First Killing Tribulation

"Hah!"

Jiang Ping rose and let out a breath of stale air. He felt sticky all over, and only after looking closely did he realize his clothes were soaked through. He simply stripped off and took a bath.

Splash, splash.

Comfortably hot water flowed over Jiang Ping's body, washing away not only the grime but also the exhaustion of his transformation. Jiang Ping felt better than ever. Looking into the mirror, he saw not a single wrinkle on his smooth face, while the skin all over his body had become delicate and tender.

"Have I become young again?" Jiang Ping smiled at his reflection.

He now looked like a sixteen-year-old teenager. After taking the Longevity Potion, he had undergone an enormous transformation!

The Longevity Potion's greatest effect was activating cells and transforming the entire body. Jiang Ping could vaguely feel that his cell activity had increased tremendously.

"What is my current maximum lifespan?" he could not help asking Creation Diary.

"Based on your current physical condition, as expected, you will be able to live for two hundred years." Creation Diary answered.

Jiang Ping could not help laughing. That was more than a hundred extra years of life! A man without long-term worries would surely have immediate troubles.

It could be said that if Jiang Ping put the Longevity Potion up for auction, it could easily sell for a sky-high price of tens of billions!

How many top tycoons would scramble for it? So many emperors throughout history had become muddleheaded in their old age—was it not because their lives were nearing their end?

On this point alone, Jiang Ping had surpassed everyone else. However, he currently had no means of protecting himself, so there was no way he would auction off such a miraculous treasure. Money now meant little more than dirt to him.

Jiang Ping was especially delighted after his transformation. He looked toward the Primordial World again. This time, Lian Shan had once again entered his later years in his second life. Could he still bring Jiang Ping a surprise?

During his second life, Lian Shan devoted most of his energy to studying the Tablet of Truth. Although the tablet's Main Body had been taken away, countless runes from it had been recorded, and everyone could recite the Nine-Nine Song.

Moreover, because it had been passed down by the Creation God, even the other powerful magical beasts recited every line of it.

The song, "One times one is one, one times two is two, one times three is three," spread throughout the Primordial World. Countless creatures pondered the mysteries within.

Gradually, people figured out One by one how to use the multiplication table. Was it merely a simple method of counting? Many did not believe so, including Human King Lian Shan. There had to be a deeper meaning within it!

While the entire world was studying the Nine-Nine Song, a major incident occurred. Lian Shan found the separated tribe, only to learn that their clan's treasured Tablet of Truth had long since vanished!

Upon hearing this terrible news, it was said that the Human King's blood rushed to his head. With a boom, his mind went blank, and he fainted from rage!

From then on, Lian Shan's health steadily deteriorated, worsening with each passing day!

Wuyou, who had left Back Then, had long since died to the passage of time. There was no one left to hold accountable!

"This unworthy descendant has failed the former kings! I actually lost the God-bestowed Treasure!" Lian Shan shed tears after waking up!

He was the Human King! Over his lifetime, he had suffered countless wounds, yet had never Lowered their heads or complained. He had even broken through the Life-and-Death Profound Gate, developed the Longevity Potion, and lived a second life!

Lian Shan's hair turned white overnight. His eyes bloodshot, he issued an order: "Announce this to the entire world. No matter what race finds and returns the Tablet of Truth, the Human Race will protect them forever. Their race shall not perish, and they shall live without worry!"

He paused before gritting his teeth. "If anyone is discovered to be secretly hiding the treasure, they will become the enemy of the entire Human Race! My race will spare no effort to recover it!"

With the Human King's command, everyone learned that the God-bestowed Treasure, the Tablet of Truth, had been lost. The Human Race's promise stirred the hearts of countless races.

The other powerful races' hearts also pounded. If their own race obtained the treasure, could they surpass the Human Race and rule the land?

The entire Primordial World was thrown into upheaval. Slaughter and conflict began one after another, and the Human Race's experts nearly went mad. Yet none of them imagined that the Tablet of Truth was buried several thousand meters underground!

Deep underground, within a grand and exquisite mother nest, the Ant Queen rotated her compound eyes as she studied the Tablet of Truth she had researched for months.

"One times one is one, one times two is two." Were these tadpole-like characters merely a way of counting? They should contain some of the world's truths.

Even the usually wise Ant Queen was confused. The Human Race's experts had studied it for So Many Years without understanding it, and she could not figure it out alone either. In the end, she could only carefully store the tablet away, taking it out from time to time to study and ponder, hoping to uncover its mysteries.

How could something left behind by the Creation God be ordinary? Not to mention others—its material alone was extraordinary. The Ant Queen had her hardest metallic Soldier Ant attack it, yet it could not leave a single scratch!

The humans went mad after losing their treasure. To prevent the Human Race from uncovering the truth, the Ant Queen decisively ordered the ant colonies on the surface to withdraw. They abandoned the surface bases they had operated for so long and returned to lurk in the dark depths underground.

The Human Race's experts stirred up a bloody storm across the world, and even the depths of the ocean were affected. Blood Rain Dyed Red the entire world. Jiang Ping could feel it too; the points he had spent to create the materials for the Longevity Potion had already been recovered.

He had not expected that a tablet he had created so casually would cause such a Killing Tribulation. It was almost comparable to the Minor Epochal Cataclysm.

Unfortunately, no one obtained the Tablet of Truth in the end. This time, the aged Lian Shan could no longer defy fate. Living creatures developed drug resistance, and the Longevity Potion could only be taken once. Taking more was useless.

Before dying, he still instructed the next Human King to recover the treasure!

The Third Generation Human King was named Cang Nan. He was quite intelligent and, like Lian Shan, had studied the Tablet of Truth's tadpole-like characters for many years. It was said that he could completely recite the Nine-Nine Song at the age of five.

It was precisely because of his profound understanding of the Nine-Nine Song that he defeated many opponents and ascended the Human King's throne. After Cang Nan took the throne, he worked vigorously to restore relations with their allies.

In Lian Shan's later years, he had made enemies of countless powerful races across the continent over the Tablet of Truth, causing the Human Race's strength to decline greatly. Cang Nan instead adopted a policy of rest and recovery. His understanding of the Tablet of Truth was that the knowledge it contained mattered, not the tablet itself.

He devoted his life to studying the Nine-Nine Song. Combining the insights left behind by countless predecessors, a fragment of truth gradually fermented within him.

Unfortunately, this was not something that could be achieved overnight. For several decades, he pondered from youth to old age. His white hair became sparse, and no one knew how much had fallen out. Even taking all kinds of precious medicinal herbs year-round was useless.

He had gone bald, but he had not grown stronger.

One day, deep in thought, he walked to the Imperial River. Gazing at the flowing water, he sighed. "I have achieved nothing in my life. I am about to die of old age, yet I still have not fully comprehended the Nine-Nine Song. I have truly failed my people's trust."

Suddenly, he saw an old man sitting on a rock nearby, seemingly examining the rushing river with great care.

Cang Nan asked in confusion, "Elder, there is nothing on the surface of the Imperial River. What are you looking at?"

The old man raised his head and glanced at him. "I am looking at why this river flows down from high places, and why it Gathered in low-lying places."

Cang Nan laughed. "Water flows downhill. Isn't that the simplest principle? How can you not even understand that?"

The old man laughed as well. "I say, you are no longer young. Why do you think water flowing downhill is only natural? There must be some principle here that we do not understand."

Cang Nan suddenly shuddered. Inspiration struck him, and he immediately bowed. "I beg the wise one to teach me."

The old man spoke slowly. "What could I possibly teach you? The rising and setting of the sun and moon, the cycle of spring, summer, autumn, and winter—none of these are simply natural. There are all kinds of principles behind them.

I heard you muttering the Nine-Nine Song Just now. To me, the world is like the numbers in the Nine-Nine Song. The world is made up of numbers, One by one."

Cang Nan felt his head boom, and he instantly attained Sudden enlightenment. "Even the simplest phenomena under heaven follow various patterns, and all of them can be explained through numbers. The Nine-Nine Song is the simplest formula for calculating truth!"

As Cang Nan attained Sudden enlightenment, the entire world looked different to him. Changes that had once seemed simplest now contained eternal truths in his eyes. Just wanted to thank the old man, he looked up—

But where was anyone? Cang Nan looked around blankly, unsure whether what had happened Just now was a fantasy born from his daily thoughts or whether such a person truly existed.

Suddenly, he knelt and thanked Heaven and Earth. Finally, he knelt toward the mother river as well.

Jiang Ping stood invisibly beside him. Seeing Cang Nan's actions, he Laughed. "I have given you the seed. How far you can go depends on yourselves."

The Nine-Nine Song could be traced back to the ancient Fuxi. It contained some of the truths behind the world's changes. From these few simple numbers, In the end, he could derive the laws behind the decay of all things.

Afterward, Jiang Ping turned his gaze toward the depths underground again.

"These Little Fellows are getting restless too. It seems the two races are destined for a battle that will decide who controls the Primordial World."

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