“Reverse God Clan!”
Zhang Ruochen’s heart stirred greatly. He had heard this name once more.
The previous time, it was Kong Zhi who recognised the Reverse God Stele and uttered the three words “Reverse God Clan”.
“What exactly is the Reverse God Clan?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Chi Yao replied, “It is normal that you have not heard of the Reverse God Clan. Because ten thousand years ago, this was an ancient clan utterly erased by the gods. Even in the world of the divine, it is a forbidden topic.”
“Ten thousand years have passed. Apart from the older generation of gods, the cultivators who know the Reverse God Clan once existed are few and far between. Even those who know dare not mention those three words.”
In the mortal world, mere decades suffice to erase all traces of a person’s existence.
Even if that person was once renowned far and wide.
Cultivators have long lifespans, yet ten thousand years remains too vast. Even Great Saints have died several generations over. As for the gods of ten thousand years ago, the vast majority have perished from exhausted lifespans.
After all, the absolute majority of gods possess only one kalpa’s lifespan.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Why erase all traces of the Reverse God Clan’s existence? Who sought to wipe it all away?”
“It was Haotian. It was the four supreme dominions. It was the Temple of Destiny. It was the ten hell clans. It was all the gods in this heaven and earth. Only the collective will of the gods could make the Reverse God Clan, which once shook heaven and earth ten thousand years ago, vanish utterly. Even all books concerning the Reverse God Clan were burned to ashes.” Chi Yao said.
Zhang Ruochen’s mood could no longer be described as mere shock. He felt as if he were suffocating.
Even the Kunlun realm back then had not suffered such treatment.
This was far crueler than mere extermination of a clan!
Zhang Ruochen said, “What heaven-defying outrage did the Reverse God Clan commit to warrant such handling?”
“The Reverse God Clan did nothing heaven-defying or outrageous. In a certain sense, ten thousand years ago, they instead saved the heavenly court and ten thousand realms.” Chi Yao said.
Zhang Ruochen grew even more perplexed.
Chi Yao continued, “Ten thousand years ago, the Reverse God Clan was actually known as the Holy Clan. They were the original inhabitants of the saint realm.”
The saint realm was the former name of the heavenly court.
It was only ten thousand years ago that it became the heavenly court.
“Ten thousand years ago, a great calamity befell heaven and earth. The major worlds of the cosmos nearly all perished. The myriad races teetered on the brink of extinction. Among them, the saint realm, known as the heart of the ten thousand realms, suffered a devastating blow. Countless gods fell. Innumerable saint realm cultivators died or were wounded. Divine mountains crumbled. Divine veins shattered. The Holy Clan suffered especially grievous losses.”
Zhang Ruochen had once heard Granny Haitang recount this. It was said that the Kunlun realm at the time turned into a fireball, burning for a full three months, nearly dooming the entire realm.
The other great worlds fared no better, undoubtedly scorched in the flames.
Granny Haitang had speculated then that it all stemmed from the war of the twenty-four heavens three hundred thousand years prior, a retaliation from the foe.
Zhang Ruochen said, “This bears some resemblance to the legendary great cosmic cataclysm.”
“I believe this was precisely a great cosmic cataclysm. An unknown and mysterious force sought to eradicate all life, ushering in the next cosmic epoch. Something unforeseen occurred, an accident we know nothing of, and the cataclysm halted after three months. Only then did the cultivators of the Kunlun realm and all cosmic realms gain a chance to cling to survival.” Chi Yao said.
Zhang Ruochen replied, “Thus, the Kunlun realm immediately activated the sundial thereafter, entering an era of frenzied cultivation where one day in heaven equalled one year on earth. But you just said the Holy Clan suffered heavy casualties yet was not exterminated.”
Chi Yao said, “After those three months of terror passed, the major worlds lay in ruins. Even the gods descended into panic and fear, believing the end had come.”
“At the same time, within the hell realm, the neutral and peace factions roiled with intrigue. Among the living blood clans and rakshasa clans, various internal powers schemed. Not only did the tragedy of the life divine venerable and auspiciousness divine venerable erupt, but many bloodbaths as well, all bursting forth then. In the end, the ten hell clans unified their will, formally entering full war mode and launching an assault on the cosmos of the saint realm.”
Zhang Ruochen had heard from Granny Haitang that in the war’s early stages, three hundred thousand years ago, the active combatants were the Dark Temple, nether clan, ghost clan, bone clan, stone clan, and asura clan. They grew stronger through slaughter; death and killing only empowered them.
Later, the death clans of the undead, the death clan and corpse clan, joined the fray successively.
Only the wholly living blood clans and rakshasa clans, along with the Yanluo clan under Yan Huanyu’s command, harboured various reservations, remaining neutral or advocating peace.
Chi Yao said, “For ages, the saint realm had led the major worlds. With the saint realm devastated, the worlds lay wounded, impossible to restore in short order. The ten hell clans’ assault at that juncture was thus overwhelming. Wherever they passed, great worlds turned to dead realms, life-bearing stars to asura fields.”
“This was a harvest, a reaping of the entire cosmos, claiming all life.”
“It was in this moment of utmost peril that the grand elder of the Holy Clan stepped forward. Leveraging the Holy Clan’s ancient influence, bearing a stone stele, he traversed the realms, rallying the gods of various worlds and certain hidden gods, founding the heavenly court and establishing the heavenly palace.”
“The gods initially proposed the grand elder as lord of the heavenly palace, but the grand elder deemed his cultivation and seniority insufficient to command the ten thousand realms, fearing he would not win universal assent.”
“At the grand elder’s invitation, Haotian, one of the twenty-four heavens from three hundred thousand years prior, became the first lord of the heavenly palace.”
“Three hundred thousand years ago, of the twenty-four heavens, only Haotian and the six ancestors returned alive. Though legend speaks of a third, that person’s identity remains a mystery to this day. After the six ancestors’ nirvana, Haotian alone remained among the heavens of the world. Whether in influence or cultivation, Haotian was indisputably the supreme under heaven. With the Holy Clan’s grand elder’s endorsement, none dared oppose his ascension as lord.”
“With the heavenly court’s founding, the realms’ powers integrated at last. No longer scattered sands, they withstood the hell realm’s onslaught and slaughter.”
Zhang Ruochen’s suffocation eased somewhat. He drew a breath and sighed, “Haotian was undoubtedly mighty, rising to the crisis, his authority spanning the four seas. Yet the Holy Clan’s grand elder commands even greater admiration. Able to stem the torrent, yet willing to yield the rapid current, recommending the worthy. Such resolve, such magnanimity, few could possess.”
“But why did the Holy Clan become known as the Reverse God Clan?”
Chi Yao said, “Because the heavenly venerable of three hundred thousand years ago, the final heavenly venerable, hailed from the Holy Clan and was called the Reverse God Heavenly Venerable. The twenty-four heavens all ventured forth under the Reverse God Heavenly Venerable’s lead to undertake that matter.”
“The grand elder’s ability to persuade the gods of the realms stemmed not only from the Holy Clan’s influence but also from the lingering might of the Reverse God Heavenly Venerable.”
“The stone stele the grand elder carried in his appeals to the gods was the one the six ancestors brought back, entrusted to them by the Reverse God Heavenly Venerable in his dying moments.”
Chi Yao could never have met the true six ancestors, let alone the Holy Clan’s grand elder. Her certainty in recounting this plainly came from the fallen god island master, the Sumeru holy monk, or the dragon lord.
How could the grand elder’s appeals across the realms have bypassed such luminaries of the Kunlun realm?
Chi Yao said, “This stone stele was named the Reverse God Stele. Every god who agreed to found the heavenly court inscribed a character upon it, pledging their word, unbreakable. The heavenly court was thus established with the Reverse God Stele as its token. Thereafter, the Holy Clan renamed itself the Reverse God Clan.”
Zhang Ruochen possessed a fragment of the Reverse God Stele. He always felt its significance far exceeded what Chi Yao described, mere token of the heavenly court’s founding.
Because three hundred thousand years ago, such a monumental event occurred. The twenty-four heavens departed, only three returned. The sole item brought back was a stone stele.
Moreover, it was entrusted by the heavenly venerable in death to the six ancestors. One could imagine its import.
Zhang Ruochen even suspected this stele did not originally belong to the Reverse God Heavenly Venerable but was obtained by him during that undertaking. What exactly had they done? Where had they gone?
What meaning did this stele hold?
Furthermore, the gods inscribing their characters upon the Reverse God Stele, was it truly only to vow the heavenly court’s creation? Might there not be other covenants?
One more point puzzled Zhang Ruochen greatly. On the fragment he held, there were thousands of characters in total, yet only forty-two bore the aura of profound truths.
Might the owners of those characters bearing profound truths harbour other pacts? Why were they so exceptional?
Zhang Ruochen understood that all Chi Yao knew came from others’ tales. She could not grasp these secrets. To learn the Reverse God Stele’s true mysteries, he might have to return to the Kunlun realm and consult his grandmaster.
As Zhang Ruochen sank into contemplation, Chi Yao pressed on with her account. “The war between the hell realm and the heavenly court of ten thousand realms dragged on for many years. Countless gods fell. Innumerable great worlds perished. Both sides suffered grievous losses.”
“For various reasons, the hell realm and heavenly court proposed a ceasefire. Just as the armistice accord was signed, the Reverse God Clan was exterminated overnight. Thereafter, whether the gods of the heavenly court’s realms or the ten hell clans, all issued divine edicts to burn every tome related to the Reverse God Clan and forbade all discourse on them. Violators would suffer divine punishment unto death.”
“Ten thousand years have passed. Apart from the older gods, none remember the Reverse God Clan ever existed. Even the Reverse God Heavenly Venerable’s name was listed among taboos, unmentionable.”
Zhang Ruochen felt an oppressive weight in his chest. He said, “Could it relate to the armistice accord? Was the hell realm’s condition for peace the extermination of the Reverse God Clan?”
Chi Yao shook her head lightly. “No one knows what truly transpired then. Even the gods privy to that secret are scant indeed. But the Reverse God Clan’s annihilation at this sensitive juncture of the accord’s signing could not be mere coincidence.”
“The gods’ edict forbidding mention was but a cover-up all the more glaring.”
“Moreover, the entire affair’s origin lay with the Reverse God Heavenly Venerable. With the Reverse God Clan’s extermination, all seemed to subside temporarily, as if bound by some causal link. The sole baffling aspect is the hell realm gods’ stance.”
“There is another possibility. The heavenly court surely harboured internal troubles.” Zhang Ruochen’s chest felt clogged with distress.
The more one learned of history, the more it ached.
Because history brimmed with unequal treaties, each more absurd than the last, each more humiliating. Those truly intent on action were slain by their own! The resolute, the defiant, all had their spines broken.
Others knelt upon the ground, rising no more.
“You say, without some vast unknown force at work behind it all, how could the Reverse God Clan have met such a fate?” Chi Yao said.
