NOVEL WEB Chapter 53: The Martial Path
Di Jun slammed his palm atop the armrest of the Nine Dragon Throne, creating a thunderous boom in Eminence Heaven Palace. "What did you say?"
The demon official fell onto his knees as Di Jun's overpowering aura crushed him. Still, he repeated his earlier report. "R-Reporting to Your M-Majesty, a squadron of fifty Sky Immortals perished while reaping a human settlement."
Although fifty Sky Immortal demons were nothing to the overall strength of Heavenly Court, Di Jun never expected to lose a single one to a race he considered ants. "Did the Titan Tribe take advantage of our operation to attack them?"
"N-no," the demon official's voice grew infinitely smaller as he spoke his next words.
"Say that again."
The demon official wished a hole would appear under and swallow him so he could get away, but he still obeyed the Heavenly Emperor's orders. "It was the humans. Over a thousand Sky Immortals suddenly showed up and massacred the squadron."
Di Jun slapped the Nine Dragon Throne's armrest again, causing the sound to reverberate in the court. "Such gall! Which general is willing to exterminate those Sky Immortals!"
"Your Majesty, please reconsider!" Fuxi said, stepping out. "Humanity is simply defending itself. We arbitrarily decided to harvest their souls, and it is already in the wrong. As the Heavenly Court, we must seek to regulate and manage heaven and earth, not cause needless bloodshed."
Di Jun's eyes scanned Fuxi. The latter's scalp tingled as he saw the endless hatred in the former's eyes. "Whatever We do is to manage heaven and earth. Humanity should behave like the livestock they are. To resist is to commit the heaviest crime!"
"Western Emperor Xi, stay in Thirty-Three Heaven and guard against the Titan Tribe," Di Jun turned his attention to one of the Ten Demon Sages. "Fei Lian."
Fei Lian, the Soaring Leopard Demon, stepped out and kneeled. "Subject is present."
"Lead a squadron of Immortal Lords and exterminate those Sky Immortals and the four human ancestors!" Di Jun's voice resounded like thunder throughout the hall.
"Subject obeys!" Fei Lian said. Among the Ten Demon Sages, he was still in the Great Firmament Realm, so he was the most suitable. No matter how powerful the humans were, they could never have a Golden Immortal of the Great Firmament, much less a Quasi-Saint.
As Fuxi watched Fei Lian, he closed his eyes and sighed. Unknown to anyone, Kunpeng's eyes flashed with elation as his plans came together perfectly against his expectations. He didn’t even need to use the backups he prepared.
Fei Lian led a squadron of fifteen Golden Immortal demons down to the land where the thousand human Sky Immortals had appeared. When he arrived, he discovered that not only had the Sky Immortals disappeared, but the human settlement had also vanished.
The demon sage growled with frustration. "Search the surrounding million li. If you discover any humans, eliminate them and harvest their souls. If you see human Sky Immortals, kill them at will!"
The Immortal Lords accepted Fei Lian's orders and spread out.
Fei Lian and the Golden Immortal demons searched high and low for those Sky Immortals for the next few years, but they used guerilla tactics to attack and fled mostly unharmed. Furthermore, after piecing together the information over the years, Heavenly Court discovered that humanity had gained over nine thousand Sky Immortals.
As a result, the squadron of fifteen Golden Immortals grew to over ninety.
More and more humans were deserting settlements. Humanity not only used their Sky Immortals to attack the demon soldiers but also evacuated as many humans as possible. Finally, Fei Lian grew tired of playing hide-and-seek with the humans and decided to attack their home base near the East Sea.
When the demon sage arrived above the core of humanity, he saw thousands of martial artists scuttling about. At the center of it all was a magnificent temple. Fei Lian snorted and spread out his hand. A gigantic hand formed of qi formed above humanity's core lands and pressed down, flattening everything in its wake. When the dust settled, all that remained was a small shelter glowing with spiritual light.
Fei Lian's eyes lit up as he saw the meritorious artifact.
Suiren, Zhengyi, Youchao, and the other upper echelon of humanity filed out of the shelter-shaped artifact. After witnessing the devastation and all the human corpses, their faces turned ugly as they glared at the demon squadron. Even if they knew that they had no chance of winning, they wanted to make them pay.
Fei Lian sneered when he saw the three ancestors and the other humans. The three ancestors of humanity were only in the Golden Immortal Realm. "Per the decree of the Heavenly Emperor, the four ancestors and leaders of humanity are sentenced to death for killing members of the Celestial Army!"
Just as Fei Lian started to attack, his expression paled as rainbow light erupted from the temple's rubble. The rubble was blasted away, revealing the statue of Nuwa.
"Wait, Emperor Wa, it was an accident! I didn’t know your esteemed self was enshrined here!" Fei Lian screamed, but it was no use.
The rainbow light shot through Fei Lian and the rest of his army. They coughed blood by the mouthfuls, and their aura and combat prowess plummeted until it barely hovered between a Golden Immortal and Sky Immortal.
Suiren laughed loudly. "Haha, praise Mother Nuwa!"
Before his laughter could be heard, and when he turned around, the statue of Nuwa shattered into dust. Suiren and the other humans' faces darkened with anger. "Kill them all, don't let a single one leave!"
Under Suiren's orders, the three ancestors of humanity and the other upper echelons swarmed Fei Lian and the Golden Immortal demons. Most of the Sky Immortals were out evacuating humans, but a force of a thousand remained in the core lands.
Over a hundred died when Fei Lian attacked unannounced, but most had been inside the temple, so Youchao protected them with his meritorious spiritual artifact.
They lost over half of the Sky Immortals present, but they managed to kill Fei Lian and the rest of the demons. Still, that could not quell their wrath as Fei Lian's words echoed in their ears. Sentenced to death for killing members of the Celestial Army? Was it wrong to protect themselves against this unjust killing?!
When Wutian returned, this was the scene he came to. After hearing what had happened, he sighed. "You should have let one escape."
"What, why?" Suiren asked.
"If you let one escape, then news of Mother Nuwa's action could have acted as a deterrent. Now, It's likely that the Heavenly Emperor will send an even stronger force to kill us," Wutian said.
"Can't we just tell them?" Youchao asked, scratching his head.
Wutian smiled bitterly. "If a demon told them, they might believe it. But if we said it, then they can call us liars. After all, no witnesses are left. Even if they believed our words, Di Jun would still call it a lie to make it easier for them to kill us."
"How about we build another statue of Mother Nuwa?" Zhenyi suggested.
Wutian hesitated a bit before nodding. "We can try."
The four ancestors of humanity tried to sculpt another statue of Nuwa, but no matter what they did, they couldn't create a statue of Nuwa.
"As expected," Wutian said.
"What does Fourth Brother mean?" Suiren asked.
"Master told me that this is the human race's tribulation. During a tribulation, we cannot avoid it or rely on external aid. Presumably, this is the reason why Mother Nuwa can't actively aid us," Wutian said.
"Then what can we do?" Zhengyi asked, furrowing her brows in worry.
"Survive," Wutian said. "The Heavenly Emperor wants to kill us. We'll use ourselves as bait to draw them away while relocating most of the population to Kunlun Mountain or any place with a Saint of Heaven. I heard that Saint Redcloud of Firesource Grotto will take us in and repel the Demon Clan too."
Suiren, Zhengyi, and Youchao nodded, agreeing to Wutian's strategy. The three understood the risks, yet they still chose this option for the future of humanity. None of them had been contaminated by the negative emotions and thoughts of the later generation of humans. They were still the pure and selfless humans Nuwa had created them as.
First, they recalled about four thousand Sky Immortals. The four ancestors led the upper combatants toward the opposite direction of Kunlun Mountain with a noticeable trail. Second, they had the other Sky Immortals hasten the relocation efforts. Even if only one percent of humanity survived, it would be considered a victory.
Wutian and the other ancestors of humanity flew as far as possible, but Heavenly Court's reaction was much faster than they expected.
"Killing one of the Demon Clan's sages is an unforgivable crime! For this, We sentence humanity to extinction."
Wutian looked up at the Celestial Army of Heavenly Court with sweat dripping down his forehead. He never expected him to personally lead the army. "Heavenly Emperor Di Jun."
Di Jun raised his arm and brought it down. The legion behind him, composed of Profound Immortals, attacked.
The human Sky Immortals were the first to fall. Although they put up a valiant fight, especially with their martial prowess, the Celestial Army outnumbered them over two to one. Even Wutian, Suiren, Zhengyi, and Youchao struggled.
"Haha, Di Jun, you purposely massacre life in heaven and earth for selfish reasons. You are not worthy of being the Heavenly Emperor!" Suiren shouted in anger.
Di Jun's eyes narrowed. He pointed at Suiren, forming a wisp of Solar Truefire on his fingertip. It shot toward Suiren and enveloped him. The Heavenly Emperor thought that would be the end of a mere Golden Immortal of Merit, but to his shock, Suiren didn't die.
Shrouded by the Solar Truefire, Suiren laughed even more wildly. His figure grew hazy in the extreme heat, but at this moment, Suiren's stalwart figure was imprinted in every human's mind.
"I am Suiren, the Fire Ancestor of Humanity. Although I may perish, my fire will not! I will transform my body into flames and protect humanity. So long as humanity exists, the Human Heartfire shall never be extinguished!"
Suiren's body merged with the Solar Truefire, turning it a warm red instead of its former golden color. Upon seeing it, any human would recall the warmth and protection it brought, while any of humanity's enemies who saw it would feel fear.
The Human Heartfire shot up into the sky and exploded. The wisps of fire rained down, nourishing the humans. When the flames touched demons, they writhed in pain and agony. Even a Quasi-Saint like Di Jun had to spare some effort to extinguish the flame.
"Eldest Brother!" Wutian, Zhengyi, and Youchao called out in anguish.
"Demons, you and humanity are forever incompatible!" Wutian shouted. "As long as a demon exists, we humans will slaughter them!"
"An ant like you dares to declare a feud with Our Demon Clan?" Di Jun's anger boiled over. He appeared in front of Wutian and a sword covered in a baleful aura appeared in his hand.
Wutian leveled a lethal glare at Di Jun. Despite knowing his efforts were fruitless, he threw a punch. Even if it were to have no effect, he would carve his name into the Heavenly Emperor's memories.
Di Jun's eyes did not contain any trace of respect, only scorn. But before his sword could cut down Wutian, fine threads wrapped around the blade, stopping it.
Wutian took this chance and struck. It was nothing more than a punch filled with his heart and mind, but it reached Di Jun, even leaving the tiniest of marks. Di Jun couldn't believe that a mere Golden Immortal actually landed a strike on him. He growled and slapped Wutian down to the ground. The human hit the ground hard, bleeding from all nine orifices. Di Jun then turned to the source of the fine lines wrapped around his sword, Zhengyi.
When Youchao received his merits, the first shelter he built became his companion artifact. For Zhengyi, her clothes became her meritorious artifact. She used the artifact for both offense and defense, like now.
Di Jun flicked his wrist, but to his shock, his sword couldn’t cut through the threads wrapped around it. He had used millions upon millions of human souls to refine the spiritual artifact, yet it couldn't even cut mere thread. It had to be known that Di Jun had tested it on top-grade innate spiritual artifacts, and the sword won each time.
The Heaven Emperor yanked the sword back, pulling Zhengyi over as well. Although he couldn't cut the threads, his strength still outstripped a little Golden Immortal. When Zhenyi neared, Di Jun burst her head with a single punch. Her remains splattered all over the land, and the threads loosened and fell off.
"Second Sister!" Youchao cried out. He knew that the chances of them surviving were slim to none, but each death still hurt. He began laughing, just like Suiren did.
"I am Youchao, the Shelter Ancestor of Humanity! Although I may perish here, my protection will not! As long as humanity is united, they will receive protection. The more humans of the same mind and heart, the stronger their defense!"
Di Jun frowned and appeared behind Youchao. His sword decapitated him, killing him instantly. But Youchao's body evaporated into a golden light that merged with his meritorious shelter-shaped artifact. The artifact disintegrated into dust and flew into the sky, raining down and merging with all of humanity.
"Second Sister, Third Brother!" Wutian roared as he flew back into the sky.
Pain wracked his body, but the suffering in his heart was even more unbearable. He glared at Di Jun. "Di Jun, you and I cannot coexist under the same sky!"
Wutian's aura shot up dramatically. The golden light from Youchao gathered onto Wutian, shrouding him in a golden glow; Zhengyi's robes flew onto his body and transformed into a battle robe; Suiren's Human Heartfire lit up his eyes. His aura shot up to the peak of the Golden Immortal Realm, the Great Unity Realm, and even the Great Firmament Realm. He even showed signs of breaking through to the Quasi-Saint Realm.
"Today, I, Wutian, establish the Martial Path for humanity! The Martial Path does not cultivate qi but refines essence into inner energy! Cultivate the body to refine the mind and improve oneself! This is the Human Way!" His voice echoed throughout the Great Desolation, aided by the Way of Heaven.
After Wutian finished speaking, endless merit descended onto Wutian. He did not absorb it to forcibly raise his cultivation but condense it into a halo merit behind him. Wutian turned towards Di Jun. Although his realm had not reached the Quasi-Saint, his combat prowess equaled a Quasi-Saint. "Die, Di Jun!"
Di Jun’s eyes burned with ruthlessness. He stored the sword refined from human souls and took out his Celestial River Diagram. The sword he refined from humans would not be effective against them, especially given their last answer to the Demon Clan. It would be better to kill Wutian with his Celestial River Diagram and nip the threat in the bud.
He formed the Starry Sky behind him and shot countless bolts of starlight. The golden glow around Wutian increased as he reared back his fist. Just as the two attacks were about to clash, a sword light descended between them and formed a ravine below.
Both Wutian and Di Jun looked up to see Tongtian. She sheathed the Qingping Sword and said. "Return Di Jun. Humanity's tribulation has ended. You shall no longer massacre them."