Chapter 26: The Ultimate Legacy

Buzz!!!

Almost at the exact moment when Li Guanyi's palm grasped the divine bow, the ancient bronze cauldron at his chest began to tremble violently—not because of the cauldron itself, but because of the newly branded White Tiger manifestation upon it.

It was as if it had encountered an old friend as if it had found a being of the same bloodline.

It began to struggle and quake intensely. Layers of flowing light suddenly radiated from the bronze cauldron, but unlike before, they were no longer trying to suppress the White Tiger. Instead, they gathered into a surging stream of wind, surrounding the White Tiger manifestation, forcing the emerging Red Dragon imprint to retreat and be sealed back inside.

In Li Guanyi's eyes, strands of mysterious aura began to converge.

Yet in the eyes of the Xue family's elder and granddaughter, nothing at all had happened.

All they saw was the young man standing eagerly beside the divine bow, placing his palm upon it.

But in Li Guanyi's perception, something was stirring upon the bow's surface. He wanted to withdraw his hand, but couldn't. The White Tiger manifestation on the bronze cauldron crawled up onto his shoulder, standing tall like a sovereign atop a summit, roaring ahead as the surging aura gathered around it.

Then, Li Guanyi saw—on the bow—an additional, transparent hand appear.

Looking up, he saw:

The converging aura coalesced into the figure of a tall man clad in archaic armor, his face indistinct. At his side paced a lifelike White Tiger, its cold gaze seemingly capable of piercing through the mysteries of all existence. Behind them stretched endless mountains and rivers, culminating in a towering mountain range and an imposing fortress city.

Two figures. Two White Tiger manifestations.

As if they were gazing across endless ages at each other.

A breeze passed over a lotus pond, carrying with it the sound of fluttering battle standards from a battlefield five hundred years ago.

Five hundred years ago—

On the vast grasslands, there arose a ruthless yet brilliant king. He murdered his father, married his stepmother according to the brutal customs of that era, and swiftly unified the warring tribes, swallowing up the entire steppe-like rolling mats laid one after another.

In ten years, eighteen grassland tribes were twisted into one rope.

They held an annual great assembly on the grasslands, where all drank, feasted, fought, and raced horses like brothers. Over time, only one name echoed across the steppes, one sovereign's legend sung by the wind.

Then, with long spears and short bows in hand, riding their resilient grassland steeds, they gathered an army of three hundred thousand to invade the Central Plains, even managing to besiege the emperor of Zhongyuan in a fortress, nearly ending his life.

Upon his return, the emperor appointed the divine general of the Xue family to repel the steppe invaders.

Before the decisive battle beneath the great pass, the Xue family's divine general sat cross-legged in his tent, calmly polishing his war bow. Beside him, the great White Tiger lay on the ground. The young general's palm stroked the bow, feeling its faint excitement. Raising his head, he gazed toward the distant sacred mountain of the steppes and said:

"We are about to achieve the greatest feat of our lives."

"In ancient times, a famous general sealed the Wolf on Mount Juxu at the age of eighteen. My ambition surpasses his."

"I will shoot down the king of the grasslands beneath their sacred mountain of sacrifice, so that those nomadic peoples who grow up on horseback will not dare to encroach upon the borders of Zhongyuan for the next three hundred years, granting peace and safety to our descendants for generations."

"Such achievements should not be buried in the dust of history. Let this divine weapon be the key—"

"To etch into history an unparalleled feat unmatched for five hundred years prior and five hundred years to come."

The massive White Tiger yawned lazily.

The young general held his war bow and smiled, saying:

"I imagine, if any of my descendants can lift this bow, they should also be able to sense our determination. I will shoot an arrow through their so-called sacred mountain. If fate allows, those who come later may find what I leave behind within that hollow."

"His Majesty was besieged, and if I kill their leader, my fame may become too great, leading to disaster. I feared the Xue family's inheritance would perish, so I left my halberd here and only passed down archery within the family—to diminish myself, and protect my descendants."

That young general smiled gently:

"Lastly, please accept my greeting from the distant past—"

"People of the future—"

"How are you?"

"Is the world peaceful now?"

Five hundred years ago, the divine general's advisors entered the tent, puzzled:

"General, who were you talking to just now?"

The young general raised his head and said:

"Nothing."

"Just thinking… If this war bow doesn't break, perhaps one day someone will hear my words. Maybe in ten years, maybe in a hundred, maybe longer—even if by then I have long turned to dust."

"It would be like discovering notes left by the ancients in old books—"

"Isn't that the sort of thing that makes people smile unexpectedly?"

The advisors looked at each other in amazement and sighed:

"General, your divine will… will it truly endure for a thousand years?"

The young general simply stroked his bow in silence, eyes fixed on the battlefield of tomorrow.

Outside the tent, the clash of weapons and the snapping of banners in the prairie winds grew fainter, the scene before Li Guanyi's eyes dissolving like smoke and dust, imprinting itself deep in his vision. He heard the words left behind by that once peerless divine general from five hundred years ago.

Almost instinctively, he looked up.

Before him stood that massive ancient White Tiger manifestation, brimming with divinity. Its eyes were golden, its mane slightly longer, flowing like morning light in the wind.

If someone were to say that this was the White Tiger Star Lord descending to the mortal realm, no one could refute it.

The White Tiger manifestation tried hard to balance itself on Li Guanyi's shoulder.

Its body trembled slightly, its two furry front paws pressing down as if massaging his shoulders. Finally, with its tail coiled tightly like a compressed spring, it released all at once, leaping forward like a shot steel ball, expanding midair with feline grace.

Plop.

It landed on the towering manifestation of divine might condensed from the divine bow.

The giant White Tiger beside the Xue ancestor lowered its gaze, looking at the tiny trembling cub that clung to its whiskers, curled up tightly with even its tail tucked in fear. On that mighty tiger's face appeared a rare expression of tenderness and sighing. Slowly, it lowered its head, pressing its forehead gently against that of the little White Tiger cub.

Both tigers began to radiate a faint flowing light.

Then, the divine aura remaining from the Xue family's ancestor abruptly dispersed into a stream of light, shooting directly into Li Guanyi's forehead. His complexion instantly turned deathly pale as massive amounts of knowledge flooded his mind—it was the inheritance carried by divine will.

"The Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Immutable Heavenly Gang"

"The Ten Directions and Six Realms Endless Resentment"

"Slay the Heavens" "Pierce the Clouds" "Suppress the Nine Provinces"

One title after another flashed by, but Li Guanyi could not comprehend any of them.

His cultivation realm was too low to grasp such profound knowledge.

Like a summer insect cannot discuss ice.

It was like asking a primary school student to memorize the answer key to the most difficult problems in advanced mathematics.

Mathematics might still be memorized by brute force, but these martial arts inheritances didn't even allow that possibility.

Li Guanyi groaned, barely maintaining his composure. And at that very moment, amidst the chaos of his mind, a piece of music surfaced from his memory—it was his aunt's zither melody. Strangely, the nausea, confusion, and splitting headache he felt began to ease.

Then, a passage of text abruptly appeared before his "eyes":

"Three Stages Theory of Entering the Realm"!

This one—he could just barely comprehend.

Li Guanyi forcibly steadied his mind, enduring the dizziness and nausea, pale-faced but resolute, imprinting that scroll of text deep into his memory without even having time to parse its meaning. Immediately afterward, that flowing light exited his body, coalescing once again into the form of the divine general before him.

The divine general's form was translucent, each meridian and acupoint within his body glowing, flowing along an intricate trajectory.

Ahead, countless enemies stood, and mountains and rivers rose behind them.

The divine general suddenly stepped forward, his entire form roaring like a White Tiger, smashing aside the enemies before him with his shoulder.

Then, taking advantage of that momentum—he fired an arrow.

The arrow was wreathed in the domineering golden wind, tearing forward.

The White Tiger's roar echoed; all enemies in front were shredded to pieces.

Mountains cracked, rivers split.

Manifestation Martial Art: [A Single Arrow, Cold as Light]!

Then, the divine general drew two arrows simultaneously and nocked them onto the bowstring. Thunder rumbled faintly around him. Compared to the earlier arrow, this was multiple times stronger—clearly, an even more formidable ultimate technique.

But by now, even the zither melody could no longer stabilize Li Guanyi's mind.

His cultivation was simply too shallow.

The gap between him and that once peerless divine general was like the difference between heaven and earth.

Even merely receiving the inheritance brought immense pressure on Li Guanyi.

A serene, emotionless voice echoed in his ear:

"Your realm is too low."

"Achieve mastery in archery first. Return once you have perfected entry-level attainment to receive this inheritance."

All the visions shattered like breaking glass, vanishing from view. Only that massive White Tiger remained, seemingly still passing down something to Li Guanyi's fledgling manifestation. A splitting pain surged through his forehead, his breathing ragged, his face visibly paler by the second.

Li Guanyi now understood clearly—he lacked the qualifications, the strength, to wield this divine bow.

But he could also sense it—

One day in the future, he will be able to draw it fully.

Perhaps he wouldn't achieve feats like piercing through entire mountain ranges or shooting an arrow 380 li across the land, but with this divine bow, shooting fifty li with one arrow might not be impossible.

He noticed Xue Daoyong's mixed gaze of doubt and astonishment. Releasing his grip, he sighed with regret:

"As expected, it's too heavy. I can't lift it."

Old Master Xue's doubtful expression quickly returned to normal, laughing heartily:

"Hahaha! Naturally! This is our ancestral divine weapon, after all. To shoot an arrow 380 li, the weight and might of this bow are naturally extraordinary."

Li Guanyi thought for a moment and said:

"Perhaps it's just that my cultivation is lacking."

"Senior, may I return after I've entered the next stage of mastery, to try again?"

He had only acquired the first ultimate technique's inheritance.

Li Guanyi was curious about what other skills there were afterward.

As for revealing the truth?

If he spoke of having received the Xue family's inheritance, he could forget about ever leaving the Xue family or the state of Chen with his aunt in this lifetime.

Xue Daoyong simply assumed that the boy was too prideful to admit defeat in front of the young lady present and considered it natural for a young man to have some bravado. After all, without a White Tiger manifestation, no one could lift that bow. This human favor was easy to go along with, so he laughed loudly:

"Hahaha! Good! It's an admirable thing for a young man to have such courage and unwillingness to accept defeat. When you achieve entry-level mastery, come back and try again!"

"Many thanks, Senior."

The elder and the youth shared tea, each believing they had profited greatly.

Xue Shuangtao's eyes sparkled, clearly wanting to try as well. Unfortunately, she possessed no White Tiger manifestation or any divine will. After struggling for quite some time, her fair face flushed bright red, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, she turned her back, unwilling to let Li Guanyi or her grandfather see her disheveled appearance.

But Li Guanyi failed to notice the charming side of the young lady at that moment.

He could barely sip his tea, bitter as it was, just to steady his mind.

And at that time, the colossal White Tiger finally dissipated. Li Guanyi's White Tiger manifestation had only been able to exist externally due to its resonance with the divine bow. Now that the divine weapon returned to stillness, the manifestation naturally returned like a weary bird to its nest, merging once more into the bronze cauldron.

Li Guanyi's movements paused slightly.

Because at the exact moment when the White Tiger manifestation returned—

Ninety-eight percent of the bronze cauldron's jade liquid—

Instantly completed!

(End of this chapter)