Chapter 44: Dream Return; When He Realized It, His Fingertips Had Already Touched Those… part 1
Su Huan started dreaming again.
At first, this dream was a beautiful one.
He dreamed that an unprecedented catastrophe had caused thousands of gods to return to heaven and earth, while he, as the biological son of the Divine Lord, grew up under the tutelage of the few remaining Divine Monarchs. Young and accomplished, he was the youngest successor to the Divine Lord in history.
The Divine Lord was the head of all gods, governing all things in heaven and earth. To become a qualified Divine Lord, he traveled across mountains and snowy valleys, experiencing the extreme bitterness and joy of the world. After the Divine Monarchs returned to the Heavenly Dao, he successfully took over the authority from the Divine Lord, managing both heaven and the mortal world so that the winds and rains were favorable, and peace and prosperity reigned.
The common people spontaneously built temples for him and devoutly worshipped his golden statue. Since he was born in Cang Xuan, he took Cang Xuan as his divine name. At the peak of his worship, incense offerings dedicated to him could be found across all Seven Continents and Four Seas.
“Thanks to the Divine Lord driving away that man-eating demon, we have a place to live…”
“Many thanks to the Divine Lord for casting spells to improve the grain seeds and bestowing a bountiful harvest; we will never have to go hungry again…”
“Divine Lord above, if not for the celestial arts you taught, who knows how many people would have died in this plague…”
Grateful for the faith of the people, he created thousands of spiritual arts. Centering on his divine temple, he opened up a blessed grotto-heaven and selected a group of people from each continent to teach Daoist arts, instructing them to pass them on to the mortal world. He declared that those who benefited the world could serve in the divine temple.
The people spontaneously called this cultivation, and thus came celestial arts and the hundred immortal sects. The world revered and believed in him even more.
Everything was as beautiful as a golden age.
Unknown how much time passed, he suddenly heard a clear voice shouting from amidst the many thoughts of faith:
“This world no longer needs a god!”
He opened his eyes and curiously cast his divine sense toward this youth who dared to utter such treasonous words.
The youth stood in a splendid divine temple, a hall built for him by an aristocratic family.
High-quality incense candles burned in the main hall, smoke curling around. Someone, somehow knowing his preference, had piled spirit fruit offerings like mountains on an altar inlaid with countless precious gems. Atop them lay a written confession of guilt addressed to him.
The youth was dressed in a simple white robe. Behind him stood a group of family elders in brocade robes, forcing the youth’s head down to make him kneel and kowtow to the statue, which stood with lowered eyes forming a hand seal.
“I won’t bow!”
The youth struggled with all his might, but being pinned down firmly, his face turned red. The elders behind him could suppress his body, but they couldn’t stop his mouth.
The youth shouted incessantly, “Why is it that because I was born in the Helan family, I must believe in the Divine Lord, while Ah Lan, born in poverty, doesn’t even have the qualification to enter the divine temple! If the faith you all keep talking about is like this, then I’d rather he disappear from the world!”
A young man standing at the very front, dressed luxuriously and majestically, appeared to be the head of this family. Hearing the youth’s words, his face immediately turned livid. He slapped the youth fiercely across the face and scolded in a low voice, “Shut up! Disrespect is not allowed before the Divine Lord!”
The youth was stunned for a moment by the slap. After reacting, he sneered, “Divine Lord? I’m afraid he has long become an excuse for you to seek personal gain!”
“Helan Yue!” The Helan family head wanted to strike again, but his raised palm was blocked in mid-air by a gentle breeze, unable to advance an inch.
The Helan family head’s expression changed. Realizing something, he turned to look at the statue. The others also showed uneasy expressions, looking at the statue in unison.
The perfectly renovated statue, its brow filled with divinity amidst the curling incense smoke, remained motionless without any change.
Thus, they all breathed a sigh of relief, fearing that Helan Yue’s disrespectful words just now had angered the Divine Lord.
Cang Xuan watched this scene, and with a thought, he transformed into the appearance of a sixteen or seventeen-year-old youth and appeared in the main hall.
Helan Yue saw him suddenly appear by his side and showed a surprised expression. Cang Xuan asked, “Just now, why did you say this world no longer needs a god?”
The Helan family head noticed his sudden appearance and was startled. Before Helan Yue could answer, he scolded with a dark face, “Who are you? You are not from the aristocratic families; how did you get in?”
He glared at the elders standing behind him and shouted, “What are you doing standing there in a daze? Why don’t you quickly take this brat who offended the Divine Lord out!”
Hearing this, Helan Yue’s eyes rolled. He cleverly grabbed Cang Xuan’s wrist and started walking out. “No need to trouble the elders, I’ll go out with him!”
The Helan family head nearly died of anger. “You dare!”
Cang Xuan didn’t move.
Seeing he wouldn’t move, Helan Yue increased the strength of his grip and urged in a low voice, “Let’s go quickly. If you don’t go, you’ll be punished by them. Last time, Ah Lan was kicked out of the sect just for entering here without permission…”
The Helan family head’s face became even worse as he reprimanded, “Nonsense! That sinner dared to steal the Scarlet Feather Fruit (Chiling Guo) offered to the Divine Lord. It was already merciful of me not to take his life…”
Cang Xuan turned to look at him. “Scarlet Feather Fruit? Why steal it? Is this kind of fruit very rare and delicious?”
The Helan family head choked, the words on the tip of his tongue stuck.
Helan Yue couldn’t help laughing and explained, “You’re really funny. Of course Scarlet Feather Fruit isn’t delicious, but eating it can resist the invasion of cold qi from the extreme cold lands of the Northern Underworld (Beiming). Ah Lan’s mother fell ill and needed a kind of spirit fish from the Northern Underworld as medicine, so he had no choice but to need the Scarlet Feather Fruit.”
Cang Xuan nodded in understanding but still had doubts. “In that case, why didn’t he go gather it himself? Why steal it from this divine temple?”
This time, before Helan Yue could speak, a person behind the Helan family head sneered first, “Where did this country bumpkin come from, not even knowing this?”
This person was dressed in long robes, looking like a transcendent immortal with thin eyebrows and narrow eyes. He first bowed devoutly to the statue before speaking mockingly, “The Divine Lord bestowed upon us the spiritual arts of cultivation, creating today’s cultivation world. All the spirit fruits under heaven should rightfully belong to the Divine Lord. How could a lowly bloodline like his be allowed to use them!”
Lowly bloodline?
The people in the hall nodded in agreement, looking at him with a trace of disdain.
Cang Xuan nodded and said, “Stealing offerings is indeed wrong.”
Hearing his words, Helan Yue’s expression changed slightly, and his grip on Cang Xuan’s hand loosened.
Cang Xuan glanced at him, then turned to look at the Helan family head and said, “But bloodlines are not noble or lowly. Since it involved a human life, you should have spared some fruit for Ah Lan.”
The Helan family head was cold and ruthless. “It’s just an insignificant human life. Not to mention the entire cultivation world, even within the Helan family territory, new mortals are born every moment.”
Cang Xuan repeated softly, “Cultivation world? Mortals?”
He was somewhat puzzled. “They are mortals, then what are you?”
The person who mocked him earlier spoke again, “Of course we are cultivators! Where exactly did you come from, kid? To be so ignorant!”
The Helan family head showed impatience and scolded, “Full of nonsense. Take him out quickly.”
That person hurriedly responded with fear and trepidation, walking quickly to Cang Xuan’s side to capture him.
Cang Xuan dodged and pointed a finger gently. That thin-browed person instantly couldn’t move.
Sounds of gasping arose all around:
“He subdued Elder Xue so easily?!”
“Elder Xue is at the Body Integration stage. This person is so young; could his cultivation have already reached above the Body Integration stage?!”
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