Rise of Humanity

by <unknown>

Zhong Yue had now turned into a middle-aged man, his face was repleted with the vicisstudes of life as he looked up at the mirror in the center of the Six Paths Reincarnation. The mirror was the core of the Heaven Origin Reincarnation Mirror, forged by Heavenly Monarch Tian Yuan himself.

  In it, there was only one flaw—a surge of innate Qi that was incompatible with the other innate Qi.

  That left him with only one way to leave, that is to break that surge of innate Qi!

  However, if I wield the saber against the innate Qi, the reaction force from the impact will kill me on the spot as even though this innate Qi is not on the Heavenly Monarch level, it’s no much inferior to that too.

  Zhong Yue examed the innate Qi through its reflection in the saber ray and found that admist the innate totem patterns in the innate Qi, one of them was cleaved apart by what was possibly a saber.

  It’s me from the past life that did it. The innate totem pattern was severed but I was also killed immediately after. What a shame, I can’t fully pass down all of my knowledge and findings to myself in the next life.

  Zhong Yue exhaled deeply, he wrote down the attainments he had on the ground. That way, when the future him arrived, he would be able to understand them quicker and find the flaw in the mirror faster.

  However, even so, the attainments were still incredibly abstruse, it would still take a long time for his future self to comprehend them.

  If only I can pass all my memories to the next life, I won’t have to go through all these hassles one life after another anymore. What a pity I am not strong enough to do that…

  After Zhong Yue finished writing his attainments on the ground, he pulled out the innate divine saber formed with the Heavenly Monarch’s sword hilt, surged all of his arcane energy into it and brought it down heavily on the Heaven Origin Reincarnation Mirror!

  “I WILL LEAVE FOR SURE!”

  He roared at the top of his lungs as the saber ray blinded the palace, and the tremendous explosion from the impact ravaged the whole palace. He was vaporized in an instant and along with it, one of the many totem patterns was also cleaved apart!

  Not a single bit of Zhong Yue’s mortal body was left behind, while his soul and spirit was sucked away by the Six Paths Reincarnation on the palace center and into the Heaven Origin Reincarnation Mirror.

  The Six Paths Reincarnation revolved rapidly, its power unleashed and a bright ray shot out from the mirror, disappearing at the end of the maze.

  When the light dispersed, Zhong Yue was seen standing on the ground with a deeply puzzled face. He took out the Heavenly Monarch’s sword hilt and examined it carefully.

  “So I still have so many flaws.” Zhong Yue looked at his reflection in the saber ray and mumbled.

  He then shone the saber ray at the totem patterns on the walls and exclaimed in shock, “How is this even possible? They are in their simplest form already and I still can’t glean anything out of them? What level are they possibly in? Xin Huo, do you know anything about these totem patterns?”

  …

  He was walking down the corridor, discovering himself trapped inside of a maze, and saw the warnings he has left on the sides of the walls.

  “Wrong, only death stands ahead.”

  “These words… they look familiar. Maybe they are from someone from the 3,000 Six Paths World grand competition who has also fallen into the mirror.”

  …

  Half a year later, he has reached the end of the maze and saw the grand palace.

  “No, this isn’t right. This is the galactic art of 6,000 years ago, they are different to the one on the ceiling, something is slightly off between the two… Wait, the totem patterns, I…”

  “My own totem patterns? I was the one who drew the galactic art? When did I draw it? When was I here?”

  “It’s this Six Paths Reincarnation, reviving me after every death and thrown me back to the same spot one time after another…”

  …

  “I WILL LEAVE FOR SURE!”

  …

  3,000 years later, Zhong Yue was revived again, walking down the same path.

  “Wrong, only death stands ahead.”

  “These words… they look familiar. Maybe they are from someone from the 3,000 Six Paths World grand competition who has also fallen into the mirror.”

  “No, this isn’t right. This is the galactic art of 9,000 years ago, they are different to the one on the ceiling, something is off between the two… Wait, the totem patterns, I…”

  “… This is the galactic art of 120 thousand years ago, they are different to the one on the ceiling, the differences are huge between the two…”

  “… This is the galactic art of three million years ago, they are completely different to the one on the ceiling, if it wasn’t for the divinatory calculation technique, it’s impossible to know they are of the same universe.”

  “… This is the galactic art of a hundred million years ago, someone is here a hundred million years ago? Is that even possible? Even Heavenly Monarch Tian Yuan was just a presence of only tens of thousand years ago.”

  “… This is the galactic art of two billion years ago, why is there such an ancient galactic art here?”

  “… This is the galactic art of 5.6 billion years ago? So terrifying, what kind of existence was it that lived five thousand six hundred million years ago?”

  …

  “It has been 30 billion years ago, 30 billion years…”

  The Six Paths Reincarnation was revolving in the center of the palace, the mirror in the middle shone brightly on the man standing below it; the expressions on his face were mixed. 30 billion years of reincarnating one time after another, experiencing the same thing over and over again.

  He was like an ant who knows no pain nor enervation, repeating the same actions, same words, same paths.

  Just how many times had he died during these 30 billion years of time?

  I am not smart, I might even be the dumbest ever.

  Zhong Yue scoffed and laughed at himself. It was true, sometimes he was really dumb and impulsive, such as the battle with Bo Di. What did it matter to act the weakling and take a loss by Bo Di? Yet, he didn’t even step down and won twice. He had offended Realm Monarch Bo Di’s, causing him to end up here in the end.

  In terms of intelligence, I am not even a march for Senior Martial Brother Feng Xiaozhong, he is way smarter than I am.

  In terms of temperament, I am not as poised and calm as Si Ming, she can disregard the lives of humans in the Ancestral Star just so she can awaken the Fuxi Heavenly Monarchs resting in the planet.

  In terms of strategy, I can’t even compare to that evil presence.

  In terms of potential, I am mostly just an ordinary man, if it weren’t for Xin Huo, I’d be long dead already.

  I am not as sociable and friendly as Elder Shui Zian; not as composed and cunning as the old headmaster; not as domineering and commanding as Senior Martial Jun Sixie; not as focused as Senior Martial Brother Fang Jiange. I only have one strong point…

  My will exceeds all of them. My mind and will are unbreakable, indiminishable!

  I can bear with loneliness, no matter how long it is!

  Even 30 billion years of time, I will still remain as myself!

  This heart of mine, the will I bear, they remain unchanged!

  He raised the innate divine saber up high as he laughed. Along with the anguish from the struggles and torments of 30 billion years, he cleaved down on the Heaven Origin Reincarnation Mirror!

  The mirror, a creation of a Heavenly Monarch, quivered lightly under his saber ray, and a small sound of cracking could be heard from it.

  Kacha—

  A crack appeared on the mirror and grew larger over time, like an ant climbing on the mirror surface.

  Zhong Yue’s eyes turned watery and tears rolled down his cheek.

  Pa-ta—

  Droplets of tear slammed on the floor and resounded the palace.

  The Heaven Origin Reincar
nation Mirror then shuddered vigorously and the mirror’s core cleaved into two halves by Zhong Yue’s saber!

  Krong—

  The hall crumbled, the rocks fell, and the pillars shattered. The astronomical bodies in the galactic art above him came crashing down as if they were going to hit on the ground.

  Behind the palace, the maze was also quaking and crumbling. Only Zhong Yue stood steadfast, watching as the space rift opened before him, in between the broken mirror and the destroyed Six Paths Reincarnation.

  A path had finally emerged before him, it was the path to salvation!

  Zhong Yue kept the innate divine saber back into the light wheels behind his head. He turned around, looked at the crumbling maze and abruptly bowed.

  “Salute, to the unyielding me of these 30 billion years!”

  Then, he turned and left, leaving a devastated ruin behind.

  As he stepped out of the palace and back into the real world, the young man raised his saber and pointed it at the sky.

  “One day, I will tear this sky apart and replace it with a new order!”

  He shouted loudly, releasing his inner emotions of these 30 billion years!

  “Xin Huo—”

  His voice shuddered the sky, resounding all over the place.

  Suddenly, a little flame bolted over at a tremendous speed from the far end of his vision, he laughed, “Brat Yue, so this is where you were! What’s with all the shouting?”

  Zhong Yue surged the arcane energy down his feet and flashed toward the little flame while Xin Huo laughed, “There’s a mirror spirit in this mirror, she noticed me and wanted to digest me. But who am I, the great Xin Huo? I sat there for 3 years without even lifting up a single finger and watched her trying to digest me. But just seconds ago, she suddenly shattered and died. What a sad child… Wait, wait, what are you doing?”

  Zhong Yue lunged over, his mortal body shrunk to the same size as the little flame and gave Xin Huo a tight hug while hopping around.

  Xin Huo was shocked, he shouted, “Let go, let me go! It’s just 3 years, and that’s how much you’ve missed me? Let go of me, now!”

  Zhong Yue only let Xin Huo go he has released his excitements. His mortal body returned back to the normal size while Xin Huo sat on his shoulder laughing, “Aren’t you a little overreacting? Learn from me, I was not even terrified when she tried to convert me into her powers and watched as her efforts laid in vain… Brat Yue, this mirror is a good one, it should be a treasure forged by a Heavenly Monarch, but there’s a flaw in it. Go that way, I think them mirror’s core is there… Oh, damn it!”

  The little flame hovered up above the ruins, filled with anger he shouted, “Damn it! Who cleaved the mirror apart! Don’t let me find you, or I will kill you for sure!”

  “Xin Huo, it’s me…” Zhong Yue answered awkwardly.

  But, Xin Huo only glanced over him and replied, “Quit joking. Which idiot did this, show yourself and face me!”

  Chapter 755: We're Rich! |

  The little flame was incensed; the Heaven Origin Reincarnation Mirror’s core had been shattered and the mirror and Heavenly Monarch Tian Yuan’s Six Path Reincarnation were sliced apart. Such power was not something Zhong Yue was capable of.

  The cause of the mirror spirit’s sudden death was certainly because of the shattered core.

  With the core shattered, the mirror’s power deteriorated and along with the mirror spirit’s death, the mirror’s power deteriorated even further until it even descended into an Imperial Emperor level divine weapon from the grades of imperial weapons.

  “Xin Huo, I’m that fool you’re talking about,” said Zhong Yue out of nowhere before he explained what happened to Xin Huo.

  The little flame was caught off guard by Zhong Yue and he stared at Zhong Yue with a very shocked expression. Zhong Yue scratched his head and asked, “What?”

  Xin Huo recollected his thoughts, shook and said, “30 billion years… That is way too long. Even I would have been extinguished by then, but you managed to overcome it.”

  He was dumbfounded; when he went into slumber for 730,000 years, he woke up to a whole new world, yet Zhong Yue lived by himself within the mirror for 30 billion years.

  30 billion years of solitude, just how did he get through this?

  Zhong Yue smiled and replied, “I lived at most 3,000 years in each life in there. In some cases, I only managed to survive a hundred years long before I got killed again. In each of those lives, I would write down the experiences and knowledge I’ve acquired onto the walls and floors, thus, I spent less time in every life after that. However, in each life, I managed to learn new things, which were all written onto the walls and floors, hence, that place became filled with my scribbles. There are even totem pattern recordings in the air.”

  It was impossible for Xin Huo to shed tears, but after hearing Zhong Yue’s story, he was on the verge of crying.

  The longest was 3,000 years old and the shortest was 100 years old, just how many times was Zhong Yue reborn throughout these years? How many times had he stood before the Heaven Origin Reincarnation Mirror’s core and Heavenly Monarch Tian Yuan’s Reincarnation alone to study them.

  Just by briefly thinking about the loneliness Zhong Yue had suffered, Xin Huo couldn’t help but shiver.

  The most terrifying thing in the world was to experience the same thing over and over again in an endless cycle with no certainty of escape.

  And that was Zhong Yue’s reality for 30 billion years. Fortunately, he managed to identify the flaws within the mirror and capitalized on them to work towards his escape. Like water drops endlessly striking a rock, Zhong Yue shattered the Imperial Emperor’s Innate Dao totem patterns and pierced the mirror’s core.

  Thus, not only did he save himself, but he also saved Xin Huo.

  “Brat Yue, you truly are the most stubborn person I’ve met,” said Xin Huo.

  Zhong Yue was left speechless by Xin Huo’s words and as he took out the Innate Divine Saber formed by the Heavenly Monarch’s scepter, he said, “Take a look at this. I used this saber to slice the mirror apart but what is strange was that the Innate Qi coming from the saber tip was not my own Qi. I have no idea where this Qi came from.”

  Innate Qi was also a form of energy and Zhong Yue was sure that he had never cultivated this Qi.

  At this time, the Innate Qi was still extremely powerful and it was far stronger than all of the Innate Qi he had cultivated!

  Xin Huo examined the innate divine saber and he said, “Within this Innate Qi is contained the Fuxi Celestial Race’s draconic scale secret that could reflect everything. With your current level, it is impossible for you to cultivate such Innate Qi, not to mention you have yet to awaken your innate dragon scales. This is what we call Dao Qi, a type of Qi on a completely different level to other types of Qi. When Goddess Hou Tu shed her previous innate body, vaporized her innate celestial blood and condensed her Pure Dao Body, the Qi within her is similar to the one in your hands now.”

  Zhong Yue had a shock and he shouted, “How is this possible for me?”

  “Of course it is not possible for you. This Innate Dao Qi is probably the remnant Qi that was residing in the Heavenly Monarch’s scepter. My guess is that this scepter once gave birth to its own spiritual consciousness and it chose you as its master to use your body and your cultivation to repair itself. As for how did this Innate Dao Qi suddenly became so strong….”

  Xin Huo thought and said, “Ever since the Six Paths by Fuxi and Reincarnation by Hou Tu, the only one who could cultivate the same Innate Dao Qi as Goddess Hou Tu was the last Fuxi Heavenly Monarch. Perhaps when you passed by the Imperial Road, the Fuxi Heavenly Monarch’s unbending will detected the danger upon you, which prompted it to channel the remaining Innate Dao Qi to you? Or was it that this scepter knew that you were in danger, thus, it absorbed the Innate Dao Qi on its own?”

  A clueless Zhong Yue then asked, “Xin Huo, can the core be fixed after being split in half?”
<
br />   “It’s not that easy,” said Xin Huo, “Maybe having countless living beings worshipping the mirror, it would repair itself after a million years and give birth to a new mirror spirit. The mirror’s power however, might not be as terrifying as it was by then. How about this? With my own way, I will replace the mirror spirit to allow you to activate this item.”

  “Will we be able to get out that way?” shouted Zhong Yue happily.

  “There is nothing Master Xin Huo can’t do!” bragged Xin Huo.

  The little flame then flew towards the ruins where the mirror and the Six Paths Reincarnation that Zhong Yue had split apart remained standing strong and still. In between the broken mirror, there were still totem patterns that were connected, sparkling fire from time to time.

  However, Zhong Yue struck his saber onto the crack in this mirror throughout the 30 billion years. Initially, this crack was fixed by the Imperial Emperor’s Innate Qi, but now, with the Innate Qi broken by Zhong Yue, the crack within this mirror enlarged even more.

  “Brat Yue, give me the knowledge you’ve acquired in the 30 billion years, then lend me your strength so that I can fix the Six Paths Reincarnation and the mirror to have them patched up!”

  Hearing this, Zhong Yue immediately handed over what Xin Huo asked for and allowed his strength to be utilized by Xin Huo.

  After quite some time of examination on the mirror, Xin Huo finally moved; with Zhong Yue’s power, Xin Huo created totem patterns that gradually linked and patched the split Six Path and mirror back.

  As soon as the mirror was patched, the ground trembled and countless rocks, slabs, and tiles flew out from the ground, arranged themselves and formed a perfect palace.

  Far away, the pavilions and other buildings crashed into each other before the debris merged and turned into long hallways, which formed into a huge maze.

  The awestruck Zhong Yue was stunned completely; this maze which trapped him for 30 billion years and after pouring immense effort to destroy it, the maze had now restored right before his eyes without any scratches!

  In a similar way, Xin Huo had also fixed the broken Six Path Reincarnation created by Heavenly Monarch Tian Yuan. This little flame floated among the Six Path Reincarnation, which circled around the mirror and he said, “Brat Yue, you are still too weak now. I can only keep this up for 15 minutes and everything will return to the original state again.”