Conferred God: Got cramped at the beginning

Chapter 1031 Swords Clash, the Foundation of Humanity
In that instant, the clash of swords swept across the heavens and earth once again.

Those cultivators who were originally seeking opportunities and comprehending the Dao traces in the Blood Maple Forest suddenly realized, amidst the clash of swords, that the Blood Maple Forest they were in was not the real Blood Maple Forest.

—That was merely the world outside the Blood Maple Forest, a manifestation that arose from being touched by the true aura of the Blood Maple Forest.

Just like when the thoughts of a Great Luo surge, the primordial energy between heaven and earth interacts with the thoughts of a Great Luo, and then the manifestation of the Great Luo is formed.

"This isn't actually the Blood Maple Forest?" King Nanshan raised his hand in disbelief.

His fingertips, with their incredibly sharp claws, reached out and grabbed a blood maple tree that had been forged from a weapon. The crimson maple leaves on the tree transformed into a sword aura and fell down, cutting a mark on his claws. It was as if he wanted to cut off half of the fingernails that he, a peerless Taiyi cultivator, had forged, which were comparable to divine weapons.

The dangers and mysteries within this Blood Maple Forest are thus evident.

—But now, the clanging of swords and blades clearly tells everyone in the Blood Maple Forest that none of them have yet stepped into the Blood Maple Forest in its true sense!

In addition, the clash of swords has another layer of meaning.

That is, while all of them—no, the vast majority of them—were still lingering on the outskirts of the Blood Maple Forest, misled by the changes in this false Blood Maple Forest, some had already stepped into the real Blood Maple Forest and disturbed the traces left by Chi You.

Otherwise, there would never have been such a resounding clash of swords, causing those at the very top level below the Great Luo realm, or even those who were simply incarnations of the Great Luo realm, to feel their hearts pound with fear.

In that instant, all the immortals and gods in the Blood Maple Forest abandoned what they saw and gained, each channeling their magical powers and unpredictable means to head straight for the source of the clash of swords.

This Blood Maple Forest, serving as an external manifestation, is situated at the end of an era—and its nature is also incredibly mysterious.

But no matter how mysterious it is, how could it possibly stop a team composed of hundreds of top-level Taiyi and even Daluo incarnations?
When these people abandoned their confrontations and schemes and focused all their efforts on heading towards the source of the Blood Maple Forest, in just a short while, everyone who had entered the Blood Maple Forest gathered at the source of the clash of swords.

A door resembling a Ruyi (a traditional Chinese scepter symbolizing good fortune) appeared before everyone's eyes, and within the door, an infinite and mysterious power swayed.

Before this portal, these powerful figures, who would be dominant anywhere in the world, were all covered in dust and dirt.

Admittedly, their strength allows them to avoid many dangers within the Blood Maple Forest, making it difficult for the forest to pose a fatal threat to them.

But this is, after all, the Blood Maple Forest!

Even if it's just an outward appearance, it's still the Blood Maple Forest—here, there is both the terror originating from Chi You and the great power originating from the end of an era.

Putting everything else aside, just consider the maple leaves on each blood maple tree in the Blood Maple Forest, the sword energy that transforms when they fall... the sharpness of those leaves is enough to make one feel awe.

Before that portal, more than a hundred supreme Taiyi masters from different places looked at each other.

No one laughed at anyone else's disheveled appearance.

Because everyone is like that.

—The Bodhisattvas and Arhats of Buddhism manifested golden bodies, and on their golden bodies, there were cuts and wounds that have not yet disappeared. In fact, some of the marks on the wounds were not formed by the sword energy transformed from maple leaves, but by the branches of the blood maple tree that directly struck their golden bodies.

The immortals dressed as Taoist deities were also in tattered clothes, their crowns were broken, and their hair was disheveled.

The three demons—the Lion Camel King and the King of Nanshan—didn't show any signs of injury, but the wolf demon had a bloodstain on his palm.

It appears that his 'injury' is the most severe among all of them.

"Sword energy?" In front of the Ruyi-shaped gate, the Lion Camel King raised his hand and, in front of everyone, plucked a maple leaf from the blood maple tree beside him, then watched as the maple leaf transformed into sword energy and dispersed.

“It’s sword energy.” The immortals and gods dressed as Taoists or deities all nodded, confirming the origin of the maple leaf.

"If I remember correctly, the ancestor of mankind, Chi You, was skilled with the knife, not the sword."

"Furthermore, just now we all sensed the clash of swords."

"But the sword is here, where is the knife?" the Lion Camel King said in a deep voice, letting the scattered swords fall on his body, but they did not cause him any wounds—his fur was completely unharmed.

Swords clashed.

The sword is here, but where is the knife?
The moment the Lion Camel King raised this question, everyone in front of the door felt a chill run down their spines.

Without even realizing it, everyone thought of one possibility.

Among swords and sabers, if the 'saber' refers to Chi You... then who the sword is aimed at is beyond doubt!

Who else could it be but the Yellow Emperor, who defeated Chi You?

And coincidentally, the Yellow Emperor was also a skilled swordsman—but in terms of swordsmanship, he could be considered one of the greatest sword masters in history.

Even more coincidentally, the most precious treasure left behind by the emperor was none other than the Xuanyuan Sword!
"Could it be that the sounds of swords clashing are traces of the battle between the Yellow Emperor and Chi You?"

"This is absolutely impossible!"

In Buddhism, the leading Arhat spoke with unwavering certainty.

"The Yellow Emperor is long dead!"

"The Yellow Emperor collapsed and was buried in Qiaoshan Mountain!"

"Who hasn't visited the Imperial Mausoleum on Mount Qiao?"

As the Arhat spoke, his haste made him seem to be rambling incoherently.

His voice was extremely urgent, and he was covered in sweat.

At this moment, these immortals and gods were shocked to discover that the Buddhist monks who had come to the Blood Maple Forest were actually led by this Arhat.

"Who do we have here? It's Fuhu!" Only then did the Lion Camel King recognize the true form of the Arhat before him.

In Buddhism, the ranks of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats are ranked from top to bottom. Arhats are only the third in the sequence, below Bodhisattvas.

Normally, with Bodhisattvas present, it's not the Arhats' place to make decisions.

However, there are eighteen exceptions among the Arhats.

They are known as the Eighteen Great Arhats. In the Buddhist hierarchy of rank, the addition of the word "Great" before their title signifies that they have the ability to advance further, or even several steps further, but have chosen to remain in their original rank for some special reason.

Such beings are generally treated a level higher within Buddhism.

A great Arhat is equal to, or even surpasses, some Bodhisattvas.

Great Bodhisattvas are regarded as equivalent to Buddhas.

Among the eighteen Arhats, although Jianglong was the leader, he did not dare to come to the Blood Maple Forest.

After all, the one sitting beside the Blood Maple Forest was none other than Lord Yunzhong.

As everyone knows, Yun Zhongjun is one of the incarnations of Ao Bing, the Great Dragon God who upholds Heaven and righteousness.

This Arhat who subdues dragons, carrying the title of subduing dragons, came before the incarnation of the Great Dragon God who upholds justice and righteousness... What else could that be but courting death?
Even if the righteous and benevolent Dragon God Ao Bing spares his life, he will definitely take action to diminish the esteemed title and position of the Dragon-Subduing Arhat.

If the dragon-taming one doesn't come, then the leader of the Buddhist sect, apart from the tiger-taming one, is not to be considered.

"Humans are a race that rejects immortality. Among humans, only Xing Tian and Chi You have truly achieved immortality and have lived from the ancient mythological era to the present day!"

"As the human emperor, the Yellow Emperor could not possibly be alive today—otherwise, the foundation upon which humanity has abandoned immortality would have collapsed long ago!"

The Arhat Subduing Tiger completely ignored the Lion Camel King's 'breath adjustment', and instead analyzed the current situation with a solemn expression, trying his best to convince himself that the 'sword' in front of him was definitely not the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan.

Otherwise, he was very worried that he simply didn't have the courage to stay in the Blood Maple Forest, or even to cross that gate.

Each of the human emperors in the mythological era of the human race was unique—the unique characteristic of the Yellow Emperor was his unprecedented magnanimity and inclusiveness.

Of course, to put it more harshly, it would be 'I want them all'!
Since its birth, it has won every single game of chess it has played!
Apart from him, everyone else in the game, including his allies, is a loser!
Legends throughout history have described Chi You as fierce—but many people believe that the Yellow Emperor was the truly fierce one!
That means they'll even devour their own allies.

“Of course, the most important point is that the Xuanyuan Sword of the Yellow Emperor is not here at all,” said the Arhat Subduing Tiger.

"Besides the sword of the Yellow Emperor, whose sword could rival Chi You's?" Lion Camel King asked, as if deliberately looking for trouble.

Beside them, King Nanshan and the Wolf Spirit maintained a calm demeanor—but in reality, they had both pricked up their ears, listening intently to the secrets belonging to Pan Tian.

The secrets concerning the human race are among the most important secrets in Pantian, second only to those of the Sages.

Even the Great King of Nanshan and the Wolf Spirit did not expect that they had already heard clues about the secrets of the human race as soon as they stepped into the Blood Maple Forest, before they had even ventured into its core.

At this moment, the two avatars of powerful beings from beyond the realm were straining their ears and focusing their minds on the words of the Lion Camel King and the Tiger-Taming Arhat, afraid of missing a single word.

They even remembered the expressions and actions of the Lion Camel King and the Tiger-Taming Arhat.

"Why say so much? Why not go in and take a look?" After a moment, a Taoist disciple dressed as a deity tidied his clothes and then offered incense and candles before the door.

At this moment, those who had gathered in front of the door suddenly realized the mystery of the door.

The traces left on their bodies by the Imperial Seal of the State seemed to resonate somewhat with this door.

However, at this moment, no one cared about this resonance.

Everyone's attention was drawn to the incense, candles, and offerings.

The wisps of smoke from incense and candles rose gently upwards, seeping between the doors.

The mystery within the doorway became clear amidst the incense and candles.

"The foundation of humanity, the source of immortality." Feeling the power that became more apparent within the doorway under the influence of incense and candles, one of the cultivators of the immortal path instantly turned ashen-faced.

The foundation of humanity, the source of immortality.

It sounds like just eight simple words, but in reality, they represent the blood and tears of countless gods!
Since the division of the Five Immortals and the establishment of the Immortal Path, countless immortals have achieved their status in the world.

Among the Five Immortals, those who progress the fastest and obtain power the most 'easily' are those from whom it is said that no immortal has ever failed to explore the source of their divine power.

Although the sage incarnation of the Primordial Celestial Venerable sits in that source, separating the immortals from the sea of ​​emotions and desires.

Yet there are still countless gods who carefully circumvent the restrictions and protection of the Primordial Celestial Venerable before touching the vast ocean of emotions and desires.

Then, unsurprisingly, all the gods met with misfortune.

Or they were instantly submerged by the vast ocean and perished.

Or, they might be completely corrupted by humanity in that vast ocean, becoming one of the gods of humanity.

"It seems this Blood Maple Forest is not a place for someone like me. Farewell!"

The immortal who recognized the entrance bowed to the crowd without hesitation and then stepped into the outer blood maple forest.

Fortunately, the outer blood maple forest is still a treasure trove.

Inside, whether it was the blood maple tree formed from weapons or the maple leaves formed from the sword energy, they were all rare treasures that allowed someone as powerful as Taiyi to carefully study and gain insights.

As for what lies within that door—while it may indeed hold an unprecedented opportunity—it is clearly not a place that these immortals can touch.

After all, these immortals, under the protection of the Primordial Celestial Venerable and within the framework of the immortal path, face immense risks in attempting to transcend reality and touch the vast ocean of emotions and desires with their own thoughts...

Moreover, now, we are about to step into the vast ocean of emotions and desires with our true selves.

What’s the difference between that and seeking death?
If the land that forms the foundation of humanity is merely an extremely dangerous forbidden zone for others, then for these immortals, it is a death trap.

Once you step inside, there is no chance of survival—even if you manage to come out alive, you will inevitably be corrupted by humanity and lose your sense of self.

"No wonder the ancient god Yun Zhongjun just sat outside the maple forest, without having any intention of exploring the secrets of Chi You."

This immortal at the Taiyi realm thought to himself, and then sat down with his back against the maple tree. At that moment, his mind and spirit merged with the blood maple behind him.

(End of this chapter)