The First Heaven's Envy
The sea of Runes shifted in mid-air, gradually forming a wondrous model.
"This is?"
Li Jinyao, with her exceptionally strong intuition, was slightly taken aback.
"Is this the structure of the world?"
The Runes condensed in mid-air to form a model, with individual Runes Mobile above, while another set of Runes below formed mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas—it truly looked like the structure of the world.
"To be precise, it was the structure of the world in the past."
Wisdom Immortal said, "Look, there is only Heaven and Earth and earth above, but no place for the Six Paths of Reincarnation below. This is a model of the universe from the time of the Heavenly Gods."
The two looked as he instructed and found that there was indeed nothing beneath the earth.
"So, in ancient times, there were no Underworld Emissary to collect souls, and there was no Book of Life and Death, right?"
Bai Qiuran said indignantly, "Damn it, I knew it! These Underworld Emissary messengers were up to no good. They must have made up some excuse to try and take me to the Ghost Realm. A bunch of lackeys... Bah!"
"Actually, I can understand. Look at yourself. You're supposed to be on the side of Order, but look what you've done to the Demon Realm. They don't care about you. If a few more 'Heavenly Heaven's Envy' beings emerge in the Mortal Realm, how will the others have any chance to compete?"
"Wisdom Immortal and serene," said the wise immortal.
"Let's not talk about that anymore. Where's my clue to breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage?"
Bai Qiuran asked somewhat urgently.
"Don't be impatient. Now that you've activated the energy of the entire Heavenly Palace, all the materials in this Library Pavilion are also activated. They're not going anywhere, so let's search them one by one."
Wisdom Immortal replied, "First, memorize this model. The Runes on it represent the most fundamental rules. Once you've memorized them, with your creative abilities, creating any Cultivation Technique you desire will be a piece of cake."
Bai Qiuran glanced to the side. Li Jinyao had already silently begun recording the model's construction with the Recording Stone. Seeing Bai Qiuran looking over, she smiled sweetly and said, "Senior, you can rest here. Jinyao will give you a share later."
"This girl is so thoughtful, like a hand warmer."
Wisdom Immortal said, "But Old Bai, you'd better make a copy yourself. This model has a complex structure, and you can work through it together later."
Hearing Wisdom Immortal's suggestion, Bai Qiuran also took out a Recording Stone, and together with Li Jinyao, they each took pictures and recorded the Runes structures from various angles. Then they combined their results to create a complete model.
After finishing all this, several hours passed by unknowingly. Wisdom Immortal asked the two to go up, but since the upper floors of this Library Treasure Pagoda had already been destroyed by the Heavenly Gods, Bai Qiuran could only helplessly sit on the spine of the Dragon Fang Saber controlled by Li Jinyao and float to the second floor to examine the Heavenly Gods' collection of books.
"The Heavenly Gods have a unique system. They are born powerful, so they don't need to cultivate like we do, nor do they need to preserve or record much knowledge. The Runes model below already records all their knowledge."
Wisdom Immortal explained, "Therefore, the history of the Heavenly Gods should begin from here."
After he finished speaking, countless golden rays spread out from the two-story-high Void, forming a picture in mid-air. Sure enough, it recorded the history of the Heavenly Gods.
"It seems that from the Divine Age to the era of the First Ancestor Demon Emperor, people were accustomed to using pictures to record historical events."
Looking at the painting slowly taking shape in front of him, Bai Qiuran complained.
Because it was shaped using energy, the patterns in this painting were very clear. Even without Wisdom Immortal's identification, Bai Qiuran and Li Jinyao could see what the painting looked like.
The painting depicts the moment when Heaven and Earth were slowly separating, and the first Heavenly Gods appeared between Heaven and Earth. However, this Heavenly Gods looked completely different from the Human God that Li Jinyao and Bai Qiuran knew. It had no hands or feet, and its face was blank with no features. It looked like a lump of clay that kept changing shape.
"This is Chaos, the first living being born in this Heaven and Earth. It is a Consciousness product of the nascent Heavenly Dao."
Wisdom Immortal explained, "This was also the first Heavenly Emperor revered by Heavenly Gods, but it had no facial features or limbs, nor any desires, so it died very quickly."
Li Jinyao carried Bai Qiuran and Wisdom Immortal upwards to the third level.
In the third level of the painting, Heaven and Earth and earth have been completely separated. Two more deities appear in the sky and on the ground. The deity in the sky is slightly taller and has male characteristics, while the deity on the ground is slightly smaller and has female characteristics.
"Sky Father and Earth Mother, the second and third generations of Heavenly Emperor."
After observing for a moment, Wisdom Immortal explained, "After these two gods united, the Sky Father exhausted his power and died, his body transforming into the sky. The Earth Mother nurtured all things, but was later overthrown by a new Heavenly Gods and completely transformed into the earth."
Was the second Heavenly Emperor an ox that died while plowing in the field?
Bai Qiuran muttered, "Wow, this is so realistic."
"Sword Ancestor, there's absolutely no need to worry. The Sky Father died because his strength was similar to ours, and you are far stronger than us."
Li Jinyao whispered to Bai Qiuran.
Bai Qiuran clicked her tongue, finding the little girl's tone odd, much like Su Xiangxue from the Demon Realm.
They continued upwards, but a break occurred in the middle section; the energy gathered and dispersed in the air but did not condense into a picture, indicating that it had been severely damaged.
Left with no other choice, Li Jinyao led Bai Qiuran continue upwards until they reached the upper and middle levels of the nearly thousand-foot-tall pagoda, where the pattern finally became clear again.
At this time, the age of Heavenly Gods seemed to have reached its zenith. In the sky, a majestic Heavenly Gods with the appearance of a human male sat at the highest point, below him were countless other Heavenly Gods, whose status was determined by their size.
On the earth, all kinds of birds and beasts appeared among the mountains and rivers, as well as many Strange Beasts that had never been heard of or seen in the world. On the plains, a group of little people also appeared.
"That one in the sky is the last Heavenly Emperor, Eastern Emperor Taiyi, along with other miscellaneous Heavenly Gods."
Wisdom Immortal explained, "Those little people on the ground are our Human Race."
On the next level, the murals take a turn. The Heavenly Gods in the sky remain peacefully in the heavens, but some patterns have appeared above the heads of the little people on the ground.
"This is history recorded from the perspective of the Heavenly Gods. Those patterns mean that the Human Race on earth began to harbor rebellious thoughts."
Wisdom Immortal said, "It was probably in this era that the Immortal Dao Ancestor immortality created the methods of cultivation. Let us continue upwards."
Li Jinyao activated her immortal blade and floated up, but another gap appeared above it. The picture finally appeared on the second-to-last layer.
This time, however, the history recorded in the painting was completely overturned. A Giant, almost as tall as the Heavenly Emperor, rose from the earth, holding a sharp sword that pierced the sky. The Heavenly Gods panicked and dodged, while the Heavenly Emperor stretched out his hand and pressed it down on the Giant on the ground.
Bai Qiuran held her breath.
"What is this?"
"This is the first generation's Heaven's Envy."
Wisdom Immortal replied, "Do you see them? Those sharp spikes surrounding him are the Flying Sword he controls... Unlike you, this one possesses True Essence, the Heaven's Envy."
"Finally found it."
Bai Qiuran could not hide her excitement.
"Wisdom Immortal, please help me take a look. I need all the information about this 'Heaven's Envy'."