Rise of Humanity

by <unknown>

  “Will he die?" Black Nightshade asked anxiously.

  This time, Cusia answered in assuring confidence, “Most probably not, there are so many divine herbs here, even if he is really dying, we will be able to save him as well! His cultivation base was built with his own confidence as the foundation, but when the foundation becomes unstable, the tower that is built on top of it is also bound to shake.”

  The frame of mind of a cultivator was the base and the cultivation was the building above it. If the base was moved, the cultivation base would disappear as well. That was why certain some cultivators that doubted themselves could lose all the cultivation they painstakingly worked on for their whole lives.

  And this was what was happening to Zhong Yue now. He doubted his choice to cultivate the soul into the True Spirit, and as a result, his cultivation base was waning now. But as he was currently preoccupied with his dilemma, he was oblivious to the changes that his cultivation was undergoing. One wrong step and he could fall into the endless abyss with no path of return!

  “Brat Yue, it’s not that hard to solve this problem. Follow me, I will bring you to the imperial tomb." Xin Huo’s voice suddenly brought Zhong Yue’s mind back to reality.

  Zhong Yue was startled, he asked, “To the imperial tomb? What imperial tomb? Huh? Why did my cultivation base decreased by five percent?”

  Only now did he notice the loss of his cultivation base, he was in utter shock. Immediately, he calmed himself down so as to not lose too much cultivation base.

  “To the Fuxi’s imperial tomb, of course." Xin Huo said while smiling, “The imperial tomb I will bring you to belongs to the fifth Fuxi Earthly Sovereign, Haoyi! You don’t have the Fuxi spirit in you, but if fate decides so, he might be able to grant you one and allow you to break through!”

  Zhong Yue hesitated for a second, then he nodded quietly.

  He asked, “Can we really go to the fifth Earthly Sovereign’s imperial tomb?”

  The little flame exclaimed with pride, “Hahaha, of course! Who am I? Although I may look small in size, my reputation and name is bigger than you can imagine! If I said I want to enter Haoyi’s imperial tomb, no one will dare to stop me! That little brat that guards over the imperial tomb will surely open the doors happily to welcome their great Xin Huo!”

  Zhong Yue, however, greatly doubted the little flame’s statements. From the Shao Hao Bell, one could clearly infer that most of the imperial tombs weren’t too happy to see Xin Huo. He couldn’t help but wonder, Can Xin Huo really bring him into the fifth Earthly Sovereign, Haoyi’s imperial tomb?

  “Brat Yue, I need your mortal body to pick up where the guardian of that imperial tomb, Haoyi Zither is at!" Xin Huo seemed oblivious of the hate from the imperial tombs as he said happily, “I am really close to that little girl. Don’t worry, she will surely let us in!”

  Zhong Yue let go of his thoughts, he went into a vacant state while Xin Huo seized the chance and took control over his mortal body.

  At that instant Xin Huo entered Zhong Yue’s mortal body, the aura around him changed. Before this, Zhong Yue gave a warm feeling, like a sword sheathed away. But now, he was filled with a sharp and powerful aura, like an overbearing dictator.

  It was as if Xin Huo didn’t even want to keep a low profile at all. In fact, he might as well have tattooed across his face that said, “I am strong and powerful, all of you are rubbish!”

  The little flame took over Zhong Yue’s mortal body and billowed out his psyche, he focused his senses on the surroundings, and soon, he caught a glimpse of a familiar aura inside of the Ancestral Star.

  Immediately, he controlled Zhong Yue’s body and chanted softly. Suddenly, an indomitable power burst through the dimensions and opened a space rift in front of them.

  Zhong Yue’s body walked into the space rift and laughed as Xin Huo said through Zhong Yue’s mouth, “Little Sister Zither, I am here to visit you!”

  The zither voice that opened the space rift filled the surroundings, reluctance and anger palpable in its voice, “The Fuxi Clan member can enter, but you can stay out!”

  Xin Huo strode through the dimensional space tunnel and suddenly, he relinquished control of Zhong Yue’s body and leaped out. He asked while smiling, “Little flame? Who made you angry again?”

  Zhong Yue regained control over his body, he glanced around and found themselves inside an opulent palace. Golden pillars supported the pillars and the whole place was also mostly golden in color. Other than that, there were purplish rays that filled the palace hall, lending a mysterious air to the surroundings.

  He raised his head up and saw no roof, instead, it was a starry sky with a huge blue sun shrouded in the clouds and a bright moon opposite it.

  Half of the sky was day and the other was night. It seemed like as if there a galaxy had been used to decorate the palace.

  But Zhong Yue wasn’t sure if it was truly a galaxy or just some pretty decorations.

  The golden pillars had golden dragons engraved around them and were suffused with divine auras. At the corner of his eye, he could vaguely see the dragon on one of the pillars moving around, but when he looked over again, nothing seemed to changed at all.

  Earthly Sovereign Haoyi passed away for so many years already, and these dragons seemed just like sculptings. But even if they are real, they can’t still be alive after so long, right? Zhong Yue thought to himself.

  The floor was also paved onan ocean of clouds, it felt as if he were stepping on the fluffy clouds, but it actually felt so real. It was truly bizarre, everything seemed incongruous yet harmonious at the same time.

  The imperial tomb.

  The fifth Fuxi’s imperial tomb.

  Xin Huo flew around the golden pillars while laughing happily, “Little Sister Zither, where are you~? Why are you not out here to welcome your guests?”

  Suddenly, the sky trembled and an ancient looking zither descended from the sky, playing a gentle melody. The ancient zither hovered around Zhong Yue for a few rounds.

  Then, the little girl’s voice asked, “Young man of the Fuxi Clan, why are you together with this little flame? He will only lead you down the wrong path, don’t get influenced by him. Young man of the Fuxi Clan, you are still too young and naive to know how bad this little flame’s reputation was in the past…”

  Xin Huo rushed toward them while shouting angrily, “Whose reputation is bad? My name was worth its weight in gold in the past and even now. Don’t try and mock me!”

  The ancient zither ignored Xin Huo and flew past the top of Zhong Yue. Zhong Yue looked up and was horrified as he found out how huge the zither was. By a rough estimation, it was at least over a few hundred miles long, there were many marvelous marks and patterns that filled the zither surface. These marks and patterns were so complex that he couldn’t even read them!

  The zither flew past him and suddenly turned into the size of a normal zither. At that moment, a thought flashed past Zhong Yue’s shocked mind. It wasn’t the zither that shrunk, but that the zither flew far enough for it to appear to have shrunk!

  For such a gigantic zither to seem like the size of a normal one, there must be at least countless miles between the zither and himself!

  This palace in the imperial tomb wasn’t as simple as it first appeared — it was huge and incredibly spacious!

  Zhong Yue mustered all of his arcane energy and with a burst of strength, he dashed forward. In the Ancestral Star, this would take him over a dozen miles, but in this palace, he found himself standing on the same ground. The distance between himself and the golden pillars and also the ancient zither was still the same, as if he never moved at all.

  I see…, Zhong Yue thought.

  The ancient zither chortled and asked, “Bad little flame, you are the fire of a universe’s soul, but the time passed long enough for even a whole universe to burn out. Your lamp oil is seeing depletion already, am I right? Since you found an inheritor, why don’t you stay in his soul and extend your time?” />
  Xin Huo couldn’t catch up to her. He was panting for breath as he shouted back angrily at her, “None of your business! I brought him here today all for your dying Fuxi Clan. You Fuxi Clan members doesn’t not much left anymore, only one and a half. He is the half. So, are you going to help us or not?”

  The ancient zither chuckled back, “I will surely help the Fuxi Clan, but not you! Young man, if you are the Xin Huo inheritor, then I will not be helping you.”

  Zhong Yue reclaimed his thoughts. He ignored the two arguing ancient figures who were currently acting like children and bowed, “I am here in the hope that I can visit the Earthly Sovereign Hao Yu, I hope that he can answer some of my doubts.”

  “You are here for the Earthly Sovereign Haoyi’s atman?" The ancient zither stopped. A little girl with two ponytails suddenly appeared to be sitting on the zither strings. She was swinging her short legs in the air as she said, “You want to see the Earthly Sovereign’s spirit? Sure, why not? But where are your offerings? You need to offer something for the Earthly Sovereign’s spirit first before his spirit can descend from the Void World.”

  Zhong Yue was stunned, he shook his head, “I don’t have any…”

  “With my reputation, do we still need something like offerings?" Xin Huo argued, “Little Sister Zither, you know me. I have come here personally and yet, you are asking for offerings?”

  The little girl’s cute face pouted as she refuted, “If you have no offerings, then there is no reason for the Earthly Sovereign to burn his spirit to descend from the Void World to meet with a descendant. There aren’t any worshippers of the Fuxi Clan anymore. If the Earthly Sovereign burned his own spirit, that will inflict irreversible damage to his atman, making his life even shorter in the Void World! Bad little flame, if you want to reap something while putting nothing in, then you better get lost! Without the offerings, you can all turn and leave now!”

  Xin Huo was going to continue talking back but Zhong Yue abruptly said, “Sister Zither, I am a Fuxi as well, can I humbly ask a favor from you? Please just pass the words to the Earthly Sovereign Haoyi, I have questions about my cultivation path and I want to know... how can one cultivate the Fuxi True Spirit without the Fuxi spirit?”

  Left with no other choice, Xin Huo quickly added after Zhong Yue, “Also, tell him that I want to a look at his mortal body and his Yuan Shen. It’d be better if he can split out part of his spirit and give it to Brat Yue!”

  “I will pass along your message." The little girl nodded at Zhong Yue, she then gave a cold humph and continued, “But this little flame’s words will never reach the Earthly Sovereign!”

  Xin Huo was let down, he felt deeply aggrieved.

  The zither voice continued to lightly echo throughout the palace hall before fading into the void. Moments later, to Zhong Yue’s shock, the imperial tomb started quaking violently.

  Billowing golden rays were emanating deep from within the palace and an imperial coffin rose up into the sky.

  The imperial coffin looked close to him but was actually countless miles far away.

  The imperial coffin slowly opened, and in it lay a Fuxi Heavenly Monarch. Then, a deep and powerful voice trembled the whole imperial tomb, saying, “Young child, you want the Fuxi’s spirit, or you want your question answered?”

  The little girl sitting on the zither hopped up into the air, her eyes were wide opened and she mumbled in disbelief, “The Earthly Sovereign’s atman really descend from the Void World? He is burning his spirit to descend just to see a mere half Fuxi…?”

  Zhong Yue bowed down, he said, “Senior, I…”

  All of a sudden, Xin Huo interrupted and said, “The Fuxi’s spirit! He is the Heavenly Monarch and even a tiny morsel of his spirit is stronger than you cultivating for thousands of years! It’s not much use for you to visualize and study his mortal body!”

  “I…" Zhong Yue hesitated. Suddenly, he gritted his teeth and raised his head up in unwavering determination, he said, “Senior, I ask for the answer to my question!”

  Chapter 547: “Yi' |

  Xin Huo fell on his shoulder and said in a solemn tone, “Get your head right, young man! It’s the spirit of a Heavenly Monarch, you’ll need at least a thousand years of to acquire the spirit of a Heavenly Monarch! And even that is a slim possibility!”

  Zhong Yue shook his head, “Xin Huo, I’m very clear on my path. This is the path I decided to walk on, not the path people granted it to me. I chose it myself and I will see it to the end. But my intelligent is limited, I need the Heavenly Monarch to give me some advice!”

  Xin Huo sighed, he stopped persuading Zhong Yue.

  “The Fuxi, our most common name always consist of the word, ‘Yi’, do you know why, my young descendant?" Haoyi asked, his voice trembled with ancient power.

  “Yi?”

  Zhong Yue startled, he bowed and answered, “The word ‘Yi’ is composed of a sun on the top and a moon below.”

  Haoyi Fuxi said, “Yi, the sun as its head and the moon as its body.”

  “Human head and snake body?" Zhong Yue was dawned, the word ‘sun’ resembled a head and the word ‘moon’ resembled the body of a snake. ‘Yi’ was in fact, a representation of the Fuxi form!

  This was part of the reason why all the renowned Fuxi had ‘Yi’ in their names.

  “Young child, do you know how to write ‘Yi’?" Haoyi Fuxi continued asking.

  Zhong Yue was puzzled, Haoyi Fuxi just told him what ‘Yi’ was and he explained to the Earthly Sovereign as well. Why was the Earthly Sovereign asking him how to write the word ‘Yi’ now?

  Haoyi Fuxi’s voice said right after he asked, “The word ‘Yi’ resembles the Fuxi, can you write a Fuxi?”

  Zhong Yue was bewildered, he shook his head. The word ‘Yi’ resembles the Fuxi, but how could one write out a Fuxi?

  He was asked to decode a simple word and yet, all of a sudden, his wide and deep knowledge in the world suddenly seemed so trivial.

  Haoyi Fuxi continued, “Then, I shall teach you how to write, a proper ‘Yi’ word.”

  As he finished saying, ‘Yi’ character shone brightly in front of Zhong Yue. It was solemn, grand and filled with an ancient aura. It looked like a bright sun with all the other stars and planets centered around it, it looked like a snake, a dragon that soared and waltzed high up to the heavens.

  The word didn’t look like a word anymore, it felt as if it were alive. Chants reverberated through the palace, as if there were Fuxi chanting about the abstrusities in the Dao, as if there were livings worshipping the word.

  Then, ‘Yi’ suddenly flashed into Zhong Yue’s forehead and disappeared.

  And the palace regained its usual atmosphere.

  “I had the spirit of Fuxi when I was alive, but you don’t." Haoyi Fuxi said, “This is all I can do for you, young child. You want to turn your soul into the True Spirit, this is a path that has hitherto never been walked. Measure your capabilities when trudging down this path that may lead you to an unknown end.”

  A bright ray flew out from the Fuxi Heavenly Monarch’s corpse and reentered the Void World. The Heavenly Monarch’s mortal body then sank into the coffin, and the coffin returned back to its place deep within the imperial tomb.

  The golden rays faded like the ebbing tide as it gradually disappeared.

  “That’s it?" Xin Huo was in disbelief, he was huffing unwillingly as he said, “Monarch Haoyi, how stingy! There is only one and a half Fuxi left in this world and Brat Yue is the half, if you don’t teach him a little more, at least give him something, any treasures in this imperial tomb. If not, give him the little girl Haoyi Zither!”

  “How dare you call the Earthly Sovereign stingy, he even burnt his spirit essence just to see your half Fuxi!" The little girl on the Haoyi Zither was unpleased, she flared her eyes at Xin Huo, “Furthermore, why should I be given to him? Little flame, bad flame, you and I already have so many unsettled matters but you still continue to irk me. You still haven’t taken respon
sibility for robbing my without asking all those times! The imperial tomb does not welcome you, you may leave now!”

  Xin Huo laughed, “Monarch Haoyi is so stingy, are you as stingy as well? Little Sister Zither, you must have many treasures inside your imperial tomb, there is no use for you to keep them in the corner collecting dust. Why don’t you give me a piece or two? Even if you don’t want to give it to Brat Yue, you can give it to me.”

  The little girl smirked frigidly and the zither sound rammed through the space barrier. Zhong Yue and Xin Huo were pushed into the space rift and were sent out from the imperial tomb.

  In the blink of an eye, Zhong Yue was already back in Yu Wenju’s Yuan Shen secret realm, still standing in front of the scale mirror. If it weren’t for the fact that he knew it was all real, he might’ve mistaken it all for a dream.

  “Brat Yue, you should have really chosen the Fuxi spirit." Xin Huo sighed and lamented. He rolled his eyes and said with a nefarious grin, “We just saw Monarch Haoyi, he gave you too little help. Why don’t we proceed to the other Fuxi Heavenly Monarchs? Other than Haoyi Monarch, there is still the first Fuxi Heavenly Monarch, Monarch Yiyi, then Monarch Shiyi, Monarch Taihao … Someone among them must be generous enough!”

  Zhong Yue shook his head and smiled in spite of himself, he told Xin Huo, “There is no need for that Xin Huo. Haoyi Fuxi already explained and cleared my doubts. There is no need to disturb my ancestors’ peace.”

  “He cleared your doubts? When did that happen?" Xin Huo asked puzzlingly, “The answer is that ‘Yi’ word? Give me some time and I can write a few thousand ‘Yi’ characters for you.”

  Zhong Yue shook his head and ignored the noisy little flame. He looked into his psyche ocean and saw the golden shining ‘Yi’ word hovering in the air. It was like a sun like a moon, … a worldly representation of Fuxi.

  Monarch Haoyi did not write ‘Yi’, he wrote Fuxi.