Rise of Humanity

by <unknown>

  He raised his head and looked around. The dragon gods were soaring in the sky, solemn and dignified, while beneath them was the old and ancient temple that shimmered with an aureate glow; it would be where the treasures were held!

  Zhong Yue strode forward, as fast as a meteor as he walked towards the ancient golden temple.

  Soon, he was at its doorstep. The temple was huge, at least four or five times bigger than the dragon race’s Dragon Palace, and made of pure gold, seemingly unmarred by the passage of time.

  The doors, steps, pillars, roofs, windows, and every other part of the temple were engraved with different bizarre and marvelous totem patterns, reminiscent of the dragon patterns of the Eastern Sea dragon race, but far more abstruse.

  In mid-air, the dragon gods turned even more solemn, lowering their bodies and surrounding the golden temple.

  Zhong Yue raised his head to look at them. Their bodies were huge and formed by the dragon totem patterns; there was quite a disparity between these dragon gods and the Eastern Sea dragon race, after all. The dragon gods were of higher nobility and were more ancient, they were the innate dragon gods of the Leize Clan.

  The chants hummed by the dragon gods were abstruse and mysterious, the dragon language was an ancient tongue that was obscure and profound; the huge and mighty dragon gods here would not be the real gods but only their figures, marks, or atmans.

  There was no one here, those dragons that entered would be in the temple already.

  “I wonder what the Ancestral Dragon’s tests will be?”

  Zhong Yue pushed opened the doors and walked inside, it only took him a few steps before he saw some long and steep stairs that extended up to a golden palace. It was majestic and dignified, the doors were fully opened, and there was an inscribed board above the doors with the words “Wu Xing Palace”.

  “Wu Xing Palace?”

  Zhong Yue was startled, and murmured, “I suppose those dragons must have passed this palace already? I wonder what test will be in this palace?”

  He walked into the Wu Xing Palace and immediately, he felt a surge of bizarre force suppressing his cultivation base. Even his mortal body’s strength was heavily suppressed!

  Zhong Yue’s Yuan Shen quivered violently and suddenly, one sound after another, his Dao Yi Secret Realm was forcibly shut down by the bizarre force, followed by the Yin Yang Secret Realm, Shen Cai Secret Realm, and Wan Xiang Secret Realm. Of all of the five realms, only the Wu Xing Realm remained open!

  The other four realms were completely sealed, he was unable to summon even a single morsel of power from them at all. This caused Zhong Yue’s strength plummet to only about ten percent of his usual level!

  Not only that, but his mortal body’s strength was also heavily suppressed, even his psyche cultivation base was getting repressed — his fighting ability was seriously impeded!

  “Suppressing my powers, leaving me with only the Wu Xing Secret Realm! So this Wu Xing Palace is to test the Wu Xing Secret Realm?”

  Zhong Yue’s eyes brightened as he said with confidence, “I’ve reverse opened the five realms, my attainments in the Wu Xing Secret Realm are stronger than others; if this Wu Xing Palace is to test me on my Wu Xing Secret Realm, then it’ll be like taking a walk in the park!”

  He stood at the center of the golden palace; to the sides were the draconic golden statues, human-bodied and dragon-headed, all at least thirty feet tall. There were fifty draconic golden statues standing on each side of the golden platform in total.

  Zhong Yue examined them, noting that the draconic golden statues were engraved with abstruse and profound dragon totem patterns that were speaking of the ways of the five elements.

  All of a sudden, one of the golden statues moved, as if life had stirred within it, leaping from the golden platform down onto the ground. —Zheng!— a metallic sound rang in the air!

  Wong——

  The totem patterns on the golden statue detached from its skin and waltzed in the air, forming a wheel of light on its back — the Wu Xing Wheel!

  “【Five Fingers Mountains】!”

  The draconic golden statue let out a fierceful cry, raised its palm and slammed it down onto Zhong Yue’s head; its five fingers has morphed into five mountains of the five elements — the Earth mountain, Fire mountain, Ice mountain, Wood mountain, and Gold mountain! Strong and hefty, they crashed down on top of Zhong Yue’s head!

  “This is…”

  Zhong Yue was shocked, he couldn’t even jump backwards in time; just as he raised his hand up, intending to break away the mountains, it suddenly struck him that his prowess had changed, he remembered that he could only use the power of the Wu Xing Wheel.

  “【Five Dragons Body Cloak】!” Zhong Yue shouted, his psyche morphed into five huge dragons with their heads on the ground and their tails interwoven with one another. He placed them above his head and a huge cloak made of five dragons wsd formed, shielding him beneath it.

  Krong——

  The draconic golden statue’s【Five Fingers Mountains】slammed down and clashed with the【Five Dragons Body Cloak】, the mountains crumbled and the dragons were crushed, both of the skills faded into thin air.

  Zhong Yue heaved a breath of relief, and right when he was about to return the favor, the Wu Xing Wheel behind the draconic golden statue spun rapidly, spitting out five treasures: a bell, a zither, a drum, a flute and a lute – five musical instruments made of totem patterns!

  The bell let out the the note of ‘Re’, clanging in the air. The drum let out the note of ‘Do’, trembling the ear. The zither let out the note of ‘La’, crisp and clear; the flute let out the note of ‘Mi’, smooth and graceful; while the lute let out the note of ‘So’, shaking the sky. The five sounds formed a cacophonous symphony and struck at Zhong Yue!

  He was caught off-guard, the five notes blasted at him and sent him flying; he was once again assaulted by the deadly melody he was in mid-air when the musical instruments again blasted at him! The sound of the drum hammered like a mace; the zither pierced like sword silks; the flute strangled him like a python; the lute was like axes and sabers slashing on his body; and the sound of the bell struck directly at his mind, preventing his psyche from converging!

  “The five-pitch-scale, Do-Re-Mi-So-La, are analogous to the five elements; the Wu Xing Secret Realm can also be used like this?”

  Zhong Yue was shocked, his Yuan Shen emerging behind him. It was the Six-eyed Star Toad!

  —Manggu—

  Opening its mouth, it released a resounding growl, blasting the draconic golden statue away!

  The【Manggu Roar】was cast with the power of the five elements, it was stronger and heftier then before!

  Zhong Yue flipped his body and landed on the two hundred and sixty-foot tall Six-eyed Star Toad, shocked and overjoyed, he thought, So this is how the【Manggu Roar】should be used, I’ve never thought of this before! Oh yes, those Qi Practitioners I’ve met didn’t use skills like this either, it seems like these are the unique techniques of the Leize Clan innate dragon gods!

  The draconic golden statue was pushed back by the【Manggu Roar】. It slammed down on the ground, and the totem patterns on its body started to morph into a dragon god Yuan Shen!

  I once thought that I was unstoppable in the ways of Wu Xing Secret Realm, but it seems like I’ve still a lot more to learn.

  The sun and moon both emerged behind Zhong Yue, revolving around him while shining their lights down onto him to mend his wounds; in just one bout, his internal organs were wounded by the immense force of impact! Although the injuries were not too serious, it was still a significant blow to him!

  From the first day he had advanced into the level of Awakening, he had only met with competent opponents, but was never once defeated; the others even regarded him as the strongest in his level of Awakening, and he had thought so too.

  However, in just two rounds against the draconic golden statue, he was already wounded! It was a blow that had brought hi
m down back to reality from his illusions of invincibility. It was a humbling moment but also an opportunity to inwardly look towards his flaws.

  Although reverse opening the five realms has allowed me an advantage over others, my knowledge on leveraging that advantage to its maximum potential is severely lacking, I’ve only managed to utilize a small portion of its power. But fighting with this draconic golden statue is a rare opportunity for me to find delineate the flaws of my Wu Xing Secret Realm, and to learn from it!

  He had always battled with the celestials and monsters by crudely combining the powers of his five realms with the Dao Yi Wheel and launching it all out to crush his opponents. He had yet to fully explore the potential of the Wu Xing Wheel!

  He had only remain undefeated thanks to the absolute power that reverse opening the five Yuan Shen secret realms had granted him in comparison to others, even when compared with the dragons!

  This was the benefit of reverse opening of the secret realms, which was also why Zhong Yue’s【Manggu Roar】nearly crushed that draconic golden statue straight away.

  However, in terms of his ability to control his power, Zhong Yue found himself severely out of his depth.

  And now, the golden palace had sealed his other four realms, exposing his deficiencies right away!

  The dragon god Yuan Shen beneath the draconic golden statue stood up. Once a user opened the Wu Xing Wheel, he would be able to cast the Combat Yuan Shen. The dragon god was its Combat Yuan Shen, and as it had cast it out, its prowess has immediately increased greatly.

  The dragon god let out draconic whistle that seemed to last for eternity; the bell, drum, flute, lute, and zither emerged and sounded out together, creating that deadly symphony that flew blasted straight towards Zhong Yue!

  The dragon god Yuan Shen was incredibly good at controlling the power of the five elemental Qi. While Zhong Yue watched, the six-eyed Star Toad’s eyes were glimmering and all of a sudden, it let out a sonorous cry while he formed a bell, lute, drum, flute and zither with the totem patterns, blasting right back at the dragon god Yuan Shen.

  Meanwhile, the draconic golden statue dashed over, opening its five fingers, surging its psyche out to form the totem patterns at the tip of its fingers, which morphed into five weapons that resembled the five elemental Qi — saber, sword, spear, whip, and shield.

  The shield resembled Earth Qi, heavy and hefty; the sword as Gold Qi, sharp and incisive; the spear as Water Qi, like a water dragon; the whip resembled Wood Qi, assaulting unpredictably; the saber as Fire Qi, burning like a blazing sun!

  Another marvelous use of the five elemental Qi!

  Zhong Yue was surprised and excited, he dashed forward and faced it squarely. My cultivation base is stronger than this draconic golden statue, I must control my strength so I don’t break it easily!

  Their Yuan Shens clashed together and so did their mortal bodies, staging a bone-rattling battle in the golden palace. The draconic golden statue was casting all sorts of skills and arts that dazzled his eyes.

  On the other hand, Zhong Yue was restraining his strength while he battled with the draconic golden statue, trying his best to learn the ways of controlling the power of the Wu Xing Secret Realm from it. After a long time, there were cracks all over the body of the draconic golden statue and suddenly, it collapsed like crumbling biscuits, while the dragon god Yuan Shen also dispersed and disappeared into thin air.

  Although he had restrained his strength, the incessant clashes with the draconic golden statue still eroded the totem patterns on it. As time passed, cracks started to emerge and eventually, the golden statue crumbled away.

  Is that it? Have I passed the first test?

  Zhong Yue felt some self-pity, as his control of the Wu Xing Secret Realm was still a distance from what he expected. He had yet to fully master the power of the Wu Xing Secret Realm.

  Zheng——

  A huge clunking noise shook the golden palace, coming from its right side. There was another golden statue that had leaped down from the golden platform, dashing over towards him.

  Meanwhile, the golden statue that crumbled away melted into a stream of golden liquid, crawling its way up to the golden palace in a defiance of gravity. Soon, a whole new draconic golden statue stood on the golden platform once again, while various totem patterns emerged on its skin.

  Chapter 227: Undefeatable |

  This golden statue seems to be stronger than the previous one!

  As soon as Zhong Yue fought with the second draconic golden statue, he felt that this golden statue possessed more power than the previous one, as it managed to use the five elemental power even more freely, flexibly, and faster, and it attacked in a stronger and more vigorous way.

  It even managed to buff one of its elemental attacks by using the nature of the five elements to form five markings that enhanced its elemental attacks greatly!

  For example, the draconic golden statue used the Water Element to promote the growth of Wood Element, creating more Fire Element with the Wood Element to enhance the power of Fire Element. Then with the Fire Element, the golden statue strengthened the Earth Element, which then augmented the power of the Gold Element, and it finally launched an attack with the Gold Elemental Marking. With the compounding support of the other four elemental powers behind it, the power of its Gold Elemental attack had increased to fivefold!

  This applied not only to the Gold Element but also the other four elements; the defense of the Earth Element, firepower of the Fire Element, Healing of the Wood Element, Strength in the Water Element, all were five times stronger than before!

  The draconic golden statue was also incredibly good at using its Dragon God’s Yuan Shen. It launched all sorts of powerful attacks towards Zhong Yue that were much more powerful than the previous golden statue.

  After an hour of prolonged battle, this draconic golden statue shattered just like the previous one had, and a third draconic golden statue jumped down and raced towards Zhong Yue immediately. As expected, the power of this third draconic golden statue was much stronger than the second one.

  Zhong Yue frowned and leapt into the air with his palms opened before he waved his arms downwards, forming and sending five mountains that slammed towards the draconic golden statue. While the mountains crushed towards the draconic golden statue, Zhong Yue looked at the Yuan Shen of the draconic golden statues and thought, The Innate Dragon God of the Lei Zhe Clan… This stage seems to be much harder than I thought. These draconic golden statues are all stronger than those before, and there are a total of a hundred draconic golden statues here. I’m afraid that the final draconic golden statue possess a very terrifying power! The difficulty is just too high to pass this stage, as I have to defeat all hundred of them! Could it be that the other dragon Qi Practitioners are all stronger than me?

  Hou——

  The draconic golden statue cast out its Yuan Shen and controlled the Dragon God Yuan Shen to attack Zhong Yue, while Zhong Yue summoned back his own Six-Eyed Star Toad Yuan Shen and fought with both the draconic golden statue and its Yuan Shen all by himself.

  There are no dragon disciples in sight, so they must have passed this stage? If so, I can do it if they could! I guess I have to speed up my progress as there are hundred of statues here, and if I stall too long here, I’m afraid that the blessings of the Ancestral Dragon will be taken away by the other participants!

  In just a short period after fighting with the golden statue, Zhong Yue realized that this golden statue did not have many moves. He immediately formed the Jiao Dragon totem carvings, wrapping his arms and legs with the power of the Jiao Dragons and crushed the golden statue to pieces.

  Then, the fourth draconic golden statue jumped down. After another short period of fighting, Zhong Yue again shattered this statue with his Six-Eyed Star Toad Yuan Shen after he examined the power of the statue!

  In the next round, he used his Three-Legged Great Sun Golden Crow Yuan Shen to destroy the fifth draconic golden Yuan Shen.
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  As time passed, he had made it to the fiftieth golden statue. By now, the statues had became very dangerous, resulting in Zhong Yue having to fight with it with his full strength.

  When he got to the eightieth golden statue, he managed to defeat the statue only after using both of his Three-Legged Great Sun Golden Crow Yuan Shen and Six-Eyed Star Toad Yuan Shen simultaneously.

  At the ninetieth statue, he started to use the four forms of his two Yuan Shens, the Great Sun, Bright Moon, Golden Crow, and Star Toad, and along with his own brute strength, he barely won the battle.

  When he faced the final statue, he used all his tricks up in his sleeves; the【Great Boundless Sword Qi】, 【Sword Sixty-Four Styles】,【Monster God Ming King Art】 , and 【Soaring Dragon Hundred Forms】!

  And even so, he still suffered heavy injuries!

  In this battle, Zhong Yue fought very hard. At the end, he suffered extremely heavy injuries that left him on the brink of death, while the golden statue finally cracked and shattered after its energy was depleted.

  The horrifying aura dispersed, and the other four wheels behind Zhong Yue started to spin again as he finally could use his their powers again.

  The golden palace then trembled vigorously, and the golden statues returned to their perfect conditions while the wall in front of Zhong Yue opened up, exposing two doors standing behind the walls. These doors opened up and revealed a jade pool hidden behind the doors.

  The jade pool was only eight feel long and wide, but it was shrouded with some kind of spiritual power. Suddenly, a dragon finger appeared from the void and floated on top of the pool with a drip of draconic blood at its tip.

  “Only one drop of the Lei Zhe Ancestor Blood?”

  Xin Huo jumped out from Zhong Yue’s psyche ocean and shouted, “So stingy! You should give us more!”

  The dragon finger disappeared and a voice could be heard saying, “There is still some in the next level, I wouldn’t even have given you a drop if you failed at this level.”