Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 435: Early Heaven Bagua and Later Heaven Bagua
“Could these ghosts be positioned based on Early Heaven (Primordial) Bagua,[1] with the Kun (Earth) position as its core?
“Early Heaven Bagua encompasses all phenomena. Here, the ghosts symbolize each phenomenon. Look, this position is the Drowned Ghost, who drowned in water and represents water. This position is the Wronged Ghost, who was buried in the ground and represents earth. This position is the Alluring Ghost, who embodies fiery lust and represents fire. This position is the Painted Skin Ghost...umm, probably just to make up the numbers.”
“No, that’s wrong! This great array likely follows the Later Heaven (Manifested) Bagua, with the array’s focal point at the Zhen (Thunder) position.”
“Did you all even study arrays properly? Must the array nodes only be ghosts? Can’t buildings and structures serve as nodes?”
“See how Hanshui City is flanked by the Corpse-Driving Sect’s Yin-Corpse Mountain Range, which stands for extreme yin, and the bustling brothel district, which stands for extreme yang? The equilibrium of yin and yang is maintained with the provincial governor’s estate at the center, resulting in Hanshui City’s prosperity. This was the original intention behind establishing Hanshui City back then.
“But now, someone has placed malevolent ghosts in Hanshui City to disrupt this balance! How could you all not understand such simple logic?”
“Dogshit theory! The rumor about Hanshui City’s yin-yang balance has been around for a dozen thousand years, yet some still believe in it!”
“It’s not that I believe in it—this is called rational analysis!”
“What rational analysis? All of us are cultivators and revere the strong. If you truly got what it takes, prove it through battle!”
The great array masters’ debate grew increasingly heated until it was on the verge of coming to blows.
Lu Yang considered stepping forward to intervene, but he knew his insignificant status couldn’t quell their altercation.
In truth, it wasn’t completely impossible. As long as he announced that he was a disciple of the Taciturn Daoist Priest, Lu Yang believed the old pedants would immediately redirect their focus from arrays to him.
But this method is too dangerous—even the Immortal Fairy might not be able to protect me.
Not that she could protect me even if it weren’t dangerous.
“Great masters, how is the array research coming along?” Provincial Governor Lü left the secret stone chamber and came rushing over.
Relief was plastered across Qiu Jin’an’s and Meng Jingzhou’s faces.
“Don’t worry. I told you I’ll impart to you our sect’s secret spell. Once matters conclude, I’ll teach you!” Qiu Jin’an had promised this to Meng Jingzhou when he controlled the latter to smack Grandpa Ba. And I’m a man of my word.
“You’re fine now?” Lu Yang asked the obvious. I mustn’t let anyone know I was spying just now.
“Brother Meng’s curse is resolved?” Man Gu was genuinely concerned for Meng Jingzhou, a sentiment Zhao Po mirrored.
“It’s all good now! After so long, it’s finally settled. This young master has regained my freedom!”
The Everlasting Immortal Fairy grumbled about the inefficiency. “If you had followed my approach and committed suicide once, the curse would have long been resolved.”
Man Gu suddenly asked in bafflement, “How did you break your curse, Brother Meng?” He felt like he remembered a moment ago but had now forgotten.
It was the same for Zhao Po.
This was due to the effect of an immortal trait.
Meng Jingzhou laughed it off without explanation. Otherwise, it’s likely that Man Gu will ask the same thing ten minutes later, and I’ll have to answer again, and then he’ll ask again and again with no end in sight.
“It’s a pity Big Senior Sister isn’t around, else we wouldn’t have needed to make a trip to Wilderness Province.” Meng Jingzhou missed the days when Yun Zhi was around.
Qiu Jin’an was stunned, perplexed by Meng Jingzhou’s comment. “Are you talking about Yun Zhi? She’s in the Dao-Seeking Sect! I saw her when inquiring about you two there.”
“When did Big Senior Sister return to the sect?”
“The day after you left for Wilderness Province.”
Meng Jingzhou, “...”
Lu Yang, “...”
“Why were you in such a hurry to come here?!” Lu Yang struck first.
“How was I the one in such a hurry to come here? How would I have known that Big Senior Sister would return so quickly? But you? You follow her every day; how did you not even know she’d gone?!” Meng Jingzhou pushed the responsibility to Lu Yang with practiced ease.
“Who dares ask about Big Senior Sister’s whereabouts? Do you?!”
“I don’t!” Meng Jingzhou retorted proudly.
“If you two are wondering what she was up to, I know the answer,” Qiu Jin’an interjected.
“She went to handle the prison release procedures for the old Taciturn scoundrel.”
Meng Jingzhou, “...”
Lu Yang, “...”
Man Gu was stumped. “Sect Leader did something wrong and got arrested again?”
Meanwhile, Provincial Governor Lü was listening to the opinions of the great array masters.
“Trust me, this array’s principle is definitely Early Heaven Bagua!”
“What Early Heaven Bagua? It’s clearly Later Heaven Bagua!”
Qiu Jin’an sighed, his temples hurting. “It’s the Early Heaven and Later Heaven Bagua debate again. A troublesome matter.”
“Early Heaven and Later Heaven Bagua debate?” Lu Yang and the others had never heard of this contention before.
“This involves profound array theories, so it’s no surprise you’ve never heard about it.
“Early Heaven Bagua and Later Heaven Bagua originated from ancient times. They were said to have been derived by an ancient immortal who observed celestial patterns above and terrestrial formations below, so they must align with the laws of heaven and earth.
“This ancient immortal proposed the Bagua Theory, but with the severe loss of ancient culture and civilization, only Early Heaven Bagua and Later Heaven Bagua were passed down until today. This engendered the endless debate over which was the orthodox one.
“If the Bagua Theory could be completed, this age-old conflict would finally cease.”
“Ah, Bagua Theory? That I know!” The Everlasting Immortal Fairy displayed her wealth of knowledge and experience once again. I was personally involved in many ancient events, either having experienced them myself or pulling the strings behind the curtain.
“You know about it?”
“Do you hear what you’re saying? Is there anything beyond my ken? I was intimately involved in the birth of this Bagua Theory.”
“You proposed this theory, Immortal Fairy?” Lu Yang was utterly amazed, finding the Everlasting Immortal Fairy much more intelligent in his eyes.
The Everlasting Immortal Fairy waved her hand modestly, not taking credit. “Not at all. The Epoch Immortal inferred this theory, but during his whole deduction process, I was cheering him on from the sidelines and giving him moral support.”
Lu Yang wondered, Was there also a punishment aspect? If the Epoch Immortal couldn’t derive it within a stipulated time, did he have to eat your cooking?
Oblivious to Lu Yang’s snark, the Everlasting Immortal Fairy reminisced. “He looked up to count the stars, squatted down to look at the dirt, performed some calculations with his fingers, and created a theoretical framework.
“According to him, this Bagua Theory incorporated all celestial phenomena and could serve as a foundation for arrays. An array constructed based on this Bagua Theory would be so abstruse that cultivators of the same level would struggle to formulate a method to break it. It’s a top-tier array theory!
“The complete Bagua Theory comprised four parts: Early Heaven Bagua, Today Heaven Bagua, Tomorrow Heaven Bagua,[2] and Later Heaven Bagua. I don’t know how it spread, but now only the Early Heaven Bagua and Later Heaven Bagua remain.”
1. I decided to adopt the translation from this website. ☜
2. “Today (jintian)” and “tomorrow (mingtian)” has ‘heaven’ or ‘sky’ as the second character. ☜
