novelODS Chapter 430 - 209: Seas of Change, Return to Santi Town
Chapter 430 - 209: Seas of Change, Return to Santi Town
The Celestial Realm was by no means omnipotent.
Of that, there was no doubt.
The reason was simple: if the Celestial Realm were truly omnipotent, it wouldn’t be so wary of Li Chang’an teaching the Martial Dao in the Mortal Realm.
It was a mixture of truth and deception, of feints and reality.
It had to be said that the Celestial Realm’s methods of rule were quite effective, so much so that even Li Chang’an couldn’t be certain how much of what he knew about them was real and how much was false.
Unfortunately, traveling outside the Fire Realm with such a large group of Hell Humans was far too dangerous, so Li Chang’an hadn’t been able to learn more about the Celestial Realm from the Sunrise God.
After dealing with the frenzied Guardian Gods, Li Chang’an led the Hell Humans out of the Northwest Fire Realm and prepared to head toward the Three Rivers Region, the former home of the Fusang Tribe.
As they traveled, Li Chang’an needed to conceal the Hell Humans’ massive, obviously inhuman bodies and their monstrous faces, which could frighten a child to tears on sight.
To do this, he modified the Spirit Communication Skill he had once developed for the Enlightenment of all things. He altered it so it could temporarily change the body and appearance of its targets, then used the new version to give the entire group of Hell Humans a complete physical transformation.
The transformed Hell Humans still looked a bit odd.
But at least they were no longer as conspicuous as before.
As they made their way back, Li Chang’an discovered that the major tribes had changed significantly over the past four hundred years. Most noticeably, the human population had grown, and their settlements had become more concentrated.
More towns had been built along the riverbanks.
There were even fishing boats out on the water, pulling in their nets.
Ever since leaving the Fire Realm and arriving in the outside world, the Hell Humans had been in a constant state of amazement and envy.
The environment in Hell, their home, was exceptionally harsh.
If they hadn’t been descendants of the Human Emperor, able to cultivate and highly adaptable, they would have likely gone extinct tens of thousands of years ago.
In comparison, the Mortal Realm before them seemed like paradise—the climate was temperate, the soil was fertile, and everywhere they looked was arable land and edible flora and fauna...
In the past, they had all seen snippets describing the outside world in their ancestral records, but it had never felt real. They had assumed these were just fairy tales left behind by their ancestors.
Only now, seeing the outside world with their own eyes, did they finally understand what they had missed. They understood why chieftain after chieftain had desperately wanted to lead them out of Hell and return to the Mortal Realm.
Indeed, compared to the Mortal Realm they were now witnessing, the place they had lived before was a veritable purgatory, a place where survival was a constant struggle.
While the Hell Humans were filled with awe, Li Chang’an’s observations were far more detailed and comprehensive.
As he traveled, he realized the outside world had changed.
In the past, small tribes had struggled to survive on remote, barren lands.
But now, those lands unsuitable for human life were largely deserted. Everyone had moved to relatively more prosperous and affluent ’Large Towns.’
In many of these ’Large Towns,’ several tribes now lived together. Though conflicts arose between them, they were generally manageable.
Furthermore, in the past, every tribe had to worship a Guardian God. But as Li Chang’an traveled along the Sanjiang River, he found very few of them among the tribes. Instead, he saw many children diligently practicing the horse stance, laying their foundation to cultivate the Martial Dao.
Of course, that wasn’t the most important discovery.
Most importantly, Li Chang’an was stunned to find that the banner of the Fusang Tribe, which had once belonged to them alone, was now flying over the majority of tribes on both banks of the Sanjiang River.
The original totem on the Fusang Tribe’s banner had been a sun rising from the clouds. But now, an imposing, dark gray dragon had been added, positioned between the sun and the clouds.
Two pale purple horns grew from the dragon’s head, and its massive body emerged from the clouds with the immense authority of a descending Celestial God.
After observing it for a moment, Li Chang’an couldn’t help but smile with satisfaction.
Clearly, in the centuries since his departure, the Fusang Tribe had not stagnated. Like a Mandala Flower that could still bloom tenaciously in Hell, it had flourished against the odds, swaying gracefully in the wind.
After nearly half a month of unhurried travel, during which Li Chang’an would occasionally enter towns to gather information, he quickly gained a preliminary understanding of the four hundred years he had been away.
After he left, the Fusang Tribe had broken itself into smaller groups. They spread out across the entire Sanjiang River Basin, changing their names as they disseminated the Cultivation Method of the Martial Dao.
In the beginning, they faced immense resistance from both the local people and their Guardian Gods. The people didn’t understand the Martial Dao and couldn’t believe it could grant them power comparable to that of a Guardian God.
The Guardian Gods, for their part, were never allies of humanity to begin with. They relied on the Incense offerings of mortals for their very survival, so they would never allow humans to grasp the key to the Extraordinary World.
On top of that, the Celestial Realm continuously issued orders for the Guardian Gods to hunt down and kill all members of the Fusang Tribe.
In those days, the Fusang Tribe became pariahs, hunted by everyone like stray dogs. It was during that period that the tribe suffered its greatest losses and faced its most perilous crisis.