The copy has 0 error tolerance, and the last words on the ground are all wrong for me.

Chapter 489 Dark under the lamp

Tai Sui.

This term doesn't appear very often on Earth, but it does appear quite frequently compared to the real name of the Big Dipper.

For example, there's the proverb "to disturb the head of the Tai Sui," and the description of Wu Song, which was later used in game commentary as "like a demon lord descending from heaven, truly a Tai Sui god on earth."

Therefore, when Wu Chang first learned that An Rong had obtained the divine opportunity from the Tai Sui, he did not think much about it and regarded it as an ordinary divine inheritance.

After all, An Rong's performance at their first meeting was too poor; he couldn't even handle Zhu Yin Hai. If he had some powerful immortal affinity, such as the Wenqu or Wuqu, he certainly wouldn't have been so pathetic.

Furthermore, An Rong's ability to obtain the Tai Sui Immortal Fate but his inability to conquer the Kaiyang Immortal Mansion led him to further despise An Rong's Immortal Fate, believing it to be no different from that of Lü Changgeng and others.

But now it seems that An Rong's connection with the Tai Sui Immortal is not so simple.

Wu Chang's eyes showed a thoughtful look. While searching for the description of Tai Sui in his memory, he took out the Omniscient Crystal and began to ask questions.

On Earth, the term "Tai Sui" carries many meanings.

In folk legends, Tai Sui is mostly the Earth Tai Sui, a plant with a fleshy texture. It is said that it is "inexhaustible when eaten, and can be regenerated again." It has extremely strong self-healing ability; if you cut off a piece every day, it will recover the next day, and so on endlessly.

Some people even call it an elixir of immortality, claiming that consuming it can reverse aging and grant eternal life.

The reason why the Earthly Tai Sui can be associated with the word Tai Sui is that people believe that the fleshy Lingzhi is the incarnation of the Tai Sui god on earth.

Tai Sui God, also known as Tai Sui Star Lord, is one of the sixty Jiazi gods.

The ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earthly Branches are paired to form the sixty-year cycle, which means that the cycle of heaven and earth is sixty years. The Grand Duke of Jupiter takes turns to govern the fortunes and misfortunes of the human world in that year.

During the year's reign, the Tai Sui deity also possesses the power to command all the gods and is known as the head of all gods.

According to the information provided by the Omniscient Crystal, Tai Sui, as an obscure deity, does indeed have a higher status than he imagined. However, its special status is only due to the fact that it is special in the year it is in charge of the year. In terms of divine status and the extent of its spread, it is far inferior to the Big Dipper.

So why did the Seven Star Immortals, who painstakingly crafted the Earth Worship Ceremony, make Tai Sui the core figure instead of performing it themselves?

As Wu Chang looked at the numerous intelligence reports, a sudden inspiration struck him.

Why is the Tai Sui deity associated with time?
In mythology, people's initial belief was often just a totem. As the belief evolved, the totem was gradually deified and given a divine status.

Could the special nature of Tai Sui be unrelated to the Tai Sui deity that evolved later, but rather related to the totem it originally represented?

With this thought in mind, he inquired about the Omniscient Crystal again, and the Omniscient Crystal quickly provided information about the origin of Tai Sui.

On Earth, Jupiter is easily observed due to its large size and high brightness.

In ancient times, people discovered that Jupiter's orbit was stable, so they used Jupiter's orbital period to mark the years. They divided Jupiter's orbit into twelve equal parts, and people only needed to look up at the sky to see the position of Jupiter to know the current year.

The year is based on Jupiter, so Jupiter is also known as the Year Star.

The problem is that Jupiter's orbital period around the blue planet is not twelve years. According to the Jupiter calendar, the date will deviate by about one and a half months every twelve years.

To compensate for this discrepancy, people created a fictional star based on the trajectory of Jupiter. This star has a perfect orbital period of exactly twelve years, without any deviation.

This fictional star was called "Tai Sui".

The Grand Duke Jupiter (太岁) is derived from the planet Jupiter (岁星) and has no actual corresponding celestial body, so it is equivalent to the "shadow" of Jupiter, hence the following:

Jupiter is Yang and moves to the right in the heavens; Grand Duke Jupiter is Yin and moves to the left on the earth.

In other words, the appearance of Tai Sui is that people created a set of perfectly functioning artificial rules in order to correct the mistakes of Heaven. They then replaced the original rules of Heaven with these artificial rules.

The birth and function of Tai Sui happen to correspond to the worship of Heaven and Earth in the world instance.

The Seven Star Immortals discovered a hidden danger in the Heavenly Sacrifice, so they created the Earthly Sacrifice based on the Heavenly Sacrifice method, intending to use the earth to replace the heaven and correct the error of the Heavenly Sacrifice.

More importantly, according to the information provided by the Omniscient Crystal, when using Jupiter to mark the years, the phenomenon that causes a deviation in the year marking with each cycle of Jupiter's orbit is called "Jupiter Exceeds the Calendar"!
Looking at the last four words in the Omniscient Crystal's information, Wu Chang glanced at the name of the world instance and gave a look like the old man on the subway with his phone.

No, was he being played in the dark?
In the Jupiter Superstar dungeon, I've been guarding the Grand Duke Jupiter for so long, but I still haven't found the core of the Earth Sacrifice Ritual.

Okay, okay, let’s play like this, right?

Wu Chang was amused by his discovery; there was definitely something strange about the world instance, deliberately preventing players from discovering An Rong's anomaly.

Otherwise, he's just a college student with no education, while the management bureau has a group of elites with broad knowledge.

Although Jianxing may not seem very bright and may have gotten in through connections, he is, after all, a graduate of Peking University. Many of the old guys in the Administration Bureau have doctoral degrees.

Even if everyone else is not smart, his intuition should still allow him to discover something unusual.

But it wasn't until An Rong exposed himself that he realized the abnormality of Tai Sui must be the protection that the dungeon plane was giving to An Rong, the chosen one of the plane.

Fortunately, it's not too late yet.

Wu Chang remained silent for a while, suppressing the bewilderment and frustration he felt under the spotlight. After gathering his emotions, he looked up at An Rong with a face full of confusion and doubt.

"Are you the core of the earth-worshiping ritual?"

An Rong was unaware that Wu Chang carried a search engine and had already understood everything. He said sincerely:

"The specifics are too complex to explain in a few words. Simply put, the Earth Worship Ceremony is actually designed for the Tai Sui (Grand Duke Jupiter). Only with the Tai Sui presiding over it can the Earth Worship Ceremony achieve an effect comparable to the Heaven Worship Ceremony."

"Since you have obtained the Heavenly Power Immortal Fate and have seen the Altar of Heaven, you should have some understanding of what happened in ancient times."

"In ancient times, the Seven Immortals were all extraordinary talents. The seven of them worked together to decipher the origin of the Heavenly Sacrifice Method and created the Earthly Sacrifice Ritual. However, the Upper Realm reacted too quickly. They did not have time to complete the Earthly Sacrifice Ritual and could only use the unfinished Earthly Sacrifice Ritual to seal the demon race and block the Heavenly Gate."

"While weakening the influence of the upper realm on this world, we will increase the influence of the sacrificial ceremony on this world, so that the Tai Sui can be fully formed."

Wu Changji recalled that before visiting Li Kang after returning from Hulu Mountain, An Rong had mentioned that he was confident in completely destroying the demon realm and preventing the appearance of demons from happening again.

However, An Rong said at the time that the time was not right, and he had not been able to fully comprehend the Immortal Destiny. He would need to wait until the Ziwei Exorcising Evil Array was completely completed and he fully integrated the Immortal Destiny before he would know what to do next.

Judging from An Rong's expression, he should have found the answer by now.

Wu Chang nodded as if he understood, and continued to ask:

"The Grand Duke Jupiter told me these secrets, but I don't know what he needs me to do."

An Rong said, "The Seven Star Immortals risked their lives to seal the Heavenly Gate and the Demon Clan, and left behind the Earth Sacrifice Ritual, which actually left two paths for future generations."

"The first one is to wait for the day when the seal is loosened, and the new Tai Sui can control the earth-worshiping ceremony, completely master the upper realm's ability that belongs exclusively to the heaven-worshiping ceremony, completely defeat the demon race, complete the substitution of earth for heaven, free this world from the control of the upper realm, and even one day reach the level of the upper realm."

Wu Chang was not surprised by this. From An Rong's perspective, the Seven Star Immortals used the Earth Sacrifice Ritual only to break free from the control of the Upper Realm.

However, in his view, there is another possibility: that the Seven Star Immortals realized the possibility of the Heaven-Seizing Technique recorded on the three command flags. They were afraid that the upper realm would know that they had completed the technique and come to reap the rewards, so they accelerated the completion of the Earth-Sacrifice Ceremony.

Otherwise, the three command flags should have been kept within the Temple of Rites, rather than scattered and hidden in various places.

The Seven Star Immortals have mastered the Earth Sacrifice Ritual and the Three Command Flags. As powerful beings who are only one step away from becoming intermediate gods, they would definitely want to upgrade the dungeon plane to the third layer of the abyss.

"It's a good choice, but from what you're saying, Tai Sui, it seems you're not planning to choose that."

An Rong sighed and said:
"Actually, before this conversation, I was still hesitant and unsure which path to choose."

"However, after learning from you that spiritual energy is the root of all chaos, and that even the upper realm cannot escape it, I gave up on this idea."

Wu Chang clicked his tongue, thinking to himself that An Rong was dishonest. He clearly already had a plan in mind when he asked him if the revival of spiritual energy would make the world a better place, but he blamed An Rong for the choice.

he asked:
"So, how should we choose the Tai Sui?" An Rong asked.

"Before the spiritual energy revival, although the world was chaotic and human life was as worthless as grass, as you said, the rise and fall of dynasties is just a historical cycle. When the chaos subsides, the world will fall into peace again."

"But after the spiritual energy revived, Da Xuan, supported by a reclusive sect, regained its footing in the world from the brink of collapse. The rebel armies and bandits in various places were wiped out one by one, and the chaotic world was no more."

"But without the chaos of the world, in the eyes of cultivators, human life is not even worth as much as grass, but merely a bargaining chip to exchange for spiritual energy and immortal opportunities."

At this point, anger flashed in An Rong's eyes, and he said:
"Today, in order to open the Heavenly Gate, they can sacrifice half of the people of Tianlan Province to lure out the Demon Realm ahead of time. Tomorrow, after seizing the Heavenly Gate, they will cooperate with the Upper Realm for spiritual energy and bring in the Four Calamities again."

"Even if one day this world enters the Upper Realm, they will learn from the Upper Realm and find a place in the Lower Realm to unleash the Four Calamities."

"I do not like this."

When An Rong paused, Wu Chang spoke up at the opportune moment:
"So, Tai Sui, you want to..."

An Rong said decisively:
"I want to completely cut off the root of all this."

"The second path left behind by the Seven Star Immortals was to use Tai Sui as the core and combine it with the Ziwei Exorcising Array to completely shatter the Heavenly Gate and sever the connection between Heaven and Earth!"

"After the severing of the connection between heaven and earth, the spiritual energy of the world will once again fall into silence, and this time, it may be forever. Even the overseas immortal mountains where the celestial beings reside may be affected."

"Your Excellency Peace, would you be willing to join me in shattering the Heavenly Gate?"

As An Rong finished speaking, Wu Chang's reputation as a "perfectionist" began to shine.

Hidden Side Quest: Help Tai Sui An Rong defeat the demon race, shatter the Heavenly Gate, and complete the Heavenly Connection. There is no penalty for failure. Accept the quest?

"Note: This is a special quest. Once accepted, the player's faction will be changed to the hidden faction – Tai Sui. Once a faction is chosen, it cannot be changed, and the main questline of the dungeon will be altered accordingly. With Tai Sui's permission, players may share this quest with other players, but the number of players in the faction cannot exceed 60."

Wu Chang took a deep breath as he looked at the prompt in front of him. When he first discovered that the world instance plane was once located in the Realm of Reason and was only transferred to the Desolate Realm after being downgraded, he vaguely sensed that this day would come.

If we can leave the Desolate Realm from the Realm of Reason, then could we take another step back and allow the World Dungeon to break free from the Abyss's restrictions and escape directly from the Abyss?

The source of extraordinary power is the erosion of the abyss. Is getting rid of the abyss the true severance of the connection between heaven and earth, thus cutting off the extraordinary?

The last person to have this idea was Han, but unfortunately Han lacked the drive to act. The foundation of the Midnight Graveyard instance was too shallow, and there was no possibility of operation, so Han failed that time.

Judging from the results, Wu Chang not only improved his mysticism in the Midnight Graveyard dimension, but also killed the White Wolf and discovered the Light Society's conspiracy. It can be said that he won all the way and got completely numb from winning.

But only he knew that when Hanl initially proposed the transcendental separation, he genuinely wanted to help Hanl succeed.

So when Hanl failed, it meant that he also failed.

Although failure or failure was insignificant to him, it still bothered him.

Now that he has a chance to start over and face off against the Abyss again, he is certainly willing to try, especially since it involves a hidden side quest.

Excitement gleamed in his eyes as he said:

"Of course I am willing. I inherited the Heavenly Power Immortal Destiny. The master of the Heavenly Power Immortal Mansion was the initiator of the Earth Sacrifice Ceremony. Since I obtained his immortal destiny, I should carry on his will and completely sever this world from the upper realm."

As he accepted the mission, a prompt appeared before his eyes.

"The player accepts a hidden side quest, their current faction changes to Tai Sui, the player's side quests related to the Great Xuan royal family are interrupted, and the player's main dungeon questline changes."

"Main Quest 4 has been changed to: Help An Rong shatter the Heavenly Gate."

The side quest for the Great Xuan Royal Family had already reached the fourth stage. Although it was a pity to end it here, the rewards and contributions already obtained would not be refunded, so the loss was still acceptable for Wu Chang.

An Rong was a native of the world instance and couldn't see the quest prompts. However, as Wu Chang accepted the quest and joined the Tai Sui faction, he instinctively felt that Wu Chang was much more trustworthy, shared the same ideals, and would not betray him.

Taking this opportunity, Wu Chang asked:

"You were trapped in the Fire Demon King's final Yin Fire because you couldn't make the final decision?"

An Rong gave a wry smile and said:

"Not only that, but in the Fire Demon King's Yin Fire, I saw memories of when I was an infant."

"When I was born, it was the earliest stage of the spiritual energy revival. The demons had not yet awakened from underground, but with the emergence of spiritual energy, strange phenomena appeared all over the world."

"Some humans with demon blood in their bodies, when stimulated by spiritual energy, will have their bloodline surge and show some characteristics of demons, such as my parents."

“Their unusual behavior was seen as an ominous sign by the villagers, who drove them out of the village. They brought me, who was only a few months old, to Shili Huai Mountain to seek refuge with relatives, but unexpectedly encountered wild animals in the mountains.”

"In order to defeat the beasts, their bloodline awakened further, making them even more like demons. However, the spiritual energy was scarce at the time, and they were severely injured and near death. They used their last strength to take me to the only place that the villagers of Huaigu Village could pass through to enter the mountains."

"I saw this memory and realized that I also have the bloodline of the demon race in my body."

An Rong paused for a moment and said:
"Following the bloodline, I discovered that all the strange things that had happened to me in the past were signs of the awakening of my demon bloodline."

"Then I discovered that the cultivators in Renxin Pavilion, especially the sect leaders led by Pavilion Master Gu, all had demon blood."

"They actually sided with the demon race a long time ago, and it was they who tried to kill me time and time again."

"After leaving Shili Huai Mountain, although some of the cultivators in Renxin Pavilion made things difficult for me, the Pavilion Master Gu and others treated me very well. I couldn't accept this fact, which is why I was trapped in Yin Xu Fire."

After hearing this, Wu Chang was at a loss for words, and could only say:

"At least Renxin Pavilion isn't all bad people; there are still some who genuinely care about you."

For example, Li Kang, who adopted An Rong, and Gu Zhihan, who repeatedly reminded him.

An Rong looked at the dead cultivator from Renxin Pavilion and said:
"The knot in my heart that used to bother me has been untied. Now nothing can stop me from smashing the Heavenly Gate and ending all of this."

Wu Chang coughed lightly, interrupting An Rong, and said:
"Actually, there is still some, but given your current state, it's clearly not enough to support you in shattering the Heavenly Gate."

It's unclear whether An Rong was genuinely too honest, or whether he deliberately put himself in the trap to lure Gu Yuchen and the others out.

The players of the Fire Demon-Slaying Army had all had their energy drained by the attack that opened the Heavenly Gate. As the host of the sacrificial ceremony, An Rong was even weaker and was close to being completely exhausted.

Even when Wu Chang was attacked from both sides by the two demon kings, An Rong seemed powerless to help him out.

To everyone's surprise, An Rong remained calm after hearing this and said, "Spiritual energy is not a problem."

"As I just said, the earliest earth immortals were willing to cooperate with the upper realm to receive the disaster energy, not because they feared the upper realm, but because they coveted the auspicious energy after the disaster energy was purified."

As he spoke, An Rong picked up the halberd, twisted off the head, leaving only the three-meter-long metal shaft.

He then took out a command flag and hung it on a metal pole. The moment the spiritual energy combined with the metal pole, mysterious array patterns appeared on both the flag and the pole.

He waved the command flag, and the demonic energy that had been partially purified and turned into pale red clouds during the decree phase of the sacrificial ceremony transformed into a pale golden auspicious energy under the wave of the flag, landing on the sacrificial altar where Wu Chang and the others were.

As the auspicious energy surged into their bodies, the players, who only had 10-20% of their energy remaining, were fully replenished in just a few breaths.

Not only did it recover to its optimal state, but the temporary upper limit of its energy capacity was also increased.

Wu Chang looked at the command flag in An Rong's hand and couldn't help but gasp again.

He never expected that the darkness under the lamp could be darkened twice!

(End of this chapter)