Then, the Heavenly Emperor casually summoned a piece of jade in his hand and softly instructed, "I and the Azure Heaven Emperor wish to merge the consciousness of all the gods and the Heavenly Court into this jade, creating the Earthly Record, the divine artifact of the lowest-ranking Earth God. I will entrust it to you and take it to the mortal realm, where you can survive on the meager spiritual energy of the mortal realm... If possible, I hope you will rebuild the Heavenly Court."
"His Majesty……"
The Emperor was about to say something, but the Heavenly Emperor waved his hand to stop him, saying, "Go then. All these rebellions will naturally be dealt with by me and the Heavenly Emperor. After this battle, there will be no other gods in the Three Realms. You will be the only god who will live forever. I hope you can punish evil and promote good in the mortal world and do more good deeds so that humanity can live a better life."
As soon as the words were spoken, the Heavenly Emperor and the Emperor exchanged a glance and exerted their power almost simultaneously, sending a five-colored ray of light into the jade.
Then, with a wave of his hand, the Heavenly Emperor opened the gate to space, and the kneeling official was sucked into the space and sent to the human realm.
The Emperor looked puzzled and asked, "Your Majesty, now that the Heavenly Laws have been established, the Heavenly Court Officials who enter the mortal realm are merely local officials with no chance of promotion. They can still gain divine power by relying on the faith of the people in a village, but they have no power to rebuild the Heavenly Court."
"Alas..." The Heavenly Emperor sighed, "How could I not know all this? But if the Heavenly Laws are destroyed, and this lowly official enters the mortal realm, one day he will surely rebuild the Heavenly Court, and in the end, it will only result in a bloody war. Why poison living beings? Thinking back, when the Heavenly Dao was first formed, it was without joy or sorrow, without good or evil, everything was empty. It was only when living beings grew up in the spiritual energy that they developed selfishness, and thus right and wrong, good and evil... Now that I think about it, after death, everything is empty. Why must we have this ending?"
The Emperor seemed to understand something and asked again, "Should we leave all living beings in the human realm to fend for themselves?"
“Living beings are us, and we are living beings, aren’t we?”
"Your Majesty is divine!" The Emperor frowned and said, "Now there are no gods in the Heavenly Court or the Underworld. The living beings on earth have the Underworld's endless cycle of reincarnation artifacts. What use is there for the only Earth God left in the human realm? A thousand years of solitude have brought him great suffering..."
The Heavenly Emperor said, "Consider this the only remaining spiritual vein left for the Heavenly Court."
Originally, after the Heavenly Court, the Underworld, and the Human Realm established temples and conferred titles upon gods, in order to prevent gods from being promoted due to excessive faith and becoming increasingly powerful, thus causing chaos among the gods again, all the gods in the Human Realm who had been conferred titles returned to their original positions. Even if they absorbed the power of faith, they could only increase their divine power slightly. Moreover, since the power of faith was shared by all gods, it was difficult for them to be promoted.
This is naturally governed by the Heavenly Laws of the Heavenly Court.
However, at this moment, the Heavenly Emperor suddenly realized that the Void Artifact created by gathering the power of all the gods to bind the Three Realms, and the Heavenly Laws, seemed to have been subtly broken in some places during this conflict...
There was no time for him and the Emperor to think further. A horde of evil gods swarmed into the Heavenly Palace.
Left with no other choice, the two supreme deities detonated their divine souls, using their boundless supernatural powers to engulf the evil gods within them, fly away from the Heavenly Court, and enter another dimension to perish together.
The powerful explosion of divine souls triggered a chain reaction, causing the divine souls of all the gods to explode.
These are evil gods. Their initial thought was merely to eventually force the two supreme deities to compromise and negotiate, as they had done before, so that they too could attain supreme divine positions and reap the corresponding benefits.
However, they never expected that the two supreme deities, after gathering the spiritual power of the gods who had died in Heaven, would go to extremes.
In the universe, extremely far from the Milky Way, a divine explosion in another void caused space to shatter, directly affecting the boundary of this universe and forming a giant black hole.
The black hole's immense swallowing power began to draw in surrounding matter.
What is unknown to all living beings is that when the black hole was first formed, a wisp of divine consciousness broke through it and flew straight to a kingdom in the Eastern world, an ancient city located on a plain in the vast Milky Way, on Earth, which is surrounded by the sun—Fuhe City.
The Heavenly Censor who had just become the trusted local deity of Huaxiang suddenly sensed the divine consciousness from the vast universe. Soon after, he received the last thoughts from the Heavenly Emperor and the Emperor, as well as the jade stone—the Local Record.
...
Stars shift and seasons change...
The poor Earth God discovered that the Heavenly Way and Heavenly Laws seemed to have undergone no special changes.
The last message the Emperor and the Heavenly Emperor told him was that he could not be promoted, meaning he would only be able to remain mediocre in this land. His only hope was that when the Heavenly Laws cracked, he might be able to break free from their constraints, be promoted, and possibly create a Heavenly Court.
He felt lonely and isolated.
Since there are no gods in the three realms, miracles have never appeared in the world again. As a result, people's faith in gods has become increasingly weak. Apart from the occasional strange forces that nature itself possesses, which occasionally create phenomena that humans cannot explain, where are the gods?
Admittedly, some young children, due to their unique physical constitution, are born with a trace of yin energy from their reincarnation in the underworld that has not yet been neutralized by the yang energy of the world, and thus they may be able to see the existence of ghosts and other spirits; however, this does not affect humanity's forgetting of ghosts and spirits.
Religious beliefs, due to their unique nature, and perhaps because of the many frustrations people face in real life, or because of humanity's inherent exploration of nature and life, or because of the spirituality, kindness, and pursuit of good results inherent in human beings, have endured and been passed down through the ages.
However, the number of believers is decreasing, especially after the emergence of atheism.
The Earth God could no longer bear the loneliness and decided to trigger a heavenly tribulation to commit suicide. However, dying was indeed difficult. His divine power was insufficient to trigger the heavenly laws and bring down a lightning tribulation. He was also loyal to the heavenly laws, which prohibited gods from interfering in the mortal world. He could only absorb the pitiful bits of spiritual energy that occasionally peeked out from the world to accumulate divine power.
Finally, he had accumulated enough divine power to trigger the Heavenly Laws and unleash a tribulation of lightning.
At that time, a full five hundred years had passed since the destruction of the gods.
It was indeed a coincidence, or perhaps it was orchestrated by some unknowing deity in the dark? Xu Zhengyang inexplicably stumbled upon the moment the Earth God committed suicide, thus shielding him from a third of the lightning tribulation.
Xu Zhengyang knew very well what happened next.
We've all heard the saying, "The last straw that breaks the camel's back."
This dying camel is the Heavenly Law that stipulates that gods in the human world cannot be promoted; and the last straw is the Heavenly Tribulation triggered by the divine power that this poor land god has accumulated for more than two hundred years.
Finally, one of the Heavenly Rules has collapsed.
Therefore, the spirituality of that jade stone, which was filled with divine power, was gradually awakened by the main god.
Its main deity is—Xu Zhengyang!
...
The history of Heaven has finished playing.
The large screen shrank back to its original size and flew back into Xu Zhengyang's hand.
Xu Zhengyang stared at it, stunned for a long while, before muttering, "Ugh, you're not a divine artifact, you're not a god, you're the body of countless great gods possessing you..."
We are all born of the same root, why are we so eager to harm each other?
This statement applies not only to humans, but also to all the gods and Buddhas of the past.
We all come from nature, so why should we kill each other for power? In the end, won't we be the ones who suffer?
In historical records, gods are not as benevolent and loving as people describe them.
It turns out that the real God is far more selfish than humans and all living things in the world.
Looking back on the historical dramas and books I read while I was alive, the wars between humans over the past thousands of years, apart from the fact that there were gods behind the scenes, were also caused by human selfishness and inherent flaws, resulting in endless wars and widespread suffering.
Especially in the last five hundred years, there was no god involved, right?
Xu Zhengyang stepped up the steps and sat on the gleaming throne. He gently stroked the smooth, cool armrests and looked at the magnificent palace. He could almost feel the majestic scene of the Heavenly Emperor sitting on this throne, with countless officials bowing and worshipping below.
Aren't gods and men fighting and killing each other for a chair?
In everyone's mind, there is a chair, high above. Once you sit in that chair, an even better chair will float in your mind, tempting you to walk towards it.
Unfortunately...
Xu Zhengyang's realization did not make him feel desolate, desperate, or disillusioned with the world. Instead, he thought, since all gods, like humans, act out of self-interest, why should I worry all day about how to be a dutiful god?
This is like twin brothers comparing penises, both looking exactly alike.
Or rather, Xu Zhengyang is even better than them. At least Xu Zhengyang has a better conscience than those former "gods".
Because they had all reached a point of ruthlessness and indifference, while Xu Zhengyang was a good "person".
Xu Zhengyang suddenly wanted to smoke...
Then he suddenly woke up with a start, "Damn it, how long have I been in Heaven? What's going on in the mortal world?"
Thinking of this, Xu Zhengyang hurriedly and habitually moved his mind, assuming that, like in the underworld, a single thought would allow him to instantly return from the celestial realm to his physical body in the mortal world. However, he did not expect that his divine sense would be restrained by a strange force in this Eastern Heavenly Court, and he could only move around like an ordinary person in their home.
"Damn it!" Xu Zhengyang cursed, then quickly got up and ran outside.
He rushed to the Heavenly Gate in one breath. Xu Zhengyang's index finger was already extended, and his divine power suddenly erupted, breaking through the invisible energy gate. He leaped out and flew away at high speed, chanting in his mind, "Quickly return to the mortal world, return to the mortal world..."
After flying hundreds of miles away, the world suddenly spun around, and the scene changed dramatically.
Xu Zhengyang found himself in the vast universe, and looking around, he spotted the blue planet.
Without thinking about anything else, Xu Zhengyang flew rapidly towards Earth.
Extremely fast, after breaking through the atmosphere, Xu Zhengyang's divine power erupted in his mind, and he instantly teleported to the courtyard house between Xiaowang Mountain and Qinghe.
"Damn it!" Xu Zhengyang's consciousness appeared in that room, and he was immediately thrown into chaos. Where did my physical body go?
The room was fully furnished, and the bed was spotless and tidy, but his physical body was nowhere to be seen.
Xu Zhengyang hurriedly ran around the rooms, but still couldn't find his physical body.
Standing in the courtyard, Xu Zhengyang looked at the scene around him.
Big changes...
It was noon, the sun was shining brightly, and the sky was high and the clouds were light.
The pomegranate tree was bare, with only a few remaining leaves shivering in the cold wind. The pots and jars on the platform were all empty. Hmm, through the clear glass window, I could see some potted plants on the windowsill inside the house, growing quite well.
The courtyard was spotless, with its blue bricks and dark tiles, and the doors and windows of each room were also wiped clean.
Xu Zhengyang knew that it was either late autumn or early winter.
At least six months have passed...
Where did the physical body go?
Xu Zhengyang felt like crying.
On second thought, something was wrong. If his physical body were gone, he wouldn't be able to return to the mortal realm; instead, he would go directly to the underworld. Hmm, he hadn't yet reached the level of an Emperor. Logically, once his physical body died, his soul would simply dissipate. However, he currently held an official position in the underworld. Therefore, even if his physical body died, his divine power in the mortal realm would naturally disappear, but his soul wouldn't dissipate; instead, it would go to the underworld to serve as an official.
Even if they were officials in the underworld, according to the laws of the underworld, neither the judges nor Yama had the authority to go to the human world.
So Xu Zhengyang felt half relieved. My physical body is still intact, thank goodness.
Just as he was about to use his divine sense to search the city scroll, he heard the wooden courtyard gate creak open gently.
Amidst the soft tumbling sounds, there were also faint footsteps.
Xu Zhengyang turned around and was stunned.
If he weren't currently only a consciousness without a physical body, he would probably already be in tears...
Chen Chaojiang, dressed in black casual clothes, gently pushed a wheelchair into the courtyard. In the wheelchair sat a pale-faced, vacant-looking young man. His eyes were open, but empty and lifeless. He wore a white sweater and a light gray coat, a thick blanket covering his bent legs, and white sneakers.
Suddenly, the young man in the wheelchair flinched.
Chen Chaojiang quickly reached out and helped him up, grinned, and said softly, "It's noon, time to eat."
Just then, the young man in the wheelchair suddenly moved his lips stiffly and unnaturally, and tears welled up in his empty, lifeless eyes. Then, the tears fell down his face.
He finally spoke: "Asagao..."
Chen Chaojiang was suddenly stunned. He didn't lower his head, but instead looked straight ahead at the entrance of the main room as before.
After a long while, Chen Chaojiang lowered his head, looked at the top of the young man's head in the wheelchair, and said softly, "I'm hallucinating again."
"Chaojiang, I'm back!" Xu Zhengyang said, his voice choked with emotion.
Chen Chaojiang was stunned. Even his usually slender, cold, and unapproachable eyes began to gleam with a flicker of light.
He released the handle, stepped around the wheelchair, and stood in front of Xu Zhengyang.
"Chaojiang... I'm sorry, I've made you suffer!" Xu Zhengyang's facial muscles twitched as he struggled to hold back the urge to cry.