Wielding the Thunders Across Two Worlds

Chapter 327: Chapter 326: Speculations about Daluo Palace

"Ancestor! Do you think what the Daluo Palace Master said is true?"

Beneath the azure sky, three streaks of light shot through the clouds. Despite their extreme speed, they created no shockwaves; even the clouds they passed through remained largely undisturbed.

Lu Yu couldn’t suppress his doubts and asked Ancestor Mie Yang, "Can Mages, Fairies, and Ghost Gods all truly hope for Ascension?"

A hint of fury flashed in Wan Ping’s eyes. He snorted. "What hope is there! Who knows where they got that inheritance from. They just came up with that whole ’spiritually clear and transparent Divine Soul’ nonsense because they happen to be living humans!"

Lu Yu said nothing.

On Silent God Mountain, there were many ways to increase one’s power. There were Ghosts who refused to harm others and purely cultivated their Divine Souls, cultivation paths that involved absorbing Incense and Candle Telekinesis, and, of course, Dharma Gates for killing people and Soul Refining.

Wan Ping cultivated the third kind. Because he only killed other Cultivators, he had less Evil Qi about him than the followers of the Nether Fire Sect, but it was still incredibly thick.

Of course, they couldn’t actually perceive the Evil Qi on themselves or others. However, they still had a general sense of whether their actions were good or evil, whether their thoughts were clear and unobstructed, and whether their Divine Soul was pure.

That was how a Spirit Monarch knew they were a Spirit Monarch.

Ancestor Mie Yang also remained silent. He was recalling Taoist Jing Feng, whom he had seen at Daluo Temple on Black Rock Mountain. Though the man’s Dao Practice Magical Power was far inferior to his own, his incredibly pure and righteous Yin Qi was even more refined than his own Silent Extinction Ghost Qi.

If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, Ancestor Mie Yang would never have imagined such Yin Qi could exist. This Yin Qi contained no Divinity, yet it carried a grim, solemn pressure that surpassed the caliber of Divinity condensed from Incense. Furthermore, it clearly had no fear of Yang Qi.

’What kind of Yin Qi is this? How is it cultivated? Does one’s Divine Soul truly have to be completely pure?’

Ancestor Mie Yang extended a hand. A spectral light flashed at his fingertip, and within it, faint wisps of Netherworld Aura appeared.

"From now on, no one on Silent God Mountain is to perform Soul Refining by killing others," Ancestor Mie Yang said coolly. After a pause, he added a condition. "You are not to kill ordinary mortals or innocent Mages. Those who commit evil and bring death upon themselves are another matter."

"Yes!" Lu Yu immediately agreed.

Wan Ping, of course, didn’t dare argue with Ancestor Mie Yang. He simply asked a question that cut straight to the core of the issue. "The Spirit Realm Upper Gods are all of the Demon Race. So where do the gods worshipped by Daluo Palace come from? Is it another Spirit Realm, or..."

Wan Ping finished grimly, "...the Demon Realm?"

Lu Yu couldn’t help but rebut, "But their methods are completely different from those of Demons! The slogan they champion is to vanquish evil and defend the Dao. They just destroyed the Netherfire Sect Leader, who had become a Fallen Demon, and they even restored Black Rock Mountain after it had been turned into a Demon Realm."

Wan Ping shook his head. "That could just be a front, an attempt to conceal their true nature. What if they’re just hiding it very, very well?"

Lu Yu frowned, but before he could speak, Ancestor Mie Yang waved a hand, cutting off their debate. "The Spirit Realm Upper Gods are all of the Demon Race; there are no humans among them. You know this, and Celestial True Monarch knows it even better than you do."

"But did you see Celestial True Monarch show even a hint of suspicion?" Ancestor Mie Yang asked.

Wan Ping and Lu Yu looked at each other, then shook their heads in unison. "No."

"Then there you have it," Ancestor Mie Yang said coolly. "If he has no doubts, then it’s not your place to have them. Besides, humans and Demons are completely different. The gods they worship have human forms, whereas the god worshipped by the Nether Fire Sect had a Demon’s form. That is something you cannot change."

...

Meanwhile, Celestial True Monarch was also on his way back to Chaoyang Island with Xu Yan and Qiao Qian’Er.

"Island Master, do you think what the Daluo Palace Master said is true?" Xu Yan asked the very same question.

"Do you think the Cultivation of those Daluo Palace experts is real or fake?" Celestial True Monarch retorted.

Qiao Qian’Er stifled a laugh. Xu Yan scratched his head. "Their Cultivation is real, of course. But worshipping so many human gods, and with such grand and famous titles... it just doesn’t feel right."

Celestial True Monarch glanced at him. "Have you never wondered why only humans possess intelligence from birth, while an ordinary member of the Demon Race must cultivate to a certain point before awakening their sentience? Why does the Demon Race take on human form after their Transformation? And why does our cultivation speed increase after forming a Harmony with a human?"

Xu Yan swallowed hard, looking a little dazed. "Isn’t that... just how things are?"

"’How things are?’ If that’s so, then don’t you think that humans are actually better suited for Cultivation than the Demon Race?" Celestial True Monarch asked. "Otherwise, why would we bother with the Transformation into human form?"

Xu Yan was speechless. What had always seemed perfectly natural now struck him as incredibly strange after Celestial True Monarch’s questions.

"So, why is that?" Xu Yan asked.

"Because humans are indeed better suited for Cultivation than the Demon Race," Celestial True Monarch stated plainly. "You only feel that something is wrong because your bloodline is diluted and your knowledge is limited."

Xu Yan retorted indignantly, "My bloodline might be diluted, but I still have a chance to achieve Ascension to the Spirit Realm!"

"But your inherited knowledge will be incomplete." Celestial True Monarch glanced at Xu Yan. "If your bloodline were more potent, you would have a chance during your Cultivation to glimpse images that the Spirit Realm Upper Gods engraved within your ancestral legacy."

Xu Yan was quick-witted and immediately asked, "And in those images... there are humans?"

Celestial True Monarch nodded. "Extremely powerful humans."

Qiao Qian’Er asked curiously, "How powerful were they?"

"The visions are rather blurry." Celestial True Monarch seemed to be recalling the scene he had witnessed. "But it was an ancient human, I think, standing on the earth, clad in animal skins. He drew a bow and shot down nine suns."

Even as a mere blurry image reflected in his bloodline memory, Celestial True Monarch could still feel a terrifying, soul-deep pressure, as if he himself were the one facing those nine arrows.

"So there are human gods in the Spirit Realm too?" Xu Yan, naturally unable to sense the True Monarch’s inner turmoil, simply continued his questions. "If that’s the case, why have they never passed down any Dharma Gates?"

Celestial True Monarch shot Xu Yan a sidelong glance. "How should I know? Besides, everything from our Cultivation Methods to the knowledge of Ascension to the Spirit Realm comes from our bloodline’s legacy. We can’t even contact the Spirit Realm Upper Gods if we wanted to."

Qiao Qian’Er guessed, "So it’s possible they couldn’t pass down their Dharma Gates before, but now they can?"

Xu Yan picked up the thread. "Through that Dream Transmission the Daluo Palace Master mentioned?"

Qiao Qian’Er nodded. "It’s possible."

A look of dawning realization crossed Xu Yan’s face. "No wonder we have the technique of Harmony. So humans are actually quite formidable."

Qiao Qian’Er, however, turned to Celestial True Monarch. "Since the technique of Harmony exists, it means the Demon Race and humans aren’t necessarily enemies. Does that mean Daluo Palace and our Chaoyang Island should be considered allies, not adversaries?"

"Those with incomplete legacies and no hope of Ascension can naturally act without restraint." Celestial True Monarch nodded. "But our Chaoyang Island possesses a legacy from the Upper Realm. We cannot afford to be so reckless."

Xu Yan and Qiao Qian’Er both nodded in understanding.