vrcanaries Chapter 97 The Bystander in the World of Tianlong 3
Chapter 97 The Bystander in the World of Tianlong 3
Liu Yuxi cultivates the Beiming Divine Skill and the Xiaowuxiang Skill. When Xiaoyaozi was teaching her, he told her that if she were to take on disciples in the future, the Beiming Divine Skill would not be allowed to be taught to others.
The description of Xiaoyaozi in "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" has become somewhat mythological. According to the plot, when the "Three Elders of Xiaoyao" appeared, Wuyazi was 93 years old and Tianshan Tonglao was 96 years old.
The description of Lingjiu Palace is that it has existed for hundreds of years. Since it has existed for hundreds of years, it must have existed for at least 200 years. Lingjiu Palace is also the gateway to the Xiaoyao Sect, so it is assumed that the Xiaoyao Sect has also existed for hundreds of years.
So how old was Xiaoyaozi? One account says that Xiaoyaozi's original name was Pan Lang, and Xiaoyaozi was his Taoist name after he entered the Daoist path. He was born during the Later Tang Dynasty, a period of chaos in the Five Dynasties period.
Born into a scholarly family, he was well-versed in Confucian classics from a young age, aspiring to serve in the government and assist a wise ruler in bringing peace to the world. However, he lived in a chaotic era with frequent changes of regime. In the heart of the Central Plains, the Later Jin dynasty destroyed the Tang dynasty, but the establishment of the Later Jin dynasty failed to change the chaotic world. After many twists and turns, he was ultimately unable to realize his dream.
His official career was unsuccessful, and he became depressed. At the age of thirty, he turned to Confucianism and Taoism, learned the style of the Wei and Jin dynasties, and secluded himself in the mountains and forests, taking the name Xiaoyaozi.
The more Taoist books he read, the more enlightened he became, realizing that everything is predestined and that he had also grasped the profound meaning of purity and emptiness. As a result, he devoted himself even more diligently to cultivation.
Afterwards, Xiaoyaozi comprehended in the Daoist Canon the following: "With the softest thing in the world, one can overcome the hardest thing in the world," "Nothing in the world is softer than water, yet nothing can overcome the hard and strong," "Some things are diminished to gain, and some things are gained to diminish," "True words seem paradoxical," and "Profound virtue is deep and far-reaching, contrary to things, and then it leads to great harmony."
Therefore, he comprehended a set of Taoist martial arts principles, and based on these principles, he integrated and gradually created the brilliant "Xiaoyao School" martial arts that would be passed down through the ages.
After his Taoist studies were completed, the name Xiaoyaozi became widely known. The Later Jin court invited him to come out of seclusion and serve in the government several times, but he refused each time due to his unconventional and unrestrained nature.
Later, when Murong Longcheng traveled from the Northern Dynasty to Yanziwu in the South, he heard of Xiaoyaozi's great name on the way, so he sought out and visited him.
Seeing that Murong Longcheng was a gentleman, Xiaoyaozi deliberately made things difficult for him several times, but Murong Longcheng remained as respectful as ever. So Xiaoyaozi welcomed Murong Longcheng with open arms, discussed scriptures and doctrines with him, and taught him the Great Treasury of Taoist teachings for seven days and seven nights.
Murong Longcheng learned a skill he had never encountered before in his life. With his intelligence and years of experience in the martial arts world, he integrated and mastered the principles of martial arts.
Xiaoyaozi then explained to him the original intention and principle behind his creation of "Xiao Wuxiang Gong". Murong Longcheng immediately understood it. After 49 days of self-integration, he created the unique skill "Dou Zhuan Xing Yi" based on the "Xiao Wuxiang Gong" which imitated the martial arts moves of others.
Xiaoyaozi had no desire for fame or fortune, but he was quite obsessed with the art of immortality. When he heard that there was an Everlasting Spring Valley in the Nanzhao Kingdom (later Dali), with an Everlasting Spring in the valley and a divine book that taught people how to live forever, he immediately set off for Dali.
In Dali, he met another figure who would become famous in later generations: Duan Siping, the founding emperor of Dali.
Duan Siping was born into a family of military generals in the Nanzhao Kingdom. Although his ancestors were illustrious, they had fallen into decline by the time he was born. However, he was exceptionally skilled in martial arts, had lofty ambitions, and was concerned about the suffering of the common people. He eventually rose through the ranks to become the Jiedushi of Tonghai, a powerful general who commanded a region.
At this time, the Nanzhao Kingdom was successively replaced by Zheng Maisi's "Dachanghe Kingdom", Zhao Shanzheng's "Datianxing Kingdom", and Yang Ganzhen's "Dayining Kingdom". The frequent changes of regimes inevitably involved bloodshed during the transitions, causing widespread suffering and resentment among the people.
Duan Siping had long been determined to end this period of division and unify Nanzhao, but he lacked skilled martial artists under his command, making it difficult to establish a foothold. His encounter with Xiaoyaozi at this time was like heaven helping him achieve his great cause.
Xiaoyaozi and Duan Siping met while rescuing the Bai Man people enslaved by Yang Ganzhen's regime. Duan Siping, a Bai Man of Han descent, greatly admired the famous scholars of the Central Plains. Upon seeing Xiaoyaozi, a bold and learned man, he admired him even more and wanted to invite him as an honored guest to learn from him and help him.
Pan Lang's trip to Nanzhao was to find the Valley of Immortality, but he was unfamiliar with the place and the people. Seeing that Duan Siping respected him greatly, the free-spirited Pan Lang went with Duan Siping back to his commander's mansion, taking the opportunity to inquire about information about the Valley of Immortality.
Duan Siping himself was deeply versed in Buddhism, and Xiaoyaozi taught him profound Taoist teachings, including the principles of breathing exercises and regulating qi in Taoist martial arts. The fusion of Buddhism and Taoism gave him a sudden enlightenment about the principles of martial arts.
In addition, his martial arts talent led him to create three unparalleled martial arts techniques: adopting the natural energy to transform into internal energy, cultivating and regulating his breath to transform into internal strength, and using the internal energy to drive internal force, gathering it at his fingertips to transform into invisible sword energy.
These later became known as the "Withering and Flourishing Zen Skill," "One-Finger Divine Skill," and "Six-Pulse Divine Sword." Later, Duan Siping used these extraordinary skills to quell the Nanzhao Rebellion, overthrow Yang Ganzhen's "Dayi Ningguo," and establish the Dali Kingdom.
With Duan Siping's help, Xiaoyaozi obtained the exact location of Changchun Immortal Valley. Unrestrained and free-spirited, he declined Duan Siping's promise of high-ranking official positions and generous rewards, and went alone to search for Immortal Valley.
The Valley of Immortality is located in the high mountains north of Dali's Shanju County and south of Tibet. It has always been isolated from the outside world. The people in the valley drink from the Spring of Immortality, and both men and women can live to be over a hundred years old. Moreover, the centenarians all have black hair and rosy cheeks, and look like teenagers, forever young.
When Xiaoyaozi arrived, everyone in the valley was astonished, as no outsider had ever been there before. Someone had once swung out of the valley by pulling themselves up with a vine from a large pine tree, but once out, they could never return.
The people who emerged from the valley initially appeared fair-skinned and beautiful with red lips, but after only a few days outside, their black hair turned snow-white, their backs hunched, their faces covered in wrinkles, and they seemed to age a hundred years in just a few days, only to die a few days later. Therefore, outsiders all said there were monsters in the valley, and no one dared to enter.
Actually, this is because the people in the valley often drink from the Fountain of Youth. Since there is no such spring water outside the valley, aging inevitably follows. After learning about the effects of the Fountain of Youth, Xiaoyaozi set his sights on the divine book that teaches people how to stay young forever.
After entering the valley, his obsession with eternal youth intensified. After discovering the location of the divine book, he disregarded the valley's people's attempts to stop him, forcibly seized the book, and left the valley.
The people in the valley, having lost the divine book, feared that outsiders would cause trouble again. Therefore, they carved their writing on the big trees outside the valley to tell outsiders that the divine book was gone.
These words were later translated into two sentences by Duan Yu and his companions when they finally found them: "The divine book has gone with Xiaoyao, and only the Everlasting Spring remains in this valley."
After obtaining the divine book, Xiaoyaozi left Dali and did not return to the Central Plains. Instead, he went to the Misty Peak of Tianshan Mountain, built the Lingjiu Palace, devoted himself to cultivation, and then founded a sect called the "Xiaoyao Sect".
He further organized his own martial arts, dividing them into internal and external techniques, and compiled them into the "Xiaoyao School Martial Arts". He also stored the martial arts masterpieces he had collected over the years in a stone chamber behind Lingjiu Palace, with his own creations engraved on the stone walls of the chamber.
Xiaoyaozi rescued a baby girl in Tianshan. She later became his eldest disciple. When the baby girl was six years old, he taught her the "Eternal Youth Technique" that he had practiced from a divine book, almost like an experiment.
As a result, she was frightened during her later practice and went into a state of demonic possession. Her appearance remained that of an eight or nine-year-old girl, and she became known as the Child Granny of Tianshan.
Besides Tong Lao, she also took in her second disciple Wu Yazi and third disciple Li Qiushui, passing on the "Northern Darkness Divine Skill" and the "Lesser Formless Skill" to them respectively.
Later, Wu Yazi eloped with Li Qiushui, intending to go to Dali to find the Valley of Immortality as a place to live in seclusion. However, they were unable to find it, but instead found another fairyland, which later became the Langhuan Blessed Land of Wuliang Mountain. The martial arts manuals collected by Xiaoyaozi were also moved here, but that's another story.
Around the age of 120, the white-haired but youthful-looking Xiaoyaozi passed the leadership of the Xiaoyao Sect to his second disciple, Wuyazi, and bestowed upon him the sect's symbol, the "Seven Treasures Ring." Then he disappeared without a trace, and the disciples of the Xiaoyao Sect all believed he had ascended to immortality.
During Xiaoyaozi's generation, the Xiaoyao Sect had little involvement with the martial arts world. After him, the Xiaoyao Sect became embroiled in the conflicts of the martial arts world. Lingjiu Palace, under the power of Tonglao, became famous throughout the martial arts world. One hundred and fifty years later, the Xiaoyao Sect disappeared under Xuzhu's leadership with his death. In total, it went through three generations of leaders and five generations of disciples and branches.
Although the Xiaoyao Sect has disappeared, the martial arts created by Xiaoyaozi have influenced the martial arts world for three hundred years through the transmission of various branches. Huang Yaoshi, the Eastern Heretic, was the one who passed on the martial arts of the Xiaoyao Sect in later generations.
Furthermore, considering that Dugu Qiubai appeared in the later stages of the Tianlong era, it means that her master, Xiaoyaozi, is now over 200 years old, making him a terrestrial immortal!
If Liu Yuxi had cultivated well in the real world, he could have become a legendary figure spanning three centuries! Living a long life is certainly a way to leave a lasting mark on history.