Questions

The next morning.

The sun had just risen.

The people on deck noticed that the color of the seawater had begun changing violently. A huge black shadow moved below, slowly drawing closer to the ship.

All the Blessing Shamans' expressions changed drastically. Feeling those four terrifying auras, they felt a chill run down their spines. Someone could not help shouting in panic, "Sea Beasts! Giant Sea Beasts!!"

"It's the Black Bronze Cloud Crab God."

Young Ghost Empress's expression was solemn.

That name had been given by the terrified ignorant people of the sea. They had even erected a statue in the past, kneeling before it and offering living sacrifices. Yet the name fit: it was a giant rock crab with black-bronze coloring and cloud-like patterns.

Boom!

Boom boom!!

The next second, what terrified Young Ghost Empress even more was that the shadows of the remaining three Giant Sea Beasts began slowly emerging from the other three directions.

"They all came!"

"They're surrounding us, as if mocking us for walking right into their trap."

Young Ghost Empress's face was filled with horror.

The beating gale,

the howling waves,

the dull, whale-like roars of the giant beasts!

They had not even drawn near, yet the waves raised by those terrifying Kings of Giant Beasts already made the entire ship tilt violently. Many ordinary sailors fell and rolled across the deck.

"We're in trouble."

Young Ghost Empress exchanged a glance with Bronze Emperor, then could not help looking toward Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng. That mysterious and terrifying man who had defeated the two of them was the key to this great battle.

Even they had no idea how powerful this man truly was!

Although his aura had always seemed that of an ordinary mortal—so old, so feeble.

But the next second, something even more terrifying happened.

Boom!

A gigantic tentacle slammed against the coastline on the horizon, as if it intended to swallow the rising sun.

The people saw a shadow with an even more terrifying aura, raising gooseflesh all over their bodies. It had the shape of an octopus, constantly waving its tentacles, yet it gave them an even greater sense of fear.

At the sight of it, it was as if humanity were staring directly into the abyss.

Everyone aboard the ship felt the world spinning, as if they had been thrown into a blender, rolling and swaying with the vessel.

Young Ghost Empress and Bronze Emperor, however, changed color completely!

Was this the Sea Beast King whose existence they had only heard about in the early days?

This power was dozens of times greater than theirs.

"On the suction cups of its tentacles are heads. It stole humanity's wisdom!" They felt that humans—including themselves—were as fragile as ants before this true monster, utterly unable to withstand a single blow. That power, which seemed almost divine, made the two strongest human emperors despair.

But the next second.

Something unbelievable happened.

"So that's how it is. It was controlling those four beasts, which are like wild animals, to attack humanity?" Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng stood on the deck and slowly raised the long sword in his hand, slashing toward the sea.

Rumble!

It was like mountains and seas had been overturned.

Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng clearly showed no fluctuation of qi, yet he cleaved a terrifying rift through the sea. The Ocean King, whose terror reached an extreme, let out a shrill cry and fled.

Splurt!

The other four giant beasts were also shaken by that sword until their shells shattered. Their blood dyed the ocean red, and they sank into the depths, their whereabouts unknown.

"Just like that, we won?"

Everyone stood there blankly. It was an utterly miraculous sight.

They looked toward that unbelievable emperor. He stood tall on the deck, bathed in golden sunlight, as if he were a God of War. How could he merely be the man closest to a god?

Perhaps he had already become almost divine!

The people stared at that magnificent figure with terror and yearning. History would remember this moment forever.

Only Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng remained calm. He slowly sheathed his sword and swept his gaze around. "Everyone, get into the sea and seize the Immortal Herbs."

Only then did everyone recover. They quickly began moving about the deck.

"Faster! Scholars from Jingshan Temple, take blood samples! Collect the remains!"

"Divers from the Seaside Ghost Country, put on your diving equipment and get into the water!"

"Quick, quick, quick!"

Three days later.

"A great victory!"

"The greatest victory in human history!"

"We finally defeated the greatest fear that had dominated humanity—the deep ocean!"

"Praise the great King!"

In taverns, temples, castles, villages, towns, and deserts, everyone was recounting the achievements of this great King!

People began singing praises to this great human hero-king.

People began writing poems and biographies for him and composing music.

People began to understand that his earlier acts of violence had all been necessary sacrifices, not tyranny!

At this time,

in the City of a Hundred Stones, an elderly renowned painter was painting an oil portrait.

He stood atop the roof of a civilian residence, dipping his brush into pigment. His expression was calm.

"Fortunately, I acted quickly. I built a giant ship and found its lair in the deep sea. If a few more years had passed, I might no longer have been its match."

"History is both the past and the future, dear elder brother. I have a little question. I wish to ask you for an answer." A peculiar smile rose at the corner of his mouth as the painting beneath his hand gradually took shape.

The painting before him would be passed down into the distant future and be remembered by the entire world.

In the third century AD, the renowned painter Tongyun created the Emperor's Sea Patrol Map. It depicted a great human Ancient Progenitor Emperor, hailed as the strongest heroic emperor in history, leading all of humanity's hopes to defeat the terrifying Ocean Deity and seek the Immortal Herbs before returning to the continent.

This scene was branded into eternity.

The painting recorded humanity's courage and the very beginning of mankind's formal rise.

Later generations recorded it thus:

[0354: The Immortal descended in a dream. Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng built a giant ship and journeyed across the seas in search of the Longevity Medicine. He defeated the four Giant Sea Beasts, overcame the Ocean Lord, bathed in blood, and returned with the Immortal Herbs. Humanity thereby entered the Qi Cultivation Longevity Gate.]

0358.

Time flew, and human civilization entered an era of explosive growth!

The emperor returned to the capital laden with the Immortal Herbs. Humanity had passed God's trial and received God's gift—the hope of longevity and immortality!

The City of a Hundred Stones became the Royal Capital.

At the center of the Desert Giant City, a miraculous human fountain was built: the Cloud and Mist Qi Sea. Six hundred and eight ocean Immortal Herbs grew there, wisps of qi radiating through the water.

It was nectar and jade dew, capable of aiding cultivation.

This place had become the origin of all human civilization. It began excluding all ordinary and mediocre people.

This was the land of human Kingship, the homeland of human heroes. It welcomed only the gifted, the powerful, the intelligent, and all kinds of strong individuals. They lived here as reserves, possibly to consume the Immortal Herbs—of which one fewer remained with every herb eaten.

Everyone who emerged from the homeland of heroes, the City of a Hundred Stones, was a great powerhouse capable of shaking the Mortal World!

Under the greatest ruler and emperor in New Human history, the world flourished. One genius after another emerged, shining brightly in this era.

0369.

Humanity began shedding the transcendent!

One Ancestral Shaman after another, practicing Wind Swallowing and Qi Consuming, began walking across the land. They rebuilt palaces and enlightened the masses.

They began formulating the specific systems of cultivation and establishing the various levels of cultivation.

On the entrance stele of the City of a Hundred Stones, the Royal Capital, was written a single sentence:

--I have always believed that mortals' despair mostly comes from their own incompetence, while the despair of the strong mostly comes from the powerlessness of their era. Therefore, I will change the powerlessness of this era.

0370.

Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng announced the candidates for the next emperor.

Everyone was shocked. "Is the emperor going to fall?"

"He's only a little over a hundred years old."

"How could an existence possessing such immense power have a mere lifespan of a hundred years? He's the Godlike man who could easily defeat the Ocean Lord!"

Opinions varied.

Perhaps he had suffered severe hidden injuries during that battle.

But everyone knew that the life of this great king might truly be nearing its end.

0361, the beginning of spring.

Everyone discovered that Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng was aging at a visible speed. His qi and blood were declining, and the light had faded from his eyes.

Everyone knew what this sign meant.

At the final moment, as his life slowly moved toward extinction, Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng sat upon the throne. This great ruler of the Kingship of the Slave Dynasty ordered the construction of a magnificent Divine Temple in the Royal Capital, the City of a Hundred Stones, and the erection of a statue of a god.

The statue depicted a Man with the Tear Mole.

That same year, in the Third Month, Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng announced that he would hold the Grand Ceremony of Fengshan.

Fengshan was a ritual in which ruling emperors offered sacrifices to Heaven, Earth, and the gods. "Feng" meant building an altar to worship Heaven, while "shan" meant worshiping Earth.

On this day,

hot-air balloons rose into the sky, while women continuously scattered flower petals among the clouds, creating a breathtaking scene.

Stone Light Emperor Zhizheng led Young Ghost Empress and Bronze Emperor, who were still young, along with more than seventy palace ministers, to hold the Grand Ceremony of Fengshan at the Cloud and Mist Qi Sea.

The king, wearing an emperor's crown, worshiped Heaven and Earth in succession before offering worship to the divine statue in the center. Gazing at the statue of the Man with the Tear Mole, memories of the past surged forth once more. With utmost seriousness and sincerity, he said:

"History is both the past and the future. Great god, I have a little question. I wish to ask you to descend into the mortal world and answer me."