Chapter 12: Upheaval of Heaven and Earth

The earth trembled and the mountains shook as the firmament rose.

A divine pillar unexpectedly grew from the Heaven-Abutting Mountain, continuously expanding in height and girth as if aiming to pierce the sky, countless incomprehensible transformations blossoming across its surface.

Merely raising one's head to gaze upon it brought tears to people's eyes, making them feel as though their very bodies were being cleansed.

"My spine feels itchy—it's moving on its own, correcting itself!"

"So that's how it is! All these years of cultivation we've been practicing it all wrong! There's no need to imitate the demon race; we humans possess the most powerful organs in this world."

"Supporting the heavens and propping up the earth, transforming into dragons and ascending to immortality, advancing step by stair—this is the true path! This is the correct method of cultivation!"

At the base of the mountain, Mo Wen could sense something akin to a spiritual root plunging deep into the earth, spreading wildly.

It reconverged, regulating the spiritual Qi within the nation's borders, routing the heat from the depths of the earth, and channeling the collective will of the people into it to nourish everything upon this land.

Originally, the Daoist Academy had studied Feng Shui and ley lines, but starting today, the study of ley lines would likely become a mandatory new subject at the Academy.

Further away, every river within the Chenyao Dynasty's territory also began to undergo changes. Anyone inspecting Mo Wen's body would discover that they were transforming into the shape of "meridians."

The roaring torrents grew even more violent, shattering all forces that attempted to hinder them; stagnant waters either evaporated completely or were reconnected anew, while the fish and shrimp in the water grew visibly stronger. Some fish even transformed into flying, elongated creatures the moment they crossed a certain natural hazard.

However, drastically altered water systems would cause countless deaths, and that would not do.

The instant this thought arose in Mo Wen's mind, a second transformation took place.

The floodwaters that were about to engulf human settlements suddenly changed course, autonomously carving out new paths across the land. Dense, meandering tributaries grew, passing smoothly over the original riverbeds.

Lakes of all sizes accumulated power like Dantians; some remained calm, while others formed whirlpools, manifesting all sorts of strange phenomena.

The mountains were changing as well.

The supreme craftsmanship of a powerful world reshaped this realm to which people had grown accustomed.

Those desolate mountain ranges imitated Mo Wen's internal organs, spawning new caverns; they mimicked his skeletal structure, rising and falling in succession, giving birth to countless locations that could be called secret realms in other worlds.

Frosty caves accompanied by cold fires within, valleys whose interior spaces were vastly larger than their external appearance, and upside-down hanging mountains...

The stars across the sky shone brightly, attempting to shift their positions once more, but the power accumulated by humanity up to this point had been entirely exhausted.

The transformations gradually subsided.

Mo Wen could sense that many of his special traits were incompatible with this world, and numerous others would require him to accumulate power anew in the future to manifest again. However, he was now capable of sensing this land directly—and even touching the edges of this world—in a manner far surpassing any emperor of past eras.

The resonance between heaven and man was the act of influencing heaven and earth through human will, and through heaven and earth, affecting the entire micro-world. Now, responding to Mo Wen's hyper-human will, this influence was slowly growing, intending to incorporate the entire micro-world into his grasp and truly replace heaven with humanity.

This "world" was smaller than any world he had experienced before.

Or to be more precise, this was "a tiny world within the entire world," abbreviated as a "micro-world."

The area of the realm he currently inhabited roughly corresponded to a super-giant planet in a normal universe, and "outside the micro-world" felt like a cold cosmic vacuum.

Beyond the Chenyao Dynasty that Mo Wen could meticulously perceive lay vast stretches of barren mountains, deserts, and slowly expanding land. Beyond the land was an endless sea of mist, and beyond the sea lay something he could not quite define as either nothingness or darkness.

Everything within this micro-world continuously drew power from outside the realm; the sun was not undergoing nuclear fusion, but rather using this as its primary conduit, while the countless stars across the sky served as a secondary energy-harvesting system outside the sun. The living beings within the world formed the third, and most growth-oriented, energy-harvesting system.

Heaven and earth growing alongside humanity—this was the first time Mo Wen had witnessed such a wondrous sight.

However, aside from this micro-world, were there no other worlds within this realm?

Using the perspective of heaven-and-man resonance, Mo Wen attempted to pierce through that darkness, but piercing one layer of darkness revealed only more darkness. Beyond that, not a single other micro-world could be seen.

Was it because this realm was inherently so desolate, with immense distances separating each micro-world, or... was this darkness an obstruction—an enemy?

The darkness remained silent. No matter how Mo Wen observed it, it offered no response. Everything else connected to Mo Wen through the resonance of heaven and man transmitted no hostility either, yet an inexplicable sense of crisis remained vivid.

Regardless, the most crucial task was to actively purge the problems within the realm and prepare for battle.

Thus, the first step was the surrender of the demon race.

Mo Wen sheathed his blade and reascended into the high heavens.

Unclear about what had happened, yet feeling that she should continue to put up a bold front, Long Yunshui rose into the sky, coiling behind Mo Wen like a guardian spirit to overlook the kneeling subjects together with him.

Mo Wen said calmly, "Demon race, step forward."

Some demons who had not undergone human transformation disguises, but merely made slight adjustments to pass by, lowered their heads and slowly emerged from the crowd.

Mo Wen was unsatisfied; his tone grew a fraction colder: "Demon race, step forward!"

Some humanoid demons who still wished to remain hidden suddenly felt a terrifying pressure descend upon them.

Their organs abruptly ceased functioning, their minds blanking out as if dead for several moments, until the pressure dissipated and they returned to the land of the living, discovering themselves drenched in the cold sweat of a close brush with death.

Had it been anyone else discovering them through other means, they would have fought to the death—or at least ensured they left no corpse behind so no evidence could be found. Yet facing this new Human Emperor who seemed to pierce through all things, they stepped forward in humiliation and fear, awaiting his judgment.

Would he execute them swiftly and decisively, or capture them for harsh interrogation, or subject them to cruel tortures to declare that humanity was about to slaughter the demon race they had managed to unite?

No matter how saintly past Human Emperors were claimed to be in human propaganda, these demons knew well that those were human emperors, not demon emperors. Furthermore, they believed the Human Emperor understood why so many disguised demons had come to witness the ceremony.

If assassination meant death and one's majesty being offended, Mo Wen would indeed choose to retaliate.

Yet to him, the current situation was no more dangerous than a tiny kitten glaring fiercely, intending to strike his shoe with its paw, only to be effortlessly hoisted up by the scruff of its neck.

Overlooking the gathered demons, he spoke: "All living souls in the world possessing intelligence, those willing to submit to this Emperor, shall all become my subjects. Do you, or do you not, submit?"

Those demons who lacked concept of accumulated blood feuds and understood Mo Wen's overwhelming might were nearly ecstatic, while those burdened by debts of blood found it difficult to raise their heads in the presence of such a mighty being.

Yet they all looked toward Huang Ling'er, expecting this demon emperor bearing divine blood to give an answer that would satisfy them.

Under Mo Wen's oppressive might, Huang Ling'er could not lift her head to gaze upward, but she still managed with great difficulty to keep her tone neither servile nor overbearing: "We of the demon race are willing to submit."

Mo Wen nodded: "Good."