Chapter 317: Xigaoqi Is Explaining Why the Spirits Are Subhumans

Zhou Yun felt an unbearable sense of separation gripping his body,

His spirit and will slowly being drawn out of his form, his gaze falling upon the Spirit Pantheon and the layered timelines,

Past and present unfolded before Zhou Yun like stacked mirrors,

He saw Incan, saw Hilarandri the Veil-Walker, saw the Thousand-Faced, saw Efrini, saw the entirety of the Death God Army.

Their figures at every moment piled and layered into the future, branching into countless paths, like a colossal serpent with ten million tails, entwined and interwoven, each cross-section a moment in time, each fork a possibility,

This was the fate of the entire Death God Army, indeed of the entire Spirit Race,

Hanging above this fate was a dark black mist, within which flowed an infinite loop of countless Spirit souls,

That was Inad, a Death God yet unborn, whose body dripped threads onto each member of the Death God Army, unconsciously manipulating their fates.

And at that moment, Inad's body began to struggle, helplessly plummeting toward Zhou Yun, into his round, blue form,

"Your Majesty, the heavens have grown cold."

"I'll give you a yellow robe, jester!"

Xigaoqi's voice sounded beside Zhou Yun,

The jester of the Pantheon slowly extended his hand and pushed against Zhou Yun's back,

Zhou Yun stumbled and sat upon the seat of the Spirit Pantheon's Death God,

Instantly, the fate of the Spirit Race woven by the Old Hag trembled,

The unborn Inad let out a wail, his body dissolving bit by bit into Zhou Yun's form,

Meanwhile, at every moment from past to present, Inad's name grew thinner, the prayers of the Death God Army to Inad grew quieter,

Replaced instead by praises to Doraemon,

From Efrini to the Thousand-Faced, every member of the Death God Army at every moment in the past praised the name of the Spirit Death God Doraemon,

Zhou Yun's expression grew slightly dazed; he felt Inad's existence fully dissolved within him, like ice melting in hot water, becoming part of himself,

Countless threads extended from his body, replacing Inad's connections to the Death God Army; he could clearly hear the inner voices of every Death God, perceive each one's presence,

Most of these connections were faint, but those to Efrini and the Thousand-Faced were relatively thick; Zhou Yun even felt he could directly seep into their consciousnesses,

Hmm, the Thousand-Faced had fainted, his multiple brain lobes filled with obsession for Efrini and terror of Diggiris and Mephyston,

Efrini silently prayed to herself, praying for the return of the Spirit Death God Doraemon to crush Diggiris, Mephyston, and Leina,

Beyond them, Zhou Yun also sensed Saint Guilliman and Primarch Guilliman, whom he had already connected with; their bonds with him were the strongest, and he felt he could directly inject his will into their bodies and control their forms,

As if they, like Fatty Demon, had become extensions of himself,

Saint Guilliman seemed to sense something, raising his head slightly in surprise toward Zhou Yun,

Primarch Guilliman appeared to notice nothing, radiating the resentment of a tired worker,

And beyond those connected to Zhou Yun, one being in the Highest Heaven sensed Inad's fall,

Wild laughter erupted from Slaanesh's bedchamber,

The Lord of Hunger's joy rippled through the Sixth Ring; Slaanesh demons, sensing their master's delight, could not help but sing and dance wildly,

On a bed of six hundred and sixty-six layers of velvet, Slaanesh caressed the trembling Fugrim with his six breasts, laughing with silver-bell joy,

As the Hunger God born from the Spirit Race's demise, Slaanesh keenly perceived what was happening in the Warp,

Doraemon. Zhou Yun was devouring all of Inad's essence; Inad was being entirely replaced by Zhou Yun,

Though he did not understand what had occurred, Slaanesh knew he no longer needed to grieve over Inad's birth, nor fear Inad becoming the fifth,

For Slaanesh, Inad's birth from the Spirit Race's destruction and ascension as the fifth was the worst possible outcome,

Worse even than the Emperor taking his final step; at least if the Corpse Emperor became the fifth, the other three would still suffer alongside Slaanesh,

If Inad became the fifth, only Slaanesh would suffer — and that was precisely why Slaanesh had sought to cultivate Zhou Yun as the fifth,

He had hoped Zhou Yun and Inad would compete, but never imagined Zhou Yun would surpass his expectations so utterly,

Inad had been entirely replaced by Zhou Yun — devoured in a single bite!

Thinking of this, Slaanesh could not help but laugh again in delight,

As long as Zhou Yun's existence endured, Inad would never truly be born, never become the fifth ahead of the Corpse Emperor or Zhou Yun,

Slaanesh involuntarily extended his forked tongue, slick with viscous fluid, licking his cherry-colored lips,

He felt his prior generosity toward Zhou Yun had been repaid, his mood extraordinarily joyful,

"Fugrim, do you think this counts as love?" he laughed, sharing his joy with Fugrim.

"Great Doraemon! Death God of Humanity and Spirits, Lord of the Pantheon! Your loyal jester Xigaoqi humbly welcomes your return to the throne."

In the Black Library, Xigaoqi bowed with a chuckle before Zhou Yun,

Zhou Yun felt his erosion and destruction domain power had expanded dramatically, his expression shifting uncertainly,

Inad had been devoured by his essence; his position in the Spirit Pantheon had been fully usurped by Zhou Yun,

He now stood connected to every Death God, their souls wholly belonging to him,

Additionally, Zhou Yun had gained part of Inad's former power, allowing him to manipulate life and death to some degree,

With a fingertip or the touch of the Old Hag's Sword, he could forcibly impose death; for the dead whose souls still lingered in the material universe, he could restore them to life,

Alas, Inad had never truly been born, so the power Zhou Yun gained from devouring him was not particularly great,

And fortunately, Inad had not been born — otherwise Zhou Yun feared he might truly have become a god,

But this did not mean Zhou Yun was far from godhood; he sensed vaguely that if he gathered all five Old Hag Swords, the portion of Inad's power within him would activate, propelling him toward godhood,

To Zhou Yun, becoming a god in this world was no blessing.

"You've doomed me, jester," Zhou Yun growled, glaring at Xigaoqi's grinning face beside him.

Xigaoqi merely smiled calmly,

He had not warned Zhou Yun beforehand because he understood human gods too well — they had an irrational aversion to the title of god,

Zhou Yun would never have agreed to this plan,

So he acted first, asked later — directly placing Zhou Yun upon the Spirit Death God's seat,

"Don't rush," Xigaoqi leaned close to Zhou Yun with sincerity. "First, let's analyze: you are the Death God of Humanity, correct?"

Zhou Yun frowned sharply. "I am not a god."

"If you are the Death God of Humanity, is it not natural for you to be the Death God of the Spirits as well?"

Xigaoqi acted as if he had not heard Zhou Yun, waving his hand,

Several skulls instantly flew from the Black Library and hovered before Zhou Yun:

"Look at these skulls. The first is an Imperial human."

Zhou Yun frowned, staring at the human skull, wondering what Xigaoqi was up to.

"Now this one — it's an Ogryon's."

Xigaoqi pointed to the second skull, noticeably larger,

"This is a common Imperial subhuman."

Zhou Yun's brow furrowed deeper in confusion.

"Now this — a Phryn Cat-People, one of the few subhumans still legally recognized by the Empire."

This skull differed markedly from a human's: eye sockets much larger, ear openings near the skull's crown, nasal bones sharply protruding forward.

"This is a Scale-Worm, a subhuman species discovered only in the last few millennia within the hive's underlevels; its genome is still unstable, but it has gained Imperial recognition."

This skull bore few human traces — the cranium swollen, canines protruding, no occipital bone, both jaw and nasal bones jutting forward; more like a crocodile than a human.

"And this — the famed Beastmen, one of the subhumans recognized by the Emperor when he still walked among mortals."

Xigaoqi pointed to the second-to-last skull — this one bore almost no human resemblance: horns jutting, three eyes, grotesque holes, resembling a twisted ram's head:

"Now, in the current Empire, the Inquisition has declared it an illegal subhuman without the Emperor's consent."

"This is the Fenris Wolf."

Xigaoqi pointed to the final skull — it was entirely a wolf's cranium; only the most meticulous observation revealed faint human traces:

"Though the Empire labels it a beast, genetically it is far closer to primitive Homo sapiens than the majority of Imperial humans, and the Fenris Wolf's genome is nearly identical to that of the Fenrisians — merely differentially expressed."

Zhou Yun's nostrils flared; he had a hunch what Xigaoqi was getting at — and it made him deeply uneasy.

"Our great Lord Emperor decreed: judge human, subhuman, mutant, and alien by skull morphology."

As he spoke, Xigaoqi waved his hand,

Another skull flew into his grasp — its appearance nearly identical to a human's, only longer, with more delicate features, teeth proportionally larger relative to the jaw; otherwise indistinguishable from human,

Yet its bone structure was clearly not calcium-based, but instead resembled solidified liquid, translucent and gleaming,

Xigaoqi shoved the Spirit skull between the Imperial human and Ogryon skulls, displaying them to Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun's cheek muscles twitched uncontrollably; he wanted to retort, but words piled up, trapped in his throat.

"Look! Morphologically, Imperial humans and Spirits are extremely similar!"

"Following our Emperor's decree, the Spirits clearly qualify as a human subspecies."

"Therefore, as the Death God of Humanity, you are naturally also the Death God of the Spirits."

(End of Chapter)