Questioning Heaven, Desiring the Way

“You’re a descendant of the ancient demonic fox race, and you’ve managed to form your demonic core since you got through the shapeshifting tribulation. And so, you’ve definitely found out a lot more about the history of your bloodline and all that. If you do something for me, I’ll let you off.” Gu Suihan turned to look at the trembling old man Li, who was on the verge of collapsing.

“Please, tell me what you need me to do.” The sudden offer to let him live did not make the old man feel happy inside and terrified him even more instead. This young man was secretly at least at Divine Soul. A man who knew a million spells and techniques, one whose physical body and internal energies had become one powerful combined force. This young man was clearly still recovering from severe injuries, but the old man wasn’t much better off either.

“Take a look.” Gu Suihan smiled faintly as he drew in the air. A moment later, thousands of strange, sparkling runes appeared and entered the old man’s consciousness like a river.

“This…this is written in my race’s language. Why…why do you know how to write it?”

Old man Li was really shocked. The demonic race passed on everything they knew only to their own kind, and it was impossible to be put in words by others. The whole point was to make it extremely mysterious and difficult to get any information. Yet now, a human was actually able to write in demonic script with such ease. His heart sank. Had the demonic race really fallen from grace?

“This is not just demonic script, but it’s ancient demonic script. I guess you’re just an offshoot from the main line. You’ve managed to cultivate enough to get five tails, but your bloodline is still a low-level one.” Gu Suihan couldn’t help but shake his head when he heard the old man’s exclamation. A faint look of disappointment flashed in his eyes.

And what would happen to old man Li if Gu Suihan was disappointed? Even his furry tails knew what would happen. He was going to go through hell. Never mind, stay alive – if he could keep his spirit, be reborn, and start his cultivation all over again, that would already be enough reason to celebrate.

So, he quickly piped up, “I can’t read everything, but I can understand a little more than a hundred characters. Please, have mercy on me.”

“Oh? Tell me what you know.”

Gu Suihan’s eyes lit up, and he made the demonic script appear once more. Old man Li hurriedly told Gu Suihan everything he understood, then looked pitifully at Gu Suihan, afraid that the young man might kill him with one slap.

Even though he didn’t manage to translate the entire text, he got the gist, and by combining it with what Gu Suihan knew before, Gu Suihan could reach a few conclusions.

“There were originally thousands of races. The strong survived, and the weak perished. The liches and demons fought each other, and the immortals and devils went to war. But as these living creatures became more powerful, they also became more ambitious. The leaders of the demons, immortals, and so on actually made a plan to usurp the universe and make their own Way of Heaven. They schemed to become an existence that was above the one who created the Way. And so, they decided to actually create a Way. Inside hell, the outer layer of the Devil Abyss was the river of the underworld. The elder of the river tried creating a living creature, and the demons started mixing their bloodlines. Everyone tried, but none of them were successful. The river elder created a creature named Shura, but unfortunately, while its physical body was powerful, it was void of a divine soul. It wasn’t sentient, plus it was bloodthirsty and violent. This thing…wasn’t a Way. The demons mixed their blood and created a lot of different beings, but they were all either odd-shaped, poor in quality or full of weaknesses. So, in the end…they decided to join forces. The demonic race provided the body. The immortals provided the immortal root that immortals had. Inside the Devil Abyss, countless devils contributed their devil souls. The body shape of the liches were the standard. The leaders of the various races cast a spell and created a living creature that was the closest to the Way. We named the creature…humans!”

“Humans…the shape of liches, the demon bodies, devil souls, immortal roots,” murmured Gu Suihan. A strange anger arose in his heart.

The human race, or rather, the living creature called humans, were created jointly by the various races.

Humans were merely an experiment.

A flawed product was created because they wanted to get a peek at the Way of Heaven.

If that was the case…why did the races stop and disappear without a trace? How did the flawed human race end up taking over the world?

What happened in between?

Or rather, was this the plan of the various leaders of the races, or…was the mysterious Way of Heaven behind all of this?

Also, were these leaders…frontrunners in going against the Way of Heaven or ambitious ones who wanted to usurp it?

And most importantly, did they…succeed?

“Perhaps I’m now on the same road that these powerful beings once passed through. The longer I walk, the further I get!” murmured Gu Suihan to himself.

He flicked a finger and caused old man Li’s physical body to shatter, then swallowed his nascent soul. He pulled off the old man’s soft, white furry coat and turned it into a luxurious shawl around his shoulders that moved ever so slightly as he walked.

“The bunch of you aren’t dead yet, so come out now.”

Gu Suihan turned to look at the pile of flesh and blood next to the altar with an annoyed look in his eyes.

“Oho, you’re so fierce! I’m so scared!” Xia Yun’s coquettish and charming voice suddenly resounded. The flesh and blood splattered on the ground immediately came back together to turn into a red dress, then a faintly smiling, pretty, fair, and flawless face slowly appeared from within the altar. The altar then collapsed into a pile of broken stones. She stepped out lightly on the air and floated toward him.

“One more.” Gu Suihan calmly glanced at her, then turned to look toward where Tang Xiaoyun was.

The halberd on the ground suddenly trembled violently before a translucent illusion appeared next to it and slowly solidified to reveal a young man in silver armor. He held his halberd and stood in a flippant stance as he said cheekily, “Sheesh, I was trying not to interrupt your little romantic moment. Why did you have to expose my whereabouts?”

“Let’s strike a deal.” Gu Suihan ignored him and turned back to look at the gorgeous Xia Yun. He opened his palms to reveal two souls.

“What deal are you hoping to strike? Are you asking me to marry you?” Xia Yun took a few steps forward and stood shyly next to him. She twirled her hair to cover the flickering gaze on her face even as she looked down at the ground.

“I don’t care for a dao weapon. I don’t mind letting them off too. I can even give these two souls to you. I just want the books of the Equal Spirit Order. The records of ancient times.”

Gu Suihan chuckled, then used a finger to pull her chin up. They locked gazes, and their faces were only half an inch from each other. The former could clearly smell the faint fragrance of the woman. The latter clearly saw the void within his eyes that kept evolving, as well as that faint domineering aura that was willing to massacre all living creatures as long as they were in his way.

“I’ll agree to this deal,” said Xia Yun softly. Her eyes were a little unfocused, and her warm breath carried a sweet smell.

“Very good.” Gu Suihan smiled as he stared deeply into her eyes, then threw the two souls into her hands without much thought. He activated a god-level technique that allowed him to cover hundreds of kilometers in a second, and he disappeared completely in just a few moments.

A long, long time after Gu Suihan had left, Tang Xiaoyun said very solemnly, “How did he know our relation to one another?”

“It’s a coincidence.” Xia Yun sighed a little glumly and glanced at the scholar and Tang Xiaoyun. That action said everything.

“I don’t think he’s only at Divine Soul. Otherwise, how could he have discovered our Order’s secret technique?” said the scholar quietly in his gentle voice. He fanned himself with his folding fan in a leisurely manner, but there was a look of absolute reverence in his eyes.

Xia Yun was still in a daze as she stared at the struggling souls in her hands. She thought of how close she was to Gu Suihan earlier, and her cheeks flushed pink.

She then turned to look at the other two and said sternly, “He…is the cause of this matter, and he…is the only one who can fight that tyrant. We must not tell anybody what happened here. The consequences of doing so…will be worse than anything you imagine.”

“What do we do about him?” Tang Xiaoyun used his chin to point at the unconscious Li Yu, who was still lying on the ground.

“This ant is his pawn and a seed he planted. Do you dare to do anything to him” The scholar raised an eyebrow at Tang Xiaoyun, then threw a few bottles of pills at Li Yu. “Just pretend we didn’t see him.”

“Perhaps, he can be our pawn too.”

Xia Yun had a scheming smile on her face as she looked at Rou Lingyun’s soul, then took out a jade slip to write some things on it. She put it together with the pills next to Li Yu, then left with her two companions.

Xia Yun, the scholar, Tang Xiaoyun, Li Yu, and…Gu Suihan.

Perhaps it was a coincidence, but…just like what the emperor of Qin had declared, there were exactly five of them left alive.