LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 400 - 120: The Return of the Ancient Gods and Demons
Chapter 400: Chapter 120: The Return of the Ancient Gods and Demons
Gou Chen, the Heavenly Emperor, the supreme leader of the stars?
Zhou Heng was slightly startled upon hearing these words, then chuckled, “Is this Gou Chen, to whom you previously referred, the sovereign of the one hundred and eight Star Gods?”
“The legends have always said so,” Li Chengyu explained. “According to the records stored in the palace, during the barbaric times, Gou Chen, the Heavenly Emperor, touched by the Human Race’s sincere veneration of heaven and earth, commanded the stars to focus their gaze upon the lower realms, descending with their Star Realm might to protect the Human Race. This was also the origin of the art of Star Techniques.”
“Heavy with the color of myth.” Zhou Heng made a judgment in his heart, and then inquired, “And what about this incarnation of Gou Chen, the Heavenly Emperor, on earth? Can such beings really descend to the mortal world?”
“I’m not very clear on that, I’ve let you down,” Li Chengyu said somewhat shamefacedly: “Although I was formerly a prince and a Fourth Rank Star Officer, information regarding the Heavenly Emperor’s earthly incarnation is a great secret, only known to Star Monarchs of the Upper Third Rank. My knowledge is limited.”
“Then let me change the question,” Zhou Heng said, not surprised. If Li Chengyu had truly been able to access the high-tier information of the Star Palace, he wouldn’t have ended up in such a predicament.
“What happened to the woman who is believed to be the incarnation of Gou Chen, the Heavenly Emperor, after injuring a Star Monarch of the Star Palace?” Zhou Heng continued to ask.
He suspected that this woman might be Cheng Jianjian or Qi Rui.
“It is said she escaped,” Li Chengyu recalled, saying: “It seems that the people of the Star Palace found her in Yuezhou, intending to take her back to the palace, but they were all injured, even alarming the Star Monarch, and in the end, even the Star Monarch was wounded.”
“It seems that person’s strength is considerable,” Zhou Heng said with a smile.
“Benefactor, this is more than just ‘considerable,’ ah! Defeating a Star Monarch with martial techniques—were this news to spread now, it would be enough to cause an upheaval to shock the heavens,” Li Chengyu exclaimed.
In the past several thousand years, thanks to the protection of the Star Gods, the power of the Star Officers and Star Monarchs was incomparably strong, not something a martial artist could foresee comparing to, and even a Martial Saint who had broken through the common limits of the Martial Path was only equivalent to a Seventh Rank Star Officer.
If the people of the world now learned that a Star Monarch, standing at the pinnacle of the path of Star Techniques, had actually been defeated by martial means, it would inevitably trigger a massive backlash against the Star Palace from various powers.
The world, already in chaos, would probably descend into even greater disorder.
“It looks like you still pay quite a bit of attention to the welfare of the people,” Zhou Heng said with a smile.
“…” Li Chengyu fell into a brief silence at these words, then gave a wry smile, “It’s just a habit formed over many years, and now I can hardly preserve myself… Benefactor, you’ve seen something quite laughable.”
“No, it’s really quite good,” Zhou Heng shook his head slightly, saying, “This world will eventually settle down. As for the road ahead, you must walk it yourselves; I am going to Yuezhou.”
Having finished speaking, a cloud of mist rose from beneath his feet, lifting him into the air and out of the cave, then he strode through the clouds and disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.
Li Chengyu also ran out of the cave, looking up at the direction Zhou Heng had left, his face full of amazement, “Truly a divine being.”
“Husband, is our benefactor really a Star Monarch?” His wife also followed out, but her face carried a look of doubt, seemingly worried.
“It’s unlikely,” Li Chengyu shook his head, saying, “Our benefactor has profound and inscrutable strength, but he is probably not a Star Monarch, perhaps he is a… deity or demon from ancient times.”
“What?” His wife was instantly astounded.
“Father, what is an ancient deity or demon?” Ning’an asked softly.
“Ancient deities and demons were the mighty beings who reigned over heaven and earth during the savage era of legend. They could move mountains and seas with a wave of their hand, pluck stars and seize moons, extremely powerful.” Li Chengyu said, “The initial Martial Path that our Human Race practiced was modeled after the accomplishments of those deities and demons.”
“It turns out the Martial Path has such an origin.” His wife expressed her surprise, “Then, if the ancient gods and demons were so powerful, why have they disappeared now? Is it because of the Star Gods?”
“Indeed, I have seen the secret texts of the Star Palace. After the descent of the stars, the ancient gods and demons were expelled,” Li Chengyu sighed. “Our benefactor is very powerful, capable of soaring through the skies and burrowing into the earth, far beyond the reach of ordinary martial artists.
“Yet, he is unfamiliar with the current state of the world and the Star Palace, and he still cares about the situation of martial artists. I suspect he may be one of the ancient gods and demons making a return, and that supposed incarnation of Gou Chen the Heavenly Emperor might also be an ancient god or demon…”
“Why did Father not tell our benefactor these things earlier?” Ning’an asked, puzzled.
“The ancient gods and demons were driven out by the gods of the stars, and your father is a Star Officer,” Li Chengyu’s wife said as she gently touched Ning’an’s head.
“Hmm, if our benefactor truly is one of the ancient gods and demons, then for him to save me, a Star Officer, would indeed be an act of immense compassion,” Li Chengyu mused. “With the Star Realm in turmoil and the return of the ancient gods and demons… could there be a connection?”
“Regardless, we must find an opportunity to repay our benefactor’s great kindness,” said Li Chengyu’s wife.
“Of course,” Li Chengyu agreed with a slight nod, “We should also leave this place. Although Cao Guishan is dead, we can’t be sure there won’t be more pursuers coming after us.”
…
“Ancient gods and demons?” Zhou Heng pondered the term.
Although he had already left, with his current strength, leaving a strand of his Divine Soul for monitoring on Li Chengyu was a simple task.
Li Chengyu was a prince, with many secrets that shouldn’t go to waste.
He just hadn’t expected to stumble upon such explosive information immediately after leaving.
“He didn’t mention this earlier probably because he feared it would stir up my old resentments and trigger a direct attack,” Zhou Heng chuckled to himself, thinking, “But this is better. Compared to variant martial artists, the ancient gods and demons have a much bigger appeal.”
Due to the constraints of the world’s rules, the martial artists of this realm could not communicate with the heaven and earth through their spirit; neither could their Divine Souls be nourished by the qi of heaven and earth, preventing them from further strengthening their spiritual power. This created a restrictive cycle that kept martial artists from attaining truly extraordinary powers.
However, Zhou Heng had descended in his true body, with a spirit that was already unimaginably strong. Having refined the Five Virtue Dharma Phase, which symbolized the essence of the laws, he naturally broke free from this cycle and was not subject to its limits, allowing him to smoothly recover his strength.
In this way, it would be more convenient for him to find people.
…
In a small cottage amidst the mountains,
Jiang Jian was brewing medicine for Qi Rui.
It had almost been two months since they arrived in this world, and Jiang Jian’s cultivation had nearly recovered, allowing her to manipulate true qi. However, Qi Rui had only managed to restore his cultivation to the Seventh Rank.
Back in Yuezhou, the two of them had faced a fierce battle; Jiang Jian had exerted all her strength to repel the enemy, but Qi Rui, whose cultivation had not yet fully returned, still suffered serious injuries.
“Cough cough!” Qi Rui barely managed to sit up from the straw mat, coughing slightly. He looked towards his disciple with a bit of hesitation and asked, “Jiang Jian, is this the world that you often dream about?”