HSSB820: Yan Zhaoge’s mockery
The two Taiji diagrams collided in mid-air.
Even before the two palm strikes collided, the heavens and earth in between them had already collapsed, various existences both tangible and formless all extinguished as they returned to an existence as the primordial qis of yin and yang.
Two flows of qi whose colour was hard to distinguish, one bright and one dark, were pressured between the two palms, power fluctuations reverberating all around.
As the two Taiji diagrams circulated, both emanated an immense suction force which sought to absorb the two qis of yin and yang.
Yet, beneath their opposing forces, the qis of yin and yang instead reached a standstill in mid-air.
Space and time seemed to have frozen amidst that region of space, sustained in a state where all was blurry and indistinct, no objects possibly existing.
On seeing the Taiji diagram on Yan Zhaoge’s palm, Fu Ting did not feel too astonished initially, “So he is someone who cultivates in the Yin Yang Heavenly Scripture.”
Yet, when these two Taiji diagrams finally clashed for real, the force of their palms colliding, Fu Ting was instantly stunned.
“While it is like the Yin Yang Heavenly Scripture, it is also just like the Taiji Yin Yang Palm of the Grand Clear direct lineage that I cultivate in?!”
“What exactly does he cultivate in?”
Fu Ting’s gaze grew increasingly focused as her expression turned solemn.
A Taiji diagram surfaced within her pupils, circulating as her palm force was further strengthened.
At this moment, not just the area beneath Fu Ting’s palm but the space surrounding her entire body began to distort, turning blurry and indistinct.
Her true essence surged like roiling water, all objects seemingly being reduced to the primordial qis of yin and yang.
Yet, the circulation of the Taiji diagram on her palm grew slower and slower, gradually falling still.
Facing Yan Zhaoge’s strike, Fu Ting’s first guess was that Yan Zhaoge was borrowing a palm technique whilst circulating the supreme martial art, the Yin Yang Finger, in secret.
The principles of the three Clear lineages overlapped in many areas.
The Grand Clear direct lineage cultivated in the Grand Cosmos Five Manifestations. Of these, the martial art, the Taiji Yin Yang Palm, corresponded with some areas of the Jade Clear lineage’s Yin Yang Heavenly Scriptures in narrating the grand daos of the heavens and the earth.
Fu Ting was well learned and knowledgeable. While she was not versed in the Yin Yang Heavenly Scripture, her understanding with regard to its capabilities far surpassed that of ordinary people.
After it was cultivated to a certain degree, it would be able to shift yin and yang, reversing causality and effect as it would be able to cause the attack directed towards someone to be diverted back to the enemy instead.
It was no longer just as simple as diverting and borrowing force. With the strength of his opponents and their insights in their martial arts, power was already no longer as easy to ‘borrow’ at this point.
Instead, it borrowed the laws of the heavens and earth to reverse the most foundational qis of yin and yang between the heavens and the earth, thereby distorting the power of one’s opponents.
Therefore, upon first seeing Yan Zhaoge’s ‘Taiji Yin Yang Palm’, Fu Ting’s first thought was that he had an extremely high attainment in the Yin Yang Finger, having reversed her Taiji Yin Yang Palm such that a situation was caused in which, she, Fu Ting, had ended up clashing against herself.
Fu Ting focused her mind and exerted maximum force with her palm, yet not releasing it but unceasingly accumulating it as a vacuum appeared to be forming beneath her palm.
With this, even the Yin Yang Finger would be unable to ‘borrow’ her power.
Yet, something happened which surpassed her expectations.
Yan Zhaoge’s palm force continued pressuring endlessly towards her with the momentum of toppling mountains and overturning seas!
Fu Ting’s action of retracting her agglomerated palm force instead caused her to lose the initiative.
As they clashed, the twin qis of yin and yang which were formed of the extinguishing of all things as they returned to this original, primordial state were endlessly absorbed by the Taiji diagram on Yan Zhaoge’s palm.
Yan Zhaoge’s palm continued forth with even more vigorous power, jolting Fu Ting back in retreat.
Fu Ting was astonished, “It is not the Yin Yang Finger?”
Carefully appraising Yan Zhaoge’s palm force, she found that it was indeed different from her own.
Even though both were the Taiji Yin Yang Palm, they both came from different legacies. While they could indeed both be considered as originating from the Grand Clear direct lineage, they were from different branches of the lineage.
It was just that the shadow of the Jade Clear lineage’s Yin Yang Heavenly Scripture could still be seen behind this, causing Fu Ting to truly be hard pressed to figure out Yan Zhaoge’s martial foundations.
Having miscalculated in that exchange, she had lost the initiative and fallen at a disadvantage as her figure was directly jolted backwards in retreat by Yan Zhaoge.
Fu Ting’s gaze flickered as streams of plain-coloured cloud qi now surfaced about her body.
As soon as the cloud qi appeared, Fu Ting’s figure instantly stabilised in mid-air as a halt was put to her previous weakened momentum.
Yan Zhaoge asked, “The Grand Plainness Immeasurable Body?”
Fu Ting said, “You indeed possess good vision.”
Yan Zhaoge laughed, “It is so famous that it would be difficult for me not to recognise it.”
Of the Grand Cosmos Five Manifestations, Grand Plainness refined form, forming a true incarnation of immeasurability.
It was a peak existence in terms of defensive power amongst the myriad martial arts in the entire history of Daoism.
When combined together with the Grand Beginning Bright Emptiness Avatar, the two Grands merging as one, their defensive power was equivalent to that of the Five Virtues all at once.
The Lord of Primordial Beginning had spread the Primordial Heavenly Scriptures to the world. While the Lord of the Dao and Virtue was the one who had solidified the foundation of human martial arts for all eternity, there were instead comparatively fewer members of his direct lineage. However, this did not mean that he had passed down no scriptures. He had passed down the scripture, Daodejing, or the Dao Virtue Scripture.
The Daodejing in this world was not merely a simple commentary of the dao. At the same time, it also contained the agglomeration of the essence of the Grand Clear direct lineage as it was hailed also as the Dao Virtue Heavenly Scripture or the Grand Supreme Daoist Scripture.
The unparalleled martial arts recorded in the Grand Cosmos Five Manifestations were actually comparable to the earlier three scriptures of the Primordial Heavenly Scriptures in their most intricate, miraculous areas.
This was especially so for the earliest of the Five Manifestations of the primordial cosmos, Grand Simplicity. To a certain extent, it was somewhat similar to the Peerless Heavenly Scripture in terms of effect despite their differing natures.
Yan Zhaoge looked rather interestedly at Fu Ting, having no doubts at all about her identity as a direct descendant of the Grand Clear lineage now.
Still, he just did not know this-did the Brocade Emperor’s lineage consist of all the Grand Cosmos Five Manifestations, or was it incomplete?
Looking at Yan Zhaoge now, Fu Ting was rendered somewhat at a loss.
Having clashed up till now, she was instead become increasingly unable to see through Yan Zhaoge’s martial foundations.
It just couldn’t be that Yan Zhaoge was truly also a direct descendant of the Grand Clear lineage who cultivated in the Taiji Yin Yang Palm?
While his martial path did indeed have the shadow of the Jade Clear lineage’s Yin Yang Heavenly Scripture behind it, his palm arts from earlier really could not but leave Fu Ting wondering.
While her own martial arts were readily apparent, she was unable to see through the other party. With this, she had unquestionably fallen at a disadvantage.
Following his palm strike, Yan Zhaoge retracted his palm, smiling as he did not speak.
He did not actually know how to execute the Taiji Yin Yang Palm.
Speaking of this, while the martial repository of the Heavenly Court’s Divine Palace of the past had more or less stored martial arts of the direct lineages of the Jade Clear lineage and the Prime Clear lineage, it had just not contained those of the Grand Clear lineage for some reason.
As a result, when Yan Zhaoge had Transcended Mortality and entered Sainthood, the three Purities combining as one, he had needed to use the phenomena of dao and virtue from when the Lord of the Dao and Virtue had enlightened myriad people and birthed the offshoots of martial arts all around in order to go against the flow and achieve his desired results.
Yet, after having successfully achieved this, while he still had the Peerless Heavenly Scripture as his foundation, his foundation had already long since no longer been just the Jade Clear lineage alone.
The combined Three Purities were incomparably profound and mysterious.
The Peerless Heavenly Scripture itself manifested the myriad arts, also being related to Grand Simplicity of the Grand Cosmos Five Manifestations.
Meanwhile, the Yin Yang Heavenly Scripture was related to the Grand Ultimate manifestation, known also as Taiji.
Therefore, with Fu Ting as a reference, Yan Zhaoge had been able to reproduce the Taiji Yin Yang Palm on the spot.
Fu Ting believed that Yan Zhaoge had not utilised the Yin Yang Finger. In reality, though, he still had done so.
Other martial practitioners of the Jade Clear direct lineage who cultivated in the Peerless Heavenly Scripture and the Yin Yang Heavenly Scripture would be hard pressed to achieve this. Thus, Fu Ting was left utterly flummoxed.
However, Yan Zhaoge had been able to succeed in doing so.
If this went on for a long period of time, Fu Ting would ultimately discover some discrepancies in this. Still, just having exchanged a single move, however she looked at it, Yan Zhaoge was indeed executing none other than the Taiji Yin Yang Palm.
In testing whether the other party was a descendant of the Prime Clear lineage, she had instead discovered him to be a direct descendant of the Grand Clear lineage just like herself?
If this was not a coincidence, it would literally be a mockery.
Fu Ting did not know whether to laugh or to cry.
The Ingenious Flying Peak martial practitioners present could not help but stare wide-eyed at one another at varying degrees of uncertainty, feeling greatly stifled by the supreme slickness of it all.