The Shocking Truth of the Hundred Races

Where exactly is the Primordial Celestial Realm? How can one enter it? Through the ages, even Half-Ancestors have been unable to know — only Ancestral Gods possess such knowledge, a realm of endless mysteries.

The War Clan and the Angel Clan still resemble humans closely, but the Demon Ape Clan, the Scorpion Clan, and the Winged Dragon Clan all appear in bestial forms. The claim that they are close kin to humanity, sharing blood relations, is truly alarming.

"You have long asked about the origins of the Hundred Races. Now I shall tell you slowly." Heaven Beyond Heaven sat cross-legged on the cloud. With a flick of his right finger, a luminous pearl hung in midair, stabilizing the surrounding gale and bringing a serene stillness to the area.

Then he waved his hand, and a jade table appeared before him, laden with celestial fruits. Among them, several Yin-Yang Fruits stood out conspicuously, their yin and yang energies swirling, their fragrance refreshing.

"Life is the greatest miracle in the world." Heaven Beyond Heaven spoke with gravity. "The Hundred Races truly split off from us humans. They carry the same miracle and potential within them."

Then Heaven Beyond Heaven and Man Beyond Man gave Xiao Chen a thorough lesson, unraveling a millennia-old mystery for him and revealing a great historical secret that would shock the world.

The Hundred Races were actually failed experiments!

This conclusion left Xiao Chen's mind buzzing. Everything was so inconceivable, like a dream.

Someone had been manipulating the process of life's evolution!

A mysterious great hand had been guiding all of this!

"They wanted the strongest life form…" Man Beyond Man gazed at the setting sun. Though looking straight at it from the clouds, the sun was still dazzling, but he seemed indifferent.

"Ancestral Gods of the Otherworld?" Xiao Chen pressed urgently. "Did Ancestral Gods of the Otherworld orchestrate all this?"

"The evidence, piece by piece, confirms that it was indeed them." Heaven Beyond Heaven sighed. "They came into being before us in this heaven and earth, perhaps the oldest primate beings. They wanted to grow stronger, so…"

"So they used later-evolving primate life forms as experiments?" Upon touching the truth, Xiao Chen felt both fury and sorrow.

"The evidence proves it indeed was so." Man Beyond Man was very indifferent. He had once been angry too, but by now he was calm and composed.

The Half-Ancestors had not been aware of all this. It was only after an Ancestral God discovered signs and deduced the truth that the picture emerged.

Not long before his fall, Shennong had relayed all this to several Half-Ancestors.

The Demon Ape Clan, the Scorpion Clan, the Giant Clan, the Angel Clan — all were experiments. They were created by modifying the human body as the matrix. The code of life can be inherited, and from then on, the world gained many unusual races.

And the hand behind all of this secretly observed everything, seeking to obtain the strongest life form — all for their own sake.

Because they wanted to break through, to make their entire race stronger.

"In the distant past, an Otherworld Ancestral God once said that we are merely low-level beasts they keep in a pen, that everything exists only for observation and experimentation. Their race wants to break through barriers through this."

Under the same sky of civilization, a powerful life race first gained intelligence and eventually transcended the mundane world. Then they looked down upon the vast earth, interfering with the evolutionary process of later intelligent life races.

They sought inspiration to accelerate their own life evolution.

The later intelligent races, though born under the same heaven and earth, were like penned beasts — only the pastoral pen was the world itself, so vast that it went unnoticed.

Observation, experimentation, strengthening themselves — these were the reasons behind that great hand's constant push for the evolution and transformation of all life races.

"Everything is so inconceivable… The hundred races share a common ancestry with us… And they are the ones interfering with all this…" Xiao Chen, while shaken, also burned with fury.

Using the world as a cage, penning humanity within heaven and earth — the primates under the sky of civilization were merely subjects of observation and experimentation.

"This truth is cruel!" Xiao Chen clenched his fists.

"What is even crueler is that when our cultivation reaches a certain level, they come to destroy us, leaving only a few sparks to watch us struggle and evolve anew. This would certainly include some Half-Ancestors, as Half-Ancestors are the foundation for continuing the flames."

"They could observe and experiment, but why do this?" Xiao Chen's mind could not calm down.

"Because they need to keep a firm grip on us, ensuring all remains under their control. They will never allow a power that threatens them to arise. Our progress provides inspiration for their evolution — we are merely their experimental subjects."

Man Beyond Man narrated all this with an ancient, unfathomable calm. "They have truly gained much from us. Every time we suffer a great destruction, we provide them with a brand new evolutionary path. In the ancient past, the Martial Realm, the Qi Realm, the Incantation Realm, and the Soul Realm corresponded to the different ancient evolutionary systems of martial artists, qi-refiners, curse-masters, and soul-cultivators — all already observed and mastered by them."

Heaven Beyond Heaven was silent for a long time before speaking again. "I have to say, we humans are truly creative. Every time we are destroyed, we find a different path. In the past, we even created a completely different 'scientific path' that was still very powerful, but it too was observed and then destroyed by them."

"That great, merciless hand dominates all this with cold detachment. Their power is truly overwhelming." Heaven Beyond Heaven sighed helplessly. "Especially regarding beings at the Ancestral God level, they control them even more strictly, never allowing our side to reach the count of ten."

Observing a successful human ascension to Ancestral God was undoubtedly the greatest inspiration to them, but they dared not play with fire too recklessly.

Speaking of this, Man Beyond Man, who resembled a child, seemed to grow somewhat melancholy. He bit fiercely into a Yin-Yang Fruit and said, "The illusory Half-Ancestors were also their experiments — powerful life forms created using the power of human faith. They used illusory Half-Ancestors to control hearts, absorb faith energy, and rule the true life forms of the mortal world. But in the end, the illusory life forms were inevitably abandoned and destroyed by them; only a few illusory beings survived."

"Although we knew the remaining illusory life forms were like parasites and bloodsuckers, greedily absorbing the spiritual power of all beings, we still temporarily tolerated them to fight against the Otherworld Half-Ancestors. None expected that the most powerful illusory life form would reconcile and join forces with the Otherworld Ancestral Gods…"

Xiao Chen still clearly remembered the calamity of the false gods back then, when Hongjun came with an Otherworld Ancestral God, Shennong fell, and the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan joined forces with the previous Ancestral Dragon to battle Hongjun and that Otherworld Ancestral God beyond the heavens.

At this point, Man Beyond Man's eyes shot out piercing light. "Perhaps when illusion and reality reverse, when yin and yang coexist, the mysterious and unfathomable power radiating from the great upheaval of heaven and earth is the only way to restrain those high and mighty ancient life forms!"

This inference was not groundless. In the past, when illusion and reality reversed and yin-yang forces shook the Nine Provinces and the Four Worlds, even the Otherworld Ancestral Gods were forced to retreat from those realms, leaving only one Otherworld Ancestral God behind to attack.

"Drawing a circle as a prison — we are merely penned beasts? Ha ha… How absurd!"

Rage mingled with sorrow.

"All primate life forms originated from the Nine Provinces, including those behind the scenes. Later, after different paths emerged, the Four Worlds were opened up." Heaven Beyond Heaven spoke unhurriedly. "The Martial Realm, the Qi Realm, the Incantation Realm, the Soul Realm — how glorious they once were. The Nine Provinces, this cradle of life, was even more incomparably brilliant, with a hundred schools contending. But now, everything has changed. Pure martial arts in the Martial Realm were exterminated; the heritage of ancient qi-refiners in the Qi Realm transformed into the cultivation world system; the Incantation Realm and the Soul Realm have long since lost their former glory. As for the Nine Provinces, this vessel of life, it goes without saying."

Xiao Chen's heart was heavy. He listened in silence.

"You once asked about the Nine Provinces and the Four Worlds. I can only tell you some stories from the era of Ancestral God Shennong. In the distant past, humanity was destroyed several times; the circumstances of those ages I do not know." Man Beyond Man sighed. "When our Ancestral Gods were at their peak, there were only seven or eight of them, never reaching the number ten. Though they fought desperately, in the end they could only retreat to the Martial Realm — later known as the World of Immortality. Though the other three worlds had our great populations, at the top of the pyramid were unquestionably those Otherworld Ancestral Gods."

During the era of Suiren, Nuwa, and Shennong, the Martial Realm — later the World of Immortality — was the only place where no Otherworld Ancestral Gods came to rule.

The Ancestral Gods of that era — Fuxi, Nuwa, Youchao, Suiren — waged great wars against the Otherworld Half-Ancestors and the newly created illusory life forms of the Otherworld Half-Ancestors, suffering catastrophic losses. Ancestral Gods fell, and finally they retreated to the Martial Realm, gathering all the power of the Ancestral Gods to guard and seal one realm in peace.

Hearing this, Xiao Chen was deeply burdened. Fuxi, Suiren, Nuwa, Shennong… they had truly given far too much.

After a long silence, Xiao Chen thought of another question that had troubled him for years, one he had asked Heaven Beyond Heaven and Man Beyond Man many times before — the fall of the Martial Ancestor!

This topic seemed very heavy, causing even Heaven Beyond Heaven, who cared about nothing and was always optimistic, to sigh repeatedly.

"That was an irreparable, tremendous loss!"

Heaven Beyond Heaven sighed deeply.

"The Martial Ancestor was a peerless master who had reached the very peak of the Ancestral God realm — the ninth heaven. He was truly invincible under heaven and earth. The power of pure martial arts was far too strong; even the Otherworld Ancestral Gods feared it. And thus the tragedy began."

This was a bloody case of old grievances. The Martial Ancestor had been plotted against and assassinated. Several Otherworld Ancestral Gods crossed realms and, by dishonorable means, killed the Martial Ancestor at the cost of two of their own dead.

At the same time, to completely eradicate the lineage of martial cultivation, they had Otherworld Half-Ancestors disguise themselves as qi-refiners, curse-masters, and soul-cultivators, frenziedly attacking the martial cultivation lineage. This triggered a great internal war within the Martial Realm, spilling over into the Nine Provinces, where they slaughtered each other. Pure martial arts were extinguished, and many Half-Ancestors of other systems also fell.

That was an era of bleeding, a period of darkness, a blood-and-tears history that made one sigh in regret.

When the words ended, as the mists of history were peeled away, what remained was only the weight of anguish after the agony.

This history of humiliation was known only to Ancestral Gods and a few Half-Ancestors.

The number of elite cultivators of all systems who had retreated to the Martial Realm plummeted to a historic low.

They alone knew their own suffering, licking their wounds in solitude.

The Martial Realm no longer lived up to its name. The few Ancestral Gods renamed it the World of Immortality, signifying eternal life, peace, and prosperity. They wished to guard and create an ideal land.

But was there truly a World of Immortality in any real sense? No.

The World of Immortality was merely a dream. Now, its guardian Ancestral Gods had nearly all fallen.

"If there is a dream in the heart, there is still hope. Whether the Nine Provinces or the Four Worlds, they will one day become a realm of immortality." Xiao Chen murmured to himself.

"Hard, hard, hard!" Man Beyond Man said three 'hards' in a row.

In the past, humanity had been destroyed several times, multiple civilizations had been erased, and everything had started anew. Today, they were far from their former glory — how could they truly create a world of immortality and peace?

"Now that the Ancestral Gods are nearly all gone, and the Otherworld Ancestral Gods descend again — are we to be destroyed once more?"

"Perhaps. But there may also be unforeseen variables." Heaven Beyond Heaven gazed at the sky, as if looking at some mysterious place. "In the past, when the Four Worlds and the Nine Provinces were already weakened and on the verge of destruction, the Primordial Celestial Realm intervened, averting a catastrophe."

"The Primordial Celestial Realm?!" Xiao Chen exclaimed in surprise.

"Do not ask me. I do not know what kind of a world that is either." Heaven Beyond Heaven shook his head.

"There are many variables beyond heaven and earth." Man Beyond Man took over. "For example, the Abyss of Evil in the Dead City connects to a Death World. I think it might be a destroyed cradle of life — a place unimaginable. History has seen not just one Dead City. Nine lamps accompany nine cities; the current Dead City is the ninth."

Man Beyond Man and Heaven Beyond Heaven had truly ventured deep into the Death World, but still could not explain it clearly.

This was a variable! When illusion and reality reversed, the Death World, through the Abyss of Evil, emitted yin-yang energy fluctuations that unsettled even the Otherworld Ancestral Gods, forcing them to withdraw. Perhaps it could be used in the future.

Perhaps, as Man Beyond Man and Heaven Beyond Heaven speculated, the Death World was like the Nine Provinces — a place full of miracles, a cradle of life parallel to the Nine Provinces. But it had already been destroyed.

The Primordial Celestial Realm, on the other hand, stood high above, full of endless mystery. Even Ancestral Gods had only glimpsed its threshold.

The sun had long since set. The evening glow faded, and starlight scattered upon the clouds.

Xiao Chen brought up the Heavenly Stele — the mysterious thing that had shaped his destiny.

At the same time, he spoke of what he considered the mightiest weapon in this world — the Stone Man.

The Stone Man had been split into nine parts, scattered across the world, treasured by several Ancestral Gods as their greatest possessions. If it was a weapon, it was undoubtedly the most powerful.

Back in the Ancient God Wasteland, when the Stone Man had blocked the Otherworld Ancestral God, what appeared on the surface was the power of the War Swords, but in Xiao Chen's opinion, it was the power of the Stone Man.

Its incomplete residual body sitting within Xiao Chen had created that colossal stone statue. Even after it later cracked, it could still contend with Half-Ancestors.

One could imagine how terrifying the true Stone Man was.

"I said before that humanity has been destroyed several times. That great hand orchestrating all this has annihilated several of our civilizations. Suiren, Youchao, Fuxi, Shennong, the Yellow Emperor — they are merely figures from the past one or two civilizations. In the distant past, how many earth-shattering figures appeared, how many inconceivable divine weapons existed — there is no need to be surprised. For the past was once resplendent with glory. Even though they have fallen." Heaven Beyond Heaven spoke thus.