Chapter 2018 April 17th, 9:49 AM

Earth, Zheng Nation, Unnamed Secret Realm.

True Dragon Jiu Ming, dressed in a long robe, cautiously followed behind the formally dressed Wen Sheng (Sage of Culture), who wore a long robe and carried a sword. The two walked through a narrow mountain valley path filled with various monitoring formations, arriving at a black tower located beside a cold pond in the mountain stream.

The valley wasn't wide. Aside from a waterfall, a cold pond, a lush meadow, and a few scattered small trees, there was only a black tower about a hundred meters high.

The place looked serene and ancient. If the tower were replaced with a thatched hut, it would truly feel like the dwelling of an ancient hermit.

"Just where is this place… and there were so many monitoring formations along the way. It looks like an ordinary place; is there a need to make such a fuss?"

Although incredibly puzzled, Jiu Ming still followed behind the silent old man, muttering to himself. His eyes inadvertently swept across both sides, then widened in astonishment, "Wait!?"

Heavens above—those seemingly unremarkable small trees beside the cold pond… they all faintly exuded an aura of 'divine wood'!?

"Divine wood planted just a few years ago. To become useful, it'll probably take a few hundred years."

"We plant the trees; future generations will enjoy the shade."

Just then, Jiu Ming heard the old man's calm reply from ahead. The voice pulled him from his shock, causing him to turn back and look ahead.

They had arrived in front of the black tower.

The towering tower was black. It had no markings, no decorations, just a completely black, tall, and slender structure resembling a black bamboo shoot.

The tower's base didn't even have a door, leaving one wondering how to enter.

But soon, as Wen Sheng solemnly drew a simple and dignified long sword from his waist, using spiritual power to activate sword qi and touch the black tower, a dark and deep doorway, leading to who-knew-where, faintly appeared on it.

Throughout the entire process, Jiu Ming had been nervously watching the sword.

The Chixiao Sword.

The Chixiao Sword, also known as the Snake-Slaying Sword, represented not only magnificent human authority but also had a significant damage bonus against dragons and snakes—ordinary dragon and snake variants, and even Dragon Qi carriers, would be subdued upon encountering this sword.

But for some reason, Su Zhou hadn't been afraid at all, which had puzzled Wen Sheng at the time, leading him to wonder if there was something wrong with the Chixiao Sword.

And now, sensing Jiu Ming's breathless, nervous appearance behind him, Wen Sheng nodded slightly, knowing that it wasn't the sword that was the problem, but Su Zhou.

But, could it be that Su Zhou wasn't a dragon? That shouldn't be.

Never mind, now isn't the time to think about such questions.

"Come in."

Sheathing the Chixiao Sword, the formally dressed old man stepped into the dark passage leading into the tower, and Jiu Ming, after shivering, quickly followed.

But, it was different from what he had seen from the outside.

The moment he stepped into the dark passage, Jiu Ming felt a sensation of swaying, as if being teleported—and the next moment, he disappeared from the quiet valley and appeared in an extremely quiet palace hall.

Then, he was surrounded by countless floating jade tablets and light patterns.

The space inside the tower was much larger than it appeared from the outside—this was some kind of mustard seed containing a universe, the Daoist magic of holding the cosmos in one's palm.

The hall that Jiu Ming could see alone was at least five hundred meters long and wide, and this was just a part of it. There were passages leading to other halls and palaces all around, and in the center of the hall were stairs leading to higher levels.

But the most important thing was the jade tablets.

At this moment, Jiu Ming felt as if he were in a sea of stars—in the dark palace hall with no other light sources, thousands upon thousands of translucent jade tablets and light patterns slowly undulated and rotated with the rise and fall of spiritual energy, like the Milky Way in the summer night sky.

Each jade tablet moved in the air with great regularity, their movements resembling the trajectories of stars. Light bands connected each jade tablet, with ancient runes rising and falling, profound and mysterious.

And the True Dragon youth was in a corner of this galaxy, watching jade tablets sweep past him, like shooting stars, like swimming fish.

"Wait here. I'll go to the top of the Transmission Tower to search for information about the ancient Lords related to you."

Wen Sheng's expression was solemn. He reached out and extracted a wisp of aura from Jiu Ming's body.

Then, holding this wisp of aura, he stepped onto the stairs leading to the top of the building called the 'Transmission Tower.'

Before leaving, the old man instructed, "This is where the inheritances of our Zheng Nation converge. Even the Holy Seats need permission to enter. This situation is special, concerning ancient Lords, so you're allowed to come, which counts as an opportunity."

"Although you can't walk around freely, you can browse at random and perhaps gain something."

Aside from that, Wen Sheng didn't say much else.

Left in place, Jiu Ming couldn't object. He could only look around at the floating jade tablets of inheritance and nod in a daze, "Okay."

After Wen Sheng disappeared above the stairs, and the pressure from the Chixiao Sword completely vanished, the True Dragon youth sighed in relief.

"Too exciting…"

Ever since he joined that Pioneer Space, he hadn't stopped at all.

Whether it was fighting in the mission worlds or being busy after returning to Zheng Nation, it gave Jiu Ming, who was used to quietly cultivating at the bottom of the sea and occasionally looking up at the stars, a strange feeling, a sense of being excessively fulfilled.

Especially after he accidentally exchanged for the option to return to Earth for ten days, he had spent the last seven days being questioned about the specific situation of the Pioneer Space, and then undergoing planned training, cultivation, and being taught various special combat techniques.

And now, he was even brought to this extremely secret place, the 'Transmission Tower,' whose location he had no idea how to enter or where it was specifically located, to search for information about the ancient Lords.

"Browse at random, huh?"

Wen Sheng's words echoed in his mind. Finally able to be alone and rest for a while, Jiu Ming sat down on the ground and reached out, wanting to casually grab a jade tablet in front of him.

But unexpectedly, this grab, which seemed casual but actually had nearly Commander-level speed, missed—the jade tablet dodged Jiu Ming's hand, slipping away.

And just as the True Dragon youth hadn't reacted, another jade tablet flew in from who-knew-where and automatically landed in his hand.

"…So it really is random?"

Tsking, Jiu Ming didn't pick and choose. He knew that this was probably some kind of rule inside the Transmission Tower, "Oh, I see, the first floor of the Transmission Tower doesn't have cultivation method inheritances. Most of them are records of immortals and gods, and various miscellaneous publications? Oh well, I didn't plan to find any divine skills or secret manuals here anyway."

Thinking this, he probed with his mind, entering the jade tablet to receive the information within.

Then, Jiu Ming learned that the jade tablet in his hand was a collection of notes from a Thunder God named Fu Lian.

Most of them recorded His exchanges and responses with a Qingqiu King named Tushan Rong.

"Qingqiu people?"

Knowing this, Jiu Ming immediately felt curious—recently, the topic of the Qingqiu people had been big news across the entire Earth.

It was also thanks to the existence of the Qingqiu people that even if he claimed to have cut off contact with the outside world, if someone with ulterior motives were to investigate, they would definitely realize that he was missing, rather than in secluded cultivation.

"This is really fate."

With such a sigh, the True Dragon youth continued to delve deeper into the jade tablet with his mind, starting to formally read the contents.

Then, countless fragments of memory surged out, transforming into scenes of floating light and shadow, pouring into Jiu Ming's mind.

In an instant, the dark and deep main hall of the Transmission Tower, originally like a cosmic starry sky, transformed into a magnificent palace of gold, jade, and white stone.

And Jiu Ming himself, since who-knows-when, had transformed into a tall immortal god, seated on the main seat.

And a nine-tailed celestial fox with long black hair, a beautiful and perfect face, more elegant than anyone Jiu Ming had ever seen, was wearing some kind of gorgeous royal robe, respectfully bowing to him, and asking with confusion.

"Your Excellency, why bestow so many gifts upon the Qingqiu people, causing them to give up effort and struggle, only to indulge in endless pleasure?"

The nine-tailed celestial fox's tone was sorrowful, but his voice was very pleasant. Even his lamentation was captivating, "I want to make the Qingqiu people rise up, but most of the citizens have no motivation at all—they think that labor and doing things themselves are behaviors of the lower class. The Qingqiu are a race blessed by immortals and gods and shouldn't do these things."

"Your Excellency, I want to work hard to change, but most Qingqiu people don't want to—as long as the immortals and gods continue to give gifts, and as long as these temptations exist, the Celestial Foxes will continue to be lost…"

At this point, Jiu Ming had roughly learned from the information in these jade tablet memory fragments that he had transformed into a Thunder God named Fu Lian, and the nine-tailed celestial fox before him was the Qingqiu King named Tushan Rong.

Rong's voice seemed to directly touch the soul, causing one to unconsciously think and feel along with his tone. Jiu Ming was even a little emotionally moved for a moment, but the immortal god he had transformed into wasn't.

"Rong, we don't care about these."

Jiu Ming could feel that 'his' heart was incomparably calm. Neither the black nine-tailed fox's sorrowful tone nor the Qingqiu people's state of indulging in pleasure could cause the slightest ripple in the Thunder God's heart. He truly didn't care.

"You crave, so we give. Your depravity has nothing to do with the immortals and gods. It's that your mortal nature still craves these pleasures, a sign that the Qingqiu race is not yet mature."

"If that's the case."

Hearing this, the Qingqiu King seemed to make up his mind. His eyebrows rose, and he looked up at the immortal god with resolution, "Then I am willing, as the Qingqiu King, to completely give up the Qingqiu nation's right to autonomy and let the immortals and gods directly rule us!"

"I am willing to give up all the rights of the royal family and request an immortal god to come—like the Heavenly Pool Dragon King—to end this one-sided gifting from the Divine Court and let us contribute to the Divine Court like the Heavenly Pool Realm!"

Hearing this, Jiu Ming, from Fu Lian's perspective, was immediately stunned—he hadn't expected that even here, he would be connected to the Heavenly Pool Dragon King, his teacher? No wonder this jade tablet was fated to be with him, there was actually a connection.

He listened even more carefully, wanting to know why the Heavenly Pool Realm was brought up.

To the Qingqiu King's request, the Thunder God only shook his head slightly.

"You're mistaken, Rong."

His voice was like the subtle and continuous rumbling of thunder in the spring night sky, gentle but with a heart-shaking majesty, "Where there is rule, there are masses. Where there are masses, there is blind obedience. Where there is blind obedience, there will be no independent thought."

"If the immortals and gods were to randomly rule mortals, they would only create a group of ignorant people who only knew to revere immortals and worship gods. We immortals and gods have never needed to 'rule' anyone, only to have the following of 'immortal citizens' with independent thinking."

"Those who follow the immortals and gods are all mature immortal citizens. And the Heavenly Pool Realm, under the Heavenly Pool Dragon King's governance, has matured and is one of the recently promoted 'immortal domains.' Qingqiu, still a 'mortal nation,' is still far from it."

This was the second time Jiu Ming had heard the word 'mature,' and mortal people, immortal citizens, mortal nations, immortal domains, and such were all proper nouns.

But even so, he could still roughly summarize something.

The nine-tailed celestial fox named Tushan Rong, as the Qingqiu King, wanted to carry out reforms, but because the residents of the Qingqiu Star had been constantly gifted various resources by the immortals and gods, there were vast resources there, and the people were lazy, lacking the motivation to strive, so reforms were impossible.

Therefore, this Qingqiu King pleaded for the immortals and gods to stop gifting and even planned to give up the right to autonomy as an independent country, actively becoming a directly ruled part of the other side.

But the immortals and gods refused, because Qingqiu wasn't mature enough.

—The people on both sides are strange.

Thinking this, Jiu Ming was a little unable to understand.

On the one hand, they were clearly taking advantage, but they didn't want it, even planning to actively contribute. On the other hand, they were clearly at a disadvantage, but they refused to refuse, but when the other side wanted to dedicate themselves, they were disgusted that they weren't mature enough.

However, this Thunder God is praising Heavenly Pool, how wonderful!

As a spiritual Heavenly Pool person, Jiu Ming could naturally feel the Thunder God's appreciation and admiration for the Heavenly Pool Dragon King and the Heavenly Pool Realm. The feeling of his own teacher being praised by an ancient immortal god made him unable to breathe with satisfaction.

And the illusion in the jade tablet continued.

After being rejected, the Qingqiu King's body trembled slightly, seeming to be very agitated.

"Since, since Your Excellency dislikes us for not being mature enough, then why must you gift us so many resources, not allowing us to develop independently?!"

He said unwillingly, "A fox that doesn't actively seek food, as long as it stays in its nest, food will fall from the sky. Even if such a creature grows up, it can't possibly mature!"

"Grow up? That's just what you think. In reality, in our eyes, the Qingqiu people are still children."

Calmly responding to the Qingqiu King's rather 'disrespectful' words, the immortal god's tone was gentle, "We do hope that the children will be able to be independent and mature in the future, but since the other side is young, we must take care of them. Just like now, the child has just learned to walk, saying that they can walk, would you let them walk freely?"

Silence.

In the magnificent hall, silence spread.

After a long time, the Qingqiu King lowered his head weakly, muttering to himself in a daze, "Your Excellency, then what, what exactly counts as mature?"

And the immortal god only smiled.

He didn't answer.

The Thunder God Fu Lian's gaze at the Qingqiu King was like looking at a cute baby having a tantrum, unable to resist wanting to tease, but also unable to resist wanting to give him the best things in the world.

—Even the stars, if he wanted them, he could pick them down for him… it was that kind of loving affection.

At that instant, an extremely strong 'love and expectation' surged through his heart.

And Jiu Ming, from Fu Lian's perspective, seemed to truly become the other.

Therefore, countless memories roared through his mind.

—When is a sentient being truly mature?

For humans in the ordinary ancient tribal period, being able to reproduce after passing puberty could be called mature.

But without a doubt, this standard was no longer viable. How could a teenager who had just passed puberty be called mature? Only animals would divide it that way.

And for humans in modern society, the so-called maturity might be when one could be called mature after reaching eighteen years old, receiving all basic education, and being able to bear criminal responsibility.

But without a doubt, this standard was also outdated. Eighteen years old was, after all, still young. People of this age were impulsive and easily swayed, passionate but difficult to control their actions. Their bodies might be strong, but their spirits were far from independent. There were even individuals called 'giant infants,' whose spiritual essence had not grown at all.

Therefore, for ordinary humans, the latest standard of maturity had become very high.

They had to be able to perceive the connections between people and things, find the intersection between multiple perspectives. They had to have a solid worldview and be able to constantly innovate it, constantly expand their horizons.

The so-called maturity was knowing what consequences one's words and actions would cause, and while being responsible for one's own words and actions, also knowing what one's dreams were and having a complete plan to strive and work hard for them, never being confused.

It could be seen that such a standard could filter out a large portion of people.

It could also be seen that as human civilization continued to progress, the standard of maturity had also changed from mere physical growth to a spiritual standard.

But even so, this harsh standard of maturity was only the standard of 'mortals.'

Then, for the long-standing, ancient, and prosperous immortals and gods in their prime.

For this super-civilization with countless immortals and many Celestials, what was the standard of maturity for the 'immortal domains' and 'immortal citizens' in their mouths?

The perspective shifted, and Jiu Ming felt everything flowing. The magnificent palace disappeared, and he appeared once again, already in front of a giant divine tree.

The towering, majestic, sky-piercing, even world-piercing 'Construction Wood' that directly connected the human and divine realms, was now like a giant ship spanning many worlds, and numerous immortals and gods were walking back and forth on this giant ship, seemingly preparing to depart.

It could be seen that at the top of the sky, there were countless black cracks. They were the space-time fissures in the vacuum of space, just like in this era, and the immortals and gods of the Central Divine Court worked together to lift the ancient divine tree, which was comparable to a planet, comparable to a world, or even far larger than a world, and use it as a ship to traverse the endless void, heading to the unknown universe on the other side.

The Thunder God Fu Lian was about to board the Construction Wood, but he suddenly stopped.

This immortal god didn't look back, didn't turn to look in the direction he wanted to look, he only stood in place, closed his eyes, and fell into thought.

—He remembered.

Fu Lian still remembered the scenes of the cute Qingqiu King's exchanges with him not long ago.

"Your Excellency, we don't want to become auspicious omens… this is simply the source of pain. We're simply… simply treated like pets by you…"

"Child, what you're saying is strange. Why is becoming an auspicious omen painful?"

"Qilin, dragons, Bai Ze, phoenixes… all the races of the immortal citizens are auspicious omens—this is actually a key cultivation list. All auspicious omens are races that we are key protectors of."

"Look, aren't they all auspicious omens? But they are all powerful and prosperous, mature and independent."

Hearing this, the Qingqiu King was speechless, not knowing what to do, and the immortal god's voice rang out with a smile.

"We have cultivated many auspicious omens in turn, spending a long time, and you celestial foxes are one of them, just not fully successful yet."

"But, Rong, just for you, you are actually considered mature, right?"

"Because, you will feel pain because of other people's sympathy, other people's gifts, other people's kindness."

Saying this, the Thunder God stretched out his fair and slender fingers and lifted the Qingqiu King's chin—this frivolous action, performed by this immortal god, was unexpectedly serious and formal. He looked at the Qingqiu King, who didn't know what to do, and then said seriously.

"Your current confusion, as well as your pain, are all because you have begun to mature, so you feel out of place with everything 'mortal.'"

"This proves that our cultivation has indeed had meaning."

At this moment, Jiu Ming felt that in his heart, there was an extremely grand feeling that he couldn't fully understand with his ten-odd years of mind, or even fully describe, was surging from the depths of his heart.

—Immortals and gods are eternal existences, beings that transcend mortals and are completely different from mortals.

They are born from humans, born from the mundane, but transcend them.

And this transcendence is not only power, not only the physical body—just as the standard of human maturity is constantly increasing, the biggest difference between immortals and gods and humans is their different definitions of 'childhood and maturity.'

A purely spiritual transcendence.

Humans—mortals.

A race that is ignorant, blindly obedient, arrogant, ignorant, fragile yet conceited, and never learns from its lessons.

They like to rule others, crave unearned gain, forever pursue desires and pleasures, and if there is an unearned gift, they will definitely disdain diligent labor and struggle.

They take pride in ignorance, take pride in not thinking, believe whatever others say, and while hating autonomous and independent thinking, they will also despise other individuals who think independently.

This is the incorrigible, hairy monkey demon nature rooted in their bloodline.

And for beings with such instincts, for their former kin, how would the immortals and gods treat them?

That is gifting.

Endless gifting.

The immortals and gods will perform all kinds of beautiful acts for these incorrigible monkey demons. They will fulfill all their wishes, burying them in luxurious material enjoyment enough to corrupt them ten thousand times, giving them the best food, the best partners, the best living environment, all doubled.

If they want '1,' give them '2.' If they want '10,' give them '100.'

If they want a new home, give them a brand new life planet. If they want the stars in the sky, then actually pick the stars down and give them.

The power of the immortals and gods exceeds the hairy monkey demons' imagination—everything they crave can be satisfied, even if it is a crazy delusion, self-hatred, or the evil thoughts of self-harm, let them unleash it in illusions, in the Asura Path, in the realms of evil ghosts and animal hells.

Whether it is good or evil, all is gifted.

Therefore, when what can be given is greater than the biological instinct's endless expanding needs, what will humans actually do?

The answer is to feel fear and emptiness.

Facts have proven that humans, after falling for a long time in the 'gentle hell' of having all their desires satisfied, will eventually give birth to some sparks in endless satisfaction.

Because of fear and emptiness, some beings who want to change are born.

They no longer pursue material pleasures, no longer pursue the instinctive desires in their bloodlines, because those things have long been satisfied by the endless power of the immortals and gods and have disappeared.

They abandon those vulgar desires that belong to 'mortals' and begin to pursue higher things.

In the fragments of memory, in the Qingqiu Taixu Space Station located in the universe, the Qingqiu King and the Thunder God stand shoulder to shoulder, looking out at the distant endless stars.

"Rong, what do you think a being who has abandoned the vulgar desires of mortals is?"

The nine-tailed celestial fox shook his head in confusion.

And the one named Lian pursed his lips.

He smiled calmly, facing the universe, and closed his eyes.

"That is the immortal, and the god."

—The so-called immortal is the existence that pursues the 'Great Dao.'

—The so-called god is the existence that maintains the 'norm.'

And the 'Great Dao' and the 'norm' are 'reason.'

Opening his eyes, Fu Lian calmly said, "Immortals and gods are reason."

"We are beings who have abandoned all vulgar desires and pursue 'reason' and 'correctness.' Those who are accomplished are called immortals and gods, and those who uphold this ideal, constantly moving forward, but have not yet achieved anything are 'immortal citizens.'"

"That is the way to be equal to us, not just to be regarded as children, as auspicious omens who have not yet matured."

The celestial fox and the immortal god looked at each other, and the Qingqiu King suddenly felt that he had never understood the true thoughts in the hearts of those seemingly frivolous, seemingly uncaring, powerful beings.

In that pair of eyes flashing with lightning, human instincts, originating from the bloodline, that inherent instinct of being a hairy monkey demon in the genes, had been completely expelled.

Different from all beings who pursue survival, pursue freedom, pursue enjoyment, and pursue material things.

Immortals and gods, from the essence of life and even in their thinking, transcend humans, transcend all mortals.

In their eyes, only those who have completely transcended physical instincts, no longer engage in internal strife, no longer compete for power and profit, work together for truth, and cooperate for order, can be called mature 'immortal citizens.' They are capable of independent thinking, constantly and autonomously absorbing new knowledge to improve, and constantly updating their thinking patterns based on the environment, bravely moving forward.

And all other existences are immature 'mortals.'

And the immortals and gods will educate, correct, expel, and even obliterate mortals according to their innate minds.

Of course, there will still be battles between correctness and correctness, between truth and truth.

There will also be disputes and conflicts among the immortals and gods, because battles and conflicts themselves are also a kind of truth and correctness.

Naturally, there will be base ugliness and shameless sins, and immortals and gods cannot avoid them. They are arrogant and conceited, believing that they are correct, after all, they also evolved from primitive hairy monkey demons, so even if they become more powerful beings, some things will ultimately remain.

But so what?

"Rong."

At the top of the Taixu Space Station, the Thunder God reached out and stroked the Qingqiu King's face.

It didn't carry any erotic desire, only pure appreciation.

Was it appreciating the cuteness of cats and dogs?

Perhaps.

But it was also possible that he was appreciating a child, appreciating a child who wanted to mature, showing that confusion in the process of striving, but even when confused, still wanting to move forward, wanting to pursue maturity, that kind of youthful charm.

"We—all the immortals and gods—are about to leave."

Fu Lian said this, causing Rong to raise his head in shock.

And the Thunder God didn't care about the other party's reaction.

"We are about to leave this world, this universe."

Saying this, Lian withdrew his hand. He turned his head slightly, looking into the depths of the dark void of the distant stars, in the cracks of that starry galaxy.

Then, he chuckled.

"Haha."

The immortal god sighed with a laugh, "Hundreds of thousands of years have passed."

"Since defeating the ancient dragons and phoenixes, defeating the ancient divine beast clusters, and since the chaotic and endless civil wars between the many divine systems, we immortals and gods have stagnated for hundreds of thousands of years, indulging in pure enjoyment and internal strife."

"We have fallen, we are confused, we have stagnated, we have huddled in this small universe, enjoying the paradise created by our power—after all, Rong, we immortals and gods, in essence, are just like you Qingqiu people being bewildered by the power we have gifted you. We are seduced by the superior environment of the Divine Domain Immortal Heaven, which is naturally connected to hundreds of space-time realms, so that we have been unable to set out and move forward, exploring the distance."

"Thanks to the severing of spiritual energy, we have finally awakened from our depravity, so we are about to set out again."

In the clear eyes of the nine-tailed celestial fox, the immortal god's face could be seen at this moment.

What a spirited and reborn expression it was.

Great Dao Calendar, 439,891 years.

In a certain universe world in the multiverse, in a planetary system in the third spiral arm of a galaxy called the Milky Way, a race that had been stagnating in place due to overly favorable natural conditions had now, because of the disaster of severing spiritual energy that affected all the heavens and realms, stopped its long enjoyment and rest, and resolved to return to the correct path of exploring the endless Great Dao and norm.

What was the difference between the ancient immortals and gods and the Qingqiu people?

The latter were nearly penned up on the Qingqiu Star because of the gifts of the immortals and gods, living an immature, almost pet-like life.

And the former were self-enclosed around the Earth realm because of Earth's superior geographical conditions, without the motivation to explore outward.

But, now.

Hundreds of thousands of years later, these long-confused lives awakened because of the arrival of the severing of spiritual energy.

They finally understood their true goal, understood the true meaning of their power.

Therefore, they prepared to begin, heading towards the endless and vast void.

—We immortals and gods have stagnated for hundreds of thousands of years, and at this moment, we are finally about to return to the path of pursuing true 'reason.'

And the Qingqiu people, Tushan Rong, the King of the Qingqiu Nation.

Although you celestial foxes have not yet achieved the same level as the dragons, phoenixes, and qilin of the past, becoming true 'auspicious omens,' becoming true 'immortal citizens.'

However, since there is an individual like you, not because of appetite, not because of lust, not because of the animal-like instincts of hairy monkey demons, but because of reason, because of curiosity, because of wanting to explore and seek knowledge, and so wanting to mature.

There is a life like you, who 'has their own Dao,' who has broken away from 'childhood,' and who wants to strive for the future of the Qingqiu people, then, perhaps the Qingqiu Nation can also become a mature place in the future.

The Thunder God stared at the celestial fox, but said nothing.

The immortals and gods knew everything.

In the long years, they had seen all the ugliness of humanity.

Of course, they could foresee what disastrous consequences there would be when the celestial foxes, who were accustomed to enjoyment, lost them.

Fu Lian could foresee that as resources were no longer abundant, the Qingqiu's nearly communist society would collapse, and they would transform from seemingly elegant auspicious omens into selfish, greedy, and ugly animals, and the Qingqiu Star, now like paradise, would also turn into a bloody demon domain due to internal infighting for resources.

But… that was the process of growth.

—You will suffer, you will need to make your own choices and bear responsibility. You will endure pain and hardship, you will need to be responsible for the tragedy that is about to happen to your race, and you will be tormented by your own morals and heart, and then reflect and struggle.

The immortals and gods could foresee all of this. They could foresee what suffering their descendants, their beloved children, would suffer if they left the Qingqiu people behind, just as they planned to leave a portion of the people in the 'Divine Domain Immortal Heaven,' in the old homeland of the Central Divine Court.

But they would still agree.

Because only in this way, only by being able to endure such pain from beginning to end, could they be considered mature, could they survive maturely in this incredibly free world, which was about to lose all the immortals and gods.

—Exploring the unknown universe is extremely dangerous, we don't know what is behind the other world.

In addition to the immortal citizens who have already matured, there are also some people from other realms who are far from mature and need to be taken care of who will be carried away.

The immortals and gods have already made plans. They will leave some of the races that have begun to mature and are transforming in their homeland, which is those remnants of the immortal realm, as well as the Qingqiu people.

Thinking this, but Fu Lian said nothing, only smiling slightly, unable to resist imagining the future.

If they matured, what kind of fruits would they bear?

—At the same time.

Multiverse, the distant void.

On a world-boat that was larger than a world, completely composed of divine wood, and even constantly growing and becoming larger,

A Thunder God stood on the top of a lookout tower of this giant ship, sailing with this Construction Wood Boat, heading towards the endless distance.

Many years had passed, and the immortals and gods still existed.

Only, they would never return.

After seeing the true vastness of all the heavens and realms, after seeing the true boundless infinity, even if their homeland was warm and lovely, and made them nostalgic, these guys, whose greatest pleasure was exploring the unknown and higher places, would at most be nostalgic, but not turn back.

In the mind of the immortal god Fu Lian, the scenes of his distant homeland could not help but appear.

And the Qingqiu King of the past, who was confused, youthful, and eager to be cared for, flashed through his mind, even deeply imprinted in his memory.

But he would not look back, nor would he return.

"Ah, so many years have passed… how are those little guys who were left behind doing now?"

Just speaking to himself like this, the Thunder God smiled casually and spoke to himself. Then, he looked ahead, and together with the 'Divine Court' that was galloping in the endless void, sailed towards the future.

—Whether it was the Qingqiu people or the remnants of the immortal realm.

They must have become independent and autonomous, developing a path that was completely different from the immortals and gods, a path that was 'their own Dao.'

They left the most favorable environment in their home planet, as well as other realms, to their most promising children.

After breaking away from the immortals and gods, perhaps they could give birth to a mature civilization that was completely different from themselves.

So, would the result be success or failure?

That didn't matter.

Because the immortals and gods didn't care.

The immortals and gods didn't care about the joys and sorrows of mortals.

The immortals and gods didn't care about the fear and trepidation of mortals.

The immortals and gods didn't care about the confusion of mortals.

The immortals and gods didn't care about the blind obedience of mortals.

The immortals and gods didn't care, there were too many things that the immortals and gods didn't care about. They didn't care about the greed of mortals, they didn't care about the madness of mortals, they didn't care about the shock of mortals, they didn't care about the cowardice of mortals.

What did they care about?

They cared about the choices of mortals, they cared about the resistance of mortals, they cared about the refusal, struggle, and reflection of mortals, they cared about the rebelliousness, non-compliance, and independence of mortals.

They cared about courage and anger, cared about curiosity and determination, and everything that could make life move forward.

When one day, mortals became disgusted with the endless gifting and love of the immortals and gods, they would shake off their mortal souls and ignite the spark of transcending mortality and independently seeking the Dao.

That was the prelude to becoming a member of the true immortals and gods.

Until then, the immortals and gods would begin to care.

And then celebrate the appearance of new members.

At the same time, Earth.

April 17, 2018, 10:42 AM.

The outer edge of Earth's atmosphere.

Earth Immortal, Su Zhou, stood on the outside of the Earth. In the sunlight, he took out the Celestial God Scale from his arms and opened the space-time door.

Gray mist spread, eventually transforming into a small spherical space-time channel in a flash of light.

At the end of this channel was the Reincarnation World.

The new generation of immortals and gods calmly gazed at the world on the other side of space-time. He wasn't in a hurry to enter, but turned around and looked down at the entire planet.

The strong.

The strong are evil.

All the strong are bound to be evil.

Because as long as he speaks, his voice will be like thunder, resounding through the sky, causing people's ears to ring.

As long as he begins to act