Chapter Fifty-Five: Comprehending Yin and Yang

Apart from Lu Yuan and Chief Jin, many others from the Six Gates, as well as the city defense troops who had been scared off earlier, witnessed this scene.

“Damn, lucky we ran! Otherwise, we'd have ended up like those black-faced devils. My God, is that even human? Heavy-armored cavalry, and he slaughtered them with a single sword?!”

The city defenders, stunned at first, were on the verge of madness.

They were terrified!

News swept across the entire land like a raging storm.

Upon hearing the details, Elder Zhang fell silent, the Pure Yang Sect was enveloped in stillness, and the Cold Moon Palace was filled with the sound of gasps.

Imperial Capital, Eastern Palace.

“One sword to break a thousand armors—is he even human?” The Crown Prince, upon hearing the news, almost ordered a massacre in his rage.

To him, such a feat was impossible.

If a Grandmaster possessed this power, the world would have already descended into chaos.

But as the reports kept coming, he had no choice but to believe them; his confidence faded considerably.

“Your Highness, he’s on his way to the capital, swaggering along as if nothing can stop him,” the steward whispered. “The Black Banner Army has been annihilated. If he truly enters the city and begins a bloodbath, once His Majesty finds out, I fear… I fear…”

“We have actually been forced to a dead end!” The Crown Prince’s expression twisted between tears and laughter. “A mere figure from the martial world has, without realizing it, pushed us to this brink!”

“He cannot enter the city!”

“Absolutely not!”

“Otherwise, I’ll surely be struck while I’m down.”

“He must die outside the city!”

The Crown Prince gritted his teeth.

“Your Highness, even if we kill him outside the city walls, given the power he’s shown, we’ll suffer heavy losses. The momentum we’ve built will take a major blow,” the elder’s voice grew softer. “We must be prepared for anything. Your Highness, at this juncture, the arrow is nocked and must be released.”

The Crown Prince hesitated.

“If we don’t surround and kill him, and later he disguises himself and enters the city…” The elder shuddered, “The consequences would be unimaginable. Your Highness, we must focus all our strength to eliminate him. No mishaps can be allowed.”

“Yes, no mishaps! We must surround and kill him, or I’ll have no peace of mind!” The Crown Prince’s gaze hardened. “Father should retire, and my brothers have enjoyed their time long enough.”

On the road.

The carriage moved slowly, neither hurried nor sluggish.

At this pace, it would take two or three months to reach the imperial capital.

This was the message sent by the Ninth Princess, instructing him to proceed slowly.

“The Crown Prince is plotting rebellion, yet she tells us to move slowly… What is the Ninth Princess planning?” Lu Yuan wondered.

Such a momentous event—shouldn’t Jiang Ming hurry to lend her a hand?

Yet she asked for a slower pace. What could it mean?

“Her Highness wants all the players to reveal themselves,” Chief Jin speculated.

“If that’s the case, can she protect herself? I don’t believe it!” Lu Yuan shook his head. “The Sixth Prince is righteous but not ruthless and controls little power. The Ninth Princess, though remarkably gifted, is still but a woman; what can she command? The imperial capital is a tiger’s den. Even if Wang Invincible joins, he may not be able to shield them both.”

“I believe in the Princess!” Chief Jin’s eyes were resolute.

“With Wang Invincible by her side, she won’t die—good enough!” Jiang Ming was unconcerned. “She knows the Crown Prince’s secret and asked us to proceed slowly. The Ninth Princess must have methods we don’t know. Stop overthinking, focus on cultivating, and travel at our own pace.”

Rebellion?

Killing father and brothers for the throne?

What a grand drama.

He understood the imperial capital well: the old emperor was corrupt, frail, and sick, the Crown Prince secretly controlled the court, severing the emperor’s inner and outer communications.

Any news entering the palace was first filtered by the Crown Prince.

One day, they stopped in a mountain village.

At dawn, Jiang Ming stood beneath a tree, savoring the coolness of the mountains. Many villagers were already up, tending their fields.

One household was especially busy—a pregnant woman was about to give birth.

“True Yang—what is yang? The south side of the mountain is yang, the north bank of the river is yang, daytime is yang, the surface of the human body is yang, inhaling is yang, the earth’s surface is yang, the upper side of leaves is yang. Facing the sun is yang, being outside is yang, agitation is yang…”

“These are concepts, defined relative to yin!”

“But what about true yang? Can it exist alone?”

“Morning sun is yang, blazing sun is yang…”

Jiang Ming gazed eastward, where the sun’s arc had just risen, his mind swirling with thoughts, as if the realm of ‘True Yang’ was right before him—yet he could not step through the door.

Just then, crying echoed through the village.

Waa…

A newborn entered the world, its cries announcing its arrival. First comes the sorrow of life, then the bitterness, and finally, through time, one tastes all life’s joys and pains.

“A newborn—on a small scale, it’s a family’s hope and future; but in the greater sense, it’s the hope and future of a nation. With hope, there is a future, and with a future, there is light—light…”

Jiang Ming’s breath caught.

He stared at the sun; besides representing the power of fire, it also symbolized light. There is light in the sun, light in fire, light in thunder, light in stars, light in the soul, and even more so, light within hope…

“Light belongs to yang as well.”

His thoughts surged, ideas flashing through his mind.

Staring at the sun, Jiang Ming remained motionless; yet waves rippled through him as the nine realms of yang emerged one by one. Though invisible and intangible, they could be sensed.

In that moment, it was as though nine suns hung high behind him.

Then they merged into one, and a strange power seemed to flow from nothingness, not fierce or agitated, but gentle, illuminating the heart, sweeping away dust, warming the soul, purifying all negativity, calming the mind and soothing the body.

This power blended within him.

In that instant, Jiang Ming smiled.

True Yang—he comprehended it!

He had stepped across the threshold.

“If not for extraordinary insight and a powerful spirit, even blending the nine realms of yang with the realm of light wouldn’t yield the meaning of ‘True Yang,’ for ‘yang’ encompasses far too much.”

At that moment, he radiated pure energy—he was the sun, a beam of light, flawless and untainted, without a trace of darkness or impurity, embodying justice and brilliance, his body and mind crystalline and immaculate.

Jiang Ming stood unmoving, immersed in the sensation.

“Lonely yin cannot endure, solitary yang cannot be born.”

“Yin and yang generate and counter each other.”

“Yin dwells within, guarded by yang; yang resides without, commanded by yin!”

“Yin reaches its limit, giving birth to yang; yang to its extreme, transforms into yin; yin and yang interact, generating and countering each other!”

Jiang Ming was moved. The true energy in his dantian began flowing in the pattern of yin and yang, becoming ever more refined and perfect.

True energy spilled from his body, warm and cold, forming a Taiji diagram that spun around him, the fish of yin and yang chasing one another faster and faster, until suddenly, a transformation occurred.

Warmth and cold became authentic yin and yang.

Give me a spark, and I can set the world ablaze.

With his realization of True Yang, Jiang Ming achieved another breakthrough, directly comprehending the realm of yin and yang as well.

Even in the main world, this would be considered astonishing.

But enlightenment is enlightenment.

In that moment, he seemed to merge with heaven and earth—visible, tangible, yet giving the impression of being one with the cosmos, one with the Dao.

His body blended into the world, ever more harmonious.

Heaven and man united, as if he had become the Dao.

The resonance of the Dao of heaven and earth, of yin and yang, was drawn to him, entering his body and cleansing his flesh, tempering his will, transforming his spirit, and refining his soul.

As it entered his dantian, the space that had resisted expansion even after comprehending dozens of realms abruptly swelled.

His energy sea and dantian expanded again, rapidly and beyond all reason.

He had completely shattered the limits.