World Seed, Secrets of the World's Creation 2

These ten powerful and fearsome vicious beast races were also known as the Vicious Beast Emperor Clans. Each emperor clan had a terrifyingly powerful founding ancestor in the Great Emperor realm, and each commanded a thousand vicious beast races.

Though the Demon Race had only one Great Emperor and countless demon beasts, the Demon Ancestor alone was no weaker than the ten Great Emperors of the Vicious Beast Emperor Clans combined. The Spirit Race's founding ancestor was only slightly weaker than the Demon Ancestor.

When war broke out, the Human Ancestor led the Human Race's experts into a fierce war against the Myriad Vicious Beast Races, the Demon Race, and the Spirit Race.

Armed with the Heavenly Dao Imprint, the Human Ancestor single-handedly kept the twelve Great Emperors of the vicious beasts, the Demon Race, and the Spirit Race firmly suppressed.

As the war dragged on, countless years passed. Several Great Emperors emerged among the Human Race, the Myriad Vicious Beast Races, the Demon Race, and the Spirit Race.

The Human Ancestor could still use the Heavenly Dao Imprint to firmly suppress the newly emerged Great Emperors. But as time passed, the realms of the twelve founding ancestors of the ten Vicious Beast Emperor Clans, the Demon Race, and the Spirit Race gradually rose. Eventually, the Human Ancestor discovered that the Heavenly Dao Imprint could no longer suppress them.

At that point, the Human Ancestor communicated with the Heavenly Dao Imprint and finally learned that two more realms lay above the peak Great Emperor realm: supreme and mythical.

These realms were called the Supreme Great Emperor realm and the Mythical Great Emperor realm. The Heavenly Dao Imprint could only suppress Great Emperors below the Supreme Great Emperor realm. It could not suppress Supreme Great Emperors at all.

Although the Human Ancestor and the Great Emperors of the vicious beasts, the Demon Race, and the Spirit Race had broken through to the Supreme Great Emperor realm, rendering the Heavenly Dao Imprint useless against them, the Human Ancestor could still stand against the twelve Supreme Great Emperors with his Innate Saintly Physique Dao Embryo.

Countless years later, an expert with a terrifying physique appeared among the Human Race. His combat strength was unparalleled, invincible among those of the same realm, sweeping aside all before him. After ascending to the Great Emperor realm, he actually held his own against more than a dozen Great Emperors of the vicious beasts, the Demon Race, and the Spirit Race without a Heavenly Dao Imprint.

This Great Emperor with the terrifying physique was known as the Chaos Great Emperor. His Chaos Physique was even more powerful than the Human Ancestor's Innate Saintly Physique Dao Embryo.

To let the Chaos Great Emperor grow safely, the Human Ancestor relied on his own strength to hold the twelve Great Emperors of the vicious beasts, the Demon Race, and the Spirit Race at bay in Heaven Beyond Heaven for dozens of epochs.

Throughout those dozens of epochs, the Chaos Great Emperor fought the three races' Great Emperors without pause, advancing from the Great Emperor realm to the peak of the Mythical Great Emperor realm.

Over those dozens of epochs, dozens of Mythical Great Emperors with powerful physiques, thousands of Supreme Great Emperors, and countless Great Emperors had emerged among the Human Race.

Under the Chaos Great Emperor's leadership, the Human Race gradually reached its zenith. Without their twelve founding ancestors, the Myriad Vicious Beast Races, the Demon Race, and the Spirit Race slowly ceased to be a threat to the Human Race.

By then, in Heaven Beyond Heaven, the Human Ancestor had accumulated cultivation over countless epochs and become a Quasi-Immortal. Of the vicious beasts, the Demon Race, and the Spirit Race, aside from the Demon Ancestor, who was a Quasi-Immortal, the other eleven had all advanced to the peak of the Mythical Great Emperor realm.

They had thought that was how things would remain, but just then, a terrifyingly powerful Immortal suddenly appeared among the Myriad Vicious Beast Races. This Immortal had come from the Immortal Realm, using reverse space to enter this world through the Immortal Ascension Platform.

The Immortal of the Myriad Vicious Beast Races then led the Myriad Vicious Beast Races, the Demon Race, and the Spirit Race in a frenzied campaign of revenge against the Human Race.

Upon learning of this, the Human Ancestor could only abandon his blockade of the twelve founding ancestors and come to the Human Race's rescue. The Human Ancestor, the Chaos Great Emperor, and the Human Race's many Great Emperors then fought a world-shattering battle against that Immortal, the twelve Great Emperors of the Myriad Vicious Beast Races, the Demon Race, and the Spirit Race, and countless Great Emperors of the various races.

By the end of the battle, the Human Race had suffered near-total casualties, and fewer than a tenth of its Great Emperors remained. The Chaos Great Emperor was gravely wounded, and the Human Ancestor was on the verge of death.

After all, the Quasi-Immortal and Immortal realms were like the bright moon and a firefly; the gap between them was vast. An Immortal was far too terrifying: a single one could fight the entire Human Race.

Just as the Human Race was about to be exterminated, a power entered the Human Ancestor's body. It was the Power of All Living Beings, a power that gathered all the Human Race's strength into one.

The Human Ancestor's injuries instantly healed, and he advanced to the Immortal realm. In the end, relying on the terrifying Innate Saintly Physique Dao Embryo, he actually slew the Immortal.

He then killed the Demon Race's Demon Ancestor and gravely wounded the eleven founding ancestors as they fled. Afterward, he returned to the Human Race with the Chaos Great Emperor and the surviving Great Emperors to recuperate and multiply.

In that world-shattering battle, the world itself had been broken into nineteen regions.

The Human Ancestor named the nineteen regions the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, and the era became known as the Creation Era.

Countless more years passed. After the Human Race's long development, countless Great Emperors and Supreme Great Emperors, hundreds of Mythical Great Emperors, and several Immortals had emerged.

Among them were Heavenly Emperor Ye, the second Immortal with the Innate Saintly Physique Dao Embryo, and the Heavenly Emperor of the Six Paths, an Immortal with the terrifying Samsara Physique.

After the Myriad Vicious Beast Races, the Demon Race, and the Spirit Race closed themselves off to recuperate and multiply, Great Emperors and experts above the Great Emperor realm also emerged among them in succession.

Dozens of epochs passed in peace. Then, one day, dozens of Immortals appeared at the Immortal Ascension Platform once again. Upon sensing their presence, the Human Ancestor and the others immediately headed there.

They discovered that every one of them was an Immortal of the Myriad Vicious Beast Races. Seeing this, they attacked at once without another word. Soon, large numbers of Great Emperors from the Human Race and from the vicious beasts, the Demon Race, and the Spirit Race came to support their respective races.

And so a great battle began at the Immortal Ascension Platform, lasting ten thousand years.

When the last Immortal of the Myriad Vicious Beast Races was slain, the Human Race had once again suffered heavy casualties. The Human Ancestor, the Chaos Great Emperor, and Heavenly Emperor Ye were gravely wounded; the Heavenly Emperor of the Six Paths had fallen; and only three or four Immortals remained. A little over twenty Mythical Great Emperors survived, while the deaths among Great Emperors of other realms were beyond counting.

On the side of the Myriad Vicious Beast Races, the ten founding ancestors had been slain, leaving only a dozen or so Mythical Great Emperors.

The Demon Race had only a few Great Emperors left, while the Spirit Race still had its founding ancestor, several Mythical Great Emperors, dozens of Supreme Great Emperors, and hundreds of experts in the Great Emperor realm.

The battlefield was afterward called the Immortal Road, meaning the place where Immortals had fallen.

After the battle, the Human Ancestor saw that the Human Race had struggled to regain its strength, only for another massive war to claim the lives of its experts.

He felt that if Immortals kept descending from the Immortal Realm like this, the Human Race would be exterminated sooner or later. After discussing the matter with the others of the Human Race, he decided to seal the Immortal Ascension Platform, the Myriad Vicious Beast Races, and the Spirit Race, lest they cause further trouble and endanger the Human Race.

But sealing the Immortal Ascension Platform would also cut off the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands' path of ascension to the Immortal Realm. The seal would also prevent the Immortal Realm's Immortal Spiritual Qi from entering the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands through the platform.

Although Immortals had endless lifespans, once the Immortals in the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands exhausted their Immortal Spiritual Power, they would be unable to replenish it with Immortal Spiritual Qi. In the end, they would pass away and vanish from heaven and earth.

The Human Ancestor also wondered why those of the Myriad Vicious Beast Races in the Immortal Realm so frequently descended to the lower realm.

So the Human Ancestor decided to take several Immortals and ascend to the Immortal Realm to seek the root of the trouble. Before doing so, he left a soul imprint with my Heavenly Mandate Clan so that, once he found the source, he could tell us how to resolve it.

He then prepared to seal the Myriad Vicious Beast Races and the Spirit Race before ascending.

By then, the Demon Race had no experts above the Supreme Emperor realm and could no longer amount to much. It posed no threat to the Human Race, so it was left unsealed to catch its breath in the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.

The Spirit Race's founding ancestor also knew that if his race were sealed together with the cruel vicious beasts, extermination would surely be their only end. He promptly sought out the Human Ancestor and said he was willing to lead everyone in the Spirit Race at the Great Emperor realm and above to voluntarily become Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to nourish the Human Race, in exchange for the Spirit Race's survival in the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.

The Spirit Race had originally been formed from the Spiritual Qi of the spirits of heaven and earth, mountains and rivers, plants and trees. Returning to heaven and earth to nourish the Human Race was also a form of atonement to the Human Race.

Seeing this, and knowing the Spirit Race would no longer pose a threat to the Human Race, the Human Ancestor agreed at once.

The Spirit Race's founding ancestor kept his word. He immediately led all the Spirit Race's Great Emperors in transforming into an immense amount of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, which then dispersed across the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.

The Human Ancestor then used the Power of All Living Beings to forcibly bring all the Myriad Vicious Beast Races to Heaven Beyond Heaven. Just as he was about to seal them, he sensed a prompting from the Heavenly Dao Imprint and released it.

He then said to the Myriad Vicious Beast Races, "When the great golden age arrives and one who defies heaven appears, the myriad races may emerge into the world." He then used terrifying Immortal power and the Power of All Living Beings to seal them.

Afterward, he used Immortal power and the power of everyone to refine a mysterious pearl. Named the Immortal-Breaking Pearl, it was the key to breaking the Human Ancestor's seal on the Immortal Ascension Platform.

He entrusted the pearl to my Heavenly Mandate Clan for safekeeping, saying, "The Immortal-Breaking Pearl shall not emerge into the world except for a Fate Defier." He then went to the Immortal Road and sealed the Immortal Ascension Platform before ascending to the Immortal Realm with several Immortals.

Because the Immortal Ascension Platform and the Myriad Vicious Beast Races had been sealed, no one in the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands could ascend to the Immortal Realm anymore. The Heavenly Dao therefore brought down the Power of Karma. The future owner of the Immortal-Breaking Pearl would be the one to settle that Power of Karma.

After hearing about the world's creation, Yuan Zhexian could not help saying, "I never imagined the calamity of creation was a calamity of survival, or that the Human Race endured such hardships to continue. And the Immortal-Breaking Pearl is actually the key to humanity's continued survival.

"Whether it's the Myriad Vicious Beast Races or the Power of Karma of the Immortal Ascension Platform, I'll take it all on. After all, I'm a member of the Human Race too. Besides, I am invincible; whatever Power of Karma it is, I fear nothing."

Yuan Zhexian then asked, "Senior, what clan is that terrifying clan you mentioned?"

The ancient, weathered voice replied, "They call themselves the Clan of the Heavens."

"The Clan of the Heavens? I thought it was the Yuan Clan!" Yuan Zhexian murmured.

"You actually know of the Yuan Clan? The Yuan Clan is even more mysterious than the Clan of the Heavens." This time, it was the ancient, weathered voice's turn to be surprised.

"My name is Yuan Zhexian, and I am the Yuan Clan's divine son of this generation," Yuan Zhexian said firmly.

"You're from the Yuan Clan, and you're this generation's divine son! The Yuan Clan! A Fate Defier! I seem to understand something now." After its initial surprise, the ancient, weathered voice regained its composure.

Yuan Zhexian grew even more curious about his own clan and continued, "Senior, you existed in the Creation Era. Do you know the origins of my Yuan Clan?"

The ancient, weathered voice replied at once, "I don't know. Even if I did, I couldn't speak of it. I couldn't."

Yuan Zhexian still wanted to ask more, but the ancient, weathered voice interrupted him. "Enough. Once you're strong enough, you'll naturally learn certain things."

"Fate Defier, since you're willing to settle this Power of Karma and rewrite the fate of all things and living beings in heaven and earth, accept the final inheritance," the ancient, weathered voice said again.

The entire space trembled. The phantom of a gigantic golden tree appeared, with a golden seed suspended at its center, emitting seven-colored light.

"What is this?" Yuan Zhexian asked in shock. The phantom tree was so huge that words could no longer describe it.

The ancient, weathered voice spoke solemnly. "A World Seed."

"A World Seed?" What kind of peerless treasure is that?

The ancient, weathered voice said, "It is no peerless treasure. It is the foundation of a world, the origin of a world, an object of the Great Dao."

Yuan Zhexian continued, "An object of the Great Dao? Senior, could you be more specific?"

"According to the message the Human Ancestor later sent back, the worlds are divided into three levels: three thousand lesser worlds, ten middle worlds, and the great world. The world containing our Nine Heavens and Ten Lands is one of the ten middle worlds, and the Immortal Realm is the ultimate great world. The World Tree nurtured by the World Seed is the foundation of all the worlds. Its three thousand twigs and leaves represent the three thousand worlds, its ten great branches represent the ten middle worlds, and its entire trunk represents the great world.

"Not only can one comprehend and cultivate the Power of the Great Dao through the World Tree, but every time it grows a twig or leaf, one can use the Power of the World of that twig or leaf. That is an ability only those above the Immortal realm can comprehend."

"Then why would something so heaven-defying appear here?" Yuan Zhexian asked, puzzled.

"I don't know the exact reason either. Before he ascended, the Human Ancestor didn't know what it was. But he entrusted it and the Immortal-Breaking Pearl to my care before he left, so there must have been a reason. You'll have to discover that reason yourself, too. But the message the Human Ancestor sent back said that this World Seed is the object of destiny that will let you, the Fate Defier, rewrite the fate of all things in the heavens.

"Why did the Human Ancestor have to be so mysterious? What is all this for?" The more Yuan Zhexian thought about it, the more his head ached, so he simply stopped. The boat would straighten itself when it reached the bridge. Besides, he believed himself invincible; whatever came, he would suppress it all.

Then the ancient, weathered voice spoke once more. "This World Seed must be placed in your soul's sea of consciousness and nurtured with peerless heavenly materials and earthly treasures. Remember, if you aren't strong enough, it's best not to use it. Otherwise, even as a member of the Yuan Clan, you'll be in a great deal of trouble."

The ancient, weathered voice spoke one last time. "My Heavenly Mandate Clan has existed from the Creation Era until now, and we have finally fulfilled the Human Ancestor's charge. After this, the Heavenly Mandate Clan will be no more. Fate Defier, the fate of protecting the Human Race is entrusted to you. As for the last rewriting of fate, I don't know about it either. You'll have to seek that out yourself. Take care of yourself."

The seven-colored cloud vanished as soon as the ancient, weathered voice finished speaking. Yuan Zhexian bowed slightly in the direction where it had disappeared, thanking him for waiting for him for countless epochs for the sake of the Human Race.

At that moment, Yuan Zhexian suddenly felt an indescribable power seem to appear upon him in the unseen. It was formless, without shape or aspect, yet it also seemed like the power of fate and karma. In any case, he could not explain it clearly.

Yuan Zhexian then flew out of the secret realm and came before the others. Ji Jingtian asked curiously, "Divine son, what was the inheritance? We're all very curious. Could you tell us?"

Yuan Zhexian pondered for a moment, then said, "This matter is too complicated. It isn't time for you to know yet. I need to return to the clan and discuss it with the ancestor."

The secret realm's inheritance had been obtained, and the place was about to dissipate. He immediately led everyone away from the secret realm and back to Yuan Xun, the Yuan Clan's grand elder.

Ding.

Congratulations to the host for completing the secret realm inheritance. Reward: 500,000 mission points.

Yuan Zhexian smiled faintly. Yoshi! I'm rich.