ATPnovel Chapter 201 The Martial Saint's Lament
Chapter 201 The Martial Saint's Lament
The two of them could only stare blankly.
It's not time to try to understand the martial arts intent on the shadow stone yet; that will have to wait until tonight.
To be precise, it was the latter half of the night. Long Yiyan would lead the Mausoleum Guard on patrols that were supposed to be once an hour, but he would deliberately shift the patrol time to half an hour between two patrols.
In this way, the two had nearly an hour and a half to meditate.
This time is enough for the martial artists who have paid the silver to closely comprehend the true meaning of the Martial Saint revealed by the Shadow Stone. Of course, if they fail to comprehend it, the time will not be extended, and the silver will not be refunded.
Now that it's broad daylight and so many eyes are watching, it's certainly not the time for enlightenment.
The shadow stone before us is about two zhang wide and half a zhang high and half a zhang thick. When unfolded, it looks like a stone wall scroll. It is gray and has a rough, porous surface. No one would guess that it is actually a rare stone.
Strictly speaking, it is also a stone demon, but it has been refined by Taoist magic and has become a magic weapon.
So many years have passed, this magic weapon should be ownerless. Otherwise, with so many people's thoughts coming and going within it, the owner, if alive, would not tolerate such behavior.
Yang Silang looked at the stone for a while out of boredom, then looked at the group of craftsmen.
They pretended to dig out bricks one by one in the pavilion.
The maintenance of this Stele Pavilion for Divine Merit and Virtue was carefully selected; the main stele and its contents must not be damaged, and it was not advisable to climb to the top and undertake major construction work.
Natural brick replacement is the most suitable project.
The bricks are thick and not easily damaged. Although their specifications are fixed and they are all large gold bricks, spare bricks were stored in the mausoleum's storeroom when they were fired.
The craftsmen then pried up the good bricks one by one.
When the time comes, we'll report the damage, send it to the warehouse, and then probably won't even need to retrieve the spare bricks. We'll just carry these bricks back and put them back in their original positions on the ground.
It's like fixing something that wasn't even there.
The gold bricks were specially made and extremely sturdy; it is said that even swords and knives could not easily leave marks on them.
However, Yang Silang noticed that these gold bricks must have been pried up and put back in countless times. Although they looked intact on the surface, the bottom of the bricks was pitted and uneven, which was the mark of being pried up many times.
His Majesty Emperor Yongchang has come every year to offer sacrifices. If he knew that the base of the merit stele pavilion was just a pile of broken bricks, I wonder what he would think.
"Young friend...is this your first time here?" Tian Zhenfeng suddenly opened his mouth slightly, and a soft voice reached Yang Silang's ears. He used his true energy to transmit the sound secretly.
Even if someone stands right next to you, you can only see their mouth moving, but you can't hear a sound.
Yang Silang also knew this little trick of using true qi, and he opened his mouth slightly.
"Yes, Senior Tian, this is my first time here."
Standing before the shadow stone, Tian Zhenfeng seemed to be filled with emotion, and actually spoke up.
"This is the second time."
"Ten years ago, I broke through to become a Grandmaster of Golden Marrow and thought I was on the verge of becoming a Martial Saint."
"Back then, I came to the shadow stone to contemplate its meaning."
"Back then, Long Yi was on duty, but he wasn't blind yet."
"When I stood in front of this stone, I was full of ambition, thinking that I could understand the true meaning of the senior and combine it with my own martial arts to break through to the Martial Saint realm within ten years."
"The result..." He looked down at his hands and sighed, "Ten years have passed, and all I've gained is a bit more internal energy and blood circulation, but nothing else."
"Let alone breaking through to become a Martial Saint, I haven't even encountered the threshold of becoming a Martial Saint."
Yang Silang listened quietly from the side.
He knew that martial artists possessed strong and unwavering minds.
Perhaps because Tian Zhenfeng was standing in front of this shadow stone, he suddenly thought of the hardships of the past ten years, which ultimately yielded nothing. Overwhelmed by emotion, he spoke a few more words.
Yang Silang wasn't even a Grandmaster of Golden Marrow, so he naturally had no right to speak. He only needed to listen quietly like the stone in front of him.
"When I first saw Ying Shi, I was somewhat dismissive of the ancients, thinking that I could replace them..." Tian Zhenfeng suddenly turned his head.
"Looking at these two seniors, I thought they were within easy reach ten years ago, but now that we've actually reached this point, I realize how far apart we are, and that we can't even begin to compare ourselves to them."
"I'm nothing but a frog in a well, deluding myself into thinking I'm seeing the moon..."
Yang Silang suddenly spoke.
"Senior, you're too attached to appearances..."
"I've looked into the deeds of the two martial saints in the shadow stone."
"Black Tiger will be an unparalleled genius, becoming a Grandmaster in three years and breaking through to the Martial Saint realm in five years."
"However, Baihu will be a late bloomer. It is said that it took him eleven years to become a Martial Saint. However, he has accumulated his strength and will be able to fight two opponents at once as soon as he becomes a Martial Saint."
"If he had given up in the tenth year, how could he have become the White Tiger God of Slaughter?"
"One must know that the last leg of a journey is the hardest; without arduous training, how can one be worthy of being called a Martial Saint?"
Jing and Erhu were known as Black Tiger and White Tiger because one had black skin and the other white skin, and each had the character "tiger" in their names. They were so fearsome that they terrified all the martial arts masters outside the capital.
His early life was brilliant.
Unfortunately, after obeying the emperor's order and dripping their blood onto this shadow stone to practice martial arts, both of them perished within a few years.
Information about their later lives seems to have been erased; all that is known is that they should have died young and never distinguished themselves on the battlefield again.
Like shooting stars streaking across the sky, their trajectory is only brilliant in the first half; the second half should have continued to shine, but for some reason, it went out.
Tian Zhenfeng's eyes lit up when he heard this.
He knew more about the White Tiger General than Yang Silang did.
However, thoughts can arise in any person, and who knows what the next thought will be? Standing in front of the stone, he thought about the hardships of the past ten years, and it was normal for him to have some doubts about himself.
"Thank you, young friend..." He bowed respectfully. "You're right."
"I was being too attached to appearances..."
"He who travels a hundred li is only halfway there at ninety," how true that is...
He read it over and over again, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.
Yang Silang shook his head.
"Senior, you already had the answer in your heart. You were just momentarily confused. Even if I hadn't reminded you, you would have quickly realized it yourself."
It is normal for any human being to feel tired and weak occasionally; this has nothing to do with cultivation level.
Tian Zhenfeng regained his composure, exuding a newfound sense of pride and dispelling his previous dejection and sorrow.
"Haha, today I will revisit the Shadow Stone."
"With ten years of accumulation, and by observing the true meaning of the two sages, one will surely be able to comprehend even more."
The two became close as a result.
Anyway, now is not the time to comprehend it.
They simply sat down on the ground. The guards knew what kind of business this was, and one guard stood at a distance to "supervise" everyone, but he had already fallen asleep leaning against a tree, his head swaying back and forth.
The two communicated secretly via telepathy.
Tian Zhenfeng explained some techniques for breaking through to the Grandmaster level of the Golden Marrow Realm, but then realized it was too early to tell Yang Silang. So he told him to come to him if he encountered any difficulties in breaking through to the next level.
Since Yang Silang's martial arts level was too far inferior to Yang Silang's, they couldn't communicate properly. So Yang Silang told him about his experiences on his way to the capital for the imperial examination.
Tian Zhenfeng, who was in the business of escorting goods, nodded repeatedly, saying that with the turbulent times, the business of escort agencies was becoming increasingly difficult.
The conversation between the two men circled back to the two tiger generals.
Tian Zhenfeng had been here once before.
He gave Yang Silang some advice from someone who had been there before.
The Black Tiger General's real name is Du Mohu. He is skilled in using spears and whips, especially steel whips. He mainly cultivates water-element true qi, and his whip intent is lingering and twisting, but also has a powerful and vigorous meaning. He is particularly good at prolonged battles.
The White Tiger General is named Mu Canghu. He wields a large Guan Dao (a type of broadsword) and is skilled in various sword techniques, both large and small. He primarily cultivates fire-elemental true qi, and his sword strikes are fierce, capable of burning everything in their path. He excels at stacking sword strikes in the shortest amount of time to overwhelm his enemies.
The shadow stone contains the marks left by two people during a martial arts demonstration, resembling real people.
Tian Zhenfeng had seen both kinds of fist intent last time, but now he suggested that the Martial Saint's fist intent was vast and boundless, how could you possibly see it all in two hours?
Therefore, he advised Yang Silang to choose only one suitable technique to study and not to be greedy for more and try to master more.
Yang Silang nodded repeatedly in thanks.
He hesitated in his heart. He possessed the five elements of true qi, so which of the five elements of martial saint's true meaning should he choose to study?
I possess both water and fire attributes!
While he was still struggling to choose between sweet and savory tofu pudding.
Tian Zhenfeng suddenly leaned close to his ear, this time not even trusting to use telepathy, and lowered his voice even further.
"besides……"
"Young friend, you should be careful..." Tian Zhenfeng hesitated for a moment before saying, "Last time I saw two Martial Saints with blood streaming from their eyes."
"Don't stare at the two of them crying. If you do that, you won't understand the true meaning, and you might even fall seriously ill."
Yang Silang could hardly believe his ears.
Two invincible warrior generals on the battlefield actually shed tears of blood.
He stared at Tian Zhenfeng in utter shock.
Tian Zhenfeng nodded, his eyes filled with certainty.
"Yes, she's crying..."
"The officials guarding the tomb may not know this secret, or they may know it but pretend not to know."
"I asked the seniors who paid the silver decades ago, and back then the two Martial Saints in the Shadow Stone were still normal."
"The changes must have occurred in the last ten years or so."
"Anyway, once you see it, don't panic or worry about it. Just focus on understanding the true meaning."
Yang Silang looked up at the sky; the sun was blazing.
He felt a chill in his limbs.