3 Unlocking The Secret of The Edict

The following day was the start of Ashley's spring vacation. Immediately, he had decided to skip breakfast and rush quickly to the attic under the pretense of spring cleaning. Heather and Ken, however, both knew better than to stop that reckless kid. He was definitely going to look for the tablet, the Edict of the Yellow Emperor that had lain dormant in their attic for so many years, still a mystery in their minds. Ashley, on the other hand, wouldn't let the failure of his parents and grandparents get in the way of things.

He wanted to try his luck and see if there was anything he could learn from reading the Edict of the Yellow Emperor. After all, it was harmless. It was just a tablet! Though he took what Ken said seriously, he still had his doubts - could such an ancient block of strange rock really allow a fated person to unlock the power of a tyrannical ruler?

Reaching the attic, Ashley immediately began to rummage around, moving the stuff he deemed as unnecessary to another side. He found a lot of old photos from the past, but this wasn't the time to reminisce over them. He wasn't even in a lot of them, as the photos were mostly taken from the youth of his parents.

Eventually, Ashley finally found what he was looking for. Though the tablet itself looked dusty and a bit worn, the text carved into it didn't seem to actually fade or get eroded by the test of time. It was kept in a glass container, which Ashley carefully carried and moved to a clear spot in the attic.

He decided to stay inside the attic and not take the tablet back down with him, though ultimately it probably wouldn't have made a significant difference where he decided to study the tablet. With anticipation and excitement, Ashley removed the top of the glass container and took out the tablet, gently placing it down on the ground, text facing up where he could read it.

As it was in the morning, there was some natural light pouring in from outside through a small window. However, there was only that one single window, so it was still not terribly easy to read what was on the tablet. Once again, Ashley remained undeterred. He began to carefully read the Edict of the Yellow Emperor, concentrating and trying to comprehend the words written on the tablet. It was in traditional Chinese, which was something Ashley was not incredibly proficient in - since he was living in Japan, he was much better in speaking Japanese.

He had received lessons in Chinese from Heather but he was far from fluent in it. He only knew enough to carry on basic conversations and read the news articles online. It definitely wasn't enough to comprehend the archaic messages on this artifact. However, Ashley still tried his best to understand everything written here.

The Five Phases. A Cosmic Cycle which ruled the Geomancy of the World. At the center of it all was "ether." This was the major point Ashley could deduce with his general understanding of Chinese. It was not inconsistent with the theory of the same name commonly found in early schools of Chinese philosophy and thought. As he kept reading, a sudden realization struck Ashley's mind.

There were several striking phrase which Ashley immediately committed to memory - keep in mind, his body was still taking in natural ether from the environment, even without his own knowledge.

These phrases read, in common English, as something like - "The might of the August Thearch lay in the center of the cycle. The tempering of energy leading to the harvest. The might of the earthen dragon will reveal itself in time!" Ashley became incredibly interested - the Edict of the Yellow Emperor in this context was not the blueprint for a new technology. It was a prophecy! He knew that it was inconceivable his forefathers could not figure this out - they were much smarter than he was, after all. On the other hand, if this was really a prophecy, what did it mean? What, or who, exactly, possessed the might of the 'earthen dragon'?

Ashley quickly went back to the passages on the tablet which referred to the Five Phases. Though there was no indication that other Edicts may have mentioned anything about the ether, the Edict of the Yellow Emperor made it painfully clear that ether was the purest form of energy manifested by duality of creation and destruction, perfectly encapsulated by the cycles presented by the Five Phases.

It was a concept and theory that was very similar to the idea of the Four Quintessential Elements in Western tradition. By that token, Ashley had a feeling the Greek Edict of Zeus would have definitely spoken about the elements in its own classical way too, but the Edict of Zeus did not concern him. He continued to focus on the theory behind the Five Phases.

Wood feeds the Fire. Fire burns all to ashes, creating the Earth. From the Earth, Metal is borne. Metal thus collects Water, which nourishes Wood. This was the cycle representing creation, or the cycle of nurture.

The Wood parts the Earth, the Earth muddies and absorbs Water, which in turn extinguishes the Fire. Fire melts Metal, while Metal cuts down the Wood. This was the opposing cycle of restraint, representing destruction.

As Ashley continued to attempt to deepen his understanding of the Five Phases and its ideas and concepts, he began to feel his body undergoing changes. He began to comprehend the idea of using the nature around him not only to nurture his body purely with ether, but to extract, absorb and destroy the energies inherent in nature's beauty and terrors.

Ashley soon came to realize that even man-made activities could be integrated into the cycle. The world could easily be governed by the Five Phases at its very core. At the very bottom of the tablet, there was a crude drawing of a trigram, along with a very striking name written beneath it - Xuanyuan.

Xuanyuan was the name given to the Yellow Emperor in the first century BCE, and also happened to be the name of the star Regulus in Chinese. Regulus, designated Alpha Leonis, was one of the brightest stars not only in its Leo constellation but even in the night sky.

Ashley was not entirely sure why this name was etched beneath the trigram carving, but he knew the trigram itself could present some earth-shattering information if he could understand it. He continued to analyze it and the time passed by incredibly fast. It was already heading late into the afternoon and Ashley was immersed into the mysticism behind the tablet. It had gotten to the point where Heather worriedly entered the attic herself and saw Ashley in a near catatonic state, staring deeply and intently into the Edict of the Yellow Emperor.

However, to Heather's immense surprise, she saw the tablet itself beginning to glow with a very faint, golden yellow light. She began to see mists of ether grow thicker and thicker around Ashley. "Ken, get your butt up here!" Heather yelled out in concern. Hurriedly, the father also rushed up. Before Ken could even ask what happened, he saw the sight of Ashley studying the golden glowing tablet, surrounded by a mist of thick yellowish ether.

Ken stared in a dumbfounded fashion.

"This... This...!" he was in disbelief. Ken quickly came to a realization.

His son was beginning to unravel the mystery of the Edict of the Yellow Emperor.