Chapter 770 - 408: I Don’t Know
Actually, Tie Dan wasn’t very surprised. After all, he could also call himself a disciple of the Thunder Ancestor.
Broadly speaking, the entire Mystic Sect, all the Qi Refiners under heaven, could be considered disciples of the Thunder Ancestor.
The reason is simple, although everyone worships Xuan Nu day and night, Xuan Nu herself doesn’t engage in Qi Refining, nor does she teach it.
Indeed, what Xuan Nu passed on wasn’t the path of Qi Refining, it was the Heavenly Book.
And strictly speaking, Xuan Nu doesn’t have any direct disciples. She only personally taught a monkey; everyone else merely learned by observing...
The Qi Refining Skill that people cultivate today, building the Dao Foundation, forming the Dragon and Tiger, swallowing the Golden Core, giving birth to a Nascent Soul, transforming into a True God, realizing one’s own Dao.
If traced back, returning to the original state, all derive from Thunder Ancestor’s annotations on the Heavenly Book.
Of course, people mainly learned Thunder Ancestor’s annotations because Xuan Nu’s Heavenly Book was too esoteric. Originally, few could understand it, or even see it, relying on the most perceptive, like Thunder Ancestor, to translate it.
So the nine volumes of Heavenly Books stored within the Mystic Sect, to put it bluntly, are all versions annotated by Thunder Ancestor, which are Thunder Ancestor’s own teachings.
Of course, at the time, more than just Thunder Ancestor followed Xuan Nu. Many attempted to annotate the Heavenly Book.
In the beginning, those refugees, bandits, mountain bandits, rebel army, and assassins who followed Xuan Nu naturally each looked at the Heavenly Book, each received the true inheritance from Xuan Nu, each realized their own Dao.
Even Xuan Nu’s monkey left behind a lineage of monkey swordsmanship, which, after later generations refined and organized, became the Secret Sword of the Sword Sect, passed down by generations of sect leaders, represented by the Ruyi Scripture.
Regardless of whether these paths are right or wrong, at that time, everyone indeed cooperated closely, exchanging ideas to complete the study of the Heavenly Book and Qi together.
But it’s undeniable, Thunder Ancestor had a fundamental role in this, ultimately it was Thunder Ancestor who finished the entire set of interpretations and annotations of the Heavenly Book.
Thunder Ancestor received the unwritten Heavenly Book and wrote the written Heavenly Book, deducing the Tai Chi Qi Refining path.
It was Thunder Ancestor who unified the rebel army opposing the Immortal Palace’s tyranny at the time, passing on the Tai Chi techniques realized from the Heavenly Book, training a force of Mysterious Soldiers formidable enough to contend against the Immortal Army.
It was Thunder Ancestor who personally led the army, defeating the powerful troops of the four divisions, Eight Domains, and twenty-eight constellations that suppressed the world, truly toppling the Immortal Palace, establishing the foundation of the Mystic Sect.
Thunder Ancestor was, in fact, the Mystic Sect Leader, a point beyond dispute.
However, Thunder Ancestor had no interest in replacing Xuan Nu, because ’leader’ means leading everyone in worshipping Xuan Nu, not sitting on a throne receiving their worship.
After all, without Xuan Nu, without the Heavenly Book, none of this would have been possible.
Even if Thunder Ancestor’s personal capabilities were stronger, they would only have achieved the position of Thunder Department Heavenly Monarch, National Pillar Guards, General of the Twenty-Eight Constellations Immortal Soldiers, relying solely on their abilities.
Moreover, the Heavenly Book was so vast and profound that even Thunder Ancestor admitted to only having grasped its surface. But even this little bit of surface understanding was enough to overturn millennia of the Immortal Palace’s dominance.
Thus, after establishing the Mystic Sect, Thunder Ancestor devoted themselves entirely to the research and analysis of the Heavenly Book, attempting to explore the fundamental mysteries of the Heavenly Book, Xuan Nu, Tai Chi, the cosmos, the primordial universe, and the Great Dao.
However, as everyone knows, the Immortal Palace was like a centipede, dead but still not collapsing, not to mention there were still a myriad of demonic pests causing trouble.
Consequently, Thunder Ancestor needed someone to help oversee the world and stabilize the four fields.
Thus, Thunder Ancestor selected the four strongest disciples from the Mystic Sect, granting them the Golden Seals and Purple Ribbons taken from the Immortal Palace, delegating them full responsibility for maintaining peace in each area.
Later, these four guardian disciples were known as Thunder Ancestor’s direct disciples, and their subsequent disciples were given the Tiger Talisman and Command Arrow, called Tiger Temple Cultivators.
"I was originally the guardian of the West."
Lingxu introduced himself,
"Of course, later on I reincarnated after Soldier Disintegration, so naturally I passed on the guardian duties."
Tie Dan, "Oh."
Lingxu is unhappy,
"I’ve shared such a big secret with you, and you just give me an oh?"
Tie Dan looks puzzled,
"What kind of secret is this? Thunder Ancestor wants to retreat, arranging a few guardians to watch the place is hardly a secret. It’s as it should be.
Moreover, you didn’t do that well in your past life either, didn’t the West end up being taken by the Divine Sect?"
Lingxu leaves in anger.
"Do you even know how to speak! I’m done talking!"
Tie Dan hurriedly pulls him back,
"Alright, alright, you say it."
Lingxu grumbles a bit in anger, then continues,
"...In short, people today only know of four guardians, but actually there are five."
Tie Dan nods,
"Four Heavenly Kings being five, makes sense too."
Lingxu glares at him.
Tie Dan quickly closes his mouth, indicating go ahead and speak.
So Lingxu continues,
"That fifth one is the Nine Heavens Leisure Immortal Monarch. Of course, he’s not a successor of Thunder Ancestor, rather he’s more like a peer, having followed Xuan Nu even earlier.
Back then, his lineage was the one claiming the Dragon Temple True Inheritance, while we were dispatched around the four areas, they governed the Central Plains, teaching the path of the Heavenly Book.
Since you can mention the lineage of Nine Heavens, you might also know that later on, the Nine Heavens Leisure Immortal Monarch was misled by a traitor, walked the wrong path, and fell into the Demon Path."
Tie Dan looks disappointed, wanting to quip isn’t that the whispered stories? The Tiger Temple wiping out Dragon Temple’s little mess is worthy of being spoken repeatedly?
However, he holds it in.
Luckily he held it in, he then heard Lingxu disclose the gossip.
"That traitor called himself Lord Nanhua, summoned by the Leisure Immortal Monarch from Outer Heaven."
Tie Dan is stunned.
"What do you mean... summoned? Wait, from Outer Heaven? Heavenly Demon?"
"No, it’s not the same thing as that Heavenly Demon Seed made by Tian Gang. That Nanhua thing... I also don’t know what Nanhua is..."