Chapter 511: Memories
To prevent other races from also producing entities beyond the Divine stage and obstructing the great cause of unification, the Human Race, holding a dominant advantage, ruthlessly implemented a kill order.
Not of our kind, not a single one shall remain!
In a mere ten years, relying on the overwhelming power of beings beyond the Divine stage, the Human Race of the Manghuang Realm had nearly slaughtered all other races into endangered species. The remaining few were mostly caged and bred, serving as material for bloodline research, with no longer any possibility of them rising again.
This world was not prosperous enough to foster a spirit of humanitarianism. Countless years of struggle for survival had long since made the animosity between races as deep as the sea, with absolutely no possibility of reconciliation.
What's more, due to differences in aesthetic preferences, and, most crucially, reproductive isolation, the integration of races remained nothing but empty talk.
The emergence of beings beyond the Divine stage was like one of the feudal lords in the Warring States period suddenly discovering nuclear weapons technology. The balance of power, maintained for years, was ruthlessly shattered. The multipolar structure instantly devolved into a one-sided, overwhelming slaughter.
It seemed everything was developing towards the Human Race's sole supremacy... until one day, Yuan Wu Chu, who sat high on the Human Race's throne, calling himself the Heavenly Emperor, suddenly thought: "Why should I care about such a thing as race?"
From the day that doubt arose, he handed his authority over to the other Four Emperors. He himself vanished without a trace.
...
After nearly a hundred years of colonizing the wilderness, the Human Race's progress advanced ceaselessly. They soon entered the golden age of the classical period.
In the eyes of the Four Emperors who governed the world, everything was so beautiful. This moment was worth being eternally cherished.
Relying on the information left behind by the Heavenly Emperor before his departure, they each, after many years, also grasped the opportunity to advance beyond the Divine stage. All that remained was to select an auspicious day to complete this final step.
...
As the two faced each other, gusts of invisible, dangerous breezes swept past. The Four-Faced Daoist was moved by the scene and recalled fragments of that year.
...
"You've returned?"
The Azure Emperor, who sat alone on the Heaven-Gazing Platform, divining the Human Race's future by observing the stars, watched with great astonishment as Heavenly Emperor Yuan Wu Chu, missing for decades, had returned without a sound.
What astonished him even more was that the moment the Heavenly Emperor returned, his own ominous death star suddenly lit up.
He couldn't believe this once-close comrade would attempt to kill him. Yet, the astrological divination was certainly not without basis. The conflict between reason and emotion left him in a dilemma.
"Humans, demons, ghosts, monsters, all sentient beings are variables that interfere with the workings of the heavenly secrets. They offer not the slightest benefit to the circulation of the Great Dao..."
Without the slightest preamble, the Heavenly Emperor, who had completely abandoned his human form and appeared only as a gust of wind, stated an utterly terrifying viewpoint with a cold, indifferent tone: "The existence of emotional beings only disrupts the original operating laws of this world. Their joys and sorrows are utterly meaningless to the cosmos."
"Yuan Wu Chu, what do you mean by this?!" After hearing this preposterous talk, the Azure Emperor, Nanxuan Qingye, was so enraged that he cast aside all decorum and directly questioned the former Heavenly Emperor before him.
As a leader who had painstakingly guided the Human Race to break through the encirclement of a hundred other races, he harbored deep affection for his descendants, for this nation, and for the entire race. Naturally, he could not tolerate such words as "human existence is meaningless," even if they came from the mouth of his former friend.
He couldn't understand what the other party had experienced to have become so utterly mad.
Of course, while he raged, Nanxuan Qingye secretly notified the other Three Emperors. Regardless, Yuan Wu Chu, who had been missing for decades, had suddenly appeared. It was only right, both emotionally and logically, to inform them.
What's more, the suddenly appearing Yuan Wu Chu clearly did not come with good intentions...
"The love, hate, and grudges intertwined among the various races will only pollute the originally clear and distinct heavenly secrets. Without beings swayed by emotions, everything will operate solely according to rules..."
As he spoke, a colossal golden head began to coalesce within the breeze. The head had no hair, no eyelashes. Its eyes were filled with an aloof indifference.
And on its forehead, a tightly closed vertical pupil constantly trembled slightly.
"So, what are you going to do?" Nanxuan Qingye vaguely guessed something from Yuan Wu Chu's words, but he was still somewhat unwilling to believe his own deduction.
"To brush away the mundane dust that obscures the heavenly secrets."
After confirming Yuan Wu Chu's intentions once more, Nanxuan Qingye took a deep breath. Drawing the longsword from its scabbard, he declared: "There is only battle."
"Only battle remains!" The other three, who had received the summons, also rushed to the Heaven-Gazing Platform with the utmost speed. They hadn't even had time to change into their court robes.
"You don't understand.
Gentlemen, as long as you truly take that step, you will be able to comprehend my thoughts."
The golden head paid no mind to the four figures before it, brimming with killing intent. Because it was perfectly clear that as long as they didn't truly break through to the Divine stage, no one could harm it, let alone obstruct its actions.
And once they took that step beyond the Divine stage, they would immediately understand that its own thoughts were the correct ones.
Without the slightest hesitation, and after only a moment's thought, Nanxuan Qingye and the others made their decision. They began to break through on the spot!
For decades, they had already made all the preparations. They were merely waiting for the auspicious day calculated by divination to arrive. Advancing a little early now would actually have little impact.
"Don't..." A voice drifted from an unknown corner.
"Who is speaking?"
The golden head's vertical pupil trembled frantically. Its flickering light drew the attention of the others and halted their actions at the last possible moment.
That was the remnant humanity of Yuan Wu Chu. After realizing that his mind was experiencing issues and that he was on the verge of falling into the state of Daoization and annihilation, he sealed his remaining emotions within his vertical pupil, waiting for the moment he would destroy the world to appear and warn others.
Yuan Wu Chu had forcibly split his own personality to delay the erosion of Daoization. Unfortunately, the aspect representing emotionlessness and desirelessness was simply too powerful. This caused the human aspect to be completely suppressed, only able to appear occasionally, fighting for every precious second.
"You are Yuan Wu Chu?"
"He is also Yuan Wu Chu?"
They were somewhat confused by the situation.
"My time is limited. The breakthrough method I left you decades ago is flawed. Even if you succeed, you will continuously lose your humanity, drawing closer to the Heavenly Dao..." The eye, having managed to snatch a brief moment, revealed the truth to the four with the utmost speed.
However, the more they heard, the more Nanxuan Qingye and the others felt they were trapped in a vicious cycle.
If they didn't break through, they would be utterly incapable of resisting Daoized Yuan Wu Chu's world-ending divine might. But once they did break through, they themselves might very well become the next world-destroyer a hundred years later.
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