Chapter Ninety-Two: The Human Sovereign

Even so, I established the Imperial Palace here, unified the entire Great Vast Immortal Realm, and sent every cultivator in search of that altar. I was certain it was the inheritance left behind by True Person Jade Cauldron before his complete death. And there is also the Profound Dao Diagram of your Jiang clan; that, too, was one of the proofs. I do not know how many outstanding talents I nurtured, only to have them vanish without trace after being summoned away.

I even severed off a thread of my remnant soul. And yet, although he had completed the Profound Dao Diagram at the age of eight, no summons ever came.

I tried many times myself, but I was never summoned.

I despaired. I went mad. I slaughtered the world!

There was a time when I killed until less than a million remained alive!

Ah...

Those dark years were the only solace for my heart!

Later, I discovered something strange.

The Supreme Sword Sect, the Primordial Unity Sect, and the Hidden Spirit Gate had somehow been founded without my noticing.

The Heavenly Demon Mountain, Skeleton Temple, Blood Fiend Abyss, and Heavenly Demon Sect had all suddenly appeared as well.

And the dragon clan!

I sensed something was wrong, and I destroyed them more than once.

Then, ten thousand years ago, I acted again and went to the Supreme Sword Sect. There, an immortal artifact had appeared, and it destroyed my physical body.

From that moment on, I understood: the Great Vast World had been marked, targeted by several of the most terrifying powers.

Had they discovered that True Person Jade Cauldron had fallen here? That is the only possible explanation. After all, although many mighty beings had perished in the fall of the Great Vast Immortal Realm, what remained of the immortal world had long since dwindled to a tiny corner, which eventually evolved into the mortal realm of today.

So I lay low and continued investigating.

But eight hundred years ago...

At this point, Nangong Yue clenched her teeth, and in her eyes there surfaced a hatred fiercer than anything he had ever seen.

Eight hundred years ago, I met Song Qian!

He was a genius, a true genius, a prodigy against the heavens, born with immortal bones. At the time, I also wished to cultivate a few more subordinates for future use, so I kept him at my side.

In just ten years, he reached the very peak of the Soul Formation realm!

At the time he was also full of vigor, traveling freely through the world and vowing to end the age of chaos and restore peace beneath heaven. I let him be on that matter. But before long, he found a beloved and even had children. How could I tolerate that? Once one has wife and children, the heart becomes burdened. How then can one still reach the summit? Only after ascending, proving the Dao and becoming a celestial immortal, with a vast span of life and freedom across heaven and earth, does one attain true liberty. How could one allow oneself to be shackled by mortal ties?

In my fury, I killed them all!

Song Qian failed to understand my goodwill and actually struck at me. Hah, a wretched little brat whom I had cultivated could just as easily be crippled by me! At that time I heavily injured him and intended to kill him, but to my surprise, in the brief moment after I left, he actually encountered a tremendous opportunity, awakened a life-saving treasure, and fled.

Another ten years passed. He appeared before me again, having grown to the very peak of Earth Immortal, and he even possessed a great killing weapon. It destroyed my physical body and shattered what little of my true spirit I had managed to repair.

By then Song Qian also knew that I was the reincarnation of an immortal spirit. He declared that he would spare my remnant soul and not kill me as repayment for my ten years of instruction. He further warned that when I awoke again, I would be wise to hide myself and not let him find me, or else he would certainly avenge his wife and children.

That damned little beast ruined my ten thousand years of effort and still wanted to kill me. This hatred, this humiliation, even if one were to pour out all the waters of the myriad heavens and worlds, it could not wash it away!

That day, my remnant soul reincarnated once more, but because my injuries were too severe I had no choice but to fall into slumber. Only a year ago did I finally awaken!

For eight hundred years I sank into darkness, and for a moment longer my true spirit would have been utterly extinguished!

Song Qian, now the Human Emperor of Great Song, when the day comes I will cast him into the furnace of purgatory and refine him for a million years to ease the hatred in my heart!

Having said this, Nangong Rou let out a long breath of turbid air, as though she had expelled the oppression from within her heart as well.

Jiang Fan listened in silence.

Yet in his heart, a storm of unimaginable magnitude was raging.

The saints vanished? It was truly those six saints!

The fiends from beyond the domain invaded? The sea of blood rose?

The Buddha of Radiant Sun, the Great Bright Buddha, betrayed Buddhism and reestablished the demon race?

So many of the Twelve Golden Immortals died?

Even Emperor Purple Star perished in the great war of old?

The Great Vast World was actually transformed from an immortal world?

And the current Human Emperor was trained into being by the person before him?

And there was also the Fruit of Creation Lotus Seed?

Should not the immortal world be the Earth Immortal Realm?

What in the world was all this?

Jiang Fan’s mind was in complete chaos.

Truly in complete chaos.

With the burden in her chest finally vented, I feel much better now. Nangong Rou landed on the ground and spread her arms. Jiang Fan, speaking of which, you and I really do share blood. By rights, we are truly cousins. If my memories had not awakened, that relationship would have continued forever, and perhaps you might even have become an existence that surpassed the Human Emperor. The Human Emperor? Bah. A mere sovereign of the mortal world dares to call himself Human Emperor? If the old fellow Xuanyuan heard that, he would certainly slap him to death. Oh, and Xuanyuan, I wonder whether that old fellow is dead yet?

Jiang Fan’s mouth twitched, and he suppressed the countless thoughts in his head. Since your memories have awakened, why did you still come to Hundred Rivers County City?

Have you forgotten who I am? I am the female envoy of Emperor Purple Star, Nangong Rou said. Though I did not inherit his true teachings, I am still adept at divination. In the unseen currents of fate, I sensed that Hundred Rivers County City was surging with fortune, with great upheaval and great opportunity. For me, what else could that great opportunity be? Then I remembered your Jiang clan, after all descended from Jiang Ziya, and having some trace connection to True Person Jade Cauldron.

Was my ancestor really Jiang Ziya? Jiang Fan hurriedly asked.

Of course, Nangong Rou said. Jiang Ziya once carried out the sages’ decree to confer the gods, and he was famed for the saying: Jiang Taigong is here, the gods retreat in deference. Unfortunately, in that life he had no immortal fate. After his reincarnation, he rose with unstoppable momentum and grew at a miraculous pace. After the great change, the Heavenly Emperor fell, and he sought to challenge for the imperial throne. But later, in another great battle, he vanished from the world. Before that, he left his bloodline in the Great Vast Immortal Realm. Even though it drifted down into the mortal world of today, his bloodline should not have been this weak. There is only one possibility: your line has had its blood severed by some powerful being. My guess is that it was one of those he once conferred as a god. Karma turns in circles; retribution never misses.

Jiang Fan fell silent.

In the legends he remembered, after the conferment of the gods came the Journey West, and what followed after that was unknown.

But now, everything had become a complete tangle.

How do you know the Profound Dao Art? This is not an immortal art, and it should never have been spread, Jiang Fan asked.

The Profound Dao Art? Nangong Rou smiled and nodded. You really are clever, boy. The Nine Revolutions Mystic Art was originally the Dao sect’s supreme protect-the-way mystic art, powerful beyond reason. Yet cultivation of it is terribly difficult. Even the Great Lord of the Second Rank, despite his terrifying bloodline and True Person Jade Cauldron’s personal guidance, still found entry full of hardship. Later, True Person Jade Cauldron, based on the Great Lord of the Second Rank’s constitution and by referencing the mortal body, deduced the Profound Dao Art as a foundation-building method for the Nine Revolutions Mystic Art. Once the Profound Dao Art is perfected and then one cultivates the Nine Revolutions Mystic Art afterward, the difficulty becomes much lower by comparison. If you have any questions, just ask. Since I am in a good mood today, I will answer them all.

True Person Jade Cauldron’s original form should not have been of the human race, so why did he use the human body as reference?