Cyan Nether Secret Realm, Western Ruins.
Half a month was enough time for the once-desolate ruins to be stained with even more blood. It was also long enough for Chu Bai, a special kind of "Hunter," to scour the area for hundreds of miles around, taking every last Spiritual Medicine.
Chu Bai was now standing before the newly excavated ruins of a Pill Dao Pavilion.
He had just tucked a glowing green Cyan Soul Mushroom into his robes when the steady flow of Qi, maintained by his Nourishing and Exquisite Fate Chart, faltered. A violent tremor had shaken the Earth Vein beneath his feet.
The tremor wasn’t fierce, but it was incredibly penetrating. It felt as if some behemoth, thousands of miles away and deep within the earth, had unleashed a muffled impact that struck straight to the soul.
THUD—THUD—
In the tremor’s aftershock, it was not just the air that shuddered, but even the Divine Dao Decrees flowing through the soil.
Chu Bai raised an eyebrow. Through his Divine Thought connection to the Clay Soil, he could clearly feel the vibration spreading frantically from due west. It crossed countless mountains and ruins before converging on the Dragon Vein Spine directly beneath him.
"Old man, did you feel that?"
Chu Bai steadied the basket on his back and gazed toward the gloomy western horizon. "The Earth Veins over there seem to have completely ’come alive.’ This feeling... The disturbance is even more brazen than when that Mountain God revived."
The Clay Soil seemed to shrink. Its surface, which had largely healed, began to ooze fine droplets of water like cold sweat. Its voice was hushed, tinged with dread.
"It’s the Sky-Suppressing Kite... *Hiss*... So even that lord has been awakened. Tsk, tsk. It seems this batch of ’Travelers’ has more than just a Lord Envoy like you who can bring Enlightenment to Divine Spirits. There are also plenty of ruthless types who think they’re smart enough to ride a Divine Spirit’s coattails to the heavens."
He paused, then sighed, his tone complex. "It’s just... a debt to these mountains is one thing, but a Divine Spirit’s blessing isn’t so easy to receive. By forcing a sacrifice like this, they’re asking for disaster."
Chu Bai caught the implication and stopped walking, a flicker of interest in his eyes. "What do you mean by that? Judging by the name, this Sky-Suppressing Kite should be a True God who commands the domain of the sky."
"By reviving a Divine Spirit, one can earn Merit and gain protection. Isn’t that the path to survival in this realm?"
Along his journey, Chu Bai had witnessed the various methods Great Zhou Cultivators used to ignite the Divine Fire, leading him to believe that reviving Divine Spirits was the one true path.
The Clay Soil was silent for a long time, then spoke in a grave tone.
"Lord Envoy, do you know how we Divine Spirits were born before this realm was shattered?"
Chu Bai paused, then answered without hesitation, "The same as in the Great Zhou, of course. Appointed by the Dynasty, sustained by the incense and wishes of the people, wielding authority to carry out one’s duties. It’s a position only attainable by those of great Merit."
"No. This is not the Great Zhou."
The Land God shook its head, its voice filled with a desolation that crossed millennia. "In this realm, Divine Spirits... are born from obsession."
"Obsession?" Chu Bai’s pupils constricted. In the cultivation system of the Great Zhou, that word was usually associated with succumbing to Qi deviation or undergoing Demonization into a Demon Ghost.
"Correct. It could be a creature’s lingering attachment to the land before death, or a powerful expert’s ultimate pursuit of the Laws. When such a thought grows strong enough to commune with the Heaven and Earth Laws, it will coalesce into a divine seat within this land."
The Land God gazed to the west, its voice growing deeper. "Divine Spirits are born of obsession, and in normal times, their sanity is maintained by the smoke of incense."
"But now, the world is shattered. After millennia of deathly silence, plagued by the endless invasion of Evil Qi... that original obsession hasn’t faded. Instead, it has taken root in the deepest part of the Divine Body, growing a hundred times more intense than before!"
Chu Bai frowned thoughtfully. "A more intense obsession... What’s the downside?"
"There is something you don’t know, Lord Envoy," the little Land God sighed. "My Commanding Officer’s obsession in life was a single word: ’Protection.’ That is why even after his Demonization, he merely sat on the altar, instinctively breathing in the Evil Qi to prevent the Earth Vein below from collapsing completely.
"It was a duty etched into his very bones. So when you granted him Enlightenment, Lord Envoy, you only needed to reawaken that protective instinct for him to return to a state of peace."
"But as for that lord, the Sky-Suppressing Kite..."
The Land God’s voice trembled. "His obsession is ’Freedom.’"
"In life, he was an Extreme Realm Demon. Unwilling to be bound by the lifespan dictated by the heavens, he sought to spread his wings and shatter the sky itself. That was how he resonated with the Law and became a god. The one thing he cannot tolerate is being restrained, being imprisoned!"
"Now, the Cyan Nether Realm is nothing but a shattered husk. He has slumbered for millennia in the sunless depths, only to awaken and find himself still trapped in this tiny cage, surrounded by ’Travelers’ who want to control and exploit him with their Secret Techniques..."
The Land God looked up at Chu Bai, its eyes filled with utter terror.
"Lord Envoy, when a Divine Spirit that pursues absolute freedom awakens with millennia of bitter resentment... the first thing he will do is not protect his supplicants. He will spread his wings and tear this ’cage’ to shreds!"
"Reviving him... is no blessing. It will be a cataclysm that drags everyone else down with him!"
Hearing this, Chu Bai’s heart sank.
He could sense through the Earth Veins that the disturbance to the west was growing, and a sharp aura, powerful enough to tear through the clouds, was beginning to rise.
’Including the Commanding Officer, there are five Ancient Gods in total, one guarding each of the five cardinal directions.’
’If that band of Travelers really gathered the offerings and revived him...’
The Land God had barely finished speaking when a shriek that could pierce metal and shatter stone erupted from the western horizon.
SCREEE—!!!
It tore across thousands of miles, exploding directly in Chu Bai’s Sea of Consciousness.

Comments

Loading...