Chapter 1082 — The Deadlock of a Hundred Thousand Years
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 5
Yue Tianzun looked at Shen Mu for a while, then at Ling Tianzun, who sat clutching the hairpin and giggling fatuously to herself; she blinked, then probed: "Mu, are you truly from the future? " Shen Mu took a sip of tea and jerked his chin toward Yan'er with a smile: "In the future, you will take this girl in and give her the name Yan'er.
Her mother gave birth to her and personally delivered her into your care, and she will feed you until you are plump and fair. " Yue Tianzun looked at Yan'er again and snorted with laughter: "Nonsense—I would never let myself be fattened by her! What, did I pass her on to you in the future as well?
" Shen Mu smiled faintly, set down his teacup, and asked: "Has Yun Tianzun gone to the Heavenly Court to plead his case? " Yue Tianzun nodded, her gaze remote and deep: "Not long after you vanished back then, Hao Tianzun, by the decree of the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor, established the demigod court of Longxiao to command all the demigods under heaven.
The demigods rose, and especially in a place like the Origin Realm their power grew greater and greater.
The friction between the human race and the demigods multiplied—and yet, weak as we were, even in alliance with the other acquired races we remained ground down beneath the demigods' heel. These years have been hard, very hard. " Shen Mu looked at her face; the Yue Tianzun who had once been frail had grown far more resolute. "We joined hands with the acquired races and fought the demigods in more battles than I can count—more defeats than victories. " Yue Tianzun smiled bitterly, her fingertip tracing the rim of her teacup: "It looks like a struggle between the demigods and the acquired races over territory and gain, but it is really nothing more than a division of spoils—only, those dividing the spoils are not us, but the Ancient Gods. And why do we taste more defeat than victory?
Is it not because we begrudge the sacrifices?
" Shen Mu's heart stirred.
Yue Tianzun went on: "Whenever we came to blows with the demigods, the deities of every faction would raise their divine-demon armies and hold blood sacrifice after blood sacrifice, offering to the Ancient Gods and begging them to descend and help us fight. Mu, you come from a later age—in that age, when wars were fought, did people still use living beings as offerings, begging the Ancient Gods to descend? " Shen Mu shook his head. "Can you guess what we offer as sacrifices to those greedy Ancient Gods?
" said Yue Tianzun.
Shen Mu shook his head again, his voice hoarse: "I don't want to guess. " "When people are pushed to the brink, there is nothing they will not do. " Yue Tianzun raised the teacup and drained it in one go, but it caught in her throat like strong liquor and she could not stop coughing; she recovered only after a while, set the cup down, and sighed: "A pity it is not wine. Back then, when the human race was driven into a dead end, when the demigods had fought their way to the Xiaohan Heavenly Court and battered the gates of Jade Capital—we still made our sacrifice to the Ancient Gods.
" Her voice turned rough: "We deities who guarded the Xiaohan Heavenly Court sacrificed ourselves—offered ourselves to the gods on high as though we were cattle, as fodder for the Ancient Gods.
Then the Ancient Gods descended.
But Hao Tianzun's side made sacrifices as well, and drew down another host of gods.
Can you guess how that war ended?