Azure Dragon and God

Azure Dragon answered Qi Miaoxuan's question with silence.

Qi Miaoxuan sneered. "I understand now. God must have beaten you before, so you don't dare mention it!"

"Utter nonsense! You lowly slave, what do you know? I was deceived by it!" Azure Dragon snapped in fury.

A smile curled at Qi Miaoxuan's lips. He had served as Azure Dragon's blade rack for over a thousand years and had long understood its temperament: the sort that would rather die than admit defeat.

"Look at you, getting worked up. I hit the sore spot, didn't I?" Qi Miaoxuan said smugly.

"You lowly slave, what the hell do you know?" Azure Dragon said. "That God couldn't beat me. If it hadn't deceived me back then, I would be the only God in this world today."

"Oh, really?" Qi Miaoxuan said in a strange, mocking tone. "I believe God only beat you because it deceived you!"

"Hmph."

Azure Dragon snorted. "God is nothing remarkable. It cannot compare to the roots of us Five Directions Divine Beasts, born of heaven and earth. It was accidentally created by humans.

A very, very long time ago, humans were the lowest creatures in this world. Yet they possessed intelligence greater than beasts. They gradually formed tribes, learned to use tools, and learned to forge alliances against wild beasts.

But there were many things they could not understand. They did not understand why people fell ill, why thunder and lightning existed, why it rained sometimes and there was sun exposure at others. There were simply too many things they did not understand.

Then, the cleverest man had an idea and fabricated a God. In his account, God sent down rain to nourish all things, and God also sent rain or drought to punish mortals who knew neither rank nor respect. With God, there would be favorable weather. With God, the Seasons Turned. Illnesses could be cured by herbs because God had bestowed divine power.

Under that clever man's embellishment, the distinction between God and mortals appeared in the world for the first time. And he became a Divine Envoy; his words became the will of that illusory, intangible God.

Yet more clever people began receiving Divine Will. Thus, there were more and more Divine Envoys, while the image of God became increasingly complete, and its abilities increasingly detailed.

Some relied on shaping God to become chiefs; some relied on shaping God to establish kingdoms... In truth, there was no God. But those clever people understood one another perfectly and spoke with one voice. In the end, they even made themselves believe that God existed in the world. And if the cleverest people believed it, then the foolish people of the world would naturally believe it even more deeply.

Thus, on one particular day,

God was truly born!"

Qi Miaoxuan wore a bewildered, stunned expression. "God was born just like that? But the laws of the world already existed, didn't they? The changing of seasons, Wind, Rain, Thunder, Lightning... weren't those all natural phenomena? What was the point of God existing?"

Azure Dragon mocked him. "Look at you. Look at you. Didn't you keep shouting that you wanted to become the Heavenly Dao? You shouted about becoming the Heavenly Dao without even understanding what the Heavenly Dao was. How utterly ridiculous!"

Qi Miaoxuan fell silent.

Azure Dragon continued, "Wind, Rain, Thunder, Lightning, the changing of seasons, Life, Old Age, Sickness, Death—these are the laws governing the world. They are the Heavenly Dao: fixed and orderly.

The Heavenly Dao has no consciousness. It is unchanging, the law that sustains the world's existence. If the Heavenly Dao possessed consciousness, this world would not exist. So, simply put, there was no Heavenly Dao in the first place; it was merely a collective concept.

The conscious Heavenly Dao you understand is not the Heavenly Dao. That is called God.

And God is a living being that human faith has endowed with control over certain laws. Within a certain scope, within the limits allowed by those laws, it can alter patterns and order.

For instance, rain.

That the sky rains is itself a law. God cannot change the fact that rain exists. It cannot alter the concept of rain, but it can alter where it rains, when it rains, and how heavily it rains.

Thus, after God was born, because it existed through faith, it naturally possessed the rules granted by that faith. For example, Sacrifice for Rain. Humans would follow the arrangements of their faith, establish an altar, and burn an imperial decree, and God would send rain down for them.

For example, plague.

Plague was likewise a law of the world. Whether humans or livestock, all could contract plague. This was also a law God could not alter, but human faith bestowed upon God the ability to drive away plagues.

Therefore, under the rules of the God created by faith, humans would pray for blessings according to the proper procedures, and God would help them dispel the plague.

That is the meaning of God's existence."

Qi Miaoxuan thought for a moment. "Put that way, isn't it quite good?"

Azure Dragon sneered. "But what if God developed its own consciousness? Take you, lowly slave. I granted you immortality and power, but you possessed independent consciousness, so you betrayed me."

Qi Miaoxuan: "..."

Azure Dragon continued, "Even a lowly slave like you would devour his master after gaining power. Let alone God, a God that had stood above humanity from the moment of its birth. How could it possibly remain willing to serve humans forever?

Of course, God was not the only problem. Humans had many problems too. They created God, and God relied upon faith to exist, yet they gradually began to stop believing in God.

This gradually formed an irreconcilable contradiction.

After developing consciousness, God would grow ever more greedy for faith. It would use every kind of method to continually raise the faith required for humans to obtain its help, making it harder and harder for humans to satisfy its demands.

As for humans, during those years, with God's help, they became increasingly capable. They gradually stopped relying on God so much. For example, when plague struck, they no longer first thought to seek God's protection, but instead thought of using medical skill to treat it.

For drought, humans would think of diverting water; for floods, they would think of water management. As for wild beasts, with martial arts growing ever stronger and tools growing ever more ingenious, beasts instead became humanity's prey.

God was heartless. It existed because of humanity, yet it naturally stood above humanity. For faith, it could allow countless humans to die. Humans were heartless as well. When they needed God, they prayed to it; when they did not, they kicked it aside, even slandering it.

Thus, the final result was that once human civilization reached a certain level, God would do everything possible to destroy that civilization. For instance, within the rules, Physical Body Ascension was forbidden, restricting humanity so that they could never possess power surpassing God. No matter how uniquely favored humans were, the path of cultivation would forever be limited to the Nascent Soul Realm.

As for other civilizations, it ensured that the world could never achieve true peace. Once a Unified Dynasty emerged, it would find a way to split that dynasty apart and plunge it into endless warfare.

Doing this, first, restricted the development of human thought, so fewer people would question God. Second, in a War-torn Era, there would always be people endlessly proclaiming the Divine Right of Kings, ensuring faith in God remained and even gradually deepened."

Qi Miaoxuan asked doubtfully, "But if that is so, then God is still constrained by humans. If an outstanding genius emerged in the world and did everything possible to destroy faith, God would weaken. Then God could be killed."

Azure Dragon said, "Therefore, God could not sit and wait for death. On one hand, it arranged the Inner Demon and the Heavenly Gate as two eyes. The Inner Demon investigated among humans, while the Heavenly Gate observed from above, monitoring every movement in the human realm. Meanwhile, it constantly stirred up the changing of human dynasties, ensuring that after long division came unity, and after long unity came division.

During this process of division and reunion, human fortune would continually arise. It absorbed this human fortune and created a place called Beyond the Heavens.

Beyond the Heavens is a place of pure faith, a place where only those who believe in God can exist. Once Beyond the Heavens takes shape, God can completely break free from its dependence on humanity and become a truly flawless God."

Qi Miaoxuan asked again, "Then what does that have to do with you? Why did you say God deceived you?"

Azure Dragon was silent for a long while before saying, "The laws of the world do not change. God's birth must also fall within those laws. And under one such law, God is not permitted to develop consciousness.

Once consciousness is born, the corresponding laws will respond. From the moment God was born, a Great Sun Demonic Art and Seven Sages were born into the world. There are seven kinds of Sages in this world: first, Double Pupils; second, Fused Ribs; third, dragon visage and sun-horned brow; fourth, Sunken Crown River Eyes; fifth, heavenly and earthly anomalies; sixth, Ears with Three Leaks; seventh, One Who Knows From Birth!

These seven types of people represent seven fates.

The Great Sun Demonic Art will forever wander the world seeking these seven people, helping them develop their fates.

Once the Seven Sages join forces, they can slaughter God.

It is not that these Seven Sages must necessarily be extraordinarily powerful, but that is simply the rule: when the Seven Sages join hands, they can slaughter God.

Over two thousand years ago, the Seven Sages successfully came together once."

Qi Miaoxuan hurriedly asked, "Then why does God still exist?"

Azure Dragon roared furiously, "Because the Seven Sages joined hands to slaughter God and killed the wrong one—they killed me!"

Qi Miaoxuan said, "Was it really that careless?"

Azure Dragon said angrily, "At the time, I was the most powerful living being in the world. Even White Tiger, the only one capable of matching me, had been defeated by me. I was so bored that, after accidentally learning of God's existence, I charged into Beyond the Heavens. In the end, God was defeated by me.

It yielded Beyond the Heavens to me, but I had no interest in Beyond the Heavens. I merely wanted to fight. That bastard deceived me, saying that controlling Beyond the Heavens would grant me greater power and allow me to grasp the laws. So I believed it and truly accepted the Divine Seal representing God.

The moment I took the Divine Seal, the Seven Sages charged into Beyond the Heavens. I had no chance to explain that I was not God. And because I had accepted the Divine Seal, I had accepted the karma as well. I was truly restrained by the fates of the Seven Sages and was ultimately killed.

Fortunately, I was not God after all. After my physical body was killed and I lost the Divine Seal, the restraint weakened greatly. My Divine Soul was able to hide within my Reverse Scale and escape from Beyond the Heavens to the human realm. In the end, after sleeping for several hundred years, the Reverse Scale was forged into the Reverse Scale Blade."

Qi Miaoxuan asked suspiciously, "Could you really defeat God?"

"Hmph!" Azure Dragon said angrily. "Why don't you go ask that bastard? I simply could not kill it, but defeating it was effortless!"

Qi Miaoxuan asked doubtfully, "You refused to say anything before. Why are you willing to speak now?"

Azure Dragon was silent for a long time before saying, "There was no point telling you before. With the Heavenly Gate and Inner Demon around, the Seven Sages could never gather. But when I learned that two One Who Knows From Birth existed at the same time, I knew the laws had been triggered. A new age of God-slaying had arrived.

And now that both the Inner Demon and Heavenly Gate have met with disaster, it proves even more that the time has come. Though I dearly wish to skin you, lowly slave, and pull out your tendons, comparatively speaking, I hate God more. You plotted against me, but that was a thousand years of open and aboveboard mutual scheming, and I lost. But that God was truly too despicable back then!"

"What a petty heart. Two thousand years later, and you still hold a grudge!"

Qi Miaoxuan grumbled. Though he had already sealed Azure Dragon and was continuously refining its Divine Soul, he still felt somewhat afraid of Azure Dragon's petty nature.

"Of the Seven Sages who slaughter God, I am dragon visage and sun-horned brow. Gu Mo is One Who Knows From Birth, Xiao Zhaolin of Chu Kingdom has Double Pupils, and Ye Chen is a heavenly and earthly anomaly. We are still missing Fused Ribs, Sunken Crown River Eyes, and Ears with Three Leaks—those three Innate Sages!"

Qi Miaoxuan muttered, then asked, "Can God only be killed when all Seven Sages join forces?"

Azure Dragon said, "Yes. There is no other way."

Yun Province, Dongli Sect.

When Gu Mo returned with Tie Tou and the others, Wang Dongli hurried out to greet them.

Wang Dongli had regained consciousness not long after Gu Mo and the others left. In a daze, he vaguely remembered somehow attacking Gu Chundong and Red Clothes, so he hurried over to apologize.

"Great Hero Gu... I truly do not know what happened to me then. It seemed like my body was genuinely beyond my control. I am sorry..."

Gu Mo waved his hand. "This is not your fault. You were controlled by someone."

Wang Dongli was greatly shocked. "What do you mean?"

Gu Mo said, "Your Wang family's curse did not come from the Spiritual Energy within your bodies. It came from Wang Qingping, the ancestor of your line. It came from your Wang family's inherited Three Flowers Gathering Spirit Art... which should now be called the Nurturing Spirit Art. Only members of your Wang family can cultivate it, and over time, they will be Body Seized by him and become his nourishment..."

Then,

Gu Mo briefly explained Wang Qingping's existence to Wang Dongli.

"You no longer need to worry. I have already dealt with Wang Qingping, and the Spiritual Energy in your body does not need to be removed. However, from now on, your Dongli Sect must put in great effort to clear the river channels and prevent flooding. Your old ancestor was truly ruthless—ruthless toward descendants like you, and ruthless toward the common people as well!"

After hearing Gu Mo's account,

Wang Dongli stood completely stunned, only recovering his senses after a long while.

For an ordinary martial artist like him, these matters were simply too shocking and unbelievable.

"Then that means... my father, my grandfather, and the others... were all Body Seized by our ancestor?" Wang Dongli stammered.

"Correct," Gu Mo said. "If we had not discovered it in time today, you would have been Body Seized as well. Even your son might have been Body Seized. To Wang Qingping, who was preparing to ascend, even a mosquito was still meat."

With a thud,

Wang Dongli dropped to his knees before Gu Mo and kowtowed. "Thank you, Great Hero Gu, for saving me and my son. The Wang family will never forget this immense grace. From this day onward, if Great Hero Gu says but one word, whether climbing a mountain of blades or plunging into a sea of fire, the Wang family will never refuse!"

Though Gu Mo's words felt incredibly shocking to Wang Dongli, he did not doubt them.

Though he was deeply astonished, there were traces to follow. Furthermore, Gu Mo had no need whatsoever to deceive him. And whether it was true or false, the changes in his own body were the clearest proof.

"There is no need for such courtesy." Gu Mo helped Wang Dongli up and said, "A catastrophic flood could erupt from Tiansheng Lake at any time. I have stopped it for now, but it will not hold for long. My sister has already gone to notify the authorities. On your side, use the reputation of Dongli Sect to call upon the martial world of Qingyang County to assist and resolve this matter as quickly as possible."

"Alright, I will do it immediately."

Wang Dongli agreed readily and left at once in a flurry of urgency. Afterward, he arranged places for the many weapon forgers Gu Mo had rescued to rest.

Tie Tou, meanwhile, was brought by Gu Mo to his courtyard.

"Dragon Scale!"

When Tie Tou learned that Gu Mo had a Dragon Scale for him to forge into a weapon, he became utterly exhilarated. The psychological shadow left by Tiansheng Lake vanished in an instant. He rushed to the Dragon Scale and gently stroked it, sighing in admiration. "There really are Dragon Scales in this world! Tsk, tsk, tsk... Great Hero Gu, this blade will definitely become the finest divine blade of this age. I am willing to use my life—"

"That will not be necessary, truly not necessary!" Gu Mo hurriedly said. "You only need to forge the blade and make full use of the Dragon Scale's sharpness. As for the blade spirit, do not act recklessly. Even the ritual sacrifice of the finest Weapon Forger cannot compare to a Nascent Soul in the Ascension Realm. Do not fool around. You do not want your work to have flaws, do you?"

Gu Mo knew Tie Tou was a man whose obsession with weapon forging had become sacred. If he said the wrong thing, Tie Tou might truly sacrifice himself to the blade.

He did not want Tie Tou to die for the sake of a blade.

The reason he said this was not truly because a Nascent Soul in the Ascension Realm was better and he did not want Tie Tou to sacrifice himself. He deliberately planted this conviction in Tie Tou's heart, lest Tie Tou become possessed during the forging process and sacrifice himself.

"Right, right, right." Tie Tou pressed his entire face against the Dragon Scale. "This Dragon Scale is truly wonderful. Could there possibly be a better material in this world? Great Hero Gu, leave it to me. There will definitely be no problem..."

Seeing Tie Tou's lovestruck expression, Gu Mo could not help but laugh.

The state of a lustful hungry ghost seeing a peerless beauty was exactly like Tie Tou's current state upon seeing the Dragon Scale.

"Brother!"

Just then, Gu Chundong and Red Clothes returned.

"I just met Chief Constable Du. He has already immediately informed the Qingyang County Prefecture Government Office to make emergency preparations. There should not be any major problems now," Gu Chundong said.

Gu Mo nodded. "Dongli Sect will also summon the various martial sects to help."

Gu Chundong said, "Brother, judging by the current situation, the trail of the Seven-Colored Peacock has gone cold. The Heavenly Craft Exquisite we borrowed from Old Master Su also seems to have become useless."

Gu Mo smiled lightly. "The trail of the Seven-Colored Peacock has not gone cold, nor was the Heavenly Craft Exquisite borrowed in vain. Though the Wang family no longer needs to remove their Spiritual Energy, I can use the Heavenly Craft Exquisite to study the characteristics of the Seven-Colored Peacock. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle.

"Besides, another person should have specific clues about the Seven-Colored Peacock."

"Who?"

"Xiao Ziyin," Gu Mo said. "Back on Azure Wave Mountain, the first time I saw Wang Dongli use that strange ice power, I thought it felt familiar. After spending time around it, it became increasingly familiar. Later, I finally remembered why.

"Do you remember the battle in the Jiang Kingdom Imperial Palace? Xiao Ziyin used an icy technique then that was actually unafraid of Ye Jinglan's Kirin Flames. I found it strange at the time, but I did not look into it too deeply. Thinking about it now, if that was Peacock Spiritual Power, it would make perfect sense!"

Gu Chundong thought it over. "Yes, the Princess's ice power truly was formidable. Then, Brother, are we going to Chu Kingdom?"

Gu Mo said, "There is no need to hurry for now. You still need to return to Linjiang City to repair our family estate, don't you? When the time comes at the end of the year, when my appointed time with Dharma Master Liansheng arrives, after going to Bright Light Temple, we can visit Xiao Ziyin along the way."

"Alright."

That day,

The Grand Void Flying Sword returned, bringing Su Qianqiu's Heavenly Craft Exquisite.

Afterward, Gu Mo remained in Qingyang County for several days. Only after the Tiansheng Lake flood was completely resolved—and after he had also cleared out the Heavenly God Society—did he leave with Gu Chundong and Red Clothes, returning to Linjiang City.

As for the Dragon Scale, Gu Mo handed it directly to Tie Tou. Tie Tou departed that very day under the escort of the Six Doors, returning to Yun City to enter seclusion and forge the Dragon Scale Blade.