Chapter 131 - Worship of Ten Thousand Yao
At the flying palace, the Baize and Xing Xing were attaching the last patterned mark to a ceremonial robe. Upon success, the ceremonial robe emanated a faint golden glow unparalleled in its purity and holiness.
“Are the flower patterns on top too bland?” Kang Gu circled the two sets of celebratory clothes. He looked them up and down, but still found certain things displeasing. “These are the clothes Little Li and Little Zhuang will don on their big day, it’s still not resplendent enough. As the host of the wedding, I think their clothes should enable all the guests to focus their attention on them.”
“You might as well let them carry light bulbs. After the electricity is connected, they’ll be brighter than anyone else,” Feng Ruizhong rolled his eyes at the sky. “Don’t you think you have a tacky sense of aesthetics?”
“So what if it’s tacky? Don’t the humans also like wearing gold on their hands and necks when organizing weddings? Is there anyone who calls them tacky? The way I see it, each and every one of those humans are very envious,” There was a hint of regret and listlessness in Kang Gu’s tone of voice. “Although we’re no longer as well-off as we were in the past, the Dao Bonding Ceremony is the most important moment in a yao’s life. We can’t wrong the two children.”
“Old pig, I understand your way of thinking, but the current era is different. The young yao have a different sense of aesthetics from us. Whether you say something is good-looking or bad-looking doesn’t matter, we have to seek Little Li and Little Zhuang’s opinions,” The Baize’s hands were cupped around a teacup, the item most welcomed by middle-aged humans. There was an infusion of fresh flowers and fruits inside, because it was said to promote good health.
The Baize had recently developed a great interest in human recuperative programs. Day after day, he arranged for the meal room attendants to make nourishing dishes. Unfortunately, no one except for him had any interest in the food, and thus his ‘plan for good health’ was also shelved.
Zhu Yue was holding a whetstone and sharpening her sword at the side. Occasionally, she would even spit two mouthfuls of fire towards the sword, inciting repeated cries of alarm from Feng Ruizhong, who was worried that the fire she spat out would burn the celebratory clothes.
“If the celebratory clothes you made can even be burnt by fire, then what use are they?” Zhu Yue slid her sword back into its sheath, exuding the aura of a female emperor. “You guys...”
She paused, and the expressions of the other auspicious beasts in the room all turned grave. Beyond the mountain, the sky dyed red from the setting sun had been engulfed by gloomy black clouds. The sky dimmed bit by bit.
“A summoning formation...” Zhu Yue tossed the sword in her hands aside. The windows swung open with a wave of her hand, the fierce wind at the mountain top sending her hair fluttering in the breeze. What was scary wasn’t the wind, but the chaotic spiritual qi in it.
Heaven and Earth had Five Elements. Both the human and yao cultivators drew on Heaven and Earth’s Five Elements in order to use magic. But at this moment, the Five Elements were in a state of chaos, just like... someone had drawn on Heaven and Earth’s Five Elements to summon something.
Someone capable of drawing on the Five Elements and setting up a summoning formation ought to be an... auspicious beast.
“Baize?” Zhu Yue attempted to do a divination, but with the Five Elements in disorder, she couldn’t make out anything. Left with no choice, she turned to look at the Baize. The Baize’s complexion was even uglier than Zhu Yue. He slowly shook his head. “I can’t divine it.”
Zhu Yue took a deep breath. “Little Li still hasn’t come back?”
“I’ll go find him.” The Baize put down his teacup, telling the rest with a solemn expression, “Wait here, if something happens...”
“If something happens, we won’t leave without a single word again,” Zhu Yue picked up the sword she had tossed to the floor and flashed a bright smile. “That year, the azure dragon clan was doing evil and the eye of heavenly law was on us, but even then, we were not afraid, much less now.”
The fact that they were born as auspicious beasts and received the endless worship of all creatures was also because their hearts brimmed with pity and love for this land.
When Heaven and Earth was in danger, life and death was not something they would give any thought to.
Evening was when the exchange of day and night took place, when darkness swallowed the light. It was also the time when evil descended on the earth, which was why people called it the time of evil encounters. Though the yao cultivators weren’t fond of this saying, they had no choice but to admit that Heaven and Earth’s Five Elements were most chaotic during the exchange of light and darkness.
There was darkness in light and light in darkness, but it was ultimately darkness that prevailed over light when night descended.
Great waves surged on the surface of the waters. Fei, who was currently bearing the brunt of a one-sided beating, looked up at the pitch-black sky. He couldn’t be bothered with shouting how much he hurt any longer, yelling towards Hundun, “King, look at the sky.”
Hundun replied in a huff, “Can’t you see this dragon making things difficult for me? What if he mounts a sneak attack on me while I’m looking at the sky?”
He thought about how grand a life he had lived in those years and the countless subjects he had had. Who would have expected him to only be left with one subject now, and one that was lacking a good brain at that.
“King, not that, there’s something off about Heaven and Earth’s Five Elements,” Fei shouted himself hoarse. “Someone’s summoning something.”
Upon hearing these words, Hundun also couldn’t be bothered with Zhuang Qing. He tossed a defense barrier on himself before looking up at the sky. Black clouds were roiling in the sky, and the setting sun had long been engulfed by darkness. The sky was drained of all color.
Night was imminent.
At an office, a white-collared worker preparing to get off work got up and looked out the windows, wondering doubtfully why the sky had turned dark so early when it was already spring. The light above her head flickered, the electricity seemingly a little unstable.
The colleague seated beside her said in a slightly startled tone of voice, “Why has the sky turned completely dark when it’s not even half past five? It’s not even winter, the color of the sky today is a bit strange.”
They just finished their statement when crackling sounds came from the office’s electric circuits. A few minutes later, the office sank into darkness.
The entire office suddenly quietened. Someone turned and looked out the window. The only thing visible was the black clouds in the western sky that resembled a monster with a gigantic gaping mouth, as if wanting to swallow the entire sky.
An employee snapped a photo of it with their phone and posted it on weibo.
Just Thinking of Getting Rich Overnight: There was a sudden blackout in the office. I casually snapped a shot of the sky with my phone, doesn’t it seem like some blockbuster xuanhuan movie’s villain boss is about to take the stage?
“This was done by you guys?” Zhuang Qing swiftly flew out of the water, turning into his human form upon landing on the ground. He pointed his sword at Hundun. “What were you planning to do by illegally entering the human world?”
“This has nothing to do with me. This king never does things like pitting others and pitting myself,” A tinge of anxiety was visible on Hundun’s face. Seeing that Zhuang Qing was still pointing his sword at him, he said anxiously, “You really aren’t sensible. Instead of bothering about this trivial matter, you’d better run for your life right now.”
Zhuang Qing furrowed his brows. He looked up at the sky that was almost half taken over by darkness. “What formation is this?”
Heavenly law favored the humans; practically no yao cultivator could set up a formation and incite such a large movement. Yet, this formation actually seemed like it would succeed. What kind of demon would it bring about when the sky completely darkened?
“If I didn’t guess wrongly, this yao race has already died out for tens of thousands of years...”
“The Worship of Ten Thousand Yao,” A silver light flashed by, and the Baize, spotlessly white from head to toe with two horns atop his head and his whole body brimming with holiness, appeared before Zhuang Qing on magic clouds. His fur swayed in the wind, his voice extremely grave.
“Activating this formation requires the skeletal remains of over ten thousand yao cultivators that are buried in mountains and rivers. During the exchange of day and night, and using dragon qi as the lure, these sacrifices are then made to the Heavens.”
“What is he praying to the Heavens for?” Zhuang Qing gave a junior’s bow to the Baize.
“Praying for the birth of the emperor of the yao race,” The Baize studied the sky. A good half of it had already turned black. “When the yao emperor appears, the world will descend into chaos.”
Every time Zhuang Qing heard the phrase ‘yao emperor’, a feeling of absurdity would take shape in his heart. He had heard this term more than once from fiends, but it was his first time hearing it from an auspicious beast.
“Who is the yao emperor?” Zhuang Qing asked. “Do they possess the method to break the formation?”
“No,” The Baize shook his head. “Once the Worship of Ten Thousand Yao starts, it is irreversible.” The fact that heavenly law allowed the birth of the yao emperor symbolized that the humans had already committed acts that touched heavenly law’s baseline. Therefore, heavenly law wanted the yao race to ‘discipline’ the humans.
“Baize...” Hundun’s eyeballs nearly dropped out of his sockets after seeing the Baize. He didn’t fear the Heavens nor the Earth, but he most feared the Baize.
Since birth, the Baize was equivalent to a restraint that prevented him from doing as he pleased in all aspects. He had thought that the Baize’s body and Dao had perished, and only then had he dared to wreak havoc in the human world. It was beyond his expectations for the Baize to be so long lived and to appear without the slightest foreshadowing.
“Hundun?” The Baize glanced at the fatty shrunk at the corner. “You’re still alive?”
Hundun wasn’t very pleased in his heart and muttered, “Even you are still alive, how can I be dead?”
The Baize wasn’t in the mood to poke fun at Hundun. Seeing that Zhuang Qing had once more transformed into his original form, he asked, “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to look for the heart of the formation,” Zhuang Qing hooked his tail around Fu Li and tossed him onto his head. “Even if I can’t stop it, I still want to try.”
The Baize sighed. “All right, I’ll go with you.” He pointed in a direction with his front hoof. “The heart of the formation should be in that direction.”
Fei, who was finally not being pressured by Fu Li, climbed up from the ground and scampered to Hundun. “King, are we still going to release the plague?”
His gaze on the dust-cloaked Fei, Hundun took several steps back in dislike. “The yao emperor is already going to appear, what plague do you still want to release? We’re going over to look as well.”
“To stop that dragon from meddling?”
“Why stop him?” Hundun laughed grimly. “Not only will we not be stopping him, we even need to lend him a hand.”
“Why?” Fei was confused. “Isn’t it good for there to be a yao emperor?”
“Good my ass!” Hundun snorted. “Laozi is a yao king who’s lived for hundreds of thousands of years, on what basis do I have to listen to the orders of a yao emperor who popped out of nowhere?” If the yao emperor was born, his commands would naturally have a bewitching effect on yao cultivators so they would subconsciously listen to his words. For good or bad, Hundun regarded himself as a brilliant and famous fiend, how could he be subjected to such immense humiliation?
He didn’t know which idiot had insisted on summoning the yao emperor. If he found out, he would definitely kill that person.
Zhuang Qing flew swiftly. He traversed the black clouds heavily charged with thunder and lightning, and finally found the heart of the formation with the help of the Baize. The area it was located at was not unfamiliar to him; it was Hunxi Mountain.
The Feiyi he had sealed at Hua Mountain last year had originally been living on Hunxi Mountain, just that it had been flung out by some unknown yao cultivator. At that time, he had merely assumed that it was an act of evil deliberately done by some yao cultivator. Who would have expected for the heart of the Worship of Ten Thousand Yao formation to be here.
Gust after gust of evil wind swept by the center of the peak of Hunxi Mountain. Spiritual qi from all directions gushed towards it without any sign of stopping. At this location, it then converged to form evil yao qi that threw Heaven and Earth’s Five elements into chaos.
Zhuang Qing dared to bring the Baize and Fu Li near only because he had the protection of the golden glow of virtue. As for Hundun and Fei, they had long ago stopped, not daring to take even a single step closer.
“Fu Li, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?” Zhuang Qing didn’t dare to rashly get close. Looking at the enormous vortex of evil yao qi that had taken shape in the air, he retreated. Using the work system, he sent out an emergency message for assistance to all the cultivators and departments in the human world.
“Fu Li?” There was a faint fear in Zhuang Qing’s heart. Fu Li didn’t seem to have spoken since the sky started blackening.
In spite of the biting cold of the evil wind, he turned into his human form and pulled Fu Li into his embrace.
“Fu Li?!”
Fu Li’s snow-white fur was gradually turning the color of blood.