Conferred God: Got cramped at the beginning

Chapter 1022 Yunzhong's Former Retainers
In the middle of Jambudvipa, there is a Flaming Mountain.

The Flaming Mountain was formed when the Great Sage Equaling Heaven stepped out of Laozi's alchemy furnace. He kicked off a piece of the furnace brick, which then took root in the Southern Continent and transformed into the Flaming Mountain, which stretches for eight thousand miles.

Centered on the Flaming Mountains, the surrounding area for tens of thousands of miles is a desert with little life.

The flames and heat here all emanate from the Six Ding Divine Fire. Not only is it incredibly hot, but within that heat, there is also a burning sensation that threatens to consume the very souls of living beings.

This agitation was something even cultivators found difficult to resist.

At the same time, this originates from the fiery heat of the Six Ding Divine Fire, and the Six Ding Divine Fire itself, as well as the Flaming Mountain formed by the furnace bricks of the Eight Trigrams Furnace, is also an incomparably precious treasure in the world.

Those who comprehend the element of fire can gain much here.

Those who wish to make progress in alchemy can also gain insights here.

That is why, even though the area beyond the Flaming Mountains, which stretches for eight thousand miles, is a desolate expanse of yellow sand, there are still countless cultivators coming and going—and some even attempt to comprehend the teachings of the Supreme Sage.

This Southern Continent is the territory of the demon race. Countless cultivators travel here, and naturally, countless demons also flock here to prevent this place from being occupied by the human race.

Moreover, although this place is not suitable for the survival of mortals, it is a natural treasure for the demon race, who love drought and dryness.

As time went by, the number of practitioners from all sides in this area increased.

Then, some people began to transform the environment, drawing water veins out of the vast yellow sand and creating oases.

However, the water element within an ordinary oasis is quickly dissipated by the dryness emanating from the Flaming Mountain, causing the oasis to dry up.

Then, some immortals and gods specially invited some real dragons to suppress the water veins of the oasis and harmonize the water vapor there.

On the Southern Continent, the ruler of the South Pole, the Vermilion Bird Lord of the Majesty of Light, has an excellent relationship with the Dragon Clan. Although he is in seclusion for a long time, some of his messengers will follow his will and come to this land of raging flames to reduce the heat and calm the restlessness.

In addition, the dragon race itself has the ability to control water veins...

Thus, after the dragons also set foot here, oases began to 'grow' in various parts of the desert with the cooperation of all parties.

Subsequently, some mortals were brought by some demons or immortals to various oases to recuperate, multiply, and grow stronger.

Later, Princess Rakshasa, persuaded by someone, moved her cave dwelling here.

While having Red Boy practice his magic using the Flaming Mountain, she also activated the power of her innate spiritual treasure, the Banana Leaf Fan, according to the changing seasons, to suppress the scorching heat in the Flaming Mountain and to cleanse some of the summer heat flowing through the yellow sand.

As the Daoist partner of the Bull Demon King, his status among the demon race was similar to that of the 'Demon Queen,' and he was protected by several other Great Sages.

With her in charge, she can naturally maintain order here.

Thus, the once chaotic and desolate land of yellow sand gradually returned to order and slowly regained its vitality.

To this day, the number of living beings in this land of fire and yellow sand is no less than ten million, and the number of mortals is no less than one million.

Because of the unique environment of this desert land, the people here did not form so-called kingdoms, but existed in a more ancient form of tribes.

In this land of yellow sand, the Rakshasa Princess's order is the only order here.

As a member of the phoenix family, Zaoge was naturally drawn to fire. After wandering around the Southern Continent, she eventually chose to establish her own cave dwelling and demon kingdom in this land of fire and sand.

Because of his experience in mediating between humans and demons within the Chu Kingdom, Zaoge's demon kingdom was the most prosperous among all the demon kingdoms in this fiery desert land, and also the most coveted by other demon gods.

Most importantly, in her presence, the human and demon races in the demon kingdom are already showing a trend of merging into one.

The plans that were not completed in the State of Chu seem to be gradually becoming a reality in this scorching land of fire and sand.

It is precisely because of this that, outside of this demon kingdom, in addition to the spying of the demon god, there are also quite a few cultivators and demonic people who want to find an opportunity to subdue her and completely destroy this demon kingdom.

Zao Ge was thoroughly annoyed by this.

Of all the demon kingdoms, Zaoge's demon kingdom is the closest to the Flaming Mountains—a portion of the eight thousand miles of Flaming Mountains lies within Zaoge's demon kingdom.

And Zaoge's cave dwelling is located here.

There, the mountain was carved through, directly drawing out a huge pool of molten lava.

The pond is surrounded by a grove of phoenix trees—and in the pond itself stands a red jade phoenix tree.

Zaoge usually rests on that red jade parasol tree.

After the battle, they will return to their true form and sink into the molten lava pool to cleanse their feathers.

After cleaning his feathers, Zaoge lay lazily on a branch of the red jade parasol tree, habitually reminiscing about his days in the Chu Kingdom and the days under the command of Lord Yunzhong.

The State of Chu revered the bear as its ancestor, but the phoenix was also a totem of the State of Chu.

Although he was under the command of Lord Yunzhong in the State of Chu, Lord Yunzhong went into seclusion after adulthood and had little control over his subjects—as long as they didn't cause trouble, they were left to their own devices.

And if anything happens, Yun Zhongjun will step in to save the day.

One can only imagine how carefree she was in the State of Chu at that time.

Unfortunately, after the fall of the Chu Kingdom, she ultimately made a wrong move, leaving the mortal realm and returning to the Southern Continent.

Now, of the three original demon gods who established the Chu Kingdom with its ancestors—Xiong Ba is dead, Zao Ge has gone far away, and only Wu Ling remains in the human world, in Wushan.

However, after traveling far away, Zaoge was shocked to discover that the Qin state, which had destroyed the Chu state, had not destroyed them. On the contrary, it had accepted the mythology of the Chu state. While Yunzhongjun was highly respected, the Wuling under his command, who guarded Wushan, was also revered as the Goddess of Wushan and accepted by the human race.

At that time, Zaoge also had the idea of ​​going back, but unfortunately, he was never able to swallow his pride.

Until now...

"If only I hadn't cared about saving face back then, I could have just apologized to the God and gone back." Zao Ge thought lazily, and looking at the environment of this fiery sand land, a moment of regret flashed through his mind.

Just as she was thinking this, a gold mark on her wrist suddenly lit up.

She sat up abruptly and looked down at her wrist.

—That gold mark is none other than...

This is precisely the remnant of the fate of the Chu state.

Before fleeing the mortal realm, she also participated in Xiong Ba and his group's mission to save King Huai of Chu—only after the failure did she escape. When the Chu Kingdom perished, although it entrusted its remaining national fortune to Yun Zhongjun, it did not erase the traces of the Chu Kingdom's national fortune from her body—therefore, after she arrived in Nanzhanbuzhou, those traces of the national fortune gradually merged with her cultivation.

Until she established the Demon Kingdom in this land of fire and sand, and human traces appeared in the Demon Kingdom, and the human and demon races in the Demon Kingdom gradually merged, the traces left by the fate of the Chu Kingdom on her became increasingly mysterious.

When she manifests her true form, one can even faintly sense the power of humanity, and even, by drawing upon that power, it is as if she has already transformed into a human god.

With these changes, she increasingly missed the days when she served under Yun Zhongjun.

Zao Ge watched as the gold marks on his wrist shone brightly.

—The last time this light appeared was when Lord Yunzhong stepped out of the Cloud Cave Heaven and headed to the Netherworld.

At this moment, the golden light reappeared.

"Has Yun Zhongjun set foot in the mortal realm again?" Zao Ge stared blankly at the golden light on her wrist, which slowly flowed into her palm.

Yun Zhongjun is an extremely unique and low-key figure among the immortals and gods of heaven and earth.

When the State of Chu still existed, he frequently manifested his divine power within Chu.

After the fall of the Chu Kingdom, although the myth of him was still passed down and he was still revered by the people, the Lord of the Clouds chose to hide and live outside the human world.

Only when some major upheaval occurs in the world will this Lord of the Clouds emerge from within the Cloud Cave.

"Is another great calamity about to befall us?" Zaoge wondered. "Or is it that His Majesty's departure from seclusion this time is also for the sake of this great calamity?"

In the blink of an eye, he decided to abandon this demon kingdom and head straight for the human world.

But after taking only two steps, she stopped again, turned around and went back to her paulownia tree. Then, she activated her Dao Seed and connected with a mark on the paulownia tree.

A moment later, a leaf as red as jade fell and transformed into a mirror, appearing before Zaoge's eyes.

"Zao Ge?" In the mirror, a figure shrouded in divine light appeared—even though that figure was doing its best to conceal its aura, the divine light still obscured Zao Ge's vision, making it difficult for him to see the true form beneath the divine light.

“Witch Spirit, it’s been a long time.” Zao Ge looked at the divine light flowing on the mirror’s surface with a complicated expression.

As one of the progenitor demon gods of the Chu Kingdom, there was a difference in their power—at that time, Xiong Ba was the strongest, she was second, and Wu Ling was the weakest.

But now, Xiong Ba is long dead, and the weakest witch spirit, under the worship of the human race and the blessing of the human race's legend, has become far stronger than her.

Before today, she would never have imagined that one day she would be unable to see through the divine light emanating from the witch spirit's body.

"Zaoge, is there something you need?" Wuling's voice came through the mirror. Her ethereal voice carried an unfathomable sense of holiness, making even the phoenix, Zaoge, feel ashamed of herself.

"Witch Spirit, did you know that the Divine Lord has stepped out of the celestial realm?" Zao Ge composed himself.

"So what?" Wu Ling replied.

"I am merely a subordinate of the God-King. If the God-King summons me, I will go."

"If the God does not summon me, why should I cause him trouble?" Wu Ling's voice was unusually calm.

She has an extremely clear understanding of herself.

After being accepted by humanity, her power grew rapidly under the worship and legends of that human race.

At the same time, with the myth of Yun Zhongjun as her anchor, as long as she does not act recklessly, she will not be at risk of being corrupted by humanity.

For countless millennia, she could say she lived an extremely comfortable life.

—And she was also well aware that although she now had considerable influence among the human race and possessed considerable power.

But she was ultimately not someone who excelled at fighting—and compared to Yun Zhongjun, her strength was insignificant.

Furthermore, Yun Zhongjun is a person who likes to do things personally; he never likes to delegate tasks to others.

Therefore, Wu Ling's principle is to never cause trouble for Yun Zhongjun.

Unless Yun Zhongjun summons her, she stays in the Wuxia Gorge to avoid rushing out without knowing the situation, which would not only fail to help Yun Zhongjun but also cause him trouble.

"I want to see the Divine Lord," Zaoge said. Under the veil of divine light, she could not see any change in Wuling's expression.

"The traces of the Chu Kingdom's destiny seem to have undergone some strange change here. I would like to seek guidance from the Divine Lord." Zaoge raised her hand, allowing Wuling to see the mark on her hand.

Now, although she can use these traces to confirm that Yun Zhongjun has stepped out of Yun Zhong Cave and into the mortal world, that's all she can be sure of.

To try and use this to determine Yun Zhongjun's whereabouts is utterly delusional.

Therefore, if she wanted to see Yun Zhongjun and return to his protection, she had no choice but to ask Wu Ling to act as an intermediary and convey her message.

If Yun Zhongjun is still willing to accept her after the witch spirit sends the message, then he will naturally provide a place to meet.

Conversely, they would assume her message does not exist.

"I can only help you this once." After a long silence, the witch spirit's response finally rang out through the mirror.

“Once is enough,” Zaoge smiled.

Over countless millennia, the bond between her and Wuling had long since faded. So Wuling was only willing to help her this once—but once she returned to Yunzhongjun's command, their broken friendship would naturally be rekindled.

So, in front of Zaoge, Wuling also sent a message directly.

With a flick of her wrist, the clouds transformed into a divine bird at her fingertips, which then flew down to the mortal realm.

……

"Fellow Daoist, this way." In the mortal realm, Yun Zhongjun and Li Nu slowly passed by.

This place is none other than the land of Chu—the former territory of the Chu state.

Even after tens of thousands of years, the people on this old land of Chu still remember the traces of Chu and that they are Chu people.

The traces left by the traditions and myths of the Chu region here are still more intense than one can imagine.

(End of this chapter)