Chapter 714: Volume Finale: Foundation of the Legacy

The Mountain-Chasing Whip wasn’t limited to use on land. In fact, as long as one could get to the seabed, it was just as effective.

As for the Chixiao Sword, it was the Emperor’s Sword that enabled Emperor Gaozu to slay the serpent, declare himself emperor, and become a Primordial Ancestor of the nation. The power of this Divine Soldier lay not in its raw offensive might, but in its extremely potent abilities related to feng shui, Destiny, Dragon Veins, and the spiritual domain. Furthermore, if the ’leader of a nation and a people’ wielded this sword, they could get a general sense of the state of their nation and people.

Of course, the ancients’ methods for defining a nation and a people were different from modern ones, so the Chixiao Sword would occasionally give false readings.

As for the Sunset Bow, it was much simpler. Its sole function was to use its unparalleled might to obliterate all manner of monsters and suppress all kinds of Demons and Evils. It was a Divine Soldier of slaughter, designed to eliminate all foreign threats.

"Most of the Divine Soldiers forged before the First Emperor, with the exception of the Sunset Bow, were taken away by the Immortal Gods. And these three weren’t the only national treasures of ancient times. It’s just that the others were either destroyed or lost during the rise and fall of ancient dynasties. Some became obsolete with the advancement of technology, while others merged with it—take the Artifice Sage, for example. The foundation of his Dao Yi Central Celestial Secret Calculation Hub is the ancient Heluo Trigrams, which were used for Divination to read the state of the entire nation."

At this, Liu Li couldn’t help but shake his head slightly. "And a while ago, both the Chixiao Sword and the Sunset Bow resonated."

"What does that mean?"

Finally getting to the point, Su Zhou’s expression turned serious. He cracked his knuckles and asked with a murderous air, "Are there some Demons and Evils that you need me to kill?"

"When the Chixiao Sword resonates, it means the Human Race is in trouble somewhere."

Liu Li turned his head to look at the Sunset Bow and answered flatly, "And when the Sunset Bow resonates, it means this trouble originates from a ’non-human’ Alien Race."

This answer made Su Zhou frown. "In trouble? But isn’t Zhengguo peaceful and prosperous right now? I remember a while ago, someone in the general populace already managed to redeem an Immortal God Inheritance. Now everyone’s scrambling to follow national policies. If you run into a thief on the street, at least a dozen people will rush over and beat them down... Where’s this trouble coming from? And what Alien Race?"

"It’s not the Human Race on Earth, but a branch of the Human Race left behind by the Immortal Gods in a Different Space-Time Realm—just as we were left behind on Earth, there should be other human survivors in Realms once ruled by other Immortal Gods."

Liu Li’s words were devoid of emotion. The old man stood with his arms behind his back, his muscles so tense they looked like armor. "However, we don’t know which Space-Time Realm they’re in. And that is the first mission for the New World Exploration Department."

"As for the Alien Race..."

At this point, the implication from Liu Li, the Artifice Sage—or rather, the Thirty-Six Saints Central Committee—was clear. The New World Exploration Department needed to find that Space-Time Realm and rescue the members of the Human Race there, who were almost certainly being invaded.

Su Zhou lowered his head, seemingly lost in thought.

Seeing this, Liu Li seemed to misunderstand something. An understanding look appeared on his face as he shook his head lightly. "Actually, I’ve wondered about that myself. Are those people from a Different Space-Time Realm still our kin? Even if they look the same, have the same genes, and share the same cultural origin, we’ve been separated for thousands of years. They might still hold to ancient customs and have become a completely different civilization from us."

"But..." He seemed about to continue, but Su Zhou, snapping out of his thoughts, looked up and interrupted Liu Li with a smile.

"Oh, don’t worry, I wasn’t thinking about that," the young man said with a shrug. "Humans who share our ancestry... isn’t that the perfect justification for us to take over that Space-Time Realm? With a claim that strong, we absolutely have to ’save’ them."

"Besides, if we rescue them, Zhengguo will gain a new foothold for development over there, a place to dump all sorts of products... You know, the Beast God Realm is still in the early stages of development, and they’re Divine Beasts, after all. It’ll take at least a generation or two to civilize them."

"But humans are humans, even if they’re from an Otherworld. If we save them from a foreign enemy, descending like gods with our Divine Soldiers, our gains will be far greater than we could imagine."

"I get it. So what I was actually thinking was: how do I find these enemies? How many of them are there? And what’s the best way to wipe them out?"

After hearing Su Zhou’s explanation, Liu Li blinked and stared at him with a rather surprised expression.

"Listening to the Artifice Sage and the others, they all said you were a good kid, just a bit naive. But looking at you now, you seem quite mature, don’t you think?"

After a moment, the old man rubbed his beardless, muscular chin, looked Su Zhou up and down, and chuckled. "And from their descriptions, I thought you were someone single-mindedly focused on Cultivation, a battle-hungry martial artist... but it seems they were all wrong about you."

To this, Su Zhou just shrugged. "That’s because I have double standards. For the Earth People I know, of course I’ll be gentle, kind, and full of Compassion. But for Otherworldly People I’m not familiar with, well, let’s be real, practical benefits come first—unless they’re buying me dinner."

"..."

This time, Liu Li was genuinely stunned for a moment. Then, the facial muscles of the normally serious Martial Arts master seemed to lift as he held back a laugh. "Double standards... You’re certainly self-aware."

"Well, that’s fine too. It’s hard for most people to see themselves clearly. The fact that you can is quite impressive. Still, it’s not a good habit. You should try to change it."