"On this day in the Longevity Heavenly Dynasty, the people of various provinces all felt a sense of illusion as if they were in a dream.
It was not without reason that they had such perceptions; the world had changed too quickly and in ways beyond belief.
What was the scenery of this country ordinarily like?
Demons consumed the blood and flesh of a hundred people every day, while Evil Cultivators devoured the spirits and souls of ten thousand people each month.
Despite the fact that the Seventy-Two Provinces were dominated by the Human Clan, which had thrived and bred for over two thousand years, amounting to several billion,
those Extraordinary Beings, be it Human Gods Demons Immortals or Beast Demons, were beings of a different dimension compared to ordinary members of the Human Clan with only their flesh and blood bodies and no Extraordinary Powers. A little malice from them and the Human Clan had no power to resist.
Food for you, Blood Food for you.
Until now, when piece by piece, the Forbidden Law Barriers gradually restored, the situation finally changed.
Those being slaughtered, refined, and devoured were no longer the common people, but those wicked Demons and Evil Cultivators.
The common people of each province watched the Evil Demons wail endlessly within the Forbidden Divine Light, begging for mercy incessantly, each feeling a surge of satisfaction as a long-held resentment in their hearts was finally vented.
And at this critical juncture, one could even witness the most disgraceful side of those military leaders who had been imperious and bullied the common folk.
The Demons bearing too many sins against humanity had no way out and were sure to die.
Some of the Heterodoxy and Demon Sects, stirring trouble behind the scenes, woke up early and returned to their Mountain Gates, letting the Forbidden Law Barriers for a while be unable to touch them.
The warlords and bandits pushed to the front were the most embarrassed.
There were chances for survival, but not many.
However slim, they needed to seize the opportunity.
Thus, on this day, the entire nation heard the absurd vows made by the many big and small military leaders and also saw their life stories and endings.
"From Yue State, warlord Liu Heizai, inherently brutal, committed all evils, cultivated the Evil Demon Secret Book 'Blood Transformation Demon Scripture,' and under his command nurtured an Ogre Army of tens of thousands, who, an hour ago, made a Great Vow offering all his Ogre Army's fortunes and treasures just to save his own life or to erase his memory and be reincarnated for a fresh start, only to have the vow rejected and to be completely annihilated by Si Xixin's Extermination Divine Light."
"From Yun City, warlord Zheng Wenbao, who in childhood picked up a Heterodox Great Book 'Deceitful Infant Scripture' and, in haste to achieve quick success, looked directly into it and became a Fallen Demon Mutant. Ultimately, in a male body, he gave birth to three hundred Deceitful Infants and simply refined an army of them, becoming a tyrant in his own right. Half an hour ago, he made a Great Vow offering everything, including his own Cultivation and soul, just to save the lives of the three hundred Deceitful Infants under his command. Even if only one could be saved, that would suffice, only to have the vow rejected and to be refined to nothing by Zhang Jinluan's Human Dao Soul Refining Array."
"The great warlord from Heavenly Fire Province, Shen Ci, because he possessed the 'Five Thunder Dao Body,' consequently obtained the support of Heterodox Sects like Fiery Fire Sect and Divine Thunder Sect. Upon entering the Cavernous Mystery Realm, to satisfy his personal desires, he even collaborated with these sects to cast Secret Techniques and lure into this world and slay an Outer Realm Thunder Fire Sky Demon devoid of Spiritual Wisdom. After the death of the Heavenly Demon, one-tenth of the province's territory was forcibly transformed into a special Spirit Land, which greatly increased his own Cultivation... He made a Great Vow sacrificing all just to save his life, had the vow rejected, and was wiped out by Zhang Jinluan."
"The Female Warlord Liu Suzhen from Pan Jia Province endured a miserable childhood and numerous calamities, but later encountered Immortal Fate and acquired a volume of 'Xuan Yin Divine Woman Book.' After eighty years she entered the Cavernous Mystery Realm, only to face an accident during the refining of the Outer Realm Heaven Demons—she merged with a Desire Demon. Her personality greatly changed, she became fond of male beauty, and after becoming a warlord, her harem of male concubines reached the thousands... She made a Great Vow offering all just to arrange for those male concubines to join her in death when she passed away, had the vow rejected, and was wiped out by Si Xixin."
"The Yellow River Water Bandit Chen Qing'an was a hybrid Alien Species born of the union between a Jiao Dragon and a human. Due to profound Blessings, he quickly grew into an Overlord. Chen Qing'an bore a deep grudge against the Human Clan from his childhood experiences and thus widely disseminated the Demon Monster Strange Book 'Water Nymph Scripture,' which transformed Cultivators gradually from the Human Clan into various types of Water Clan. The affected numbered one hundred thousand, who were compelled to live with Chen Qing'an beneath the Yellow River, enslaved to erect the Yellow River Water God Palace... He wished to sacrifice all just to die with his full Water Clan identity intact. His vow was addressed by the Ancestor God Treasure 'Qiankun Needle,' which removed his Water Clan blood, rendering him to die as a member of the Human Clan, obliterated through Soul Refining."
"On Cangwu Mountain lived a strange person named Luo Bubei, who took no interest in the affairs of Yin and Yang of the Human Clan, preferring the company of many kinds of birds and beasts, regardless of their kind. He gathered with him three thousand others who shared this preference, jointly cultivating an ancient Alien Species Strange Book 'Ten Thousand Beasts Derivation Scripture.' These three thousand roamed the vast mountains, Hidden Valleys, desolate Secret Realms, mating with Devils, beasts, and Alien Species, and they all necessarily brought forth various hybrid Descendants. Such a grand calamity that disrupted the bloodlines of species came at a great cost—all the mixed-blood Descendants produced by the group lacked Spiritual Wisdom and were dim-wittedly violent creatures... Luo Bubei wished to offer all, including his very life, just to save the offspring produced by their group. His vow was answered by the Ancestor God Treasure 'Guanyin Flower Basket,' which wiped out Luo Bubei and his faction, with countless mixed-blood offspring banished to the Outer Realm."
...
Billions of citizens listened clearly and with great satisfaction.
Of the many warlords and outlaws who made vows to save their lives, about half found that even their vows could not help them and were directly obliterated.
As for the other half, though they successfully redeemed their lives, their outcomes were each tragic, leaving the people to vent their anger, acclaiming that such treatment was far better than simply killing them.
As time passed, the Divine Treasures gifts scattered through the sky across the Seventy-Two Provinces gradually found their owners.
And the state of affairs began to clear up.
In this world, all the other Hidden Dragon Talents were eliminated from the game.
The numerous military leaders suffered heavy casualties and no longer had any power to compete.
The multitude of forces that had been involved in the 'Human Emperor battle' from the Cultivation World shrunk back.
Even the forces of Twelve Daoist Sects, Buddhist Temple, and the Top Heterodox Sect, when they realized that the 'Ancestor God Forbidden Technique' was re-emerging, chose to retreat and no longer intervene.
It seemed now there were only Zhang Jinluan, Si Xixin, Tao Qian, and Yu Yanshi left in this world.
Of course, there was an exception.
Devil God Third Princess!
Hong Fu!
She was the only exception.
She too made a Great Vow, but not one for atonement or sacrifice.
Her vow was similar to those of the aforementioned four, also aiming to stand up and save the world by rebuilding the Forbidden Law Barrier.
And for this, she did not hesitate to take drastic action.
"I am Yin Yuehua!"
"Today I make a Great Vow, willing to commit this body and this life, to re-establish the Ancestor God Forbidden Technique Longevity Barrier and shelter the millions of the Human Clan in peace."
"Because of the nature of my birth and my bloodline, for many years I have been entangled by Devil Gods and Devil Godesses."
"All treasures with a spirit, come swiftly to aid me in severing the blood ties of karma, excising this abscess, and restoring my innocence."
The moment this oath was uttered, the entire nation was shocked.
Even Tao Qian, the initiator, was momentarily stunned upon hearing it before realizing the decisiveness and ruthlessness of Hong Fu, whose given name was Yin Yuehua.
The betrayed Devil God and over a hundred Devil God Princesses were plunged into an incredulous rage.
Especially the Devil God herself!
Even though she could not enter the world, she planned to use the blood connection between father and daughter to kill this unfilial girl.
In the province where she resided, whispers filled with corruption immediately resonated, gusts of ominous wind swept through, the earth distorted, and as if an endless surge of bloodlight was flowing towards Yin Yuehua's dwelling, seeming to tear it into pieces.
Those whispers only sounded terrifying to the bystanders, who could not understand their meanings.
However, Yunrong, who was at Tao Qian's side, understood them and immediately translated for him:
"The Devil God is roaring, demanding an explanation from Yin Yuehua on why she would do such a thing."
"At the same time, she has inadvertently revealed a secret: The Devil God has no gender, does not distinguish between Yin and Yang, nor recognize the concepts of male and female—it thus poses no trouble for her to conceive a daughter on a whim... Only Yin Yuehua, the Devil God Third Princess, is unique, born of the Devil God and a female cultivator from the Human Clan."
"That female cultivator is suspected to hail from the southern Heavenly Consort Palace."
"Perhaps it's because she carries her mother's bloodline that Yin Yuehua is so completely different from the other promiscuous Devil God Princesses."
"With her ambitious talent and a demeanor that could rival any man's, she has always longed to break free from the Devil God's control and carve out a great enterprise."
"Her previous intent to marry Si Xixin was actually a ploy to use his strength. Unfortunately, the Devil God and Si Xixin saw through her plan, and it all came to nothing in the end."
"Yet now, one wonders if this Sister Yin can seize this fine opportunity to succeed?"
...
As Yunrong spoke,
Tao Qian was also gazing at the revitalized Longevity Heavenly Dynasty, his heart surging with excitement and joy.
In his eyes, the reconstruction process of the Ancestor God Forbidden Technique and the Longevity Barrier was clearly reflected.
To recast this formidable object of heaven and earth!
It would require a surge of Human Dao Torrent to begin, followed by the response of myriad Extraordinary Treasures coming back into the Heavenly Track. However, to bond them together, a massive amount of resources and treasures, as well as hidden crucial components, and some core Divine Treasures involving wisdom and rules—such as the Nine States' Twelve Treasures and the Mountain and River Map—were needed.
Of course, the most important was the Alchemist's Treasure Vault.
Without these resources for support, even if the Barrier was rebuilt, it would be full of holes and collapse in an instant.
Now, all the conditions had gathered.
A colossal Forbidden Law Barrier, encompassing seventy-two provinces, was beginning to take shape...
However, it had not yet fully integrated. By size, there were four sections:
The Barrier controlled by Si Xixin was the largest, covering twenty-four provinces.
Zhang Jinluan's was next, covering twenty provinces.
Yu Yanshi's was somewhat smaller, covering seventeen provinces.
Tao Qian ranked last, with only six provinces.
That is to say, in the Northern Land, there were still five provinces temporarily unprotected by the Ancestor God Forbidden Barrier.
There were so many left over for a simple reason.
There were just too many Ancestor God Fragments, many of which had already developed extraordinary intelligence.
Therefore, some of the treasures were deemed unworthy by all four candidates.
"They do not flock to those three because they each have their own likes and dislikes."
"And not coming to me must be because they all sensed that I, Tao Qian, neither wish to be nor am cut out to be the Human Emperor."
As Tao Qian entertained this thought, his face was filled with a smug expression, nearly laughing out loud.
In demonstrating such a demeanor, he had seriously irked the Twelve Emperors of Alchemist from the secret realm of the Outer Realm.
At this very moment!
Each of these Mutated Emperors came to their senses.
They had been duped by this cunning Spirit Treasure thief.
Although Tao Qian had not gained any Treasure Vault, and the Spirit Treasure Sect had not provided him with any resources or treasures,
as the "Heir of Heavenly Destiny" who had driven the situation and previously instigated major events of fortune like the Yang Sui Uprising and the New Moon Rebellion, how could he possibly have only such a scant number of Ancestor God Fragments to his name if he truly aspired to contend for the throne of the Human Emperor?