Rise of Humanity

by <unknown>

  Gu Hongzi listened intently while Zhong Yue continued, "When Shi Buyi was selecting his disciples, I found out that the daughter of the Feng Gu City Lord was from the insect race. I suspect that the Feng Gu City Lord is also an insect and that he is linked to the queen mother insect that escaped from the Black Mountain Secret Realm."

  Gu Hongzi then asked, “You mean…”

  "That mother insect is most probably talking to the insect planet. There are quite a number of gods in the insect planet."

  Zhong Yue mulled and said, "Initially, I thought that there is only one mother insect in the Ancestral Star. One mother insect isn't much trouble for the whole Ancestral Star. But what if this mother insect came from the insect planet? What if this mother insect is provided certain means that can open another dimensional tunnel from the insect planet? The consequences will be severe, to say the least, even to the whole Ancestral Star. Hence, I've asked senior martial brother over to scout out Feng Gu City with me."

  Gu Hongzi finished his cup of tea and stood up, gazing deeply toward the direction of Feng Gu City before saying resolutely, "Alright! Let's do it!"

  Zhong Yue heaved a breath of relief and smiled, "Right, then we will sneak into the Feng Gu City and capture…"

  “No need for that!”

  Gu Hongzi then let out a shrill whistle, clouds billowed over and covered the whole Feng Gu City, and the sounds of thunder rumbled through the sky, and sparks of lightning flashed across it. Gu Hongzi morphed into a bird-headed celestial being and clawed right into the center of the Feng Gu City while saying frigidly, "How does this Feng Gu City Lord even matter for us to need to sneak into the city? Just catch him right away!"

  Zhong Yue's heart thumped heavily. Gu Hongzi was indeed so unbridled and willful!

  The Gu Hongzi in the past was a scrupulous and conservative individual. After all, he was a spy planted in the East Barren by the old man, and he was also a city lord. The whole of Gu Xia City was under his command, and there were far too many things he had to take into consideration. However, the Gu Hongzi now was like a wild horse that was let loose; every action he took was done with an overbearing will and without a care in the world!

  Maybe it's a just the right choice to let Senior Martial Brother Gu Hongzi go on his own instead of dragging him back to Swords Gate. Only an eagle in the outside world can be called an eagle; otherwise, it'd be nothing but a house bird.

  Gu Hongzi was a magnate cultivator, one that had even coalesced the godly spirit. He was so powerful that even the Imminent Deity magnates were unable to do anything against him. The bird claw ballooned in size, and it swiped right into the Feng Gu City, clawing right at the lord's manor!

  The Feng Gu City was one of the six cities in the East Barren. Although its city lord was not a magnate, he was not far from it either. Furthermore, there was also an Imminent Deity spirit guarding over the city that was even stronger than before after being worshipped by Feng Gu City for years.

  The city itself had many defensive array formations as this city was built as a fortress against the North Barren Bai Zhe Clan. Although the Bai Zhe Clan was a neutral faction that never intervened in worldly affairs, it was still not wise for the monsters to let their guards down.

  However, Gu Hongzi clawed down as if Feng Gu City were just a little toy in his hands. Every defensive formation in the city was torn through like paper under the claws indomitable force. The city couldn't react in time to cast out the guardian spirit as Gu Hongzi already touched the city's ground!

  Krong——

  The earth quaked violently, and a huge hole was created in the center of the city as Gu Hongzi clawed the whole lord's manor out from the Feng Gu City.

  The lord's manor was raised into the sky and was pulling over to the mountain that Zhong Yue and Gu Hongzi were standing on.

  The whole city was then plunged into chaos and disorder.

  Even the lord's manor was in a clamor. Some of the monster officers lunged down from the manor and quickly flew away. Some were shell-shocked, and others brought out their soul weapons and stood on guard. Cries and screams rang out from within all over the manor.

  Gu Hongzi was apathetic, and he suddenly let go of the manor and let it crash right into the mountains.

  “Who is fooling around with Zhu?”

  A low and deep voice came from the manor, and a man in his prime age flew out into the sky. His eyes shone like lightning as he stared at Zhong Yue and Gu Hongzi imposingly.

  This middle-aged man was none other than the Feng Gu City Lord, Zhu Yushan. He was a monster well-renowned for his handsomeness. The Zhu Xian'er that Zhong Yue killed in the Black Mountain Secret Realm was his daughter.

  “Ah, so it’s you, Gu Hongzi.”

  A cold light flashed across Zhu Yushan's eyes as he turned vigilant. His eyes then shifted toward Zhong Yue, and he gave a cold sneer, "Gu Hongzi, you really are a traitor. How dare you fraternize with the humans! Moreover, you've brought a human along to taunt the Feng Gu City!"

  As he spoke, he was sending a transmission to the monster Qi Practitioners in the city telling them to notify Shi Buyi of Gu Hongzi's arrival.

  "Are you hoping that Shi Buyi comes and rescues you?"

  Gu Hongzi then said placidly, "It's really useless, that won't do much help to you right now. Shi Buyi's cultivation base is damaged, and it is impossible for him to recover anytime soon. Even if you inform him, it'll only be one of the four chiefs that come."

  "Furthermore, their arrival might not be good news for you anyway. Zhu Yushan, your identity as an insect is exposed. If those four old codgers come and learn of your true face, your death will be even faster than if I am to kill you."

  Zhu Yushan's face changed, and he said laughingly, "What a joke! Gu Hongzi, you are a traitor of the monster race, how dare you accuse…"

  Gu Hongzi gave a cold sneer and raised his hand up like a sword, slashing it down at Zhu Yushan.

  Zheng zheng zheng——

  Dazzling light rays flitted out from Gu Hongzi’s hand, these sword feathers shining in golden rays formed a marvelous wing and slashed right at Zhu Yushan!

  It caught Zhu Yushan surprise as he didn't foresee that Gu Hongzi striking without warning. He quickly retreated and shouted furiously, "Where are my children?"

  Hu——

  Thousands of youngsters flew out from the manor and answered loudly in unison, “We are here!”

  “Formation!”

  Zhu Yushan then shouted, and the few thousand youngsters formed an array formation for which Zhu Yushan was the center. He gazed coldly at Gu Hongzi and said, "Gu Hongzi, maybe the others are afraid of you, but I'm not. I have many children, and together, we can form into an array formation that can easily kill you!"

  Gu Hongzi sneered disdainfully and all of a sudden, he flashed into the array formation and spun his body on the spot. Countless feathers shot out in all directions, and in just the blink of an eye, a one-thousand-feet tall golden swan goose was formed inside of the array formation. It spanned its wings out wide and released a shrill cry right beside the ears of the many monsters. Its feathers flew along with the wind and threaded around the array formation!

  Chi, chi, chi——

  Countless light sounds resounded their ears, and before the array formation could ever be activated, the young Qi Practitioners were all killed by the sword feathers!

  Over a hundred sword feathers struck Zhu Yushan, but he was still standing. The Feng Gu City Lord then suddenly laughed and said, "I can't say how much I want to thank you for killing them, I was going to kill them anyway. After all, it is their blood that I only wanted!"

  The blood on the ground then suddenly moved, and they flowed into Zhu Yushan. Almost immediately upon contact with the blood, Zhu Yushan's body grew larger. His beast-like, terrifying, veins were bulging out from his strong muscles, and bone pieces started to emerge on the surface of his skin, covering his whole body, while tens of feet long steel hairs rose up from underneath the bones
like bristles.

  Zhu Yushan suddenly turned into a golden shining spider as tall as a mountain and with the torso of a demon. Every breath he exhaled was filled with noxious gas, and he was laughing happily, "Finally, after restraining myself for such a long time, I can finally battle comfortably in my true form! Hehehehe, those who see my turn form shall die, no matter who you are!"

  In the lord's manor, the monster Qi Practitioners were stunned, and some quick-witted ones then immediately ran out from the manor and tried to escape. But unfortunately, Zhu Yushan shot out the spider silks and wrapped them tightly away.

  He then retracted the spider silks and dragged the Qi Practitioners on the ground and ate them away at the back of his body!

  Chapter 412: Form Changing Cultivation Technique |

  Zhu Yushan's aura grew violently strong after swallowing all of the monsters inside the lord's manor. He then laughed and said, "City Lord Gu Hongzi, you know you shouldn't have gone after me. But since you did, then I'm more than pleased to have you as my food! Do you really think you can do anything you want to me just because you are a magnate? How unfortunate for you that I am also a True Spirit magnate!"

  Zhu Yushan then unleashed all of his power, and monstrous appalling aura billowed up through the sky. His spirit that was in the form of a mother insect then flew out. Its appearance was nearly identical to the mother insect image that Zhong Yue saw back in the Black Mountain Secret Realm except for one thing.

  The mother insect image Zhong Yue saw in the Black Mountain Secret Realm had the body of a demon lady and a triangular skull like a mantis, whereas Zhu Yushan's spirit had a different head – it had the face of a beautiful demon lady.

  A thought then suddenly flashed across Zhong Yue's heart. Other than that one insect mother queen that escaped out from the Black Mountain Secret Realm, there was also a mother insect inside of the secret realm. But it had entered the volcanic waterfall when Zhong Yue left the secret realm.

  However, this mother insect was smaller in size and also weaker. Thus, Zhong Yue did not take it seriously back then.

  Thinking back on it now, that little mother insect would be a descendant of that big mother insect that escaped from the Black Mountain Secret Realm!

  Zhu Yushan would also be the mother insect's descendant!

  If that big mother insect could kill the late monster overlord before, then after so many years, her prowess would most probably be just a thin line away from the deityhood!

  Zhong Yue was apathetic to the battle as he thought, If Zhu Yushan were planted into the monster race, this mother insect must have her eyes on something. I wonder if we can lure her out this time with this Zhu Yushan?

  Gu Hongzi retained his usual unmoved temperament even after Zhu Yushan revealed himself to be a True Spirit magnate. Without any hesitation, Gu Hongzi dashed forward; the two magnates exchanged blows, and instantly, a winner had been decided. Zhu Yushan was spurting out blood like a fountain, and his body was sent flying for over a hundred miles like a ragdoll.

  After all, Gu Hongzi was a governor of the human-monster border. He was the city lord of Gu Xia City and a magnate who coalesced his atman with the godly spirit of the Gu Xia City. In other words, his spirit was now a godly spirit, and despite him being a True Spirit magnate, his Yuan Shen had already ascended into deityhood – a Pure Yang state Yuan Shen!

  In terms of arcane energy, only the Imminent Deity magnates could fight against him!

  While the whole East Barren only had a few Imminent Deity cultivators. Even the number of Imminent Deity cultivators across the entire Ancestral Star would not exceed a hundred!

  What held Gu Hongzi back was his cultivation base that barred him from being able to fully utilize the monster god Yuan Shen; otherwise, he would already be a god rather than an Imminent Deity Qi Practitioner!

  Zhu Yushan crashed into the ground and hollered angrily, the spider-like creature lunged into the sky and shot out countless spider silks from his butt, weaving into a huge spider web that measured a hundred miles across in the sky.

  Zhu Yushan crawled on the top of the web and turned into the state of [Atman Body as One], morphing into a mountainous spider in the middle of the spider web where a spider nest was made.

  Gu Hongzi strode forward, and just as he landed in the web, Zhu Yushan made his move with the fluidity of a bird in the sky or a fish in the water. As Zhu Yushan was circling around Gu Hongzi and bombarding his skills at him, he scoffed coldly and said, "You want to go against the insect race? You are still too weak!"

  Gu Hongzi frowned, and he then fused his body with the monster-god Yuan Shen, turning into a ten thousand feet tall monster god. The monster god then tore the spider web with its bare hands. He then struck his beak onto Zhu Yushan like a bird consuming an insect, and he raised his head up high as if about to devour him.

  Zhu Yushan fearfully shouted, "I'm poisonous, you will not end well if you had eaten me!"

  Gu Hongzi then hurled Zhu Yushan away. Zhu Yushan was sent crashing into the mountains and ended up with blood spurting from his mouth. He then shot out a long thread of spider silk that flew out of their visions.

  Zhu Yushan then shot out another spider web toward Gu Hongzi so as to stop to stop Gu Hongzi from following him, but it was to no avail. Gu Hongzi easily evaded the incoming spider web.

  Gu Hongzi was still tightly in pursuit of him while Zhong Yue morphed into the Golden Crow. He then flew over and said, "Senior martial brother, you didn't kill him, are you planning to let him lead us to that big mother insect?"

  Gu Hongzi nodded and replied, "Even if we did capture and interrogate him for the mother insect's whereabouts, there is still a possibility that he would rather die than tell us where it is. If that's the case, why don't we let him lead us to her?

  "He's now exposed his insect form. There is no place for him in the monster land anymore. The only place he can go to now is to the insect race, and wherever he is going to, is where the mother insect is at."

  Zhong Yue mulled and responded, "This mother insect is strong, even stronger than Shi Buyi. The only question now is if she has ascended deityhood. If she is now a god, we will die by her hands for sure."

  "Junior martial brother, you worry too much, she will not come out."

  Gu Hongzi's eyes flashed as he laughed, "There are many gods in this world, but how many of them do you think can tolerate the existence of an insect god? I'd say none. I bet that this mother insect will never dare to come out!"

  Zhong Yue nodded, and they followed behind Zhu Yushan. Gu Hongzi launched out skills at him intermittently, worsening Zhu Yushan's injuries and forcing him to escape faster.

  Unbeknownst to them, they had reached the Lian Yun Mountain Ridge to the west of the East Barren. Suddenly, Zhu Yushan shot out another spider silk that flew over the Lian Yun Mountain Ridge to the other side. He swung over and escaped through there.

  As he reached in the West Barren, he quickly morphed back into his usual form. The insect race and celestial race had a hostile history. If he dared to enter the West Barren in his insect form, then he would be killed by the celestial experts before he could ever reach to that mother insect.

  However, it was common for the monsters to walk in the celestial land. The celestials treated monsters as lower beings, and so there were quite a number of monster Qi Practitioners that were enslaved by their celestial masters.

  “West Barren?”

  Zhong Yue and Gu Hongzi softly furrowed their brows. Zhu Yushan was, after all, a True Spirit magnate; even if he were injured, Zhong Yue could still barely catch up to his speed.

  Zhu Yushan had traveled all the way from the Feng Gu City through to the West Barren. If they went further east, they would be entering the territories of the celestial races.

  “This mother insect is hiding in the West Barren? This is getting knotty.”

  Gu Hongzi said solemnly, "The West Barren is scattered with the celestial temples, anywhere could be the old homes of the gods,
everywhere is filled with unknown dangers. A slight moment of carelessness in flying over the celestial temples could offend the gods inside them and lead to another war. Furthermore, Junior Martial Brother Zhong, you are quite ... unwelcomed by the celestials in the West Barren."

  Zhong Yue gave a gentle smile and said, "Not only am I unwelcomed, but they will also try to kill me on sight. But that's fine; I'll just change my appearance."

  Zhong Yue visualized a celestial in the【Million God Ice Saint Art】, and immediately, Zhong Yue's bones and muscles were restructured and transformed. Soon, his whole mortal body had drastically changed as he became indistinguishable from a celestial

  of the brawny and muscular Zhu Jian Celestial Race.

  Gu Hongzi was stunned, and he scrutinized Zhong Yue from tip to toe but couldn't find even a single flaw at all, "What is this cultivation technique?"

  “Kui Long Celestial Race’s Immortal Body, in addition to the Bai Zhe Clan’s Million God Arts.”

  Zhong Yue smiled and answered, "The Immortal Body controls the body structures while the Million God Arts details the structural layout of the many celestials."

  Gu Hongzi then asked curiously, “Other than the Zhu Jian Celestial Race, what else can you change into?”

  Zhong Yue laughed, "I have a total of 11,520 forms available."

  Gu Hongzi was shocked, he nodded quietly and said, "If this cultivation technique can be fully utilized, it will be an incredible art. Every celestial race has their own strengths and weakness that are unique to them alone. If you can change into their forms and master their advantages, you can then target on their weaknesses or counter their skills easily. However, 11520 are too many to learn. You most likely will only need 100 forms at most."

  Zhong Yue then pondered over Gu Hongzi's words.

  Gu Hongzi was right, the Immortal Body and Million God Arts could form an incredible cultivation technique, more so if the Martial Master arts were also included.

  Every celestial race had their natural talents. Once he changed into that race, he could master their natural talents and leverage them in battles. If the opponent was weak in sheer strength, he could change into the Zhu Yan Celestial Race and make use of that advantage that the Zhu Yan race has. If the opponent was afraid of fire, he could change into the Shan Ya Celestial Race. And if the opponent was adept at flying, he could change into the Kun Peng Celestial Race.