Chapter 1111: The Original Living God
Waves surged forth on the God Blood River. The river was so wide that when you looked at it, there seemed no end to it. It stretched from horizon to horizon, filling one with awe and reverence. It was difficult to imagine how many gods must have been killed, and their blood drained, to form this river. It was nothing short of terrifying.
The light cast by the aurora in the dome of heaven caused darkness and brightness to flicker back and forth. As a result, the river almost seemed alive. It seemed to be vying with the aurora for glory. It was a most beautiful and moving image, like a scroll painting.
That painting actually contained evidence of history, bearing testament to the vicissitudes of heaven and earth. It told the story of the war between immortals and gods, and showed how the Fifth Star Ring had ultimately changed. It was deeply significant.
Within that blood-colored scroll-painting, a lone ferry boat braved the wind and waves. The voice of the ferry pilot echoed out into the world. His every word resonated like a thunderclap in Xu Qing’s mind, shaking him deeply.
“There is only one Immortal Paragon. The Fifth Forefather of Humanity.”
The words filled Xu Qing’s thoughts, and resulted in the image of an old man to appear in his mind’s eye. It was the same old man Xu Qing had seen in the star chart in the Devilbird holy land. He was seated cross-legged in the Fifth Star Ring. And he was also the old man Xu Qing had met in the outer sea of Revered Ancient.[1]
After a long moment passed, Xu Qing took a deep breath and asked, “Senior, why is that Immortal Paragon... called the Fifth Forefather of Humanity?”
The ferry pilot put his pipe in his mouth, inhaled, then blew out some smoke. “The thirty-six higher star rings are the higher worlds. They each correspond to a different and larger number of lower star rings, which are the lower worlds. Some of the lower star rings have names. Some of them don’t.”
The ferry pilot looked at Xu Qing in a very meaningful way. “The lower world connected to the Fifth Star Ring is one of the ones that didn’t originally have a name. A long time ago, back when the gods ran rampant in the Fifth Star Ring, that lower star ring eventually came to be called the Fifth Lower World.
“All sorts of living beings called it home, but they were slaves to the gods, and were even required to worship them. Eventually there was fighting, rebellion, suppression, emancipation, and apocalypse. They waged war on the gods. The people of the lower world always failed, whereupon the Fifth Lower World would be wiped clean. Then it would all start over again, and the gods would bring about a new crop to harvest.”
As the ferry pilot spoke, his voice rose and fell, becoming like the River of Time itself, flowing through Xu Qing’s perceptions. “Eventually, a human emperor rose up in the Fifth Lower World. His leadership led to an unprecedented golden age in which the immortals fought the gods. The lower waged war against the higher.