The Sacred Ruins

The seven famous mountains had all been occupied, forming a terrifying power structure—an incident that shook everyone within the country and abroad.

This had a huge impact on the human race as a whole!

Not much time had passed since the great change occurred, yet everything was different. Compared to their previous lives, great changes have taken place.

As the new era replaces the old, just what kind of role would this era have in history?

Within a single day, all sorts of explosive news had spread.

Both in life and on the internet, the whole world was seething with excitement.

"A huge golden roc actually appeared and established a sect on Mount Hua. This sounds like a myth, did we just return to the prehistoric era?"

"The Elder Ape of Great Woods Temple, the White Crane of the Sword Temple of Mount Shu, the Mountain Tortoise of Mount Kongtong, and the Golden Roc of Mount Hua are accepting disciples without discrimination—indescribably astonishing!"

The news ignited the masses!

It was hard for the people to imagine that the beast race would become the top experts. Though they felt that it was unacceptable, it was the truth.

"When the birds and the beasts gain intelligence on par with humans one day, one will be left with only two choices: that is to adapt or to seek change." An old biology scholar sighed.

It was a huge blow to the people, everywhere.

"All life is equal, we wish to co-exist peacefully with every race!" The Elder Ape stood in front of the thousand year old temple with his palms together, like an old monk who had achieved the dao.

These photos and videos were quickly circulated by the people; there were already humans among his disciples.

Following this, the White Crane of Mount Shu, the Golden Roc of Mount Hua and the Mountain Tortoise of Mount Kongtong also expressed similar stances.

No matter if they were sincere or had other motives, at least the territories they had occupied were now much more peaceful and people were allowed to travel freely through them.

In other areas, the beast kings were still contending for hegemony—naturally, these peaceful sanctuaries became an attractive destination for many people.

Moreover, they were recruiting disciples. One could learn mysterious ancient techniques after becoming one, gradually leading to power and fame. Who wouldn’t be tempted?

The mysterious expert who killed the Ash Wolf was greatly promoted the ancient martial arts. Right at this moment, the seven great sects appeared, giving people a straightforward opportunity. That was to be sworn in as a disciple.

"Chu Feng where are you, I need to discuss something with you!"

"Madman [1], listen to me, I want to join Mount Shu. You know I’ve always admired the sword immortal of Mount Shu. Who would’ve thought it would become a reality!"

...

These couple of days, quite a few people called Chu Feng: childhood friends, high school buddies and friends from university, they couldn’t stay calm any longer.

Chu Feng was dazed—even close friends were tempted, not to mention the others.

Even though the people who had called him were the activists, this proved how much influence these recent events have on the people!

On the internet, debates were naturally in full swing.

"I’m going to the Great Woods Temple, they have the thousand year old temple, ancient scriptures and manuals, moreover, they have the peerless Vajrapani Bodhi Tree [2] which could help humans mutate. Additionally, it used to be the number one holy land for martial arts during ancient times!" someone posted excitedly.

Mount Song originally had an ancient temple at its peak, a Buddhist forbidden land, and today, there was an elder ape who was well versed in ancient literature residing there, not to mention it was the first sect established among the recent ones. Naturally, many leaned towards it.

"I’m going to Mount Shu to learn the techniques of the sword immortal—one slash to behead all enemies within a thousand miles. Who would be my match then? Riding on the sword and weaving through the skies, how carefree a life would that be?"

The amount of discussions on this post was astonishing. Sword immortal. it was many people’s dream. For a normal person, this temptation was irresistible.

"The Kongtong Mountains are also not bad, a Mountain Tortoise bearing the symbol of the eight trigrams who claims he has a good grasp of the Kongtong Ancient Techniques. During the ancient era, even the Yellow Emperor sought the dao there. It’s definitely extraordinary."

Someone posted thus, but the discussion rate isn’t that high. Relatively, the Mountain Tortoise wasn’t as attractive when compared to the Temple of Great Woods or the Sword Temple.

"Mount Hua is definitely the holy land for martial arts, haven’t you heard of the peerless strength of the Golden Roc? It swept through the host of beast kings to claim Mount Hua tyrannically."

"Have you people all forgotten Mount Wudang? That is where the actual human powers reside, and that is where we ought to seek refuge!"

Someone complained with sorrow, urging the masses to go to Mount Wudang and become a student of Taiji—that was the only suitable place for the human race.

"You’re right, we definitely have to go to Mount Wudang!" the masses responded, posting many replies of approval.

In truth, the people close to those famous mountains had already started moving and formed a tide of apprentice applicants.

Other people were rather envious and dejected. Due to the distance, they could not make it to the temples, and it seemed only the locals would have a chance.

Within the Hollow Jade Temple, Lu Tong was incomparably agitated as he muttered to himself, "We have finally won the battle and forced the beast king away, this is great news!"

Two days prior, he had just told Chu Feng that the master of Roaming Jade Temple was about to occupy a famous mountain and that the strength of the human race is about to rise. The day had finally arrived!

Noon that day, the masses were stunned by yet another piece of news.

A peerless expert of the human race, the master of the Roaming Jade Temple, had occupied Mount Wangwu [3].

This caused a great sensation!

Because, in the recent days. many people have started to hear that the Eight Visions Temple, the Hollow Jade Temple and the Roaming Jade Temple are the three great human sects established by the government.

Their names actually corresponded to the three giant sects of legend!

Today, the master of the Roaming Jade Temple had mobilized, killing decisively and conquering Mount Wangwu. How could this not cause a commotion?

Even the foreign powers were stunned!

Mount Wangwu’s position was quite special. According to ancient records, it placed first among the ten heavenly grottos of Taoism; it was such a peerless existence!

"The first heavenly grotto under the heavens! It’s been successfully claimed!"

"That’s exceedingly good news, the experts of the human race have finally made their move!"

"The master of the Hollow Jade Temple is campaigning against the pilgrimage grounds, rumor has it that he’s already gained the advantage, and he’ll be taking that place sooner or later!"

This kind of exciting news indeed shook all the mutants of the world.

Especially when one realized that there was also the Eight Visions Temple. It was almost certain that they would conquer another famed mountain, so the people become quite joyful, and this caused the morale to be high.

From that day onwards, the beast race started to show some level of restraint. Even if their beast kings still fought over territory, they rarely caused trouble in the human domains.

Before this, everyone was quite concerned about the future of the human race, fearing that beast race would rise to power and dominate the world.

Who would’ve thought that in a mere two days, the situation would abruptly change, and the human race’s power would increase.

Similar incidents were happening across the world.

For example, in India, a certain Guru had evolved recently. With a peerless momentum, he took down a beast king and became the commander of the whole region.

These few days, although Chu Feng had been hearing so much news that caused waves in his heart, his life went on peacefully.

He met many old childhood friends and high-school buddies to get together for a chat over meals. It was a rare leisure.

Du Huaijin, Ye Qingrou, Ouyang Qing and Chen Luoyan had all returned. During a small gathering, they told Chu Feng some shocking news.

"Boss, that secret pathway truly goes against the heavens!" Clairvoyant Du Huaijin exclaimed. The exit was really close to the Yungui Plateau.

Chu Feng was dazed. "This path connects us to the west. It can be used to our advantage, but it would certainly bring trouble if used in the wrong way."

For instance, if the Black Dragon rampaging in the west came through this path, then it would truly be a catastrophe.

"Recently, those beast kings have no time to wreak havoc around the west. They’re all busy besieging a certain place," informed Ye Qingrou.

"Which place?" Chu Feng questioned.

Recent news in the west had all been reporting on the rampage of the Black Dragon and the Twin Headed Dog, but no one was able to deal with them immediately.

Could it be that there was some other big news being covered up?

"All the beast kings have assembled at the Vatican City and have surrounded it," according to the report of some people.

After hearing what was said, Chu Feng became thoughtful. That place did have amazing origins, just what could be there?

"Therein lies a sacred medicinal garden. Although the area isn’t big, the fragrance of medicine fills the air and holy lights shine upon it. Truly a terrifying sight to behold!" Even the solemn Chen Luoyan couldn’t keep his calm as he exclaimed.

"It’s that extraordinary?" Chu Feng was amazed.

"Within that sacred garden, there are lifeforms growing out of the ground emitting divine radiance. Its unfathomable!" said Chen Luoyan.

When they received such a news, everyone thought it was ridiculous. However, the agents in the West swear that they weren’t lying—everything appeared to be the truth.

"That’s quite surprising, a seed can give birth to a living creature?" Chu Feng’s emotions were stirred.

That night, Chu Feng received further confirmation in the form of a call from Yellow Ox. They were contacting him from the area of Mount Kunlun.

"Chu Feng, we’re going to do something big. Will you join us?" Yellow Ox requested his assistance.

"Where?" Chu Feng asked.

The Black Yak squeezed into vision and revealed its white teeth as it said, "I have a sworn brother who has gone to Europe and he’s now laying siege to the Vatican City. Brat, even though you’re weak, if you want to come, I’ll take you along. Do you want to go? This will be a major event."

Chu Feng was dumbfounded. This giant Yak was truly not the good kind. Just what kind of people did it associate with? The Vatican incident was the work of its sworn brother!

At the same time, he realized that they must be lacking manpower over there. Otherwise, how would it be possible for him to be invited? One had to know that this was a campaign on the level of beast kings.

"I’m telling you that that place is truly astonishing. It’s a sacred medicinal garden filled with divine pollen and fragrance that enshrouds the whole Vatican City! Unfortunately it’s blocked by a sealing enchantment [4]. If only one could enter, a breakthrough is certain, and then you’ll truly be on equal footing with the beast kings. The White Elephant of India, the Silver Wolf of Mongolia... and the old fogeys from Mount Kunlun have all rushed over. If we’re late, we won’t have any chance at a share of the loot."

"Black Boss, I think I’ll pass this time. It won’t be too late to go there after I breakthrough to become a shackled ream expert," Chu Feng said, resisting the temptation.

With so many old demons around, he would only be able to live the life of cannon fodder over there.

Naturally, the Vatican was not easily broken into. Otherwise, would the beast kings call for help? If they could, they would’ve long conquered it.

Moreover, Chu Feng also tried to persuade them, "Yellow Ox, Black Boss, the final battles of the pilgrimage grounds are about to begin. Are you two interested in helping out? The excitement would surely be greater than going to Vatican City."

The Black Yak inhaled a mouthful of cold air, saying, "The ‘pilgrimage ground’ is like a meat grinder, it is not as suitable for my kind as it is for humans. Moreover, it might not be any safer than Vatican City—I refuse."

Finally, Yellow Ox told Chu Feng that they should act individually. The two of them would go to the west, and Chu Feng would stay in the east. When everyone was at the beast king level, they should rendezvous and explore the ocean.

"The ocean?"

"Yeah, there are a lot of good things there that are about to come into being. When the time comes, we’ll fight our way there to find some good fortune!"

After the video call ended, Chu Feng was silent for a long time.

Too many things had developed in the recent days, and most of them were shocking. This was really an explosive era, so any incident could cause a huge sensation.

"Chu Feng, our film is about to be screened. The name is initially set to be "Demon Ox the Great Sage". Even though there is some competition, it is nothing to worry about."

Zhou Yitian informed Chu Feng about the film’s screening, which would supposedly raise the fighting spirit of the human race.

After hearing that, Chu Feng was flabbergasted. How could this film even pass the review board [5]? He felt as if he was struck by lightning as his greatest fears had come true.

Very soon, there was someone trying to call him. An unknown number was on the communicator. He lazily took the call and asked, "Who’s calling?"

A delightful voice drifted in from the other end of the phone, greeting him with laughter. It was actually Jiang Luoshen, and she even wanted to invite him to a meal.

...

[1] Chu Feng’s name in chinese is 楚風. The chinese word for insanity is also pronounced "Feng — 瘋". Here his friend used 瘋子 which is probably a pun and a childhood nickname.

[2] 金剛菩提聖樹 — Literally it would mean the Vajrapani Bodhi Sacred Tree, which would make the name rather long.

Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajrapani

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhi_Tree

[3] 王屋山 — meaning Mount King’s Abode is one of the most famous Taoist sites located in Henan Province. It also includes one of the 10 great Grotto-Heavens of taoism. Here, the yellow emperor offered sacrifice to the heavens and received the Book of Nine Elixirs.

Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Wangwu

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Emperor

[4] 結界 — Is akin to a force-field. The direct translation would be "boundary or border". To fit into the story context, I translated it as a "sealing enchantment".

[5] Films to be aired in China are required to pass through a review and censorship process.

Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_censorship_in_China