Chapter 568: Secrets of Revered Ancient (part 1)
Three days later, as the days of offerings came to an end, the Red Moon Cathedral burst with crimson light as it screamed off over the horizon. The dozens of asteroids continued to orbit around it as it left.
Whatever people from various species remained in the valley all prostrated on the ground with masks on their faces. After the cathedral was gone, they all breathed sighs of relief in their hearts. Now that the offerings had been given, it would be years before they needed to consider doing it again. Though everyone was relieved, most people also felt internal pressure building up within them.
According to calculations, the red moon would be coming very soon. There was no fixed schedule governing the coming and going of the red moon in the Moonrite Region. However, there was a special way to get a good idea of the timetable. And that was by keeping track of when the cathedral came for the harvest of offerings. When the interval switched to once every three to five years, that indicated the red moon... would appear soon. At that time, when life for most people was about to end, evil would proliferate and everything would devolve into chaos and war.
This time it would be no different.
“The Moonrite Region is about to become a scene straight out of hell,” said the entity in red as he stood atop the heart and looked out at the lands below.
Xu Qing stood next to him. First he looked over his shoulder at the valley getting smaller behind him, then he turned back and focused on what he stood atop. Over the course of the past three days, he had examined the heart in quite a bit of detail. It was fantastically bizarre. It had life force, and was even beating, sending out thunderous booms that could shake one to the core.
Noticing what Xu Qing was looking at, the entity said, “All of the Red Moon Cathedral’s mobile church temples are built on organs.”
“Do you happen to know whose organs they are, Senior?” Xu Qing asked.
The entity shook his head. “I looked into that myself, and could only confirm that they don’t belong to any of my brothers or sisters. What’s more, the organs all have evidence of having been sacrificed.
“I’ve been sealed for so long that my understanding of the outside world is outdated. Only by eating some of the people in the church temple was I able to get a bit of information. Sadly, they aren’t important enough to have information about who the organs come from.”
Xu Qing nodded. Earlier, he had changed into one of the ceremonial red robes worn by certain members of the Red Moon Cathedral. As of now, Xu Qing wasn’t just a member of the Yin-Yang Betwixt Flowers Sect; he had also been appointed as a godslave.
Xu Qing thought for a moment, then finally decided to answer the big question he’d been wondering about. “Senior, in some ancient records I read once, I read about how your father waged war against the red moon. And there are a lot of stories about the Penitence Steppes....” [1]
He wanted to know Crimson Mother’s true origin.
The entity in red stood there for a moment before responding.
“Crimson Mother died once before. Killed by my father. That obviously led to a big grudge. By the time she returned, she had already reached godly ascension. And I heard my father mention that shē was returning from Revered Ancient’s earthworld.” As if to emphasize the entity’s words, thunder rumbled on the horizon.
Meanwhile, Xu Qing’s heart was racing. This was his first time hearing about any of Crimson Mother’s story. As a result, he couldn’t hold back from asking, “Crimson Mother wasn’t always a god? And what’s Revered Ancient’s earthworld?”
The entity didn’t answer immediately. He looked up at the dome of heaven, reminiscence in his eyes. Then he turned to Xu Qing.
“Some gods are born as gods. Some become gods by means of cultivation, which we call postheaven gods. Still others come from beyond the heavens. And there are some who come from the depths of the lands.”
Thunder once again crashed. It seemed to Xu Qing that something unusual was going on. And then, fog sprang up around them, after which it started raining heavily. In the distance, it looked like it was snowing. The sudden transformations to heaven and earth made Xu Qing think about heavenly daos and magical laws.
“Do you dare to listen to more?” the entity asked, looking at Xu Qing deeply.
Xu Qing looked into the sky and could sense his shattered bluegreen dragon, which was slowly healing. Thinking back to everything that happened at the Ten Entrails Tree, he nodded.
The entity chuckled. “Even still, you dare to listen further...? Ah, whatever. Let’s just see how much you can take.
“The history of what exists beneath Revered Ancient has mostly been wiped out by successive generations of Ancient Emperors. Because of that, few people are aware that... in the most ancient times, that place was called Brilliant Heaven. According to some stories, the very first species to inhabit the Revered Ancient mainland came from there. And it continued to be called that until Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity started calling it an earthworld.” [3]
The sound filling the sky grew more intense. Everything in the area rippled and distorted, and terrifying pressure weighed down from above as an immense will became apparent.
That immense will caused Xu Qing’s face to drain of blood. His heart raced as he realized that heaven and earth were apparently telling him that these were taboo matters relating to Revered Ancient. The heavenly daos of the Revered Ancient mainland wouldn’t allow him to spread word of these things.
“Interesting,” the entity said, measuring up Xu Qing curiously. “The heavenly daos didn’t release any of their powers of silence or amnesia. These heavenly daos really like you, boy.”
Xu Qing struggled to keep his facial expression neutral, but the rising will left him feeling jumpy.
Looking amused, the entity continued, “In that case, I’ll let you in on another secret. The so-called gods... well, thēy have a goal. And that is to....”
Xu Qing’s pupils constricted as he realized he couldn’t hear the entity speaking anymore. Everything else sounded normal, but he couldn’t hear any voice.
The entity seemed to notice that, and thus ceased speaking.
An hour later, Xu Qing recovered, and his heart pounded with lingering fear.
Days passed as the Red Moon Cathedral’s mobile church flew north.
Xu Qing asked for clarification about what they had been discussing earlier. However, whenever it came time for the key information to be spoken, he couldn’t hear anything. Thanks to experimentation, though, he was able to get some basic information. That included details about the cultivation level above Smoldering God.
“So, godfire...” Xu Qing murmured. As of now, he had heard the name ‘godfire’ but didn’t know much about what it was. [2]
A month later, the land ahead turned white from cold, and a stiff wind picked up.
Xu Qing soon saw the black glaciers of the frozen north. Virtually all of the lands in the north were covered in glaciers. There was no soil, just thick ice that covered everything. The mountains were also made of ice, making the entire place seem lacking in life.
Hovering over the glaciers, the entity in red looked around with a gleam of reminiscence in his eyes. Then he said, “We’re here, boy. Follow me.”
The entity dropped off the huge heart and started walking. Xu Qing followed.
The Red Moon Cathedral’s mobile church changed directions and shot off into the distance.
Xu Qing turned to look at it go.
“Inside of that thing is a gift for an old friend of mine in the Red Moon Cathedral.” The entity proceeded across the glaciers, keeping his senses spread out around them as if he was looking for something.
Xu Qing didn’t say anything. He just kept pace.
They walked through the cold wind for several days. At one point, Xu Qing spotted a sect off in the distance. It was fairly large, with quite a few disciples coming and going.
“Those are the Gloomite people. They serve the Red Moon Cathedral, and performed such amazing services in the past that they were given the right to send disciples to the cathedral to serve as special guards. That arrangement has been in place for generations.”
The entity looked a bit derisive when speaking of the Gloomites. However, he didn’t elaborate. He just led Xu Qing in the direction of the sect.
No one detected their arrival. Their perceptions were affected, and they had no idea Xu Qing or the entity in red were even there.
As Xu Qing walked among the Gloomites, he had a hard time understanding why the entity in red referred to them as if they were a unique species. From what he could see, the disciples seemed to be people from all species.
The entity didn’t seem inclined to go into more detail, though, so he didn’t ask any questions. After walking deep into the sect, they reached a huge crevice in one of the glaciers. The entity stopped at the edge and closed his eyes for a long moment.
“This is the place,” he said. Expression one of sorrow, he stepped into the crevice.
Xu Qing looked down into the crevice briefly, then followed.
A cold wind blew out from inside. It was so cold it seemed capable of freezing both the body and the soul. The further down he went into the crevice, the colder it got. After going down for such a long time, Xu Qing had lost track of how long they had been inside. His eyebrows were white from frost. Not long after that, they reached the bottom. They were in a huge, icy cave temple. It was almost like a minor world, with a sky filled with ice and lands that stretched on with seemingly no end.
Off in the distance, Xu Qing saw a lake. The water in the lake was obviously very strange, as it hadn’t frozen. Mist swirled above its surface.
Within that mist, Xu Qing could see numerous Gloomite disciples. The disciples were lugging crystal caskets over to the shore, where they placed them neatly in rows. At a glance, there seemed to be hundreds of coffins around the lake. After delivering a coffin, the disciple carrying it would hurry away.
Looking over the coffins, Xu Qing saw that there were bodies inside of them. Based on their clothing, they were all disciples of this sect.
It was a very strange sight, and Xu Qing was about to look more closely at everything when the lake suddenly churned, and beams of seven-colored light rose up from it like tentacles reaching toward the coffins. Each tentacle ultimately wrapped around a single coffin, which it then dragged back toward the lake.
Before much time had passed, all the coffins sank into the lake and disappeared. After that, the surface of the lake became calm again.
“When you look at the Gloomites superficially,” the entity said placidly, “they look like a sect filled with all sorts of species. But the reality is that turning into other species is the only way for them to serve as special guards in the cathedral. Those who don’t become another species will end up as food.
“In order to become another species, they have to go through a special ceremony. You just witnessed it. The disciples in the coffins will be taken to a special location, and if they live through it and come out again, it’s considered a success. That’s because the individuals that come out are not the same as those who go in.”
Xu Qing thought about it for a moment. “Parasitization?”
“The Gloomite patriarch used to be a subordinate of my father. Back when Crimson Mother showed up, he chose to betray my father, who subsequently killed him. The major worlds he was building collapsed and were mostly destroyed. The life force within them ceased to exist. One damaged chunk fell here. To thank them for their service, Crimson Mother preserved the discarnate souls of those who died here, and that’s how the Gloomite species came to be.”
Xu Qing looked at the lake again. If it took an Imperial Sovereign to kill that Gloomite patriarch and shatter his major worlds, then it went to indicate that the patriarch was a Smoldering God.
After another long look at the lake, the entity turned and headed deeper into the cave temple. “Let’s go. The place we’re going to isn’t here.”
Xu Qing could sense that there was more to the story, but now wasn’t the time to ask questions. He simply followed as they got deeper and deeper into the cave.
Because the seven-colored tentacles moved so quickly, and also because of the large number of coffins, Xu Qing hadn’t noticed that there was a familiar face in one of the coffins.
1. The detail about this entity’s father being the leader of the region was mentioned inchapter 560.2 . ?
2. Godfire was mentioned before inchapter 524.2 and525.1 . ?
3. Incidentally, the exact same term Brilliant Heaven appears in Er Gen's other novel A World Worth Protecting . The term is fairly unique, so it pops out. As for whether the terms are related, connected, the same, or whatever... well that's obviously not clear based on the context here. ?