Chapter 1816: The Soul of the Predecessors
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There was no god in the world. Perhaps, gods were created through exaggeration.
Legend said that the world was originally dark. A god came to the world one day and turned into the sun and moon, illuminating the land and giving birth to the changing of day and night.
Kua Fu and Xing Tian were said to be gods from the primitive era. Perhaps, that was why their souls and wills were stronger than most.
Kua Fu’s determination and goal were very clear. He did not only see Lu Zhou in his eyes, but he saw the ball of fire as well.
Boom!
Light suddenly burst forth from Kua Fu’s body. Unfortunately for him, the nine light disks were too powerful. They pressed down on him and easily cut into his shoulder,leaving a terrifying mark. Strangely, there was no blood to be seen. It was as though the light disks had cut into clay.
Lu Zhou frowned.
Kua Fu’s body was no longer human.
Then, Lu Zhou shifted his eyes to look at Xing Tian, who kept hacking with his ax and seemed as though he was getting stronger and stronger. His nine light disks clearly suppressed their physical bodies, but they could not suppress the duo’s wills and souls.
“Dragon Soul!”
Roar!
The illusory figure of a 10,000-feet-long dragon soared in the sky of the Sacred Region. The entire Sacred Region was easily covered by the shadow of the dragon. Its roar pressured the minds of the humans, causing them to kneel and submit as they shivered.
The ancient Dragon Soul’s roar made the two ancient gods look up in shock.
“Go back to where you belong!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The nine light disks surged with unprecedented power, further suppressing the two ancient gods. The moment their will shook, Kua Fu and Xing Tian were completely pushed into the ground, creating a huge pit each.
Lu Zhou withdrew the nine light disks before he flashed and appeared above the two pits. Then, he raised his hand.
Golden Buddha’s Body!
Lu Zhou chanted Buddhist scriptures to calm and enlighten the souls of the two ancient gods.
Kua Fu and Xing Tian lay motionlessly on the ground. However, the expressions were twisted as though they were reliving some painful memories. They were sometimes unfocused and sometimes clear. Sometimes they would look at the distant sky with hope, and sometimes they would glare at Lu Zhou resentfully.
Just as the two ancient gods’ souls were finally calming down, two streaks of golden light shot out from the tip of the Tower of Heaven and hit the two ancient gods. With that, they became agitated again. Their bodies shone with a faint light before they suddenly shot up into the air with eyes that were filled with anger.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The two ancient gods began to attack each other.
Lu Zhou flew up as well. His eyes glowed blue as he looked at the duo carefully. He wanted to see their Eight Extraordinary Meridians. He very quickly discovered that they seemed to be only made of golden light. There was nothing human about them at all.
Buzz! Buzz!
Upon hearing the familiar noise, the cultivators in the Sacred Region looked up. They were thoroughly shocked when they saw the scene that greeted their eyes.
A golden avatar on the left captured Kua Fu while a blue avatar on the right restrained Xing Tian.
“Two avatars?!”
“One golden and one blue?!”
Everyone was dumbfounded. Before they could have a better look, the two avatars suddenly turned around and flew off with the two ancient gods in their hands. In just a blink of an eye, they disappeared from sight.
The cultivators in the Sacred Region were still stunned silly, looking at the sky blankly.
Meanwhile, the Templars looked at each other. After a long time, about 500 Templars flew in the direction where the avatars had gone, looking like a shower of meteorites.
…
Lu Zhou had taken the two ancient gods away so the Tower of Heaven could not influence them. He flew north until nothing but the wilderness stretched before his eyes.
“Down!”
Lu Zhou’s voice was like thunder, shaking the sky.
The two avatars flew down headfirst as they pushed Kua Fu and Xing Tian to the ground.
“Divine Binding Technique!”
Lu Zhou cast the Divine Binding Technique twice. One was golden, cast with the power of the nine light disks while the other was blue, cast with the full force of his divine Dao power.
The two energy seals from the Divine Binding Technique, one golden and one blue, were like a mountain pressing down on the two ancient gods.
Boom!
The divine technique restrained the duo’s bodies as the avatars stood at the side and held their bodies with an iron grip.
Lu Zhou flashed and appeared between his two avatars before he sat cross-legged in the air and joined his palms together. After he released a strand of his consciousness, he seemed to have entered a world of nothingness for a moment before scenes after scenes appeared before him.
Lu Zhou saw Kua Fu running non-stop in the seemingly endless wilderness.
Then, Lu Zhou seemed to have turned into a gust of wind as he swept up into the sky. From above, far in the distance, he saw Kua Fu running on top of a mountain in the northern wilderness. Kua Fu did not stop; he ran past mountains, valleys, and the endless wilderness. Alas, Kua Fu still could not catch up with the sun. Still, Kua Fu did not stop. In the end, Kua Fu finally fell when the sun set.
Lu Zhou was about to withdraw his strand of consciousness when the scene rippled and returned to what it was at the beginning.
“Hm?”
Kua Fu’s soul and consciousness did not dissipate at all. The scene from before was repeated again. In the beginning, he was filled with hope, and in the end, there was only despair. Over and over again, the scenes kept repeating in a vicious cycle.
Lu Zhou’s consciousness that was following Kua Fu experienced everything Kua Fu experienced. What Kua Fu felt, he felt as well. After experiencing death about ten times, he felt a slight pressure from his consciousness that seemed to be in chaos.
Swoosh!
Lu Zhou’s strand of consciousness returned to his body in just a blink of an eye. When he opened his eyes, he turned to look at the unmoving Kua Fu, who was being suppressed by the golden avatar. He was slightly surprised.
Lu Zhou had crossed the long river history and witnessed the life and death of countless sages of the past. However, none of them could move his heartstrings.
Since time immemorial, the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death was absolute.
In the beginning, he would feel lonely when his good friends departed from the world. Time continued to pass, and he made more good friends. With more good friends, there would be more parting that came with death as well. The repetition numbed him over time, turning his heart into a rock.
However, at this moment, after watching Kua Fu over and over again, Lu Zhou was affected by Kua Fu’s persistence and felt a fluctuation in his emotions. After a moment, he shook his head and sighed softly.
Humans, the strangest of all living things, continued to advance by relying on and building upon their predecessors and ancestors’ achievements. The flourishing civilization of today was supported by the predecessors and the ancestors who laid the foundation for the future generation. Perhaps, their bodies were long gone, but their souls would always remain in the world.
When Lu Zhou snapped out of his reverie, he raised his left hand. Three sun disks shone in the sky as he continued chanting Buddhist scriptures.
Purified by the chanting, the remnant of Kua Fu’s soul and will gradually faded away.
At this moment, the sun was setting. Its light shone through the trees and fell on Kua Fu.
Lu Zhou, who had traveled the Unknown Land and nine domains, could not help but sigh at the beauty of the sunlight. It had been a long time since he had taken a good look at the sun. It had been a long time since he had basked in the warmth of the sun. The warmth of the setting sun seemed to bring with it a sense of peace that washed over him, dispelling the darkness and the cold.
When the sun finally set, Lu Zhou said, “It’s done. Go in peace.”
Lu Zhou waved his hand, withdrawing the golden avatar.
Kua Fu turned to dust and flew away with the cold breeze.
The dust seemed to form a scene of Kua Fu walking into the distance. He was no longer running. Instead, he was walking steadily step by step into the sunlight. In the sunlight, there was a forest; in the forest; there was water; in the water; there was hope.
Lu Zhou who was slightly dazed shook his head and composed himself. Then, he turned to look at the extremely violent Xing Tian. Similar to before, he extended a strand of consciousness and entered a world of nothingness.
Soon enough, Lu Zhou saw four huge chains fall from the dark sky and restrained Xing Tian’s hands and feet. The chains were so long that it was impossible to tell how long they were.
Xing Tian’s expression was fierce as he glared at the sky.
Lu Zhou followed Xing Tian’s line of sight and looked at the sky as well.
A huge hazy figure could be seen in the sky. It was almost 1,000 feet tall, and its hair was long and messy. It held a huge ax and was looking down at Xing Tian. Despite its hazy figure, its eyes were as bright and cold as the moon. When it moved the ax, the clouds rolled. At this moment, it suddenly raised its ax and brought it down.
Bang!
Xing Tian’s head flew up into the sky. No one knew where it landed.
The figure raised its ax again and brought it down again.
Bang!
Xing Tian’s right arm flew out.
Bang!
Xing Tian’s left arm was severed.
Bang! Bang!
Xing Tian’s left leg and right leg were also chopped off.
Then, Xing Tian’s body fell on Chang Yang Mountain and disappeared.
Lu Zhou looked at the blurry figure and asked, “Whose memories am I seeing?”
The blurry figure did not say anything and turned to leave.
Similar to Kua Fu, Xing Tian continued to experience the pain of being beheaded and dismembered over and over and over again. He struggled with all his might. If he succeeded, he would be able to keep his head. However, without fail, every time the scenes were repeated, he failed.
After Xing Tian’s tenth death, Lu Zhou withdrew his strand of consciousness and returned to his body. The feeling of being beheaded was not pleasant. He turned to look at Xing Tian and was suddenly reminded of Wang Hai, the Dark Prince, who was one of the zombie kings.
One was shackled to the Pillar of Destruction by a divine emperor after death, never to be reborn again.
The other was beheaded by a mysterious figure but lived on in the world.
Xing Tian managed to recover his limbs, but his head was never found. This was where his obsession lay and where his soul drew power from.
Lu Zhou joined his palms again and recited the Buddhist scriptures. As he chanted, energy came out of his mouth and formed the characters from the scriptures before landing on Xing Tian’s body.
The energy characters that contained the divine Dao power were blue. Each time one of them landed on Xing Tian, his struggle would weaken a little.
Lu Zhou only stopped chanting when Xing Tian completely stopped struggling.
Xing Tian’s body glowed like jade before it slowly disintegrated into dust that was carried away by the wind.
Similar to before, the dust seemed to weave a picture of Xing Tian standing in the sky. His aura was extraordinary, and his facial features were distinct.
Lu Zhou waved his hand, withdrawing his blue avatar. Standing in the wilderness, he could not help but sigh. He said earnestly, “Unfortunately, what you need to face is not the sky, but yourself. I’m older than you, and I’ve fought this fight endlessly as well…”
When the scenes disappeared, darkness returned.
It was also at this moment that hundreds of Templars appeared in the sky. They hovered in the sky and did not dare to approach.
Lu Zhou walked very slowly on the ground like an ordinary person. He stopped next to a short tree nearest to him before he looked at the Templars and asked, “Do you want to die?”
The Templars retreated immediately. They knew they were no match for the Unholy One so they naturally did not dare to confront him.
“Why aren’t you leaving?” Lu Zhou asked.
Finally, a Templar mustered up his courage and boldly said, “The pillars have collapsed, the Great Dao has disappeared, and the Great Void has begun to fall. If Grand Mystic Mountain was still standing, would you… would you still turn a blind eye to this?”
Lu Zhou looked at the Templar who had just spoken and said, “Do you not understand my words?”