Longevity Heavenly Dynasty, seventy-two provinces.
Those capable of observing the changing times, be they immortals or mortals, be they from the Human Clan or other lifeforms, were all now watching one place, watching one person.
Qiantang Province, Master Tao Qian.
Unexpected changes, unexpected major events.
Previously, everyone thought that the seventy-two provinces in the north and south would experience chaotic wars for at least dozens to hundreds of years. The Cultivation World and even various great powers from the Outer Realm, each supporting their own agents, thus gave rise to all sorts of warlords who blurred the lines between good and evil.
Warlords emerged one after another, first engaging in chaotic battles to determine the Hidden Dragon Heavenly Pride.
Then, they would form alliances and battle again until a new Human Emperor emerged, ending the chaos and restoring peace.
But who would have expected, on this ordinary day, a great upheaval to occur?
That person, reportedly only in the world to face his Cultivation Tribulation, the first Heavenly Pride of the Daoists, Spirit Treasure Daoist Master Tao, suddenly announced his intent to formally step into the limelight and seemed to be preparing to contest for supremacy with other Heavenly Prides.
And that was just the first major change.
Immediately following, a second reversal occurred.
Master Tao, who clearly had the support of Tianzhi Gong's lineage, promising to refine a Governance Divine Machine for him, and had acquired a mechanical army.
He also had a reliable team under his command, as well as the territories of Tiannan and Qiantang provinces.
Furthermore, if one considered it, New Moon Province governed by the Ancestor Dragon Society could also be counted under Master Tao's command.
Amongst the various warlords contesting for supremacy, such a force was second only to Yu Yanshi, Zhang Jinluan, Hong Fu, and Si Xixin.
Just when everyone thought that Master Tao was about to commence a conquest battle.
He unexpectedly made a declaration of a grand vow that was hard to imagine, leaping out of the fray of warlords and directly exercising the power of the Human Emperor, wishing to change the heavens and earth once again and rebuild the Forbidden Law Barrier.
The whole nation was in uproar, with all eyes focused on him.
Civilians, who already saw Master Tao as a savior, all prayed that the scattered Ancestor God Treasures across the lands would go to Master Tao.
"Treasures, all the treasures in the world, if you truly possess spirits, hurry to Master Tao, we do not seek longevity or transcendence, only to restore the Ancestor God Forbidden Technique and expel these man-eating demons and mutated humans."
"Peace, we, the common people, only seek peace."
"This man-eating era, please end quickly."
"Previously, although we civilians had hardships, we still had a chance to live; now, we are living worse than death."
"Are we still human? No, we are mere food, two-legged livestock for others to use."
"Valley God Gui, Yu Ding, Spring and Autumn Chariot, Demon Cleansing Bell, Sun God Drum, Demon Refining Pot, Ten Thousand Gods Banner, Measuring World Ruler...eight treasures already, and the other of the Nine States' Twelve Treasures, other Ancestor God Treasures, please, hurry to Master Tao."
…
What is meant by the will of the people? This is it.
As the Cultivation World merged with the mundane, a lot of transcendent secrets became widespread, and thus many ordinary mortals also knew some common cultivation knowledge.
In the eyes of a few, especially those who had luckily embarked on the path of cultivation, the shattering of the Longevity Barrier may not necessarily be a bad thing.
But for most mortals, it was clearly a great disaster, a curse.
The old times: where a commoner suffered from much exploitation, but their life could be preserved, and if lucky, in most provinces they could survive and thrive, raise children, and propagate.
The current times: demons rampant, frequently culminating in city slaughters, even if one's fate was good and these were avoided, the internal tribulations of the Human Clan could not be prevented, entering cultivation was easy, but preventing mutation was difficult, once mutated, killing and cannibalism was inevitable, living in such a world, everyone's life was uncertain, circumstances dire.
Incidents like "children who cultivated the Secret Book mutated and cooked their parents for food," "mortals slaughtering relatives to cultivate demonic divine abilities," "cultivators spreading Fishing Scripture to raise food and consume them" … and so on.
These numerous tragedies and disasters, every moment, in every province, every city, every county, every village… in every household, were occurring.
Everyone like a dragon?
No, absolutely impossible.
If it were normal, or the kind of cultivation path like Tao Qian's former life, perhaps everyone could be like a dragon.
But the cultivation in this world was fundamentally twisted, mutated.
Those leading in cultivation, even the immortals, only a few could stay on the Righteous path.
Most, while transforming into monster evil gods themselves, also mutated into beings like "fishing men," continuously plotting to kill more of the Human Clan.
Tao Qian could hardly imagine, if such a world continued for another hundred years, what would it become?
Most likely, the world would be filled with twisted demons.
It was foreseeing these that led to Tao Qian's current drastic actions.
As treasures came to him, the foul fortune of the emitted qi thickened.
The first major crisis facing Tao Qian, being surrounded and attacked by several Ultimate Happiness Evil People, also showed signs of easing.
These cunning evil demons feared the backlash of the evil fortune, hiding themselves, no longer approaching.
But before disappearing, each carried a sneering mockery:
"Old Thief Duobao, your disciple indeed has some methods, but alas, too naïve, merely a Cavernous Mystery Cultivator, commanding nothing but a few cats and dogs, and even with your Spirit Treasure Sect Ten Thousand Immortals not daring to descend the mountain to aid, he foolishly dreams of re-establishing the Longevity Barrier alone, would it not be considered that the Ancestor Dragon is nothing but trash?"
"Daydreaming must face backlash; we'll just wait and see, let alone all Ancestor God Treasures, this child probably can't even gather the complete Nine States' Twelve Treasures."
"This child has accomplished a lot, possesses the leading Human Dao Fortune of his age, but he is not overwhelming to other Heavenly Pride Hidden Dragons, whence comes such courage thinking all Ancestor God Treasures will come to him?"
"Hahaha, Duobao, aren't you proficient in divination? How come you indulge such a foolish disciple? We, who vaguely understand the destiny of cultivation, do not see that Human Dao Tribulation is barely beginning, this child's intent to shorten that century of tribulation, how is it different from seeking death?"
...
The mockery and derision from the evil people, Tao Qian simply ignored.
Still with eyes tightly closed, immersed in the prayers of all people, calling together with all mortals below the heavens for all divine treasures to come forth.
After about a few dozen breaths, great disturbances occurred in the three provinces of Desert North, Tiandu, and Hanxi.
Again, three ancestor god treasures crossed mountains and seas to come forth.
They were a bow and arrow, a longsword, and a divine pen.
Like the previous eight treasures, these three also had significant origins.
They were respectively called Qiankun Bow and Sky-shooting Arrow, Emperor's Sword, and Creation Pen.
Their power and utility, all divine.
By now, out of the heaviest of the [Nine States' Twelve Artifacts], Tao Qian had successfully summoned eleven.
Eleven divine lights surged to the sky, enveloping Tao Qian within them.
The resulting tremor was not just in Qiantang Province.
All over the Northern Land, no one was unaware, no one was not shocked.
Even without the protection of Duobao's avatar at this moment, those evil demons from the Ultimate Happiness Realm dared not come to kill him.
The treasures around him were simply too numerous.
And all were human dao divine treasures; killing their master, even if just one backlash occurred, would not be bearable, let alone eleven together, which would cause immediate mutation and death upon impact, even in Ultimate Happiness.
Moreover, amid the daze, everyone seemed to witness an incredible scene: an imposing figure recognized by all people standing atop the Spring and Autumn Chariot, Yu Ding enhancing his fortune, wielding the Creation Divine Pen, his waist hung with the Emperor's Holy Sword, nurturing the people with Valley God Gui, governing the country with Measuring World Ruler... truly as if the Ancestor Dragon had been reborn, the Human Emperor had arrived.
By this stage, one would say Tao Qian's plan should be successful.
Alas, cruel progress followed swiftly.
The eleven artifacts were gathered, but that most crucial twelfth artifact did not appear.
Waiting left and right, there was no movement.
Without all twelve artifacts, let alone the other ancestor god treasures?
Far from the re-establishment of the barrier.
At this moment, Tao Qian received mockery from a real formidable enemy.
From the outer realm, suddenly, a terrifying projection appeared before Tao Qian.
Shockingly, it was a withered, drained cancer secret realm, within which twelve incomparably huge, indescribable shadowy monsters lay sprawled in disarray.
It seemed as if they were all in a state of drunkenness.
Dazed, unable to sober up.
"Alchemist!"
"Twelve Transformed Emperor Kings!"
In just a moment, Tao Qian recognized the identities of these twelve shadows.
As it turned out, this was their first encounter, and there should have been a thirteenth figure—the Gao Family's Ancestor, the Divine Martial Emperor Gao Huan.
Unfortunately, his luck was not very good, encountering Tao Qian unexpectedly and being tricked by him into a deadly pitfall.
Of course, Gao Huan was ultimately a Daoist Transformation.
Being tricked leading to his roots being severed, he could have still struggled to survive for another century without a problem.
However, his companions couldn't endure, sensing that he had been gravely hurt, they directly barged into his Daoist secret realm and voraciously devoured him.
Gao Huan's flesh, infused with endless dao power, naturally also carried horrific contamination.
Ordinary cultivators, even those in Ultimate Happiness Realm, would surely die explosively upon ingestion.
But for those in Daoist Transformation Realm, the reaction wasn't so severe; at most they would be dazed for a while.
Such was the scene at this moment!
Twelve emperors, all drunk.
In between, they likely had a few snacks, such as Gao Yang, Gao Zhan, Gao Wei, and others from the Gao Family who had also been emperors.
That terrifyingly contaminated projection, vanished in an instant.
Yet, the ramblings and chaotic drunk words of those twelve emperors turned into a series of rustling, indescribable whispers and murmurs that drilled into Tao Qian's ears.
"Tao the little thief... thank you for your hospitality, I've craved Gao Huan's flesh for a long time."
"Thoroughly enjoyable, thoroughly enjoyable, my heart is greatly comforted. Once we catch you, we can spare you the death penalty."
"Little things, do not struggle, although you have the support of some ignorant people, you fundamentally do not understand how much human dao fortune is needed to summon all Forbidden Technique Fragments, and after gathering them, to fuse them together to rebuild the barrier, how much treasure and provisions are needed, unless you can convince your Spirit Treasure Sect Master, it's impossible, merely futile."
"Tao Qian, I like you very much, once you fail, I will bestow you the Li surname and adopt you as my foster son."
"Tao Qian, I am Emperor Liu of the Liu Family, I also like you very much, once you fail, I won't kill you, and might even marry my daughter to you, you can call me father now."
...
ps: More updates are coming, everyone can cast their monthly tickets.