Chapter 2560: Aura of Death

As a transmigrator, Zu An had read plenty of legends and webnovel settings in his previous life, so what the Goddess of Wu Mountain shared felt extremely familiar to him.

“Could I be in a fantasy world...” He shook his head and dispelled those miscellaneous thoughts.

He focused his attention on the issues before him. He'd been misled by his previous life’s impression, thinking that all the so-called emperors were humans. From the looks of it now, the emperors and even the celestials were all fiends. But that raised the question—where were the humans?

Upon hearing Zu An ask about that, the Goddess of Wu Mountain replied, “Lady Nuwa created the humans based on the traits of both the fiends and shamans, but humans turned out to be too weak. They don’t have the formidable power that shamans and fiends harness in their bloodlines. They have some prosperous tribes, but compared to the fiends and the shamans, they aren’t even worth a mention.”

She eyed Zu An with a frown. “On that note, I have never seen a human as strong as you.”

“I guess I’m just lucky,” Zu An replied in self-derision.

I guess human civilization is still in its elementary phase.

“Where’s Lady Nuwa now?” Zu An wanted to gather more information.

The Goddess of Wu Mountain shook her head. “It has been a long time since she last showed herself. Some say she was conferred sainthood for her merit in creating humans, but there are also those who claim she has already passed away. There is no way to tell which is true.”

“Sainthood...” Zu An fell into contemplation. “Sainthood is the level that the Celestial Emperors are seeking to attain, right?”

Zu An had also asked her this question back then, but she hadn’t answered. This time, she briefly hesitated before sharing, “Yes, they are pursuing the legendary sainthood.”

“What saints are there in the world?” Seeing that she was willing to answer his question, Zu An was determined to squeeze out as much information as he could.

“Sainthood is an elusive level. The only ones said to have reached that level are the Green Emperor and Lady Nuwa. I can’t say for sure who else is a saint,” the Goddess of Wu Mountain explained. “Sainthood cannot be reached through rote cultivation. One has to find the dao suited for them and make it resonate with the great dao. Ever since ancient times, there have been many powerful entities, but many of them hit a bottleneck. They were only half a step away from achieving sainthood, yet they were unable to bridge the gap no matter what they do.”

Zu An mulled over those words. “Earlier, you mentioned that Lady Nuwa achieved sainthood from the merit of creating humans? Why is creating humans a significant feat? Aren’t the rulers of the world the Shaman races and the Fiend races?”

“Many are perplexed by that too. Humans are a weak race who are only decent in terms of reproductive prowess and learning ability.” The Goddess of Wu Mountain frowned in confusion. “In terms of reproduction, they can’t compete with beasts. In terms of learning, no matter how they learn, there’s no way they can compete with the Shaman races and Fiend races’ powerful bloodlines.”

At this point, she turned to Zu An with an apologetic look. “I don’t mean to insult you. In fact, your appearance made me realize that human potential could be unlimited. You were able to grasp the Fiend races’ cultivation skills and learn the Shaman races’ bloodline ability.”

Zu An knew she was referring to the shaman blood essence he had received from Houtu. “Goddess, please be assured that I’m not bothered by those words. I think I have a rough idea how Lady Nuwa reached sainthood. Humans must have prospered in the future, and this huge merit went back to her.”

“What makes you so certain that humans will prosper in the future?” The Goddess of Wu Mountain looked at Zu An with her beautiful eyes.

“I saw it in a dream.” Zu An couldn’t tell her that he had transmigrated here from the future. This world had deities and the Celestial Court; he was worried that the revelation that he was from the future could lead to unexpected dangers.

The Mermaid Queen looked at the Goddess of Wu Mountain with a conflicted expression.

I got ahead of myself. I felt jealous seeing her chatting along so well with big brother Zu, so I forgot that we aren’t from the same era. On that note, I’m also not from the same era as big brother Zu.

She felt disappointed, and she looked at the Goddess of Wu Mountain with empathetic eyes.

The Goddess of Wu Mountain chuckled. “Don’t put yourself down. Cultivators beyond a certain level may see revelations in their dreams. Your dream may come true in the future, and you could become an important figure for the humans.” The moonlight shone on her face, causing her fair skin to glow with mesmerizing radiance.

Zu An was taken aback.

I didn’t know I could use such an explanation too.

The Mermaid Queen’s interest was piqued. “Goddess, what are the different cultivation levels in this world? What’s the Celestial Emperor’s cultivation level?”

The Goddess of Wu Mountain had refused to answer this question before, but there was no reason for her to withhold the information now. “Mortals, be it through cultivation or fortuitous encounters, can ascend to immortality and reach the level of Sky Immortal. Above Sky Immortals are True Immortals, followed by High Immortals. High Immortal is the limit for most people.

“Above High Immortals are the Golden Immortals. If there’s an insurmountable gap between mortals and Sky Immortals, the same gap lies between Golden Immortals and other immortals. Most Celestial Emperors are at that level.”

Zu An wondered what cultivation level he was at.

I only ascended not long ago, but I have a feeling that I’m stronger than most Sky Immortals. I’m nowhere on par with the Celestial Emperors, so I guess I should be at the level of a True Immortal or a High Immortal.

The Goddess of Wu Mountain continued her explanation, “Above the Golden Immortals are the Overarching Golden Immortals. Such entities are a mere half step away from sainthood. Most retired Celestial Emperors are able to reach the level of Overarching Golden Immortals, but whether they reach sainthood or not depends on their fate. That is the level closest to sainthood that I’m aware of...”

That’s pretty similar to the novel settings I saw in my previous life. How cliche, though I guess that makes it easy to remember.

Zu An wondered if this similarity was just a coincidence, or if there was something more to it.

The Goddess of Wu Mountain pointed toward the distance and said, “That’s Genesis Mountain. The shamans residing there are known for their ability to forge artifacts, and many renowned weapons are created there. It’s rumored that the sound of their hammering can be heard even from fifty kilometers away...”

The Mermaid Queen was perplexed. “Why is it so quiet?”

The Goddess of Wu Mountain frowned. She could tell that something was amiss too.

Zu An’s expression darkened. “I sense the aura of death.”