1153: Chapter 343: Nine Echoes 1153: Chapter 343: Nine Echoes Three drums sounded, and Su He looked at the Ascending Immortal Drum before him and slowly closed his eyes.
He couldn’t sense it anymore!
The Ascending Immortal Drum was still in front of him, but it had vanished from his perception once again, the fairy machine’s connection to the drum was lost.
Su He switched to the Dragon Turtle Bloodline, and still couldn’t sense the existence of the Ascending Immortal Drum, Xuan Wu, Vermilion Bird…
He couldn’t sense anything at all; it was as if the Ascending Immortal Drum had completely disappeared.
He watched the Ascending Immortal Drum in front of him and cracked a smile—it really wasn’t so simple to strike the drum.
The first three sounds were from the fairy machine.
Su He followed the path of immortality and struck the drum three times without pause.
But what came next?
Su He fell silent.
Inside Guiwang Mountain, Divine Senses commingled.
“May I ask Brother Dongxu, what did this daoist friend use to strike the first three drums?”
Brother Dongxu was the Ascending Immortal Drum Spirit.
Although it’s not like the usual magical treasures and artifact spirits sharing one body, and Brother Dongxu had some difficulty fusing once again with the drum, an artifact spirit was still an artifact spirit, always able to sense what was inside.
Dongxu’s voice came, “He struck the drum with the path of immortality.”
Everyone nodded; the path of immortality was indeed the most common way of striking the Ascending Immortal Drum.
Half of those who entered Guiwang Mountain struck the drum with the path of immortality.
Common did not mean simple.
Striking the drum was never easy.
All methods in the world could lead to immortality—a single word, a phrase, a literary work, or even the pinnacle of martial arts and medicine among mortals.
The Great Tao contained within could push one into the realm of immortals.
But to strike the Ascending Immortal Drum with the path of immortality, it was not enough just to know the path; you had to walk it and make it work, become a true immortal!
In other words, reaching immortality was necessary!
Otherwise, couldn’t anyone with a cultivation technique for immortality strike the drum?
The path of immortality might be difficult, but for those who joined the sect—it was available to all!
“However, to strike the Ascending Immortal Drum during the solar eclipse, his enlightenment must reach Qingyun.”
The solar eclipse added difficulty; if a mere three parts mastery of the path of immortality could strike the drum, now at least five parts were needed.
Under such circumstances, to strike three times consecutively, this youth could move closer to the path of immortality.
And it wouldn’t be a disgrace to match him with Princess Snow from his family.
The crowd watched Su He.
Su He slowly opened his eyes, filled with doubt, and reached out to touch the three drums, as if he couldn’t believe it.
He placed his hand on the drum and gently tapped it.
Boom!
A drum sound spread far and wide, more thunderous than the previous three, and after a muffled echo, it rolled in all directions, like thunder.
Man!
The first three drums questioned immortality, the middle three questioned humanity!
Su He’s heart became clear, and when he realized with what the middle three drums were struck, he again perceived the Ascending Immortal Drum, and a gentle strike resonated through the universe.
Not quite human.
Among all living beings in the sky and earth in All Heavens and Myriad Realms, vegetation, fish, and beasts—all are human.
Su He understood this principle when he opened the Three-fold Heaven, and in his Inner World, there was no difference between a blade of grass and the fish and beasts.
The way of humanity!
The way of humanity had always been parallel to the path of immortality, neither inferior nor superior.
Like Ya Ya’s Imperial’s Tao, it was a branch of the human path; when mastered to its pinnacle…his father-in-law?
Immortals are ethereal, while humanity stands on its own strength.
Su He murmured, “Heaven’s way is forever strong, and a gentleman should never cease to be self-improving.”
Boom!
Before Su He even struck the drum, the Ascending Immortal Drum sounded on its own.
This drum sound was not like the thunder before, but brought with it a trace of silence and defiance.
The sound of the drum spread in all directions, a vision arose before everyone.
Rain poured, floods raged, and creatures sought life.
The Grey Falcon cried bloody tears and soared, breaking through the clouds to reach sunlight with its wings.
The Grey Wolf struggled in the flood to paddle through, choking and resurfacing again and again.
After hundreds of attempts, it swam freely in the water, and even its paws turned into fins, becoming a water spirit.
Some built houses on high ground, built dams to stop the water, channeled floods by opening mountains, and sang high in the rain and floods.
A gentleman should never cease to be self-improving!
With the drum’s sound and Su He’s murmur spreading across Mystery Huang, although quiet, the spirit carried the force of the sun and sky.
At this moment, it seemed as if the chill brought by the solar eclipse had been dispelled.
The teasing and guidance of Guiwang Mountain fell silent for a while before Dongxu’s voice came through.
“With just this phrase, he is qualified to enter Guiwang Mountain…
Fight for Taoist Son!”
Only a Taoist Son could inherit the position of Sect Leader.
Guiwang Mountain made no distinction between main and branch lines; anyone was eligible to compete for the position of Taoist Son.
With just this phrase, he could contest for the position of Taoist Son, and unless he encountered a prodigy, he even had a great chance of success.
Dongxu sighed and then saw Su He step forward again, his voice carrying through, “The earth’s terrain is solid; a gentleman carries great virtue as his burden.”
Boom!
Another drum sound filled the surroundings, changing the vision.
After the flood, the earth revived, and the grass soaked up the water and grew endlessly.
Broken trees and shattered trunks were swept away by the flood, but new shoots sprung from the roots, and another tree grew.
Beasts raced, humanity multiplied.
The earth carries all things!
Su He studied hexagrams and was still without a clue.
Everyone’s interpretation of the hexagrams was different, and each person saw them uniquely.
As the Book of Changes broke apart, the study of hexagrams became more personalized.
Su He could only look to his past life for answers.
Unfortunately, he had not gone through the Yi Jing in his past life and couldn’t create things out of nothing.
But he did recall dozens of classical phrases.
In his former world, too many people had never read the Yi Jing, yet they were familiar with its contents, and even he himself did not realize that what he was saying belonged to the Yi Jing.
The Yi had already integrated into every facet of life, engraved in the blood, indelible, unerasable.
Su He gleaned some understanding of hexagrams from these few overheard phrases.
Six bell tolls, and Mystery Huang fell completely silent.
Most didn’t know what had happened, but from those fading bell sounds, many fell into sudden enlightenment.