Chapter 2063 - 2059: Five-star Soul Pearl
"And then?"
Tang Ming and Yun Potian couldn’t wait to Ask. Transitioning from myth and legend to actual history made what Tang Cha was saying increasingly captivating, and it also sounded more and more real and believable.
"And then we get to the Tang Dynasty. The late Sui and early Tang Chu were likewise an era overflowing with talent. According to many records, even though that was a cold‑weapons age, any random soldier’s weapon weighed several hundred jin. Someone as strong as Li Yuanba, the pile of Thunder Drum Golden Hammers in his hands added up to over a thousand jin. Even you, Brother Yun, couldn’t possibly fight with a weapon that heavy now, could you?"
Tang Cha turned to Ask Yun Potian.
"Hehe! A weight of over a thousand jin— with my strength I can easily lift it, but if I used it as a weapon, the drain on myself would be way too big."
Yun Potian let out an awkward laugh.
"Exactly! That just shows people of that era were far, far stronger than people now. After all, even some random general’s gear was that heavy."
Tang Cha nodded and continued his introduction: "By the Tang Dynasty, the Journey to the West legend we mentioned earlier took place, and that guy who used a staff weighing tens of thousands of jin was even more of a freak. He even broke through the Spirit Realm’s restrictions and rampaged through the Spirit Realm, his strength no longer below those in the Spirit Realm.
Because of this, some great beings felt that simply diluting Spiritual Energy couldn’t effectively limit human capability, so they carried out a second Sealing on the mortal world. This time they not only diluted Spiritual Energy again, but also set special restrictions so that Cultivators could never break through the Martial General level, and they imposed a limit on lifespan— even a Peak Martial General wouldn’t live past a certain age.
That’s how we got the world as we know it now. It’s not that Martial Arts withered away, it’s that someone deliberately made sure Martial Arts could never flourish."
"They can even do that?"
Yun Potian and Tang Ming were completely dumbfounded. As far‑fetched as it sounded, it actually made a certain amount of sense.
"You have to admit, the great beings of the Spirit Realm weren’t wrong to do this. After the second Sealing, mortals in the human world began to flourish. Technology and civilization both prospered. If it hadn’t been like this, if everyone had put their whole heart into Martial Arts Training, our nation could never have become this powerful, and our technology wouldn’t be this advanced."
Tang Cha sighed with emotion.
"Ahem, after saying so much, you still haven’t talked about my background or the extermination of the Tang Family."
Tang Ming let out an awkward sound and hurriedly cut to the main topic.
"Hey! I’ve been laying the groundwork all this time to tell you that some people are planning to open the Spirit Realm’s Sealing on this world, to lift the Spirit Realm’s restrictions and constraints on this world. Once that happens, Martial Arts can rise again, and Martial Generals will be able to break through to even higher levels."
Tang Cha looked at Tang Ming and Yun Potian with a grim expression.
"This Sealing can really be undone?"
Tang Ming and Yun Potian looked at each other, both badly shaken.
Just imagining what things would be like if, in today’s society, a group of beings who could summon wind and rain appeared— at that point so‑called firearms would really just be toys.
In the face of those legendary Magic Treasures and their might, firearms aren’t worth shit!
"I don’t know if it can be undone; maybe there is such a possibility."
Tang Chazhou frowned. "Especially the various pieces of evidence and arguments provided by the hidden‑world Mo Family, which make a lot of people feel that opening the Sealing is possible."
"The hidden‑world Mo Family?"
Tang Ming exclaimed in suspicion, "The Great Martial World Revival Plan!"
Hearing "hidden‑world Mo Family," Tang Ming immediately thought of the intel he had dug up back in Songlan City. Apparently the hidden‑world Mo Family had always been planning something called the Great Martial World Revival Plan. Could it be related to opening the Spirit Realm’s Sealing?
"I don’t know about any Great Martial World Revival Plan, because the hidden‑world Mo Family, together with the major hidden‑world families, calls this plan the Apocalypse Plan. The specific content is to gather the Five Elements Soul Bead, and then, at a specific place, they can open the Spirit Realm’s Sealing on the human world."
Tang Cha shook his head and said in all seriousness.
"In that case, this should be the Great Martial World Revival Plan."
Tang Ming stared firmly at Tang Cha. "For something this important, the hidden‑world Mo Family could never explain it directly to the people below, so they use the Great Martial World Revival Plan to dupe the ones below, while in reality they’re plotting this so‑called Apocalypse Plan. That makes everything add up."
"Old Tang, the question is, can the Sealing really be undone? And what the hell is the Five-star Soul Pearl?"
Yun Potian stared at Tang Cha with a grave expression.
"I’m not sure either, but you always leave a sliver of possibility— anything can happen! According to what the Mo Family people say, after the second Sealing, the Spirit Realm left a clue to opening the Sealing, which is that they left the Five-star Soul Pearl in the human world. As long as the Five-star Soul Pearl can be gathered, the Sealing can be opened. It’s just that the conditions are extremely harsh, so harsh that up to now no one has been able to gather the Five-star Soul Pearl."
Tang Cha looked at Tang Ming with a complicated expression. "But in this generation, it seems they’re about to succeed."
"What exactly is this Five Elements Soul Bead?"
Tang Ming couldn’t help but Ask.
"What they call the Five Elements Soul Bead represents five people who bear marks on their bodies, respectively: Son of Sunken Star, Moonfall Trace, Comet Cloud, Sky Maple Leaf, Sunset Snow."
"What kind of crap is that? How come I’ve never heard of any of this?"
Yun Potian blankly rubbed his chin, completely at a loss.
"Sunken Star and Falling Moon! Don’t tell me Liu Mengting and I..."
Tang Ming’s eyes snapped wide open as he stared at Tang Cha in shock.
"Right! You are the Son of Sunken Star, and Liu Mengting is the Moonfall Trace."
Tang Cha nodded solemnly, fixing his gaze on Tang Ming. "I originally didn’t know what these things were either, not until the year I took part in the operation to besiege the Tang Family did I find out. These are marks attached to five people’s bodies. The twin stars under your feet and the moon birthmark on Liu Mengting’s butt respectively represent the Fire Attribute Son of Sunken Star and the Metal Attribute Moonfall Trace among the Five-star Soul Pearl."
"There’s actually something like this?"
Tang Ming looked at his own feet in disbelief, finally understanding what ’Sunken Star and Falling Moon’ meant.
"Then what are the other kinds of marks supposed to be?"
Yun Potian looked at Tang Cha in curiosity.
"That I don’t know. All along, only each respective guardian Family knew exactly what the mark they were guarding looked like. I only knew the significance of the Son of Sunken Star because I once held a fairly high position in the Ancient Tang Sect, and later, through exchanges with Tang Ming’s father, I learned about the situation of the Moonfall Trace.
As for the other three marks, I’m guessing only the Mo Family knows them all. Even the other Peak forces only understand the portion they themselves need to search for."
Tang Cha shook his head helplessly, narrowed his eyes, and said, "According to the Mo Family people, the Five-star Soul Pearl has extremely strict requirements. It’s said that back when the second Sealing happened, the Spirit Realm left the Five-star Soul Pearl in the bodies of five infants who were born in the same year, same month, and at the same time, scattered randomly throughout the human world, and told some people back then the secret of opening the Spirit Realm’s Sealing."