Chapter 213: An Outer God Descends Upon the Mortal Realm

Zhao Cheng's words that followed confirmed Li Shun's premonition.

"Swearing an oath to Heaven and Earth has long been an ancient tradition of our Confucian lineage. It is said that when His Majesty first comprehended the Twelvefold Longevity Methods, he even referred to this Great Oath to Heaven and Earth."

"Once an oath is made, the rules of binding will take effect. Unless one possesses power equal to that of Heaven and Earth, it is absolutely impossible to violate the contents of the oath. You can try it now. Simply form the thought in your mind of telling someone else what you witnessed tonight."

Li Shun silently thought about telling others what he had witnessed that evening.

'Hm? What was I going to tell them again?'

The instant the thought arose, Li Shun suddenly discovered that his mind had become completely blank.

Everything he had witnessed that day had unknowingly faded from his memory.

Only after Li Shun abandoned the thought of revealing the secret did the image of that green pillar of light shooting into the heavens slowly reappear in his mind.

"The Great Oath to Heaven and Earth truly is profound and mysterious," Li Shun secretly marveled.

Now that Li Shun no longer had to worry about leaking the secret, Zhao Cheng finally began explaining what had happened.

He did not immediately give him the answer. Instead, he first asked a question.

"Tuizhi, do you know what a god is?"

Li Shun nodded.

"In ancient times, there were gods who possessed the ability to reach Heaven and earth. The Heavenly Emperor, Fuxi, Nuwa, Xingtian..."

"Many of their names are still passed down among the common people today, and they continue to receive offerings and the power of faith."

"Gods are born from Heaven and Earth. From the moment they came into existence, they possessed terrifying powers beyond the imagination of ordinary living beings. During the ancient primordial era, when demons and beasts ran rampant, our human race was able to reproduce and survive until today precisely because we were protected by the gods. But..."

"The green light that came from beyond the heavens and that you witnessed today also came from a god."

Although Li Shun already knew the answer, he still pretended to be astonished.

"It also came from a god?"

"Correct. But it was not a god born from our primordial world. It was an Outer God."

At the mention of the words "Outer God," Zhao Cheng's expression became incomparably solemn.

"Outer Gods were not born from the primordial world. They came from the distant and illusory realms beyond the heavens. For reasons unknown, sometime after a certain point in ancient times, the Primordial Continent attracted the covetous attention of numerous Outer Gods. Thus, they resorted to every means imaginable in an attempt to infiltrate our world with their power."

"In the end, they succeeded."

"And so, beliefs in Outer Gods gradually began appearing across the Primordial Continent."

"Outer Gods are not the various deities familiar to us from myths and legends. They are incarnations of indescribable existences."

A trace of hatred flashed through Zhao Cheng's eyes.

"Belief in Outer Gods is filled with strange and bizarre ideas, countless inconceivable concepts, and even doctrines that completely defy common sense in our eyes. If such beliefs were allowed to spread freely, they would inevitably bring about a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions."

Li Shun pretended to suddenly understand.

"So Zou Mo encountered an Outer God when he ascended the Tongtian Divine Mountain within the Primordial Illusionary Realm?"

Zhao Cheng nodded.

"Correct. Outer Gods are no weaker than the native gods of the Primordial World. Not to mention someone at the Spirit Resonance realm, even a Creation realm expert might not necessarily be able to withstand the corruption of an Outer God. Once corrupted, there is no turning back. One will completely degenerate into an Outer God's servant."

"There is no saving them. Killing them is the only path."

Zhao Cheng's tone was icy cold.

"Then why weren't we told about this before entering the Primordial Illusionary Realm?" Li Shun suddenly asked, his voice carrying a trace of lingering fear.

Zhao Cheng sighed softly, his expression somewhat helpless.

"First, compared to the native gods of the Primordial World, Outer Gods are exceedingly rare. The probability of encountering one is not particularly high."

"Often, four or five gatherings can pass without a single incident."

"Furthermore, the Primordial Illusionary Realm is ultimately constructed from the collective thoughts and consciousness of all of you. If we told you about Outer Gods beforehand, even if you did not deliberately think about them, their existence would still linger somewhere within your subconscious and influence the construction of the Primordial Illusionary Realm to some degree."

"And the result would be..."

A trace of fear flashed through Zhao Cheng's eyes.

"Eight or nine out of ten participants would be corrupted by Outer Gods. Evil entities would run rampant, and it would nearly result in a catastrophe capable of overturning the heavens."

Li Shun immediately understood.

It was much like how the more desperately one tried not to think about something, the more it would appear in one's mind.

If they knew of the existence of Outer Gods beforehand and feared their terrifying power, their instincts would naturally give rise to the desire to avoid them.

When constructing the Primordial Illusionary Realm, that tiny impulse would be magnified hundreds or thousands of times.

And it would affect all the other participants as well.

Just imagining the terrifying outcome of countless gods descending into the mortal world and running rampant together caused even Li Shun to shudder.

A single Formless Hanging Skull had already nearly left him, despite possessing Fangcun, completely powerless to resist.

If he encountered another Outer God descending into the world, Li Shun had absolutely no confidence that he could escape the calamity.

"This is also why everyone can participate in the Hundred Schools Grand Gathering only once. Once you know of the existence of Outer Gods, there is no going back to the way things were before."

Zhao Cheng's voice was heavy with meaning.

Li Shun remained silent for a moment before frowning again.

"If we already know that there is a threat of corruption by Outer Gods, then why must the Hundred Schools Grand Gathering be held periodically?"

"Even if one has the opportunity to encounter the native gods of the Primordial World, witness Heaven and the Dao, and gain the possibility of reaching Creation, that is ultimately an individual's fortune. For Great Qian, does it really make much difference whether there is one more Creation realm expert or one fewer?"

Faced with Li Shun's question, Zhao Cheng fell silent for a moment.

Then he pointed toward the map of the Primordial World.

"Tuizhi, do you know where Great Qian is located within the Primordial World?"

Li Shun swept his gaze across it before shaking his head.

Zhao Cheng once again drew a circle slightly below the center of the map.

It was several times larger than the Wuqi Wilderness they had marked earlier, yet compared to the entirety of the Primordial World, it remained an insignificant speck.

"Great Qian is nothing more than a small fragment-world left behind after the Primordial World shattered."

"You must understand..."

"Even the magnificent and prosperous Primordial World of ancient times was ultimately unable to withstand the invasion of the Outer Gods and ended up shattered and divided."

"How much less so our Great Qian?"

"As the saying goes, one must remain vigilant even in times of peace. Although Great Qian has not shown any signs of an Outer God invasion for many years, who can guarantee that the Outer Gods will not descend upon the mortal world again in the near future? Naturally, the more forces capable of resisting them, the better."

"Outer Gods will not descend in their true forms. They will instead send projections or avatars. Thus, Creation realm experts still possess the ability to fight them."

Zhao Cheng's explanation carried a complicated undertone.

Those few words contained an astonishing amount of important information.

Li Shun immediately understood and asked, "The ancient Primordial World shattered into countless small worlds after the Severing of Heaven and Earth. Was that also because of the descent of the Outer Gods?"

Zhao Cheng nodded.

"Although there is no conclusive evidence, nine times out of ten, that is indeed what happened."

"Otherwise, it is truly difficult to imagine what other force could have torn the Primordial World apart. The so-called Severing of Heaven and Earth was most likely a desperate measure taken to completely sever the Outer Gods' path of corruption."

"Although the native gods of the Primordial World disappeared because of it, it also simultaneously cut off the Outer Gods' ability to corrupt our world."