Chapter 160: No Meng in the Nine Families (1/2)

Chapter 160: No Meng in the Nine Families

The outside was an enormous square cauldron, whereas inside there was a Heavenly circular cauldron. This circular cauldron was truly a Heavenly trend!

Meng Hao’s mind buzzed as he saw this. Having experienced the world of the enormous cauldron, he felt as if it contained something cosmic.

“Nine kneeling figures, nine pinnacles of the Heavens,” muttered the gray-robed man, beginning to tremble. “These kneeling figures are not people, they obviously are referring to the will of the Heavens!

“No, no. How could the cauldron be reversed? It shouldn’t be like this. The heavens are circular and the earth is square. That’s a generally acknowledged truth from ancient times. It’s a law that was established tens and tens of thousands of year ago, a principle of heaven and earth.

“The cauldron should be circular on the outside and square on the inside. That would be correct. In that case, it would be as they say, the Heavens on the outside, above, the earth on the inside, beneath….” The man’s body trembled even harder as he continued to mumble to himself. It seemed as if he just couldn’t comprehend the world of this cauldron which was square on the outside and circular on the inside.

Xu Youdao stared blankly at the circular cauldron, his eyes radiating astonishment. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

Xie Jie’s eyes narrowed. Despite his shock, he immediately produced a jade slip, within which he inscribed all of this.

Han Bei seemed to be in shock as well. She looked at the massive fissure on the back of the statue, and then a brilliant glow appeared in her eyes that was obviously veneration for her ancestors.

“I understand,” said the gray-robed man, his voice quavering. “The heavens are circular, the earth is square. A circular cauldron on the outside becomes the Heavens, the square cauldron on the inside becomes the earth. That would be in accord with the will of the Heavens, but this… This embodies evil! This represents the earth covering the Heavens. This is the same as burying the Heavens!!

“This way, the circular cauldron is the Heavens, the square cauldron is the earth. This place…. is a tomb!!” Sharp astonishment filled his voice as he spoke. He slowly took three steps backward. He coughed up a mouthful of blood. His face was pale and his eyes shone brightly with astonishment. His hands flickered as if he were calculating something, and his voice began to grow louder.

“These nine worshippers are definitely pinnacles of the Heavens! They’ve just been embodied into these statues, which obviously represent the legendary Nine Mystical Stars. The Nine Mystical Stars are worshiping the cauldron. The Heavenly trend is solidified here. A bronze square cauldron, within which is buried the heart of the Heavens!

“How daring! How grand! A tomb in which the Heavens are buried inside the earth!! Just whose tomb is this? Willing to face death to steal good fortune from the Heavens! This is a coffin, and the Blessed Land outside is the tomb!

“Put it all together, and this place is no Blessed Land. It’s a Cursed Land! It’s a tomb of defiance against the Heavens!”

His words entered the ears of the others, and turned cold. Xie Jie's and Xu Youdao’s expressions changed. Meng Hao took in a deep breath to settle his shaking nerves. The gray-robed man’s words resonated inside of him, creating a sense of familiarity. Perhaps this place… really was a tomb.

He thought back to the vision he had experienced outside of the cauldron, and of the man’s voice he had heard when the lightning struck it.

“You are unwilling to let me take this cauldron from here. Then… I will lay in rest here forever, waiting for the day on which you fall.”

Meng Hao took a deep breath and thought back to the other archaic voice he had heard from within the cauldron.

“It was thy wish for your expanse to replace the starry sky, to cover my eyes with the dome of Heaven. The World Tree would not submit, and destroyed itself in the starry sky. My master may be sleeping, but can he still exist under the same sky as Ji?!?!”

The voice seemed to echo in Meng Hao’s mind. His heart beat rapidly, and he thought back to the legend of the Spring and Autumn tree [1. If you want to a refresher on the legend of the Spring and Autumn tree, check out Chapter 109: The Legend of Doom], and how the World Tree had voluntary destroyed itself rather than acquiesce to the Heavens. He also thought of the destruction of the Ancient Doom Clan [2. If you want to review the Doom Clan info, check out chapter 19 (link above) and Chapter 128: Li Daoyi’s Sixth Matrix], as well as the flag of three streamers [3. If you forgot about the flag of three streamers, and the Ji information, check out Chapter 137: 10th Patriarch of the Wang Clan ], which was currently inside the Blood Immortal mask. That flag had the character Ji written on it!

He also thought back to the requirement of the Blood Immortal to refine the bloodline of Ji!

“Fellow Daoists,” said Han Bei, “there’s no need to be alarmed.” Her clear, bell-like voice echoed out. Although it couldn’t outmatch the sound of the thunder, everyone could hear her clearly. “I don’t know whether or not this place is a tomb, but as you all can see, the person holding those ancient scrolls is my ancestor. The statue has been cracked open by Heavenly Thunder. That was how the first volume of the Classic of Time came out of this place, and was eventually acquired by later generations.” She turned to look at Meng Hao and the others. “In fact, of all the treasures here, only these scriptures can be taken away. All the other statues are perfect and unharmed.

“I’ve attended quite a few secret meetings; the fact that you all saw my message shows that you are destined to be here. You all have your own reasons for coming here, and are surely backed by powerful forces. Naturally, I am aware of that, and really don’t care who you represent.” She continued in a soft voice, “I only hope that for the sake of the Nine Mystical Stars, you will all keep your promises. Right now, we can only look, but when we draw near to the statues, I have a way to acquire the two scriptures. Then we can make copies for everyone.

“Actually, my only real purpose in coming here is to pay my respects in front of the statue of my ancestor.” Her voice seemed to contain some strange power that made everyone calmer. The gray-robed man’s complexion slowly returned to normal. Now that Meng Hao thought about it, he began to wonder if the man had purposefully said such crazy things.