Chapter 2048 Ancestral Spirit Of The Demonic Tribes
"Oh my… that does seem excessive." After hearing his woes, even Lin Mu felt quite bad for the man.
The same sentiment was echoed by the others and caused a few thoughts to appear in their minds.
"So why do you still live there?" Crown Prince Feng Shun asked. "You are free and no longer a slave, so couldn't you just leave?" "Well, she is my wife." Ziran said with a positive change in his expression. "She isn't all bad and is actually caring." He said, showing genuine affection.
"Huh…" Daoist Chu and Lin Mu were perplexed by the sudden reverse made by Ziran.
"Other than it being a bit of an effort, living there isn't that bad." Ziran stated. "Plus, my wife is the strongest demon among several tribes there." "No wonder…" Crown Prince Feng Shun muttered.
"What does that mean?" Lin Mu asked.
"Most Demons consider strength as the absolute measure of authority." Crown Prince Feng Shun explained. "If his wife is that strong, there's a high chance she's next in the line to be the chieftain. It's the same as being the Patriarch of a great clan." "I see…" Lin Mu now understood.
"Yeah, she's slated to be the next chieftain already. I just have to wait a few hundred years more until all the kids grow up, then they'll handle themselves." Ziran spoke. "I'll be free to go out after that. I'm an immortal and have plenty of life left. I'm not in a hurry anyways." He added.
The group finally understood his situation and that Ziran was merely frustrated for a bit and needed some time to unwind. Hence the expedition, which he was looking to enjoy.
Though it was unknown if an expedition to an unknown spatial plane full of dangers could be considered enjoyment or not.
"Ziran will be invaluable to us in deciphering and understanding the traces of the demonic tribes." Qiao De stated.
"Yes, if you've been actively living with the Demons, you probably have the most information about them." Crown Prince Feng Shun couldn't help but approve of Qiao De's choice.
While he was pleased by Lin Mu too that he could read the Shamanic Script of the Demonic Tribes, it was entirely a different thing when Ziran was so closely connected to the Demons.
"Wait… Do you know about the Demonic Tribes that used to live in the Rust Sky world then?" Daoist Chu suddenly asked. "I've heard that the Demonic Tribes often worship the same ancestors even if they live on different worlds. Often times their origins are the same." He inquired.
Lin Mu nodded in agreement, as he had read the stele with similar information. The ancestral spirit of the sacrificed demonic tribe had awakened to seal the demon queen away in the past too. "Can you show me the stele?" Ziran asked. "While I've been told the information from it earlier, I'd like to verify it myself first." He added.
"Sure," Crown Prince Feng Shun replied and took out the stele. Ziran spent a few minutes reading it and finally nodded.
"The information matches what was relayed to me." Ziran said. "Who translated it?" he asked.
"Daoist Mu Lin did." Crown Prince Feng Shun answered.
"You did?" Ziran looked at Lin Mu with surprise. "That's… Highly impressive." He praised.
"It is?" Lin Mu raised his brows.
"Of course! This is written in an archaic form of the Shamanic Script of the Demonic Tribes… it isn't something that is used in normal communication. It is only used in specific conditions and is meant for important things like decrees and prophecies. Even for me, it isn't something I've seen often. I got to learn it since my Father-in-law is the chieftain of a Demonic tribe. As such, I had access to all the scriptures. But for someone else to know it… I don't know how one would even do it." Ziran stated, feeling a mixture of confusion and amazement.
"I just happened to learn about it on my journeys." Lin Mu gave an excuse.
"Haha! You've been on some great journeys, I see." Ziran laughed. "If not for the human scent I can smell from you, I'd be sure you were a demon too. Or at least part demon." He joked.
Lin Me's smile stiffened while Monk Hushu and Daoist Chu laughed.
"That would be ridiculous." Monk Hushu spoke. "Daoist Mu Lin has an innate affinity to the Buddhist Path and has a pure aura."
"I understand, of course." Ziran nodded. "I can tell demons apart very well now. Having spent so much time there, I can tell people with even the faintest demon ancestry apart now." He revealed.
"But yes, coming back to the original topic." He changed the flow. "This stele talks about the Thorn Rage Demons who were sacrificed by a human who turned into a demon queen. They are actually a tribe that can be found on my wife's world as well." Ziran stated.
"Oh?" Everyone listened intently, as this was information that would be important for them.
"If it's the Thorn Rage Demons, then the Ancestral Spirit that awakened is definitely the Demon King of the Jagged Crown." Ziran informed. "Demon King of the Jagged Crown?" Monk Hushu showed a concerned expression. "You know about him?" Lin Mu asked, seeing the man's face.
"Not just me, every major Buddhist temple should know about him. The Demon King of the Jagged Crown once united half of the Demonic tribes of the entire immortal realm and waged a great war. It was one of the few times when the entirety of the Buddhist Alliance had to take action in conjunction with the Immortal Court. The Demon King of the Jagged Crown was possibly one of the strongest Transcendent Immortals of his time having survived four Transcendent Tribulations. Even for the four guardian clans, it took great effort to deal with him." Monk Hushu explained.
Hearing that, Lin Mu couldn't help but be surprised that it was such a great expert.
"Wait, if he was defeated then how is his spirit still there?" Lin Mu asked.
"Well, he was defeated… not killed." Monk Hushu replied. "Even with the combined power of the Buddhist alliance and the Immortal court, it was not enough to kill him. He was merely defeated and chose to flee.
With how many casualties the Immortal realm had, no one had the will to go after him. Thankfully for them, the Demon King of the Jagged Crown was greatly injured, both in body and soul. It was rumored that he would have perished to his injuries and nothing could cure him.
Thus, instead of dying entirely, he willingly sacrificed his body and became an ancestral spirit. As long as the Demonic Tribes worship him, his spirit will continue to exist," Monk Hushu explained in detail.
Other than Ziran, the others didn't know this and were quite intrigued by such an expert of the demonic tribes. "To be able to exist even after death… No wonder the Demon King of the Jagged Crown managed to seal the Demon Queen even after having become an Ancestral Spirit." Lin Mu muttered.
"This is also why things become a bit complicated." Ziran interrupted. "How did you find this stele?" he asked first.
"The stele was unearthed in the Desolate Blood Battlefield." Qiao De answered finally.
"There?!" Lin Mu couldn't believe that it ended up linking to the same place.
While he had a hunch about it, this was getting far too close.
"Yes… Though it was unearthed a long time ago. Over fifty thousand years ago along with a few more things." Qiao De revealed. "It took me a while to gather all the items since they had been scattered since then, but through them I figured out that it was indeed the inheritance of a celestial." He spoke.
"That is also how Qiao De came in contact with me." Crown Prince Feng Shun spoke. "The stele was in the imperial vaults for a long time." "What other things do you have in addition to that?" Lin Mu asked, since he had only seen the stele.
"There's just a few documents and a broken immortal tool." Qiao De said taking them out. "I'll translate them." Ziran said, taking the documents first. While he read them, Lin Mu took a look at the broken immortal tool that looked like a large compass of sorts. It was circular in shape and had a red stone set in its middle. But the body of the compass was cracked and its needle was also missing.
Lin Mu sensed no immortal Qi fluctuations coming from it, which confirmed that it had been broken for a long time now. And just as he finished checking the broken compass, Ziran started to speak.
"These documents are a bit different… They aren't written in the Shamanic Script. At least not entirely." Ziran said first. "These documents are actually written by demons too, but whoever wrote it had been looking for the inheritance too. They were also the first ones to discover the stele." He revealed.