Meng Huaize was stunned by the revelation. “Gods can die?” he asked, incredulous.
“Of course they can,” Xue Zhao replied, “but it’s different for deities. They were originally meant to live as long as the heavens and the earth.”
Meng Huaize frowned. “Then how could one…?”
Xue Zhao’s voice dropped even lower, almost a whisper. “Yuan Li Deity’s divine heart was destroyed. The other two deities killed him together.”
Both Meng Huaize and Ah Fei’s eyes widened in shock. “What?!”
Xue Zhao, sensing their astonishment, grew even more excited. The look of disbelief on the faces of the man and the spirit in front of him made him forget his earlier caution. Words poured from him without restraint, eager to share everything he knew.
“Most spirits are like Ah Fei, who cultivated to take a form. Some are like me, born from my father and mother. But then there’s a third kind, the really powerful ones—monstrous beasts that, like the gods, emerge directly from the chaos. They’re incredibly powerful from the moment they appear, and they’re really, really evil,” Xue Zhao explained. “My father said that if you don’t kill these beasts right after they’re born, they’ll grow up to become so strong that some could even surpass the gods.”
Meng Huaize, still processing the enormity of what Xue Zhao had revealed, asked, “But why did the other two deities kill Yuan Li Deity? Was he one of these chaotic beasts?”
Xue Zhao paused, his face scrunching as if struggling to remember more details. “No, Yuan Li Deity was a true deity, not a beast. But something went wrong… After his heart was destroyed, he fell into madness. The other two had no choice but to end him.”
Ah Fei, his voice small and trembling, asked, “But how could a deity’s heart be destroyed?”
Xue Zhao shook his head. “I don’t know. My father never told me that part.”
Meng Huaize and Ah Fei exchanged a glance, both unsettled by the mystery surrounding Yuan Li Deity’s death. It was hard to believe that even a god could meet such a tragic end, and it left them with more questions than answers.
“So, normally, when these chaotic beasts are discovered, they’re immediately killed. But Yuan Li Deity not only didn’t kill them, he secretly created a space and kept those beasts there,” Xue Zhao explained.
Ah Fei, puzzled, asked, “Why would he do that?”
“Everyone says it’s because Yuan Li Deity’s divine heart was destroyed, and he developed evil thoughts. He wanted to overthrow the heavens and seize control of the Six Realms. But since the other two deities, Xuanming and Lingzhen, were still around, he couldn’t act freely. So, he raised those beasts to help him. By the time they grew strong enough, not even the combined power of the two deities would be able to stop him. Xuanming and Lingzhen had no choice but to work together, using all their strength to kill Yuan Li Deity and destroy all the beasts in Rongyuan. It came at a great cost.”
Meng Huaize, having always heard myths where gods were portrayed as pure and devoid of evil desires, was stunned. “Gods can have evil thoughts and greed?”
Xue Zhao nodded his head at first, but then shook it, looking conflicted. “That’s what my father said. But my mother says he’s full of nonsense. In fact, every spirit in the demon world says the same thing, and my mother says they’re all talking nonsense too.” Get faster updates on novelping.com.
Xue Zhao scratched his belly, adding, “My mother said that Yuan Li Deity was the best god in the world.”
Your mother said that? Meng Huaize thought skeptically, recalling that Xue Zhao’s mother also claimed he was the best-looking spirit in the world.
Ah Fei, however, seemed mesmerized by the story. “Why?” he asked.
“My mother said Yuan Li Deity brought order to the Six Realms, ensuring that demons and spirits had their rightful places. Every demon and spirit should be grateful to him. But the creatures of this world, whether they’re demons, spirits, humans, or gods, are mostly ungrateful. In just over a thousand years, they’ve completely forgotten what Yuan Li Deity did for them, and now they slander and defame him.”
“But,” Ah Fei frowned, lowering his voice, “how would your mother know what kind of god Yuan Li Deity was?”
“My mother said she once met Yuan Li Deity. Even though we are just small, insignificant spirits, he never looked down on her. He treated her kindly,” Xue Zhao said. “She always told me that no matter what others say about him, she would never believe it. She only believes what she saw with her own eyes. She even got into a big fight with my father because he disagreed. They ended up collapsing half a mountain!”
Ah Fei shivered. “Your father must be really fierce.”
“It was my mother who threw him into the mountain and caused it to collapse.”
Ah Fei corrected himself quickly. “Your mother is really fierce.”
Meng Huaize turned his head to gaze at the distant silhouette of Chuanki Mountain. While they had been talking, the rain had lessened, changing from a steady downpour to a fine mist, drifting gently through the air.
The story Xue Zhao told about these ancient, noble deities and evil beasts born from chaos seemed incredibly far away to Meng Huaize. It was a tale from an era so distant that it felt beyond comprehension, a time when gods and monsters roamed a primordial world. For Meng Huaize, who was merely human, destined to live for only a few decades before aging and fading away, such legends felt utterly unrelated to him. Meeting even a few spirits in his life was extraordinary, but these ancient, grand myths were beyond his imagination.
At this moment, his only real concern was waiting for Wu Yue’s return.
Chuanki Mountain.
Chuanki Mountain wasn’t just one peak, but a vast range that stretched over a hundred miles, with towering, jagged cliffs and overlapping ridges. Meng Huaize, when gathering herbs, only ever climbed the outermost mountains. Few ventured any deeper into the range.
Wu Yue landed on the mountain Ah Fei had described. The air here was noticeably different from his previous visit, with faint traces of demonic energy seeping into the atmosphere. While weaker spirits like Ah Fei might not sense it clearly, someone of Wu Yue’s level could easily detect the presence of such energy from other beings.
Circling the mountain, Wu Yue finally found the cave Ah Fei had mentioned.
As he approached, he rescued a small sparrow spirit trapped between the cracks of some rocks. The sparrow was covered in injuries, but it had been fortunate to get stuck; otherwise, it might have been sucked in and consumed by the demonic aura. The sparrow fluttered to the ground, her wings trembling as she stared at Wu Yue. He casually pointed toward the dark cave and asked, “Is it in there?” Get faster updates on novelping.com.
The sparrow spirit nodded. Without hesitation, Wu Yue stepped toward the cave, but the sparrow panicked, half-flying, half-running after him. She bit onto the hem of his robe.
“Don’t go in there,” the sparrow spirit pleaded timidly, “there’s a great demon inside.”
Wu Yue chuckled. He extended his hand, and golden light enveloped the small sparrow. She looked down at herself in amazement as her wounds rapidly healed.
“Fly far away,” Wu Yue said. “Find a place to hide.”
With that, he walked deeper into the cave without looking back.
The sparrow spirit didn’t follow. The further Wu Yue went, the darker the cave became, and the demonic energy grew more oppressive, mingled with the damp, earthy scent and a faint trace of blood.
Wu Yue made no effort to suppress his own aura. His golden demonic energy spiraled around him, tearing through the cave’s oppressive darkness. As he ventured deeper, the blackish-purple energy became so thick it felt suffocating, yet Wu Yue strolled through it unaffected.
He descended through a narrow passage, and suddenly, the oppressive energy lessened. The space opened up before him, revealing a wide platform deep within the mountain’s belly.
Wu Yue’s golden eyes gleamed with a sharp, murderous intent, but the corners of his mouth lifted into a casual, mocking smile. “I’ve come all this way,” he said, his voice echoing in the cave. “Come out.”
There was no response, only the swirling of the demonic energy.
“I said,” Wu Yue continued, now sitting lazily on a higher ledge, “you’ve been hiding down here long enough. Now that I’ve found you, are you just going to keep cowering?”
The moment his words fell, a mass of black mist shot toward him from behind. Wu Yue swiftly dodged, his black robe fluttering through the air. The black mist wasn’t deterred and continued its assault. After evading a few more strikes, golden energy flared in Wu Yue’s palm, dispersing the dark, purplish mist.
As the mist cleared, a massive figure emerged from the shadows. Each step it took made the ground beneath them rumble, as though the mountain itself was trembling. A white tiger appeared, its back striped with black, and dark purple markings etched across its enormous head. Its eyes glowed with a sinister purple light, like two faintly burning embers in the darkness, fixed squarely on Wu Yue.
For a moment, Wu Yue’s expression turned cold and severe, his face emotionless. But then he smiled, his tone light and careless. “An old acquaintance.”
“You’re still alive,” the white tiger rumbled.
“I could say the same to you,” Wu Yue’s eyes flashed with gold. “You’re still alive?”