Chapter 169: The Heaven and Earth Taoists Visit to the Northern Underworld
Thanks to the predictions by the Eight Trigrams, the Human Tribe survived one natural disaster after another. The weather was favorable and fewer tribesmen died in natural disasters, greatly relieving Fuxi. He had the feeling that once he found the next sovereign of the Human Tribe, he would have fulfilled his Merit.
Knowing this, Liu Er bade him farewell and left for Blood Sea riding on the Water Kylin. When the time came for Emperor Fuxi to receive the Rectification of Human Sovereign, he would come with Minghe and that would signal the end of their mentor-disciple relationship.
When he reached the Blood Sea, Liu Er sent the Water Kylin to look for Chixuan while he went to Minghe to return the River Chart and the Inscription of the Luo. "Master, Fuxi has almost fulfilled his merit, so I shall return the treasure to you." The treasure wasn’t merely priceless and it wasn’t suitable for him either.
Minghe took the treasure and said, "Go back and organize all your learnings from your stay in the Human Tribe. When Fuxi gets the Rectification of Human Sovereign, we can attend the ceremony together." He then sent the treasure to the Heaven and Earth Taoist.
The treasures recorded the evolution of mountains and waters in the Untainted Land. Since the World of Heaven and Earth had just been converted to a Small Chiliocosm and required more improvement, the treasure would greatly help the Heaven and Earth Taoist. Moreover, the treasure was originally ’taken’ by the Heaven and Earth Taoist from Kun Peng.
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The time was soon after LiuEr and Kongxuan left Blood Sea for the Human Tribe. The place was the Demon Palace in the Northern Underworld Sea. The character involved was the Demon Master, Kunpeng. Since Kunpeng got the Emperor Jun’s Eternal Spiritual Treasure, the River Chart and the Inscription of the Luo, he had been constantly trying to comprehend it. Unfortunately, he missed the point and gained little.
One day, he was comprehending the treasure as usual when he was hit by a strong sense of danger. However, he didn’t move. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to, he simply couldn’t. He had experienced this feeling once when Minghe froze the Individual Cultivators and the Sages-to-be with his Law of Heaven and Earth. Back then, he was hiding and planning on reaping the benefits from their fight, but Minghe froze him as well.
But his feeling was much worse this time. Even though he tried his best to move, he still wasn’t able to escape. Fear. A deep sense of dread dawned on him. Sensing the silence inside the Demon Palace, for the first time he felt the quiet could be sometimes terrifying.
Feeling around, Kunpeng could only see but not make the slightest movement. Such a situation lasted for a few minutes before Kunpeng was forced to speak. "I wonder which esteemed guest has arrived at the Northern Underworld. Please show yourself."
An unexpected figure appeared in the hall of the Demon Palace, the sight of him making Kunpeng cry out in horror, "It’s you, Heaven and Earth Taoist. What are you here for? Why did you freeze me? Did Ancestor Minghe sent you to kill me?"
The guest was none other than Minghe’s Good separation, the Heaven and Earth Taoist. He noticed the fear on Kunpeng’s face and said lightly, "Kill you? It’s not like that. Minghe’s disciple went to assist the first Human Sovereign and there’s something the Human Sovereign lacks for his Rectification, so he sent me here to collect it. By the way, the first Human Sovereign is an old friend of yours. It’s the former Emperor Fuxi."
Kunpeng’s face turned dark. "Fuxi? I didn’t expect to be still alive, even reincarnated in the Human Tribe and became the Human Sovereign. It’s probably Goddess Nvywa’s arrangement. I wonder what treasure you’re here for."
The Heaven and Earth Taoist smiled. "Naturally it’s Emperor Jun’s original Eternal Spiritual Treasure, the River Chart and the Inscription of the Luo. During the battle between the Wu Tribe and the Demon Tribe, you stole Emperor Jun’s treasure without consideration of Fuxi’s life. It’s your great Fated Chance to comprehend the treasure for thousands of years. Now you have reached the end of your Fated Chance is over and you should hand it over."
Kunpeng’s expression turned ghastly and he said coldly, "How can I give you my Spiritual Treasure? It’s too much of Fellow Taoist Minghe to send you here." Never mind a supreme primordial treasure like the River Chart and the Inscription of the Luo, he didn’t even have many primordial spiritual treasures to begin with.
The Heaven and Earth Taoist smiled more widely. "Kunpeng, did you think I’m here to discuss it with you?" His smile remained but his killing intent was obvious. Kunpeng had once seen such a smile on Minghe’s face but still shivered to see it a second time.
He was naturally unhappy and gritted his teeth. "Don’t force me. If push comes to shove, I’ll just drag you to hell with me. I suppose Minghe will feel pain if you, the Great Deity of Feng Capital dies? And the Nether World will probably fall into chaos?"
The Heaven and Earth Taoist suddenly burst out laughing hearing Kunpeng’s threat. "You’re still the same! You’ve not grown an inch! Drag me to hell? Go ahead and try! No, you’d better try moving before making such a bold claim!"
Kunpeng watched him came close and took away his River Chart and the Inscription of the Luo from his hands without being able to resist. The most terrible thing was that he felt like he was in a separate space as he couldn’t feel his Eternal Spiritual Treasure or the Demon Palace at all. Though he was still in the hall of his palace, he could only see it but not initiate it.
Kunpeng’s face changed drastically. This was more than just the Law of Heaven and Earth, it was the Law of Space. He never thought that the Heaven and Earth Taoist would be capable of comprehending the Law of Space and with such mastery too. Kunpeng couldn’t make any resistance against him. Was this truly the power a Sage-to-be was capable of owning?
Realization hit him suddenly and he looked at the Heaven and Earth Taoist in shock. He felt as if his whole body was integrated into the heaven and earth, without any vital force of the Sages-to-be around him. That was the feeling of being in the Realm of Origin. "Y-You! You’ve actualized the Origin!" His voice was full of fear.
Since the birth of the Untainted Land, only seven had ascended into Sagehood besides Hongjun. Among them, Minghe was the only one who had actualized the Realm of Origin and became a Da Luo Golden Immortal. And now, even his Good Separation had succeeded where so many almighty people in the Untainted Land had failed. It was unbelievable.
Kunpeng knew he didn’t have the slightest chance of escaping an expert of both the Law of Heaven and Earth and the Law of Space. Would he die here today? Holding onto the last glimmer of hope for survival, he asked, "Fellow Taoist Heaven and Earth, you can take the treasure. Please let me go for Goddess Nvywa’s sake. I swear I’ll never hold this against Fellow Taoist Minghe in the future."
The Heaven and Earth Taoist played with the treasure in his hands and smiled. "Goddess Nvywa? Kun Peng, back then you escaped before the battle without consideration for Fuxi’s life. If not for your status as the Demon Master, she would’ve longed sorted you out. Do you think she’ll be enemies with us if I kill you here today?"
Kunpeng’s face turned deathly pale. The Heaven and Earth Taoist was right. His status as the Demon Master was the only thing holding Goddess Nvywa back from killing him. That was why he had lived in seclusion since the battle of the Wu Tribe and the Demon Tribe, afraid of Goddess Nvywa’s retaliation against him without regard for his position.
The Heaven and Earth Taoist continued, "Now that you know my secret, do you think there’s any chance we let you live?" He looked at Kunpeng with a smile, feeling the joy of being able to toy with the lives of others.
Kunpeng’s face turned sheet white. If he was the Heaven and Earth Taoist, he wouldn’t let someone who knew his secret live either. After all, only the dead would keep secrets. Was his death inevitable?
Suddenly, a thought came to him. If Minghe wanted to kill him, the Heaven and Earth Taoist wouldn’t be entertaining him with all these talks. With his strength, it was a piece of cake for the Heaven and Earth Taoist to kill him. Since he was being told so many things, it was apparent the Heaven and Earth Taoist didn’t want to kill him. Perhaps he was still useful to Minghe.
Thinking of this, he immediately said, "Fellow Taoist Heaven and Earth, I suppose you’re not just here for the treasure but also because Minghe wants me to work for him." He wouldn’t give up even the smallest chance of survival. After all, he was born cowardly. If he wasn’t so, he wouldn’t have become Emperor Jun’s subordinate in the first place.