Rise of Humanity

by <unknown>

  The Atman Body cultivators would have to replicate his spirit, and nurture it with the arcane energy and psyche. It was a rather complicated process, and the biggest obstacle to the whole process was the bloodline in the Yuan Shen.

  As long as there was a bloodline in the Yuan Shen, with the power of the bloodline, the replication and duplication process would proceed much more smoothly.

  In the【Mystic Duplication Technique】, there was an abstruse technique to refine the bloodline in the Yuan Shen, which was precisely why Xiao Chushan had met a dead end in his cultivation progress. He had spent too much time on it, and it impeded his cultivation progress. His frustration must have eventually lead to his fiasco against Zuo Xiangsheng.

  However, this obstacle that was virtually insurmountable for Xiao Chushan was basically nonexistent to Zhong Yue. He already had the bloodline flowing through his Yuan Shen, making the whole cultivation process much easier for him.

  "Brat Yue, you can try and refine the demonic aura and demonic Qi into one of the emulated inner cores," Xin Huo suddenly spoke.

  "Refining the demonic aura and demonic Qi into the emulated inner core? Xin Huo, you are asking me to cultivate a demonic inner core?" Zhong Yue was stunned, the demonic aura and demonic Qi was exactly what Tian Myriad Mother had used against him in the Seal Suppression Hall. They were at the level of gods and were not easy to get rid of, stubbornly rooting themselves in his body, where he was unable to eradicate it. He ultimately had to resort to sealing it in the corner of his psyche ocean.

  All this while, as the days passed by, the demon god's demonic aura and demonic Qi have been siphoning away at his essence, gradually evolving into a round moon, that was darker than black itself, hovering above his psyche ocean.

  The demonic aura and demonic Qi have been hampering his prowess, all the while strengthening themselves. Sooner or later, they would evolve into something he will no longer be able to deal with.

  Xin Huo bestirred himself and flew out of Zhong Yue's Yuan Shen secret realm. He laughed and said, "Rather than fighting so hard with the demonic Qi and demonic aura, why don't you just turn them to your own benefits? Cultivate one of the emulated inner core with the demonic affinity, and the other with the monster affinity. With this, you will be able to possess the advantages of all three races – the celestials, demons, and monsters!"

  Zhong Yue was moved by the suggestion, but he then frowned and said, "The monster inner core is still fine as I have the【Monster God Ming King Art】. It wasn't hard to cultivate a monster inner core; but I don't have any demonic arts. To refine the demonic aura and demonic Qi into a demonic spirit is still fine, but to cultivate a demonic inner core requires a demonic art, something I don't have…."

  All of a sudden, Xin Huo's eyes lit up, "Just go on with it. I know the exact place we can get a demon god's demon cultivation art. I'll take you there after we leave this Lesser Void World!"

  Zhong Yue was puzzled, "Xin Huo, is it alright for the humans to cultivate a demon god's cultivation art? Is there any precedent of it being done successfully?"

  Xin Huo pondered in earnest for a few moments, before he said diffidently, "I don't think so, the celestials and demons are long-standing rivals, archenemies since the start of time. For a celestial to cultivate the demonic arts is just volunteering for a suicidal death … But don't you worry, the Fuxi Celestial blood in you is faint and weak, the natural repulsion between the celestial blood and the demonic art shouldn't be that serious. If you succeed, you will be the first of your kind!"

  Zhong Yue then became apprehensive as he thought, Xin Huo's words are as unreliable as ever. I can't solely rely on him, I need to have a backup of my own … If things take a turn for the worse, I'll sever the emulated demonic inner core. My strength may suffer, but at worst, I'll have to spend more time recuperating it. At the very least, my solid foundation will remain intact. However, if I can refine the demonic aura and demonic Qi into a demonic spirit to turn a curse into a blessing, then I might just be able to enter the Godlike Board.

  Little did he know that he had already entered the Godlike Board after killing Xiao Chushan.

  When Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er reached the planet that was connected to the mountaintop, Zhong Yue had already started replicating and nurturing his blood essence, prowess and spirit.

  With the totem patterns of the【Monster God Ming King Art】, he replicated the Six-Eyed Star Toad moon spirit into a spirit; not only that, but he also replicated the Great Sun Golden Crow sun spirit while trying to infuse the demonic aura and demonic Qi into it to transmute it into a demonic spirit.

  The exquisite monster spirit and demonic spirit was begotten from the Star Toad and Golden Crow. They gradually grew stronger as he carefully nurtured them; however, Zhong Yue felt an eerily sensation every time he looked at the demonized Great Sun Golden Crow, or more precisely, the Great Sun Demon Crow that embodied the demon god's demonic aura and demonic Qi.

  If a backlash were to come at me from this demonic spirit … Anyhow, it has increased my prowess significantly, and its impediment to my strength has reduced. Zhong Yue comforted himself in that fact as he thought in his heart.

  The planet was connected by a mountain to the earth beneath; it was utterly bizarre. Standing on the planet itself, Zhong Yue looked up and saw a flat, broad, spacious continent floating above his head. There was a sun and moon in the distance, and he could vaguely distinguish the ocean, woods, mountains, and Qi Practitioners moving around the continent in search of treasures.

  Such a bizarre and yet astonishing view could never be seen anywhere else other than this place.

  “Senior martial brother, Senior Martial Sister Ao’s claw mark!” Qiu Jin’er suddenly said.

  Zhong Yue looked over and saw the mark of a dragon's claw. He was between laughter and tears; he never thought that Ao Shanshan would be so daring to come to such a strange planet. Perhaps, it was because of the divine wine that affected her decision-making?

  He cast his gaze afar and glanced at the surrounding. There were palaces and camps strewn about the landscape, as well as tattered flags and rugged banners fluttering in the wind. It was clear to him that this was a military planet, a planet on which the Heavenly Monarch's armies were stationed!

  Zhong Yue stood steadfastly on the spot while his heart palpitated in shock. Looking carefully at the palaces and camps, he realized that they were meticulously arranged to form an array formation — The Azure Dragon Camp in the east, the White Tiger Camp in the west, the Vermillion Bird in the south, and the Xuan Wu Camp in the north. The center camp was the command center for the other four camps, and although there were no more gods in the camps, the array formation still effused a suffocating aura suffused with a sharp killing intent.

  Only an army of gods could create such an appalling auric field. Ao Shanshan was nothing more than a mere Atman Body Qi Practitioner. Drunk or not, she wouldn't even survive a split second in the face of such an array formation.

  Qiu Jin'er was also aware of the danger, the beautiful maiden locked her brows and said, "Senior martial brother, this army camp array formation is extremely dangerous. It is a god-level array formation; although Lord Xia was a lord under the godly emperor, it's still impossible for his Lang Ya Board to affect the array formation. That should mean that we wouldn't be revived later on if we are to die in there."

  Zhong Yue nodded in agreement; it was, after all, a military camp, it wasn't a random place that could be taken lightly.

  However, the four camps weren't as deadly as they once were, seeing that they were now reduced to dilapidated ruins. The walls that once stood majestically high, and had once shielded millions of miles across the mountain ridges, were now nothing but crumbled rocks and crushed stones. Only a few segments of broken walls remained standing, scarred with the battle marks left behind from the bone-rattling war!

  Clearly, whatever happened her had nearly torn down all of the walls!

  Ordinary gods were not capable of
wreaking damage of this magnitude. It was highly probable that it was the work of the Xia family's ancestor, Lord Xia himself, single-handedly tearing down the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird and Xuan Wu camps!

  "These four camps are now destroyed, the Lang Ya Board's power could barely affect this place now. Although the aftermath impact of the battles between the gods is incredibly dangerous to us, there is still a glimpse of hope to us. As long as we precisely follow the trail left behind by Lord Xia, we should be able to stave away from danger as much as possible.”

  Zhong Yue gazed at the four wrecked camps. Silhouettes and shadows were looming in the camps; those would be the Qi Practitioners that came in search of treasures. "Junior martial sister, let's us also go over!"

  Qiu Jin'er nodded in response, and they tracked Ao Shanshan's dragon marks to the Azure Dragon Camp. The city was deserted; rubble and debris still littered the silent streets, and traces of the skills employed during the battle of the gods 50000 years ago still lingered around the city, seemingly frozen in time.

  One of the traces

  came in the form a bottomless ocean that seemed to be drowning innumerable god corpses beneath its waters.

  Others came in the form of dazzling light rays that shone from one end of the world to the other. The sight of corpses fading into nothingness, and divine weapons disintegrating into dust was still visible everywhere they looked.

  There was a roaring volcano that caged an unknown existence beneath it. A white, bright, sharp claw extruded out from underground, trying to make its way up to the surface.

  Some were eerily peculiar like a world of ghosts, and some were blazing with sunfire. Others were legendary creatures formed from totem patterns, broken divine weapons, and secret realms scattered all over the place. All in all, the whole Azure Dragon Camp was a place fraught with countless perils – it was a place where death was the rule and life was the exception!

  The only safe path here was the trail Lord Xia had walked!

  Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er were standing in a footprint on the ground, it was miles long and belonged to a dragon, between this footprint and the next was a steep precipice that was created as the dragon stomped across the Azure Dragon Camp!

  Chapter 287: The Azure Dragon Cloud Marked Banner |

  “These footprints belong to dragons, should be the footprints left behind by the two fire dragons of Xia Hou. There should be no danger if we follow these footprints.”

  Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er looked around, and at the same time, they realized that the traces of battles that occurred in the Jade Dragon camp were much scarier than those in the Divine Battlefield. These four base camps belonged to the guardians of their king's mausoleum, they were stationed here to guard the tomb against any trespassers, and one would have to go through them first in order to enter the tomb.

  And with that being said, it would be no surprise if Xia Hou targeted these four camps for he was looking for the location of the mausoleum!

  There should be more than one planet like this one.

  Zhong Yue looked above, and he saw other planets that hung up in the sky above the land they were standing on, each linked together by mountains. Judging by the similarities, these planets were probably camps filled with gods and demons that played the role as the guardians of the mausoleum!

  It was never easy to get a hold of the exact location of the mausoleum as other than taking down the four base camps in this planet, Xia Hou would also have to deal with the demons and gods on the other planets and destroy the camps.

  Did these guardians rise from their slumber and fight with Xia Hou?

  Zhong Yue was a little confused as the cycle of life and death as it pertained to demons and gods was already beyond the scope of his comprehension. Xia Hou was someone from five million years ago, and in his era, these demons and gods had died for a time as long as another five million years, so how would a fight between them occur?

  But there are lots of treasures here. I wonder who would be able to get their hands on them?

  Zhong Yue looked at the shattered pieces of the godly weapons, bones of the demons and gods, the secret realms, totem pillars, and many more items that were unbelievably strong. But as long as the aura of these gods and demons remained, it would be almost impossible to retrieve these treasures.

  Thus, although Zhong Yue wanted these items badly, he did not dare to make a move for he knew that even Heavenly Dharma level Qi Practitioners would be killed if they touched this debris recklessly, let alone an Atman Body level Qi Practitioner like him.

  At the same time, the other Qi Practitioners that entered this place walked forward along the path that Xia Hou once walked, trying their best to salvage and scavenge any items they deemed worthy at the border of the battlefield in hopes of obtaining something precious enough. The results of their efforts, however, were highly unknown to the others.

  Suddenly, people could be seen moving in between the camps and explosions created by the collision of skills could be heard faintly. Next, a humongous phantom of a god as tall as thousand meters arose from the camp and let out a fearsome shout!

  Then, a celestial being appeared at the opposite of the first god’s phantom and the two giants fought together, turning the surrounding into a hellish abyss.

  The phantom of the gods from the Jade Dragon Camps….

  Zhong Yue turned very serious as the appearance of these gods' phantom meant only one thing: Xia Hou did not remove the dangers around this place entirely. The celestial being appeared suddenly was the Martial Divine Master from the Zhong Li Celestial Race, and Zhong Yue thought to himself, Such a ferocious battle. Could it be that the Zhong Li Celestial Race's people triggered the traps here and accidentally freed the phantom of the gods, and they had no choice but to summon the Martial Divine Master to fend off the phantoms?

  There was more than just them that entered the Heavenly Monarch Residence as older and younger generations of the Zhong Li Celestial Race had also entered this place. They brought along various precious items and spirits belonging to their race with them while plotting something big.

  Xia Hou is the ancestor of the Zhong Li Celestial Race, and the arrival of those from the older generation of the Zhong Li Celestial Race was probably arranged by Xia Hou long ago. For now, we should back off as this place is not safe anymore with the fight going on right now.

  Zhong Yue then said, "Junior martial sister, let us go and look for Ao Shanshan, and we shall leave after we get her. This place is no longer safe!"

  Qiu Jin'er nodded, and they started looking for Ao Shanshan as they walked forward while they got closer and closer to the battle scene of the two giants. Suddenly, the god's phantom disappeared while the Martial Divine Master remained standing on the ground firmly.

  Then, loud laughter could be heard from the front, and the divine third eye appeared again on Zhong Yue's forehead. Through his divine third eye, Zhong Yue saw a few Martial Heavenly Masters standing on the shoulder of the Martial Divine Master, and they were laughing and saying, "Hahaha, we have finally lifted the final seal here, we can now proceed with the arrangements made by our ancestors and reopen the mausoleum!"

  One of them then said, "With the other camps taken down, all we have left is only the Jade Dragon Camp. As long as we remove the final Jade Dragon Banner, we will have it placed around with the other banners to activate the arrangements made by our ancestors! At last, after five million years of waiting, the Zhong Li Celestial Race will finally take over the mausoleum!"

  “Gentlemen, who among us shall claim this Azure Dragon Cloud Marked Banner for our people?”

  Zhong Yue looked at the banner they were talking about, it stood about a few thousand meters tall. A triangular flag with drawings of an Azure Dragon hung on the banner. Then, one of them flew towards the banner, grabbed onto the flagpole and pulled it up.

  The flagpole along with the triangular flag then became smaller and smaller, and the Martial Heavenly Master said, "Now all w
e got to do is place this banner with the others…."

  Boom——-

  The Lesser Void World suddenly cracked, and scorching divine rays shot out from the dimension cracks which appeared on the top of the Azure Dragon Cloud Marked Banner, sweeping across the entire camp.

  “It’s a trap, retreat!”

  Dying shrieks could be heard while the Martial Heavenly Masters evaporated immediately, and the Martial Divine Master disintegrated under the extreme heat of the divine rays!

  “Jin’er, close your eyes!”

  Zhong Yue shouted as he felt immense pain in his divine third eye as soon as the rays appeared. He quickly closed his eyes, but it was too late as blood started dripping out from his eyes.

  Although the divine rays were not even close to him, his eyes immediately got hurt after he looked at the divine rays!

  After a brief moment, Zhong Yue opened up his eyes, and he quickly looked towards Qiu Jin'er, only to find blood also dripping from her eyes as well.

  "Senior martial brother, I can't see anymore…," the girl said helplessly as the bloody tears continued to flow.

  Zhong Yue asked her to open up her eyes so he could check on her situation and he said with relief, "Don't worry, just some minor injuries, with the strong life force and life energy of a Wood Innate Spirit Body, you will recover in no time. Junior martial sister, wait here for a moment while I go to the front and look for Ao Shansha."

  Jiu Qin'er nodded while Zhong Yue walked away. He passed masses of severed corpses that were sliced in half by the divine rays.

  There were also some who managed to escape the divine rays, but despite their bodies remaining intact, their brains and eyes were vaporized from within by the sheer power of the divine rays.

  Ao Shanshan is dead too….

  Zhong Yue suddenly found a decapitated dragon head lying on the ground somewhere not too far away from his position. When he got close and took a careful look at it, he realized that this dragon head belonged to Ao Shanshan. He inspected her psyche ocean and found that there were no signs of Yuan Shen's and its secret realms' destruction, common signs of a person's death.