At once, chaotic script began to ripple across the System screen.
[You have read the jade slip of the Yellow Court Scripture left behind by the Tongtian Sect Master.]
[You have learned a small part of the secrets of Heavenly Dao.]
Theodore's heart trembled.
If even the System acknowledged this as a "secret of Heavenly Dao," then that meant the horrifying claim before him was true.
He had already suspected that the madness within a wizard's magic might share a source with those horrors.
What he had not expected was to find something this explosive hidden inside On Bloodline Theory.
Obtaining the bloodline of those things through ritual—
or through coupling?
The ancestors of wizardkind…
had rather extreme tastes.
The existing magical-world theory that wizarding blood came from magical creatures was already something many pure-bloods found intolerable, seeing it as an insult to pure blood itself.
But if they ever saw Salazar Slytherin's own final annotation on the matter, their entire worldview would likely shatter.
Theodore turned the page and continued reading.
The second annotation from Salazar Slytherin concerned the Sacred Twenty-Eight.
"The Sacred Twenty-Eight are the pure-blood families with the longest continuous inheritances among wizardkind."
"They are called sacred because their ancestors once performed astonishing deeds."
"In that remote age, their ancestors were the first humans to steal authority from the indescribable. They were the earliest generation of wizards."
"Among them were even those who stole bloodlines not from the servants of the Old Rulers, but from the Old Rulers themselves. Though diluted generation after generation, such blood may still erupt into astonishing talent where magical power is concerned."
"Any existence capable of reaching or surpassing the limit of wizardkind must inevitably have an inseparable connection to the blood of the Sacred Twenty-Eight."
"Thus the title of Sacred Twenty-Eight is not determined by worldly power or influence. It is determined by bloodline alone."
"Bloodline is honor."— Salazar Slytherin
A look of understanding appeared in Theodore's eyes.
No wonder the circumstances of the Sacred Twenty-Eight varied so greatly.
Some remained wealthy and powerful. Others had long since dwindled into little more than relics.
And yet that ancient list had never changed.
So this was the reason.
The ancestors of those twenty-eight families had been the first to steal magic, and the bloodlines they obtained had been the noblest.
He continued turning the pages.
On these two annotations he could sense the lingering traces of three other maddening auras.
They should belong to Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff.
That meant the other three Founders had read these passages as well—
but had not written rebuttals.
Apparently, they too had accepted this part as fact.
But at the next section, a violent dispute broke out in ink.
"We should continue promoting marriage among pure-blood nobles, avoiding unions with Muggles and thus preventing the dilution of blood."
"If the blood of the Twenty-Eight can be continuously merged through generation after generation, then perhaps a bloodline might one day be born that gathers the strengths of all twenty-eight. That would be the hope of escaping the threat of the ancient ones."
"To allow Hogwarts to admit Muggle-borns? To bring in such mixed and impure blood? That is the most shameful waste possible. Even now, the number of pure-bloods left in the magical world is not great. Hope is already dying out—and yet you would hasten it?"
"You are destroying one of the last remaining chances."
Without question, this was Salazar Slytherin's position.
And, just as clearly, the other three Founders had each replied in turn.
"Salazar, you are too extreme. We have already experienced with our own bodies how terrifying the influence of the ancient ones can be. Who can say how long we ourselves will last?"
"To lower bloodline purity so that future wizards become increasingly unable to reach the limit—that is the road best suited to those who come after us."
Another replied:
"Courage does not mean recklessness. The purer the blood, the stronger the influence from the ancient ones. Who can guarantee that the bloodline you labor so hard to create, gathering the strengths of all twenty-eight, would not be born as an indescribable horror from the very first breath? In that case, before the ancient return even begins, the magical world might already be destroyed by that child."
And yet another:
"That human beings once stole authority from the indescribable proves the opposite—that within Muggle blood too lies infinite possibility. The key is courage. Courage is the true thing that gives humanity hope of victory."
The argument spread across the pages line after line.
By the end, the writing itself was infused with such powerful magic that it almost seemed alive.
The pages of On Bloodline Theory turned on their own.
Before Theodore's eyes, it was as if the Founders themselves stood there in furious debate.
And the result of that debate, just as recorded in magical history, was Salazar Slytherin's departure.
Yet before leaving, he had written one final note into the book.
"Heir to come, if you can see the hidden contents of this volume and the words we concealed in our debate, then it means you already possess the ability to reach the limit of wizardkind."
"As the years pass, bloodlines will only grow thinner. Wizards capable of arriving at this point will become rarer and rarer. Perhaps one such wizard may not appear even once in a century, or even two."
"If, in your age, there should exist more than three beings who stand at the limit of wizardkind within a single century, then there is only one explanation—"
"The Old Rulers are about to awaken. The ancient age is about to return. Everything will be overturned."
"Go and follow my road. Use them. Devour them. Only the Old Rulers can resist the Old Rulers. You need a bloodline stronger and purer still."
After that passage, Godric Gryffindor had left words of his own.
"Extraordinary courage and indomitable will are the greatest qualities of humankind. Heir to come, I leave behind the road of facing darkness with courage and resisting madness with will."
Lady Ravenclaw had added a line in elegant script.
"Wisdom is the true key to resisting madness. Reason is the enemy of madness. Let knowledge grow without cease, and oppose darkness and madness with intellect and understanding. I believe that one day humanity will unravel every secret of magic. Heir to come, I leave behind the road of facing darkness and madness with reason and wisdom."
As for Lady Hufflepuff, she too offered her own path.
"Acceptance. To accept the madness one is born with in the blood, to try to reconcile with it, to make it truly a part of oneself. Perhaps this too is a road worth exploring."
As Theodore looked at the final words left by the Four Founders, he slowly let out a breath.
If more than three beings at the limit of wizardkind appeared in one century, then the Old Rulers were on the verge of awakening?
Grindelwald. Dumbledore. Voldemort…
No wonder the past century of the magical world had been so turbulent and magnificent.
A thousand years ago, the Four Founders had already anticipated such a possibility.
And yet the four roads they had left behind—
all of them now seemed shrouded by ill omen.
Anyone else, reading this account, would likely have fallen into despair and felt that no road remained ahead.
But Theodore only pondered for a moment.
Then, with two fingers as a sword, he continued the text after the Founders' words.
Immediately, the System screen flared with fierce writing.
[Four Saints have preached the Dao. They embraced all things, and each path held the possibility of immense achievement. This is one of the primordial world's great fortunes.]
[Yet after reading it, you shake your head.]
[This path may be wondrous, but it is insufficient to reach sainthood, much less anything beyond sainthood. I do not take it.]
[I have one declaration, fit to stand as the Dao of a Saint—My Dao surpasses the Heavenly Dao. My Law surpasses all laws. Why should I need a Saint to recite the Yellow Court Scripture to me?]
[And with that—one sword severs the Yellow Court!]
The writing within On Bloodline Theory immediately concealed itself again.
Theodore casually returned the book to its shelf.
Then he took the great stack of organized forbidden books out and handed it over to Madam Pince.
A moment later, a notification appeared on the System screen.
[You have slain six thousand demons and your relationship with the guarding immortal has reached the level of life-and-death friendship.]
[You have received the reward — Myriad-Demon Golden Pill Formula!]