Chapter 953: Human Heavenly Daos Awaken

Chapter 953: Human Heavenly Daos Awaken

That night’s catastrophe brought havoc to all living beings in the Heaveneater Region. Meanwhile, the light of dawn shone in the sky over the humans’ imperial capital. As of this moment, the contrast between light and dark was very prominent in Revered Ancient.

However, while there was struggle in that dark night, there were also obstacles to overcome within the dawn light.

In the human imperial capital, on Planet Ancient Emperor, the destiny aura was rejecting the holy lands. It created a new imperial robe and crown for the empress, all while scintillating godfire burned on the planet below. The fire was becoming increasingly golden.

The five vortexes with the corpses of the past emperors were the same. The golden fire within them made the emperors seem increasingly full of life. Even the blood within their withered bodies was showing signs of awakening. A godly aura was increasingly prominent.

Most shocking of all was the empress herself. Her aura was startlingly outstanding, making her seem like the lord of all heaven and earth. She seemed like an actual god of this world, possessing omniscience, and boundlessly majestic. What was more, she shimmered with more and more golden light. Even from a distance, she seemed like a bright sun in the sky!

As she powered up, it affected the destiny aura. The destiny aura was in motion, rising, causing the boundless clouds to form infinite auspicious shapes.

As of this moment... there was no one among humankind who wanted to speak out against godly ascension.

As the godly might of the past emperors erupted, it shook the cosmos, fusing with the majesty of the empress to create something like a dazzling god lantern that cast light all throughout Revered Ancient. Countless species could sense it. Innumerable gods felt it. Many streams of divine will came from all directions to converge on the imperial capital.

There was no denying that the empress’ aura was astounding to the point of being stupefying. Her actions were profoundly domineering. Her heart could strike fear into the hearts of all.

Peak Imperial Sovereign was a terrifying level that was analogous to a tribulation fire High God. Although it wasn’t quite on the level of a Flawless God, it was extremely close. What was more, for someone like that to shift their dao to that of the gods was something that was extremely rare from ancient times until now.

If it worked... then after igniting godfire, that power would be incomparably close to Flawless!

There was even the possibility that, like Li Zihua, Flawless God could be skipped, allowing the empress... to step right into Altar God! That was comparable to the Quasi-Immortal level in the Summer Immortal cultivation system!

It was hard to say for sure. But one thing was certain: although this was an extremely rare destined opportunity, there was definitely a chance for success!

Li Zihua proved that!

How could the inhabitants of Revered Ancient not be astonished? Granted, there was only a small chance at success. But the gods of Revered Ancient had long since prohibited the existence of any god like that. And considering what happened recently with the Firemoons, the other top species in Revered Ancient obviously didn’t want another powerful species rising up. Therefore, the empress’ attempt at godly ascension was going to get a lot more resistance than the actions of the three Firemoon gods.

There were many aspects of karma at play. What was more, because the Firemoons had already been one of the top species, and their gods all High Gods, to a certain extent, they had already qualified to have Flawless Gods. But humankind did not have any such qualifications. What was more, during that event, it was only the Firemoons’ grand steward who was attempting godly ascension. But with humankind... if you counted the empress, there were six attempts at godly ascension going on!

Most importantly of all, the Firemoons were not subservient to any holy land. With humans, it was entirely different.

Put precisely, the holy lands had always lorded it over humankind, and had controlled them from afar. Whether it was Eastglory or Sageheaven, all had bent the knee to the holy lands. Dao Life had contemplated breaking ties. But he had been mysteriously killed, and the case had never been solved. That made it abundantly clear how much control the holy lands had over Revered Ancient.

The empress’ choice to attempt godly ascension indicated that humans on Revered Ancient wanted to be independent. They refused to be controlled. But even the fact that forty-nine Dawning Suns had been unleashed didn’t change things for the Dark Serenity holy land!

After all, they had made a promise to the Heaveneaters, resulting in their emperor being used like a blade to see how strong the human emperor was. When all was said and done, the opposition to humankind came from the gods, the top species, and the holy lands! It was no exaggeration to say that no one would ever allow humans to do this!

That was the reason for the imperial edict from the holy lands, which had stirred the destiny aura against the empress.

However, that was only the first counterattack. The holy lands’ second counterattack was already on the way.

The holy lands existed beyond the dome of heaven, making it difficult for them to interfere directly. Their options were limited. However, they did have forces in place that were astonishingly powerful.

Suddenly, intense ripples flowed out across the sky above the imperial capital, accompanied by thunderous booms. An astonishing figure appeared, piercing through the air to fill the sky. It was an enormous beast with the body of a dragon and the face of a human. It was so huge it blotted out the sky, and caused all cultivators’ hearts to pound. A worshipful sensation filled their souls and spread out, causing their expressions to flicker.

This terrifying entity turned to face the empress, eyes cold and bereft of even a scrap of compassion. It was impossible to tell the gender of the face, but it exuded heavenly might. Every scale pulsed with magical laws that shook the very cultivation foundations of all the cultivators present.

It was a heavenly dao. In fact, it was one of the original ninety-nine ancient heavenly daos of Revered Ancient! And it wasn’t alone! An instant later, a second heavenly dao manifested in the dome of heaven.

This second heavenly dao was a nine-headed lion that approached from afar, kicking up wind, rain, thunder, and lightning into a massive tempest.

Things weren’t over yet. An instant later, an enormous pitch-black statue appeared out of nowhere, pulsing with the power of sealing. After that was a snow-white crane that let loose a crisp, clear cry as it soared from over the horizon to circle above human lands. All were heavenly daos.

The sound of the drum shattered heaven and earth, reaching the hearts of humans in the Imperial Region, the seven counties, the Holytide Region, the Nightspirit Region... and humans stranded and wandering everywhere in Revered Ancient. It didn’t matter what they were doing at that moment. They all felt their blood stirring and their wills rising.

As the saying goes, a single spark can start a prairie fire.

The wills of humans throughout the Revered Ancient mainland responded to the sound of the drum. Together, they combined, resulting in the will of humankind releasing a powerful shout.

“Jian!” [1]

It was a very extraordinary word. In ancient times, it was the name of the underworld. Later, after the heavenly daos were established, and with the exception of a few that were made from inanimate objects, they were all created from heroic spirits who had died in battle. Therefore, the Summer Immortals took to using “Jian” as the official name that collectively described the heavenly daos. Supposedly, when a person died, they became a ghost. When a person saw a ghost, they feared. When a ghost died, it became a jian. When a ghost saw a jian, it retreated. That was what the heavenly daos were.

As of this moment, the wills of all humans shouted that word, from earth to heaven, from human to dao. It was an attack on the heavenly daos!

The heavenly daos of Revered Ancient existed because of the wills of countless species. They protected the living things in the world. And now... humankind, which had once been the most powerful species, and which had conquered Revered Ancient multiple times, shouted that true name as an attack. And the essence of the heavenly daos trembled.

The five heavenly daos under the control of the holy lands needed to obey the demands of their essence, and thus, they shivered and fell back!

The empress’ eyes began to shine brightly.

Back when the three gods achieved their breakthrough, they had a host of domain treasures collected by the Firemoon Darkheavens, as well as the Everlasting Dagger-Axe. Those were their reserve powers.[2]

As for humankind... they originally had a lot of reserve powers. Unfortunately, their years of decline resulted in having few of them left over. However... the will of humankind still existed in the brutal Revered Ancient.

The war drum aroused that will. The sound echoed out to shake the cosmos.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing’s energy was building up, and he felt more complete than ever as he launched a fourth blow.

BOOM!

The sound of the drum resonated with the shout of humankind’s will, the destiny aura, all the lands, and the blood of the people. And... it connected to the ancient past and ancient glory, as something appeared.

It was a territorial map! It had been drawn out of time itself by the sound of the drum.

The regions of Revered Ancient all housed many species. The species of Revered Ancient all had to bow in worship.

The empress extended her hand to take the ancient territorial map.

“Years ago, we humans took the lead in forming the heavenly daos. Other species provided assistance in the creation process. For you heavenly daos to come here today... is a show of disrespect to your superiors!

“Never forget that we humans have a heavenly dao of our own. Other than the heavenly daos formed from the Summer Immortal ancestors, ours ranks first! When the broken face came and Dark Serenity left, that heavenly dao went to sleep, and has remained asleep until now. Today, the time has come to awaken it!

“Xu Qing. Strike the drum!”

As the empress’ words boomed like thunder, she waved her hand, sending the territorial map flying toward Xu Qing. Along the way, it transformed into a huge mallet.

Xu Qing took a deep breath. As his cultivation base filled his body with power, his energy and blood surged, and he reached out to grab the mallet formed from the most glorious territorial map of human history. Then he struck the War Drum of Humankind!

BOOM!

It was the fifth beating of the drum! The sound echoed throughout Revered Ancient, like a roar from ancient times.

Everything turned gold. And then, a seven-clawed golden dragon appeared within the clouds.

1. The Chinese character used here is unusual and rare. It’s dictionary definitions include: a spirit dying a second time, the ghost of a ghost. Because of how it's defined in the narrative itself, I’m leaving it transliterated. ☜

2. The Everlasting Dagger-Axe was mentioned previously in chapter 902. ☜