Chapter 6919 The Path of the Human Race’s Rise
Long Chen’s ears perked up.
“Please tell me, big brother. What happened back then?” Long Chen asked.
They both sat down on the ground. With a wave of his hand, the Tea Saint made a tea stove, teapot, tea table, tea tray, and teacups appear.
Colorful flames rose from the stove. Seeing this, Long Chen was startled. Wasn’t this the Heavenly Rainbow Flame?
Using a Heavenly Flame to brew tea? Was that not too extravagant?
Noticing Long Chen’s surprise, the Tea Saint explained, “In our time, becoming a god was extremely hard. But once you did, you could enjoy everything the Grand Dao had to offer. This Heavenly Rainbow Flame isn’t the one from the Heavenly Flame Rankings. It has no spirit. Before, I could use my godly power to brew tea with the laws of the Heavenly Daos. Now, though, the Heavenly Daos are in chaos. Good and bad, black and white, are all mixed together. Even I can’t use the laws of the Heavenly Daos to make tea anymore.”
The flame in the stove grew, and immortal qi drifted from the teapot. The scent in the air was so soothing that it could make someone forget all their worries.
Looking at the flame, the Tea Saint said, “The Star Master concentrated all the world’s karmic luck onto himself. In the nine heavens and ten lands, he was the only one who could unite the ten thousand races. But he still lost when disaster struck. He died, his loved one died, and most of his followers died too.
“He rose like the blazing sun and fell like the setting sun, plunging the nine heavens and ten lands into darkness. The ten thousand races suffered huge losses. Some went extinct, while others were so badly hurt they had to hide away.
“As for me, I survived only by clinging to the Dao Comprehension Divine Tea Tree and a bit of Heavenly Dao power.
“In that war, we lost, and miserably so. But over these years, I have been calculating various possibilities. I have concluded that even if we were to go back in time, we would still lose that war.”
Long Chen demanded, “You would still lose even if you went back in time? But how is that possible? Wouldn’t it be enough to just get rid of Lord Brahma and Fallen Daynight?”
The Tea Saint shook his head and replied, “Even if you kill them, a new Lord Brahma would arise. This is destiny—something that cannot be changed.”
“But why?”
The Tea Saint sighed powerlessly.
“This board was set up long ago, spanning many years. The truth is that when the first person to ring the bell appeared, it was already too late. The Star Master was the second to ring the bell for everyone, and by that point, it was too late to change anything.”
Looking at Long Chen, the Tea Saint asked, “Brother, am I hurting your confidence? Your morale?”
Long Chen shook his head.
“I have no other choice. I don’t need morale or confidence. No matter how hard it gets, I have to face it. Besides, I’m not the Star Master. Just because he failed doesn’t mean I will. We’re on different paths. I once had an older brother I respected who asked me how to win a game that was impossible to win.”
“Oh? And what did you say?” the Tea Saint asked, looking interested.
“I flipped the board!”
The Tea Saint stared at him for a moment and then burst into laughter. “Wonderful! Yes, if you play by the other side’s rules, you will only be restraining yourself. You have to break the rules if you want to level the playing field. Good, no wonder I saw hope in you, even though you’re not him. I see! I see!”
By now, the tea was ready. The Tea Saint poured a cup for Long Chen, who accepted it without hesitation. He held the cup, feeling its warmth spread through him.
“Big brother Nightless, you’ve thought about that war for so many years. What do you think was the main reason we lost?” Long Chen asked.
The Tea Saint set down the teapot, took a sip of tea, and said, “The human heart...”
Hearing this, Long Chen sank into thought.
He said, “Humans are the spirit of the ten thousand races, and we carry the karmic blessings of heaven and earth. The Star Master openly changed the law of the Heavenly Daos to establish the Human Emperor realm, aiming to unify the human heart with the Dao's heart. This would enable heaven, earth, and man to become one and evolve together. With this alignment, we would have an edge over outsider demons, which increased our chances of victory. No matter how you look at it, this action should have been the best choice.”
The Tea Saint nodded. “At the time, we thought so as well, but we neglected one point. In this world, the human heart is the most difficult to understand.”
“Although the human heart is fickle, at the time, the only thing we could do to survive was to join forces against the outsider devils. That should have been the only option,” argued Long Chen.
The Tea Saint shook his head.
He explained, “We missed one fatal issue. The laws of the Heavenly Daos had already started to change back then. Before the outsider devils invaded, an invisible hand had silently extracted a portion of the power of the nine heavens and ten lands and brought in a new force. Thanks to the two energies balancing, there didn’t seem to be any change. Everything that was there stayed, and nothing new suddenly appeared. But the balance of the laws had already shifted without anyone noticing.
“At that time, the first person to ring the bell was born, but the regretful thing was that the human race was still at the bottom of the food chain at that time. When that person rose, the ten thousand races joined forces to kill them. They refused to allow the human race to sit on the same level as them.
“After a bloody struggle, the first person to ring the bell died, and the ten thousand races all suffered heavy losses.
“Back then, no one realized how important that person was. Even that person didn’t know they were the first to ring the bell. But even though that person died, they hurt the ten thousand races so badly that it gave the human race a chance to rise.
“Because of this person, the flow of karmic luck changed. The human race was blessed by the Heavenly Daos. After that, more and more experts appeared among humans, and they slowly rose from the bottom. They went from being slaves in cages to being able to compete with the ten thousand races. They broke free from their chains.
“No one knows how many geniuses died in the fighting over the years. In the end, the human race broke free from its fate of being just slaves and food.
“The human bloodline started to awaken, but it was strange. It felt like some unknown force was breaking the seals.
“At the same time, special bloodlines showed up among humans. Legacies from beyond the heavens appeared too. The strangest thing was that Jiuli immortal characters also manifested then.
“At first, no one could understand these characters, but over time, people learned to read, understand, and even merge with them. That’s when a new age of prosperity began for the human race.
“It was as if something unseen was hurrying to support the human race. It felt like fate. During this time, the human race produced countless geniuses. It was our most glorious era.
“Then, the Star Master appeared. He used the Jiuli immortal characters as a foundation to understand the Dao of the stars. After creating the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, he rose to the peak of the martial path and unified the ten thousand races. He was completely unmatched.
“But then the outsider devils invaded, and the primal chaos war broke out. In the end, the nine heavens and ten lands nearly fell into endless darkness. If you look at all the history we know, there are just too many coincidences. Everything happened too quickly. And we only know part of the story. There’s another part that holds the key to this mystery.”
Long Chen was stunned. No one had ever told him the true history of the nine heavens and ten lands before.
The ancient texts at the High Firmament Academy never mentioned any of this. Clearly, it was a complete taboo. This forbidden knowledge couldn’t be written down.
The Tea Saint looked at Long Chen and said, “Brother, if I’m right, you’ll be the third to ring the bell. What do you plan to do?”