Chapter 611: Holy Teachings

"My descendants, since you have come here, I fear you have come seeking shelter."

Luo Qi muttered something in response, rolled his eyes, and shifted his body. Seeing them all staring blankly at the silly appearance of the Celestial Being annoyed him; it would be better to just stare at Du Zhengyi. He should have let Liu Ziyi invent an automatic device to measure Magic usage; then he could just visually check the water level on Du Zhengyi.

"If that is indeed the case, then we were wrong in the beginning. I do not know how many sunrises and sunsets have passed for my descendants since you stood here. The seas have turned into mulberry fields, and the world has changed so much that you have likely forgotten your own origins. I truly wish I could let you see what a glorious race we once were. In the vastness of the universe, we came and went freely; this world was molded by our own hands. We once created countless races; we were the gods, the deities, the rulers of all. It is a pity, however, that one can only ever be defeated by oneself, and we too made mistakes. A single, tiny error caused all of the Sanqian Shijie we created to be swallowed by Chaos. Our people relied on sacrificing themselves to seal the Chaos, and in the end, only three remained, and they were forced to migrate to this distant world.

"The three of us were truly too lonely, and the race had to continue, so I created you, my kin. Perhaps you do not come directly from us, but in terms of bloodline, you are the continuation of our race. It is just that in order to escape to this world, we lost too much power, and in some respects, you may not be as strong as the race was at its peak. But we believe that in time, natural Magic will allow you to make breakthroughs, and among you, there will surely emerge individuals closer to the Ancestor. These individuals will truly continue and regenerate our race. When that time comes, we will surely meet again in the universe. This is what I believe, and I will always believe it.

"But I also have a small concern that I cannot set aside. In the beginning, to allow you to grow more steadily, I created a race for you to enslave. They resemble you in appearance, but they are not as strong as you; they have neither your strength nor your speed, and certainly not your ability to wield Magic. Their only characteristic is that they are skilled at making tools. In the future—perhaps in a thousand years, perhaps ten thousand—please forgive me, for us, units of time are measured in at least ten thousand years; please forgive me that for now, I can only make your lives as short as morning dew—in any case, in these perhaps ten thousand years, they will be the craftsmen making tools for you, the slaves producing for you, and the nannies caring for you, until a new Mage emerges among you. However, do not ask me what the new Mage is like; when he appears, you will know. He will lead you toward a new era and save the others among you.

"My only concern is these slaves. Their method of inheritance is different from yours. Although the trick of making tools is nothing much, it can reach a high level of practicality within a short timeframe. I think that in a few thousand years, they should be able to make small tools capable of destroying this world. They are not a rigorous race; they are not shrewd enough, lack foresight, and lack insight. I think they might destroy this world in a game as foolish as that of children. This Qixi Di should be governed by a wiser race like us. Considering this, I have left you some tools to reduce the scale of the slave population, mostly in places that are certain to form large settlements in the future, and others kept in locations that have special significance to us."

She stopped and gazed at them gently.

For a long while, no one spoke. The only human here turned pale. Liu Ziyi was flushed red, as embarrassed as someone caught doing something bad.

A few Lotus Burners whispered to each other, but one Battle Mage suddenly blurted out, "She really is Nuwa, Nuwa who created humans."

Luo Qi looked at Du Zhengyi, wanting to read his thoughts from his face. Du Zhengyi's expression was like that of a person who had watched a TV series at least twenty-four times, with the result that every line of dialogue in the show could no longer trigger any emotional fluctuation in him. Luo Qi couldn't help but wonder if the Gushan Guards had to watch her speak every time they patrolled, just like having to watch the Windows boot screen every time you turn on a computer, to the point where it truly couldn't trigger any thoughts at all.

But what he didn't expect was that Zhao Jiaozhu was also silent. He had thought this was the truth of Magic that Zhao Jiaozhu had been waiting for, and that he should take the stage now to give a speech and win over more followers. But on second thought, what the Progenitor Mage said didn't give him any earth-shattering shock; they had heard some of these things to varying degrees. The only shock today was her appearance, giving most of them the chance to witness the holy face of the Ancestor for the first time.

But one thought still swirled in the minds of many, and Yan Hao was the first to ask, "What is a new Mage? What is the Mage who will lead us to a new era and save us like? Is it like Luo Qi?"

"Me?" Luo Qi asked back. "Do you see anything new about me? Do I have a halo on my forehead, wings on my back, auspicious clouds above my head, or mythical beasts under my feet?"

"That's not it, but aren't you an existence that defies the heavens?" Yan Hao asked.

Du Zhengyi glared at him. "How does he defy the heavens? His meager ability is far inferior to the Teacher's. If the grandson is not as good as the grandfather, does that count as 'new' just because he's better than his dad?"

Yan Hao didn't dare to respond to Du Zhengyi, nor did he know why Du Zhengyi had suddenly become angry. He glanced warily at the Lotus Burners, thinking he had leaked some information, and quickly shut his mouth.

Luo Qi gave him a mocking look, withdrew his gaze, and asked Du Zhengyi, "Brother, is Magic a rigorous discipline?"

"Of course."

"Then if one lived in an era where words are Magic, shouldn't one be even more rigorous when speaking?"

"I suppose."

"Surely it wouldn't be like me, using casual rhetoric and metaphors?"

"That shouldn't be; the Progenitor Mage couldn't possibly be like you."

"Oh, right." Luo Qi nodded. "That term 'vastness of the universe' was used quite imposingly."

Du Zhengyi glanced at him, and he grinned.

The Clownfish let out a cold sneer at this moment. Luo Qi turned toward the Clownfish, vaguely sensing that he definitely wouldn't like what he was about to say; he even felt inexplicably nervous.

"You two have quite the rapport for playing dumb, is it to cover up another part of the Progenitor Mage's key information?" The Clownfish's question made Luo Qi's heart jolt, and his ominous premonition grew stronger.

Du Zhengyi swept a disinterested glance at him. "This is all the information I can retrieve."

But Luo Qi could tell from his tone that he had indeed hidden information, and he restrained himself from exchanging glances with Du Zhengyi.

The Clownfish, however, was like a crucian carp that couldn't hide, insisting on leaping out to splash them with fishy water, testing if he could jump over the Dragon Gate. "Then don't trouble Du Mage; we... happen to know how to extract the Ancestor's most critical information."

In that instant, Luo Qi vaguely felt Du Zhengyi's killing intent. He reached out abruptly and grabbed Du Zhengyi's wrist, and a wave of the most pleasant and leisurely afternoon laziness enveloped Du Zhengyi. This was not an attack, nor was it manipulation, but Du Zhengyi's nerves were deceived for a moment; his accelerating Magic power slowed down, missing the best opportunity to strike. Once a strike fails, all hunters instinctively assess the situation.

"Luo Qi," he called out in a low voice.

Luo Qi squeezed his wrist tightly, cold sweat dripping from his forehead. "No, you can't kill him."

The Clownfish coldly observed their Magic and said lazily, "He is wise, Du Zhengyi. You know you can't kill me; the old wound in your brain recognizes its master—the harder you push, the more that wound recognizes me."

"Shut your mouth!" Luo Qi turned on him fiercely. "Otherwise, I'll try to see if I can tear you apart myself! Who knows? Perhaps the waves behind will push the waves ahead."

The Clownfish's Yajian shrank back abruptly, dodging the edge that had burst forth from Luo Qi.

(End of chapter)