"This is the Ancestral Land?!" Shi Zhongtian had finally been brought to Stone Village by Shi Hao.
At that moment, for the first time, the Great Demon God felt that his horizons had been far too narrow.
He had thought the Ancestral Land would have only two or three sacred medicines and someone at the True God level, but actually arriving there had truly opened his eyes.
The Willow Deity at the village entrance was especially striking. Over ten thousand willow branches now hung from her, and without any closer inspection, he could feel the Dao resonance of this willow tree standing at the center of heaven and earth. Chaos flowed through her, and every leaf seemed to bear a star. Looking closely, he could even see phantom images of the Three Thousand Divine Kingdoms paying homage to the Willow Deity, a sight that shook the mortal world.
The Fifteenth Master solemnly paid his respects, not daring to show any negligence. The Ancestral Land's sacrificial spirit was far stronger than he had imagined. He suspected that she far surpassed even a Heavenly God.
After entering the village to look around, he found the sights even more astonishing.
Chen Yao's creation immortal qi could help spirit medicines elevate their fundamental nature. It was much like how, in the original story, the Fire Emperor had brought several hundred spirit medicines up with him to receive a baptism of the laws, and some of those that endured had transformed into sacred medicines-more than a dozen in all. Chen Yao could not transform spirit medicines into sacred medicines every time either. Some only reached the level of half-sacred medicine, but at least none died, and they were all planted here.
With the influence of the Phoenix's roost, nourishment from the Everlasting Spring's sediment-which had undergone further sublimation after its baptism-and irrigation with the spring water itself, along with the Medicine Garden Formation personally laid down by the Willow Deity, Stone Village was now far wealthier than it had been at the same point in the original story.
Unfortunately, the soil still needed some time to sublime and could not support too much for now.
Dozens of sacred medicines now surrounded Stone Village, along with hundreds of spirit medicines. To keep their manifestations from causing too much of a disturbance, the Willow Deity had laid down the Medicine Garden Formation, concealing them from the outside world. They could only be seen and accessed from within Stone Village.
The carp in the enormous pond had grown even more robust, and some had even begun developing toward becoming Flood Dragons.
Every child in Stone Village could eat spirit medicine once every few days and use sacred medicine during their foundation-establishing baptism. Even wandering around, they could breathe in the fragrance of sacred medicines and spirit medicines every day, further transforming their aptitude. Once the medicine garden's soil finished transforming and its capacity was no longer a concern, they could immediately expand the planting area. In the future, even eating spirit medicine with every meal would be no problem.
Even the legendary Primordial Sacred Mountain seemed like a beggar by comparison.
The Willow Deity had also returned to Stone Village's former location and retrieved from underground the remains of the village's ancient Heavenly God sacrificial spirit, whose last essence she had devoured. She personally refined those remains into a Heavenly God-level Strange Stone Puppet. While she was at it, she refined and upgraded Stone Village's Ancestral Artifacts, allowing minor worlds to form within them so they could be used as magical treasures without relying on their users' cultivation.
Moreover, these were only temporary little creations made with inadequate materials. Her true intention was to find better materials and later forge some genuinely mighty treasures to protect this place.
The people of Stone Village did not know why the Willow Deity had suddenly devoted so much effort to them, but Chen Yao could more or less guess. After obtaining the Transcendence Chapter, she intended to lie low in the Lower Eight Regions, where heaven and earth imposed suppression, the laws were incomplete, and even Supremes could be rejected, and attempt the Mortal World Immortal Path described within the Transcendence Chapter, delving deeper into alternative immortalization.
The incompleteness of the Lower Realm's laws was due not only to the war in Immortal Ancient, but also to its original design as a place to suppress the physical bodies of enemies. A world so restrictive that True Gods could scarcely emerge and Heavenly Gods were almost extinct could serve as a temporary substitute while no world in an age of declining dharma was available.
It would also be a good thing if she could use this opportunity to explore a Mortal World Immortal Path in a world that was not in an age of declining dharma.
For now, she no longer intended to enter the Gate of Origin.
As the Fifteenth Master walked through Stone Village, the villagers welcomed him warmly. His thoughtful gesture of bringing local specialties from along the way particularly won over Stone Village's food lovers.
"Only after coming to the Ancestral Land did I realize what a country bumpkin I was! But why aren't there any powerful cultivators among its inhabitants? Why is only the sacrificial spirit so strong?" The Great Demon God was puzzled.
Shi Yunfeng sighed. "Actually, we're very curious about that too. The village has quite a few miraculous Ancestral Artifacts, as well as some extremely powerful medicinal formulas. The Willow Deity said they were no worse than the foundation-establishing formulas used by heaven-tier Fierce Beasts. There were also the remains of a Heavenly God-level sacrificial spirit beneath our old village. All of that is enough to show that our village has an extraordinary origin."
"Later, the Willow Deity, along with Kun Peng and Phoenix at the far end of the village, revealed a few things. Apparently, our ancestor was some incredibly, incredibly powerful king, and we were one of the branch lineages left behind as a contingency. Unfortunately, there was once a war that engulfed the heavens, and most of our powerful cultivators died in battle. The descendants who rose afterward couldn't withstand several successive great calamities either. Every deity we produced perished, and each generation was weaker than the last."
"In the end, we became what we are today. Our inheritance was severed, leaving only a few medicinal formulas in the Ancestral Artifacts."
"Fortunately, many years ago, the Willow Deity descended from a sea of lightning and landed in Stone Village, gravely wounded. She recuperated here and became our sacrificial spirit. Then there was little Hao, and later little Yao and little Man, who came over and added so many things to Stone Village. After recovering, the Willow Deity personally rearranged everything, and Stone Village changed completely. We wouldn't even have dared dream of being this wealthy before."
"But apparently, our ancestors were even wealthier than we are now. Compared with back then, we're still considered poor."
Shi Yunfeng's words greatly shocked the Great Demon God, and he could not help wondering just what sort of origins the Shi Clan's ancestors had.
Chen Yao sat down beside them and said, "The Willow Deity also had some ties with the Shi Clan's ancestors. The Shi Clan's forefather was the Stone King, one of the Seven Kings of the Border Wasteland. He rendered great service to heaven and earth, and he and the Willow Deity were comrades-in-arms."
"Later, during the Age of Enfeoffed Kings, the Seven Kings and the strongest among their descendants inscribed the various arts and individual moves they had developed into their bloodlines, with heaven and earth bearing witness. As a result, these Supreme Arts would awaken within outstanding descendants, taking shape with the aid of heaven and earth. That's where little Hao's Supreme Bone and Shi Yi's double pupils came from."
Beside them, Shi Hao listened while tossing the first Supreme Bone that had once belonged to him in his hand. It was still sealed together with his true blood; the Fifteenth Master had brought it along on his visit to the Ancestral Land.
"So that's how it was. I never imagined our ancestors had once been so well-off." The Fifteenth Master slapped his thigh and sighed with emotion.
"Fifteenth Master, you're asking about all this because the Stone Emperor is worried about the great calamity and hopes to receive help from the Ancestral Land, aren't you?" Chen Yao asked with a smile.
"Yes! I'm ashamed. This is my first visit, yet I've already come with a task. The Ancestral Land has only just managed to regain its vitality, and we unworthy descendants who went out to struggle in the world are already coming back to ask for help. It really is hard to bring myself to say it." The Fifteenth Master sighed. Embarrassment was precisely why he had only made indirect inquiries about the Ancestral Land's circumstances rather than asking outright. He had already decided that if the Willow Deity did not offer to act, he would tell the Stone Emperor that the Ancestral Land had once suffered devastating losses and needed to remain secluded, so it might be unable to help.
At worst, he could shamelessly ask the Stone Emperor to move here and stay until the great calamity passed. After all, Stone Village did not seem afraid of it.
"I just don't know what this so-called great calamity actually is." The Great Demon God was very curious as well.
Chen Yao explained, "The place where we live is called the Lower Eight Regions. Above us, there's an Upper Realm called the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. Because of that war that engulfed the heavens, much of history became obscured. The term 'Lower Realm Prison,' which arose because the Eight Regions suppressed the bodies of many supreme powerhouses, was distorted. Now it's instead become a claim that we're all descendants of prisoners."
"The great calamity is when those people from the Upper Realm use that as an excuse to come down and attack deities and Venerables en masse, supposedly to purge or subdue them, harvesting what they call living great medicine. Along the way, they pass down their traditions to govern the Lower Realm, searching for opportunities left behind by the ancient war while they're unable to descend, so they can quickly reap the harvest when the passage opens. Every being who descends is one, two, or even more major realms above Heavenly Gods, so naturally, no one in the Eight Regions can stop them."
The Great Demon God's pupils trembled violently. Shi Hao and Aman, hearing the truth about the great calamity for the first time, also found it utterly horrifying.
Several major realms above Heavenly Gods? How could they possibly fight that? There was not even a shadow of a Heavenly God in the Lower Realm! Even True Gods were rarely seen.
"Don't worry too much. The Willow Deity has recovered considerably and is in excellent condition now. If those fellows above dare descend in their true bodies, they'll have to consider whether they'll ever make it back. As long as certain restricted areas don't stir, those so-called sect masters and Supremes of the Upper Realm are no match for the Willow Deity. They'll have only two choices: bow their heads or die." Seeing their grave expressions, Chen Yao reassured them.
"Is the Willow Deity that strong?" Even Shi Hao was stunned. He had already thought very highly of her, but he had only believed she could comfortably protect herself during the great calamity. He had never imagined she could slaughter them as easily as little children.
Of course. The Willow Deity has probably recovered to nearly the level of alternative immortalization by now, far beyond where she was at this point in the original story. Even a Remnant Immortal would die if one came, Chen Yao thought.
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