"There are many possible ways a Martial Way can be used in battle. One example is the Martial Avatar that you saw before, a supporting ability that weakens your enemies and enhances your strength. Some Martial Ways though, can be used in accordance with some secret skills and cultivation techniques as a weapon. Your Xiao clan's Purple Moon and Black Dragon and White Tree Scriptures are an example of the latter category..."
Cheng Hao winked "Just so you know mine has both categories!"
Seeing Xiao Wu's pout the boy quickly added "Although I may be able to, once you reach an higher cultivation, you should then gain the ability to modify your own Martial Way to be both as well, so don't worry!"
Xiao Wu laughed seeing her brother's struggle at her pout and then asked "Then how can I use my Martial Way in accordance with the Purple Moon and Black Dragon and White Tree Scripture?"
Cheng Hao smiled and mysteriously said "That is something you will have to discover yourself! I cannot help you with that or it will lose any additional effect you might gain through self enlightenment!"
Goldy yawned and pointed out "Your just tired of explaining all this, aren't you"
Cheng Hao's mysterious countenance became one of anger as it threw the snake inside a pot. The snake struggled for a bit but was unable to lift the lid and thus could do nothing but insult the youth "Cheng Hao, you bastard! Release me at once!"
A red faced Cheng Hao sat on top of the the pot's lid and resumed his lecture "Now, for the scripture! You better note it down because I won't repeat it a second time! Very well! Now listen carefully!"
Cheng Hao jumped down from the pot and entered a meditative stance. From then he raised his right arm and pointed his opened right hand upwards, the left arm instead was bent downwards so that the tips of his fingers touched the ground. A hazy black dragon appeared coiled around the right arm while the youth's body seemed to turn into the white tree itself, the fingers of his left hand being the roots, the arms the trunk, while the right hand pointing upwards where the branches.
Xiao Wu observed and noted his every movement and suddenly she began writing because, although Cheng Hao's mouth didn't open and his eyes were hazy as if he was sleeping, words could still be clearly heard and the voice was undoubtedly the boy's.!
"The Black Dragon that is Pride, The White Tree that is Forgiveness.
Two opposites are not equals, yet one can be both.
The Black that is Anger and the Dragon that is Power, The White that is Kindness and the Tree that is Strength.
Two opposites are not equals, yet one can be both.
To Avenge and to Forgive, To use power for oneself, To use your power for others.
Two opposites are not equals, yet one can be both.
To be the Dragon and devour the offenders, To be the Tree and forgive any harm.
Two opposites are not equals, yet one can be both.
Power and Strenght, Anger and Kindness, Black and White.
Two opposites are not equals, yet one can be both.
Power and Anger, Strenght and Kindness, no more Black, no more White.
Two opposites are not equals, yet one can be both.
Black. White. Black And White.
Two opposites are not equals, yet one can be both.
Use your power for yourself. Use your power for others. Use your power for both yourself And others.
Two opposites are not equals, yet one can be both.
Because the White Tree is White. Because the Black Dragon is Black. Because it is the White Tree And Black Dragon.
No opposites are totally different, they are just the other face of a coin. To be one is to also be the other. To be Black is to be White. To be White is to be Black.
To be the Dragon is to be the Tree"
The supernatural aura that the meditating Cheng Hao was giving off suddenly started to retract and Xiao Wu sighed in admiration: Cheng Hao truly was a genius! To know so many things and remember them all was nothing short than incredible! But to be able to know that much, what kind of price did he have to pay?
As soon as she relaxed though, Goldy's, whom had, by the way, already escaped the pot trap, voice reached her ears "You better keep watching. This was the basic White Tree and Black Dragon scripture. Now it's time for Cheng Hao to add in the part he has created himself after examining and finding some mistakes!"
Suddenly the aura rose up again so Xiao Wu sat back on the ground in front of the young child and prepared to write again. Cheng Hao didn't make anyone wait as his lifeless eyes continued to stare blankly in front of him and his voice resumed.
"Yes, even if the two are different, they are opposites. That is why they are two.
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The Black Dragon that attacks the other, the White Tree that protects the self.
Two different entities that complete each other.
Not two halves that form a whole. They are wholes to begin with and yet they complete each other.
Because to be the Dragon is to not be the Tree and to be the Tree is to not be the Dragon.
That is why they are not one but two, Black Dragon And White Tree.
Two Wholes that complete each other!"
Cheng Hao's lifeless eyes regained their vitality and the strange aura as well as the Black Dragon and White Tree illusions disappeared. He was about to speak up when he noticed Xiao Wu's eyes were lifeless and a weird aura had surrounded her...
'This is Dao(the Way) Enlightenment! This girl..." Cheng Hao was astonished as he assisted to an eight years old girl going through what all experts from the Ageless Realm and below couldn't even dream of achieving... Dao Enlightenment! The understanding of oneself, one's path and also enlightenment on one's sensed Qi...
"Truly, a heaven defying genius...Her talent is superior to mine by leaps and bounds than when I was her age..." Cheng Hao smiled and with a movement of his hands, a strand of Inferior Will took the shape of a three inches tall Cheng Hao and sat on Xiao Wu's shoulder, in the case she needed any help: although he didn't look like it, the young male was really tired after that one demonstration of the Black Dragon and White Tree scripture and he needed to rest for a while to recover.
In the meantime, that one Inferior anthropomorphic Qi strand along with the golden dragon, Blindlight, would be more than enough if the girl needed any help
Cheng Hao sat on his bed and started rotating the Pseudo-Core inside him to recover his energy...
...
Xiao Wu found herself in an unfamiliar place:
it looked like she was in the middle of a mysterious space and she was standing on top thin blue layer that seemed to be made of crystal. She could see countless stars in the distance while below the thin surface, chaotic gaseous masses struggled to break free.
On top of the crystal layer there where many versions of herself, each doing something different than the others.
One was constantly summoning the Martial Avatar, the image of a White Tree appeared on top of her, the Purple Moon orbited around it and the Black Dragon twisted and coiled around the white trunk and branches. It almost didn't look illusory at all so pure and perfectly executed it was.
Another one again was doing the same thing that Cheng Hao did before and was splitting her cultivation summoning ninety nine Purple Moons and Black Dragon and White Trees that orbited around her in an orderly fashion. The three types were all going in a different direction, some up some down, while the Purple Moons just orbited randomly around the illusory Xiao Wu's body... The sight was shocking to the most!
Those moving upwards brightened all at once and when they lit back down it was then the turn for all the illusory martial ways moving downwards to brighten and so on, in a never-ending cycle.
The control was perfect, even better than the current Cheng Hao's, and Xiao Wu was sure that she could have obtained a much deeper understanding if she tried to observe it for even a bit more.
Unfortunately, she instinctively knew that, if she tried to do that, this state of enlightenment would collapse and she would lose any chance to do that in the future. Since that was the case, she could only ignore this Other Xiao Wu and search for the one thing she could obtain insights of.
As she turned, she then noticed the hundreds upon hundreds of copies of herself, each doing different things all regarding martial cultivation. Amongst them, after a few minutes of searching, she found the one she was looking for.
This Xiao Wu was sitting crosslegged, her eyes dazed as she looked at a Black Dragon and White Tree Martial Way hovering in front of her. Sometimes the dragon disappeared and only the tree remained while others the tree disappeared leaving the dragon coiling on empty air, at others, even the whole scene disappeared leaving behind nothing but a faint Qi...
Around the sitting Xiao Wu, three more illusory Martial Ways appeared and began to orbit: each of them showing each of the three possibilities showed by the bigger Martial Way, except for the one where the Black Dragon and White Tree were a whole.
The copy waved her hand, dismissing the bigger Martial Way, and focused on the smaller ones orbiting around her.
It looked like the three incomplete illusory martial ways tried in every manner to be as bright as the complete illusory Martial Way without succeeding. No matter how they tried, a half could not compete with a whole, let alone nothing trying to compete with something.
The sitting copy of Xiao Wu dissolved the illusory Martial Way that held neither the dragon nor the tree and instead focused on the two remaining ones while the real Xiao Wu watched intently to see what she would do next.
The copy then made the two incomplete Martial Ways head together towards the complete one but even then they could not rival the brightness and the pressure of the complete one.
At that, even original Xiao Wu furrowed her thin brows and her small mouth turned into a thin line as she stared unblinking at her other self's following actions. 'The two of them together can't rival the original... Why? Aren't they the same? They both have a Black dragon and White Tree... They are both wholes!'
The other Xiao Wu was as calm as ever and her lifeless eyes' expression didn't change. Suddenly, she mouthed a few words...
"Wholes... Are... They... Really... All... The... Same?"
At that, a bolt seemed to strike down the real Xiao Wu as she immediately sat down. She took out her own Martial Way, the Black Dragon and White Tree and she poured her power in it.
Prior to then, when she tried this, its power was nowhere as close as Cheng Hao's Martial Way. At first she thought it was because the quality of her Martial Way was just that much inferior but she was wrong. After she heard her other self's words she understood.
"Two halves that are able to complete each other form a whole. Two wholes that complete each other form a whole. Are they the same nonetheless? That's a fool's thinking! Two wholes are not always equal! Just like a whole dragon cub and a whole adult dragon have different power, this Martial Way is no different! Its power as a whole is the power of the firmest tree and strongest dragon... How can it possibly be weak?"
Following her insights, incredible might surged forward and two floating Martial Ways appeared: they were two illusory figures of the Black Dragon and White Tree. The two illusory martial ways then brightened and, in their place, a black blade and a white shield appeared in front of her.
The blade was like the black dragon, ready to jump on its prey with its unstoppable might, while the shield was just like the white tree, firm and nearly-indestructible!
The two floating objects were none other than the might of the Martial Way as a weapon and shield, their true Martial forms!
The weapon was a meter and a half long, only the tip and one of the edges were sharp. It had no guard and the handle bore the design of a dragon's head. The shield was two meters wide and had the shape of a circle. It was decorated with patterns of leafs and a big oak was drawn in the middle.
The other Xiao Wu's eyes regained vitality as if she had awakened from a trance and she smiled at the true Xiao Wu. She summoned back the four Martial Ways and, after nodding to her original, she walked off to the orison, turning into many dots of light at each step.
Xiao Wu bowed in her direction and she also recalled her Martial Way along with the two weapons inside her Pseudo-Core. She then smiled and opened her true body's eyes. These eyes were now a lot maturer than before, and Goldy as well as Cheng Hao's Inferior Qi strand could both feel the change. The meditating Cheng Hao also smiled in his mind before resuming cultivation.
Xiao Wu had broken through Low Inferior stage into Middle Inferior stage!