As Qin Yun walked in, he inspected the black Stone of the Earth in his hand. “How strange. I feel my blood boiling while holding it and there’s a strong desire to eat it.”
“When cultivating, inject your Godfiend energies into the Stone of the Earth.” Highwarrior Juyong looked at Qin Yun and exhorted, “Remember, don’t eat it. Even a piece the size of a fingernail will explode your body to smithereens. Besides, future descendants of our Highwarrior family will rely on the Stone of the Earth for cultivation. Just relying on your own power to attain the Godfiend realm is too difficult.”
“I understand,” answered Qin Yun.
The security became tighter as the trio proceeded inside. They walked across inconspicuous corridors and gradually went deeper underground.
There was another world underground.
“How beautiful.” When Qin Yun reached the underground space, he saw that the stone walls in the distance had colorful crystals embedded in them. There were rivers by the side that emanated rich spiritual energies.
“It feels as though the Heaven and Earth spiritual energies are richer here than in the outside world,” Qin Yun could not help but comment. At the same time, he looked at the river that suffused colorful light with spiritual energies rising up from it. When he sensed it, he could not help but exclaim, “What? The river is made of liquid condensed from Heaven and Earth spiritual energies?”
The Heaven and Earth spiritual energies condensed to form a river?
That was unheard of in his homeworld!
“Wing, what’s there to be surprised about? There will be stuff that will shock you even more later.” The hunchbacked elder pointed to a distant bronze door. “By the way, the area behind that door contains many manuals of the Godfiend Temple, as well as manuals for all sorts of divine powers. When you reach the Godfiend realm, you can enter and choose as you please. Learn whatever fancies you. However, you have to focus on one or two divine powers because they are not easy to cultivate.”
Qin Yun nodded to show his compliance. He sighed inwardly, “According to Wing’s memories, humans have nine great cities. There are very few Godfiends in each city! I’m being given the freedom to choose any of these manuals to study. There are no restrictions.”
He continued walking.
The underground space was the most important area in the Godfiend Temple. It hid manuals, weapons, and treasures. The Elder introduced the various aspects of the hall along the way, broadening Qin Yun’s worldview.
Soon, Qin Yun and company arrived in front of an underground lake. The gigantic lake spanned about half a kilometer. It was filled with liquid condensed from Heaven and Earth spiritual energies. There were twelve huge buildings constructed on the surface of the lake. Together, they looked like an island in the middle of the lake.
“This is the Fire Phoenix Nest.” The hunchbacked elder pointed at the twelve chambers. “The Fire Phoenix Nest is a place for those at the Godfiend realm to enter seclusive cultivation! There are twelve chambers here and, other than the Connate Godfiend, Firephoenix, our Fire Phoenix City has had at most twelve Godfiends throughout history. Each one of them occupies a chamber. But now, there are only seven Godfiends left.”
“What happened to the other Godfiends?” Qin Yun could not help but ask.
“Wing, you are still too young. You are only fourteen,” said the hunchbacked elder. “The last time the fiendish demons fought our Fire Phoenix City was eighteen years ago. Therefore, you have never seen such a massive war. Every war was horrifying. Naturally, Godfiends would die in battle.”
Qin Yun nodded and looked at the twelve chambers.
Every generation, more Godfiends would be produced. But Godfiends would also die in battle! At its peak, Fire Phoenix City had a total of twelve Godfiends, but now it only had seven Godfiends.
How many Fire Phoenix City Godfiends had died throughout history? Qin Yun did not know but he could sense the tragedy behind it.
“Fiendish demons have always fought with us in order to determine the true owner of this world,” said the hunchbacked elder. “Connate Godfiends can travel the world freely but they slowly spread their bloodline to humans one generation after another. Wing, you are considered as having awakened your bloodline. However, there are still many things you have not awakened. If you can’t cultivate in Godfiend Dharmic formulations, you have no right to obtain a Godfiend surname. You can only live like an ordinary human and procreate. The Godfiend bloodline has long spread among humans and we believe that in tens of thousands of years, every newborn will probably have a sliver of the Godfiend bloodline.”
“Therefore, Connate Godfiends choose to protect humans,” the hunchbacked elder continued. “However, the Heaven and Earth spiritual energies are too rich. Even vegetation can gain sentience and become demons, not to mention beasts. If you include the Water race, then there are just too many demons that far exceed our numbers. Besides, Other Realm Fiendcelestials have also given demons cultivation formulations.”
Highwarrior Juyong added, “We have not created demonic cultivation formulations but the Other Realm Fiendcelestial know of it. They have even created two Fiend Nests, making it easier for demons to attain the fiendcelestial realm.”
“Fiend Nest?” Qin Yun was puzzled.
“It’s a land of cultivation more unique than Fire Phoenix Nest,” said the hunchbacked elder as he pointed at the twelve chambers. “This entire underground space was originally one of the sources of the Heaven and Earth spiritual energies. Therefore, it can easily form rivers and even a lake filled with Heaven and Earth spiritual energies. And in the middle of the lake, there are solidified Heaven Earth Essence Crystals!”
“There are Heaven Earth Essence Crystals everywhere inside the chambers. Cultivating amid them will naturally be fast,” said the hunchbacked elder. “We humans have nine great cities that contain nine sources of the Heaven and Earth spiritual energies. We never expected the Other Realm Fiendcelestials to occupy two other spots, or that they would transform them into two Fiend Nests.”
“If we eventually lose the war, it would be equivalent to seeing our race be exterminated. This world would then be the world of the fiendish demons.” The hunchbacked elder frowned as he looked at Qin Yun. “Wing, go on in. There are five doors out of the twelve chambers that can be pushed open. Choose any one of them. The cultivation chambers have magus arrays set up. You will become the owner of the chamber and then even we cannot enter. Only the Connate Godfiend Firephoenix can forcibly enter because this entire Godfiend Temple is under Firephoenix’s control.”
“Go on. Step into the Godfiend realm as soon as possible.” Highwarrior Juyong’s eyes were filled with anticipation. “The third Firmament of the Mortal realm is too weak.”
“Yes.”
Qin Yun held the Stone of the Earth with one hand and walked across the lake that effused spiritual energy to the middle of the lake where there were twelve chambers. He controlled the Heaven and Earth powers and gently pushed. Soon, he discovered he could open the fifth chamber.
Highwarrior Juyong and the hunchbacked elder watched Qin Yun enter a chamber.
“Your Fire Phoenix City will have an additional Godfiend,” said Highwarrior Juyong wistfully. “Even if he’s slow, it will only take four years or so. He will definitely break through but he’s too young. He’s lacking in combat experience. You have to take good care of him in the beginning. Do not let the weak him encounter formidable foes or he might lose his life. I think he will have no problems reaching the second Firmament of the Godfiend realm.”
“Don’t worry. So many Godfiends have died every generation! It’s rare for us to encounter a kid with such immense talent. During this hundred years, we will protect him with utmost care,” said the hunchbacked elder.
“Alright.” Highwarrior Juyong nodded slightly.
Slightly more than ten thousand years had passed since the birth of the world.
In the beginning, humans were slowly born and they started from humble origins. Connate Godfiends also traversed the world in a daze. With time, Connate Godfiends made contact with other living beings and gradually, their intelligence grew. Demons also began to come into existence and there were no wars in the beginning. At best, there was some friction between the races. Later on, Other Realm Fiendcelestials entered the fray. They wanted dominion over this world. Connate Godfiends wanted to protect their bloodline and also to never submit. So they chose to fight!
The war was extremely horrifying.
“Patriarch Highwarrior said that the Heaven and Earth spiritual energies would gradually thin. The number of vegetation and animals that gain sentience will also decrease, resulting in a gradual decrease in the demon population. As for humans, they will increase in number. The longer this goes on, the more of an advantage we will have,” said Highwarrior Juyong. “Therefore, as long as we can hold on and last until the end, we will definitely win.”
“I wish I could live to see that day,” said the hunchbacked elder.
“Muqi, you will,” said Highwarrior Juyong with a smile.
…
Qin Yun entered one of the chambers.
The chamber was about a hundred feet wide. There were large crystals in the room, with the largest ones being twenty to thirty feet wide. The smaller ones were a few feet wide. These crystals had magus arrays enveloping them on the surface. There was no way to take them away.
“These are…” Qin Yun looked at the resplendent crystals that filled the room in disbelief. “They are… are Immortal Crystals?”
“What they call Heaven Earth Essence Crystals are known as Immortal Crystals in my homeworld. A tiny Immortal Crystal is already extremely valuable. This many Immortal Crystals…” Qin Yun was a little dazed. “It’s completely unimaginable in my homeworld.”
He had once used a Fluttering Water Immortal Stone to step into the Connate realm.
And Immortal Crystals were even purer and more valuable than Fluttering Water Immortal Stones.
The Myriad Temple’s standard currency was Immortal Crystals! The sheer number of Immortal Crystals in this chamber could only be found in such ancient periods, especially in sources of the Heaven and Earth spiritual energies.
“In such an environment, even if I do not cultivate, my body would still gradually experience changes. Even a simple plant in here would attain sentience and become a demon. Perhaps, they might even become an ancient mutant!” sighed Qin Yun. “In my homeworld, no one would even dare to dream of having such a land of cultivation.”
“Time to begin. Let me first break through to the Godfiend realm in one shot.”
Qin Yun sat cross-legged on an Immortal Crystal that was about ten feet wide. He then placed the valuable Stone of the Earth in front of him.