Chapter 1338: Plumdark Awakens

Twenty years passed. During that time, the situation in Revered Ancient changed in heaven-shaking, earth-toppling ways!

In the name of Xu Qing, Empress Summer Departure triumphantly expanded human territory to the point where it matched the extent of human lands in the days of Emperor Eastglory. And that was only what humans directly controlled. During the twenty years that had passed, humans became the top species in Revered Ancient. They controlled more than half of the mainland!

There were other areas home to either gods or ancient species, and yet... they all feared humans and didn’t dare to cause trouble. Yet they weren’t willing to bend the knee.

It was a stalemate of three parties. That was when Ling’er emerged from the Moonrite Region, accompanied by the Heir Apparent and his siblings. By means of her Ancient Spirit bloodline, she was able to give the countless ancient species of Revered Ancient a face-saving way of submitting.

For a variety of reasons, they didn’t want to bend the knee to humankind. But they viewed the Ancient Spirits differently. All of those ancient species were fine with the concept of ‘countless species’ existing in Revered Ancient. But in reality... they were all nonhumans who existed apart from the humans. And before Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity conquered Revered Ancient, it had been a nonhuman species, the Ancient Spirits, who ruled the mainland. In the end, they could agree to bend the knee to the Ancient Spirits.

And thus, the only obstacle to the complete unification of Revered Ancient were the gods. Naturally speaking, it made the most sense for gods to handle the business of gods. Therefore, Empress Summer Departure went to South Phoenix, prostrated in front of Xu Qing’s dharmaboat, and sought his counsel.

Waves rippled on the surface of the seawater, and the dharmaboat bobbed up and down. Xu Qing opened his eyes. He did not emerge from seclusion. But he did wave his hand, causing a stream of light to emerge from the dharmaboat and coalesce in front of the empress.

It turned into a clay statue. It was a statue of a fox.

As the wind blew through the harbor, the statue glittered with dazzling light. The clay became flesh, smooth and lustrous, and charming laughter rang out. Then, the bewitching Starfire appeared in the world again.

“Long time no see, Big Sis,” Starfire said, eyes shimmering flirtatiously. “Thanks for coming. If you hadn’t, that heartless meanie would have completely forgotten about me.”

The empress frowned but said nothing. With a final bow to Xu Qing’s dharmaboat, shē turned and left.

Laughing softly, Starfire looked in the direction of the Moonrite Region, eyes shining with anticipation. “First, Sun. Then, Moon. Finally, Star.... It’s time to change the rankings.”

Starfire began walking.

The first stop was, of course, the Firemoon Darkheaven people. In Firemoon lands, God Mountain trembled as a rain of clay began to fall. As the rain fell, the Firemoon Darkheavens trembled with dread. At the same time, a towering godly might descended with the rain, landing on God Mountain and turning into a godly voice.[1]

“Moonfire. Sunfire. Come out and see me!”

God Mountain trembled as Sunfire and Moonfire appeared and flew up into the sky, expressions uncertain. It wasn’t possible to go very high. Moonfire only advanced about seven paces before stopping silently with bowed head. Sunfire glowed like a dazzling sun, but despite struggling to surpass Moonfire, only advanced by a few more paces. Then the sun turned into a clay sun. After looking up with a penetrating glance, Sunfire looked down.

The laughter of the clay fox rang out in all directions. Instead of Sun, Moon, Star, the rankings were now Star, Moon, Sun.

After that, Starfire went to the locations of many other gods, and used a variety of methods to offer such gods two choices. Option one was to be destroyed. Option two was to become a subordinate god. That was how the gods were subjugated. There were some dangers, as certain sleeping gods were actually stronger than Starfire. But Master Seventh was around the entire time.

During the twenty years of Xu Qing’s secluded meditation, Master Seventh only came out of Brilliant Heaven twice. The first was to exterminate an old-timer from one of the ancient species who had a special magic to rely on. The second was to crush three gods who were half a step into the True God level.

Due to his actions, there were no deadly conflicts between nonhumans, gods, and humans. And thanks to Ling’er and Starfire taking control, the others actually entered an alliance with humans.

In that manner, humans’ place in the world was acknowledged. The end result was that humans... were the ones who unified Revered Ancient. Empress Summer Departure represented humankind. Ling’er represented the nonhumans. Starfire represented the gods. The three parties entered into a treaty agreement called Pure Ancient. The allied forces purged all the secret locations in the Revered Ancient mainland, and did everything possible to cleanse any outside influences.

Time passed. Another twenty years went by.

Xu Qing had now been in seclusion for forty years.

In the second set of twenty years, humankind’s position stabilized. Empress Summer Departure became Ancient Empress Summer Departure. Humankind advanced as well. The broken face was still there in the dome of heaven, leaving all living beings uneasy. Were it not for that, it would have been a golden age.

Ningyan grew up to be a remarkable individual. Due to the empress’ diligent guidance, he came to be exactly what one would expect of a crown prince. In addition to Ningyan, there were a few other people who grew into their own during those years.

For example, Wu Jianwu established his own set of core daoist teachings and doctrines. They focused on breeding animals. Though his cultivation base was not very high, through his partnership with the beasts that had been with him for so many years, he came to be extraordinary.

Then there was Kong Xianglong, who was a descendant of Palace Lord Kong Liangxiu of the Swordsage Palace in Sea-Sealing County. He continued to carry out the will of Kong Liangxiu, and eventually came to be the reigning palace lord. All he had to do was reach the appropriate level of cultivation base.

Everyone had their own path, and everyone achieved their own type of success.

It was the same with all the major forces in Revered Ancient. Humans, gods, and nonhumans maintained order. Slowly but surely, all connections to outside influence were identified, and records were kept about them. For all intents and purposes, there were no secret locations in Revered Ancient anymore.

With the exception... of one place! It was a place that no nonhuman, no god, and no human had ever entered by even half a step. Even Master Seventh only observed from the outside for a time before leaving it alone.

It was a very unique and special place in the Revered Ancient mainland. It was the Heaveneater Region! It was the place where the Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan had returned to!

No one entered the place, and no living thing from inside the Heaveneater Region ever left. Everybody seemed to be waiting.

***

Two years later... the dharmaboat that had been floating in the harbor in Seven Blood Eyes in South Phoenix for the past forty-two years quietly vanished into thin air. The only thing left behind were some ripples in the water.

The moment the dharmaboat vanished, someone materialized in Brilliant Heaven, right next to where Erniu was sleeping. Master Seventh, who sat cross-legged in front of his Master’s tomb, didn’t notice the new arrival.

The person who had arrived didn’t make any disturbance. He just looked at Erniu briefly, then disappeared.

A moment later, that same figure appeared in front of the statue of Grand Emperor Swordsage outside the imperial capital of humankind. No one saw him. No one even sensed him.

Xu Qing stood in front of the statue, looking up at Grand Emperor Swordsage. He wore a black robe and had long violet hair. He didn’t look any different than he had forty-two years ago. But there was something profound shimmering in his eyes. After looking at the statue for a long moment, he clasped hands and bowed.

Then he turned in the direction of Sea-Sealing County.

“She’s about to wake up...” he murmured. A warm smile appeared on his face as took a step in the direction of Sea-Sealing County.

***

In the complex deep beneath Sea-Sealing County was a phoenix palace. Within it was a lamp, slowly growing brighter. It was the Plumdark Evergreen Lamp.

The light of the lamp illuminated a woman seated cross-legged in the tranquil hall. She wore a gauzy, plum-colored gown that spread like clouds around her, drifting slowly as if caressed by a fragrant, invisible breeze. She was beautiful, with skin as fair as snow. Her brow seemed to hide infinite emotion, but at the same time, was the picture of elegant charm. She sat quietly on a rush cushion, her hands on her knees, her fingers long and slender.

From a distance, she looked as beautiful as a painting. It looked almost as if time had stopped in order to preserve her spectacular beauty for all time.

But then... a moment passed.

Her eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes and looked at the main door. Her eyes glittered like stars, vibrant enough to illuminate the whole world.

The door slowly opened.

1. We first heard about

God Mountain

in chapter 811. ☜