Thread by @synonyms26

The Preceptors, The Secret of the Transmutation Arcanum, and Yingxing.
Disclaimer: #RenHeng #刃恒 #xingyue
Hypothesis: Blade has either part of the Secret of Arcarum or part of the Dragon Heart, and the Preceptors affliated with Medicus are the true culprits of the Sedition.

1. From Bailu's story 4, we learnt that the keys to the HE inheritance are the Orb and the Arcanum. The maid was told preceptors that the Orb was damaged, or Bailu did not go through the full Arcanum. However, this is a case of unreliable narrator, as you will see later on.

2. Please check this thread here to see why the Dragon Heart is the Orb of Abysm is the Dragon Heart, and it's actually with Dan Heng:

https://twitter.com/synonyms26/status/1711093228160827618?t=7N4FGHHifa-ZG0wqmgsIvg&s=19

3. Back to the Arcanum, the CN is actually 化龙妙法 (the magical method to transform into a dragon; its actually a reference to the Lotus Sutra). Basically both EN and CN tell us that the Arcanum has never been an object. It's a process to turn into a dragon.

4. However, there is a secret to control the process, and that was exactly what the preceptors were interrogating DF about after the Sedition: "the secret of the Arcanum" and "the whereabouts of the Dragon Heart".

5. Note that we don't really know whether the secret of the Arcanum IS the dragon heart, or another object, or something else all together. And the preceptors didn't know that either. All we know is that the preceptors were asking for the secret, but DF did not speak. At all.

6. You can see how pissed that preceptor is that he ranted about it in the preceptor meeting in preceptor assembly 700 years ago and that his mirage echo even gripes about it in the present day, after 700 years. DF/DH never cooperated with the preceptors up until now.

7. So where did Bailu's dragon features come from? Why did she only inherit part of the Arcanum?
From the Preceptors experiment.
Bailu is the bloomborn scion, created by the previous Alchemist head from the stolen branch after the Sedition, testified by the egg and Dan Shu.

8. This is the same previous Alchemist who told DH in DHIL quest that his efforts (EN mistranslated as plan here) inspired HER research, and Bailu was the breakthrough.
There has only ever been one breakthrough, and that was Bloomborn Scion.

9. From this lore book:
We learnt exactly what she was experimenting and who she was experimenting on.
CW: Don't read this while eating.
Basically, human experiment, where she grafted HE features (horns/scales) and bone marrow on other species. starrailstation.com/en/book/209374

13. In addition to Bailu, guess who else also has horns?
It's Taoran. Who had 4. While preceptors, like non-HE, don't have horns in the Scalegorge murals. Because preceptors aren't HE, so obviously they didn't go through the dragon transformation process, except for this guy.

14. And it's the same guy who keeps gripping about the "secret of the Arcanum" and the "whereabouts of the Dragon Heart too". Funny how that works out.
No chance he isn't also the guy behind the Bloomborn Scion project who stole the branch.

15. The egg even provided us his justification: DF did not cooperate, the ichor line of the Imbihitor Lunae was about to be broken, so he stole the branch to continue the ichor line. He is the mastermind behind the Bloomborn Scion project.

16. But how did they get pieces of DF to experiment on in the first place?
Turns out, they kept him for a while before his execution with the excuse of making him seal the place, and then they descaled him and took his horns too.
By the end of it, they surely got a lot of samples

17. No horn DF is verified by Ichor animation too, so it's not just hearsay.
Guess they also took his bone marrow while they were at it...

18. Additionally, the preceptors also asked for the same thing, for him to return to them after he was exiled.
Needless to say, they wanted to get more samples from DH.

19. Conclusion 1: after the Sedition, DF was jailed and transferred to the preceptors' jail; preceptors asked him for the secret of the Arcanum and the location of the Heart, but he did not cooperate to the end. Then they skinned him and took his horn (and bone marrow).

20. The preceptors then stole a branch from the Scalegorge and started the grafting project with the previous Alchemist head on various species. The end result is that Taoran had 4 horns, and the sole breakthrough was Bloomborn Scion/Bailu.
But they wanted to repeat the success

21. So they tried to prevent DH from leaving XZ, but they failed and that was that.
Also note is that the first thing in the chain of event in the Sedition is the Arbor waking up and DF getting infected by Shuhu:

https://twitter.com/synonyms26/status/1710364869445505289?t=RnGPmdh3ykB7VLTMDGdeGw&s=19

22. And this mirage right here is warning DF that his enemies are waiting for him in 1.2, just like "the last time". While JY told us that DF got on badly with the preceptors. And the preceptors are the culprit behind the stellaron event that rezzed the tree in 1.2.

23. Yeah, it was def the preceptors lol. They woke up the Arbor in the Sedition too, and brought Shuhu. To kill DF. It was a set-up from the start to wrestle control from the HE rule.
And this guy is the true culprit.

24. Why did Bailu go through only part of the Arcanum? Because she was made by the preceptors, who did not have the Secret, and DF never spoke
=> DF picking Bailu is a case of unreliable narrator, where everyone got info from the 1 source: the preceptors, who lied to puppet Bailu

25. Those are the events before and after the Sedition, but what about during the Sedition?
To answer this, we need to go back to the 1.2 fight between Blade and DH.
So as everyone knows, Blade stabbed DH, and DH turned into a water ball, a dragon, and DHIL, in that order.

26. So in 1.2, DH literally turned into a dragon. Because he is the water dragon, the draconic abomination that was proof of the Arcanum's success in the Sedition.

https://twitter.com/synonyms26/status/1710695091554394486?t=OUelHo-vld9k63xGJpsaPQ&s=19

https://twitter.com/synonyms26/status/1724877274678509655?t=_fqHaCQhWYN0ov1aCDHYPw&s=19

27. So what made DH turn into a dragon in 1.2, what overwrote DH's control of the dragonification Arcanum process?
Here is Blade's sword right before he stabbed DH. It was very much not glowing.

28. But when he threw his sword to stab DH, it was very much glowing. And we know from his kit that he activates his sword with his blood on his bandaged hand.

29. And what happened in between the 2 scenes (sword not glowing vs glowing)? He suddenly moved the sword, which he wielded with his gloved hand, to the direction of the bandaged hand, lowered both hands, out of frame, and smiled.

30. Immediately afterwards, he threw his sword with his gloved hand, and the sword was glowing even before it left his hand.

31. So in order, he was fighting YQ (no glow) > moved sword to bandaged hand, smiled > sword started glowing > stab DH > sword then immediately stopped glowing.
=> Blade's blood was the activation to overwrite DH's control over dragon form. It did its job, so it stopped glowing.

32. And considering DH here is the actual IL, the true inheritor the dragonification Arcanum, this means that Blade also inherited part of the Secret of the Arcanum in his blood, a big enough chunk to allow him to temporarily overwrite DH's control in 1.2.

33. Which would also explain why a black-haired immortal YX was shown in the ichor animation when the preceptors were asking DF about the Secret of the Arcanum.
He has a bit of it too, from DF directly, and likely the second component fueling Blade's perfect immortality.

34. I wrote this a very long time ago, but reposting the aeroblossom poem a bit since it's relevant here.

35. Note that I didn't know about the Arcanum at the time, so I assumed that it was the Dragon Heart automatically. But since we know the Arcanum is a process, not an object, the Secret of the Arcanum is more likely. Although, those 2 things could still be the same...

36. In either case, conclusion 2: Blade had part of the Secret of the Arcanum, and it's in his blood, fueling his perfect immortality alongside Shuhu's gift. The combo of both Abundance and Permanence likely explains why he isnt cancerous mass of cells or a corpse with horns.

37. In summary:
Taoran and Bailu's parts of the Arcanum came from the grafting project done by the previous Alchemist head with DF's horns, scales, and marrow. Bailu is Bloomborn Scion, the only breakthrough. Taoran was the true culprit of the Sedition, the plot was to kill DF.

38. Blade has part of the Arcanum secret in his blood alongside Shuhu's gift. These 2 canceling out each other is likely why he's still human-shaped. The amount of the Secret in his blood is large enough for him to temporarily overwrite DH's, forcing him to turn into a dragon.

39. The main piece of the Secret, whatever it is (Heart, or a separate item, or sth not solid like blood of ancestors), should still be with DH, because he's the dragon and the true IL.
BTW, DH E6 tells us that DH had horns in his egg without any trial whatsoever, so his is legit

40. Blood of ancestor in the Sedition should be Long's here, consistent with the usage by the mirage and the preceptor accusing DF of coveting the dragon ancestor's Permanence. All of them only have 1 ancestor lol.

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