Reflections

"The blood star... is gone!" "It's gone!" Across the Southern Lands of the Mortal Heart Realm, all the ancient gods and ordinary mortals looked up at the sky. At the massive tear, the colossal blood sun that once hung there had vanished without a trace. What this signified was lost on the common folk, but how could the ancient gods fail to understand? An elderly man wept openly, tears and mucus streaming down his face. "The evil god... is gone!" The evil god that had ravaged the Mortal Heart Realm for hundreds of thousands of years—that existence above True God... Was gone. He could not help but recall moments before, when the canopy of heaven was torn apart, and the terrifying existence above True God roared in fury. That Origin Celestial Venerable of the Northern Lands, robed in blood-red, had passed beyond the firmament. Five thousand gods followed behind him, sworn to slay the evil gods! The instant they glimpsed even a corner of that being's eye, the ancient gods of the Mortal Heart Realm knew. This battle was fundamentally unwinnable. The might of an existence above True God exceeded all imagination. Its body was vaster than the Mortal Heart Realm itself. The ancient gods were born and raised in the Mortal Heart Realm; all the resources they had ever gathered combined were not worth a ten-thousandth of that existence above True God. To fight was certain defeat. Yet now... That blood sun, which had illuminated the Mortal Heart Realm for tens of thousands of years, had disappeared. The Mortal Heart Realm had won. Origin Celestial Venerable had won. And yet... "Great Venerable Lishan... has fallen." "Venerable Baixi... is gone!" A white-haired, white-bearded elder flashed into his cave abode. Seeing that all thirty lanterns hanging in the chamber had gone out, grief overwhelmed him. The ancient gods who had departed for the Northern Lands had each left a wisp of aura upon a soul lamp. The extinction of the flames within the lanterns meant that they had perished beyond the firmament. The elder looked up at the heavens, hoping against hope to see ancient gods plummeting back down like shooting stars. Alas, he was destined for disappointment. *** At this moment, within Feihuang City, the city lord's daughter, Huang Mengling, wore a wistful expression. She could not help but recall when she first met that young man. He was feasting at a banquet. She had invited him to leave that perilous place known as Qingshui Village and accompany her to the city, even offering to recommend him to the Ancient God Alliance. That peculiar ancient god had refused her, his conduct eccentric and borderline mad. Yet who could have foreseen that he would achieve this... Everything from the past seemed vivid before her eyes, like a dream. Just then, a feeble voice sounded by Huang Mengling's ear. "My injuries have healed by thirty percent. Has Feiling Prefecture dispatched any evil gods?" The voice belonged to none other than Ancient God Yuan, who had been slumbering in recovery. Back when Feihuang City faced calamity, she had awakened once, only to swiftly fall dormant again. Even while nursing her wounds, she remained deeply anxious about Feihuang City's predicament. Origin Celestial Venerable had slain the descending evil gods, which was bound to provoke retaliation. Hearing Ancient God Yuan's words, Huang Mengling froze for a moment. She did not know how to answer. After hesitating, she finally said, "The evil gods... are all gone." "Gone?" Ancient God Yuan's voice held a dazed note of incomprehension. Abruptly, she looked up toward the heavens, her expression shifting from astonishment to terror. In her ear came Huang Mengling's bleak voice. "Yesterday, Origin Celestial Venerable led the ancient gods of several villages to march against the existence above True God... They went beyond the firmament, and none have returned." *** Night fell, hazy and silent, over the Ancestral Land of the Ancient Clan. As it was not the time for the Ancestral Land to open, the domain lay entirely empty, without a soul in sight. Suddenly, a streak of blood-red light flashed, and Qi Yuan's figure materialized within the Ancestral Land. With neither sorrow nor joy, he looked upon the Ancestral Land. "Truly worthy of being the Ancestral Land. Even in my current state, I sense tremendous danger." Within the Ancestral Land lurked countless dormant puppet gods. At present, Qi Yuan was a Yang God, yet also not quite a Yang God. In his battle against Great Sage Blood Sun and Great Sage Blood God, he had relied on an opportunistic advantage. Those two had coveted the Mortal Heart Realm for so long that they were thoroughly tainted with innate aura, which allowed Qi Yuan's All Beings Are Me to immobilize and subsequently slay them. That immobilization was far from permanent. Turning them into puppets was entirely out of the question. Great Venerable Shenlei, Zhu Zhuangshi, and the other villagers had used the evil gods' assimilation method, willingly becoming part of Qi Yuan. Only that constituted a true "me." Innate beings represented boundless possibilities. If this were the Canglan Realm, even if ordinary Yin Gods revered Qi Yuan as master and assimilated themselves, they still could not become Qi Yuan's "me." All Beings Are Me was, in truth, a law—yet a law restricted exclusively to the Mortal Heart Realm. If it functioned across all realms, or even multiple universes, then... it would no longer be an ordinary law. Qi Yuan's gaze swept over the Ancestral Land, deep and inscrutable. With a turn of his body, he landed in an empty clearing. A high tower had once stood here, but now... nothing remained. "The aura here... feels familiar." The vanishing of the tower gave Qi Yuan an inkling of recognition. "The God Visualization Art?" Qi Yuan murmured, beginning to understand. At his current realm and understanding, the law of conservation of energy still held sway. The God Visualization Art had not emerged out of thin air; what it had consumed were precisely certain special towers in the Ancestral Land. "The civilization behind this Ancestral Land is quite formidable. I wonder... if it belongs to this universe." Qi Yuan sighed with emotion. He lingered in the Ancestral Land for a brief moment before his figure dispersed. "Why hasn't my quest to protect Qingshui Village prompted completion yet?" *** The night was dim and hazy. At this hour, Qingshui Village was exceptionally quiet. Outside the village, however, lingered numerous ancient gods. Most of them carried deep reverence in their hearts, gazing toward Qingshui Village as if on a pilgrimage. "A single village produced a host of Great Venerables. Qingshui Village... truly deserves to be the sacred land of the Mortal Heart Realm." "Alas, we will never see them return." Some lamented, overcome with grief. Yet at the same time, two sharp-chinned, ape-faced ancient gods were secretly communicating via divine sense. "Origin Celestial Venerable was so powerful—Qingshui Village must hold a secret!" one ancient god said, his eyes glittering and his body trembling slightly. "Wang Can, your Divine Domain specializes in stealth. There are many ancient gods here right now; if you unfold your domain, the two of us can slip into Qingshui Village undetected and split the gains fifty-fifty!" Wang Can hesitated. "Origin Celestial Venerable just held up the falling sky for our world. Doing this seems... inappropriate." "Gratitude is gratitude, and profit is profit... Leaving the opportunities in Qingshui Village to go to waste is senseless. Why not let us have them?" the man urged greedily. "However... if we are discovered, there won't be a single inch of ground left for us to stand on in the Mortal Heart Realm!" "Hmph, we are using divine sense voice transmission! What is there to fear? No one could possibly know our plan. If we secretly seize the fortunes in Qingshui Village, so what if someone discovers us? We might very well become the next Origin Celestial Venerable! What would those ancient gods amount to then? Even if Origin Celestial Venerable returned to life, what could he do?" the man said excitedly. Were it not for Wang Can's unique Divine Domain, he never would have partnered with him; sneaking in alone would have been far better. Greed flickered across Wang Can's eyes, and he finally made up his mind. "Let's do it!" Just as the two prepared to speak further, their exchange came to an abrupt halt. Not far from Wang Can stood a slender young woman holding a fox in her arms. Her body was trembling faintly, goosebumps rising on the skin beneath her brown gown. Wang Can's expression shifted drastically, and his Divine Domain quietly expanded. He glared at the fox cradled in the woman's arms. That fox was a heart-reading fox! A heart-reading fox could eavesdrop on a cultivator's voice transmissions! "Zhao Qingyu, what did you hear?" Wang Can demanded, his Divine Domain fully deployed, murder lurking in his eyes. Zhao Qingyu's body shook as she clutched the heart-reading fox tightly. "Senior, I didn't hear anything." She was terrified and furious, wanting nothing more than to flee. "Is that so?" Wang Can chuckled. "A misunderstanding, then." Yet his Divine Domain showed no sign of receding. Evidently, he intended to ensure Zhao Qingyu never left. Right then, an abrupt voice rang out. "No wonder my quest hasn't been completed yet. As it turns out... someone is still coveting my Qingshui Village." With that voice, a blood-robed figure materialized. The young man had long, flowing hair and an extraordinary, handsome countenance, like a fiend god descended to the mortal realm. Wang Can and the other ancient god stiffened in shock. Both were utterly dumbfounded. "Origin Celestial Venerable!" It was actually Origin Celestial Venerable—he was still alive! Zhao Qingyu trembled all over, a bright light flashing in her eyes. She desperately wanted to tell Origin Celestial Venerable about the transmissions she had just overheard, but she could not even open her mouth to speak. At that moment, a flash of blood-red light swept past. "Don't think I can't hear you just because you badmouth me in secret." Wang Can and the ancient god beside him widened their eyes in horror. A blood-red aura crashed into their Divine Domains. Before it, their domains proved as fragile as thin paper. Their seemingly peerless Divine Domains shattered without offering the slightest defense. Terror consumed them as the aura of death washed over their beings. Both bodies collapsed, thoroughly and completely dead. Even in death, they never understood how Origin Celestial Venerable had uncovered their plot. It had been a secret voice transmission, and Zhao Qingyu had been pinned down the entire time. With Wang Can's death, the suffocating pressure upon Zhao Qingyu vanished instantly. She looked at Qi Yuan and bowed deeply. "Thank you, Celestial Venerable, for saving my life!" Streaks of light flashed as the ancient gods around Qingshui Village noticed the commotion. Upon seeing Qi Yuan, they were struck with shock, then boundless elation. Origin Celestial Venerable... was actually still alive! "Greetings, Origin Celestial Venerable!" "We pay our respects to the Celestial Venerable!" More than a dozen ancient gods near Qingshui Village gathered around Qi Yuan. Qi Yuan cast a calm glance over them. An elderly man stepped forward, his back hunched. "Dare I ask, Celestial Venerable... what became of the evil gods?" The disappearance of the blood sun implied the death of the existence above True God. Yet without seeing it with their own eyes, their hearts could not rest easy. "Dead," Qi Yuan said flatly. With that confirmation, the heavy stone pressing on the ancient gods' chests dropped away. Then, they heard Qi Yuan continue: "Qingshui Village is my domain. Unauthorized personnel are strictly forbidden from entering." The quest to protect Qingshui Village still had to go on. The other ancient gods did not react much to this; their minds were still immersed in the euphoria of the evil gods' downfall. Qi Yuan remembered something and added, "Previously, I promised to hold banquets across several cities, but never managed to go. "I wonder... could I trouble you all to handle these matters for me?" Hearing this, many of the ancient gods were overjoyed. Zhao Qingyu stepped forward hurriedly. "To serve the Celestial Venerable is this humble woman's honor!" The Celestial Venerable was alive. Who reigned supreme over this world was clearer than day. "Thank you, then." Having said his piece, Qi Yuan gave a wave of his sleeve. "You may all return." His figure dissolved, stepping into Qingshui Village. Back to the place where it all began. The tranquil Qingshui Village looked no different from an ordinary village. Crops in the fields grew lush and vibrant. "Since I'm meant to protect Qingshui Village, I might as well carry it away." "I am Qingshui Village, and Qingshui Village is me!" As Qi Yuan's voice fell, a bizarre transformation overtook Qingshui Village before him. Stones, tiles, mud bricks, soil, trees, spiritual rice... everything blurred and turned ethereal, dragged in a single sweep into Qi Yuan's Divine Domain. Qi Yuan's face went momentarily pale, only to recover in the blink of an eye. At that very moment, a game notification chime rang out.