Chapter 1690: The Powerful Figures of the Human Race

This was a hazy, grey expanse of space.

There was no heaven, no earth, no up or down—like the scene at the dawn of creation, yet also like a place high above the nine heavens, close to the legendary Xian Gao Jie.

Jiang Ding drifted through it on instinct, walking in one direction.

He did not know how long had passed before an ancient, weather-worn stone stele appeared before his eyes, engraved with scenes of history—pictures of twelve different Human Emperors being crowned—and even older history existed as well, though it was hazy and blurred, impossible to pierce through the veil of time.

An invisible yet terrifyingly powerful force of the Heavenly Dao's Covenant clung to this ancient stone stele.

"Heavenly Dao's Covenant…"

Jiang Ding's expression shifted slightly, and a hint of retreat rose in his heart.

As far as he could see, this force of the Heavenly Dao's Covenant had no upper limit at all—Supreme beings would be bound by it, and even true immortals might not be able to shake it off lightly.

If handled properly, even taking a Supreme as a servant was possible!

If it truly was like this, he would rather not come into contact with it.

The human race was powerful, and the human race's inheritance was extremely powerful, but within the human race itself things were equally ice-cold and cruel—those who were fooled by the warmth of kinship died without ever knowing how they died.

However, the binding of Heavenly Dao karma he had anticipated did not come.

"Human?"

This ancient stone stele sent out a thought, and hoped Jiang Ding would repeat it once in his heart.

Are you human?

Apart from this question, there was nothing.

It did not demand your submission, did not demand your loyalty, did not even demand that you be loyal to the human race—even if you were a spy of another race, it would not matter.

It was only asking,

Are you human?

To exist is everything.

Everything is existence.

It was fine even if you betrayed the human race, as long as you yourself stayed alive; as long as you yourself stayed alive, the human race would exist. After all, in the history of the human race it had played the dog for others more times than anyone could count—it was not born strong, and there was no shame in doing whatever it took to survive.

If even our ancestors once played the dog for others, what's the big deal about you, a later generation, playing the dog for someone?

Who doesn't have a past?

Once you're strong enough, just stab them in the back.

Strong enough and still don't stab them in the back?

Impossible—since you are human, you can't possibly be that honest.

Such a simple demand left Jiang Ding slightly stunned.

The human race's forefathers seemed to harbor a strong "decentralization" philosophy, and did not believe that a centralized, unified human race was a good thing.

Except when a Human Emperor was alive to suppress everything, the human race was naturally meant to be divided, meant to slaughter one another—only then would there be vitality, and a future for the race.

The Myriad Laws Celestial Pivot, one of the supreme sanctuaries of the human race, was exactly like this—it never tried to build a tightly organized human race at all.

In theory, it could be done

Even without a Human Emperor appearing in the world, through strict laws, the Heavenly Dao's Covenant, and many supreme sacred artifacts of the human race, one could still construct a tightly organized human race system.

If such a vast and terrifying organization existed, the lives of the human race in the Endless Starry Sky would be far better than now.

Of course, perhaps not.

But at least the strong within it would have much easier lives.

Unfortunately, the human race's forefathers couldn't be bothered to do it.

If no Human Emperor was born to suppress everyone, such an organization would be nothing more than the weak huddling together—utterly meaningless—and this meaningless human race organization would even affect the birth of a Human Emperor, becoming a side effect instead.

This was how the human race's forefathers understood it.

Of course, in past history there seemed to be other human forefathers who tried a different path, establishing a human divine dynasty meant to last ten thousand generations, but in the end it still collapsed.

The human race was a species with Fan Gu Shen Zhong, and had never been born with the idea of being loyal to some bloodline.

The princes and grandsons of the divine dynasty, once they lost their power, lost their lives as well.

"Human?"

The ancient stone stele waited and waited without receiving a reply, and sent out the thought once more.

The hazy grey space around them began to show signs of becoming transparent—if the ancient stone stele did not receive a reply, it would vanish from here, refusing this living being's entry.

Of course, this was merely one link in many verifications.

If it had not detected in advance that the living being before it was a qualified adult human, possessing the right to participate in governance, the Myriad Laws Celestial Pivot would not have opened in the first place.

Yes, the right to participate in governance.

For the human race, dominators of the Endless Starry Sky, a Fourth Step Extreme Sword Soul counted as having come of age, possessing political rights and the duty to campaign and fight.

In truth, there were also Supreme beings who had never unified a Great Thousand World, but due to the personal preferences of the previous generation's Human Emperor, only living beings at the Fourth Step Extreme Rule Adjustment and Supreme beings who had unified a Great Thousand World were qualified to participate in human race governance—because during the previous generation's human divine dynasty, all kinds of orders were issued to these living beings and then carried out.

"Human."

"I am human."

Jiang Ding said in a low voice.

There was nothing to hesitate over here, and it couldn't even be called a binding—he was human, had been human from the moment of birth, and stood naturally on the side and interests of the human way.

"You are human."

The ancient, weather-worn stone stele repeated it once, then slowly vanished.

The hazy, chaotic space before him changed once more, began to boil—countless grey mists arose and vanished, and the scene ahead gradually grew clear.

This was a pitch-black, quiet starry sky.

Along the interwoven, encircling star trails, one star after another rose, one star after another sank and vanished—every star rising from the trails was a terrifyingly powerful being who dominated a region as a hegemon race of the Endless Starry Sky, and now all these powerful beings had gathered together.

Here, the stars were sparse, only a few hundred in number.

Jiang Ding's breath caught.

A few hundred.

That meant hundreds of Human Sovereigns and Fourth-Step Ultimate Dao Disciples of the Human Race were here!

"I underestimated the world."

"Heroes of the world are as countless as carp crossing a river; talent emerges generation after generation…"

Jiang Ding sighed; the pride and complacency rising in his heart vanished.

He knew this was not all of the Human Race's strongest.

In an age without a Human Emperor, no being could gather all the Human Race's strongest within the Wanfa Tian Shu; there were always matters to attend to, seclusion for cultivation, battles to fight—they could not remain in the Wanfa Tian Shu forever.

Jiang Ding continued to gaze toward the center.

At the center, guarded by countless star tracks and stars, lay a crystal divine throne wrapped in chaotic energy.

The throne consisted of seven inverted crystal prisms, each layer inscribed with ancient star patterns corresponding to the Big Dipper; its base was a shattered nebula vortex, within which floated three hundred and sixty magical star formations forming a chaotic star map, radiating pressure so immense it could suffocate Sovereigns—as if a single star's emergence could sever a thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers to curse a Sovereign to death.

During the era of the Human Divine Dynasty, the Human Emperor's divine army received magical stars bestowed by the Human Emperor, crossed endless starry skies, suppressed internal rebellions, and slaughtered rebellious non-human races, invincible wherever they went.

To the east of the Human Emperor's throne coiled the Sui Dragon; to the west perched the Cangjie Bird; along the southern steps glided the Hetu Turtle; in the northern shadow slumbered the Xuanyuan Sword Shadow—the Four Spirits guarded the Human Emperor.

At this moment, beneath Jiang Ding's feet, a star track ignited, lifting him up and transforming him into a star that flew toward the many star tracks.

This star spiraled several times within the star track, then drew closer to the direction of the Xuanyuan Sword Shadow, gradually stabilizing, finally fixed upon the Xuanyuan Sword Shadow's star track, forged for the Human Emperor's battles and slaughter.

It was a new star, radiating an entirely different aura.

The gazes of many Human Race powerhouses turned toward this place.