Chapter 448: Chapter 216: The Ins and Outs

What truly intrigued him, besides the massive collection of Celestial Books, was the vast number of scrolls left behind by the Ancient Human Emperor.

The Celestial Books were a given, of course.

Thanks to his Heaven-defying Comprehension, Li Chang’an’s fastest path to power had always been through studying precious texts and Cultivation Techniques.

And this collection of books from the Celestial Realm did not disappoint.

Through systematic study, Li Chang’an gained a much clearer understanding of the Path of Incense and Fire cultivated by the Celestial Realm.

’If my understanding is correct, the Incense and Candle Divine Dao cultivated by the Guardian Gods of the Mortal Realm wasn’t actually designed to allow them to improve steadily at all.’ 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

’The truth is quite the opposite. The Incense and Candle Divine Dao wasn’t created for the people of the Lower Realm to cultivate. It was meant to make it convenient for those old monsters to find new bodies.’

’A backdoor was built into the Incense and Candle Divine Dao from the very beginning.’

’Even if a living being cultivates it to the absolute peak, they ultimately become more like Incense than a creature of flesh and blood, making them easy targets for possession by a Divine Spirit who knows about the backdoor.’

He then connected this with the most secretive historical records he had found in the Celestial Palace’s archives.

Initially, five people had disembarked from the spaceship.

One of the five had been killed by the Human Emperor of that era. The remaining four founded the Celestial Realm and began to spread the Incense and Candle Divine Dao.

The reason they had fled in such a panic was that their homeworld had been struck by a Dark Tide. Being interstellar pirates accustomed to pillaging their way across the cosmos, they had boarded their spaceship upon finding their home destroyed and begun a long interstellar voyage.

Li Chang’an had attempted interstellar travel himself in the past. Because his technology hadn’t been very mature, the experience had been quite agonizing.

Although this group possessed technology more advanced than what Li Chang’an had used, their journey was far longer. They nearly ran out of fuel and were almost stranded in the void of space.

What happened next was fairly obvious.

Tainted by Dark Energy and worn down by their long voyage, the pirates were on the verge of Despair. It was then that they arrived at this civilized planet—one not particularly powerful, but which yearned to reach for the stars. In the end, they slaughtered the local powerhouses and seized it for themselves.

The creation of the Incense and Candle Divine Dao served two purposes. First, it allowed them to better control the planet. Second, it enabled them to take over the most talented beings as new physical vessels, a form of Molting that allowed them to escape the Dark Energy corroding their original bodies.

After countless years, this group had all but succeeded.

The four dying pirates abandoned their rotting, near-death bodies and transformed into the Celestial Monarchs revered by all in the Celestial Realm. The Sun Emperor was the last to complete this process, which is why his Cultivation is still only at the Emperor realm.

Through this method, the other three escaped the crisis of life and death and came to rule the entire planet with an iron fist.

But even by treating the planet’s population as a crop to be endlessly reaped, they still couldn’t satisfy their ever-growing appetites.

The interstellar pirate blood flowing through their veins made them restless. Thus, they managed to repair the spaceship that had brought them to this world and began to explore the surrounding Star Realms.

Since the Sun Emperor had not yet reached the Celestial Monarch Realm, he was left behind in the Immortal Palace to continue his Cultivation.

This also served as an insurance policy for their home base. Even if something unexpected happened, the Sun Emperor’s presence would prevent any major upheaval.

In fact, ever since everyone switched to cultivating the Incense and Candle Divine Dao, they had come to view the planet as their own private backyard. The four of them never once imagined that someone like Li Chang’an, a veritable Ultraman specializing in fighting monsters, could emerge from their garden and blindside them.

After reading all the books collected from the Celestial Realm, Li Chang’an finally had a complete understanding of the entire sequence of events.

’So that’s why the Celestial Realm’s forces were so depleted,’ he thought. ’The other three Celestial Monarchs took their core forces with them to conquer another world.’

’But since they left of their own accord, wouldn’t they come rushing back once they learn their home base has been attacked?’

Li Chang’an thought this was highly likely.

However, he wasn’t too worried. After all, interstellar travel wasn’t a short trip. Even if the two planets were relatively close, a round trip would likely take decades, if not centuries.

Not one to hide such news, Li Chang’an sought out Lu Sang and told them that a Celestial Monarch from the Celestial Realm would likely return with an army in the future.

For the Fusang Tribe and all the members of the Godslayer Alliance, this news was both a sword of Damocles hanging over their heads and the best possible motivation.

After all, such is the nature of living things. Only in the face of a life-and-death crisis can one’s true potential be unleashed. The old saying ’one thrives in hardship and perishes in comfort’ was a truth derived from this very instinct.

After digesting all the information from the books and documents, Li Chang’an began to take stock of the Map of Mountains and Rivers scrolls he had brought back from the Immortal Realm.

Because there were so many forgeries circulating to throw people off the scent, the Celestial Realm had long since given up trying to confiscate all the Maps of Mountains and Rivers. It was an impossible task.

Among the scrolls, Li Chang’an successfully found three authentic Maps. Combined with the one he already possessed, he had, in theory, collected the complete set. He could now go beneath Hell to claim the Human Emperor’s inheritance, but after long consideration, he decided not to act rashly.

After all, while the historical records of the Hell Humans depicted the Human Emperor as a paragon of virtue, some texts from the Celestial Realm painted a different picture. Li Chang’an discovered that the Human Emperor might not have been so perfectly righteous after all.

In reality, when the Human Emperor intercepted the spaceship, he had never intended to let the interstellar pirates live. Their origins were unknown and they were powerful; it would have been stranger if the Human Emperor *hadn’t* been wary of them.

The Human Emperor had planned to impound the spaceship and use brute force to subdue the four heavily injured pirates, intending to interrogate them for useful information.

But the plan backfired spectacularly. Not only did he fail to achieve his goal, but the pirates turned the tables on him. The entire planet’s historical course was disrupted, and its civilization suffered a catastrophic disaster.

The reason the Human Emperor’s plan failed so miserably—aside from the pirates’ own formidable strength—was primarily because he had absolutely no understanding of Dark Energy.

Caught off guard, he was blasted with Dark Energy by them. This must have been what the contemporary patriarch of the Hell Humans meant when he told Li Chang’an that ’the pirates not only showed no gratitude for the Human Emperor’s lifesaving grace, they poisoned him’...

’In other words,’ Li Chang’an mused, ’this was a conflict between two civilizations from the very start. At its core, it was a life-or-death struggle. The interstellar pirates had malicious intent, but the Human Emperor wasn’t exactly a saint either.’

Therefore, having seen the true colors of both sides, Li Chang’an didn’t fully trust either of them. He couldn’t be sure if what the Hell Humans called ’inheriting his mantle’ meant receiving the Human Emperor’s true legacy, or if it was a trick for some old ghost to possess a new body, just like the Sun Emperor.

Besides, he had already destroyed the Immortal Realm. Even if it was only a partial victory, it was more than enough for his current reincarnation.

As for the Celestial Monarchs who might arrive later... he would have to leave that to fate.

If they failed to return within fifty years, Li Chang’an was confident that his accumulated strength would be more than enough to make them regret it.

If they managed to make the interstellar journey in under fifty years, however, then all Li Chang’an could do was give it his all and fight for his life.

At this thought, Li Chang’an cast aside all the chaotic thoughts in his mind and began to focus wholeheartedly on his Cultivation.

He had overthrown the Immortal Realm, but the immense Power of Incense would not dissipate so quickly. As he cultivated, it began to pour into his body like an inverted river from the heavens.

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