Chapter 153
Chapter 153
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 153
Chapter Title: Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors
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Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors
I returned to Jinrang Valley with Dao King Byok Ji-sang. Upon arriving at Jinrang Valley, I introduced Dao King Byok Ji-sang to Mang Liang, who stared at her intently before speaking.
"What are your intentions?"
Dao King Byok Ji-sang replied without a change in expression.
"It looked interesting."
"I see."
Mang Liang nodded appropriately and led her to the place where she would stay. Then, returning and fluttering his Five Flowers Seven Gold Fan for a moment, he looked at me and said,
"Baek Woong. Let's talk for a bit."
I followed Mang Liang to a secluded grassy area with few people. Mang Liang sat on a rock and said,
"What are your plans now?"
"What do you mean... I'm thinking of going to Geuk Ho to study the Myeolhon Ledger."
"......"
Mang Liang let out a short sigh and said,
"That sounds good, but what I discovered is so significant that I feel I must tell you midway. You must know all this before deciding how to act."
"Hmm."
"And this conversation is probably being overheard by Heavenly Fox, so why not come out and join us?"
Rustle.
At that moment, Miho appeared from somewhere, having cast a transformation spell. She had secretly used transformation magic to disguise herself as an inanimate object and hide. I was shocked because I had no idea Miho was there, and she seemed equally surprised, her eyes flashing as she looked at Mang Liang.
"How did you know? Has your spell mastery deepened that much in the meantime?"
"No. I just thought that if I were Heavenly Fox, I'd want to hear this too."
"Hmm... You're too clever for your own good."
Mang Liang flicked his feather fan.
"Since Heavenly Fox is protecting Baek Woong anyway, it's better for her to know this story as well. Please sit and listen together."
"Fine. Let's hear how interesting this tale is."
Miho sat on a nearby tree branch. As Miho and I fixed our gazes on Mang Liang, he slowly opened his mouth.
"The power of Jinrang Valley and the Anti-Heaven Alliance has grown considerably. We've administered elixirs to talented individuals over sufficient time and built our organization, so I daresay we possess the strength of a major sect, though I may be biased. But it's still not enough to launch a grand undertaking, so we're currently lurking in the shadows, gathering information. We even succeeded in rescuing General Hwang Yeon's family."
"I see."
"And separately from that, you gave me two tasks, Baek Woong."
"Two?"
Mang Liang nodded.
"One was about the method to unseal the Seven Luminaries' Mokya and its location... And the other was about the statue of Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors' Zhuanxu and the oracle bone script in the deepest part of the Su Yo ruins."
"That's right."
I remembered it clearly. For the former, I had persistently asked Mang Liang to investigate, but I died too quickly to see much progress. The latter was a new mystery I learned in this reincarnation. As I looked at Mang Liang, he said,
"First, I had a question. Why does Mokya, unlike the other Seven Luminaries, have a separate seal? Why is there no guardian at the seal? While pondering that, it occurred to me that Zhuanxu's statue might hold the key to those questions."
"Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors' Zhuanxu's statue..."
"So, before deciphering the riddle inscription symbolizing Mokya's seal, I started with Zhuanxu's oracle bone script. It would have taken me ages alone, but using the Anti-Heaven Alliance's resources to gather data, I deciphered Zhuanxu's oracle bone script in just half a year."
Mang Liang paused there to catch his breath and continued.
"The oracle bone script of Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors' Zhuanxu reads as follows:
[ Alas, the passage between heaven and earth in the north has collapsed.
The divine child, Goyang Clan, returns at the call of the Yellow Emperor.
To heed humanity's pleas, the secrets of flood control are left in this world.
Thus, Mokya is left as the mark. ]"
"The passage between heaven and earth in the north...?"
"It refers to the error of Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors' Zhuanxu in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Long ago, the heavenly realm and human world were connected, allowing humans to ascend to heaven in their physical forms without the process of becoming immortals. But due to Zhuanxu's mistake, that passage collapsed, leading to the system of ascension."
After explaining, Mang Liang glanced at Miho.
"Heavenly Fox, having been in the heavenly realm, must know this well..."
"......"
Miho seemed contemplative after hearing Mang Liang's explanation. Then she spoke.
"I don't know. But it's true that a secret passage connects the heavenly realm and human world somewhere in this world. I was exiled to the mortal world through one such passage."
It was an unexpected story.
Mang Liang unfurled his Five Flowers Seven Gold Fan and asked,
"Then why not return to heaven through that passage..."
"I don't know where the others are besides the one I came from, and that one is like a back door. Entering heaven through it would mean immediate attack by the Fighting Immortals, leading to annihilation."
"I see."
After a brief pause, Mang Liang turned to me.
"Anyway, the important part isn't that—it's the secrets of flood control."
"Flood control?"
"There was a massive flood in ancient times. An enormous deluge that submerged heaven and earth, nearly wiping out all life. The one who stopped it was the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the progenitor goddess Nüwa(?), who ground five-colored stones to patch the hole in the sky and used the four legs of a great sea turtle to support the pillars of heaven and earth."
"Ah, that story."
Having not read myths in ages, my memory was hazy, but Mang Liang's explanation jogged it.
"And separately, there's the legend of selecting the human representatives Gun and Yu to carry out flood control."
"Hmm."
"I believe there were two great floods. One was quelled by the divine power of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and the other by King Gun and King Yu with the people of the Huaxia, stopping the central plains deluge."
Mang Liang's eyes gleamed as he said that.
"I hypothesize this: Perhaps Gun and King Yu, as human representatives, received the secrets of flood control from Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors' Zhuanxu and succeeded in managing the deluge."
"......!!"
"And Zhuanxu, severing the connection between heaven and earth, left Mokya in the Su Yo ruins as a token of the pact with humanity for flood control. Otherwise, the oracle bone script on Zhuanxu's statue and Mokya don't connect."
Token of the flood control pact.
I thought of the enormous amount of water energy contained in Mokya.
Could this be a remnant of the ancient great flood?
"Then..."
I pondered deeply and said,
"Why did Zhuanxu sever heaven and earth and leave? He could have just ruled the world as one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors..."
"The first line laments that the [passage between heaven and earth in the north] has collapsed. Likely, for some reason we can't know, its collapse was an urgent crisis. In other words, because that passage collapsed, Zhuanxu hastily severed all ties between heaven and earth, leaving only Mokya behind."
"Because of one passage...?"
"Alas, that's unknowable. It's too ancient a secret, with no surviving records."
Mang Liang sighed briefly and continued.
"And I have another hypothesis."
"What hypothesis?"
"Mokya possesses the power to control water, which might be excessively strong for humans. So, rather than simply placing an [ancient being] there, it could require proving one's worthiness to become Mokya's master at the site central to flood control."
"Was that necessary?"
I scratched my head.
"Even Izanagi no Mikoto, guardian of the Lunar Ya, was a monstrous demon that could destroy a nation in seven days if left alone. Defeating that alone should suffice as proof..."
"There's a hierarchy even among the Seven Luminaries."
Mang Liang gazed at a distant mountain and said,
"I don't know the Lunar Ya's power, but what if a mythic-scale flood happened now? Likely, eight out of ten humans in the central plains would die, and civilization would regress at least five hundred years. Not just the central plains—other lands too. Mokya might be the key to a catastrophe that upends the balance of heaven and earth in one go."
"Hmm."
"I can say with certainty. Su Yo's Mokya is among the upper ranks of the Seven Luminaries. The day you unseal it, you'll have few equals under heaven."
"Ooh...!!"
I was overjoyed at Mang Liang's words, practically leaping.
If true, I should set aside everything else and uncover how to unseal Mokya first. I couldn't use the flood-causing power itself, but the other superhuman abilities dwelling in Mokya would make achieving my goals far easier. I might even gain power to rival the [Ancient Ruler].
At that moment, Miho, who had been quietly listening, spoke.
"So, the real place guarding Mokya's seal is somewhere extremely troublesome, which is why you're preparing me mentally."
"......"
Mang Liang looked awkward because Miho had caught on quickly. As I glanced between their faces, Mang Liang cautiously said to me,
"Baek Woong... One thing I must tell you."
"What is it?"
His next words made me widen my eyes.
"This world is a round sphere."
I shook my head firmly.
"No way! It's obviously flat, with an end to the world."
"Why do you think that?"
"Because if it's a round sphere, we'd fall off the bottom!"
"......"
Mang Liang hesitated briefly and said,
"Tang Dynasty's Yi Xun noted in his commentary on the Questions of Heaven:
The earth moves in four directions. At winter solstice, it rises upward, going northwest 30,000 li. At summer solstice, it moves downward, going southeast 30,000 li. The spring and autumn equinoxes are in between. The earth constantly moves, but people don't notice, like being in a closed boat unaware of its motion. (The River Chart says: The earth has four journeys. At winter solstice, it travels above ground, north then west 30,000 li; at summer solstice, below ground, south then east 30,000 li. The two equinoxes are in between. The earth moves ceaselessly, but man knows it not, like sailing in a closed boat without sensing the boat's motion.)"
"......?"
"It's not the heavens moving—the earth is. Hmm... how to put it."
Mang Liang pulled a round crystal orb from his bosom. And said to me,
"You think you'd slip off if you kept walking on this crystal orb. But its interior has a powerful gravitational force that holds everything on top."
"That's nonsense! What ridiculous talk is this?"
Mang Liang asserted even more strongly.
"It's not ridiculous. Those who observe the heavens realized that without assuming this, they couldn't explain the stars' positions. Thus, my Zhuge family, who have been astronomers for centuries, accepted that the world is spherical, with no 'end' to it. Not just us—the great sages of the Great Ming Empire know roughly but don't speak it aloud."
"......"
My jaw dropped.
The world is round!
'Is Mang Liang teasing me? Deceiving me?'
My trust in Mang Liang was absolute, but this shook it—this shocking tale. The world a round sphere, with us stuck to the land! Confused, I clutched my head and asked,
"Wait! Then what are the sun, stars, and moon?"
"Celestial bodies existing in a very distant place. They look small but are likely far larger than the land we live on."
"......?!?!"
As I recoiled in shock, Miho beside me said,
"It's probably true, Baek Woong."
"Miho..."
"From birth, I was in the heavenly realm, yet no heavenly immortal ever spoke or debated an 'end' to the world. The only explanation is there is no end, so immortals don't discuss it."
"Uh... umm..."
As I tilted my head in confusion, Mang Liang gave a wry smile.
"It's hard to believe right away. For now, I'll proceed assuming the world is round."
"...Alright."
"Then look at this crystal orb. If I do this to its very edge..."
Puk.
Mang Liang thrust a large iron rod into the crystal orb. It entered without resistance, as if a hole had been pre-drilled. Grasping the iron rod piercing the center, Mang Liang said,
"It has an axis. If the points at the ends of this axis's poles are there, what place would this be?"
"......"
I calmed my mind and thought carefully. Then I said,
"An extremely cold place..."
I couldn't believe the world was round, but if I did, it gets colder northward. The reason for the cold is likely less sunlight. Thus, the axis poles would be the coldest places. Mang Liang beamed and said,
"Exactly!"
"What do you mean?"
"The stele in the Su Yo ruins said:
[ ... Song of darkness... The mate... Gait of the wind... God of cold white silence... Primordial north... Arrive... No trials... But one who would unseal... Meet the god of silence... Draw blood... Awaken and arrive... Offer to this altar... The blood of the arriver...]
What is the primordial north? Doesn't it perfectly match Zhuanxu's oracle bone script?"
"......"
"The Daoist tradition attributes Mokya's power to a spell called Heavenly Ice, a forbidden art that freezes all things in this world with extreme cold, even annihilating Daoist immortals. Combining this... That primordial north is likely the world's end in another sense."
I fell silent for a long time. And I understood why Mang Liang called this momentous. Stammering for a while, I confirmed my thought with him.
"If that's true... Farther north than the North Sea Ice Palace... Beyond the icy sea where even blue-eyed barbarians can't survive, to some absolute forbidden zone?"
"Precisely."
Mang Liang said firmly.
"Go to the land at the northern end, find the [ancient being]'s altar, and offer your blood as sacrifice—Mokya's seal will break."
It felt unreal. My head spun, and I shook it. The world is vast, but I'd never even dreamed of going there. I'd been to the North Sea Ice Palace challenging the Twelve Rites, a land of eternal blizzards. Beyond that lay untreadable snowfields uninhabitable by man.
To traverse thousands of li through those snowfields to the northern end!
Miho, equally baffled, challenged Mang Liang.
"I can't believe it easily. Too many logical leaps, no evidence. You think one phrase 'primordial north' justifies going to the world's end?"
"I agree. But I must tell Baek Woong my hypothesis. Because..."
I understood Mang Liang's intent and nodded.
"I understand, Mang Liang. Thank you."
I could die anytime, anywhere. I'd died too quickly before, perishing without hearing Mang Liang's findings. Aware of that, he wanted to share even unproven hypotheses with me. It was his consideration.
Mang Liang wiped sweat from his brow as if past a hurdle and continued.
"Hmm, and one more thing."
"What?"
"Now I want to request a top-secret mission."
"What...?"
Mang Liang grinned.
"We can't just watch the enemy grow. Time to steal from them."