Chapter 1127: Frustrated by Their Lack of Progress (First Update)
The Lishan God opened its beak, pecked down, lifted the old man, and swallowed him whole. Then, with a flap of its wings, it transformed into a streak of red light and vanished into the distance.
Qin Mu was stunned. He had seen this god and the man chatting about everyday matters, and had genuinely thought there was a custom where people served the gods in their old age, so much so that he couldn’t even stop it in time.
He followed the Lishan God. The god flew for several thousand li, landed on a divine mountain, and folded its wings. It turned its head abruptly, only then noticing Qin Mu. Hastily, it said, “Greetings, senior brother!”
Qin Mu nodded slightly and asked, “Lishan God, I just saw you go down to eat a man, yet he was chatting happily with you. What’s the reason for that?”
The Lishan God chuckled. “Senior brother, you must be from elsewhere? No wonder you don’t know our customs here. Our Southern Heaven is a land of civilization and etiquette, the place where Fire Celestial Venerable teaches. The gods of the Southern Heaven live in harmony with all races of the world. These mortals have requests for us—they pray for favorable winds and rain, for bountiful harvests—and we also need to eat. So, we established this custom: any ordinary person who reaches the age of sixty is considered dead and must go to the temple to be offered to the gods.”
Qin Mu asked, “Was this decreed by Fire Celestial Venerable?”
The Lishan God replied, “Exactly. The Southern Heaven is a civilized nation, unlike the crude and barbaric Western and Northern Heavens, and far better than the Eastern Heaven as well.”
Qin Mu pressed further, “What about cultivators? Human cultivators can live up to eight hundred years at most.”
“If a cultivator hasn’t become a god by the age of seven hundred, they too must enter the temple to be offered to the gods.”
The Lishan God smiled. “If they become a god, then they stand on equal footing with us, and we address each other as senior brothers. However, in my domain, there aren’t many cultivators, so I only get to eat once every half year or so. Senior brother, you’ve come at an unlucky time—there are no seven-hundred-year-old cultivators lately, or I would have invited you.”
Qin Mu frowned. “Is this the rule throughout the entire Southern Heaven?”
The Lishan God said, “It’s the rule everywhere. Look at the Southern Heaven—it’s peaceful and harmonious, with humans and gods living together in harmony. Half-gods and post-natal beings don’t kill each other. Isn’t this a pure land?”
Qin Mu gave a faint, mocking smile. “How can a pure land allow the eating of people? Fire Celestial Venerable’s way of doing things is to devour people without even spitting out the bones, making them willing to die.”
The Lishan God said seriously, “Senior brother, you’re mistaken. When we eat people, we follow proper etiquette. We ask, ‘May I eat you?’ and then we eat.”
Qin Mu asked, “What if the person says no? Do you not eat them then?”
The Lishan God laughed. “Senior brother, you’re adorably naive! We just ask as a formality, to show courtesy. Even if they refuse, we still eat them.”
Dragon Qilin couldn’t help but ask, “What about human gods? Would human gods tolerate you eating their kin?”
The Lishan God chuckled. “Senior brother, a human god is no longer human! How noble is a god? If they still considered themselves human after becoming a god, wouldn’t that be laughable? Cultivators spend their whole lives training, refining their energy, and cultivating diligently, all for the sake of becoming exalted gods! If you told a human god that they were still human, they’d be furious and curse you for being unworthy!”
Qin Mu felt a surge of killing intent, but then let it dissipate.
The entire Southern Heaven was like this. Killing the Lishan God would make no difference.
If he killed the Lishan God, it would only bring disasters to the lands it protected, causing more deaths.
“Fire Celestial Venerable’s pure land… heh.”
He left with Dragon Qilin and Yan’er. The Lishan God watched him go, frowning. “What a strange man, so lacking in manners! A barbarian from the hinterlands!”
Qin Mu traveled through the Southern Heaven, observing that it was a well-ordered primitive society. People practiced slash-and-burn agriculture, and cultivators lived in seclusion in the mountains, never helping ordinary folk.
The human gods stood aloof, calling half-god gods their brothers, believing that once they became gods, they were no longer the same race as humans. If you asked them to fight for humanity or to die for mortals, they would only laugh at your foolishness.
They wouldn’t do it. They wore splendid, radiant clothes, rode in ornate carriages, and hurried to banquets with half-god deities. They associated only with gods, chatting and laughing, adhering to almost rigid etiquette.
The Southern Heaven was a land of propriety.
As Qin Mu traveled, he saw many sects, established by the gods of the Southern Heaven, almost identical to the Yan Kang of old.
But back then, Yan Kang had countless sects, and those sects controlled the life and death of mortals, manipulating the wars between mortal kingdoms to seize land.
The sects of the Southern Heaven, however, loved and respected each other, never encroaching on one another.
It was a place of peace, as still as stagnant water.
Ordinary people could only ever be ordinary, and their descendants could only ever be ordinary, with no chance to rise above their station!
Any ambition, any ideals, any research into Dao techniques and divine abilities to benefit the people—all were mere illusions!
Moreover, no one even thought or acted that way.
This was a world so calm it was suffocating.
Qin Mu’s face was as dark as water. Fire Celestial Venerable’s actions seemed to protect the people of the Southern Heaven, but in truth, he forced all humans to meekly accept their predetermined fate, with no hope of ever turning things around!
He arrived at a divine city, where a towering statue of Fire Celestial Venerable stood, majestic and grand, with a bronze-carved wheel of flame behind its head.
The statue’s gaze was profound and far-reaching, staring into the distance, wise and heroic.
Many of Fire Celestial Venerable’s disciples were here, teaching students. They imparted the traditional Divine Treasury Heavenly Palace system, step by step, rigid and unchanging.
Whenever a student questioned something, they were harshly scolded, reprimanded, or even beaten. The surrounding classmates would cast contemptuous looks.
The disciples of Fire Celestial Venerable all used almost identical divine abilities, wielded identical divine weapons, and even wore identical clothes.
They dressed the same, wore their hair in the same topknot, trimmed their beards identically, greeted everyone with the same smile, said the same greetings, and performed the same rituals.
Qin Mu clenched his fists as he passed by the statue of Fire Celestial Venerable. His robes fluttered like a banner, rustling loudly.
Whoosh—
The towering statue of Fire Celestial Venerable suddenly collapsed, melting into surging molten bronze, from which rolled demonic flames!
The disciples of Fire Celestial Venerable rushed to put out the fire, trying to extinguish the demonic blaze. Among them were extremely powerful beings, masters of the Jade Capital realm or even the Empyrean realm.
Fire Celestial Venerable was most skilled in fire-based divine abilities, and the techniques he passed down were mostly fire-based. His disciples’ mastery in this field was renowned throughout the Heavenly Court!
Yet, faced with this demonic fire, everyone was helpless, utterly unable to quench the sudden conflagration.
“Summon the senior disciple!”
Panicked, they shouted, “Quickly, summon the senior disciple!”
Suddenly, the city was filled with the aura of an emperor. A being at the Emperor Throne realm, dressed almost identically to Fire Celestial Venerable, flew out, his robes rustling. He hovered above the demonic flames, channeled his divine abilities, and pressed downward, shouting, “Extinguish!”
The demonic flames flickered but did not go out.
The Emperor Throne realm expert struck again, sending one technique after another downward.
“Extinguish! Extinguish! Extinguish!”
The demonic fire continued to burn, illuminating the face of that Emperor Throne expert. His expression was deeply awkward.
Qin Mu stood not far away, watching coldly, frustrated by their lack of progress. “They never learned, so they don’t know how to adapt. Fire Celestial Venerable, you’ve raised a bunch of useless fools!”