Chapter 1877: Heavenly God's Past

Zhaoyoushen's soul flame flickered. "That's right, the Three Sacred Gods were extremely harsh on us new deities, often striking us down. The Sacred God of Death, in particular, would even imprison the souls of new deities in his Divine Kingdom of Death, making them suffer torment."

Hearing this, He Lingchuan grew interested. "Tell me more about this Divine Kingdom of Death."

"It's also known as the Realm of the Undead, an illusory divine kingdom that the Sacred God of Death created in the void using his divine authority. After death, living beings fall into the Realm of the Undead, where they either atone for their sins or are reincarnated!"

Damn it, why does that sound so familiar?

The word "reincarnated" struck a deep chord with He Lingchuan.

"The Sacred God of Death was the most terrifying of the Three Sacred Gods. Once, a rebellion by new deities angered Him, and He directly unleashed a vast army from the Realm of the Undead—their numbers were overwhelming! The rebels were also powerful deities, yet they were torn to shreds by the army led by the Sacred God of Death!"

He Lingchuan's eyes flickered. "Given their invincibility, how many times has this army been deployed?"

"As far as I know, only that one time," Zhaoyoushen continued. "But as the Celestial Realm declined, the power of the Three Sacred Gods suddenly weakened significantly, and the Sacred God of Death's Realm of the Undead, in particular, became unstable. Lingxu Sacred Venerable seized the opportunity to lead the other gods in resistance and successfully overthrew them. That's why we revere him as the 'Sacred Venerable.' There's only one Sacred Venerable in the Celestial Realm."

He Lingchuan had indeed heard the titles of other celestial gods. There were True Monarchs and Divine Monarchs, echoing human titles, as well as Celestial Venerables and Divine Venerables, but none were referred to as "Sacred."

"So, who took the Divine Spark of Life? Lingxu Sacred Venerable?"

"When the Three Sacred Gods fell, their divine sparks shattered into fragments. Lingxu Sacred Venerable acquired the Divine Spark of Life, but the Divine Spark of Destiny and the Divine Spark of Death went missing. Later, the Divine Spark of Destiny was found by Nairuo Tian, and the Divine Spark of Death came into Mitian's possession. After Mitian's demise, the Divine Spark of Death also vanished."

"Hey, what's Mitian's origin?" He Lingchuan realized they had gone off-topic, having been too engrossed in the story.

"I told you, no one truly knows. Don't one or two strong individuals often appear out of nowhere in your human world, like you? Humans often say, 'A hero needs no introduction!'"

"Is that how that saying is used?" He Lingchuan decided not to argue with an uncultured celestial god. "So, no one knows why he possessed the Divine Spark of Death—er, a fragment of it?"

Zhaoyoushen's soul flame flickered a few more times but got no response.

"Hey, speak up."

"I'm too tired." It was just a remnant soul, and it had resisted the chaos for so long that it was utterly exhausted. "I'm about to dissipate."

He Lingchuan knew it was putting on an act, but seeing its soul flame's dim color, he also knew it was genuinely struggling. This was not something that could be hidden.

He took two Kujra White Flowers from his pocket and threw them into the water.

The white flowers passed through the water surface unhindered and sank. Zhaoyoushen didn't know what they were, but they smelled faintly fragrant.

It ate one, shuddered, and immediately ate another.

"You, a mere... how do you have such good things?!" It had intended to say "a mere mortal," but this fellow could associate with celestials, so he was no longer a mortal.

"Give me another one!"

He Lingchuan held a small white flower in his hand. "Speak."

"Once, when Lingxu Sacred Venerable met Duowen Tian, I personally heard him say that Mitian's origin was likely connected to the Sacred God of Death, and that divine spark seemed to have been inherited."

He Lingchuan realized. "Ha, so in his eyes, you're all traitors?"

Zhaoyoushen looked embarrassed.

"How were they connected?"

"The Sacred Venerable didn't elaborate, and how would I dare ask more?" Zhaoyoushen thought for a moment and added, "But I also heard a rumor that's even harder to verify."

This guy was quite a gossip. Seeing it fall silent again, He Lingchuan threw the small white flower into the water.

Zhaoyoushen swallowed the white flower in one gulp, and its soul flame brightened slightly.

"There's a rumor that the plan to transform the Tianluo Star was actually proposed by Mitian, and he contributed the most to it back then!"

He Lingchuan asked, surprised, "Wasn't the Tianluo Star refined by the Three Sacred Gods?"

"You only know half the story!" Zhaoyoushen habitually scoffed. "The Three Sacred Gods captured a growing world core and refined it into a powerful but uncontrollable sacred artifact. However, it was five great celestial gods, also known as True Gods, who truly transformed it into the Tianluo Star, embedded in the barrier between the two realms. That was already during the later stages of the Great War between Gods and Immortals."

He Lingchuan murmured, "I see."

The appearance of the Tianluo Star directly changed the form of warfare. Towards the end of the ancient war, the Immortals, led by the Dragon God, finally gained the upper hand, and Lingxu Sacred Venerable and others had to find a retreat for the Sky Demon clan.

Not only did they find a way, but the successful rewriting of world laws by the Tianluo Star subtly influenced the destinies of humans and Immortals for thousands of years thereafter.

From this perspective, the transformation of the Tianluo Star was a monumental achievement. If the Demon Realm had an ancestral temple, Mitian would surely be honored there.

"However, after returning to the Celestial Realm, Mitian's relationship with us became very strained, and he even killed many celestial gods," Zhaoyoushen said. "That's about all I know."

As a captive, its attitude was good, unlike Nairuo Tian's clone, which was stubborn, unpleasant, and uncooperative. He Lingchuan was pleased, so he took two steps back and pressed his divine bone necklace.

"That's all for now. Alright, let it grow."

He had promised Zhaoyoushen that he would let it emerge from the puddle.

Zhaoyoushen saw that he was keeping his word and breathed a slight sigh of relief, but what did he mean by "grow"?

Soon, the Grand Square Jar demonstrated its meaning through action.

In the Misty Forest, another small tree soon appeared.

Looking at the sky demon face on the tree, He Lingchuan exhaled slowly.

Zhaoyoushen had revealed much important information, but He Lingchuan had truly not expected that the Dragon Punishment Pillars, created by Mitian over a century ago to divide the Demon Realm, would become auxiliary tools for sky demons to descend upon the human world!

This was likely not Mitian's original intention. It could only be said that the sky demons were not to be underestimated either.

He patted the tree. Zhaoyoushen's transformation into a tree was not without its benefits; it seemed its divine soul was temporarily frozen, thus preventing any loss. Otherwise, celestial gods could not endure their souls being in the lower realm for too long.

In the Coiling Dragon World, at the eastern border of Xianyou State, Mount Yan.

The battle had just concluded. He Lingchuan rode his horse back to camp, carrying another person on its back.

Ximo's army followed closely behind him, emanating a fierce, bloody aura.

The person's blood had soaked He Lingchuan's cloak and armor.

Upon returning to camp, he dismounted and personally helped the person down, escorting them into the medical tent.

The person was still conscious but unable to speak. They simply clutched a necklace with a small, carved wooden horse pendant.

He Lingchuan worked to stop the bleeding, not lifting his head. "I won't do it for you; you need to give it to your son yourself."

A medical officer rushed over. Upon seeing the torn wound on the injured person's neck, he asked, "Was this caused by a Ba?"