Chapter Sixty-Four: The Celebration of Ji

“Was it too rash to kill him just like that?”

Li Tian gazed at his own fingers and couldn’t help but shake his head.

“That was truly impulsive. I should have searched his soul first, probed his memories, and only then killed him…”

Shaking his head, Li Tian waved his hand, collecting the treasures left behind by Da Feng after his death. Casting his gaze around, a faint smile appeared on Li Tian’s face, for among the items was a sword—a low-grade innate spiritual treasure—that he himself had gifted away millions of years ago, now returned to his hands.

The feeling was truly uncanny.

Other than that, there was little of value. Only two or three acquired spiritual treasures caught his eye; as for the rest, they were merely some spiritual materials, which to Li Tian were little more than trash.

Perhaps the only things remotely interesting were the technological items. They were of little practical use but seemed amusing enough to play with.

Returning to the Heavenly Court, Li Tian teleported straight to Fuxi’s residence.

“Take a look at these,” he said, waving his hand and sending several storage wristbands before Fuxi. As for the storage ring, he intended to keep that for himself.

“What are these?” Fuxi asked curiously, accepting the wristbands and probing them with his divine sense. He couldn’t help but be startled.

“What exquisite craftsmanship! They’ve managed to embed a small dimensional space within a mundane object using such a technique!”

“I came by these by chance,” Li Tian replied with a casual smile, fabricating an excuse, “but they struck me as odd, so I brought them for you to study. By the way, there seem to be some strange things inside. See what they are.”

“Very well, let me take a look.” Fuxi was also rather intrigued by these wristbands. Turning them over in his hands, he tentatively pressed a button.

In a flash, a spatial opening appeared naturally on the band—an ingenious mechanism, brimming with a sense of science fiction.

Fuxi couldn’t help but exclaim, “What a marvelous device!”

“Take your time with it. I’ll return to my retreat,” said Li Tian with a smile, turning to leave.

He wasn’t particularly interested; giving them to Fuxi was no more than a gesture of playfulness.

After all, in the prehistoric world, storage treasures were as common as dirt—one could have as many as one wished. Even the most lowly of the demon clans each possessed one; the only difference was that their spaces were much smaller.

Back in the Celestial Emperor’s Palace, Li Tian began his cultivation.

Now, with a million Celestial Emperor Palaces erected in the demon territories, an immense flow of faith power came in daily.

However, the faith generated by the demon clans’ million Celestial Emperor Palaces was far inferior to that of the two or three hundred thousand palaces among the human race.

Of course, this wasn’t because the demons produced less faith, but because most demons were proud and unyielding, far less simple and sincere than the humans.

Thus, many demons were unwilling to worship anyone.

Even if that person was the Lord of Heaven, a sage.

Li Tian could do little about this—he couldn’t very well force every demon to bow to him daily, could he?

If he tried to enforce it, it would likely yield no faith at all, only resentment.

……

Time flowed swiftly, and before long, countless years had passed.

One day, Li Tian was roused by Qinyuan, who reported that a group had come kneeling at the gates of Miluo Palace, beseeching him to punish the human race.

Li Tian’s expression turned strange. Had the humans done something so heinous as to enrage the heavens and people alike?

With a quick calculation, he instantly grasped the truth of the matter, feeling a bit of a headache.

As the human race grew ever stronger, many demon tribes living nearby were being purged by human experts.

That in itself was not unusual—nowadays, the gods cared little for the fate of the demon tribes. However, some relatives of lower-ranked gods had been mistaken for demons and killed by the humans!

Though these were only the kin of the lowest-ranking gods, the matter was troublesome. Mishandled, it could stir up widespread hostility among the gods toward the humans, which would be problematic indeed.

After pondering for a moment, Li Tian received several godly representatives in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

“For what reason have you come before me?” Li Tian asked from his elevated seat, gazing down at the kneeling figures, feigning ignorance.

“Your servant, Qing Ji, comes to beg the Celestial Emperor for justice. My aged mother was slain by humans while visiting her kin, and I implore you to punish the human race!”

Qing Ji’s words rang out with conviction. After he finished, he respectfully knocked his head on the floor.

Li Tian frowned, troubled. With a brief divination, he easily discerned the chain of events.

It was difficult to say who was truly at fault.

Qing Ji’s true form was a yellow bird, now at the pinnacle of the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm, though he had never obtained an innate treasure and thus had not yet severed his corporeal form.

His mother, too, was a great yellow bird, but failed to take human form and remained a common demon of mediocre cultivation—a member of the lowest ranks.

In truth, for a common demon to have given birth to a god at the height of Great Luo Golden Immortal was an accomplishment worthy of pride. Thus, in the surrounding demon tribes, Qing Ji’s mother was something of a local celebrity.

After ascending to the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm, Qing Ji joined a prominent godly tribe on Mount Buzhou, naturally bringing his mother to live with him.

But the gods now generally looked down upon the demons. Qing Ji’s mother, likewise scorned, was unwilling to remain long on Mount Buzhou…

And so, when she returned to her tribe, she was caught in the crossfire as a human expert swept through the area, eradicating threats—perishing by misfortune.

Upon learning this, Qing Ji was overwhelmed with grief and rage. Yet, as Li Tian had strictly forbidden the gods from attacking the humans, he dared not defy the law.

After all, none who had cultivated from mere mortals to such heights were fools rash enough to court disaster.

Still, Qing Ji couldn’t accept his mother’s death in vain. So, upon returning to Mount Buzhou, he gathered others who had suffered similar losses and led them to the Heavenly Court to beseech the Celestial Emperor to punish the humans.

“Perhaps we should lift the restrictions on the gods,” Nuwa suggested telepathically to Li Tian, frowning. “I doubt the gods would overly meddle in human affairs…”

“To lift the restrictions on the gods is out of the question,” Li Tian replied, shaking his head.

Everything that had unfolded was, more or less, orchestrated by his own hand.

All was proceeding according to his design.

As the human race flourished, the demon tribes of the prehistoric world dwindled ever further.

After all, demons preyed upon humans, and every demon tribe posed a grave threat to human survival!

Within any area frequented by humans, demon tribes would inevitably be slaughtered by powerful human cultivators!

Demons, being failed products of transformation, found cultivation exceedingly difficult unless they encountered extraordinary fortune—such as the Nine-Turn Golden Pill. Otherwise, reaching the Celestial Immortal realm was already considered a great talent.

When facing ordinary humans, they might have an advantage, but when confronted by the peak experts among humans, they could only meet their end.

According to Li Tian’s plan, it would not be long before all demon tribes in the prehistoric world, save for those in the most remote and inaccessible places, would vanish into the dust of history. Thereafter, the human race would thrive, and newly born, failed-to-transform demons would only be able to cower in the deepest mountains and forests, unseen by the world.

It sounded cruel, but the rise of the human race was a necessary process.

Fortunately, the gods at large now looked down upon the demons. Aside from a few exceptions, none cared how many demon tribes remained in the world. Thus, Li Tian was unconcerned about the collapse of the Heavenly Court’s governing order.

…