Chapter 7: The Path of Ashura

Jiuchai is the only Demon living in the Ashura Realm. He was taken in by the Ashura King from childhood and grew up in the Ashura Realm, yet he still could not blend into the world of the Ashura. The Ashura clan often fought with the Heavenly Gods and worshipped the strong. Because of this, he trained desperately, making himself stronger. But even so, the Ashura still did not accept him. He did not know why, but he felt that the Ashura seemed to have a natural aversion toward Demons.

One day, a few Ashura warriors were drinking and chatting together, and one of them said: "I really don't know what the King was thinking, actually adopting a Demon as his foster son." These words happened to be overheard by Jiuchai as he passed by. His heart heavy and brooding, he ran before the old Ashura King and tearfully complained: "Father, I want to know my origins. Why am I a Demon?"

The old Ashura King then told him this story.

In ancient times, between the Mortal World there stood a Heavenly Pillar that reached straight up to the Heavenly Realm. All cultivators could, through their own efforts, cultivate and climb the Heavenly Pillar to go live in the more suitable Heavenly Realm. As time went on, more and more beings arrived in the Heavenly Realm, and its limited living space began to grow strained. The beings who had settled in the Heavenly Realm earlier began to reject the later arrivals. They established a hierarchy of rank, decreeing that the later arrivals must serve them, or else they could not reside in the Heavenly Realm. The later arrivals who wished to stay in the Heavenly Realm, having no choice, could only obey those pioneers. As the later arrivals grew ever more numerous while the Heavenly Realm's living space grew ever smaller, the pioneers' demands grew ever more excessive. Until one day, a wolf god named Tianchai, unwilling to continue serving those pioneers, left the Heavenly Realm on his own and returned to the Mortal World to keep living. Though the Mortal World was no match for the Heavenly Realm, it was free and unrestrained. His departure was as if a tear had been ripped open in the Heavenly Realm: beings who could no longer bear the pioneers' oppression left the Heavenly Realm one after another and returned to the Mortal World. At first, the pioneers of the Heavenly Realm paid it no mind, but as more and more beings in the Mortal World achieved success in cultivation, the pioneers of the Heavenly Realm began to feel a sense of crisis. They feared that if those fellows in the Mortal World were to unite, they might overturn the entire Heavenly Realm. Moreover, they had long grown accustomed to their own nobility—that life of reaching out a hand for clothes, opening a mouth for meals, being masters served by others. Watching those fellows who had once been willing to be slaves now suddenly no longer under their control greatly vexed the pioneers of the Heavenly Realm. They no longer acknowledged those beings living in the Mortal World as gods, and gave them a new name: "Demon."

The pioneers declared that those living in the Heavenly Realm were gods, noble and inviolable. And those who had left the Heavenly Realm were defectors, base and guilty. The war between the Heavenly Gods and the Demon race was on the verge of breaking out, and that wolf god, the first to leave the Heavenly Realm, relying on his own character and talent became the leader of the Demon race. The united Demon race could not be easily defeated even by those long-established pioneers, which gave those so-called Heavenly Gods quite a headache. At that time, in the Heavenly Realm there was a spider god named Zhiben, who offered a plan to the Heavenly Emperor: "Among the Demon race, there are many who long for the Heavenly Realm. We can allow them to return to the Heavenly Realm and give them the same treatment as the Heavenly Gods. This way the Demon race's strength will surely be greatly weakened, and they will not be hard to wipe out. Once the Demons of the lower realm are exterminated, settling accounts with those who returned to the Heavenly Realm later will not be too late." The Heavenly Emperor deeply agreed, and acted according to this plan. As expected, the Demon race was greatly defeated.

After this, the Heavenly Emperor greatly valued Zhiben and asked him for a method to keep the Heavenly Realm at peace for a long time to come.

Zhiben said: "Use Demons to govern Demons."

The Heavenly Emperor said: "What does it mean to use Demons to govern Demons?"

Zhiben said: "Every being in the lower realm wishes to live in the Heavenly Realm. Although the Heavenly Realm's territory is truly limited, if they are not satisfied, they will inevitably hate the Heavenly Gods, and I fear trouble will sooner or later arise. An edict can be issued: every five hundred years hold a Conferring Gods Ceremony, and according to the Heavenly Realm's rules, select a very small number of Demons from the lower realm to become gods and reside in the Heavenly Realm. This way, the beings of the lower realm, in order to become gods, will inevitably fight among themselves. Then sever the Heavenly Pillar so that the beings of the Mortal World cannot easily reach the Heavenly Realm. Thus, if beings wish to reach the Heavenly Realm, they can only rely on the grace of the Heavenly Realm's gods. Only in this way can the Heavenly Gods truly become noble."

The Heavenly Emperor ordered all the gods to join forces and sever the Heavenly Pillar. From then on, when beings of the mortal world cultivated, their efforts often yielded half the results with double the labor, and the Heavenly Realm became the exclusive domain of the Heavenly Gods.

"As for the Demon race of today, sigh… let us not speak of it." The old Ashura King sighed helplessly, unwilling to continue.

It was the first time Jiuchai had heard of the Demon race's affairs, and naturally he would not let it go. He pressed: "What has become of the Demon race now?"

"Since you wish to know, I shall take you to see for yourself!"

The old Ashura King took Jiuchai to the Demon race's territory, and from afar they saw a tall platform in the center of the field, with a great banner beside it bearing the two characters "Martial Trial." Two Demon warriors on the platform fought desperately, until one side collapsed from exhaustion. The victor shouted madly: "I am going to become a god! I am going to become a god!" Over on the other side, in the field marked Literary Trial, a Demon scholar, looking as if he had gone mad, wrote on the ground with a large brush: "Demons are shameful, gods are noble. The day I ascend to heaven, I shall shed my demon flesh and become a god."

"Let us go look elsewhere."

The old Ashura King said, and pulled along the stupefied Jiuchai to the front of a residence under construction. A foreman-like little demon was waving a whip, directing several lesser demons in carrying timber. From time to time he cursed and lashed out: "All of you, hurry up! This manor is being built for Lord Tiger, who has just become a god. If you want to become gods yourselves in the future, you have to work yourselves to the bone!"

In the eyes of these lesser demons there was not a glimmer of light; they worked with stiff limbs, as if they were machines. At this moment, a tiger demon came before them, and the foreman-like little demon hurriedly stepped forward and bowed: "Lord Tiger God, you have returned."

The tiger demon looked at the manor and said, dissatisfied: "Still too slow!"

The little demon hurriedly said: "Yes, yes, yes! I will have them speed up at once, and will not delay matters!"

Jiuchai and the Ashura King walked around once more, then sat under a large tree to rest. The Ashura King said: "You have seen now. This is the Demon race."

Jiuchai said: "No, they are not Demons. They are neither Demons nor gods. I really cannot figure out what kind of beings they are. I have never seen fellows like them."

The Ashura King said: "Oh, then what would you say they are?"

Jiuchai said: "If you call them gods, they have no dignity. If you call them Demons, they have no freedom. If you say they are still alive, they seem like walking corpses. Rather than calling them some kind of being, it would be more fitting to say they are more like a kind of tool."

The old Ashura King murmured: "Tools, you say? Indeed, that does fit. They have long forgotten that they were originally Heavenly Gods, and have branded the mark of Demon upon their own hearts, taking it as a shame. You should understand now why the Ashura clan dislikes Demons. The word 'Demon,' in my era, was originally a synonym for freedom, but now it has become utterly unrecognizable. The reason the Ashura have fought the Heavenly Gods without cease is that they are unwilling to give up either dignity or freedom. To be able to fight to the death for freedom and dignity is the glory and meaning of an Ashura warrior's life. The Ashura have always believed this firmly, and that is why they still live to this day. As for the Demon race, I fear they have long since perished…"

(End of chapter)