Wandering the Four Seas Chapter 137: A Peerless Hero

The Azure Dragon was born in the mythological era, one of the Four Auspices and the Four Spirits of Heaven, tasked with guarding the eastern domain.

Within the official military hierarchy of the Great Qian Dynasty, the Grand General of the Jinwu Guards held command over both the Jinwu Guards and the Demon-Suppressing Bureau, yet his rank was merely the third tier. The reason for this was that above him stood four elite guards directly loyal to the Human Emperor:

The Azure Dragon Guard, the White Tiger Guard, the Vermilion Bird Guard, and the Black Tortoise Guard.

Normally uninvolved in mortal affairs, they remained hidden in various realms to cultivate.

It was during the cyclical sixty-year grand destruction that they were once again summoned by the Human Emperor to enter Cloud Capital.

Hence, upon setting foot through the Vermilion Bird Gate for the second time, one would sense the lingering power of flames.

Whether in immortal legends, folklore, or courtly titles, all people, matters, and objects related to the Four Spirits of Heaven held paramount importance.

The azure color of the east corresponds to wood, teeming with immense vitality. Since ancient times, it has been the cradle of magnificent dynasties.

Encircling the Three Thousand Realms were seven islands comparable in area to the Great Qian, commonly known as the "Seven Star Auspicious Islands" or the "Immortal-Adjacent Realm."

They guarded the periphery of the Three Thousand Realms, preventing the dragon's rising fortune from leaking outward.

On the second day of the second lunar month, the dragon raises its head.

This precisely echoes the transition from winter to spring, the celestial phenomenon of the Azure Dragon's manifestation.

It signifies that "spring has returned to the earth, and all things are reviving."

Through the explanations of Island Master Mo, Su Ye finally understood the exception within the naming sequence of spiritual treasures.

Huayang was a pioneer who achieved enlightenment through the art of artifact forging.

At that time in the Three Thousand Realms, no one had yet crossed the heavenly tribulations and ascended to immortality purely through the arts of artifact crafting.

By blazing this path, he became a beacon lighting the way for fellow cultivators embarking on the path of enlightenment, and thus he was revered as the "Ancestor of Artifacts."

Practitioners in the trade of forging spiritual treasures, upon formally entering apprenticeship, were all required to first bow in gratitude to the grace of heaven and earth, then kowtow in thanks to the Ancestor Huayang, and only afterward perform the master-disciple ceremony.

The Creation series followed the path of dominance, reigning as monarchs among spiritual treasures.

Spiritual treasures named after the Ancestor Huayang were, without exception, forged by his own hands.

Their rarity and might far surpassed even the Creation series.

At the eastern shores of the Three Thousand Realms lay the Dragon Palace.

Some practitioners in the Divine Ability Realm chose to pledge allegiance to the Dragon Palace, studying immortal arts that commanded the winds and summoned the rain.

The dragon race entrenched within the Dragon Palace could multiply and thrive, each pursuing the immortal realm of eternal youth.

The Azure Dragon, one of the Four Auspices, was born of the Heavenly Dao and possessed no gender.

Originating from the mythological era, its celestial body was eternal and indestructible.

Therefore, from antiquity to the present day, there has ever been only one Azure Dragon.

Much like the moon in the sky, rising in the east and setting in the west, it illuminates both the ancients and the modern era.

The Huayang Azure Dragon Cauldron.

The first two characters denoted by whom it was forged.

The two characters "Azure Dragon" further confirmed that there was only one such vessel between heaven and earth.

That Guan Xiong was willing to gift such a spiritual treasure to Su Ye without accepting a single coin spoke volumes about his character.

Had it been someone of crooked morals, they would have long cast their mentor's words to the winds.

Selling the cauldron to chase a lifetime of glory and wealth.

Fate had played tricks on Su Ye, yet it had also bestowed upon him opportunities that would fill others with envy.

Just as the ancients said: To survive a great disaster is to be blessed with subsequent fortune.

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Madam Mo and Luo Jinghong, upon receiving a message from Island Master Mo, came together to the private residence of the Guan family to witness a divine spiritual treasure acknowledging its master.

Island Master Mo stroked his neatly trimmed goatee and said in a deep voice:

"The Huayang Azure Dragon Cauldron is like a wild steed of the mortal world. With your current capabilities, forcing it to acknowledge you as master will only make it easy for you to be injured by it.

It would be better to store it away for now, and summon it forth only when the time is ripe."

"This junior has a premonition that if I can make it acknowledge me as master at this moment, I will be able to wield it as smoothly as my own arm," Su Ye expressed what he felt in his heart. "Once my strength grows formidable, it will conversely repel me..."

Madam Mo asked:

"Where does this feeling of yours come from?"

Su Ye respectfully replied: "It wells up from the heart."

"Inspirations that arise spontaneously, and destiny that defies clear explanation—these are the boundaries that separate geniuses from mediocrities," Island Master Mo said in a clear voice. "I should like to see whether you truly are a peerless hero or not."

Luo Jinghong felt a surge of curiosity, her clear eyes wide as she asked:

"Why is it that making the cauldron acknowledge its master can distinguish whether someone is a hero?"

Island Master Mo smiled faintly and explained patiently:

"The Azure Dragon is a divine beast that protects the mortal realm, and it rarely bestows its divine consciousness upon spiritual treasures.

Coupled with the fact that this cauldron was forged personally by the Ancestor Huayang, it possesses an intensely fierce and domineering nature. Without being a peerless hero, one cannot hope to control such a treasure.

To use it by force would only result in one's cultivation being counter-attacked."

Hearing Island Master Mo's words, Su Ye felt not a shred of fear; instead, boundless heroism surged within him.

For a true man born between heaven and earth, being able to leave a legacy as a peerless hero in the annals of history was far better than living a mediocre and endless life.

Right then, his sword intent transformed into spirit, shattering the sphere of light that enveloped the Azure Dragon Cauldron.

The shielding barrier, opened in advance, intercepted any potential natural anomalies.

The Azure Dragon Cauldron returned to its original size, reaching roughly to Su Ye's waist, its twin handles brimming with the power of mist, water, and lightning.

A gigantic dragon, indigo throughout its body, flew out from the void, expanding instantaneously to a size that spanned the heavens and earth, circling across the firmament.

"Su Ye, do you know that your mortal frame is frail and unsuited to bear a sinking vessel?" The voice of the Azure Dragon artifact spirit resounded within his sea of consciousness.

All sensory perception vanished, leaving only a single man and a single dragon.

Faced with the pressure of the ancient divine beast, Su Ye kept his spine straight and declared boldly:

"Though this junior is untalented, I am willing to uphold the original intent of the senior who forged this artifact, and become a peerless hero who protects all living beings under heaven.

Even if the sinking vessel is hard to bear, I shall not alter this resolve."

The Azure Dragon artifact spirit said in a deep voice:

"Do you know how immense a power is required to shoulder all living beings?"

"To be unrivaled in the world, peerless beneath the heavens," Su Ye's voice grew ever more resonant. "Without the ability to reach the heavens and pierce the earth, one will merely be crushed by the Heavenly Dao into dust born of overestimation."

"Do you firmly believe you can become unrivaled in the world?"

"Plunged into a perilous realm of nine deaths and a lifetime, if one thinks only of survival, it can spur all of a person's potential to accomplish seemingly impossible feats.

Only by being unrivaled in the world can one save oneself and ferry others across adversity—is it not the same for this path?"

"Young man, you must understand there are heavens beyond the heavens, and people beyond people.

A cultivation level that is unrivaled in the world and peerless beneath the heavens is not a dream that can be realized simply by speaking a few grandiose words!"

"I am willing to travel ten thousand miles, shatter every sort of peril, tread across snowy mountains and dangerous shoals, overcome a thousand overlapping barriers, and attain that state of being unrivaled in the world." Having finished speaking, Su Ye raised his head and gazed intently at the Azure Dragon artifact spirit. "Are you willing to heed my command and, with the soul consciousness of a divine beast, protect all living beings under heaven?"

"I do not believe you can become unrivaled in the world."

Su Ye knew that empty words and grand talk would hardly dispel the doubts of the Azure Dragon artifact spirit.

Without the assistance of the artifact spirit, given his current cultivation level, it was utterly impossible to make the Azure Dragon Cauldron acknowledge him as master.

A surge of heroism soared to the heavens.

He shouted abruptly:

"Yin-Yang Mirror, open!"

As his voice fell, three ancient seal-script characters instantly lit up.

The searing pain radiating from his meridians and bones could not suppress the surging heroism welling up from within.

Clenching his fists tightly and enduring the agony, his voice rang across heaven and earth:

"All phenomena and myriad dharmas!"

Above the Azure Dragon artifact spirit, auspicious mists and clouds materialized.

The radiance of gods and Buddhas illuminated the firmament.

The boundless power of the Buddha suppressed the incomparably formidable aura of the Azure Dragon.

Six syllables of Sanskrit chanting echoed with crystalline clarity:

"Om mani padme hum!"

The Azure Dragon artifact spirit abruptly dropped a hundred feet toward the ground, its voice slightly weaker than when it had first entered his spiritual consciousness:

"You dare to forcibly lift the seals of the Yin-Yang Mirror—are you not afraid of your body bursting apart and dying?"

"I have already said," Su Ye felt a sweetness in his throat as a trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, "and I do not mind saying it again.

My path of immortal cultivation has no retreat whatsoever.

If I do not succeed, I shall perish for the cause."

"What an arrogant young fool!" The Azure Dragon artifact spirit opened its cavernous maw, gathering a majestic breath of the dragon.

A beam of light the thickness of a water vat descended from the sky, enveloping the proudly standing figure of Su Ye.

The anticipated destructive blow did not arrive.

The rapidly healing wounds within his body nullified the hazards of forcibly lifting the seals of the Yin-Yang Mirror.

The voice within his sea of consciousness echoed like reverberations rolling through a mountain valley:

"This deity acknowledges it: you are indeed a peerless hero."