“Adult is mighty!”
Yang Dingding, seeing both giant tails destroyed, excitedly jumped three feet high. When he landed, there was a thud, leaving two deep hoof prints in the ground.
He rushed to Chen Zhou, his eyes gleaming, cupped his fists, and began to boast loudly.
“Adult, you’re too fierce!”
“Those two tails looked so scary, but in your hands, they were like two loaches, you could squeeze them or kill them as you pleased!”
“If Wan Xiu knew about this, wouldn’t he be scared stiff?”
“From today onwards, you are my Yang Dingding’s true father!”
He spoke animatedly, gesticulating wildly, his face flushed with excitement.
Chen Zhou examined the bone carving repeatedly, then suddenly remembered something and noticed Yang Dingding standing before him.
“Catch.”
Chen Zhou casually tossed the jiao-shaped bone carving over.
Yang Dingding was in the middle of his spirited speech when he suddenly saw a white object flying towards him. Startled, he fumbled to catch it.
He caught it, but not steadily; the bone carving bounced twice in his hand, almost falling to the ground.
Yang Dingding quickly cupped it in both hands. “Adult, what is this thing?”
Chen Zhou didn’t answer, only staring at his hands. The bone carving lay quietly in Yang Dingding’s palm, without any change.
Chen Zhou extended his hand. “Give it back.”
Yang Dingding obediently handed it back. The bone carving remained a bone carving in Chen Zhou’s hand, unchanged.
Chen Zhou then looked at Tao Tuantuan. “You try.”
He handed her the bone carving.
Tao Tuantuan paused slightly, then took it. The bone carving was equally quiet in her hands; it didn’t turn into folded paper, nor did it revert to stone.
Chen Zhou retrieved it and handed it to Jian Huaishuang. Jian Huaishuang took it.
The bone carving quickly became tainted by Jian Huaishuang’s death qi, its surface beginning to twist and fold as if pulled by some force, rapidly transforming into a long, jiao-shaped piece of folded paper. The folded paper was very light and thin, with sharp, pointed edges, floating lightly in his hands.
Chen Zhou raised an eyebrow, took it back, and the folded paper once again shrank, hardened, and thickened, instantly reverting to the smooth bone carving.
Chen Zhou understood. This object would only change form when influenced by death qi. He and Jian Huaishuang both possessed evil spirit bodies, but Yang Dingding and Tao Tuantuan had no death qi, which was why the bone carving didn’t change in their hands.
So, this was also considered a creation of the deities? After all, the essence of deities was evil spirits.
Chen Zhou toyed with the bone carving and looked at Tao Tuantuan. “This altar you summoned, did you build it yourselves? Do you know what’s carved on these stone pillars?”
Tao Tuantuan shook her head. “Replying to Adult, I do not know either.”
“This altar was originally here in the Eternal Dark Abyss; we did not build it.”
She walked to the edge of the wooden platform and reached out to caress the ancient rings. “When we moved in, this altar was already here.”
“There are some ancient texts preserved in the underground city, which I have all read.”
“The ancient texts record that this place is called the Eternal Dark Abyss, an underground city opened up by the Jiao Mu Kingdom ten thousand years ago, specifically used to store supplies and avoid natural disasters.”
“The Jiao Mu Kingdom was the original human dynasty of Tianchi Province. At its peak, it occupied the entire great province, with a population of hundreds of millions and formidable national power.”
“They were skilled in architecture and carving. This underground city was carved out by them deep underground, utilizing the strength of the entire nation and taking hundreds of years.”
“Its scale is immense, enough to accommodate a million living beings.”
“The ancient texts state that the Jiao Mu Kingdom always had a custom of sacrificing to Central Province.”
“Once every hundred years, the monarch would personally ascend the platform, offer flesh and blood, and pray for the protection of the gods of Central Province.”
“This tradition has lasted for about ten thousand years.”
Chen Zhou remembered the porcelain shards he had picked up in the ruins earlier, which indeed had the characters of Jiao Mu Kingdom carved on them.
“What happened later?” he asked.
Tao Tuantuan calmly replied, “Later, the Jiao Mu Kingdom was destroyed.”
“There were only a few words in the ancient texts.”
“Jiao Mu Kingdom, Tianyou twelfth year: strange phenomena descended from the heavens, barren lands stretched for a thousand miles, and plague ran rampant.”
“The following year, eternal night fell, and the entire nation perished en masse.”
“The capital became a Ghost Domain, and the underground secondary capital became the Eternal Dark Abyss.”
“Survivors were few, all driven mad and witless, their whereabouts unknown.”
Chen Zhou listened, feeling something was amiss. “It’s recorded in such detail?”
Tao Tuantuan chuckled. “Adult, this isn’t detailed.”
“True detail would record who the monarch of Jiao Mu Kingdom was, who the ministers were, what major events occurred, and what heroic figures existed.”
“But none of this is in the ancient texts.”
“Only these few sentences, cold and stark, as if carved by a survivor with their last ounce of strength before death.”
“The most detailed account is only of a prince of the Jiao Mu Kingdom, Tianyou, who possessed divine peculiarities and ascended the throne in the first year of Tianyou.”
“It is said that the previous monarch, during a heaven-worshipping ritual, sincerely prayed to the heavens for an heir.”
“Later, the empress indeed became pregnant and gave birth to a prince.”
“Prince Tianyou could perform Qi Induction at three, Core Shattering at seven, and had already entered the fifth-stage Essence Devouring at fifteen, hailed as a jiao dragon talent seen once in a millennium.”
“However, my abilities are special. When I see these texts, certain images automatically appear in my mind.”
Chen Zhou became interested and pressed, “What images?”
Tao Tuantuan closed her eyes and recalled.
“That must have been a historian of the Jiao Mu Kingdom. When the disaster struck, he hid in a corner, trembling, desperately recording the final moments.”
“He saw the prince, covered in blood, standing at the city gate, facing an overwhelming tide of monsters.”
“Then, the monsters surged forward.”
“The prince’s figure also disappeared into the monstrous tide.”
“The historian finished writing the last character, then was captured by a monster.”
“The outcome was likely that the prince fought desperately, single-handedly battling the natural disaster for three days and three nights with his half-step Siming realm, eventually collapsing from exhaustion and disappearing without a trace.”
Chen Zhou listened, looking at the seven stone pillars on the altar. So, Tianchi Province’s heaven-worshipping rituals had existed for so long. He suddenly asked Tao Tuantuan, “Do you know about constellations?”
Tao Tuantuan paused. “Constellations?”
She thought for a moment, then shook her head. “I do not know, Adult. Please enlighten me.”
Chen Zhou waved his hand. “It’s nothing, just asking.”
It seemed the concept of constellations didn’t exist here yet, at least not in Tianchi Province.
But the seven animals on the stone pillars—jiao, racoon dog, fox, tiger, leopard, rabbit, and dragon—could only make him think of the Eastern Azure Dragon Seven Constellations.
Jiao Mu Jiao, Kang Jinlong, Di Tuohe, Fang Ritu, Xin Yuehu, Wei Huohu, Ji Shuibao.
If that were the case, did the jiao-shaped bone carving represent Jiao Mu Jiao? And who did the other snake-like bone carving correspond to?
As he pondered, the little demons in the surrounding buildings began to peek out cautiously.
“Is it over?”
“What about those two tails?”
“Gone, gone, all disappeared!”
“Adult won! Adult won!”
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