Shennong Daojun.

Chapter 516 Reunion with Qingyuzi, the Plague of History Bookworms!
After Zhao Xing left the territory of Venerable Bo Meng.

Peng Yue rushed over to see him off with books in her arms, just in time to miss Zhao Xing's departure.

"Your Excellency, Minister Zhao has left?"

“He just left.” Bermon nodded. “He left in a hurry, as if he had something important to do.”

"Sigh." Peng Yue felt a little regretful. She had been hoping to let Zhao Xing see the legal treatise she had just written.

If we miss this chance, who knows when we'll meet again.

Feeling dejected, Peng Yue slumped back into her study.

She carefully arranged a pile of books on the bookshelf, some of which were classics annotated by Zhao Xing, all of which she treasured.

Then Peng Yue carefully closed the door and went out.

"Wipe rub~"

Right after she left, a very subtle sound of paper rubbing came from the corner of the bookshelf.

The white jade Wuling boat swiftly traveled through the void river.

Zhao Xing then went to Wei Tianchen's library and looked through Wei Tianchen's notes.

The methods by which Heaven and Earth prove the Dao must have goals and methods.

For example, Wei Tianchen's goal is to kill the Divine Realm beings, and his method is the 'Heaven-Mending Technique'. By killing the Divine Realm beings, he returns their essence to the universe, thereby receiving the reward of the universe's essence.

If Gu Tianyang's Primordial Grass Man Method is a method for proving the Dao through Heaven and Earth, then what is its goal?

Zhao Xing searched through the library for a long time before finally finding the original notebook he had read before, which contained Wei Tianchen's comments on various straw figure techniques.

[...The methods created by Gu Tianyang, up to the Taixu Grass Man, still had some real substance, while the Taichu Grass Man was purely wishful thinking.]

The Gu brothers were both eccentric and prone to unrealistic dreams. Gu Luohe was one, and so was Gu Tianyang.

[...Gu Tianyang died, and another disciple, Zuo Qiyu, inherited his teachings. Gu Luohe became one of the founders of the Primordial Realm.]

Time flies. In the ancestral land of the Feather Emperor, another vast nation has been established: the Crimson Star Empire.

However, I have a feeling that Gu Tianyang didn't die in the Black Heaven Realm. If what I think is true, that little guy is really ruthless...

"What did Wei Tianchen base his conclusion on?" Zhao Xing closed the notebook and began to search extensively for information about the 'straw man method' in it.

Because Wei Tianchen's collection of books was so vast, even with Zhao Xing's method of filtering and searching, it took him half a year to read through all the selected books and notes.

In the end, Zhao Xing placed the few books he found useful beside him.

"Due to the chaos of time and space, there are many different versions of the order of the Five Emperors era, but what is certain is that Emperor Luo was the last God Emperor."

"Many ancient books have mentioned that powerful straw doll techniques appeared during the five eras of the God Emperors."

"However, at that time, the straw figure method was not included in the agricultural magic, but was included in the sacrificial rituals."

"But the most prosperous period was during the reign of Emperor Li, because Emperor Li abolished the common practice of life sacrifice in various places and replaced it with the sacrifice of straw figures."

"If we want the straw doll to have the same sacrificial power, then the straw doll technique cannot be too weak, otherwise it will not be able to meet the requirements of the sacrifice."

"Thus, the straw doll method began to appear in large numbers during the Li Emperor's era."

"However, at this time, the straw figure ritual was still in the hands of the priests and was regarded as a ritual. Many of the gods who accepted the offerings were still just pretending to be gods, just like the God of Fortune, who outwardly complied but inwardly defied them."

"On the surface, the straw doll method replaced the life sacrifice, but in reality, the straw doll was still made from life, flesh and blood, and souls. As a result, many evil straw doll methods appeared, such as the straw doll method that devours souls, devours flesh and blood, and even the straw doll method that devours the origin of the Great Dao."

"In Wei Tianchen's notes, it is mentioned that there were twelve kinds of dark and evil straw doll techniques in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths at that time. These were the most harmful and most secretive methods at the time, and were called the 'Twelve Divine Sacrifices'."

Zhao Xing looked at the books in front of him and kept sorting out their structure.

"In the later period of the Li Emperor's era, eight of these twelve powerful evil gods were eliminated by the Li Emperor, but four escaped and their whereabouts are unknown."

"After that, the straw figure ritual was no longer classified as a ritual, but as a form of agricultural magic, and was put under the control of the god of agriculture."

As Zhao Xing looked at these ancient books, although he had no power, he still felt a sense of bloodshed and carnage.

The struggle over the orthodox tradition was never a trivial matter. The transformation of a major category of magic from the way of sacrifice to the way of agriculture definitely involved a large-scale struggle.

"Priests are incredibly weak in this era, but during the Five Emperors' reign, they were absolutely the foremost path," Zhao Xing thought to himself. After all, the Five Emperors all performed the Fengshan ceremony to worship Heaven and Earth, which inevitably required powerful priests. The magnitude of this demand determined the strength of the lineage.

If the environment during the Five Emperors era was relatively stable, then the Minister of Agriculture would have had a real hard time defeating the priests.

"The Twelve Divine Sacrifices... Could it be that the straw doll technique created by Gu Tianyang is actually a sacrificial ritual? A wolf in sheep's clothing?" Zhao Xing pondered. "Gu Luohe believes that my brother is on his side, and Gu Tianyang's straw doll technique has not been banned. On the contrary, it has been passed down and successors have been continuously trained, such as Zuo Qiyu, Jin Yan, and me."

Zhao Xing thought it was very likely, because he discovered that after Jin Yan's death, less than 30% of his power was absorbed by him and Zuo Qiyu, while the rest disappeared. If he hadn't broken through and reached the twelfth level of his True Spirit, he might not have been able to see it.

"Om~"

Zhao Xing's mind entered his inner world, and at the same time, it entered the straw figure made of divine weapon-grade materials.

"Boom~~"

Even with all his might, amplified by the power of the Soul Tree Heart, Zhao Xing's true spirit could only raise the index finger of his right hand.

As you raise your index finger, the space around you vibrates continuously.

Simply by mastering this index finger, a divine power was mobilized from the Earth's core and transmitted to the index finger.

"call out!"

The boundless continent was instantly pierced by a huge hole.

"Sigh~"

Zhao Xing quickly activated the boundary core, and a large amount of mist spread from his inner world to repair the boundless continent.

"This power is definitely equivalent to a strike from a god of freedom."

"Jin Yan has mastered the Primordial Grass Man Technique, taking half a step further than Zuo Qiyu. He has preserved his original body and can be reborn from the memories of his divided soul."

"What I figured out was to make the life chart structure of the straw man more perfect from the perspective of the straw man's body and life level, so that the straw man could also take shape at the god level."

"I just don't know if Zuo Qiyu has made any progress."

However, Zhao Xing dared not continue his research. Without understanding Gu Tianyang's situation, he could not delve deeper into this magic, lest he become someone else's pawn in the process.

"There are even stronger straw doll techniques in history... If I could travel through time, I might be able to learn even stronger god-level straw doll techniques. Why would I need to learn Gu Tianyang's secret techniques?"

Zhao Xing couldn't help but feel a longing for the era of Emperor Li.

No wonder the Boundless True God doesn't care whether he's an undercover agent or not.

The more you know, the more you'll yearn for the evil god camp!

The divine straw doll technique held great appeal for a primal, ego-oriented farmer.

"Go back first."

The white jade five-mausoleum ship quickly returned to the Origin Heavenly Palace.

At this time, Chen Jiu was still leading a group of selected geniuses in cultivating the Food Tribulation Technique, while Zhao Xing planned to return to the imperial territory on his own.

The Third Era of the Wilderness, the Eleventh Star Age, the Ancient Kingdom of Tianyou, the Continent of Bowa.

In a vast and endless forest spanning billions of kilometers, there stands a magnificent temple.

The temple is surrounded by elm trees and houses a statue of a deity named after the green elm tree.

There were also some smaller palace buildings built around the main palace, but the population was very small, only about a million people.

Guardians here are none other than the 'Purple Moon Palace Master' and the Jade Purity Palace Master from the ancient Yuanhai Kingdom long ago. However, both of them are now at the Emperor level.

Although Qingyuzi was punished and sent to the past, the Purple God Palace where he had once stayed was properly resettled.

Now, Emperor Ziyue and Emperor Yuqing have been staying here.

"The statue is acting strangely." Suddenly, Emperor Ziyue found Emperor Yuqing.

"What's going on?" Emperor Yuqing asked in confusion as he meditated.

"The divine decree has been sent, but I have not been able to receive it," said Emperor Ziyue with some anxiety.

"Go and have a look."

Emperor Yuqing and Emperor Ziyue immediately went inside the temple.

Before the statue of Qingyuzi, a bronze cauldron was ablaze with flames, which illuminated the statue and made it shine brilliantly.

Inside the bronze cauldron, there appears to be a tattered piece of paper.

Emperor Yuqing and Emperor Ziyue were quite bewildered.

They tried to communicate, but the statue did not respond.

But it truly seems like some kind of miracle.

"Your Majesty, what exactly are you trying to tell us?" Emperor Ziyue and Emperor Yuqing were very anxious.

But they couldn't understand what Qingyuzi was trying to express.

They all knew that Qingyuzi had gone to a very far place, but they didn't know how far. Many years had passed, and this was the first time Qingyuzi had displayed such a miracle.

Both of them felt it was very important, but the miracles that were now manifesting were too abstract.

“Your Majesty, we are foolish and cannot understand your meaning.” Emperor Yuqing sighed.

The gap in the paper continued to widen, and the forehead of the Qingyuzi statue shimmered with light, as if it were sweating.

The statues, gilded with magical materials, were beginning to show signs of damage, looking as if they were about to collapse.

"What should we do?" Emperor Yuqing asked anxiously. "Should we notify the temple?"

"How do we notify them?" Emperor Ziyue sighed. They had indeed benefited greatly and become emperors.

However, even inside the Temple of Reincarnation, it was a creature that was disliked by both humans and dogs.

If Zhao Xing was merely unintentionally drawn into the events of that year, then they were peripheral members of the Temple of Reincarnation who actively helped Qing Yuzi plot her ascension to godhood.

They're already doing well with the treatment they're getting. Want to go back to the temple? They can't even see anyone right now; who the hell knows if they're here to steal again?

“If the God has any major issues, he will definitely notify the Temple of Reincarnation immediately.”

"If not, it must be because that road is blocked."

"But we don't know what happened either, sigh..."

Even though they were emperors, they were helpless against the level of gods.

Normally, the miracles performed by the God of Green Elm should be clear and unambiguous.

How could such a blurry situation occur?

Their intuition told them that there must be a big problem, but they could only watch helplessly.

"Huh~"

Flames rolled, and the gaps in the paper continued to widen.

The two stared intently at each other, and finally made a decision together.

“Yuqing, let’s each sacrifice a million years of our lifespan and see if we can stabilize the miracle.”

"Fine!" Emperor Yuqing gritted his teeth and immediately cut open his wrist.

Chi chi chi~
The essence and blood of the two were poured into the bronze cauldron in large quantities.

The flames instantly turned blood red.

The two emperors sacrificed their lifespans; a million years of lifespan is already a lot!
This will trigger their spiritual tribulation earlier, shortening the time they have to deal with it.

But I can't worry about that now.

"Whoo~"

Flames surged inside the bronze cauldron.

The rate at which the paper was being torn slowed down, and with the combined efforts of the two, four characters finally appeared on it.

Go find Zhao Xing.

"Whoo~"

After he finished speaking, the flames inside the bronze cauldron suddenly went out, as if nothing had ever happened.

However, the two emperors had already shown signs of aging, and the statue of Qingyuzi had also begun to crack.

"Boom~"

A boundary ship quickly took off from the land of Bova Star.

……

Within the territory of the ancient Tianyou Kingdom, a boundary ship is shuttling through the void.

In the twelfth year of the Third Era, Zhao Xing returned from the Primordial Heavenly Palace, accompanied by the Venerable Heavenly Crown.

The Crowned Venerable is a historian, but he is not a pure scholar; he is the kind who can fight.

When Zhao Xing first challenged the Earth Core Blood Core, Venerable Tianguan ranked second. Afterwards, he rushed to the Origin Heavenly Palace because he wanted to befriend Zhao Xing and observe the Earth Core Blood Core.

But at that time, Zhao Xing had no time to pay attention to him.

He then followed Venerable Bo Meng to the Heavenly Demon Kingdom to deal with Jin Yan's matter.

However, after returning, Venerable Tianguan was still waiting, which finally moved Zhao Xing.

“Lord Tianguan, I didn’t say when I would return. It could be ten years, or it could be hundreds or thousands of years. Are you just going to keep waiting like this?”

Venerable Tianguan said humorously, "Sinong Zhao, I don't have any other skills, but I'm best at waiting."

"Hahaha." Considering that this person was ranked after Venerable Zhanghe and had also waited for over 300,000 years, Zhao Xing was amused by his words.

"If you wish to view the Earth's core, that's not impossible," Zhao Xing said. "What will Your Excellency offer in exchange?"

Venerable Tianguan said happily, "Please name your price, Zhao Sinong. I only need to observe for a hundred years." "Then let's exchange some history books," Zhao Xing said. "You can find any history books of ancient kingdom level."

Zhao Xing still has two tasks with the Boundless True God: one is to cultivate the Myriad-Year Flower God Seed.

Another is cultivating history buffs.

For the previous task, Zhao Xing had no clue what to do and had no idea how to make the Myriad Flower God Seed sprout.

However, the second character had a specific goal: to devour all kinds of historical books.

He had previously exchanged some items with Elder Feng Chen of the Academy City, but they were only low-grade goods.

“Alright, I happen to have some ancient demon history books, which are of a high level. I can give them to Zhao Sinong.”

The Heavenly Crown Venerable took out three glittering history books, each with a cover depicting a demonic beast.

There are also many loose pages, richly illustrated, containing the essence of history.

However, the three strongest are: "Ancient Demons: Rongdi Clan", "Chronicles of the Ten Great Demon Kings", and "Ancient Demon Book of Chaotic Seas".

"Okay, you can go in now."

Zhao Xing waved his hand, and without further haggling, directly took the Heavenly Crown Venerable into his inner world, letting him go inside the straw man's body to observe the Earth Core Blood Core.

shuh~
Then Zhao Xing pulled out an exquisite transparent insect box, inside which floated a larva that looked like a silkworm, and the box exuded a faint scent of books.

The history book bug feeds on historical books, and its skin is covered with many characters.

The larvae are very weak, not even at the Origin Realm, and you could even say they have no aura.

However, if it can enter the growth period and begin its first transformation, it will reveal its power.

"It can devour history books. The Boundless True God said that the most powerful god-level bookworms can even devour the Xuanling History Book. I don't know if that's true."

Zhao Xing found it hard to believe that such a divine object as the Xuanling History Book could be devoured by this tiny bookworm.

But since it was a mission anyway, and the materials needed by the evil god were all sorts of strange things, he wasn't surprised.

"Eat up, the sooner they're ripe, the better, so I can report back." Zhao Xing tossed the three history books into the box.

"Kacha kacha~~"

The history book larva instantly transformed into a streak of light and pounced on the three ancient demon books, but it couldn't chew them up, so it could only start by gnawing on the loose pages.

Zhao Xing watched for a while, but soon got bored, so he sat cross-legged and quietly waited for the boundary ship to return to the empire.

But at this moment——

"Om~"

His star mirror suddenly started ringing.

"Hmm? It's Du Yun."

"He contacted me."

"It seems he knows I've been to the Origin Heavenly Palace."

Zhao Xing came to the Origin Heavenly Palace because he had business to attend to, and Du Yun was not located in the First Void Ancestral Star System, so he simply did not contact Du Yun.

"Om~"

Du Yun's phantom appeared in front of Zhao Xing.

"Brother Du, did you know I'd been to the Origin Heavenly Palace? It's not that I didn't want to see you, it's just that time was tight and the mission was heavy..."

But Du Yun interrupted Zhao Xing with a serious expression: "Zhao Xing, we can catch up later. I have something to do. Please agree to let the other two people in."

"Okay." Zhao Xing nodded.

Then, in the star mirror, not only did Du Yun's figure appear, but also two familiar yet unfamiliar faces.

"The Purple Moon Palace Master and the Jade Purity Palace Master?"

Seeing these two people, Zhao Xing couldn't help but recall the scenes from when he first entered the universe, when it was the Purple Moon Palace Master who picked him up at Starfall Pass.

Later, relying on the resources of Ziyue Mansion, he broke through to the Origin Realm, went to Yueluo Mausoleum, and made his first fortune.

It was around that time that I met Du Yun, who was considered the next successor of the Purple God Palace.

After the destruction of the Yuanhai Ancient Kingdom, he was unaware of how the power structure of Lao Qing in this life was arranged.

Eight thousand years have passed, and we are only now seeing these two people for the first time.

"What do they want from you?" Zhao Xing asked. Du Yun was also a member of the Purple God Palace, and in a way, Du Yun was related to Qing Yuzi.

"I don't know." Du Yun shook his head. "They refuse to say, only that they have important matters to discuss with Senior Qingyuzi. They insist on seeing you in person before they can tell you."

"Where is it located?" Zhao Xing asked, looking at the two, Lord Ziyue and Lord Yuqing.

"The ancient kingdom of Tianyou, the planet Bowa."

"I'm coming right away." Zhao Xing didn't waste any words and immediately turned around.

Both for his own sake and for his own personal reasons, he should go and see.

Moreover, the Bowa Star Continent is within the Xuanling Star Region. If these two are bewitched by the evil god, that would be even better. In this place, the level of the evil god is probably not high, so it would definitely be a contribution point!

"I can't leave. I've reached a critical stage in my cultivation of the Food Calamity Technique. Zhao Xing, I'm counting on you," Du Yun said.

"Small things."

……

Three months later, on the continent of Bowa, Zhao Xing's white jade Wuling ship landed.

"Boom~"

The cabin opened, and Zhao Xing stepped onto the treetops to begin scanning the entire star continent.

They soon discovered Emperor Yuqing and Emperor Ziyue, as well as the temple.

"Old Qing also has a temple here?"

Zhao Xing flashed and appeared at the entrance of the temple in the next second.

"What's going on?"

He didn't sense anything unusual; the entire world of the Bowa Star Continent was laid out before him. However, Zhao Xing had also donned the Time Valley Rain Robe, and it was always better to be cautious.

“Zhao Sinong, just a few months ago…” Master Ziyue recounted what had happened.

Under the watchful gaze of Zhao Xing's true spirit, it was impossible for the Lord of Ziyue Palace to lie.

After listening, Zhao Xing nodded.

"Old Qing said there would be a chance to meet in the Third Era of the Wilderness. Could it be that he ran into trouble while working away from home?"

Emperor Ziyue and the others did not know where Qingyuzi had gone, but Zhao Xing knew that Old Qing had gone to the past.

He imagined a scene: Lao Qing left his hometown for a big city, only to be bullied by local bullies.

"Could Old Qing have run into some major incident again? If he had a problem, he should seek help from the Temple of Reincarnation, why would he come to me?"

Zhao Xing hesitated for a moment, but ultimately sent a clone into the temple.

No matter what, he and Qingyuzi had a bond, so if Old Qing really encountered any trouble, he should help him within his ability.

However, Zhao Xing didn't need to send a clone. He could sever the clone at any time and leave, so it was impossible for him to get involved in such a major event as the resurrection of the Dongyan Ancient Clan.

"Om~"

As soon as Zhao Xing's divided soul entered, the bronze cauldron burst into flames.

A tattered piece of paper floats in the flames.

"Ok?"

Zhao Xing was stronger than Zi Yue and Yu Qing, and immediately discovered more information.

This is a page torn from a history book, because it not only reflects the fluctuations of time, but also the attributes of a history book.

"Kacha kacha~"

The paper began to tear, breaking off little by little from the edges, as if a large mouth was slowly eating away at it.

"big big big!"

Zhao Xing unleashed his Azure Flower Magic Power, Azure Sea Magic Power, and Mysterious Soul Magic Power.

In this specific scenario, these three magical powers are more useful than the three magical powers of the Minister of Agriculture.

Zhao Xing saw more information.

[The Book of Heavenly Tranquility, Annals Seven, The First Emperor Hong]

After a moment's thought, Zhao Xing realized that this corresponded to the period of the seventh ruler of the Tianyou Ancient Kingdom, approximately from the 1003rd solar year of the 37th era to the 34th solar year of the 35th era in the Wilderness.

Because after serving as the ruler of Hongyi Kingdom for two eras, he stepped down to attempt to break through to the divine realm, but he failed and vanished into nothingness.

Then the information on the paper changed again.

[The Book of Heavenly Tranquility, Chapter Eleven, Section Four of the True Sect]

Zhao Xing frowned slightly.

Not long after, it became "Chapter Fourteen of the Annals".

[Annals, Chapter Twenty-Three]

……

The time span is very large, but there is a pattern: they all gradually approach the modern era.

Each time it is revealed, the paper is restored, and then the damage reappears.

"Kacha kacha~"

When they arrived in the eighth era before the desolate region, a pattern began to appear on the [Book of Heavenly Tranquility].

Zhao Xing could already clearly hear the gnawing sounds.

At this moment, he finally understood what Qingyuzi wanted to express.

"Old Qing, are you saying that there's a group of adult history buffs who are traveling through the river of time, gnawing on history along the way?"

He looked up at the statue of Qingyuzi, and at that moment, two lines of tears streamed from the corners of the statue's eyes.

"You're not kidding, are you..." Zhao Xing gasped. "This thing really exists?"

If that's the case, then we're in big trouble.

He instantly thought of many possibilities.

History books symbolize existing historical memories; if history books are overturned, then there will be a collective falsification of memories.

Just like the realm he and Yang Baihe had experienced, in that tomb realm, the Grand Tutor and the King were both extremely evil.

Some astronomical historians can tamper with memories. For example, the ancient Dongyan tribe replaced the Yuanhai king in the Dongyan Sea. No one even noticed when they held a Dharma assembly until the moment they planned to launch the attack.

In addition, historical records also served a protective function in the Third Era of the Wilderness, ensuring that the memories of time and space were not impacted.

If the former faction releases a group of powerful historians, even the protection of the Xuanling History Book might be in jeopardy!

"The bookworm plague... You really can see anything if you live long enough." Thinking of the many possibilities, Zhao Xing felt a chill run down his spine.

He immediately memorized all the information that Qingyuzi had conveyed.

But at this moment...

However, something strange happened outside the palace.

"I wonder what's wrong with the God Lord, that he actually summoned Zhao Xing. What happened... Yuqing, do you think he might have encountered danger?"

The Lord of Purple Moon Palace paced back and forth, waiting.

But at this moment, there was a look of confusion in the eyes of the Jade Purity Palace Master.

The Lord of Ziyue Palace looked at her with a puzzled expression.

The latter, however, was the first to change his expression, as if he didn't recognize him at all: "Who are you? How did you end up here!"

The Purple Moon Palace Master looked at Zhao Xing with some surprise, then at the Jade Purity Palace Master: "Jade Purity, what's wrong with you? I'm Purple Moon."

Not only did the Lord of Yuqing Palace not regain consciousness, but after a moment, his face suddenly contorted and his eyes turned red.

"You traitor who sold out your country! Prepare to die!"

Zheng!
One after another, swords of the heart emanated from the Jade Purity Palace Master's body, launching a sudden attack on the Purple Moon Palace Master.

"What? You—"

“Puff~~”

The Purple Moon Palace Master was suddenly knocked away, and his aura rapidly descended.

If Zhao Xing hadn't come to his senses and intervened in time, he probably would have been dead.

"Let me go, and who are you? This is an internal affair of my Tianyou Ancient Kingdom..."

Zhao Xing grabbed the Jade Purity Palace Master and knocked her unconscious. He then picked up the Purple Moon Palace Master: "Are you alright?"

"What... what's going on?" Lord Ziyue asked, completely bewildered.

“You two have lived long enough that your influence has spread to the time of your birth,” Zhao Xing sighed. “If I remember correctly, Lord of the Manor, you should have been born in the seventh era before the Desolate Region?”

“Yes, Yuqing is a bit older than me…” As he spoke, the Purple Moon Palace Master suddenly fell silent. He looked at Zhao Xing, somewhat frightened, and asked, “Who…who are you? Why am I here?”

(End of this chapter)