Chapter 73

Time flew by, and before they knew it, thirty years had passed. Since the time of Fuxi and Nüwa, the Huaxu tribe had several leaders who worked hard to govern. However, none of them possessed the divine qualities of Fuxi, and thus achieved little in terms of significant accomplishments. They merely maintained the status quo, barely keeping the Huaxu tribe as the leading tribe of the human race.

The Jiangshui tribe, where the Yelong clan had been for over thirty years, had also grown into a substantial tribe with the help of two successive leaders. One day, the tribal chief came to Yelong and said, "Elder, my young daughter has just brought back a strange man, saying she wants to marry him. Could you please divine whether it is appropriate for her to marry him?" The chief hesitated for a moment and added, "My daughter must be infatuated. Could that man be a monster in disguise, trying to deceive our tribe?"

The chief, being the leader of the tribe, naturally had many concerns. Yelong smiled.

The chief had grown up under Yelong's watchful eye. Yelong and the previous chief had established the Jiangshui tribe together, allowing it to flourish and await the birth of the future human emperor. Time flew by, and decades had passed. The old chief, who had once fought alongside Yelong, was no longer around, and the new chief had grown up, married a daughter from a nearby small tribe, and merged the two tribes. He had three sons and two daughters, which was quite impressive in an era with a low survival rate for children.

Yelong picked up the turtle shell and yarrow stalks to perform the divination.

Since the time of Fuxi and Nüwa, the human race had established formal marriage customs. According to tribal traditions, divination was necessary to determine the auspiciousness of a marriage.

Turtle shell divination had existed before Fuxi, originating from the witchcraft tradition. Some human tribes, closely associated with the witchcraft tradition, had inherited many of its cultural practices, including divination. As a result, the witchcraft priests and shamans held a high status among the human race, performing divinations. This was a strategic move by the witchcraft tradition, ensuring that even if they failed in their war against the heavens, they could still rise again through the tribes that had integrated with the human race. Otherwise, there would not have been a later Warlord.

Yelong's divination method came from Fuxi's先天八卦 (先天八卦, Xiantian Bagua), and had nothing to do with the witchcraft tradition.

After completing the divination, Yelong examined the hexagram, which was the hexagram of Xun, symbolizing harmony and smoothness. There seemed to be no major issues. He relayed this to the chief.

The chief was still reluctant to let his daughter marry a man of unknown origin and asked Yelong, "Elder, can you change the divination result?"

Yelong was displeased and replied, "If you truly don't want your daughter to marry him, why did you ask me to perform the divination? Just claim it's the will of heaven and drive him away! Besides, if they are in love, why create such trouble?"

Yelong had a high reputation in the tribe, and the chief, seeing Yelong's anger, reluctantly agreed. As the chief turned to leave, Yelong suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, what is the man's name?"

The chief thought for a moment and said, "I think his name is Dian."

"Dian?" Yelong's heart stirred, and he performed another divination using the Xiantian Bagua, feeling elated.

Dian? Born in the Huaxu tribe, could he be that person? If so, incorporating him into the tribe would certainly bring good fortune to the Huaxu tribe, ensuring its prosperity in the future.

After some thought, Yelong told the chief, "The man has an excellent destiny and will greatly benefit our tribe. You must not obstruct the marriage. Prepare for the wedding, and in five days, it will be a very auspicious time. I will personally attend to congratulate them!"

Seeing Yelong's determination, the chief obediently returned to prepare for the wedding.

Five days later, Yelong personally met the young man named Dian. Indeed, he possessed the fortune of the Huaxu tribe, and Yelong planned to absorb this fortune. On the surface, Yelong blessed the newlyweds, wishing them many children and a prosperous life. In truth, he hoped that their children would inherit the fortune of the Huaxu tribe.

Five more years passed, but these were not peaceful years. The weather became erratic, with frequent storms, thunder, and lightning. Snow and hail caused disasters. The chief died in an accident during this time.

However, the new chief was his son-in-law, Dian. Born in the Huaxu tribe, Dian had the knowledge and skills to lead the tribe through the crisis, earning the respect of the people. Yelong's support was also crucial.

The weather anomalies were not ordinary natural disasters but the result of a great deity's death, causing chaos in the laws of the universe. Each deity's death triggered changes in the cosmic laws. The death of a minor deity caused minor disturbances, but the recent storms and lightning affected the entire world, suggesting the death of at least a Great Deity.

Considering the war between the witches and the birds, Yelong could only think of the weather-controlling witch ancestors. The heavy rain, snow, and hail suggested the death of the witch ancestor Xuanming. The wind, thunder, and lightning likely corresponded to the deaths of Tianwu, Qiangliang, and Yuezi. The death of four witch ancestors was a significant event. At night, stars in the sky disappeared, and meteors fell, indicating the deaths of many deities in the heavens.

Even the sun showed signs of dimming, and a small sun fell into the Gan Yuan, disappearing. Clearly, a sun deity had died.

Yelong contacted his true self, Fengye, and learned that the deceased was Xihe, the wife of Emperor Di Jun and the sun goddess. If Xihe had died, Di Jun's death was not far off. Yelong pondered this as he looked at the sun.

Despite the severe disasters, the human race suffered little damage, as they were mostly in the Yellow River and Yangtze River basins, protected by deities. The Yellow River, in particular, was protected by Yuan Kui, who shielded the humans from major disasters. However, Yuan Kui's efforts were limited, and the Jiangshui tribe still suffered from a snow disaster.

In the Yellow River Dragon Palace, Fengye and Yuan Kui were playing a game of River and Luo chess.

Yuan Kui bowed to Fengye and said, "Thank you for your help, Dao Brother. Without you, I couldn't have resolved the weather anomalies in the Yellow River basin so quickly!"

"Since the humans are here, we must take care of them. Otherwise, Fuxi wouldn't let me stay peacefully in the Huoyun Cave!"

"However," Fengye looked up as another meteor streaked across the sky, indicating another deity's death. He sneered, "From this situation, it seems whoever becomes the next Heavenly Emperor will be doomed! The chaos in the cosmic laws will take at least a thousand years to stabilize. After the war between the witches and the birds, how many deities are left in the heavens? They will have to work tirelessly with few helpers, a truly tragic fate!"

"Let it be! It's the next Heavenly Emperor's misfortune, not ours," Yuan Kui thought for a moment and placed a black piece on the board.

Seeing Yuan Kui's move, Fengye felt a sense of satisfaction. Against Fuxi, Fengye often lost, but against Yuan Kui, he had a better chance to boost his ego.

Fengye, representing the Luo Book, and Yuan Kui, representing the River Map, were in a strategic battle. Fengye was close to transforming the Taiji array into a Wuxing array, which would secure his victory.

Fengye placed a piece and asked, "Dao Brother, how has your recent journey been? Have you collected what you needed?"

Yuan Kui frowned, "The Sea-Stabilizing Pearls are becoming harder to find. Even with Fuxi's help, I only found three. I now have nine, but it's still not enough!"

"What about the item I asked you to find?" Fengye placed a piece in response to Yuan Kui's move.

"I haven't found it either."

Fengye furrowed his brow, "The Sea-Stabilizing Pearls can wait; you have enough to refine for now. But the Nine-Eared Rice is crucial for Shennong's enlightenment. We must find it soon. If Shennong fails to achieve enlightenment, it will be a great tragedy for us, as it relates to our vows about the five grains and six domestic animals."

"Understood," Yuan Kui responded, placing another black piece and breaking one of Fengye's array formations. He then looked at Fengye, "By the way, Dao Brother, didn't you have a recent mishap? How are you feeling now? You seemed fine helping me with the weather anomalies."

Fengye sighed, "I've always had a smooth path in cultivation, with no external or internal calamities. I was careless and tried to achieve enlightenment too quickly, which led to this. However, it's not a major issue. After years of rest, I've recovered." He paused and placed another white piece, changing the array, "I lacked a deep understanding of the Dao of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. The imbalance between the Dao of Heaven and Earth and the Dao of Humanity led to my mishap."

Yuan Kui thought for a moment and placed a black piece in a corner, "I remember you have a Three Talents Array Diagram. By refining and comprehending the Three Talents Dao, you can achieve perfection when the diagram is complete. Wouldn't that be better?"

"Is it that easy? The Three Talents Dao encompasses all the laws of the universe. It's not something that can be easily comprehended. We should wait for the human emperor to ascend and use the power of the heavens to aid us."

Yuan Kui shook his head, "Relying on external forces is not easy. How about this: In ancient times, there were the Three Sovereigns of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. Why not create a world within the array diagram, evolving the Dao of the Three Sovereigns within it? Treat the diagram as a world, re-create heaven and earth, and establish the Dao of Humanity. This would be a better way to comprehend the fundamental truths of the universe than waiting for the human emperor to achieve enlightenment."

Fengye pondered this. It made sense. He could refine the array diagram while practicing the Three Talents Dao.

Yuan Kui, seeing Fengye deep in thought, secretly removed a few white pieces from the corner. "After all, didn't you learn the method of creating a world from Fuxi?"

"Indeed, it makes sense," Fengye nodded, then looked at the board and noticed, "But why are there fewer of my white pieces?"

"Ah? You must be mistaken!" Yuan Kui, being a dragon, had a thick skin and remained unperturbed.

"Don't play dumb! What happened to the three hidden pieces I placed in the corner?"

"Cough, perhaps the cosmic anomalies swallowed them!" Yuan Kui tried to explain.

"Ridiculous! What kind of anomaly could swallow three pieces? Do you think it's one of the time-space witch ancestors like Di Jiang or Zhu Yinyang?"

As Fengye and Yuan Kui bickered, they suddenly noticed a huge vortex appearing in the sky, swallowing everything in its path.

Fengye glared at Yuan Kui, "You really are a jinx!"

Yuan Kui was also stunned, "Those two really died? And together, causing this time-space vortex?"

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