Chapter 1406: Path of a Hero

“When Emperor Yao ascended to the throne, the entire country rose up in rebellion. The ten suns appearing at the same time formed one component of that. Apart from that, several demons such as the Yayu, Zaochi Giant, Nine Infants, Grandgale, Fenxi Boar, and Xiushe Serpent all appeared…” The voice seemed to be immersed in its memories, talking about the events of the past.

Zu An was shocked. Grandgale? He had a Grandgale among his skills. He wondered whether his Grandgale had anything to do with that Grandgale.

“Additionally, the famous Four Perils also emerged from that period. The Qiongqi, Hundun, Taowu, and Taotie all appeared when Yao took the throne,” the voice continued.

Yan Xuehen, Yun Jianyue, and Yu Yanluo instinctively looked at Zu An. They remembered that he had called the monster they encountered back on Feather Mountain a Taowu. Could that be the same thing?

“The Taowu you’re speaking of, does it look like a tiger with extremely long hair, the fangs of a wild boar, and a tail a dozen meters long…” Zu An gave a rough description of the monster.

“That’s right,” the voice said with a sigh. “I sensed its aura not too long ago. It sounds as if you released it.”

Zu An’s group was stunned, replying, “We didn’t do anything. It suddenly appeared.”

“Did you encounter a giant stone that resembled a tortoise?” the voice asked.

“We did. There were many bones inside. They seemed to be the skeletal remains of some giant creature,” Zu An said with a nod.

“Then it all makes sense. That was the seal used to suppress the Taowu. If you could destroy that seal, your cultivations are higher than I imagined,” the voice said, sounding a bit surprised; it seemed to be reevaluating them.

Zu An had a strange expression as he replied, “We weren’t the ones who broke that seal. It was someone who entered with us.” After some hesitation, he added, “That other person is a Golden Crow, but I don’t know if he has anything to do with the Golden Crows you mentioned before.”

“The Puppet Curse on you came from him, right?” the voice said before continuing, “Then it must be. That’s a unique skill of the Golden Crow lineage. No one else can mimic it.”

Zu An and the others exchanged a look. They hadn’t expected the Fiend Emperor’s history to actually be related to an Unknown Region. Why did all of this feel a bit unreal?

“By the way, would releasing the Taowu, one of the Four Perils, mean we’ve unleashed a disaster upon the world?” Zu An quickly asked. That was how movies often portrayed it.

“Just a single Taowu wouldn’t be that powerful,” the voice said, sounding quite relaxed.

“Judging from what you just said, it sounds as if releasing more will cause problems, right?” Yun Jianyue asked.

“That would indeed be troublesome,” the voice said. It didn’t seem to want to go into detail. It changed the topic and asked, “Do you know why they’re called the Four Perils?”

“I don’t,” Zu An replied. He thought back to the Taotie he had encountered in the Yinxu secret dungeon, wondering whether it was also one of the Four Perils the voice had spoken of.

“The Yayu, Zaochi Giant, Nine Infants, and so on that I mentioned are powerful demons in their own right. However, the Four Perils weren’t beasts to begin with, but rather humans,” the voice said with a sigh.

“Human?” Zu An’s group exclaimed. Now, they were truly shocked. They thought of the Taowu’s malevolent appearance. How could that have anything to do with a human?

“Indeed. The Hundun used to be called Huan Dou, a son of Zhuan Xu. The Qiongqi was Gong Gong, the descendant of the Flame Emperor. The Taotie was named Chi You when he was still alive, and Chi You was also from the Flame Emperor’s lineage. The Taowu’s name was Gun, another one of Zhuan Xu’s descendants. Those individuals were all opposed to Yao, but after many years of battle, they were all defeated. Yao exiled Gong Gong to You Province, Huan Dou to Mount Chong, and San Miao’s Chi You to San Wei. Meanwhile, Gun was put to death on Feather Mountain. When those people died, their resentment and dissatisfaction turned them into the Four Perils,” the voice explained.

Yan Xuehen, Yun Jianyue, and Yu Yanluo were all stunned. Those names were too unfamiliar to them. It was as if they were listening to an imperial edict.

Zu An was actually incredibly shocked. Many things he had just heard seemed to completely contradict common knowledge! He hadn’t expected Gong Gong and Chi You to actually be under the Flame Emperor’s lineage!

The people of China in his previous world were referred to as descendants of the Flame Emperor and Yellow Emperor. In ancient times, the Flame Emperor and Yellow Emperor’s largest tribes had merged together and continued to propagate, ultimately forming the ancient Chinese civilization.

He couldn't help but ask, “The Gong Gong you’re speaking of, is he the one whose anger on Buzhou Mountain caused the heavens to collapse, releasing the great flood on the world? That Gong Gong? And Chi You… Is that the Demon Lord Chi You, who fought a great battle against the emperor?”

Huan Dou and Gun were one thing, because they weren’t that famous in history. Gun was the antagonist in Yu the Great’s story of taming the floods, so he was a bit more memorable. Compared to Gong Gong and Chi You, however, he wasn’t anyone special at all.

Gog Gong had made the heavens split open and drowned the entire world in a great flood, forcing the great Goddess Nuwa to appear and repair the heavens. Chi You had fought a great battle against the Yellow Emperor, forcing even someone of his stature into a desperate situation several times. He was a vicious individual who had only been taken down in the end by the Yellow Emperor with assistance. There were many movies, shows, and web novels that made him out to be one of the greatest antagonists in history.

“Hm? You seem to know quite a bit about the events of our age,” the voice said, sounding a bit surprised. He explained, “The Gong Gong you’re talking about isn’t the same one as the one I’m talking about. Gong Gong was a title, and every single generation had a new Gong Gong. The one who expressed his fury on Buzhou Mountain was the first-generation Gong Gong. The cause of that event was his defeat in a competition over the throne against the Black Emperor, Zhuan Xu.”

The three women found that easier to understand. Just like the Fiend Emperor, even though every single generation’s leader was called the Fiend Emperor, they were actually completely different.

The voice continued, “The Gong Gong I’m talking about is the one from Emperor Yao’s reign. In the battle between the Flame and Yellow Emperors, the Flame Emperor was defeated. However, his bloodline’s faction was still strong, which was why they were never willing to bow down to the Yellow Emperor. That was why they fought several battles against the Yellow Emperor’s side.

“The most famous were the Battle of Banquan between the Flame and Yellow Emperors, the Battle of Zhuolu between the Yellow Emperor and Chi You, and the battle between the Black Emperor and Zhuan Xu.

“As for the Gong Gong of Emperor Yao’s time, he was a later-generation Gong Gong. That Chi You wasn’t the first Chi You either, but rather the title of the tribe leader of San Miao.”

“So that was what happened,” Zu An said. He was curious as to who those people were, as the voice knew about those events so well, almost as if he had been there.

“Back then, the entire world was in chaos. Yao was also hard-pressed, but he was quite capable and good at appointing people, so he raised a large group of capable generals. He sent Yi to kill the Zaochi Giant in the Field of Splendor, the Nine Infants above the fearful waters, Grandgale in Bluemound Pond, and nine of the ten suns. Yi also killed the Yayu, then the Xiushe in Dongting, and lastly the Fengxi Boar in the Mulberry Forest.”

Zu An was shocked. This Yi really was quite an outstanding individual. He had been able to conquer Chang’e in the arts, while his martial might could slay demons.

The voice continued, “The reason I’m telling you all this in such detail is because I need you to repeat Yi’s heroic path. Only then can you obtain the acknowledgment of his divine weapon and have a hope of defeating that powerful being.”