After Zhao Xing left Bermon's territory, Peng Yue rushed over with books in hand to see him off, but she arrived just after he departed.
"Respected one, did Shennong Zhao leave already?"
"He just left," Bermon nodded. "He left in a hurry, like something urgent came up."
"Sigh." Peng Yue looked disappointed. She had wanted Zhao Xing to look at a new theory she'd just written. Now that chance was gone, and who knew when they'd meet again.
Frustrated, Peng Yue scratched her head and went back to her study. She carefully placed a stack of books on the shelf. Among them were classics Zhao Xing had annotated himself, which she treasured deeply. Then she gently closed the door behind her and left the room.
"Squeak, squeak~"
Right after she left, an extremely faint sound of paper shifting came from the corner of the bookshelf.
Meanwhile, in the River of Void, the White Jade Five-Tombs Boat sped through space. Zhao Xing arrived at Wei Tianchen's library, poring over his notes.
Any method to prove one's Dao to heaven and earth must have a goal and a means. For example, Wei Tianchen's goal was to kill beings at the Godhood Realm, and his method was the "Heaven Mending Technique." By killing gods, he returned their origins to the universe and earned rewards from the universe's own source.
If Gu Tianyang's Primordial Straw Puppet Method was a way to prove his Dao, what was its goal?
Zhao Xing searched through the library for a long time until he finally found the original notes he'd read before—Wei Tianchen's commentary on different straw puppet techniques.
"—The method Gu Tianyang created, up to the Great Void Straw Puppet, still had some real substance, but the Primordial Straw Puppet was pure delusion."
"The brothers of the Gu family were all madmen who loved chasing unrealistic dreams. Gu Luohe was like this, and so was Gu Tianyang."
"—Gu Tianyang died, and one of his disciples, Zuo Qiyu, inherited his method, while Gu Luohe became one of the founders of the Primordial Realm."
"Time flies. In the ancestral land of the Feather Emperor, they built a massive empire—the Red Star Empire."
"But I always felt Gu Tianyang didn't actually die in the Dark Heaven Realm. If I'm right, that little guy's heart is truly black…"
"What did Wei Tianchen base his conclusion on?" Zhao Xing closed the notebook and started scanning through everything Wei Tianchen had written about straw puppet techniques.
Wei Tianchen's library was so vast that even using filtering techniques, Zhao Xing needed six months to finish reading the selected books and notes.
In the end, he set aside a few books he thought might hold the key.
"Due to chaotic time and space, there are many versions of the order of the Five Emperors Era, but it's certain that Emperor Luo was the last God Emperor."
"Many ancient texts mention that in each of the Five Emperors' eras, powerful straw puppet techniques appeared."
"But back then, straw puppet techniques weren't classified under Shennong arts. Instead, they were grouped under sacrificial arts."
"The most flourishing time for straw puppets was during Emperor Li's reign. He abolished the common life sacrifices in many lands and replaced them with sacrifices made using straw puppets."
"To let straw puppets carry the same sacrificial power, the techniques had to be strong—otherwise, they couldn't meet the requirements of the rituals."
"So during Emperor Li's era, many straw puppet techniques emerged."
"However, at that time, straw puppets were still controlled by priests and treated as sacrificial arts. Many gods who accepted these offerings just put up a false front, like the Fortune God, paying lip service."
"On the surface, straw puppets replaced life sacrifices, but in reality, straw puppets were still made from blood, flesh, and souls. That led to many evil straw puppet techniques, like those that devoured souls, flesh, and even the Dao origins themselves."
"In Wei Tianchen's notes, he mentions that during that time, across the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, there were twelve especially dark and evil straw puppet techniques. They caused the worst harm and were the most secretive methods of the time, known as the 'Twelve Divine Sacrifices.'"
Zhao Xing looked at the books before him, piecing together the threads of history.
"In the later stages of Emperor Li's era, eight of these twelve powerful evil gods were eliminated by Emperor Li. But four escaped and disappeared."
"After that, straw puppet techniques were no longer classified under sacrificial arts but moved to Shennong techniques, to be controlled by the Shennong Gods."
As Zhao Xing read these ancient texts, even though they held no power themselves, he could feel the bloody storms hidden in the past. A struggle over a Dao lineage was never a small matter—reclassifying a major type of technique from sacrificial arts to Shennong arts must have sparked a huge conflict.
"Priests may be weak in today's times, but in the Five Emperors Era, they were definitely one of the strongest Dao lineages," Zhao Xing thought. After all, every emperor conducted grand rites to heaven and earth, which required powerful priest gods. The scale of demand determined the strength of the Dao tradition.
If the environment during the Five Emperors Era had been stable, the Shennong probably wouldn't have been able to beat the priests.
"The Twelve Divine Sacrifices… Could it be that Gu Tianyang's straw puppet method was actually a sacrificial technique disguised in sheep's clothing?" Zhao Xing wondered. "Gu Luohe thought his brother was on his side, and Gu Tianyang's straw puppet method was never banned. Instead, it kept being passed down, training successors like Zuo Qiyu, Jin Yan, and now me."
Zhao Xing felt this was very possible, especially since he noticed that after Jin Yan's death, only less than thirty percent of the power was absorbed by him and Zuo Qiyu. The rest simply vanished. If he hadn't broken through to the twelfth level of his true spirit, he might never have seen it.
"Whew…"
Zhao Xing shifted his consciousness into his inner world, entering the straw puppet body forged from divine-grade materials.
"Rumble…"
Zhao Xing's true spirit exerted itself fully, amplified by the soul's heart tree, and could barely lift the index finger on his right hand.
As he raised the finger, space trembled violently. Just by moving this single finger, a divine force surged from the earth's blood core and flowed into it.
"Whoosh!"
A massive hole was instantly blasted through the endless continent.
"Hiss—"
Zhao Xing quickly activated the realm core, and thick mist spread across his inner world to repair the hole blasted in the Endless Continent.
"This power is definitely on the level of a Free God's strike."
"Jin Yan explored the Primordial Straw Puppet Method further than Zuo Qiyu, taking an extra half step. By keeping his true body intact, he could resurrect from his split souls' memories."
"What I figured out was how to make the straw puppet's life Dao diagram more complete at the fundamental level, so it could take form even at the god level."
"I just wonder if Zuo Qiyu has made any progress."
But Zhao Xing didn't dare study it further. Without knowing the truth about Gu Tianyang, he couldn't go deeper into this technique—otherwise, he might just end up making a wedding dress for someone else.
"There were even stronger straw puppet techniques in history. If I could travel through time, maybe I could learn a more powerful divine-level straw puppet method and wouldn't need Gu Tianyang's secret art at all."
Zhao Xing couldn't help but yearn for the era of Emperor Li.
No wonder the Immeasurable True God didn't care if he was an infiltrator. The more you knew, the more you'd long for the side of the evil gods!
A divine-level straw puppet technique was an enormous temptation for a Self School Shennong like him.
"I'd better head back."
The White Jade Five-Tombs Boat soon returned first to the Origin Heaven Palace.
At that time, Chen Jiu was still training a group of selected talents in the Calamity of Hunger Technique, so Zhao Xing decided to return to the empire's territory on his own.
In the third era of the Barren Domain, the eleventh star year, in the Ancient Kingdom of Tianyou, on the Bowa Star Continent…
In the middle of an endless forest spanning 10 billion kilometers, a towering divine temple stood surrounded by elm trees. Inside, a statue of Qing Yuzi was enshrined.
Around the main temple, several small palaces had been built. But the population here was tiny, barely over a million people.
Guarding this place were the former Lords of Purple Moon Mansion and Yuqing Mansion from the ancient Yuanhai Kingdom. Now both had become Emperors.
Although Qing Yuzi had been punished and sent back in time, the Purple God Mansion where he once lived had been properly settled.
So the Purple Moon Emperor and Yuqing Emperor stayed here permanently.
"There's something happening with the statue." Suddenly, the Purple Moon Emperor called for the Yuqing Emperor.
"What's going on?" Yuqing Emperor, who was meditating, opened his eyes with confusion.
"The god has sent a message, but I can't receive it," Purple Moon Emperor said anxiously.
"Come on, let's check it out!"
The two emperors hurried into the temple. Before the statue of Qing Yuzi, flames roared inside a bronze cauldron, casting the statue in a bright glow. Inside the cauldron, a torn piece of paper seemed to appear.
The two emperors looked bewildered.
They tried to communicate, but the statue gave no response. Yet it unmistakably felt like a divine sign.
"God, what are you trying to tell us?" Both emperors grew more desperate.
They knew Qing Yuzi had gone far away, but not how far. It had been many years, and this was the first time Qing Yuzi had shown a divine sign since.
They both felt this was important, but the sign was too vague.
"God, we're too ignorant to understand your meaning," Yuqing Emperor sighed.
The tear in the paper kept growing. The light on Qing Yuzi's statue's forehead flickered, almost like it was sweating.
The golden plating on the divine statue began to crack, as if it couldn't hold on much longer.
"What do we do?" Yuqing Emperor panicked. "Should we contact the temple?"
"How?" Purple Moon Emperor sighed. They had gained much and become emperors thanks to Qing Yuzi, but within the Reincarnation Temple, they were treated like outcasts.
Back then, Zhao Xing had been dragged in by accident, but they were external members who actively helped Qing Yuzi in his plan to ascend to godhood.
They were lucky to have what they did now—returning to the temple wasn't an option. They couldn't even meet anyone there, and who knew if the temple would accuse them of coming to steal something again.
"If this is a major matter, God will definitely contact the Reincarnation Temple directly."
"If not, it must mean that path is blocked."
"But we don't know what's happened. Sigh—"
Even as emperors, they were powerless before a god-level event.
Normally, a divine sign from Qing Yuzi should have been clear and direct.
Why was this one so confusing?
Their instincts screamed that something was very wrong, but all they could do was stare helplessly.
"Whoosh—"
The flames churned, and the tear in the paper widened.
The two emperors stared hard and finally made a decision together.
"Yuqing, you and I will each sacrifice 1 million years of lifespan to see if we can stabilize the sign."
"Alright." Yuqing Emperor gritted his teeth and cut his wrist.
Sssss—
Their blood poured into the bronze cauldron.
The fire instantly turned blood red.
Two emperors sacrificing their own lifespan—1 million years was an enormous price!
This would bring their true spirit tribulations sooner and shorten their time to prepare.
But they had no choice.
"Whoosh—"
The flames in the cauldron surged wildly.
The paper's tear finally slowed, and under their efforts, four words slowly appeared:
"Go find Zhao Xing."
"Whoosh—"
Right after the words appeared, the flames in the bronze cauldron suddenly died out, like nothing had ever happened.
But the two emperors were visibly aged now, and cracks spread across Qing Yuzi's statue.
"Rumble—"
A realm ship launched quickly from the Bowa Star Continent.
Within the Ancient Kingdom of Tianyou's borders, a realm ship cut through the void.
In the twelfth year of the third era, Zhao Xing returned from the Origin Heaven Palace, this time accompanied by Venerable Tianguan.
Venerable Tianguan was a historian—but not a pure scholar. He was the kind who could fight.
Back when Zhao Xing challenged the Earth Core Blood Nucleus trial, Venerable Tianguan ranked second. He'd rushed to the Origin Heaven Palace hoping to meet Zhao Xing and see the Earth Core Blood Nucleus for himself. But at that time, Zhao Xing had no time for him. He left with Venerable Baimeng to deal with Jin Yan's matter in the Heavenly Demon Kingdom.
Yet even after Zhao Xing's return, Venerable Tianguan kept waiting patiently until Zhao Xing finally agreed to meet him.
"Venerable Tianguan, I never said when I'd be back. It could have been ten years or hundreds or thousands of years. Were you really planning to just wait here all that time?"
Venerable Tianguan chuckled, "Zhao Shennong, waiting is the one thing I do best."
"Hahaha!" Zhao Xing laughed. He thought of how this man had already waited over 300,000 years, second only to Venerable Zhanghe—no wonder he was so good at it.
"You want to observe the Earth Core Blood Nucleus? It's not impossible," Zhao Xing said. "But what will you give me in return?"
Venerable Tianguan brightened up. "Please name your price, Zhao Shennong. I only need to observe it for a hundred years."
"Then bring me some historical books," Zhao Xing replied. "Anything at the ancient kingdom level or above will do."
He still had two tasks from the Immeasurable True God: one was to cultivate the Myriad Epoch Flower Divine Seed, and the other was to raise the Historical Bookworm.
He had no clue how to make the flower seed sprout. But he did know the bookworm needed to devour all kinds of historical texts.
He had exchanged a few low-quality books with Elder Feng Chen of the Academy before, but those were nothing impressive.
"Perfect! I have some ancient demon histories—quite high level—that I can give you," Venerable Tianguan said.
He pulled out three glittering books, each with covers depicting fierce demon beasts. There were also scattered illustrated pages brimming with the essence of history.
The three strongest volumes were: Ancient Demons: The Rongdi Clan, Chronicles of the Ten Demon Kings, and The Ancient Demon Book of the Chaotic Sea.
"Great, go ahead," Zhao Xing said, waving his hand without haggling. He directly brought Venerable Tianguan into his inner world and let him enter the straw puppet's body to observe the Earth Core Blood Nucleus.
Swoosh—
Next, Zhao Xing took out a delicate transparent insect box. Inside floated a larva that looked like a tiny silkworm, and the box gave off a faint scent of old books.
The Historical Bookworm fed on history books, and its skin was covered in tiny characters.
The larva was weak, without even reaching the Primordial Realm, and barely had any presence.
But if it reached its first molting stage, it would reveal great power.
"It can devour history books. The Immeasurable True God said that the strongest divine-grade bookworms can even gnaw on Xuanling historical records. But who knows if that's really true."
Zhao Xing found it hard to believe that something as small as this worm could bite through something like the Xuanling records—those were practically divine artifacts.
Still, it was a mission, and evil gods always demanded bizarre materials. He was used to it by now.
"Eat up. Grow quickly so I can finish this task," Zhao Xing said, tossing the three ancient demon books into the box.
Crunch, crunch—
The bookworm larva lunged at the three grand tomes like a streak of light, but it couldn't bite into them at first. It had to start with the scattered pages instead.
Zhao Xing watched for a bit, but soon grew bored. He sat down cross-legged to meditate and waited quietly for the realm ship to reach the empire.
Just then—whoosh—
His star mirror lit up.
"Hmm? It's Du Yun."
"He's contacting me?"
"So he knows I came to the Origin Heaven Palace."
Zhao Xing had business at the Origin Heaven Palace, but since Du Yun wasn't anywhere near the First Void Ancestral Star System, he hadn't bothered reaching out.
Whoosh—
Du Yun's projection appeared before Zhao Xing.
"Brother Du, you knew I went to the Origin Heaven Palace? It's not that I didn't want to find you—I've just been pressed for time with all these tasks—"
But Du Yun interrupted with a serious face. "Zhao Xing, we can catch up later. I have something important. Please accept two more people into this call."
"Alright," Zhao Xing agreed immediately.
The star mirror screen split, showing not just Du Yun, but also two familiar yet distant faces.
"Lord of Purple Moon Mansion and Lord of Yuqing Mansion?"
Seeing them, memories of Zhao Xing's early days in the universe flooded back—how the Lord of Purple Moon Mansion had picked him up at the star gate. Thanks to Purple Moon's resources, he broke through to the Primordial Realm and went to Moonfall Mausoleum, earning his first fortune. That was also when he met Du Yun, who back then was expected to succeed Purple God Mansion.
After the fall of the Yuanhai Ancient Kingdom, Zhao Xing had lost track of what happened to Qing Yuzi's forces.
It had been 8,000 years since those days, and only now did he see these two again.
"What do they want with me?" Zhao Xing asked. Du Yun, as a member of Purple God Mansion, was also tied to Qing Yuzi.
"I don't know," Du Yun shook his head. "They refused to explain, only saying it's urgent and related to Senior Qing Yuzi. They insisted on meeting you directly."
"Where are you?" Zhao Xing looked at the two lords.
"Tianyou Ancient Kingdom, Bowa Star Continent."
"I'm on my way," Zhao Xing said without hesitation, immediately redirecting his ship.
For personal and professional reasons, he had to check this out. Besides, since Bowa Star Continent was in the Xuanling Star Domain, if the two lords had been corrupted by an evil god, all the better—capturing them here would bring Zhao Xing a nice chunk of contribution points. Any evil god operating here couldn't be very powerful, so it'd be easy pickings.
"I can't leave right now. The Calamity of Hunger Technique training has reached a critical stage. Zhao Xing, I'm counting on you," Du Yun said.
"No problem."
Three months later, Zhao Xing's White Jade Five-Tombs Boat landed on Bowa Star Continent.
Rumble—
The ship's hatch opened. Zhao Xing stepped out onto the treetops, scanning the entire continent.
He quickly located Yuqing Emperor, Purple Moon Emperor, and the divine temple.
"So Old Qing has a temple here too?"
Zhao Xing's figure blurred, and in the next instant, he appeared right outside the temple doors.
"What exactly is going on?"
Zhao Xing scanned the entire Bowa Star Continent but sensed nothing unusual. The world here lay bare before him. Still, he put on his Time Valley Rain Robe—better safe than sorry.
"Zhao Shennong, just a few months ago…" the Lord of Purple Moon Mansion began, recounting everything that had happened. Under Zhao Xing's soul sense, there was no way he could lie.
After listening, Zhao Xing nodded. "Old Qing once said there'd be a chance to meet in the Third Era of the Wild Domain. Could something have gone wrong while he was out working?"
The Purple Moon and Yuqing Emperors didn't know where Qing Yuzi had gone, but Zhao Xing did—Old Qing had traveled into the past. He pictured Old Qing leaving his hometown to work in a big city, only to be bullied by local thugs.
'Did Old Qing stumble into something big again? If he was in real trouble, he should've asked the Reincarnation Temple for help—why call me?' Zhao Xing frowned in doubt. But in the end, he sent a avatar into the temple anyway.
No matter what, he and Qing Yuzi shared a bond. If Old Qing was really in trouble, Zhao Xing would help as long as it was within his ability. Plus, since it was just a avatar, he could sever the connection at any time. There was no way he'd get dragged into something as dangerous as the Dongyan Ancient Clan's revival.
Buzz—
As Zhao Xing's soul fragment entered, the bronze cauldron inside the temple burst into flames. A torn piece of paper floated up within the fire.
"Hmm?"
Zhao Xing's stronger senses immediately picked up more details than Purple Moon or Yuqing could. This was a page ripped from a history book—it wasn't just pulsing with temporal energy but radiated the essence of historical records.
Crunch, crunch—
The paper began to fracture from the edges inward, like an enormous mouth was slowly devouring it.
"Dammit!"
Zhao Xing ignited his Azure Flower, Blue Abyss, and Profound Soul energies. In this setting, these three forces were more effective than his Shennong trio.
As he poured his power into the cauldron, more information appeared before his eyes:
[Tianyou Chronicles, Book of Kings, Volume Seven, Emperor Hongyi]
Zhao Xing paused, quickly recalling that this referred to the reign of Tianyou Ancient Kingdom's seventh ruler, around the 37th Era before the Wild Domain—from the 1003rd solar year of that era until the 34th year of the 35th era. Emperor Hongyi had ruled for two eras before abdicating to try for the godhood realm, but he failed and perished.
Soon, the writing shifted:
[Tianyou Chronicles, Book of Kings, Volume Eleven, Duke Zongduzhen IV]
Zhao Xing's brow furrowed.
Then it changed again:
[Book of Kings, Volume Fourteen]
[Book of Kings, Volume Twenty-Three]
The timeline spanned vast periods but trended steadily closer to the present. Each time new text appeared, the page would first mend, then become tattered again.
Crunch, crunch—
When the timeline reached the 8th Era before the Wild Domain, an image appeared on the Tianyou Chronicles page. Zhao Xing could hear the distinct gnawing noises.
And then he finally understood Qing Yuzi's message.
"Old Qing, are you trying to say that a group of mature Historical Bookworms is traveling through the river of time, devouring history along the way?"
He looked up at Qing Yuzi's statue. Tears were streaming from its stone eyes.
"You've got to be kidding me…" Zhao Xing sucked in a cold breath. "Is this for real?"
If it was true, it spelled big trouble. He instantly thought of countless possibilities. Historical records represented collective memory; if they were destroyed, mass memory manipulation could follow. It'd be like that time he and Yang Baihe experienced a transmission realm where the grand tutor and king were secretly evil. Or like when star historians altered history, such as the Dongyan Ancient Clan's plot—Dongyan Hai had swapped the Yuanhai King without anyone noticing until it was too late.
Moreover, historical records in the Third Era of the Wild Domain provided temporal stability. If powerful bookworms were unleashed on the past, even the protection of Xuanling historical records could fail.
"The Bookworm Calamity… the longer you live, the weirder things you see," Zhao Xing muttered, his scalp tingling at the implications. He quickly committed every bit of Qing Yuzi's message to memory.
But then something outside the temple changed.
"I can't figure out what's going on with the divine lord. Why would he send for Zhao Xing? Could he be in danger?" the Lord of Purple Moon Mansion said anxiously.
But the Yuqing Emperor beside him looked blankly into space.
Purple Moon turned to him with a puzzled look.
Suddenly, Yuqing Emperor's expression shifted. He stared at Purple Moon like he didn't recognize him. "Who are you? How did you get here?"
Purple Moon Emperor stared, bewildered, glancing from Zhao Xing to Yuqing. "Yuqing, what's wrong with you? It's me, Purple Moon!"
But Yuqing's eyes only grew colder. Moments later, his face twisted with rage. His eyes went bloodshot.
"You traitorous scum! Die!"
Clang!
Blades of heart energy burst from Yuqing Emperor, shooting straight at Purple Moon.
"What? You—"
Thud, thud—
Purple Moon Emperor was blasted backward, his aura plummeting. If Zhao Xing hadn't snapped back to reality in time to intervene, Purple Moon would've died on the spot.
"Let me go! Who are you? This is internal Tianyou business—" Yuqing shouted.
Zhao Xing grabbed Yuqing Emperor and knocked him unconscious. He then caught Purple Moon before he fell. "Are you alright?"
"What… what's happening?" Purple Moon Emperor gasped, utterly confused.
"You two have lived too long," Zhao Xing sighed. "The temporal disruption is reaching all the way back to when you were born."
"If I remember right, you're from the 7th Era before the Wild Domain, correct?"
"Yes. Yuqing is even older than me…" But as he spoke, Purple Moon Emperor suddenly fell silent. He turned to Zhao Xing, his eyes wide with terror. "Who… who are you? Why am I here?"