Chapter 53

After dinner, Xun Yi returned to his room and quietly sat by the table. On the table lay his greatest gain over the past ten days: a reading card for the Great Zhou Library and a stack of beast taming cards.

"Is this the end of a chapter?" He felt a sense of indescribable melancholy. The twelve days of his city god duties had just made him adapt to the life of a city god, but now, being reduced to a mortal again, he found it somewhat hard to adjust.

However, Xun Yi understood that what others lent him was ultimately not his own. He had no right or qualification to contest with the new city god.

"I hope this new city god can protect our land well." He reached out to touch the cards, and the spirits that were once visible to the naked eye now remained quietly sealed within.

Without the city god's divine seal, he had also lost the ability to see through the veil between the living and the dead, truly returning to his former mortal life.

So, he focused on the reading card. This card itself was the key to the library. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself at the entrance of the palace. Lord Lu leaned back in a soft chair, yawning and holding a book in his hand.

"Are you done with the matters in Miaoxian County?"

Xun Yi, who had no secrets from this well-informed elder, replied, "Yes, the city god's affairs are completely settled. I want to use the remaining days to review thoroughly in the library."

The time ratio between the library and the outside world was ten to one. In other words, ten days of study here would only be one day outside. If he spent the remaining days here, he could make up for the time wasted.

Lord Lu clearly understood Xun Yi's plan but deliberately teased, "Do you want me to give you the test papers for the upcoming imperial examination?"

"I'll pass. I don't plan to take shortcuts." Xun Yi, unwilling to cheat, showed his reading card and entered the library.

This time was different from the last. Last time, the situation was urgent, but now he had the leisure to browse through the various books.

The vast library was divided into many sections, roughly into divine and mortal categories. Most of the books in the divine section required high-level permissions. Xun Yi even saw the "Maolin Sword Technique" and the "Twelve Flower Laws" in the collection.

"Don't get your hopes up." The green dragon tattoo on his arm transformed into a small dragon that coiled around his neck in the library. "This library is just a branch of the Hongsheng Book, a star within it. Most of the books here are projections. To truly read them, you need to go to a higher-level library."

The slender dragon tail pointed at the "Maolin Sword Technique," and the book turned into a bubble and disappeared. "Moreover, personal techniques are confidential. Unless you have high permissions, you are not allowed to read them, and you cannot spread them casually."

Xun Yi wandered around the divine section for a while, looking at various sections like the Divine Artifacts Department, the Divine Techniques Department, the Divine Beasts Department, and the Divine History Department, all of which required extremely high permissions. He couldn't read them. Even the "Comprehensive Guide to Plague Beasts" that he had seen before was off-limits.

In the end, he hastily chose a history book with a permission level of one, "The Ultimate Ideal Land."

After reading the preface, he learned that this was a summary of the evolution of two universes by a deity from the era of the Flame Emperor.

Preface: "The world is vast, the primordial chaos rises and falls, the times change, and the divine world transforms."

"The primordial chaos divides, the heavens and earth open, this is the origin of the gods, hence it is called the Age of Divine Birth."

"In ancient times, the Heavenly Court was established, and the primordial deities remained immortal, hence it is called the Age of Divine Proclamation."

"In the early ancient times, the Five Emperors ruled, and all beings thrived, with shamans connecting the divine and the mortal, hence it is called the Age of Divine Shamans."

The green dragon, seeing him holding the book, said, "There's no need to read this. It merely explains the evolution of the divine ages. Not only in our Heavenly Court, but also in the opposite continent, the evolution is similar."

"In the initial Age of Divine Birth, apart from the primordial deities, little is known about the others. The records in the library about this period are scarce. The alternation of the three ancient emperors was essentially the prelude to the struggle between heaven and earth. In the early stages of the Heavenly Court, various divine roles were not yet perfected. Moreover, there were no mortal beings in this era; only the primordial beings existed. They were either deities, divine beasts, or divine plants. Mortals found it hard to survive in this era, hence it was called the Age of Divine Proclamation."

"The birth of mortals originated with the fourth emperor, Houwa. This female emperor created seventy-two post-primordial races, making the earth noisy. As the deities ruled the world, they gradually focused on these young beings. Because they could hardly bear the divine power, the deities chose some specially gifted beings to proclaim their divine will. These were the shamans, the bridges between the divine and the mortal, heaven and earth. Our Heavenly Court and the Nine Pillar Deity System on the opposite continent both originated from this. Using shamans to maintain the bridge, they were called priests, priests, or temple attendants, essentially the attendants of the deities. They practiced the divine techniques granted by the deities, with the goal of becoming divine attendants."

"Then, what do the terms 'Divine Unity' and 'Divine Separation' refer to?" Xun Yi flipped to the next page, where the book explained the other two terms used to describe the divine world.

"Divine Separation refers to the separation of humans and deities, from cohabitation to isolation. This was also the era when various spiritual techniques and spells flourished. As for Divine Unity, it is the ultimate ideal of the divine world. It was a grand achievement that the Flame Emperor partially accomplished."

"Heaven is the highest, the supreme. The Flame Emperor, following the orders of the three ancient emperors and the five early ancient emperors, aimed to create the Age of Divine Unity. Unfortunately, the invasion of foreign deities led to the failure of this endeavor. Then, the Yellow Emperor rose, bearing the heavenly mandate and wielding the imperial sword to defeat the foreign deities, ushering in the Age of Divine Separation."

"The Age of Divine Unity is the ultimate goal of any world where deities are supreme. Everyone is a deity, and all beings return to their primordial state from their post-primordial state."

This advancement of the Age of Divine Unity is the evolution of the universe to a higher level. With the efforts of the first eight emperors, the Flame Emperor had already completed half of it. Using the divine path of merit, he led all mortals to the path of promoting good and punishing evil. In that era, every mortal had divine powers.

In the deity's description, the era of the Flame Emperor was the closest to the great ideal of the deities. The Hongsheng Book was a bridge to gather the wisdom of all beings and lead everyone to the ideal land.

Unfortunately, the invasion of foreign deities caused the Age of Divine Unity to face setbacks in its early stages.

"This involves the several wars with foreign deities." The green dragon thought for a moment, flew away from Xun Yi, and brought back a few books. They were all history books with low permissions: "There should be some records from that time. You can take a look."

Xun Yi held the books and flipped through them on a nearby chair. These books explained the customs and traditions of the opposite continent, describing how the world transitioned from the Age of Divine Shamans to the Age of Divine Separation.

"Strange, the opposite world didn't have a transitional period of Divine Unity?" The Heavenly Court had a transitional period of Divine Unity between the Age of Divine Shamans and the Age of Divine Separation. But the opposite world didn't have such a transitional period.

"Divine Unity is not a transitional period. Although the Flame Emperor failed, the governance of Divine Unity remains one of the highest ideals of the deities. A world where everyone is a deity, although there are inevitable hierarchies, would return to the glory of the Age of Divine Proclamation. Moreover, due to the number of people, the universe would advance to a new level."

"As for the opposite world, their foundation is too shallow." The green dragon looked disdainful: "We, after nine generations of emperors, should have transitioned directly from the Age of Divine Shamans to the Age of Divine Unity, using shamans to guide mortals to transform into deities. But the opposite world, due to intense struggles and frequent changes in divine kings, lacked the necessary foundation. Some even protested against the deities, breaking away from the priest system, leading to the emergence of independent magic and martial arts."

"Later, Emperor Xuanyuan, seeing our disadvantage in this area, simplified our divine system based on the opposite world's magic and martial arts, summarizing techniques, martial arts, Confucianism, and cultivation."

Xun Yi closed his eyes, and two seeds appeared in his mind. The seeds symbolized the worlds, evolving according to their distinct histories.

Initially, both worlds saw the birth of primordial deities, but the Heavenly Court entered an orderly era, uniting the deities. Although there were battles, the alternation of emperors was the main source of conflict. Each alternation of emperors resolved major calamities and eliminated conflicts among the deities.

Conflicts accumulated, karma condensed, and eventually transformed into karma fire, burning the great tree. In the hands of the new emperor, a new world was cultivated. This cycle of emperors was a way for the emperors to bear the karma of an era.

In the opposite world, there was no widely accepted supreme deity at the beginning. They struggled, using the fall of deities to eliminate karma, leading to the early end of the Age of Divine Proclamation and the entry into the Age of Divine Shamans.

It seemed that the opposite world progressed faster and looked more advanced. But in reality, it was a desperate move. By the end of the Age of Divine Proclamation, the opposite world had few remaining primordial deities. New life emerged from the bodies of fallen deities, and the deities used these new post-primordial races to establish faith systems, transforming from primitive nature deities to faith deities. They controlled the races through priests, leading to further conflicts.

In contrast, the Heavenly Court, with Houwa creating beings, had fewer races than the opposite world but a smoother transition.

"Do not think the Age of Divine Separation is a good thing." The green dragon said bluntly: "Due to insufficient preparation and the outbreak of conflicts between humans and deities, mortals developed systems outside of divine techniques. This led to the birth of so-called shamanism and martial arts. In the eyes of the deities, these were mere child's play."

These shamanic and martial arts techniques could not even help people achieve immortality. In the early stages of the opposite world, the deities controlled them. The deities retreated to the background, using the Age of Divine Separation to manipulate mortal conflicts for their own benefit.

However, the opposite world had its unique characteristics. In a complete universe, the birth of any new thing had its significance. Although these shamanic and martial arts techniques were inferior to divine techniques, they were more convenient in attacking the opposite world because the power came from within.

Initially, the Heavenly Court faced threats from these shamanic and martial arts techniques. In the Heavenly Court's domain, the divine techniques of the foreign deities were hard to use, so these simplified shamanic and martial arts techniques became the mainstream in the opposite world, causing the Heavenly Court to suffer several defeats.

However, due to the Heavenly Court's governance of Divine Unity, the Heavenly Court's universe was powerful, and they managed to invade the opposite world. But because the opposite world isolated the power of this world, the temple attendants and shamans of this world found it hard to invoke the power of their deities. They relied on the descendants of deities to lead the people in war.

On the other hand, the opposite world could produce a new generation of mages and warriors every twenty years as cannon fodder. But the Heavenly Court was reluctant to use their descendants of deities in such battles.

"Finally, Emperor Xuanyuan temporarily abandoned the highest ideal of Divine Unity and shifted the first goal of the Heavenly Court to the world's defense. He actively guided our world into the Age of Divine Separation, simplifying divine techniques. Unlike the opposite world's martial arts and spells, we derived some systems from the Hongsheng Book that could lead to divinity, known as the spiritual path." The green dragon lay on the table, drawing the character "shaman" with its tail.

"The transition from the Age of Divine Shamans to the Age of Divine Separation meant that all new powers evolved from the original shamanic system. Shamans symbolize protection, guarding the race and the nation in the primitive era, so the opposite world has a specific knightly path based on protection. We, on the other hand, evolved martial arts, using martial arts to connect with the divine. The Confucian path, derived from the rituals and teachings of shamans, is still preserved in Confucianism. The Way of the Immortals and the cultivation of qi also have similar origins. We call this new system the spiritual path, while the opposite world has various specialized professions."

Xun Yi silently followed the green dragon's explanation, imagining the two distinctly different worlds. Ultimately, both worlds now stood on the same level, with the same ultimate goal of the Age of Divine Unity.

"Coming full circle, we are back where we started." Xun Yi realized that this might be the difference between nomadic and agricultural civilizations among mortals.

"Boy! What are you doing! Aren't you here to review?" Lord Lu suddenly appeared behind him, picked up a ruler, and struck him hard. "Why are you reading this? You're wasting your time. Go find some poetry and prose to read, or study the essentials of governance. Do you need to know the history of the divine path for your imperial examination?"

"I'm studying the differences between nomadic and agricultural civilizations. After all, the north is not peaceful, right?" Xun Yi argued, putting away the books and heading to the mortal section.

All the various classics collected by the Great Zhou were here, and the scope of the imperial examination questions was within these bookshelves.

"Work hard in the coming days!" Xun Yi tied the green dragon to his head like a ribbon and wrote "effort" on its body. He dove into the sea of books, diligently studying various famous works and classics.

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