Chapter 419: Old Things
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
“Mu’er, intercepting High Heavens is no simple thing, so please don’t go,” Granny Si said in a low voice.
Qin Mu was refining spirit pills in a hurry to feed the flood dragons. Since he was leaving for a long trip, he needed to prepare some extra spirit pills. When he heard what Granny Si said, he was stunned for a moment before smiling up at her. “Granny, I’m the one who invited them, so how can I not go?”
Granny Si shook her head and said, “You are only on Six Directions Realm. If you don’t go, they won’t say anything. For this battle, High Heavens will probably mobilize their full force. There’s not only the four sovereigns of High Heavens, but also other G.o.ds… If we are defeated, return to Great Ruins and never come out again.”
Qin Mu’s face dimmed, but when he was about to say something, Village Chief’s voice came from the distance. “Old Woman Si, don’t worry about him, let him follow!”
Granny saw Village Chief laughing with the old men and women and couldn’t help becoming furious. “Mu’er’s cultivation is still low, so he’ll be useless even if he goes!”
“How is he useless?” Village Chief turned back to her with a smile. “There must always be someone to retrieve the corpses, ain’t I right, granny?”
Granny Si was slightly stunned, her words drying out.
Someone had to retrieve the corpses. No matter if it was the enemy or their own people.
Laughter came from far away as a bunch of old men and women laughed loudly. Village Chief and his old friends had a wonderful chat. Tuxing Feng spoke about their embarra.s.sing deeds back then, which made everyone burst out into loud laughter again and again, making their faces glow heartily.
There were many things to be said between them, about how they fought through life-and-death situations together, becoming comrades in arms. There was also a past to be reminiscent.
After all, ever since Village Chief was crippled, his magnificent aspirations had died, turning him into an old cripple that would just lay in Disabled Elderly Village under the rain and lightning. The traces of the human emperor faded away, and the willpower of all his comrades was also ground away. They no longer appeared in the world and no longer met one another.
Now, Village Chief was back, and they had also reconvened because of an invitation. Even if a lot of time had pa.s.sed, the reunion seemed to return them back to the time when their pa.s.sion had blazed furiously.
Qin Mu looked at them and saw how different all of them were. Some of them were not cheerful people, like Hermit Qing You who had a face like everyone owed him money all the time. Yet even he was full of smiles now.
The positions of everyone here were incomparably high. One was a chief of an underground race, some were immortals that stood high up in the world, some were great demons wors.h.i.+ped by their people, and another carried their people to roam freely in the sea,
People of completely different personalities had all gathered together because of Human Emperor’s Seal.
“Let the blood in our hearts burn again, to relive our past and turn it upside down!” Village Chief said to everyone in high spirits
Hermit Qing You teared up from laughter. “Burn your a.s.s! Ain’t your lifespan ending next year? Can you still burn?”
“How can the immortals of Little Jade Capital say uncouth words? Say that in Little Jade Capital if you have the ability to! Qing You, you don’t have many years left to burn as well, so you’ll be a goner like me!”
The old folk laughed loud and stamped their feet. Willow Immortal’s eyes narrowed into slits as she gasped for breath while saying, “Do you still remember? When we talked about fighting, Little Qing’zi would run the fastest, but not to fight – to hide!”
“You weren’t any better than me. You always rolled up into a ball!”
The old people laughed more, poking fun at each other. “Little Qing’zi even liked Fairy Xue Qi, giving his all to chase after her!”
“That’s right, that’s right, I remember it, this guy’s face is super thick! Pah!”
“When Fairy Xue Qi died in battle that day, Little Qing’zi cried like a man made out of tears.”
No one laughed at those words, and suddenly, Hermit Qing You began to bawl loudly. Tuxing Feng who had made the atmosphere incomparably awkward scratched his messy hair. He then sighed and said, “I remember Daoist Lu Feng. We had a close relations.h.i.+p, and he died for me, blocking a sure-kill attack for me…”
Everyone fell silent. After a moment, they began laughing and chatting again, making the awkwardness earlier vanish.
Qin Mu shook his head and executed Secrets of Dragon Control. The flood dragons transformed into behemoths that were several miles long, and everyone boarded them.
The manor was left empty.
They rode the dragons toward Great Ruins. On the dragon’s back, Butcher threw jars of wine, and the strong pract.i.tioners from the past generations hugged them to drink to their heart’s content. Laughter rang from time to time, and Butcher raised his wine jar up high while laughing loudly. “Drink three hundred cupfuls of wine in glee!”
On another dragon’s back, Cripple cried messily, “I ain’t a hero like all of you, just a small-time thief, so why am I acting a hero with you guys?”
Old Rulai looked at Old Ma and said in a low voice, “Great Thunderclap Monastery still needs you, so go back. I’ll be enough.”
“You are Rulai, and I’m also Rulai. You know my thoughts,” Old Ma said indifferently.
Old Rulai was slightly stunned. “If you and I don’t come back, what’s going to happen to Great Thunderclap Monastery? What’s going to happen to buddhism?”
Old Ma put his palms together, and his face held twenty kinds of enlightenment. “Live up to buddhism, and it will never let you down.”
Old Rulai understood his intentions immediately. “Excellent. No matter if there is a Rulai or not, the dharma is always there. It doesn’t exist because of Rulai and it won’t die because of Rulai. If they will comprehend, they will become rulai, and if they don’t, they are fake monks.”
Qin Mu was on the back of another dragon with Village Chief, at whom he couldn’t stop looking. In the end, he was unable to hold back. “Village Chief, has your divine bridge been repaired?”
Village Chief’s wrinkle-filled face revealed a smile, and he said, “How can it be that easy? There are three steps in repairing a divine bridge and each step is harder than the last one. The first step is Secrets of Magpie Bridge, the second step is Secrets of Mysterious Guide, and the third step is Secrets of Divine Crossing. I have cultivated to Secrets of Mysterious Guide, and that’s already considered very fast. Qing You, has your divine bridge been repaired?”
Hermit Qing You shook his head. “I’m still on Secrets of Mysterious Guide.”
Village Chief smiled with exultation as he made fun of him. “You might die trying to intercept High Heavens this time!”
“Old b.a.s.t.a.r.d, you only know how to curse me!” Hermit Qing You scolded him.
Village Chief laughed loudly. “Heavenly Devil Patriarch, this old youngster, is still hurrying here!” Everyone laughed again, and the atmosphere was very joyous.
The sun set in the west, and the sky gradually turned dark.
In High Heavens, cryptic and awkward-sounding voice came from the sky above a sacrificial altar. It was the G.o.d language, and the modulation didn’t seem to be something a human was able to produce. Star Sovereign Qiao, Flower Sovereign, and Star Sovereign Yan listened respectfully. When the G.o.d’s speech was over, the three sovereigns moved back a few steps and said respectfully in unison, “As you command.”
Everything was calm on the sacrificial altar.
The three sovereigns under the altar had solemn faces. After a moment, Star Sovereign Yan couldn’t resist saying, “Are we really doing this? If we do it, not many people are going to survive in the entire Eternal Peace Empire…”
“We have no choice but to do this,” Star Sovereign Qiao said solemnly. “Eternal Peace Empire is developing, and Emperor Yanfeng has already forged a divine weapon that could kill Jade Sovereign. The change of the human emperor, the change of the law, and the change of the path have angered those above. If we don’t do this, we won’t be able to save ourselves. Compared to those lowly lifeforms in the mortal world, our lives are more important!”
“But those are countless lives…” Flower Sovereign said
“No need to speak further.” Star Sovereign Qiao raised his hand and spoke in an inflectionless voice. “We just need to do our responsibility and not question whether it’s right or wrong. Wake up the G.o.ds of High Heavens. There will be a battle.”
Star Sovereign Yan and Flower Sovereign’s expressions were grim. Star Sovereign Yan came to the bugle horn beside the sacrificial altar and blew it. Instantly, a heavy and drawn out sound from spread across High Heavens.
Duuuuu, duuuuu.
In High Heavens, the mountains were majestic, and numerous strange beasts wandered around them. However, the most eye-catching things were still the majestic sculptures.
They portrayed G.o.ds that appeared as fantastic oddities of every shape and form. At the sound of the bugle horn, the surface of the statues suddenly cracked, and the stone rapidly changed. Some of it transformed into dead skin that fell off while some turned into flesh and blood.
Suddenly, a stone statue that was half bent over and half kneeling smashed its fists on the floor while standing up.
What followed was all the stone statues reviving among the mountains. They opened their eyes, and the divine light within them burst into the horizon.
Star Sovereign Qiao’s gaze was like lightning as he swept the surroundings before shouting, “Receiving Official, lay the bridge—”
In the sky above High Heavens, a dazzling golden bridge appeared, and the Receiving G.o.d Official stood upright there, turning a golden-colored compa.s.s in front of him which grew brighter and brighter. Instantly, a beam of light shot out, transforming into a golden bridge which penetrated through the barrier between High Heavens and the lower world.
The corners of Star Sovereign Qiao’s eyes twitched, and he suddenly gritted his teeth. “All G.o.ds listen to my command – descend to the world of mortals!”
The G.o.ds rose and transformed into beams of light, following the bridge of light out of High Heavens. Instantly, above West Earth, radiants stars streaked across the sky.
It was nighttime, and there were eighteen shooting stars that dragged their long trails as they broke through the sky and headed toward the east.
At night in Great Ruins, heavy snow was falling from the sky as the young patriarch and Elder of Discipline sat in a ruin around a bonfire which lit up their surroundings.
“It’s snowing.” Elder of Discipline raised his head and saw snowflakes floating down from the darkness. “The winter this year seems to be especially long.”
The young patriarch used a stick to poke at the firewood, making the fire burn more furiously. As the bonfire crackled, sparks floated up along with the smoke.
“It’s still considered alright. New Years should already be over, right?” The young patriarch smiled. “After it, the weather slowly becomes warmer.”
At that moment, a chuckle suddenly sounded out. “Make the fire bigger. I would also like to warm myself.”
The two looked back and saw a man wearing a conical bamboo hat walking out from the darkness. He only had nine fingers, and vapor condensed into mist as he breathed out.
“Dao Friend Ling Jing.” The young patriarch immediately got up to greet him.
Daoist Ling Jing returned his greeting and took off his bamboo hat before stretching his hands to the fire to keep warm. His gaze flickered. “Heavenly Devil Dao Friend is also answering the call of Human Emperor and going forward to meet him?”
The young patriarch shook his head. “I’m not meeting with them. I already know what happened so I’m just waiting here. Even if they don’t arrive in time, I can intercept the G.o.ds of High Heavens first. Dao Friend Ling Jing, what about you?”
Daoist Ling Jing smiled. “I hesitated for a long time, since I’m not on good terms with many people, like Old Sword G.o.d. Look at this finger, it was chopped off by him. But after I thought through it, it all comes down to the promise the ancestor of the human race made. If I don’t uphold it, I would fail as a human, so I decided to go and meet them.”
“In that case, there’s no need for you to go,” the young patriarch said with a smile. “You can just wait here. If they don’t arrive on time, we can drag it out together.”
Daoist Ling Jing nodded, and the three of them didn’t speak again.
When midnight came, the snow stopped, and trails of magnificent starlight appeared in the sky, heading east from the west.
The young patriarch smiled at Elder of Discipline. “Bring Dao Friend Ling Jing and my ashes back, if you can still find our corpses.”
Elder of Discipline bowed. “Farewell to the both of you!”
When he raised his head, the young patriarch and Daoist Ling Jing had vanished, and in the sky, there were two more trails of light. They were rising diagonally to intercept the eighteen shooting stars.