Journey to the West: Treasure Vase of the Great Dao

Having witnessed the Great Minister of Fate's fall, Lu Yu couldn't help but sigh. Such a powerful Divine Spirit was eliminated simply for being unable to adapt to the changing times, striking him a great blow and intensifying his desire to become stronger.

And that Jade Ruyi, sensing the death of the Great Minister of Fate, transformed into a wisp of ghostly light and vanished into thin air.

Lu Yu felt nothing but reverence towards the unseen Primordial Heavenly Venerable, truly a seeker of Transcendence. His strength must be the absolute pinnacle of the present, with Ancient Deities appearing like infants before him.

"You've done very well," Emperor Fengdu's majestic voice rang in Lu Yu's ears during his dazed moment, filled with an air of approbation.

"Your City God Taoism has brought many benefits to the Underworld. It was because of your connection to the Underworld that I was able to come so swiftly to stop the Great Minister of Fate from destroying the world," Emperor Fengdu said slowly.

"Emperor is too kind. Lu Yu doesn't dare to accept such praise," Lu Yu said humbly.

"Do not be modest. These are indeed your merits. I reckon it won't be long before virtue descends upon you," Emperor Fengdu said with a smile.

Lu Yu felt pleasantly surprised. He hadn't expected that his seemingly inconsequential actions would actually earn him a share of the merit—a most unexpected delight.

"May I ask Your Majesty, who exactly was that Great Minister of Fate just now? Why have I never heard his name mentioned in the Three Realms?" Lu Yu didn't want to miss this excellent opportunity to inquire, so he quickly asked.

"Both the Great Minister of Fate and I are Innate Divine Spirits, born at the beginning of Heaven and Earth's creation. At that time, Pangu slew three thousand Chaos Gods and Demons to form the foundation of this world."

"The Chaos Gods and Demons were aggregations of the Laws, and upon their death, they would return to the Law. Hence, the nascent world was filled with Laws, and the fledgling Heaven and Earth couldn't sustain so many Laws, prompting our birth."

"In that era, gods governed Heaven and Earth, sorting out the Laws and maintaining stability. Among them, Eastern Emperor Taiyi and a few others were the most powerful."

"When Heaven and Earth were young, the human race hadn't been born yet. The land was ruled by various Ancient Giant Beasts, with the naturally numerous and mighty Dragon Clan as the foremost ruler of that epoch, known as the Dragon Era."

"The Dragon Clan had nine Ancestral Dragons, starting with the Ancestral God Dragon and Candle Dragon, alongside five Dragon Kings who governed the power of the Five Elements, as well as the War Dragon King and Winged Dragon King."

"The Dragon Clan spread across the whole land, the skies, and the oceans. However, they were bloodthirsty and brutal, with no reverence in their hearts, thus disliked by the gods."

"It wasn't until the Innate Divine Spirit, Holy Maiden Nuwa, fashioned humans from clay that the human race appeared on the land. They instantly caught the attention of the gods. Compared to the cruel and bloodthirsty, foolishly murderous Dragon Clan, the creative humans who held the gods in reverence gained the gods' favor and protection."

"As the human race multiplied, the gods increasingly realized that the Dragon Clan had become the biggest obstacle to human development. Thus, led by the Eastern Emperor, the gods launched an apocalypse."

"Apocalypse?" Lu Yu was extremely surprised because this was no small matter. The depth of karmic burden was such that even Divine Spirits could not bear it, so why would Eastern Emperor Taiyi dare to initiate the apocalypse? Lu Yu was exceedingly astonished.
Stay tuned to empire

Seeing the puzzled expression on Lu Yu's face, the Emperor of Fengdu smiled and continued, "Do you think that such apocalyptic actions would inevitably invite divine retribution?"

Seeing the affirmative expression on Lu Yu's face, the Emperor of Fengdu asked with a smile, "What if this is the will of the Heavenly Dao?"

"The Heavenly Dao cherishes life. Compared to the brutish and tyrannical Dragon Clan, the human race is more beloved by heaven and earth. Moreover, the human race was created by Empress Nuwa in the image of the Father God, naturally blessed by heaven and earth."

"Thus, the gods initiated the apocalypse in accord with the mandate of heaven, paving the way for the flourishing of the human race. It's just that back then, many Divine Spirits did not recognize the signs of Heaven. They thought it was their own choice, not realizing it was the will of the Heavenly Dao. We Divine Spirits, born of heaven and earth, are naturally easily influenced."

It was then that Lu Yu understood why the gods dared to launch the apocalypse—it was actually the choice of the Heavenly Dao, and also the choice of all things in the world at that time, because the Dragon Clan was too domineering, knowing only slaughter and not creation, hindering the growth of all things and the evolution of the Heavenly Dao.

"That day, all living beings in the world split into two camps, with many Ancient Giant Beasts and the Dragon Clan forming an alliance to resist the gods."

"Eastern Emperor Taiyi commanded the great sun to fall upon the earth, Cloud Prince obscured the skies, covering the land, Leize unleashed countless thunders, I brought death to the land, Lord Xiang and Lady Xiang flooded the lands with torrents, while the Great Minister of Fate and the Lesser Minister of Fate brought disasters upon the Dragon Clan."

"However, the Dragon Clan was not weak. The nine Ancestral Dragons were among the most powerful beings between heaven and earth at that time. But in this battle, the Ancestral True Dragon peered into Heaven's Secret and led the True Dragon clan to withdraw, while Candle Dragon stayed uninvolved in world affairs and did not appear."

"The remaining seven Ancestral Dragons led the Ancient Giant Beasts to counterattack the gods.

Ultimately, the Great Minister of Fate and the Lesser Minister of Fate executed the Golden Dragon King in the Southern Borderlands, Lord Xiang and Lady Xiang slew the Water Dragon King upon the surging waves, Leize executed the Wood Dragon King with thunder at the shores of the Eastern Sea, Cloud Prince dueled with the Winged Dragon King in the sky, beheading him above the Nine Heavens, and I killed the Earth Dragon King in the great marsh."

"It was also on that day that the power of the Witch Tribe came to the attention of all the gods. At that time, the Witch Tribe was on good terms with the human race, intermarrying due to the similarity of their bodies.

So, when the Fire Dragon King, in a fit of rage, planned to unleash his fury upon the human race, the Witch Tribe took strong action, and the twelve Ancestral Shamans easily executed the Fire Dragon King in the south."

"But actually, the most critical battle at that time was between Eastern Emperor Taiyi and the War Dragon King. One was the most powerful Divine Spirit at the time, the commander of the gods, pressing down on heaven and earth. The other was the strongest in combat among the Dragon Clan, the leader of the Dragon Clan at that time."

"The outcome of their battle was the key to deciding the master of heaven and earth. That battle caused the skies to darken and the sun and the moon to lose their light, turning the entire west into a barren wasteland where not a blade of grass has grown for millions of years. In the end, Eastern Emperor Taiyi forcefully executed the War Dragon King, declaring the arrival of the era of gods."

"Aside from the hidden True Dragon clan, the rest of the Dragon Clan and Ancient Giant Beasts were exterminated by the gods. Their endless blood, carrying their resentful spirits, converged into a Sea of Blood, from which a Divine Spirit was born—the now known as Patriarch of the Nether River."

"After that battle, the gods truly began to dominate heaven and earth, and the Witch Tribe also started to rise, providing conditions for the human race and other weak races to reproduce and thrive on the earth."

The Emperor of Fengdu slowly related the past events, stirring a fiery passion within Lu Yu's heart for that dazzling era, it was a shame he could not witness it himself.

He could only glimpse glimpses of that era through these remaining traces and also understood from where the endless White Skeletons beneath the statue of the Great Minister of Fate originated.