# 1475
Chapter 1476: Ancestral God
"Primordial God?"
Upon hearing these three words, Lin Qiye immediately recalled his conversation with Thor in Asgard.
Seeing Lin Qiye's reaction, Lingbao Tianzun glanced at him with surprise. "You know?"
"I heard a bit from elsewhere, but not much." Lin Qiye answered honestly.
Lingbao Tianzun nodded and, under the curious gazes of the other Human Apex, began to explain:
"The birth of human belief can be roughly divided into three stages: nature worship, ancestor worship, and religious worship.
In the beginning, when humans had not yet fully evolved into their current form, they experienced the most primal fear and respect for the changing phenomena of nature. This was the earliest form of 'faith' to appear in this world—nature worship. As time passed, nature worship gradually evolved, developing branches such as soul worship and totem worship, but fundamentally, it remained worship of nature and the unknown.
As human consciousness gradually matured, they began to worship their ancestors, hoping to gain their protection and blessings through sacrificial offerings. This marked the first transformation of the object of worship from 'nature' to 'humanity itself'—this was ancestor worship.
After human society took shape, with the accumulation of primitive beliefs and the emergence of cultural differences, numerous widely recognized and circulated stories and objects of worship appeared. Western Holy Religion is one of the most classic examples of religious worship. Heavenly Court, Olympus, Asgard, Takamagahara... most of the current 'mythologies' fall somewhere between religious worship and folk 'pan-worship.'
The closer a mythological system is to 'religious worship,' the more faith power it absorbs, and the stronger it becomes. This is why the Western Holy Religion was the most powerful in its heyday. Great Xia's 'Dao,' India's 'Buddhism,' are also based on the most traditional 'religious worship.' However, in modern times, fewer people follow these, so our strength is somewhat less than the Western Holy Religion, but higher than other mythologies."
Hearing this, the numerous Human Apex of Great Xia finally showed expressions of sudden realization.
They had always understood the power levels of the various divine kingdoms in the world, but until this moment, they understood the deeper reasons.
"But what does this have to do with this place?" Guan Zai asked, confused.
"What I just said—that the closer one is to 'religious worship,' the stronger one is—only applies to mythological systems in modern times. The mythology represented by the place before us is an exception.
They do not represent 'religious worship,' but the oldest, most primal 'nature worship,' the earliest 'faith' to appear in this world.
They are the embodiment of the fear and respect that humanity held for nature itself in the very beginning. Those who believed in them were not only humans but also the countless living creatures on this planet.
Beasts that feared fire, birds that revered thunder, fish that lived in water... Though their intelligence was not high, their numbers were extremely vast. They, along with early humans, were the earliest natural 'Believers.'
Fire, thunder, sun, night, flowing water... The faith power born from this fear and respect, under a certain force, gave birth for the first time to the existence of 'gods.' These oldest, most primal deities, we call 'Ancestral Gods.'
This place is where, countless ages ago, billions of creatures sacrificed to the 'Ancestral Gods.' It is the birthplace of the oldest divine kingdom in the world... the Ancestral God Temple."
"The oldest 'nature worship'... then, if that's the case, wouldn't they have been stronger than the Western Holy Religion at its peak?" Guan Zai asked.
"That's correct." Lingbao Tianzun paused. "This mythology has no distinction between Chief God and Lesser God. Any single 'Ancestral God,' placed in the present, would be a being capable of suppressing the Seraph Michael."
The crowd gasped, their mouths opening wide in shock.
Their eyes swept across the surroundings. There were more than a dozen statues on this platform... If Lingbao Tianzun's words were to be believed, if the Ancestral God Temple were to act, then even all the mythologies in the world, including the Western Holy Religion, combined might not be its match?
"Of course, I'm referring to their peak period—antiquity." Lingbao Tianzun continued. "As time passed, with the emergence of other 'religious worship' and 'folk pan-worship,' almost no one still believes in the Ancestral Gods. After the Mist descended, the number of animals and plants in the world sharply decreased, and their faith power was almost completely cut off.
Today, the Ancestral God mythology is merely a legend. There are no more Ancestral Gods in the world... Even if there were, their power would be extremely weak, and they would rarely reveal themselves in the world."
Lin Qiye's mind immediately flickered to the image of Number 27.
According to Thor, Number 27 was the god of hunting from the primordial mythology... No, perhaps he should be called 'Hunting Ancestor.' Now that the Ancestral Gods had declined and their faith disappeared, he could only operate in the world under the identity of the god of assassins, with strength at only the Chief God level.
Lin Qiye hadn't expected that, in ancient times, Number 27 was also a terrifying existence capable of soloing and suppressing a Seraph.
Speaking of which, after he killed Loki, there had been no news, and Number 27 hadn't come looking for him to settle accounts. He wondered if something had happened...
Just as Lin Qiye was lost in thought, Zuo Qing asked:
"But since this is an Ancestral God Temple from ancient times, it should be on Earth. How did it end up here?"
"I'm not sure." Lingbao Tianzun shook his head. "The age of the Ancestral Gods is too remote. Even this humble Taoist cannot calculate it... However, judging from the traces here, it seems to have been affected by some external force, forcibly compressed into time and space."
"Similar to us?" Zuo Qing nodded thoughtfully.
Nezha's gaze swept across the statues around him, finally landing on the center of the platform, his brow slightly lifting.
"The positions of these Ancestral God statues are all at the edge of the platform, but their faces all seem to be facing the center... Is there something there?"
The crowd followed the direction the statues faced. At the center of the platform, there was a slight elevation, but because of the distance, even Lin Qiye couldn't see clearly. From the outline, it looked like a table for placing some kind of vessel, or perhaps a solid pedestal.
The crowd confirmed there was no danger around and, passing the edge of the platform, walked straight toward the center position that the statues faced.
As the distance gradually decreased, Lin Qiye finally saw the full shape of the object.
It was an empty divine altar.