Chapter 766: Man-Made Ancient God

The morning sun rose, and the morning light poured over the earth like a golden veil, laying a shimmering outline over the entire world.

The light of the great sun seemed to want to dispel all chaos, all the foul miasma.

Within a forest, under mottled light and shadow, a group of ants crossed dirt pits and puddles as if aimlessly.

"Chen Yan."

A middle-aged man in green robes watched this group of ants quietly; his posture was as upright as a pine, his robes moved slightly with the wind, and one could not tell that he had just experienced a peak battle.

Master Chen glanced at the phantom behind him:

"To ants, our casual movements can determine the life and death of their colony; they are terrified to the extreme, incomparably panicked, cursing us, fearing us.

But what they do not know is that these are merely our casual actions."

Behind Master Chen, Chen Yan stood quietly.

He had not died, surprisingly.

His physical body had died, his True Martial power had completely dissipated, and even his own Will Domain had split into three, becoming three newborn bodies.

Master Chen had struck him down with the 【Dao Slash】; no matter what, Chen Yan should not have been able to live.

Only by merging the three bodies of Zhang Huizhi, Li Zhiyi, and Zhao Zhugui would Chen Yan usher in a rebirth.

All of this was within Chen Yan's plan.

But he had overlooked the Ancient God aura within his body.

After the Dream-Eating Tapir died, that half of the Ancient God aura vanished directly into the void, making it impossible for Chen Yan to capture.

But when Chen Yan died, the Ancient God aura that was supposed to dissipate was captured by Master Chen, and Chen Yan's spirit, which was supposed to scatter, took residence within the Ancient God aura and remained.

It was just that whether Chen Yan lived or died now was no longer important.

With Li Zhiyi and the other two, Chen Yan's consciousness could return even if it had died.

Blood-Qi, physical body, and Thought Power (spirit) were all ways life manifested, but so was will.

Therefore, Chen Yan was not at all nervous at this moment.

He was like a stubborn stone; no matter what methods Master Chen used, he would not be able to get anything from him.

But Master Chen at this moment was just calmly watching the ants at his feet, and with a casual step, a dozen or so ants were crushed to pieces.

And those ants that were not crushed began to run around in a panic, bumping into dirt particles everywhere like headless flies.

"You might be curious why I did not completely annihilate you." Master Chen's gaze was deep, the sunlight flashing on his green robes:

"You are a genius, combining Blood-Qi and horizontal tempering, entering the Dao in less than three years; so extraordinary, so extraordinary."

He looked at Chen Yan, his gaze paused, and he spoke:

"If you want to ask something, ask; I will tell you, and you will be unable to tell others."

Chen Yan frowned slightly:

"Is Chen Changyuan your avatar?"

"Yes." Master Chen admitted it generously:

"Had you not already reached that conclusion long ago? Why ask again?"

Chen Yan narrowed his eyes:

"Why did you condense such an avatar?"

"Chen Yan..." Master Chen narrowed his eyes, revealing a look of emotion:

"Do you know the greatest secret of this world?"

Chen Yan did not speak.

Master Chen spoke instead:

"The Mother God ascended, the White Calamity Ancient God wanted to devour the Fanni Ancient God, and the Xia Lord and the Five Clans took the opportunity to attack.

The Great Xia was founded, and the Xia Lord and the Five Clans bathed together in the blood of the Ancient God!

This is a secret known to all martial artists, this is the root of all problems, and all my actions stem from this one sentence."

As Master Chen spoke, his black hair stood on end, his demeanor steady and composed:

"It was not the human race that defeated the Ancient God; it was the Ancient Gods fighting each other that gave the human race a sliver of opportunity.

The only thing that can defeat an Ancient God is an Ancient God!"

Master Chen stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze profound:

"Do you understand now?"

Chen Yan narrowed his eyes slightly:

"You want to artificially create an Ancient God?"

"Correct!" Master Chen nodded:

"To become an Ancient God, one needs only the Ancient God aura; this is what high-ranking Ancient God beasts truly pursue.

But when humans absorb malice, their humanity is completely obliterated.

Chen Changyuan's entire life was designed by me, everything about the Aristocratic Family Alliance followed my plan, even his meeting and knowing the Dream Ancient God beast.

The Dream Ancient God beast developed feelings for him, allowing him to use malice initially without losing consciousness, and finally, he slowly learned to master malice.

All of this!"

Master Chen looked through the leaves into the void:

"Was all my arrangement.

I cannot become an Ancient God beast, but I can become the person who controls the Ancient God beast.

As long as there are no accidents, Chen Changyuan will eventually grow into a newborn artificial Ancient God beast, and he will be the human race's ultimate combat power against the Ancient Gods."

Master Chen shook his head slightly.

It was a pity that despite all his calculations, Chen Changyuan fell at the hands of Chen Yan.

Lord Chen's eyes were profound:

"A person's life, a person's life..."

Chen Yan's eyes trembled slightly; at this moment, he finally understood Lord Chen's plan.

Audacious!

Deceiving the heavens and crossing the sea!

"Then how was that Ancient God aura obtained?" Chen Yan asked.

Lord Chen turned his head to the side, looking at Chen Yan:

"Didn't you already expose it long ago?

I am not Chen Sheng from a thousand years ago, but Chen Yuan, the restorer of the Chen Clan from two thousand years ago!"

As he spoke, his features changed; strands of black hair turned into white hair, his deep eyes gradually grew weathered, and deep wrinkles appeared on his face.

This was his true appearance.

The Lord of Chen Province who led Chen Province from the weakest of the Five Clans to the strongest of the Five Clans.

"Do not ask me why I had to sacrifice the ten million living beings of Myriad Phases Island, and do not ask me why I had to condone Chen Changyuan committing monstrous sins in Qin Province.

For the future of the entire human race, even one hundred million living beings can be discarded.

Moreover..." Lord Chen's eyes erupted with cold light:

"Is Xia Hanzhou such a good person?

He condoned Chen Changyuan's growth, wanting to strike when Chen Changyuan ascended to the Creation Realm to lure me into acting, so he could behead me in Qin Province.

I am laden with sins, but what about him?

There is no difference between him and me; we are both trading the small for the large.

For your sake, he could easily discard the Director of the Astronomical Bureau and a million-strong army; how good he is to you is exactly how cruel he is to that million-strong army!

Like me, he calculates gains and losses in an instant, then discards the most unimportant majority.

He and I are both politicians, never martial artists, and neither are you!

The only true martial artist is Lu Xunyang."

Lord Chen paused:

"I should have died a thousand years ago to become the Chen Province Province-Light; the whole world was staring at me, and everyone was waiting for me to die.

But if I died, how could I save the world?

I made a deal with the Ancient God Fanni, not to become the Province-Light to suppress Her, but so that one-fifth of Her physical body would gain a thousand years of breathing room, and I would obtain the Ancient God aura from Her!"

Chen Yan's eyes turned cold:

"Is the Ancient God Fanni about to awaken?"

"No!" Lord Chen barked:

"Only one-fifth of Her physical body has gained a thousand years of breathing room; the other four-fifths of Her are still being suppressed by the other four clans.

She cannot recover in the short term, and even if that one-fifth recovers, it will be devoured by the Chen Changyuan I designed to grow."

Lord Chen's expression was icy.

Chen Changyuan's growth trajectory was even more Ancient God-like than an Ancient God Beast.

All of this was based on Lord Chen's initial conception.

However, Chen Changyuan was killed by Chen Yan.

Chen Changyuan, who was so heaven-defying, had obtained such great fortune, and was practically handed a path to power, was actually framed and killed by Chen Yan.

The plan Lord Chen had designed from the very beginning completely collapsed.

He looked at Chen Yan, anger erupting in the depths of his eyes, but it quickly faded away.

"Still the same statement.

The Mother God ascended, the Ancient God Bai'e wanted to devour the Ancient God Fanni, and the Xia Lord and the Five Clans took the opportunity to attack.

The Great Xia was founded, and the Xia Lord and the Five Clans bathed together in the blood of the Ancient God!"

Lord Chen stated this sentence once more:

"It was the Ancient God Bai'e who wanted to devour Fanni, not Fanni who wanted to devour Bai'e; the power of the Ancient God Bai'e far exceeded that of the Ancient God Fanni.

The Xia Clan used the power of one clan to suppress Bai'e for ten thousand years; what kind of great power is this?

But they are failing; the Imperial Calamity within each successive ruler becomes stronger and stronger, until now, it actually requires an eight-year-old girl to serve as the ruler.

The Xia Clan cannot hold on much longer; malice is born from the life and death of the human race, and the Great Xia Castration Plan is the only way to save it."

Lord Chen waved his large hand; although he looked aged now, the heroic spirit he revealed was even more overbearing.

"If you ask me why I didn't discuss it with Great Xia, why it wasn't the Five Clans and Great Xia castrating together to share the burden?

Even if I agreed, would those subordinates who weathered the storms with me agree?

They share the risks with me; what is it for?

Not everyone considers the ten thousand years of the human race like I do; many people's vision is so short they can only see their own little plot of land.

If my Chen Province is like this, would the other Province Lords agree?

Everything we do is merely to take the blame upon ourselves, to pave a long path of survival for our descendants!"

Lord Chen looked toward the distant firmament.

This vast firmament was so bright and azure, yet there was not a single place for the human race to catch its breath.

"Chen Yan, Lu Xunyang, Xia Hanzhou, none of you were wrong, and we were not wrong either.

It is just that I am naive, and you are even more naive, actually fantasizing about resisting the Ancient Gods and resisting malice."

His eyes suddenly narrowed, and his voice trembled:

"Is it the Dao of Will that gave you the confidence?"

"But you have never seen the most terrifying part of that one sentence!"

His pupils suddenly constricted, as if he had seen endless horror:

"Mother God ascends, Mother God ascends!"

"Why use 'ascend' to describe Mother God? Why did the humans of that era record this specific word? If Mother God needed to ascend to reach another world, then just how terrifying must that world be?"

"It is like three martial artists in seclusion within a cave; the ants inside the cave are nothing more than provisions for the martial artists to observe and consume while they cultivate.

Even if the ants were to, within this cave..."

Chen Zhu's sleeves billowed, his eyes wide open at this moment:

"Suppress the martial artists in seclusion within this cave, but what is the world outside the cave like?!"

He let out a low groan, a suppressed 'hissing' sound in his throat, as if his neck were being gripped by an invisible force.

He looked through the dome, his gaze piercing into the vast starry sky, as if the edge of this boundless universe also possessed a massive shell.

And humanity is nothing but insects wailing and trembling within this shell.

A frog in a well!

It is hard to imagine that the pinnacle of the human world would reveal such an expression.

Yet, the higher one stands, the more terrifying it becomes.

The moment he thought of creating an artificial Ancient God, he had to endure such fear.

Chen Yan's body also stiffened for a moment.

Too many things flowed through his eyes in an instant, and at this moment, he also looked toward the vast universe.

There, time and space have no meaning.

All chaos and evil are intertwined, and any rules discovered since the birth of humanity might be unable to describe that place.

"But..."

A smile appeared on the corner of Chen Yan's mouth:

"A bug that is always fighting—it may fail, but it will not be conquered!"

Chen Zhu was stunned, a look of astonishment, shock, and even relief appearing in his eyes.

Silence.

Silence.

"Truly... a madman.

I retract my previous evaluation; you, Chen Yan... are a Martial Artist!"

Chen Zhu shook his head slightly and let out a long breath, as if he had spoken the deepest secret in his heart, appearing exceptionally carefree at this moment.

"You kept me alive because you wanted to go fishing?" Chen Yan asked.

"You..." Chen Zhu gave a bitter smile:

"Humans are sick; they always live for a stubborn belief. I have almost laid my heart and lungs bare to explain everything to you; I have almost stripped myself naked to let you see everything clearly.

Yet you have not wavered in the slightest..."

He shook his head, his eyes flashing with sharp light:

"Good!"

"This is the son of my Chen Prefecture—steadfast, a monster, even if his methods are a bit too ruthless!"

"Chen He only went to kill you; why did you modify his memories and torture him so? He is, after all, your clansman."

He laughed:

"I have no right to judge you; I am also ruthless, I am also cold-blooded—we are the same!"

Chen Zhu's appearance changed; the wrinkles on his face vanished, his white hair turned black as if dyed with ink, and his eyes became as deep as they were before.

"Rumor has it that there is a soul fragment of the Xia Lord within the Purple Ring World-Stabilizing Mirror. Originally, I only guessed, but seeing your blood and Qi tempered into one, I believe it is true. You must have received the teachings or the inheritance of the Xia Lord!"

Even so, since you can temper your blood and Qi into one, your contribution to humanity is no less than that of the Lord of Martial Dao. If I were to kill such a person, I would be a sinner for all eternity."

Chen Zhu shook his head slightly and grabbed with one hand, a powerful suction force instantly erupting.

However, this suction was not aimed at Chen Yan, but toward the depths of the forest.

The next instant.

A man wearing grey robes and covered in scars was grabbed by Chen Zhu.

A Will Martial Artist!

"I killed you in front of everyone in the world; the Lord of Will must have seen it, but he did not intervene."

Chen Zhu murmured, looking at the terrified Will Martial Artist:

"I will temporarily assume that the Lord of Will could not descend into Ji Prefecture to stop me in time, but now..."

He looked at this Will Martial Artist:

"The Lord of Will can transmit his own intent to all Will Martial Artists; he must be able to see the environment where any Will Martial Artist is located."

He spoke as if into the void, his gaze locking onto the never-before-seen Lord of Will:

"Chen Yan is not dead; I suspect he is the World Walker you appointed. Now that he is in my hands, when will you arrive?"

Having said this, Chen Zhu waved his hand, and the physical body of the Will Martial Artist instantly turned into powder and dissipated completely.

At this moment, his gaze was cold, erupting with heroic spirit:

"Chen Yan, you guessed correctly, but what I am fishing for is not the Great Xia, but the Lord of Will!"

Chen Zhu narrowed his eyes.

He could be certain that the Lord of Will could see the environment where all Will Martial Artists were located through some means.

Otherwise, why could the other party repeatedly descend into the depths of the Will Martial Artists' consciousness?

This time, Chen Zhu intended to tell the Lord of Will that Chen Yan was in his hands, forcing the other party to show himself.

Behind him, this wisp of Chen Yan's soul stood quietly, expressionless.

What Chen Yan could be certain of was this.

The Master of Will had indeed seen this scene.

PS: One chapter, the subsequent plot leads directly to the finale.