Chapter 0 Extra Story: The Ancient Gods and Modern Humans (12,000 Words, Free)

2018, April 17th, 9:49 AM.

Earth, Zheng Nation, Unknown Secret Realm.

Zhenlong Jiuming, clad in long robes, carefully followed behind the formally dressed Wen Sheng (Sage of Letters), who wore robes and carried a sword. They traversed a narrow mountain valley path filled with various monitoring formations, arriving before a black tower situated beside a cold pool in the mountain stream.

The valley wasn't wide. Besides a waterfall, a cold pool, a patch of lush grass, and a few scattered small trees, there was only a black tower about a hundred meters tall.

The place appeared tranquil and ancient. If the tower were replaced with a thatched hut, it would truly evoke the feeling of an ancient hermit's dwelling.

"Just where is this place… and there are so many monitoring formations along the way. This seems like an ordinary place, is it really necessary to make such a big fuss?"

Although incredibly perplexed, Jiuming still followed behind the silent old man, muttering inwardly. His eyes inadvertently swept across both sides, then widened in astonishment: "Wait!?"

Heavens above—those seemingly unremarkable small trees beside the cold pool… they all faintly radiated an aura of 'divine wood'!?

"Just divine wood planted a few years ago. To become useful, it probably needs to wait a few hundred years."

"We plant the trees, so future generations can enjoy the shade."

Just then, Jiuming heard the old man's calm reply from ahead. The voice pulled him back from his astonishment, making him turn his head again to look ahead.

They had already arrived in front of the black tower.

The towering tower was pitch black. It had no markings and no decorations. It was entirely black, like a tall, slender black bamboo shoot.

The base of the tower didn't even have a door, making it unclear how to enter.

But soon, as Wen Sheng solemnly drew a simple, solemn long sword from his waist, using spiritual power to activate the sword's energy and touch the black tower, a dim and profound doorway, leading to an unknown destination, vaguely appeared on its surface.

Throughout the entire process, Jiuming had been nervously watching the sword.

The Chixiao Sword.

The Chixiao Sword, also known as the Snake-Slaying Sword, represented not only the grandeur of humanity but also had a great damage bonus against dragons and snakes—ordinary dragon and snake species, and even those who carried dragon qi, would be subdued in mind upon encountering this sword.

But for some reason, Su Zhou wasn't afraid at all, which puzzled Wen Sheng at the time, leading him to wonder if there was something wrong with the Chixiao Sword.

And now, sensing Jiuming's breathless, extremely nervous appearance behind him, Wen Sheng nodded slightly, knowing that it wasn't the sword that had the problem, but Su Zhou.

But, could it be that Su Zhou wasn't a dragon? That shouldn't be.

Forget it, now isn't the time to think about such questions.

"Come in."

Sheathing the Chixiao Sword, the formally dressed old man stepped into the dark passage leading into the tower, and Jiuming, after shivering, quickly followed.

However, it was different from what he had seen from the outside.

The moment he stepped into that dark passage, Jiuming felt a sense of shaking, as if being teleported—and the next moment, he disappeared from the quiet valley and appeared in an extremely quiet hall.

Then, he was surrounded by countless floating jade slips and light patterns.

The space inside the tower was much larger than it appeared from the outside—this was some kind of mustard seed containing a universe, the palm holding heaven and earth magic.

Just the hall that Jiuming could see was at least five hundred meters long and wide, and that was just a part of it. There were passages leading to other halls and chambers, and there were stairs in the center of the hall, leading to higher levels.

But the most important thing was the jade slips.

At this moment, Jiuming felt like he was in a sea of stars—in the dark hall without any other light source, thousands upon thousands of translucent jade slips and light patterns slowly undulated and rotated with the rise and fall of spiritual energy, like the Milky Way in the summer night sky.

Each jade slip moved in the air with great regularity, their movements like the trajectories of stars, and each jade slip was connected by bands of light, in which ancient runes rose and fell in series, profound and deep.

And the dragon youth was in the corner of this galaxy, watching the jade slips pass by his side, like shooting stars, or like swimming fish.

"Wait here. I'm going to the upper level of the Dao Transmission Tower to search for information related to your ancient Venerable Lord."

Wen Sheng's expression was serious. He reached out and extracted a wisp of aura from Jiuming's body.

Then, holding this wisp of aura, he stepped onto the stairs leading to the upper level of the building called the 'Dao Transmission Tower.'

Before leaving, the old man instructed, "This is where the inheritance of our Zheng Nation gathers. Even the Holy Seat needs permission to enter. This time the situation is special, concerning the ancient Venerable Lord, so you are allowed to come, which is a stroke of luck."

"Although you can't walk around freely, you can browse through it at random, perhaps you will gain something."

Beyond that, Wen Sheng didn't say much.

And Jiuming, left in place, couldn't object. He could only look around at the fluttering jade slips of inheritance, nodding blankly in agreement, "Okay."

After Wen Sheng disappeared above the stairs, and the pressure from the Chixiao Sword completely disappeared, the dragon youth sighed.

"Too exciting…"

Ever since he joined that Pioneer space, he hadn't stopped from beginning to end.

Whether it was the battles in the mission worlds or the busyness after returning to the Zheng Nation, it gave Jiuming, who was used to lying quietly at the bottom of the sea and occasionally looking up at the starry sky, a strange feeling, a sense of being overly fulfilled.

Especially after he accidentally exchanged for the option to return to Earth for ten days, he had been constantly questioned about the specific situation of the Pioneer space for the past seven days, and then trained, cultivated, and taught various special combat techniques according to the plan.

And now, he was even brought to this extremely secretive place, the location of the 'Dao Transmission Tower,' which he didn't know how to enter or where it was specifically located, to search for information about the ancient Venerable Lord.

"Take a look at random?"

Wen Sheng's words still echoed in his mind. Finally able to be alone and rest for a while, Jiuming sat on the ground and reached out, wanting to grab a jade slip in front of him at random.

But unexpectedly, this seemingly casual grab, which actually had nearly Commander-level speed, missed—the jade slip dodged Jiuming's hand, slipping away smoothly.

Just as the dragon youth hadn't reacted yet, another jade slip flew from nowhere and automatically fell into his hand.

"…it really is random?"

Tsking, Jiuming didn't pick and choose. He knew that this was probably some kind of rule within the Dao Transmission Tower: "Well, I see. The first level of the Dao Transmission Tower doesn't have any cultivation technique inheritance. Most of it is records of immortals and gods and various miscellaneous articles? Oh well, I didn't plan to find any divine skills here."

Thinking this, he probed his spirit into the jade slip, accepting the information within.

Then, Jiuming learned that the jade slip that had fallen into his hand was a collection of notes from a righteous god of the Thunder Department who called himself 'Fu Lian.'

Most of it recorded His exchanges and answers with a Qingqiu King named 'Tushan Rong.'

"Qingqiu people?"

Knowing this, Jiuming immediately became curious—recently, the topic of the Qingqiu people was big news throughout the entire Earth.

He was also grateful for the existence of the Qingqiu people. Otherwise, even if he claimed to have severed contact with the outside world, if someone with ulterior motives investigated, they would definitely realize that he was missing, rather than in seclusion.

"This is really fate."

With such a sigh, the dragon youth continued to delve deeper into the jade slip, beginning to formally read the contents.

Then, countless fragments of memory poured out from within, transforming into floating light and shadows, pouring into Jiuming's mind.

In an instant, the dark and deep hall of the Dao Transmission Tower, which had originally resembled a cosmic starry sky, transformed into a magnificent palace made of gold and jade, carved from beautiful jade and white stone.

And Jiuming himself, from some unknown time, transformed into a tall immortal god, sitting on the main seat.

And a nine-tailed celestial fox with long black hair, beautiful and perfect features, far more elegant than anyone Jiuming had ever seen, was wearing some kind of gorgeous royal robe, bowing respectfully to him and asking doubtfully.

"Your Excellency, why do you grant the Qingqiu people so many favors, causing them to give up effort and struggle, only immersing themselves in endless enjoyment?"

The nine-tailed celestial fox's tone was bitter, but his voice was very pleasant. Even his lamentations were intoxicating: "I want to make the Qingqiu people invigorated, but most of the people have no motivation—they believe that labor and doing things themselves are the actions of inferior people. The Qingqiu are a race blessed by the immortals and gods and shouldn't do these things."

"Your Excellency, I want to work hard to change things, but most of the Qingqiu people don't want to—as long as one day, the immortals and gods are still giving, and these temptations exist, the celestial foxes will continue to be lost…"

At this time, Jiuming had roughly learned from the information in these jade slip memory fragments that he had transformed into a righteous god of the Thunder Department named Fu Lian, and the nine-tailed celestial fox in front of him was the Qingqiu King named Tushan Rong.

Rong's voice seemed to be able to directly touch the soul, making people unconsciously think about their joys and sorrows with his tone. Jiuming was even somewhat emotionally moved for a moment, but the immortal god he had transformed into was not.

"Rong, we don't care about these things."

Jiuming could feel that 'his' heart was extremely calm. Whether it was the black nine-tailed celestial fox's bitter and sorrowful tone, or the Qingqiu people's current state of indulging in enjoyment, it couldn't make the Thunder Department righteous god's heart waver in the slightest. He truly didn't care.

"You crave it, so we give it. Your depravity has nothing to do with the immortals and gods. It's that your mortality is still craving these pleasures, it's the expression of the Qingqiu race not being mature enough."

"If that's the case."

Hearing this, the Qingqiu King seemed to have made up his mind. His willow eyebrows rose, and he looked up at the immortal god resolutely: "Then I am willing, as the Qingqiu King, to completely give up the Qingqiu state's right to self-governance, allowing the immortals and gods to directly rule us!"

"I am willing to give up all the rights of the royal family, requesting an immortal god to come—just like the Tianchi Dragon King, to end this one-sided gift from the Celestial Court and allow us to contribute to the Celestial Court, just like the Tianchi Realm!"

Hearing this, Jiuming, from Fu Lian's perspective, was immediately stunned—he didn't expect that even here he would be involved with the Tianchi Dragon King, his master? No wonder this jade slip was fated to him, it really had some connection.

He listened even more attentively, wanting to know why the Tianchi Realm was being brought up.

But the Thunder Department righteous god only shook his head at the Qingqiu King's request.

"You're mistaken, Rong."

His voice was like the subtle and continuous thunder in the spring night sky, gentle, but with a heart-shaking majesty: "Where there is rule, there are masses. Where there are masses, there is blind obedience. Where there is blind obedience, there will be no independent thinking."

"If the immortals and gods were to rule mortals indiscriminately, they would only create a group of ignoramuses who only know how to respect immortals and worship gods. We immortals and gods never need to 'rule' anyone, only the following of those 'immortal citizens' who have the ability to think independently."

"Those who follow the immortals and gods are all mature immortal citizens. And the Tianchi Realm, under the governance of the Tianchi Dragon King, has matured and is one of the recently promoted 'immortal realms.' The Qingqiu, which is still a 'mortal country,' is still a bit far off."

This was the second time Jiuming had heard the word 'mature,' and mortal, immortal citizen, mortal country, and immortal realm were all proper nouns.

But even so, he could still roughly summarize some things.

The nine-tailed celestial fox named Tushan Rong, as the Qingqiu King, wanted to carry out reforms, but because the residents of Qingqiu Star had been given various resources by the immortals and gods, the resources there were extremely abundant and the people were lazy, lacking the motivation to strive, so reforms were impossible.

Therefore, the Qingqiu King begged the immortals and gods to stop giving and even planned to give up the right to self-governance as an independent country, actively becoming a part of the other side's direct rule.

But the immortals and gods refused, because the Qingqiu were not mature enough.

—Both sides are very strange.

Thinking this, Jiuming couldn't understand.

On the one hand, they were clearly taking advantage, but they didn't want it, even wanting to actively dedicate themselves. On the other hand, they were clearly at a disadvantage, but they wouldn't refuse, and when the other side wanted to dedicate themselves, they嫌弃ed them for not being mature enough.

However, this Thunder Department righteous god is praising Tianchi, how awesome!

As a spiritual Tianchi person, Jiuming could naturally feel the Thunder Department righteous god's appreciation and admiration for the Tianchi Dragon King and the Tianchi Realm. The feeling of his master being praised by the ancient immortals and gods made him unable to breathe with satisfaction.

And the illusion in the jade slip continued.

After being rejected, the Qingqiu King's body trembled slightly, seemingly very agitated.

"Since, since Your Excellency thinks we are not mature enough, then why do you insist on giving us so many resources, not letting us develop independently?!"

He said unwillingly, "The fox who doesn't actively forage for food, but just stays in the nest and has food falling from the sky, even if such a creature grows up, it will never mature!"

"Grown up? That's just what you think. In fact, in our eyes, the Qingqiu people are still children."

Calmly responding to the Qingqiu King's rather 'disrespectful' words, the immortal god's tone was gentle: "We do hope that the children will be able to become independent and mature in the future, but since the other side is young, we must take care of them. Just like now, the child has just learned to walk, saying that he can walk, would you let him walk freely?"

Silence.

In the magnificent hall, silence spread.

After a long time, the Qingqiu King lowered his head powerlessly, muttering blankly to himself, "Your Excellency, then what exactly is considered mature?"

And the immortal god just smiled.

He didn't answer.

The Thunder Department righteous god Fu Lian looked at the Qingqiu King as if looking at a cute little baby who was throwing a tantrum, unable to resist wanting to tease him, but also unable to resist wanting to give him all the most beautiful things in the world.

—Even the stars, if he wanted them, he could pick them off for him… that was how much he loved him.

In that instant, an extremely strong 'love and expectation' rolled through his heart.

And Jiuming, from Fu Lian's perspective, seemed to have truly become the other side in that instant.

Therefore, in his mind, countless memories roared past.

—When is a wise life truly mature?

For ordinary humans in the ancient tribal period, passing through puberty, when the body could reproduce, could be called maturity.

But without a doubt, this standard was no longer feasible. How could a teenager who had just passed through adolescence be called mature? Only animals would divide it this way.

And for humans in modern society, so-called maturity might be when they were over eighteen years old, having received all the basic education and being able to bear criminal responsibility.

But without a doubt, this standard was also outdated. Eighteen years old was still young, and people of this age were impulsive and easily incited, full of passion but unable to grasp their actions. Their bodies might be strong, but their minds were far from independent, and there were even individuals called 'giant infants' whose spiritual essence had not grown at all.

Therefore, for ordinary humans, the latest standard of maturity had become very high.

They had to be able to see the connections between people and things, find the intersection between multiple angles, they had to have a solid worldview, and be able to constantly innovate it, constantly expand their horizons.

So-called maturity was knowing what kind of consequences their words and actions would cause, and while being responsible for their words and actions, they also knew what their dreams were and had a complete plan to strive and work hard for them, never being confused.

It could be seen that such standards could filter out a large part of the population.

It could also be seen that with the continuous progress of human civilization, the standard of maturity had also changed from simple physical growth to a spiritual standard.

But even so, such a harsh standard of maturity was only the standard of 'mortals.'

Then, for the long-standing, ancient, and prosperous immortals and gods in their heyday.

For this super civilization with countless immortals and many Celestial Sovereigns, what exactly was the standard of 'immortal realm immortal citizens' maturity in their mouths?

The perspective shifted, and Jiuming felt everything flowing. The magnificent palace disappeared, and he appeared again, standing before a huge divine tree.

The towering and majestic Jianmu (Building Wood) that pierced the sky, even piercing another world, leading directly to the human and divine realms, was like a giant ship spanning many worlds, and numerous immortals and gods were walking back and forth on this giant ship, seemingly preparing to set off.

It could be seen that at the top of the firmament, there were countless black cracks, which were just like the space-time cracks in the vacuum of space in this era, and the immortals and gods of the Central Divine Court were working together to lift up the ancient divine wood that was comparable to a planet, comparable to a world, or even far larger than the world, and use it as a boat to cross the endless void and head to the unknown universe on the other side.

The Thunder Department righteous god Fu Lian was about to board the Jianmu, but he suddenly stopped.

The immortal god didn't look back, didn't turn to look in the direction he wanted to look, he just stood in place, closed his eyes, and fell into thought.

—He remembered.

Fu Lian still remembered the scene where the lovely Qingqiu King had interacted with him not long ago.

"Your Excellency, we don't want to become auspicious omens… this is simply the root of pain, we are simply… simply treated like pets by you…"

"Child, what you say is very strange. Why is becoming an auspicious omen painful?

Qilin, dragons, bai ze, phoenixes… all the races of immortal citizens are auspicious omens—this is actually a key cultivation list. All auspicious omens are races that we focus on caring for.

Look, aren't they all auspicious omens? But they are all powerful and prosperous, mature and independent."

Hearing this, the Qingqiu King was speechless, not knowing what to do, and the immortal god's voice rang out with a smile.

"We have cultivated many auspicious omens in turn, spending a long time, and you celestial foxes are one of them, but it has not been completely successful yet."

"However, Rong, just for you, you are actually considered mature, right?"

"Because, you will feel pain because of other people's sympathy, other people's gifts, other people's goodwill."

Saying this, the Thunder Department righteous god stretched out his fair and slender fingers and picked up the Qingqiu King's chin—this frivolous action was unexpectedly serious and formal when done by this immortal god. He looked at the Qingqiu King, who didn't know what to do, and then said seriously.

"Your current confusion and pain are all because you have begun to mature, so you feel out of place with everything 'mortal.'"

"This proves that our cultivation has indeed had meaning."

At this moment, Jiuming felt that there was an extremely grand feeling in his heart, which his teenage mind couldn't fully understand, or even fully describe, was涌 outing out from the deepest part of his heart.

—Immortals and gods are eternal beings, creatures that transcend mortals and are completely different from mortals.

They were born from humans, born from the mundane, but they transcended it.

And this transcendence was not just power, not just the body—just as the standard of human maturity was increasing generation by generation, the biggest difference between immortals and gods and humans was their different definition of 'childhood and maturity.'

A purely spiritual transcendence.

Humans—mortals.

A race that was ignorant and blindly obedient, arrogant and ignorant, fragile and conceited, and never learned from its mistakes.

They liked to rule others, longed for unearned gains, and always pursued desires and pleasures. If there were unearned gifts, then they would definitely despise hard work and struggle.

They took pride in ignorance, took pride in unthinking, and would believe whatever others said. While hating independent thinking, they would also鄙夷 other independent individuals.

This was the monkey妖 nature based on bloodlines and roots, so stubborn and unbearable.

And for creatures with such instincts, for their former compatriots, how would the immortals and gods treat them?

That was giving.

Endless giving.

The immortals and gods would take all the good actions for this stubborn monkey 妖, they would fulfill all their wishes,淹没ing them with luxurious material enjoyment enough to腐化 them ten thousand times, giving them the best food, the best partners, and the best living environment, all doubled.

If they wanted '1,' they would give them '2.' If they wanted '10,' they would give them '100.'

If they wanted a new home, they would give them a brand new life planet. If they wanted the stars in the sky, they would really pick the stars off and give them to them.

The power of the immortals and gods transcended the毛猴妖's imagination—everything they craved could be satisfied, even if it was a crazy delusion, a self-hatred, or a self-harming evil thought, they would let him perform it in a幻境, in the Shura Path, in the evil ghost畜生 hell.

Whether it was good or evil, it would all be given.

So, when the things that could be given exceeded the biological instinct's endless膨胀 demand, what exactly would happen to humans?

The answer was fear and nothingness.

Facts proved that after humans had堕落ed in the 'gentle hell' that satisfied all their desires for a long time, they would eventually be born with some sparks in the endless satisfaction.

Because of fear and nothingness, some creatures who wanted to change were born.

They no longer pursued material enjoyment, no longer pursued the instinctive desires in their bloodlines, because those things had long been satisfied and disappeared by the endless power of the immortals and gods.

They gave up those vulgar desires that belonged to 'mortals' and began to pursue higher things.

In the fragments of memory, in the Qingqiu Taixu Space Station in the universe, the Qingqiu King and the Thunder Department immortal god stood shoulder to shoulder, gazing at the distant endless stars.

"Rong, what do you think such a creature that has given up the vulgar desires of mortals is?"

The nine-tailed celestial fox shook his head in confusion.

And the being named Lian pursed his lips.

He smiled calmly, facing the universe, closing his eyes.

"That is immortality, and godliness."

—So-called immortals are beings who pursue the 'Great Dao.'

—So-called gods are beings who maintain 'common sense.'

And the 'Great Dao' and 'common sense' are 'reason.'

Opening his eyes, Fu Lian said calmly, "Immortals and gods are reason."

"We are beings who abandon all vulgar desires and pursue 'reason' and 'correctness.' Those who are accomplished are called immortals and gods, and those who uphold this concept and continue to move forward, but have not yet achieved anything, are 'immortal citizens.'"

"That is the way to be equal to us, not just to be regarded as children, as auspicious omens who are not yet mature."

The celestial fox looked at the immortal god, and the Qingqiu King suddenly felt that he had never understood the true thoughts in the hearts of those seemingly frivolous and indifferent powerful beings.

In that pair of eyes flashing with雷光, human instinct, originating from the bloodline roots, that innate instinct as a hairless monkey 妖, had been completely expelled.

Unlike all creatures who pursued survival, pursued freedom, pursued enjoyment, and pursued material things.

Immortals and gods, from the essence of life and even思维上, had surpassed humans, surpassed all mortals.

In their eyes, only those who had completely transcended physical instincts, no longer fought internally, no longer争权夺利, worked together for the truth, and cooperated for order, could be considered mature 'immortal citizens.'

And all other beings were immature 'mortals.'

And the immortals and gods would educate, correct, expel, and even抹杀 them according to the innate wisdom of the mortals.

Of course, there would still be battles between correctness and correctness, truth and truth.

There would also be disputes and contradictions between immortals and gods, because battles and disputes themselves were also a kind of truth and correctness.

There would naturally be卑劣 ugliness and shameless sins among them, and immortals and gods couldn't avoid them. They were arrogant and conceited, thinking that they were correct, after all, they also evolved from primitive hairless monkeys 妖, so even if they became more powerful beings, there would still be some things left behind in the end.

But so what?

"Rong."

At the top of the Taixu Space Station, the Thunder Department righteous god reached out and touched the Qingqiu King's face.

That didn't have any情色 desire, just pure appreciation.

Was it appreciating the cuteness of cats and dogs?

Perhaps.

But it was also possible that he was appreciating a child, appreciating a child who wanted to mature, and the confusion he showed in the process of trying to mature, but even if he was confused, he wanted to move forward, wanting to pursue maturity, that kind of青涩 charm.

"We—all the immortals and gods, are about to leave."

Fu Lian said this, causing Rong to raise his head in shock.

But the Thunder Department righteous god didn't care about the other side's reaction.

"We are about to leave this world, this universe."

Saying this, Lian withdrew his hand, he turned his head slightly, looking into the dark depths of the distant stars, into the cracks in the starry sky.

Then, he laughed softly.

"Haha."

The immortal god sighed with a smile, "Hundreds of thousands of years have passed."

"Since defeating the ancient dragons and phoenixes, defeating the ancient beast cluster, and the endless civil wars between many神系, we immortals and gods have stagnated for hundreds of thousands of years, indulging in pure enjoyment and internal strife."

"We堕落ed, we were confused, we stagnated, we龟缩ed in this small universe, enjoying the gentle乡 created by our power—in the end, Rong, we immortals and gods are essentially the same as you Qingqiu people who are迷惑ed by the power we have given, we are诱惑ed by the superior environment of this神域仙天, which is extremely superior and naturally connected to hundreds of space-time realms, so that we have been unable to set off and explore the distance."

"Thanks to the断绝 of spiritual energy, we have finally awakened from our沉沦, so we are about to set off again."

In the clear eyes of the nine-tailed celestial fox, the face of the immortal god at this time could be seen.

What a high-spirited look, like being reborn.

Year 439,891 of the Great Dao Calendar.

In the multiverse, in a certain universe world, in a certain planetary system in the third spiral arm of a galaxy called the Milky Way, a race that had been stuck in place because of overly favorable innate conditions had now stopped its long enjoyment and rest due to the disaster of the断绝 of spiritual energy, which affected the heavens and myriad realms, and was determined to return to the correct path of exploring the endless Great Dao and common sense.

What was the difference between the ancient immortals and gods and the Qingqiu people?

The latter were almost圈养ed on Qingqiu Star because of the immortals and gods' gifts, living an immature life, almost like pets.

And the former were固步自封 around the Earth realm because of the superior geographical conditions of the Earth, without the motivation to explore outside.

But now.

Hundreds of thousands of years later, due to the arrival of the断绝 of spiritual energy, these long-迷茫 lives have awakened.

They have finally understood their true goals, understood the true meaning of their power.

Therefore, they were ready to start, heading towards the endless and vast void!

—We immortals and gods have stagnated for hundreds of thousands of years, and now we are finally returning to the road of pursuing true 'reason.'

And the Qingqiu people, Tushan Rong, the king of the Qingqiu state.

Although, you celestial foxes have not yet achieved the same level as the昔日 dragons, phoenixes, and麒麟, becoming true 'auspicious omens' as true 'immortal citizens.'

But, since there are individuals like you, not because of食欲, not because of性欲, not because of the animal-like instincts of hairless monkeys 妖, but because of reason, because of curiosity, because of wanting to explore and seek knowledge, so wanting to mature individuals.

With you like this, 'having your own path,'脱离ing from 'childhood,' wanting to strive for the future of the Qingqiu people, then, the Qingqiu state may also become a mature place in the future.

The Thunder Department righteous god stared at the celestial fox, but said nothing.

The immortals and gods knew everything.

In the long years, they had seen all the ugliness of mankind.

They could of course foresee what disastrous consequences the celestial foxes, who were used to enjoying themselves, would have after losing them.

Fu Lian could foresee that as materials were no longer abundant, the celestial foxes' lives, which were originally almost a communal society, would collapse, and they would change from seemingly elegant auspicious omens to selfish, greedy, and ugly animals, and the Qingqiu Star, which was now like a fairyland, would also turn into a魔域 full of bloodshed due to internal互相残杀 for resources.

But… this was the process of growth.

—You will be in pain, you need to make choices for yourself, and bear the responsibility. You will endure suffering and磨难, and you need to be responsible for the tragedy that is about to happen to your race, and be折磨ed and by your morality and heart, and then reflect and struggle.

The immortals and gods could foresee all this, they could foresee that if they留下ed the Qingqiu people, just like they planned to 留下 a part of the people in the '神域仙天,' in the故地 of the Central Divine Court.

What kind of suffering would their descendants, their beloved children, suffer.

But they would still agree.

Because only in this way, only those who could bear this pain from beginning to end, could be considered mature, and could maturely survive in this world that was incomparably free and about to lose all immortals and gods.

—Exploring the unknown universe was extremely dangerous, and we didn't know what was behind another world.

In addition to the immortal citizens who had already matured, there were also some people from other realms who were far from mature and needed to be taken care of who would be carried away.

The immortals and gods had already made plans, they would 留下 some races who had begun to mature and were蜕变ing, in their hometown, which was the遗民 of the仙界, as well as the Qingqiu people.

Thinking this, but Fu Lian didn't say anything, just smiled slightly, unable to help暢想ing the future.

What kind of fruit would they grow if they matured?

—At the same time.

Multiverse, the distant void on the other side.

In a world's boat that was larger than the world, completely composed of divine wood, and still不断生长ing and不断变大ing.

A Thunder Department righteous god stood on the top of a lookout tower of this巨舰, sailing with the Jianmu之舟, heading to the endless other side.

Many years have passed, and the immortals and gods still exist.

It's just that they will never come back.

After seeing the truly vastness of the heavens and myriad realms, seeing the true infinity, even if their hometown was so warm and lovely, so nostalgic, these guys whose greatest pleasure was to explore the unknown and higher places would at most miss it, but not look back.

The immortal god Fu Lian, at this time, couldn't help but have the scenes of his distant hometown flash in his mind.

And the Qingqiu King, who was茫然, 青涩, and渴望 to be cared for, also flashed in his mind, even memorably.

But he would not look back, nor would he return.

"Ah, so many years have passed… how are those little guys who were 留下ed doing now?"

Just muttering to himself like this, the Thunder Department righteous god自语ed with a洒脱 smile. Then, he looked ahead, and together with the '神庭' who were奔驰ing in the endless void, sailed into the future.

—Whether it's the Qingqiu people or the仙界遗民.

They must have become independent, developing a path that was completely different from the immortals and gods, 'having their own way.'

They 留下ed the most favorable environment in their hometown mother planet and other realms to the most potential children.

After 脱离ing the immortals and gods, they may be able to孕育 a mature civilization that was completely different from themselves.

Then, will the result be successful or will it fail?

It doesn't matter.

Because the immortals and gods don't care.

The immortals and gods don't care about the mortals' joys and sorrows.

The immortals and gods don't care about the mortals' fear and shyness.

The immortals and gods don't care about the mortals'茫然 and helplessness.

The immortals and gods don't care about the mortals' blind obedience.

The immortals and gods don't care, the things that the immortals and gods don't care about are too many, they don't care about the mortals' greed, don't care about the mortals' madness, don't care about the mortals' shock, don't care about the mortals' cowardice.

What do they care about?

They care about the mortals' choices, they care about the mortals' resistance, they care about the mortals' refusal, resistance, and reflection, they care about the mortals' rebelliousness, non-compliance, and independence.

They care about courage and anger, care about curiosity and determination, and everything that can make life move forward.

When one day, mortals are厌恶ed by the immortals and gods' endless gifts and love, they will get rid of the vulgar souls and ignite the spark of超脱 vulgarity, pursuing the Dao independently.

That is the prelude to becoming a member of the true immortals and gods.

Until then, the immortals and gods will begin to care.

And then cheer and celebrate for the appearance of new members.

At the same time, Earth.

2018, April 17th, 10:42 AM.

Outer edge of Earth's atmosphere.

Earth