Heavenly Venerable Yuangeng

At the far end of the distant starry sky, a grand sacrificial ceremony was being held on Ziwei Ancient Star.

On this day, almost every human lineage, divine dynasty, great city, and tribe across Ziwei Ancient Star bustled about preparing their ceremonial grounds. Mortals and cultivators alike, from lofty sages to old farmers sweating in the mud, came devoutly to the places of worship and chanted the exalted titles of the supreme sovereigns of the human race.

Lunar Essence Human Emperor!

Solar Essence Saint Emperor!

And... Heavenly Venerable Yuangeng!

Worship of the Three Sovereigns!

This tradition had arisen on Ziwei Ancient Star over the past two or three thousand years. On a particular day unique to this star, people offered worship to its two human sovereigns, Lunar Essence and Solar Essence, as well as Yuangeng, the ancient human supreme who had shown immense goodwill toward Ziwei and the human race two or three thousand years ago.

The title of Heavenly Venerable was not one Yuangeng had chosen for himself. It had been spread by the Lunar Essence Divine Church and the Sun God Sect, then vigorously promoted by mid-sized lineages such as Guanghan Palace, the Human King Hall, and the Ziwei Divine Dynasty. By now, it had spread throughout Ziwei Ancient Star.

With the might of numerous great sects of cultivators behind it, the day of joint worship for the Three Sovereigns spread across Ziwei Ancient Star at an unimaginable speed, becoming especially widespread among mortal humans.

As always, no matter the era, mortals were the most important component of all living beings. On Ziwei Ancient Star, where distances routinely spanned tens of millions of li, the mortal human population had reached a truly staggering figure.

After three thousand years of unwavering observance, the festival honoring the three great human sovereigns had become a tradition, etched into the memories of generation after generation of mortals. Whenever this special day arrived, people would bow toward a particular direction and chant the names of the Three Sovereigns.

These chants honoring the three human sovereigns transformed the mortals' recitations and offerings into faith thought power, some pure and some mixed, which surged in mighty torrents into the Lunar Essence Divine Church, the Sun God Sect, and the depths of the universe.

This year, the person presiding over the grand ceremony at the Lunar Essence Divine Church was none other than its supreme sect leader, Si Yanning. Behind her stood not only the church's many Saints, Saint Kings, and Great Saints, but also even more of its less accomplished cultivators. Each held a stick of sacred incense and worshipped devoutly.

On the highest altar of the ceremony, all three sovereigns had been fashioned into towering divine statues. Each statue was cast from divine-path materials. In particular, the statue of the Lunar Essence Human Emperor held a square black seal the size of a human head. Though it was missing a corner and bore deep wounds across its surface, its undying majesty remained unmistakable.

As expected, all the faith thought power belonging to the Lunar Essence Human Emperor gathered within the Human Emperor Seal. That invisible, intangible power enveloped the imperial seal, nourishing the deep wounds upon it.

Only after the long, intricate sequence of rites had ended did Si Yanning relax. She waved the Great Saints, Saint Kings, and Saints away, then personally ascended the altar and drew the damaged Human Emperor Seal into her body, continuing to nurture it with her Quasi-Emperor cultivation.

Yet after she had finished all this, she suddenly realized that a familiar figure had arrived. He stood in the ceremonial hall, gazing absently at the statues of the three human sovereigns high above the shrine.

"Greetings, Supreme Yuangeng!"

Si Yanning recognized Yuangeng at a glance and bowed deeply without hesitation.

To her, the man's back could not have been more familiar. Though she had only met him a handful of times at most, his striking face was deeply engraved in her memory, and she dared not forget it.

She remembered how, back then, she had been a Saint King serving as leader of the Lunar Essence Divine Church. She had been fortunate enough to witness Supreme Yuangeng demonstrate his arts and hear him expound the Dao. They both cultivated Lunar Essence, and she knew her cultivation had benefited enormously from him.

"Little sect leader."

Yuangeng studied the woman carefully. When he had first met her, she had merely been a Saint King a little over a thousand years old. Now she was over four thousand, and her cultivation had crossed the threshold of Great Saint and entered the Quasi-Emperor realm. This surprised him somewhat.

This was, after all, the universe of Shrouding the Heavens. A four-thousand-year-old Quasi-Emperor's talent could only be considered unremarkable here. But in the Immortal Ancient Era, where cultivation generally progressed more slowly and people liked to spend tens of thousands of years consolidating a particular realm whether they needed to or not, an ordinary supreme of four thousand was already rather rare.

"No wonder faith thought power has often come my way over the years. So this is why."

He extended one hand, and the statue on the high platform, which looked almost exactly like him, immediately released a gentle radiance. The light seemed to breathe, brightening and dimming in a regular rhythm. Listening closely, he could almost hear living beings offering worship and chanting the Heavenly Venerable's name within it.

There was no doubt that this was faith thought power, a wondrous substance formed from the devotional power of mortals and cultivators.

"This was Ancestor Si Qi's idea. Your appearance was of great significance. He believed it was an opportunity to unite the human race once more, as well as a means of helping the Human Emperor Seal revive. Thus, he established an annual festival to worship the Three Sovereigns."

Si Yanning took out the Human Emperor Seal and invited Yuangeng to examine it. After three thousand years of worship, its wounds remained, but its aura had grown considerably more profound. Lunar Essence origin power rippled through it. Though its divine spirit had yet to awaken, it was not far from doing so.

"He certainly put a great deal of thought into this. Is that ancestor of yours still alive?" Yuangeng asked appreciatively.

With his heavenly eye, he could see not only great sects such as the Lunar Essence Divine Church, the Sun God Sect, the Human King Hall, Guanghan Palace, and the Longevity Temple, but also countless more mortals worshipping the three great statues-Lunar Essence, Solar Essence, and Yuangeng.

As he considered this, he formed a seal with his hands. At once, countless trillions of strands of gentle radiance converged into his hands from all across Ziwei Ancient Star. This was his share of the faith thought power, accumulated through three thousand years of worship by Ziwei's countless trillions of mortals.

"A thousand years ago, the two senior Quasi-Emperors of our two sects passed away one after the other. I inherited their mantle and now stand guard over Ziwei Star," Si Yanning answered truthfully.

In theory, a Quasi-Emperor could live for up to ten thousand years. But the two Lunar Essence and Solar Essence Quasi-Emperors who had once met Yuangeng had only reached the first heaven of that realm. Living to nine thousand had already been quite impressive.

By now, Si Yanning was the only Quasi-Emperor on all of Ziwei Ancient Star with ample lifespan remaining. Not yet five thousand years old, she already stood at the pinnacle of the first heaven of the Quasi-Emperor realm. She harbored considerable ambitions: she wished to protect Ziwei's human race, and she also aspired to see the Human Emperor Seal's divine spirit awaken within her lifetime.

"As long as the imperial seal remains, all is well."

Yuangeng nodded and held the Human Emperor Seal in his hand, returning the ancient artifact a moment later. With an Extreme Dao Weapon present, the Lunar Essence Divine Church's many reserves of power had finally been secured. This sect lacked no experts, and he felt quite reassured.

Meanwhile, almost all the faith thought power from across Ziwei had converged in Yuangeng's hands. Gentle, brilliant divine light wreathed him, making him seem to stand upon a vast altar raised by countless trillions of living beings. It sought to merge completely with his flesh and primordial spirit.

"When the festival was first established, our predecessors did not know your exalted title, so they used Heavenly Venerable. If this has violated any taboo, please forgive us, Supreme." Seemingly afraid that Yuangeng disliked the title of Heavenly Venerable, Si Yanning bowed again and explained.

"It is no matter."

Yuangeng lightly tapped the space between his brows. Pitch-black radiance immediately spilled from his primordial spirit, isolating all the faith thought power outside his body. He carefully savored the Dao principles, thoughts, and karma contained within this wondrous devotional power, then nodded in satisfaction.

Originally, he had planned to wait until his third or fourth life before properly studying the arts of faith thought power. But since Ziwei's human race had unwittingly planted willow shoots that had taken root, he did not mind making a few arrangements ahead of time.