Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

The Matriarch sat back on her seat, regaining her composure. She looked at the others behind Alex before looking back at him to answer his question.

“Truth is, I believe in both,” the Matriarch said.

“Both?” Alex asked in surprise.

Even Ningzhu looked confused. “Matriarch?”

The Matriarch waved at Ningzhu to calm down. She was ready to explain herself. “When our Progenitor was blessed, she left behind some knowledge of what had transpired in the past.”

She sighed for a moment, taking the time to decide on something. “Are you sure you wish for everyone here to remain?” she asked Alex.

Alex nodded. “Yes, I would like them to hear it as well, if it’s possible. Pearl and Whisker are my bonded beasts, and Brother Shen here has a lot of knowledge of the past and would likely do better if he were to gain some more to further puzzle it out.”

The Matriarch nodded. “Ningzhu, Nuanhuo, listen carefully. This information cannot leave this door. Once you’ve learned of it, do not relay it to anyone else.”

Both the grandfather and granddaughter tightened up, wondering what they were about to hear.

The Matriarch began. This content belongs to novel•fire.net

“There is a common misconception among the Four Families that we’ve let spread because it does no harm and instead bolsters our camaraderie,” she said. “And that is the belief that the Four Families were blessed at the same time.”

“But they were,” Alex said.

“They were not,” the Matriarch said. “We have records left behind from our Progenitor, implying that the Phoenix Mother had found her when she was all alone. She was blessed under the moonlight, granting her power over rebirth.”

“According to what I’ve discussed with the other family leaders, we’ve come to accept that, unlike what was previously believed, the Four Families were not blessed together. Instead, they were blessed in separate places, given separate strengths.”

Bai Jingshen’s eyes narrowed. “Does my Patriarch know of this, Matriarch Rinzhou?” he asked.

“He does,” the Matriarch said. “But it’s not something we would tell the others lightly. If the Four Families were to find out that they were not together when they were blessed, the invisible threads tying us together might just unravel.”

Bai Jingshen’s eyes lowered, trying to make sense of the new piece of information. He tried to compare and contrast what he was being told with what he had learned in the past.

“So each of the Four Beasts was blessed separately?” Alex asked. “Was it by separate beings?”

“The Black Tortoise Progenitor had technically been two separate beasts that had formed a Bond of Equals with each other, and were then blessed together. But aside from them, the others were all separate,” the Matriarch said.

Scarlet seemed the most surprised. “Do the records confirm that it was the Phoenix Mother, Matriarch? Is there a chance that the Sun God was involved in any way?”

“It’s less so confirmed that the Phoenix Mother blessed us, and more so that we have no evidence of the Sun God being involved. So we can only trust that she was the one who did it, since she is the only one mentioned. We also have her paintings and not the others, so we are further inclined to believe it.”

“At the same time, the other three families were blessed by others as well. The White Tigers have clear records of the Sun God being involved. The Black Tortoise speak of both the Sun God and the Moon Goddess being involved. Meanwhile, the Azure Dragons have conflicting records of either the Sun God or the Dragon Father being involved, though I believe they lean more toward the Sun God now.”

“The Sun God shows up in the records of the other three, but not in the Vermilion Bird’s records, so we choose to believe what we do.”

The slew of new information was confusing. The Blessing of the Heavenly Beasts by the Sun God, which was supposed to be the simplest and greatest event of recorded history, had somehow just become convoluted.

The very reason why their realm was named the Land of the Blessed Sun was being stripped away.

If the records were true, there was not just one being involved in the blessing, not even two, but most likely four.

Four beings blessing four separate beasts.

Then, did the Four Families have no actual connection whatsoever? Were the Heavenly Beasts just a collection of random beasts blessed by different beings who had merely lost their true history?

“No,” Bai Jingshen said slowly. “That’s wrong.”

The Matriarch gave a helpless laugh. “I can understand your frustration, child. Take a moment to process it all. There’s a reason I asked you all not to let this knowledge spread out of this room.”

“No, it’s truly wrong,” Bai Jingshen said. “I know it’s wrong. The Four Progenitors had to have been together when they were blessed. It’s something referenced in every other record, including our mural.”

His Master had insinuated the mural to be the truth as well, so the convergence of the five beasts when they were blessed had to be real.

“No, even your Patriarch will agree that they were all blessed separately,” the Matriarch said. “However, they did come together afterward for a separate event.”

Bai Jingshen became quiet. “A separate event?” he asked.

“While they were blessed separately, they came together later to be bound together,” the Matriarch said. “We call it the Binding of the Heavenly Beasts.”

“Binding?” Alex asked. “Bound how?”

“Bound by a shared vow, instilled into each one of the Heavenly Beasts,” the Matriarch said. “This event, however, did not involve the Phoenix Mother as far as we understand. Nor the Moon Goddess, nor the Dragon Father.”

“The vow was placed solely by the Sun God upon each of the Heavenly Beasts’ bloodlines,” the Matriarch said, turning her head toward Alex. “And if you are in any way the current incarnation of the Sun God, then you will know what our vow is. You can invoke it.”