Chapter 938: Astounding Upheaval

At this moment, outside the Ancient Emperor Star, on the seven-colored mist bridge, thousands of princes, dukes, and ministers who were not qualified to enter the Emperor Star all bowed their heads and stood solemnly.

Outside the mist bridge, a multitude of cultivators collectively knelt in worship.

Even throughout the entire Imperial Capital, the same scene unfolded. The Dragons of Fortune roared in the sky, the heavens shone with light, and the Human Race's grand formation unprecedentedly activated, forming a vast realm.

It wasn't just the Imperial Capital; at this moment, the Imperial Capital's greater domain, as well as the lands of the seven prefectures, including Saint Waves, Dark Spirit, and Dark Sky—all territories—held the same solemn worship rituals.

Governors from various regions and stationed troops everywhere had long since received notification.

This was a grand ceremony for the Human Race, so at this very moment, throughout the entire Human Race territory, almost everyone aware of the event instinctively turned their gaze towards the Imperial Capital's greater domain.

On this day, all foreign races within Human Race territory, and all forces with ulterior motives, instinctively restrained themselves, daring not to cause any disturbance on this day of Human Race ancestral worship.

For normally, a disturbance would be considered minor, but if chaos erupted today, it would surely shake the heavens, a great disrespect to the Human Race. How could foreign races within Human Race territory dare to do such a thing!

For a time, throughout the Human Race territory, fortune surged and even bloodlines pulsed, causing the skies of Wanggu to churn, with clouds and mist spreading, forming a vast spectacle!

Various allies also, as agreed, participated in the joint worship.

Not to mention the Bai Ze and Si'e clans, but within the Ritual Moon greater domain, the Young Master and others felt deeply moved, their expressions wistful, and they too stood upon the Ritual Moon altar, gazing towards the Imperial Capital.

Although they had gained independence and their roots were now firm, how could they sever ties with the Human Race!

Outside Human Race territory, the various foreign races surrounding the Human Race were also stirred, arranging for large numbers of troops to gather at their borders.

They had no intention of invasion; this was all to prevent the Human Race from launching an invasion under the guise of ancestral worship.

At the same time, all powerful races on the Wanggu Continent also focused their attention on the Human Race's Imperial Capital, with various thoughts and countless ideas emerging.

Indeed, with the dramatic change in Yan Yue having just occurred, the Human Race was almost immediately holding an ancestral worship ceremony.

This vast region of Wanggu, in just this past year, had seen a remarkably frequent occurrence of major events!

Given this, how could the powerful races not pay attention!

In the hearts of all parties, there was largely a sense of "the wind is blowing through the tower, signaling an approaching storm."

Thus, on this day, the Human Race became the sole focus of Wanggu.

Myriad thoughts converged, myriad hearts were connected, and myriad eyes gazed.

If there was any ceremony that could shock ancient and modern times, then the convergence of the entire Wanggu Continent's thoughts, hearts, and gazes surely deserved to be among them!

And at this moment, in the Human Race Imperial Capital, where Wanggu converged, within the rising mysterious Ancient Emperor Star, wisps of terrifying aura spiraled, emanating from deep within the star.

Shattering all doors to different spatial dimensions and nourishing the stars, their rotation also formed a gigantic vortex!

As it rumbled and spun, it caused the sky to change color!

At the center of this vortex, which was also the current focus of Wanggu's attention, on the vast heavenly altar that had risen there, a hundred cultivators stood solemnly, five princes accompanied, and the Human Emperor stood alone at the forefront.

His head was unhindered, his feet unencumbered, symbolizing his head merging with the heavens and his feet uniting with the earth, demonstrating sincere devotion through ritual!

Step by step, he ascended the steps of celestial clouds, walking towards the peak!

A chant, imbued with an inexplicable majesty, accompanied the Human Emperor's steps, emerging from the void and spreading at this moment!

"Ancestors of Fertile Earth, who pioneered Wanggu!"

"Your merits span the cosmos, blessing all spirits under heaven, cultivating virtue and upholding martial might, uniting myriad races in spirit, ensuring generations continue, and a long, enduring legacy!"

"Self-reliant and self-strengthening, through sacrifice, prosperity is achieved, for tens of thousands of years until now, truly the East of Wanggu!"

"With billions of descendants, spreading across the Heavenly Dipper!"

As these words were uttered, all directions were stirred!

Whether it was those on the seven-colored mist bridge or the cultivators on the Emperor Star, all felt a jolt to their minds!

Xu Qing also abruptly looked up!

Everyone around him changed expression!

Because the ancestral worship words referred to, surprisingly, not the Profound Nether Ancient Emperor, but the Ancestor of the Human Race.

The so-called Human Ancestor refers to that batch of earliest Immortals who arrived on the Wanggu Continent tens of thousands of years ago. They came from various races, and the Human Race Immortals among them, together with all directions, pioneered this land and established the first Ancient Emperor, allowing the Human Race and various foreign races to thrive here!

This kind of ancestral worship, honoring the Human Race rather than Profound Nether, was rare, but not unheard of!

During the era of the Profound Nether Ancient Emperor, ancestral worship was indeed like this!

And now, Human Emperor Xuanzhan's ancestral worship resumed this ancient rite!

As all parties' minds reeled, the Human Emperor's steps did not falter, continuing his ascent in silence!

The chanting voice, though trembling slightly, still echoed!

Yet... through countless ages, Heaven lost its authority, Earth lost its cycle of reincarnation; after the Human Ancestor, the world underwent repeated changes, clan fortunes occasionally rose, and foreign enemies gradually emerged!

After numerous military campaigns and frequent worries, ten thousand years of hardship stained the clan's land with blood. Even though the Profound Nether deity also arrived, powerful forces ran rampant, relying on their strength!

Mountains and rivers were shattered, lives were devastated, warfare ceaselessly continued, much change occurred, powerful neighbors eyed the territory, and the nation suffered calamities!

The loss of East Victory, whose fault was it? The tears of Mirror Cloud, whose fortune was it?

Following that, the Dark Sky Crimson Mother became wildly rampant; wherever her dark shadow reached, a bloody stench followed!

Only our soldiers and people rose with fervor, ushering in dawn, finally avenging the clan's disgrace, punishing Dark Sky, and revitalizing the Human Race's heroic spirit!

Heaven and Earth soared, opportunities arose naturally, the universe opened, and now heroes emerged, striving for new paths to create the Human Race's glory!

The voice echoed, every word like thunder, every sentence a roar, shaking all directions, as the Human Emperor... finally reached the peak of the heavenly altar!

The moment he stood there was a moment of universal attention!

The chanting voice did not resume as before; though it still descended, it was not the same voice as before, but echoed from the Human Emperor's own mouth at the peak of the heavenly altar!

The Human Emperor was solemn, speaking for the first time, his voice imbued with heavenly majesty!

"Stars shift and dippers turn, the years are full of vicissitudes!"

"Now mountains and rivers grow ever more magnificent, and heroes display their brilliance; bridging time, building on the past to open the future, facing the tribulation war, time waits for no one!"

"Yet, with mission in heart and heavy responsibility on my shoulders, I, Xuanzhan, will be worthy of our ancestors above and achieve great deeds for our descendants below!"

"I swear to raise our Human Race to its peak."

"There shall be three sacrifices."

The Human Emperor looked up, his gaze falling upon the cosmos, upon the void, and beyond Wanggu!

A strange light shone in his eyes, and at this moment, even they stirred with ripples!

Clearly, standing here, he seemed to have been waiting for this day for a long time!

"First sacrifice: the Human Map."

As the Human Emperor's words spread, with a raise and wave of his right hand, immediately, the fortune from all directions roared towards him, forming a gigantic map before him!

This map was not a map of the Human Race's current territories! It depicted the lands of the four domains, a testament to their rise!

"Second sacrifice: the Register of Heroic Spirits."

The Human Emperor spoke again, and stone steles, one after another, rumbled down, countless and boundless. Each bore a vast number of names: those were the cultivators of the Human Race who had died in the countless years after the Profound Nether Ancient Emperor's departure!

The exact number was impossible to ascertain, but a sense of grandeur and tragedy surged immensely!

Xu Qing's breath hitched as he gazed at this scene; on the foremost stele, he saw many familiar names, including... Palace Master Kong Liangxiu of the Sword-Holding Palace of Fenghai Commandery.

A feeling of sorrow arose not only in Xu Qing's heart but also spread within the hearts of many in the Human Race!

On these steles, they could see their own family ancestors and witness the Human Race's countless years of misery...

"Third sacrifice: Wind and Rain."

The Human Emperor's expression was solemn as he spoke again!

The moment the words were uttered, a great wind blew, accompanied by heavy rain!

The wind was the Human Race's wind, blowing for countless ages, participating in countless battles, gathered from the depths of time!

The rain was the Human Race's rain; throughout countless years, all rain that had fallen upon the Human Race, witnessing mountains and rivers, witnessing sorrow, had been collected by individuals from different eras until now!

United, offered today, it symbolized... favorable winds and timely rain, though it was unclear if this was meant ironically...

Because this wind did not descend from the heavens, but rose from the earth, blowing towards the sky!

This rain also did not fall upon the mortal realm!

Instead, it surged from the mortal realm, swirling towards the heavens!

At this moment, even the most dull-witted person felt that something was amiss. On the Ancient Emperor Star, Xu Qing's heart stirred with even greater waves, and the surrounding ministers all gasped, their eyes filled with horror!

Outside the Ancient Emperor Star, it was the same; those ministers worshipping on the seven-colored mist bridge, their hearts pounded, filled with a strong sense of foreboding!

Even among the common people, though the vast majority had not yet realized, some wise individuals among them had already changed color and were inwardly alarmed!

And the ancestral worship continued!

"Remembering our Human Ancestors, who protect our descendants, as if their spirits are present in this worship, let all sacrifices be without violation!"

After the offerings were sent forth, the Human Emperor stood there, facing the sky and beyond Wanggu, bowing once, then again, and yet again.

Each bow conveyed determination.

One bow, three bows, nine bows.

Each bow carried resolve.

As if it were a farewell.

Under the three kowtows and nine bows, within the Wanggu world, the other three Human Race domains were still stable, but all mountains and rivers within the Imperial Capital's greater domain began to tremble at this instant!

Great mountains rumbled and great rivers surged backward!

Then, within the Imperial Capital's Ancient Emperor Star, above the heavenly altar, mountain silhouettes materialized one after another, and long rivers flowed forth!

These were the spirits of the greater domain's mountains and rivers arriving.

Immediately after, the terrifying auras surrounding the area faintly echoed with sighs, forming blurred figures one by one, descending alongside the mountains and rivers!

Entering the offerings, as if wishing to partake in the feast!

At the same time, the extremely dense fortune power of the Human Race also erupted with world-shaking force at this moment, enveloping the entire Imperial Capital. For a time, everyone had to bow their heads as a sense of suppression suddenly descended!

The Human Emperor gazed at the mountain and river silhouettes, at the blurred figures that had converged, and at them merging into the offerings; his voice was somewhat hoarse, no longer deep, but spoke softly!

"Respectfully, may..."

The four words he was about to utter, the complete phrase should have been, "Respectfully, may they receive the offerings and partake in the feast!"

But at this moment, as the first two words left his lips, before the last two words could be uttered... a world-shaking upheaval erupted!

A voice, at this instant, suddenly came from behind the Human Emperor, abruptly spreading!

"Xuanzhan, are you even fit to be the Human Emperor?"

"Today, with the ancestral worship descending from Heaven and the Human Race collectively watching, I, as a son, wish to wield the blade of the Human Race to strike down you, this tyrannical and incompetent ruler, devoid of righteousness, virtue, and benevolence, who devours the blood of the people."

This voice swept towards all directions, causing the surrounding void to churn wildly, and surged towards the heavens, making the sky intensely fluctuate at this moment!

The whole world was shocked!

Xu Qing abruptly looked up; he instantly recognized whose voice it was...

On the heavenly altar, the Human Emperor slowly turned around, looking behind him!

Behind him, among the five princes, four of them changed expression at this moment, instinctively retreating. Only one stood there, coldly staring at the Human Emperor!

It was none other than... Ning Yan!