Rise of Humanity

by <unknown>

  It was because of this that they were universally feared and despised by all races. After all, even the celestial race and demon race only ate the humans, not their own people.

  Although they all knew that the insect race was not being completely honest, they still went along with it. After all, the insect race conveyed a very clear message, the twelve gods on their side and the Ancestral Star races didn’t want a peaceful settlement, they would not hesitate to wage war and cause major havoc before they were killed.

  “Since the insect race voiced their goodwill and is willing to resolve the disputes, we will not act viciously for a war either." The Ancestral Star gods discussed among themselves and agreed. They told the insect gods, “Good. The peace talk will be held in South Barren’s Heavenly Saint Palace.”

  A few days later, the twelve insect gods descended on the South Barren’s Heavenly Saint Palace and so did the eight Ancestral Star gods of the many races. At this point in time, the Heavenly Saint Palace was the center of attention for the whole Ancestral Star, everyone had their eyes and ears fixated on it.

  As the ruler of the South Barren, the Zhong Li Celestial Race was faced with a great deal of stress. Envoys from the races were in constant communication with their homelands, and the Great Wilderness’ human race was no exception.

  The arrival of the insect race was already a huge surprise to the Ancestral Star, and their intention for an truce came as an even greater shock to the many races, but the Ancestral Star gods that had actually agreed to a settlement were trembling!

  There weren't many gods on the Ancestral Star, thirteen went to the insect race and only one survived, in addition to the seven gods that were in the Ancestral Star guarding over the Ancient Frozen Capital, only eight gods were alive now.

  Clearly, even these eight gods didn’t want to wage war against the twelve insect race gods. They would prefer a peaceful settlement over a war that neither side would win.

  Soon after, news came from the Heavenly Saint Palace. The mother gods asked for a piece of land for the insect race to live in.

  This caused a clamor within the Ancestral Star races but it wasn’t shocking at all. After all, it was already expected for the insect race to demand a piece of land of their own.

  Then, a day later, the eight gods agreed after rounds and rounds of negotiation with the insect race. The Great Wilderness, South Barren, East Barren and West Barren would each take out a piece of land to hand out to the insect race.

  Another two days passed before the insect race voiced their last demand, the Ancestral Star was requested to hand over the insect race’s greatest nemesis — Zhong Yue of the Great Wilderness’ Swords Gate!

  A mother god raised her voice in anger, “Zhong Yue crushed the insect planet, annihilated the insect race, plundered our divine weapons, and caused the death of over twenty insect gods. He is the sole reason why we were forced to seek refuge on the Ancestral Star. So long as he is alive, we will not be able to make peace with our situation!”

  The news trembled the world, various emotions engulfed the Ancestral Star livings; some were shocked, some were in anger but the more common reactions was joy and happiness.

  Zhong Yue really destroyed the insect planet’s insect race. He forced the insect gods to the position where they were at now. He had rendered merits that far exceeded any of the gods’!

  After all, if the insect planet and insect race weren’t eradicated, it would ultimately be the Ancestral Star that would be crushed!

  No one would be able to stop the endless swarms of insect experts and numerous insect gods if they weren’t killed.

  With Zhong Yue destroying the insect planet and wiping away the insect race, he had saved the lives of the whole Ancestral Star!

  “Don’t worry, Zhong Yue has done a great service to the many races of the Ancestral Star, the eight gods will not hand him out." This was the sentiment that was echoed across most of the Ancestral Star.

  In the Heavenly Saint Palace, a mother god said, “Peace will not be possible unless he is not handed over to us!

  “We come in peace, we desire peace as much as you do. Is the life of a single human equal to the value of the peace we all seek? Although the insect race are pacifists, it doesn’t mean that we are afraid of war!”

  Soon enough, there were Qi Practitioners who said, “Zhong Yue has to face with the consequences of his own actions, I ask all of my fellow Ancestral Star livings, is he not a worthy price for peace? Can he be compared to the weight of millions, if not trillions of lives? Are we to bear the ramification of his actions?”

  “Hand Zhong Yue over!”

  “Hand him over and we will have peace forever, why shouldn’t we?”

  “The humans are petty slaves in the first place to begin with, the whole race can be sacrificed for our peace, let alone a single one of them. This is a deal more than worthy, this is an act of justice!”

  “Zhong Yue has caused many troubles to us, more than what Feng Xiaozhong brought to us. He should be taken down!”

  Within the loud uproar, there were some Qi Practitioners that fought back, “But Zhong Yue destroyed the insect planet, causing the deaths of the insect gods and saving the lives of many. He saved us and the Ancestral Star! How can we sell him out?”

  But such opinions were drowned within the sea of discord that called for Zhong Yue to be given up to the insect race.

  In the Heavenly Saint Palace, the Zhu Jian god, Zhu Jiumu stood up for Zhong Yue, “Senior martial brothers, Zhong Yue has rendered great deeds to the Ancestral Star…”

  But the gods interrupted before he could continue, “Senior Martial Brother Jiumu, if Zhong Yue is not handed out, is the Ancestral Star meant to shed our blood and sacrifice our lives? Senior Martial Brother Jiumu, do not take peace for granted!”

  Then soon after, the Heavenly Saint Palace released the latest news. The eight gods reached to a final agreement with the insect race. The insect race would be given a piece of land to live in, and Zhong Yue would be handed over. After this, the insect race cannot raise any form of war nor do they have any right to their lost insect divine weapons.

  In the end, the eight gods signed a treaty with the insect gods and the settlement was ratified.

  The world cheered for the eight gods as the Ancestral Star celebrated their newfound peace.

  Except for one race.

  …

  Few days later, seven gods descended down on Swords Gate, Zhu Jiumu did not come as he felt regret for failing to protect the young human.

  The lead of the seven gods was the female god from the West Barren Bi Fang Celestial Race. She stared at the Great Wilderness emotionlessly even after the whole of Swords Gate was up in arms against them.

  The gods were stopped outside of Swords Gate as the many human disciples cast the divine weapons up in mid-air.

  Unlike the other parts of the world, Swords Gate was the only place that did not rejoice in this peace. They were all mired in anger, sadness, and disappointment toward the gods. Their hearts burned with fire as they swore to defend Zhong Yue even if that meant going against the gods!

  But this time, the seven gods brought along their races’ saint weapons with them. The gods had come prepared; only the Bai Zhe Clan didn’t brought any of the weapons with them.

  “An impregnable stronghold formed from a unity of will?”

  The Bi Fang goddess looked over at the Swords Gate Mountain and found the auras of the human experts in the whole Swords Gate combining into an unbreakable wall. She laughed, “Is Swords Gate ready to fight against us and die together for just one man? Zhong Yue, hand yourself over to us. You shall face the consequences for your reckless actions, or do you plan on letting your people die alongside you?”

  “Consequences?" A loud laughter descended upon them from atop Swords Gate Mountain. Zhong Yue stood on the golden summit and answered, “Hahaha, it’s really a shame that we humans have to share the same planet as you. What’s even more ridiculous is th
at we are still regarded as your food! So you can mark my words now. If I live through this, I will make you all food to us humans when I return!”

  Chapter 551: The Good Die Early and the Scourge Live For A Millennium |

  Outside of the Swords Gate Mountain, the seven gods were simmering with anger. It seemed to them that the human race wasn’t resigned to being food. The disobedience of their livestock was already an intolerable slight on the many races’ pride.

  And now, a mere human, who wasn’t even a god, publicly mocked them. This was way too absurd, how outrageously dumb were the humans!

  “Zhong Yue, I still intended to be a little lenient on you. But your words have just erased any goodwill I intended to show you and your race." Xia Que, the Martial Divine Master of the South Barren said, “The eight of us were still helping you humans during the peace talk, that’s how your insect divine weapons were able to remain in Swords Gate. But it seems like we made a wrong choice, I can’t help but wonder if you humans can really protect these insect divine weapons. To prevent the insect divine weapons falling back in the hands of the insect race again, I now suggest you to also hand them over to us for safe keeping.”

  The whole Swords Gate was in a clamor, these insect divine weapons were brought back with Zhong Yue’s blood, sweat, and tears. He had killed many and escaped death numerous times just for these insect divine weapons!

  Yet, after the gods sold him out, they were now even trying to snatch away Zhong Yue’s hard work!

  “Acting headmaster! I’d rather die than to see that happen! Let us fight against them!" Elder Lei Shan hollered in a deep voice as he tried as much as possible to press down his anger.

  But Zhong Yue did not respond to his call.

  The demon god of the Asura Saint Clan flicked his finger in the blank air and the protective array formation around Swords Gate formed by the Four Symbol Banners shuddered violently. He then said, “Zhong Yue, walk out on your own. Don’t entertain any extravagant hopes that the human race can protect you. Either you walk out on yourself and follow us willingly, or… they can die first before we take you away. Your choice.”

  “Give me some time." Zhong Yue saw the Four Symbol Banners array formation shuddering, his heart throbbed as he responded.

  The gods were too strong, even when the Swords Gate Mountain was protected by the array formations and human experts, it was still too fragile against these gods. The Four Banners array formation was already the strongest defensive treasure they had Swords Gate, and yet, a single flick of a finger from the demon god was strong enough to cause it to shudder violently.

  Today, Zhong Yue witnessed the true disparity between Swords Gate and the gods.

  “Elder Zhong, are you really…" Shui Zian gritted his teeth as he said, “We will fight to the end, even if that means death!”

  Zhong Yue shook his head, “To ask all of the Great Wilderness humans and Swords Gate disciples to die with me? I am not an emperor, and even if I was one, I still wouldn’t ask that of my subjects. Grand elder, I left the teleportation array formation on the moon, it links directly to Swords Gate golden summit. Pass the word to Headmaster Jun and Senior Martial Brother Fang to come back quickly.”

  Shui Zian’s heart shuddered; he knew that Zhong Yue had finally made his decision. He mumbled softly, “We are little Xuan Yuan’s divine sword, we might not lose if we fight!”

  “No, we will." Zhong Yue shook his head again, “They brought their saint weapons precisely for that divine sword. So long as the saint weapons are able to stall the divine sword for a few moments, Swords Gate will suffer gravely in the hands of the gods. We have no chance of winning at all.

  “Grand elder, I left a Yuan Shen secret realm on the golden summit. In it, there is a mirror, a treasure I left behind for Swords Gate. With the mirror, Swords Gate will be able to nurture a few gods within a hundred years of time.”

  Zhong Yue’s voice turned low and soft, “Senior Martial Brother Gu Hongzi, little Xuan Yuan, Headmaster Jun, Junior Martial Sister Jin’er, Senior Martial Brother Fang Jiange, Jie, Wang Hai, Li Mu and the others have the potential to ascend to a deity. Even though your potential is mostly used up, the mirror can help you in fixing the flaws you have accrued in the past, granting you a slight chance to ascend. Humanity has finally begun its rise. I cannot be the one to ruin that!”

  Shui Zian was silent. Swords Gate didn’t have a god with them. Without the gods, they would have to endure whatever trouble that came their way.

  If there was a human god protecting Swords Gate, this wouldn’t have happened at all!

  Zhong Yue continued, “Humans are not idiots, our talent is no lesser than the other races’. All we are lacking is time. If I never return from this, tell Headmaster Jun to regather the forces as much as possible, go into defensive and lay low until the time is right. A hundred years at most, little Xuan Yuan will surely be able to become a deity. Within a hundred years, you can resume your rise and also avenge me!”

  Shui Zian nodded softly, he forced a wry smile out on his face, “And if you make it back?”

  A loud laughter came from the young man he said in pride, “Then I will avenge myself! Ten years or at the most twenty years, the Ancestral Star will be awashed with divine blood!”

  The young man strode out laughing, “Grand elder, elders and my fellow Swords Gate disciples, don’t worry. The good die early and the scourge live for a millennium, wasn’t I called the Disaster Zhong? You never know, I might just be able to make it back alive!”

  His voice was low yet powerful, filled with confidence. He strode out from Swords Gate Mountain and waved farewell to his people. At that instant, the whole Great Wilderness was dead silence; not a single person made a sound.

  Zhong Yue suddenly gave a bright smile, he walked to the side of the gods and shouted abruptly, “Zhu Jiumu, Senior Jiumu! Do you still remember that you promised me that you will fulfill a request for me?”

  The Zhu Jian god, Zhu Jiumu didn’t appear with the other seven gods because he felt sorry for not being able to help. But even so, he was still here, just not showing himself.

  As soon as Zhong Yue spoke, Zhu Jiumu’s voice trembled the sky, he said, “Little Friend Zhong, say your request, I will do my best in fulfilling it!”

  Zhong Yue shouted back loudly, “I want Senior Jiumu to protect the divine weapons of Swords Gate, no one else shall have them other than Swords Gate!”

  Zhu Jiumu was silent for a few seconds, then he said, “Zhong Yue destroyed the insect planet and annihilated the insect race, he stopped the invasion of the insect race and has rendered great merits to the Ancestral Star. These divine weapons will remain his and his alone. I hereby swear that I will protect the divine weapons and ensure that they remain with his people.”

  Those words weren’t meant for Zhong Yue, but for the other seven gods.

  With Zhu Jiumu publicly announcing his stance, Zhong Yue’s heart was reassured as he walked to the seven gods. He smiled and said, “I am ready.”

  The seven gods exchanged a look, the Bi Fang goddess then laughed and said, “Little brat, it’s a real surprise you can get in touch with Senior Martial Brother Jiumu and actually ask him to protect Swords Gate for you. How incredible, but what a pity that you are still going to die….”

  Zhong Yue smiled and answered, “The good die early and the scourge live for a millennium… Oh, Bi Fang goddess, don’t misunderstand my words, I’m not talking about you.”

  Bi Fang goddess’s face changed for a second as he spoke, but was relieved right after when she heard that he wasn’t referring to her. Then, she forced a smile onto her face.

  “I am saying that all of you here," Zhong Yue smiled as he continued, “…are scourges.”

  “You!”

  The seven gods were all piqued in anger. Suddenly, Bi Fang goddess rolled her eyes and smiled, “Who are we, gods. There is no need for us to be angered from the words of a dead man. Let him be, the insect gods want him and it’s no goo
d if we deliver a dead man to our new friends.”

  The other six gods nodded and agreed, “True, it’s not good to make him a dead man now. Let’s go, to the insect race.”

  “I wonder how the insect gods will treat him.”

  ……

  ……

  Soon after, the seven gods brought him to the territory of the insect race. It was quite a good place to be honest, it was over a hundred thousand miles in length and width, filled with forests and tall woods.

  The twelve insect race gods built five temples within the woods, one each for the five mother gods. In the hierarchy of the insect race gods, the insect gods were placed on a lower status than the mother gods, they weren’t allowed a temple of their own and could only act as the mother gods’ guardians and mating partners.

  Xia Que, Bi Fang goddess, and the other Ancestral Star gods arrived at the Da Zhen Temple. The statue in front of the temple was of an insect, the wall arts and engravings were also filled with the images of bizarre insects.

  There, in the temple, Mother Da Zhen led the other insect gods and mother gods to wait for their parcel to be delivered. The Ancestral Star gods and the insect race gods greeted one another and sat down.

  They were all shrouded in godly rays, exuding solemn and saintly airs.

  Even the insect race gods now appeared just as saintly as the Ancestral Star gods, there weren’t any nefarious or wicked auras around them.

  Zhong Yue was left to stand in the middle of the temple where he was centered between the insect race gods and Ancestral Star gods. The gods were looking tall and mighty, all being a hundred thousand feet tall in height.

  “Mother Da Zhen, what will you do to the Zhong Yue?" the demon god from the Asura Saint Clan asked.