In cultivation, beasts and humans took different paths. Humans refined their heartworlds to contain some of the wisdom of the heavens, while beasts refined their cores to harness the energy of the world.
For thousands of years the beasts had ruled the earth. Their cores naturally contained a single divine ability, which would manifest as they reached the Primalist stage and only grow stronger if they ascended to become an Imperial Fiend, equal to a human Imperial Immortal.
These abilities could be passed down from mother to child, for eternity. Before the humans had developed countless powerful techniques of their own and created the Immortal Libraries to safeguard this knowledge, only beasts had possessed truly powerful abilities, and their stronger bodies made them the unchallenged kings of the primordial earth!
It was only the first Celestial who turned the tide of history. Celestial Immortals were the culmination of an ancient promise; Humans Shall Succeed The Beasts When The Stars Rise! Beasts had no equivalent stage to the Celestial, therefore, they had been ground into the dust or driven into the mountains. Their thousand-year pride was broken and they became a bitter people.
This first Celestial Immortal became the Four-Horizons Emperor and led the humans into the present age.
This was the story as the Ape-Faced Elk told it.
“I was never able to reach the Primalist stage, therefore I have no true divine abilities to teach you. That said, I’ve managed to survive as a Mountain Lord, even with a weak cultivation base, and that’s because I stole dozens of human techniques in my youth.”
With a look of immense pride on his face, the Ape-Faced Elk struck a hoof against the floor and conjured three jade slips that flew from his skull and circled around his horns. “These three are most suitable. The Three Ghost Lanterns Mantra, the Silkworm Transformations Scripture, and the Inkwater Verdict. Choose one!”
Immediately Zhao Ze’s mouth went dry. His life had been spent scavenging for spiritual herbs and fruits, fighting petty brawls with other beasts over meagre territory. In all his little life he’d never acquired a single cultivation technique and divine abilities were almost a dream to him. That was the state in which most low-ranked beasts would live and die. This show of wealth was unbelievable and he immediately began to pant, his huge tongue lolling out.
“Um… Um…” Zhao Ze was still desperately trying to scheme up a way to get two of the sacred techniques, or better yet all three, when Bu Bian cried out. “The Silkworm Transformations!”
The Elk nodded his approval, letting a sly grin show to indicate that this had been the correct answer. “Yes, the Silkworm Transformations Scripture is the technique I utilized to live among the humans and develop my strength! Other techniques may be more powerful in battle, but transformation and illusion are far more valuable when you are too weak to hold your head high. You should always meet your enemies on the field where you are strongest. Clearly, wits and a sharp tongue are your most vicious qualities…”
Equally clear was that the Ape-Faced Elk enjoyed playing the wise teacher, and thus his replies tended to go on for hours. Immediately he launched into a long sermon on the art of deception in war, pondering heavily on the Dao, and reminiscence of his long ago summer youth.
And all this time the precious jade slip was hovering overhead!
Zhao Ze’s eyes quickly became strained bloodshot as the entire books worth of words were shoved down his ears, nodding studiously and bellowing ‘yes, teacher!’ at every question in a frantic attempt to hurry the lecture along.
It was no good. Both Zhao Ze and Bu Bian were rendered nearly comatose under a flurry of words. He spoke so much their scalps went numb. When the Ape-Faced Elk finally rambled to a stop and allowed the jade slip to fly down, dismissing them with a wave of his head, they seized it, bowed, and were gone like a whirlwind!
“Ai-yah! What an old bore!” Bursting through the mouth of the cave into sunlight! Into the trees and grass again! It was like heaven, and Zhao Ze had to resist the undignified urge to roll in the soft grass and flowers, practically panting at the sight of the sun.
“I didn’t even learn about the nature of the soul! I was too afraid to ask!” Bu Bian laughed, refreshed by the cool spring winds. “Ai, we need to celebrate this fortune. We need wine!’
“Wine? Where are we going to get wine? Hey, who told you about wine when you’re only a few days old?” Zhao Ze’s tone had immediately shifted to be extremely scolding and contained a hint of panic. Already he had noticed that this Bu Bian’s character had more than a few flaws. If someone was filling him up with stories of the human world, it could only lead them into trouble.
For Zhao Ze, a great Jade Solehorn Toad who had lived hundreds of years in the same swamp, life had been very languid. He had avoided offending any great powers or making any alliances that would draw him into the truly ferocious battles between Mountain Lords. He had bowed his head rather than fight! All this for a lazy life of sleeping and feasting that Bu Bian threatened to upset.
“Oh, I was talking to those Fiendhunters. They were telling me about Shanju City.” While these words were said very casually, they brought absolute terror to Zhao Ze’s heart. This little brat would lead them into disaster! “How magnificent it sounds. They say the streets are paved with spirit jades and the skies are full of cultivators.”
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“Ai, well, I’ve heard that their hearts are hard as ice and their rivers run full of the blood of foolish beasts. Maybe that’s a lie, but the truth is still that the human world is no place for us. Bu Bian! We’d better cultivate and break through the Seven Seals Warrior stage! Otherwise, we’ll never be able to claim that pile of tribute that’s waiting outside your cave. Otherwise, we’ll be torn apart as soon as you’re revealed. The most important thing in this life is cultivation!”
“In this world the weak always become prey for the strong. If we’re strong, you can eat wine and fruit all day. If we’re weak, we’ll surely be crushed as soon as someone discovers you. If you go getting distracted by wine and the human world now we’re doomed.” Zhao Ze said all this out of fear for his quiet life coming to an end, but every word was full of resounding wisdom.
So naturally, Bu Bian refused to hear a word of it. “Bah! Who says we have to choose? Not with the two of us in one body! I’ll go find us some wine and relaxation, and you can cultivate the Silkworm Scripture.”
“But that’s…” Zhao Ze could do nothing to sway Bu Bian when he spoke with such determination. “Wait, why do I have to be the one who cultivates while you drink?”
“Huh? Hey, weren’t you just the one who said cultivation is most important? Wasn’t that you? Didn’t you say that?” Bu Bian cried out with indignation. Listening to his voice, you would think Zhao Ze had wounded his very soul by complaining. “Cultivation is the difference between life and death, and I’m entrusting it to you! I trust you with my life, and you act as if I’m a slave driver?”
“I… I…” Zhao Ze knew Bu Bian’s words were improper but he couldn’t explain how. He had been completely outmaneuvered by the enemy, and wanted nothing more than to howl with fury!
Where humans sought cultivation to become Imperial Immortals, beasts would become Imperial Fiends. Upon reaching this stage they would gain a form that resembled the ancient gods, their Heavenly Body, and their innate ability to comprehend the Heavens and the Dao would be increased tenfold.
Long ago an ancient bloodline shattered their beast cores via an unfathomable technique imparted by the gods. They gave up their savage bodies, eternal life, even their divine abilities. All other beasts regarded them as deviant weaklings. But through this sacrifice their children were born with Heavenly Bodies and could cultivate from birth with incredible talent.
Over time, they became known as the human tribe, and although they were hated, when they gave rise to the first Celestial all other tribes were shattered or forced into subservience. There was simply no contending with their understanding of the Dao and they soon came to rule the heavens.
Only the Primordial Fiends were still able to hold their heads high, shaking the heavens with their battles against the human armies. To the scattered beasts who hid in the mountains they were the last proud kings of a forgotten age. That was why the humans would do anything to exterminate them. Only if the Fiends were wiped from the face of the earth would the rebellious beasts would lose the last of their will to fight on, and the humans would proclaim victory.
Naturally, the Fiendhunters occupied an exalted position in the hearts of all humans. Even a lowly recruit was a hero who gave his life for humanity.
Shanjue City was laid out as a vast wheel of eight portions, and the axle at its heart was not the Palace of the Shan Prince, but the regal estate of the Fiendhunter’s major general. A tall blue tower divided into eight segments, each kept eternally turning by countless magic characters inscribed in gold, the estate resembled nothing more than a giant prayer wheel, a prayer of protection that kept Shanjue City safe.
A vast dark cloud gathered at the top of the tower. Goldleaf Banyan trees sprouted from the cloud, flowered vines hanging from the branches to form a paradise of violet petals that swayed in the constant breeze. A stately lake full of swans sat in the center of all this.
But if one looked closely at the leaves or the flowers, even the waves on the lake, tiny brushstrokes could be seen. Everything here had been painted into existence! It was all an illusion born of a single cultivator’s undeniable will.
An old man dressed in shabby white robes and a crown of flowers sat on a boulder, holding the front half of a black swan in his lap. He whispered to the painted creature, stroked its long neck, his manner incredibly still and even-tempered, keeping the swan calm for long enough to paint its tailfeathers into existence. Each movement of the brush in his long fingers seemed to be an expression of absolute restraint, without the least hurry, every stroke demonstrating masterful control and unfolding in a languid, almost lazy sort of elegance.
Similarly, although he immediately noticed the boat made of yellow paper flying through the sky towards his estate at great speed, an incense stick could have burned in the time it took him to raise one snow-white eyebrow. “Eeeee?”
This incomparable figure was General Reedmarch, and within Waveroad Province there was no more feared man. If he was to descend to the city below, there would not be a single beggar too humble to know his name or prince too conceited to bow to him.
And if his name was spoken aloud in the Waveroad Mountains, the beasts would have howled in fury, cursed the heavens, tore down the forests in a rage!
That said, it had been nearly a hundred years since he’d ventured down from his estate. Shanjue had seen a century of peace since the last appearance of a Primordial Fiend. Blinking slowly as if he was waking up from a deep sleep, Reedmarch looked down and noticed that he’d grown quite fat. “Aaaah, what a pleasant century.”
The descent of a comet? A disciple intruding on his private estate? Reedmarch already knew what message Wu Zhang would bring him.
On the edge of the estate’s cloud, Wu Zhang leapt from the paper boat. With tears in his eyes he ran through the painted world. He had failed! He had stood by and watched helplessly as his brothers were slain by the Fiendish Bu Bian. All he could do now was weep bitter tears and carry their story to the general, who would surely avenge them.
It was with this thought in mind that he rushed through the banyan trees and the flowering vines. Vengeance for Feng Yu and Xiu Tian! The vengeance of General Reedmarch! General Reedmarch who made the heavens tremble with a wave of his brush and a splatter of ink!
Wu Zhang had heard stories all his life, and he knew to expect a figure who shook heaven and earth, but what he saw shocked him to his core.
General Reedmarch! A skinny old man stripped down to his loincloth, with a pot belly and sagging hairy chest! General Reedmarch! Half-naked, doing squats with half of a swan waddling awkwardly underfoot!
“Ai?”
“Hmmph!” The general let loose a ferocious snort. “What are you gawking at? Get over here and join me! There’s a Primordial Fiend to hunt and we could both stand to lose some weight, fatty!”