

As for the method of internal cultivation of life information merging with primordial Qi—

Perhaps we can slowly figure it out by following that innate divine statue.

Passing through the outer edge of the ancient coral reef, Lu Jin arrived at the stone cauldron and iron tree. Through the crack below, he saw a huge, wriggling creature. Its appearance, especially its body covered with black fleshy scales and white placenta, made him nauseous. He said, "Brother Jiang, how can there be such a disgusting thing in the world?"

"Shocking, isn't it? I was just as surprised when I first saw this thing." Jiang Liu smiled, but he didn't linger there. Instead, he walked around the stone cauldron and iron tree and came to the other side of the ancient coral reef.

The corals here are colorful and full of life, but there are no fish, only some bioluminescent sea worms swimming among them.

Looking around, the coral reef layer is covered with shells, clams, snails and other mollusks of all sizes. Some of them have even merged with the coral reef, with coral growing on the shells, making them indistinguishable from each other.

Gu Dui had already learned from Gu Qian and Gu Kun that there was a clam ancestor in this place. After a word to Jiang Liuzhi, he jumped out of the bubble, grew fins on his back and gills on his ribs, and swam in the water, just like a dragon.

Before long, led by Gu Dui, Jiang Liu and Lu Jin arrived at a giant rock that was eight or nine meters wide and three to five meters high, covered with coral and moss-like aquatic plants.

Unlike ordinary rocks, this rock has a wavy, undulating side opening!

This is a giant clam!

Gu Dui jumped back into the bubble and excitedly told Jiang Liu, "This is a clam ancestor! According to my late grandfather, when he was young, he also found a clam ancestor in the deep sea that was about the size of a human, but compared to this one, it was nothing!"