Chapter 1117: Jizhou White Earth Ancient God (Third Update)
"Kill a few ancient gods?"
Yu Chudu was startled. By the time Qin Mu walked away, he came back to his senses and quickly caught up, whispering, "Uncle-Master, who exactly are you?"
Long Qilin chuckled, "Naturally, he is Mu Tianzun. Didn't you hear that Jing Baichuan fellow just now? Our sect leader is Mu Tianzun, also the National Teacher of Yankang, and the leader of the Heavenly Saint Sect. Have you heard of the Heavenly Saint Sect?"
Yu Chudu shook his head blankly, saying, "I was born in the Nine Provinces and have never left in my life..."
Long Qilin perked up and patiently guided him, "The Heavenly Saint Sect was founded in the early years by your teacher, Yun Luo Emperor Wei Suifeng, the Great Sect Leader. It has three hundred and sixty-one halls and upholds the Way of the Sage, serving the daily needs of the people. How does one become a sage? One must achieve three establishments: establish a teaching, establish words, and establish merit. These three establishments make a sage. Now is a time of governance and employment, Brother Yu. You are a disciple of Yun Luo Emperor, and the Heavenly Saint Sect was founded by Yun Luo Emperor. You..."
Yu Chudu, a great expert at the Jade Capital realm, was bewitched by Long Qilin's persuasion and, in a daze, joined the Heavenly Saint Sect, agreeing to serve as a Dharma Protector Elder.
The Nine Provinces Ancient Gods were not Star Lords; they had no ancestral stars, only ancestral lands.
These nine ancient gods were born from the sacrifices of the Creators who lived here in the Taigu era. Their ancestral lands lay at the center of the Nine Provinces, each ancient god having its own birthplace.
Around the ancestral land of the Jizhou White Earth Ancient God, lightning and thunder raged. Thunderclouds completely shrouded the mountains, layer upon layer, of unknown depth. Approaching that place, the thunder was deafening, and no living creatures existed nearby.
Any living being that came near would be struck dead by lightning.
Qin Mu looked into the distance. Within the thunderclouds, there were mountains, bleached white by the lightning. On the mountain peaks stood golden-armored divine beings, majestic and extraordinary.
These divine beings were likely gods who followed the White Earth Ancient God, constantly clashing large cymbals to produce thunderous sounds, bombarding the primordial spirits of those who dared to intrude.
To maintain their mystery and sanctity, the Nine Provinces Ancient Gods had thunderclouds envelop their ancestral lands. Even gods who had just achieved cultivation found it difficult to pass through the thunderclouds and enter.
Thus, after cultivators in the Nine Provinces became gods, they still needed to pass the thunder tribulation to qualify to enter the nine ancestral lands and pay homage to the ancient gods of the Nine Provinces World, becoming divine generals under their command.
For the beings of the Nine Provinces World, the Nine Provinces Ancient Gods were mysterious and unfathomable, elusive and full of enigma, so many people offered sacrifices to them.
Qin Mu led Yu Chudu, Yan'er, and Long Qilin through the thunder layers. Yu Chudu was astonished to see that the golden-armored divine beings guarding the thunder layers truly seemed not to see them, even as they walked right under their noses.
"Uncle-Master is truly formidable! This mastery of divine consciousness is unheard of!" he marveled inwardly.
They delved deep into the layers of thunderclouds, and for the first time, Yu Chudu saw the full view of the White Earth Ancient God's ancestral land. Amid the encircling mountains and shrouded thunderclouds, a colossal altar spanning a thousand li appeared before them.
That altar was enormous, countless times larger than the altars of the Spirit Energy Transfer Bridges, and its builder was unknown.
Around the altar, amidst thunder and mist, stood towering skeletons, all facing the altar in worship.
Thousands upon thousands of skeletons surrounded this grand altar in ring after ring, their massive bones like small hills, comparable to giant gods.
Yu Chudu walked beside a skeleton and looked up. He saw that each skeleton's forehead was embedded with a rhomboid gem, still emitting a faint glow.
The light flowed from the skeletons' brows toward the altar, faint and indistinct.
"These are the Creators, the creators of the White Earth Ancient God," Long Qilin whispered.
Yu Chudu gazed at these bones with some reverence. Though the Creators who created the ancient gods were not stronger than him, their act of creating such unique life forms as the ancient gods was worthy of respect.
The civilization of the Taigu era had its unique charm.
They ascended the altar. On the altar were many gods and demons, whether descendants of the White Earth Ancient God or gods who had passed the thunder tribulation to come here.
The White Earth Ancient God had built a divine city on the altar, extremely luxurious. The gods of this divine province indulged in extravagance and debauchery, with pools of wine and forests of meat. As Qin Mu led Yu Chudu and Long Qilin through the divine city, they saw unfinished "sacrifices" locked in cages.
These were offerings from the various tribes of White Earth to the demigods, slaves from different tribes, including humans.
People were confined in cages, terrified, but more often numb, their eyes vacant, blinking only after a long while.
"Nephew-Disciple Yu, you are a native god here. You should be well-versed in the history of the Nine Provinces and the Three Pillar Heavens, right?"
Qin Mu stopped and said, "Has there been no Longhan Revolution or Chiming Revolution here?"
Yu Chudu thought for a moment and replied, "I have heard my teacher speak of the revolutions and reforms of the Longhan and Chiming eras, and also some things about the Shanghuang era. However, this is not the Yuan Realm. Like other heavens, it has remained unchanged for a million years. Our ancestors and generations have lived this way."
Qin Mu stood in a daze.
The Longhan Revolution, the Chiming Revolution, the Shanghuang Reforms, the Kaika Reforms—how magnificent and earth-shattering they were!
Yet they still failed to spread beyond the Yuan Realm, failing to reach the various heavens across the universe.
Outside the Yuan Realm, people's lives had never changed. They were still enslaved by ancient gods and demigods, everything as it was in the early Longhan era.
They had become numb, accepting the fate of their ancestors, their own fate, and even the fate of their descendants.
Only in the Yuan Realm, for a million years, had people of lofty ideals emerged endlessly, constantly resisting, constantly struggling, constantly reforming.
Qin Mu raised his head and looked into the distance at the center of the altar.
At the center of the altar, where the power of sacrifice converged, a majestic ancient god came into view.
That ancient god was pure white all over, like a white ape, with a fierce and sinewy physique, four arms, and bulging muscles. On its head grew a vermilion sharp horn. It was drawing the power of sacrifice, breathing and exhaling.
Its body was as massive as a mountain, expanding and contracting with each breath. With every movement of its muscles, thunder and lightning crackled.
Thousands of gods surrounded it, their mouths producing Dao sounds, using the Dao sounds to temper its body.
Other gods swung bone hammers, from which skulls flew out, darting to the cages and sucking out the souls of the sacrificed beings.
The skulls flew back, circling the ancient god, spitting out the absorbed souls, which were inhaled into its body with its breath.
This ancient god, ruling over the White Earth of Jizhou, actually trained day and night, even more diligently and assiduously than post-natal beings!
It even used the souls of post-natal beings to practice its skills, full of evil and strangeness.
Although ancient gods found it difficult to break through the shackles of their own Dao, they could continuously explore along their Dao, pushing the power of their Dao to the extreme.
Clearly, the White Earth Ancient God was such a being.
Yan'er felt uneasy and reminded, "Young Master, within the ancestral land, the ancient god's strength is greater. It would be better to lure this White Earth Ancient God out of the ancestral land and kill him outside."
Long Qilin also felt a bit unsettled, saying, "This ancient god's strength seems even greater than the Five Luminaries Star Lords back then! Sect Leader, perhaps we should consider this carefully..."
Qin Mu stopped.
Yan'er and Long Qilin breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, Qin Mu took out the Glazed Azure Sky Pillar and thrust it into the ground.
Yan'er and Long Qilin's hearts jumped. They saw Qin Mu bow to the Glazed Azure Sky Pillar and say in a deep voice, "Please, my treasure, manifest the Twenty-Eight Heavens!"