Chapter 1448: Paths Between Heaven and Earth Severed

Zu An was stunned. He asked, “He didn’t do it in order to steal Zhu Long’s inheritance?”

Wu Xian shook his head and replied, “That’s what we thought at first too, but only after he killed Bao Jiang and stole the immortal medicine did we find out his true schemes.”

Zu An was a bit confused, exclaiming, “But that makes no sense! Seeing as he was the son of the great Zhu Long and he had already become the sole successor, why would he bother going after the immortal medicine?”

Wu Xian gave him a deep look, saying, “Not even deities are truly immortal. With immortal medicine, even they can have a second life.”

Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue exchanged a look, both seeing the shock in each other’s eyes. So that was what the so-called immortal medicine really was! Being able to live a second life was extremely precious in itself. After all, there were long and short lives. The strong could live for another few thousand, or even more than ten thousand years.

“Of course, one’s lifespan is substantially increased after achieving immortality. Deities don’t normally have as great of a desire for immortal medicine in the short term,” Wu Xian explained. “However, Gu didn’t ascend to immortality.”

“Why?” Zu An asked. He and the others were surprised. After all, as the son of someone as incredible as Zhu Long, as well as his sole heir, the fact that Gu couldn't achieve immortality in that era seemed unimaginable.

Wu Xian hesitated, but in the end he still said, “I initially didn’t plan to tell you these things, but since you saved Yayu, you must be someone who shares affinity with him. It’s fine to tell you.”

He continued, “It’s because the Celestial Emperor Zhuan Xu severed the path between heaven and earth.”

Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue had pensive looks on their faces, but Zu An and Yu Yanluo were confused, asking, “What does severing the path between heaven and earth mean?”

Wu Xian explained, “A long time ago, the heavens and the mortal world were connected. Even though it was necessary to traverse certain paths and it was extremely difficult, it wasn’t impossible for the strong.

“When Zhuan Xu became a Celestial Emperor, though, he felt that the dangers of leaving behind a path between heaven and earth were too great. The first reason was that beings from heaven would often cause disasters when they came down to the mortal world, and the second was that the various races of the mortal world always went directly to heaven whenever they had an issue, disturbing its peace. As such, he sent the deities Zhong and Li to sever the road connecting heaven and earth.

“From then on, the two were forever separated, and those of the lower realm had no hopes of ascending to immortality.”

Zu An and the others were completely shocked, Yun Jianyue and Yan Xuehen most of all. They thought, So that’s why! It was no wonder that even though there had been so many stunning geniuses throughout the years, there had never been anyone who could truly ascend to immortality. It had reached a point where more and more people had begun to feel that the so-called ascension was nothing more than a scam.

It turned out that in truth, the path to ascension had already been severed by the imperial court of ancient times!

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Zu An thought, This Zhuan Xu’s character really is questionable. No wonder the people of this world had always spoken ill of him, treating his sons like all manner of demons and monsters and completely vilifying them.

At first, he had thought that it was just a battle between the White and Black Emperors. Now, it seemed that Zhuan Xu’s actions had completely infuriated the different clans of the human world. Unfortunately, they could only powerlessly vent out their anger, slandering Zhuan Xu’s descendants. However, in the imperial court, Zhuan Xu didn’t care at all, not even paying them any attention.

After Zu An’s group managed to digest the shocking information a bit, Wu Xian then continued, “Zhu Long was indeed a deity who had tremendous status, but his son Gu was still young. He didn’t ascend to immortality before the paths were severed. He knew he wouldn’t have any chance to do so in the future, so he set his sights on the immortal medicine.”

“So that was it. Then did he succeed?” Zu An quickly asked.

“He plotted against Bao Jiang, and he did successfully steal the immortal medicine. Unfortunately, before he could even eat it, the truth was exposed. After all, the immortal medicine was just too important. The Celestial Emperor was infuriated, putting Gu to death,” Wu Xian explained. He remained expressionless as he spoke, making it unclear what he was really thinking.

“But what do these things have to do with the Golden Crows and Nuba?” Yu Yanluo asked.

“Nuba is Gu’s mother,” Wu Xian said with a deep sigh.

Zu An and the others were now completely confused. They could never have expected such a close relationship! So after all that, they had ended up back in the present situation?

Wu Xian continued, “Back then, Nuba helped the Yellow Emperor defeat Chi You, but because her injuries were too great, she couldn't return to the heavens and could only live in the human world. Wherever she went, she brought a great drought. That was why the people weren’t grateful for her contributions toward Chi You’s defeat, and instead chased her away wherever she went.

“The Celestial Emperor pitied her, so he arranged for her to stay north of Scarlet Water. That place was close to Zhongshan, and Zhu Long just happened to be staying there at the time.

“In the end, familiarity breeds fondness…”

Zu An repeated with a strange expression, “Familiarity breeds fondness?”

“What’s wrong?” Wu Xian asked, looking at him in confusion.

“Nothing. Please continue, senior,” Zu An said, his face heating up. Wouldn’t the shaman tear him to shreds out of anger if he found out what kinds of nonsensical thoughts Zu An had?

“Zhu Long and Nuba thus stayed together, and she even gave birth to Gu later,” Wu Xian said.

Zu An sighed in amazement. Deities were deities after all. Zhu Long could even enter a nuclear reactor without his thing being burned!

“Yayu and Er Fu weren’t her children?” The three women asked another crucial question.

“No. As for who Yayu and Er Fu’s mother is, even we don’t know,” Wu Xian said, shaking his head.

Zu An thought, No wonder Gu provoked his brothers into killing each other. They didn’t share a mother to begin with.

“I understand. The Celestial Emperor who had Gu executed should be Emperor Jun, right? So that was why Nuba, who cherished her son, vented her hatred on Emperor Jun and his Golden Crow sons. She wanted to get revenge, but instead ended up miscalculating and they lost their lives, right?” Zu An asked, suddenly thinking of something.

The other shamans had strange expressions. They all shook their heads simultaneously and replied, “That’s not it. The one who killed Gu was the Celestial Emperor Zhuan Xu.”

Zu An was dumbfounded. Had Nuba’s brain short-circuited? Why had she vented out her anger on the Golden Crows instead of looking for the chief culprit?

After a moment of hesitation, Wu Xian said, “What we’ll be saying from now on is merely speculation. We don’t have any proof, so just treat it as a story.”

Zu An was now completely focused. I love gossip.

Yun Jianyue frowned inwardly. The group didn’t share that much friendship with the Spirit Mountain Ten Shamans, and yet they were sharing information so intimately. Is there some kind of plot involved? Do they want to use us to do something?

She wanted to warn her companions, but she feared that with the shamans’ cultivation and strange methods, she would be discovered. That was why she could only suppress her misgivings for the time being.

The other shamans discussed things among themselves spiritedly.

“Our Spirit Mountain is close to Zhongshan and Scarlet Water, so we could be considered neighbors. And after the matters involving Yayu and Bao Jiang, we knew a bit more than most others.”

“Since Gu killed the deity Bao Jiang and stole the immortal medicine, Nuba knew his sin couldn’t be pardoned. Even though she was brokenhearted, she didn’t resent Celestial Emperor Zhuan Xu.”

“Later, though, through a coincidence, she found out that Gu was actually spurred on by someone to do all this.”

“When Nuba looked into it, she saw traces of Emperor Jun’s influence.”

“Emperor Jun?” Zu An repeated in surprise. After all that, Emperor Jun was actually the mastermind? But he was a glorious Celestial Emperor! Why would he participate in such an affair?

“Didn’t we mention that Zhuan Xu destroyed the path between heaven and earth? That meant not only Gu was barred from ascending to immortality; Emperor Jun’s sons couldn't either,” came the reply.

Zu An was speechless, thinking, Not even a Celestial Emperor’s sons could ascend to immortality? They really went all in on that implementation!

Seemingly guessing his thoughts, Wu Xian explained, “With the path between heaven and earth severed, the laws of the great dao became deficient. It became set in stone that none of the human world’s clans could ascend to immortality. That fact couldn't be changed any longer unless the paths were repaired and the great dao’s laws became complete once more.”

“They’re both Celestial Emperors, so why was this decision carried out even though Emperor Jun didn’t agree?” Zu An asked with a frown.

“That’s because the decision to sever the paths was something agreed upon by most people in the heavens. Furthermore, Zhuan Xu was the first one to become a Celestial Emperor. At the time, it hadn’t been that long since Emperor Jun became a Celestial Emperor, so his foundation was weaker. It would have been difficult for him to win against Zhuan Xu,” Wu Xian replied.

“That’s why there has been speculation that Emperor Jun needed help. As such, he planned to drag Zhu Long into his plans. After all, Zhu Long possessed extraordinary status and strength. With his help and support, the situation would become much better.

“Unfortunately, for some reason, Zhu Long never expressed his opinions on the matter. And as Gu ended up dying by accident, all of Nuba’s rage was then redirected toward Emperor Jun’s family.”