20 Legend of the Cultivation God dess , calling even Heaven down to parley! (1/2)
”…The Writ of Heavenly Emancipation, it is the greatest mystery of the sect. It is already so hidden, there is no point to hide this away from you. Have a look if you wish to.” Hearing the Sect Master's stern voice, Shu Yidan smiled as he accepted the white scroll.
It was a pure white scroll of good paper with black ink falling upon it as if splattered accidentally. It seemed quite sloppy, yet it was still a calligraphy portrait. Eight characters were drawn by a skilled master, and they joined together to form the portrait of a woman.
Being a portrait drawn with calligraphy technique, it was obviously hard to discern. The image was an optical illusion. Seeing the woman's portrait in the calligraphy was like seeking out the Big Dipper Constellation in the starry night sky.
It seemed only like a work of art, and it wasn't even a good one at that. But Shu Yidan gently used his fingers to feel the drawing. Using only the sense of touch, he ran his fingertips all over the scroll. He seemed like a blind man reading a particularly good book in Braille.
After a few minutes passed, he returned it to the Sect Master. The Sect Master gently smiled before putting it away.
”This is a self-portrait, drawn by the founder of our sect herself! She ascended 20,000 years ago leaving her blessings in the Founder's Altar! She is worshipped as the Daxian Eight Trigrams Divine Lady, but we who hold her legacy respectfully call her Founding Ancestor!” Sect Master's tone held great respect.
”'Daxian', the title's literal meaning being Great Immortal. It is like how the Buddhists title their apex cultivators 'Mahatma' – literal meaning being 'Great-Souled'. Their language is Sanskrit, though.” The Sect Master lectured.
Hearing this, Shu Yidan had a stray thought – Mahatma Gandhi's true name wasn't Mahatma!
The Sect Master continued without paying attention to Shu Yidan. ”The Writ of Heavenly Emancipation. It is the legacy treasure of our Heavenly Wind Sect. It is also an incomprehensible mystery since the 20,000 years of our sect's establishment. Do you know what the legend says?”
”Can't you tell it yourself?”, Shu Yidan licked his lips.
”No, I always used to tell you the story at bedtime and now I want to hear you tell me in my twilight years.” The Sect Master said with a sparkle in his eyes.
Shu Yidan sighed before he finally obliged.
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”Back before the Founding Ancestor ascended to Heaven, she decided to leave a legacy for our sect. She took a blank scroll to write down the Eight Trigrams Divine Law that she cultivated, but heavenly lightning struck it down. She did it seven more times but heavenly lightning still struck, destroying her hard work. Then, she took another blank scroll to draw this calligraphy portrait.”
”Seeing this calligraphy portrait, Heaven came down to parley. They talked for only a little time, since Founding Ancestor had to ascend.
Heaven asked the Founding Ancestor to not leave the Eight Trigrams Divine Law behind since it was too mighty and it would be unfair for only the disciples of her sect to have such power.
Founding Ancestor replied that without it, the later disciples of her sect would be too weak and would not be able to stand against the greed of the world. Was it not unfair that the peerless sect she had built to be helpless against the entire world?”
”Finally, they came to a decision. Founding Ancestor would not pass down the entirety of the Eight Trigrams Divine Law, only leaving behind the Heaven-Wind Two-Trigram Divine Law. In exchange, Heaven took a vow that until our sect would not fall until the end of time.”
”The Sect was named Heavenly Wind Sect after the Founding Ancestor ascended. The calligraphy-portrait is called Writ of Heavenly Emancipation from this legend. For 20,000 years since the Sect's establishment, no one has been able to divine its purpose. Yet it is a fact that our Founding Ancestor did exist, that she was the mightiest of her era and that she left behind the Heaven-Wind Two-Trigram Divine Law.”
”Paying heed to this knowledge, our Sect has never been attacked since its creation. No one wants to test what our Founding Ancestor left behind. Our Sect also subscribes to the Daoist philosophy of non-action and secludes away from the world. And thus, we are peacefully talking here.”