Free Web NovelChapter 337: Chapter 50: Traces of the Immortal Gods (Part 2)
But then again, a support member like Shao Qiming wouldn’t normally be the one to charge in first.
As a professor, Su Zhou had some professional ethics. He made a mental note of their scores and prepared to call an end to the day’s practical combat training. After all, the squad had other classes in the afternoon, and he couldn’t push them too hard.
Just then, however, Garuda nervously blurted out a question.
"Su... Professor."
Having only recently joined Su Zhou’s squad, she still wasn’t quite used to the title. After a brief pause, Garuda continued, "What about you? If it were you, what would you have done?"
Su Zhou glanced at the Divine Bird. She was curious but still subconsciously afraid of him. He shook his head and said, "If I were to appear, the enemy wouldn’t dare find me."
"Why?" Garuda asked naively.
"Because if they found me, they would die."
After training ended and the team was dismissed, Su Zhou returned to his office alone. He closed his eyes to rest, circulating the Spiritual Power within his body.
The office was sparsely decorated. Su Zhou wasn’t the type to concern himself with interior design, and he rarely did any work there anyway—he had no official duties to handle. At most, he would just drop by to sit for a while.
Ever since the expedition to the Kunlun Secret Realm, major nations across the globe had begun exploring the various ancient heritage sites within their own borders. Some took a very serious approach, revealing nothing more than the fact that exploration was underway. Others, however, were far more relaxed, even broadcasting official live explorations during the 8 p.m. primetime slot. It served as a national entertainment program that could also educate the public on history and promote modern values.
It was certainly a progressive approach. After one successful livestream, the impression most ordinary people had of the ruins being mysterious and dangerous was greatly diminished. Consequently, the existence of places like Pocket Worlds gradually became more accepted and understood by the public.
The Zhengguo Government was also debating whether to follow suit, perhaps by selecting an ancient ruin with the lowest danger level and livestreaming the entire exploration. At the very least, the ratings would surely be excellent. Plenty of people loved watching shows like that; with a little added drama, it would be far more thrilling than some deserted island survival show.
Within a matter of days, the legal identity of the Great Roc Golden-winged Bird—Garuda—was approved. By some unknown means, the Saints had verified Garuda’s security status with a speed that even Su Zhou found suspect. ’Isn’t this a bit too fast?’ he’d thought. They had even arranged for her to enroll directly at Qinxing Academy, under Su Zhou’s personal guidance.
It wasn’t a bad choice. After all, she was an Extraordinary High-tier Divine Bird. It would likely be a problem for anyone but the fastest-cultivating Saints to keep her in check, but the Saints all had their own day jobs. Who had time to babysit?
Su Zhou had already defeated her, he was a professor, and he happened to have a squad. So, they simply threw her in with them to let her experience a human environment and learn some discipline.
And it really wasn’t a problem. At least, from what Su Zhou had seen of their interactions over the past ten-odd days, he felt that besides being a bit too curious and lacking some common sense, Garuda was fine. She got along well with everyone on the team and didn’t at all seem like a native who had spent sixteen years alone in a Secret Realm. Her intelligence and Emotional Quotient were both decent, and her identification with being human seemed genuine, not an act.
The gains from the Kunlun Secret Realm were exceptionally bountiful. Besides the previously mentioned Peaches of Immortality and the Jade Pool, the Secret Realm also contained numerous Demon God bloodlines.
Not only did Bai Canglang and the other Dao Mimic Clans find their own complete legacies, but dozens of bloodlines for Divine Beasts and Strange Beasts, long lost to Zhengguo, were also unearthed. Even if they couldn’t immediately find suitable candidates for Cultivation, it at least provided a wealth of precious research data.
But even these weren’t the most important discovery. What mattered most was that in the central region of the Kunlun Secret Realm, the Zhengguo Government had found the activity logs of the ancient Immortal Gods.
Recalling the news he had heard at the meeting in the Celestial Capital a few days prior, Su Zhou couldn’t help but shake his head. ’So the tree that used to grow in that giant crater really was the Jianmu!’
—The Jianmu, the bridge between Heaven, Earth, Man, and God, by which the deities ascended to the heavens.
Approximately 4,700 years ago, the line of Mimic Dao Immortal Gods—who were extremely sensitive to the concentration of natural Spiritual Qi due to the sheer size of the Demon Gods’ True Bodies—had already detected that the Spiritual Qi was gradually fading.
In reality, over the preceding millennia, the Spiritual Qi had waned several times before, but it had always been followed by a resurgence. This time, however, there was no sign of recovery. Instead, the decline accelerated, sparking widespread panic.
In response, nearly all the high-ranking figures among the Mimic Dao Immortal Gods converged in the Kunlun Secret Realm to discuss how to avert the cessation of Spiritual Qi—a Celestial Calamity of multi-world proportions.
The most powerful of the Immortal Gods did not fear the decline of Spiritual Qi. As long as they didn’t waste their Spiritual Power, they had no problem maintaining their Longevity. But who knew how long the deprivation would last? Not all Immortal Gods could endure a low-Spirit environment indefinitely, and these were the majority—the disciples and descendants of the more powerful ones.
So, they planned to use the Jianmu’s world-piercing power to continuously open Space-Time Passages and migrate between the numerous spirit-rich worlds. It was like nomads guiding their flocks from a barren pasture to one that still had some grazing.
There were those who supported the plan and those who opposed it. Even with the power of the Jianmu, they couldn’t take every Immortal God with them. Thus, some of the more massive Demon Gods voluntarily left their physical bodies behind in the Kunlun Secret Realm, using the residual Spiritual Power within them to nourish the Pocket World Blessed Land and keep their legacies alive.
Their Soul Spirits departed with the West Mother Great Venerable, while their bodies in the Kunlun Secret Realm transformed into mountain peaks and living legacies, awaiting discovery by those who would come later.
Though brief, this was part of the truth behind the departure of the ancient Immortal Gods. They had left long ago, and their activity logs were mostly fragmented, leaving only enough information for such inferences.
"Why are we looking for traces of the ancient Immortal Gods?"
Su Zhou remembered asking this very question when he stood up in confusion. "The Immortal Gods left, so what? It’s not like we have to go find them and bring them back, right?"
Among everyone in the conference room, he was probably the only young man who would ask such a question. The Literary Saint, who was presiding over the meeting, simply smiled. "You’re absolutely right. We have no need to bring the Immortal Gods back. In fact, we aren’t looking for the Immortal Gods at all."
"What we are essentially doing is tracking and exploring the ’path’ the Immortal Gods took to leave—a path that, if it allows one to leave, can naturally be used to return."
At this, the Literary Saint’s tone grew heavy as he emphasized his point. "What I’m about to say may sound cruel, and perhaps a little heartless."
"In the world today, there is no longer a place for the Immortal Gods... but they are immensely powerful, and this world we inhabit is their former home. So now, in this era of Spiritual Energy Revival, everyone—every nation and every power—must consider one question."
"If, one day, those Immortal Gods of old were to return... what would become of us?"
