Chapter 40 - Yin-Yang Sword Diagram—Enlightenment!

A disciple rushed in, panic-stricken, and reported, “The Yin-Yang Sword Cave is on fire! The flames are out of control! Please come quickly!”

What?!

The old abbot’s heart skipped a beat.

The Yin-Yang Sword Cave was the Iron Pillar Temple’s most sacred site, housing the swordsmanship insights of generations of abbots. Each manuscript was invaluable, a treasure of immeasurable worth.

“Who could be so careless?! Haven’t I told you repeatedly—no torches are allowed! No torches! Why can’t you follow instructions?” the abbot grumbled as he hurriedly headed to extinguish the fire.

Suddenly recalling Xiao Yu was nearby, he paused to apologize, “Immortal Master, I’m deeply sorry you have to witness such a mess.”

“To have one’s sacred ground catch fire—it’s truly embarrassing,” he added, his face flushed with shame.

“It’s no trouble,” Xiao Yu replied with a kind smile. “You spoke highly of the sword cave earlier, and it’s regrettable to see it come to harm. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

“Immortal Master, if it’s not too much trouble, please come with me. Your assistance in extinguishing the fire would be greatly appreciated,” the abbot requested.

“Very well, let’s go.” Xiao Yu nodded.

Knowing time was of the essence, the two ascended their flying swords and swiftly reached the cave in the rear mountains.

Before them stood the entrance to a stone cavern flanked by two statues of sword immortals, their blades angled downward, exuding an air of ethereal elegance and sharp resolve.

Thick black smoke billowed from the cavern entrance, where several temple disciples were frantically splashing water in a futile attempt to control the blaze. Their efforts were like drops in the ocean against the raging fire.

“The abbot is here! And so is the Immortal Master!”

“Disciples, pay respects to the abbot and Immortal Master!”

The disciples abandoned their buckets and knelt hastily, their voices trembling with reverence.

“What happened here? How could the fire grow so large?”

The abbot, seeing the black smoke and imagining the priceless manuscripts turning to ash, felt as though he had aged a decade in mere moments. His heart ached as though being sliced by a thousand blades.

“Sweet Dew Technique!”

Xiao Yu stepped forward, forming hand seals as he chanted a spell.

The Sweet Dew Technique, a basic water-element spell from Tianyong City, harnessed the water essence of heaven and earth to summon a gentle rain. It was often used for irrigating fields or extinguishing fires.

Patter, patter…

Rain began to fall within the cavern.

The raindrops hissed as they struck the flames, steam rising into the air. Gradually, the fire’s intensity lessened, and the black smoke thinned. Before long, the blaze was completely extinguished.

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“Not a single manuscript survived—not one!”

The abbot rushed into the cavern, hoping to salvage at least one or two scrolls, only to find nothing but ash. His anguish was palpable as he stood amidst the charred remains, tears welling in his eyes.

“Abbot, please don’t grieve too much. Though the manuscripts are gone, the people are safe,” Xiao Yu consoled him.

The cavern was a wreck. Scorched walls and piles of ash were all that remained of the once-pristine repository. The air still carried the acrid scent of burnt paper, and a lone fragment of a scroll smoldered on the ground.

The abbot sighed deeply, his gaze settling on a stone wall.

“Thankfully, the Yin-Yang Sword Diagram is intact. Being a carved relief, even the fiercest flames couldn’t harm it. If this diagram had been destroyed, I would have no face left to meet our ancestors in the afterlife.”

“Yin-Yang Sword Diagram?”

Xiao Yu followed the abbot’s gaze to the wall, where a relief carving of the diagram was etched. Though darkened by soot, the carving remained undamaged.

The Yin-Yang Sword Diagram resembled a Taiji symbol, with stark black-and-white contrasts. However, instead of the familiar yin-yang fish, it depicted two swords—one black and one white. The black sword symbolized yin; The white one, yang.

The two swords, like the yin-yang fish, were intertwined, chasing one another in an eternal dance of balance. They rotated endlessly, representing the dual forces of mutual opposition and complementarity.

Beneath the diagram was an inscription:

“The Sword Diagram embodies the Taiji, which begets the Two Principles. The Two Principles give rise to the Four Symbols, and the Four Symbols birth the Eight Trigrams. The essence of swordsmanship lies within.”

Standing amidst the charred remains, Xiao Yu gazed intently at the diagram, letting its profound meaning sink in. A faint resonance stirred within him.

The diagram reminded Xiao Yu of the Void Clarity Phantom Sword.

This technique consisted of two aspects:

The Clarity Sword—representing ultimate yang, firm and unyielding, akin to the white sword.

The Phantom Sword—representing ultimate yin, soft and elusive, akin to the black sword.

In the diagram, the black and white swords chased one another, constantly in flux, their interaction generating boundless power. This cycle mirrored the principle of the Void Clarity Phantom Sword’s complementary forces.

As Xiao Yu stood before the diagram, memories of the sword technique surfaced in his mind. With his innate talent as a cultivator, he entered a state of serene enlightenment. A subtle sword aura began to emanate from his body.

“He’s… achieving enlightenment!”

“Immortal Master is achieving enlightenment!”

The abbot’s eyes widened in disbelief, his voice trembling with awe.@@novelbin@@