Chapter 362: Chapter 59: Are Humans Still Okay?
The nest of his youth, once filled with the sweet taste of fruit and happy memories, had been reduced to this graveyard simply because a single drought beast had passed by.
In silence, Cen Yun devoured it. He didn’t know why tears streamed down his face as he silently wept and swallowed the last Spiritual Serpent. The Spiritual Serpent had devoured many of his friends and family, and now, he had devoured it. ’Perhaps this means we’re still together, here in my stomach,’ he thought. ’Maybe we can find the peace we once had... or maybe the slaughter will just continue.’
Who could say?
Drawing strength from the path of the Spiritual Serpent, Cen Yun grew and gained power. He became a leader, guiding the survivors of his village away from the mountains. He traveled the lands of the All Realms, testing his strength against other Exotic Beasts and interacting warily with other humans.
Cen Yun continued to grow. As his power swelled through battle and consumption, he encountered other Cultivators, gained more knowledge, and even met others who, like him, had acquired the power of a Spirit Beast.
Over the long centuries that followed, this silent man eventually embarked on his own unique path: transforming into a Great Serpent, then a Flood Dragon, and ultimately, a True Dragon.
He became a Divine Dragon, an Immortal God. He ascended to Kunlun to have an audience with the West Mother Great Venerable, as well as Sovereign Fuxi and Sovereign Nüwa.
"After becoming an Immortal, I was no longer just a Hunter. I began to kill people, too. I killed humans who saw things differently than I did, humans who fought against me, humans who coveted what I had, and humans whose possessions I coveted."
"The conflicts between people are nowhere near as simple or pure as the struggle between man and snake was back then. If not for the great drought that year, none of this hatred or conflict would have ever happened. I would have become a Junior Level Cultivator, imitating the Spiritual Serpent Breath. Maybe I would have gone to explore the outside world like the old village chief, but it’s more likely I would have simply lived out my days and died in my mountain village. I certainly never would have become the Dragon King."
The voice of the Celestial Pool Dragon King echoed within the Illusion Realm, which continued to unfold. In the vision, the first thing Cen Yun did after becoming a True Dragon and achieving immortality was to hunt down the Exotic Beasts that had brought the great drought upon the world. The expression on his face was pure hatred, and the slaughter continued until he could no longer find a single one of those beasts in his homeland.
In the present, the Dragon King watched his own memories, his words full of desolation. "I was once a son to my parents, a husband to my wife, a father to my children, and the leader of a clan, before finally becoming the Overlord of a region. In the great strife that followed, I was the last one standing, and so I became the Dragon King of an entire realm."
"But I still remember what I wanted at the very beginning... I just wanted to rid the world of droughts, so that everyone would have good food to eat when hungry and a sweet drink to quench their thirst."
"I am not afraid of death. When I learned that Spiritual Qi was about to be depleted, and that my body of a Demon God prevented me from leaving the Ancient Immortal Realm with the West Mother Great Venerable, a part of me felt it was the Celestial Principle at work. I had devoured so many creatures and killed so many people in this realm; how could I be allowed to take all that power with me? My death would be nothing more than repaying my karmic debt to the world. My only regret was being unable to pass down my legacy. That was the one thing I couldn’t accept, and so I refused to let my soul scatter, clinging to this single obsession to remain here to this day."
By this point, the glowing runes floating on the Jade Scroll had begun to fade. The Celestial Pool Dragon King handed the scroll back to Su Zhou. His illusory form had grown faint, and as his fingers touched Su Zhou’s palm, cracks began to spread across them.
"Cultivator of a future generation."
His form growing ever more fragile, Dragon King Cen Yun asked in a soft voice, "In the thousands of years since I chose to die, does the world still suffer from Celestial Calamities? Are there still Divine Beasts?"
"How is the Human Race faring? Without a Dragon King to call the wind and rain, without the aid of Immortals’ Divine Techniques... can they still reap bountiful harvests? Can they still eat their fill?"
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