Chapter 1225: Giant Wheel, The End of the Historical Tide

This was indeed an excellent method.

Previously, bloodlines would randomly appear in individuals, leading to the birth of many "gods" who possessed talent but lacked the corresponding abilities. The era was corrupt and chaotic, and these deities were excessively tyrannical and debauched. They were unworthy of their high status.

But what about now?

Within a clan, no one could initially acquire a "bloodline." Only upon reaching the Seventh-Tier Heavenly Emperor stage and achieving godhood would they have the chance to obtain their clan's bloodline. From then on, "divine positions" were almost exclusively attained by geniuses, while ordinary, mediocre mortals remained mortals forever. This also served a dual purpose: it granted mortals, who could only cultivate their bodies and souls up to the Eighth-Tier Divine Spirit stage, the possibility of breaking through to the Ninth-Tier. It ignited the divine spark for mortals.

“I can’t believe such a method exists,” the old woman, Nu Yi, exclaimed, her cloudy eyes filled with surprise. “This approach revitalized and brought prosperity to the cosmic structure... One can imagine it’s different from our universe, where we possess bloodlines from the start, capable of cultivation from the first tier, ubiquitous... Here, they could only practice soul cultivation and body cultivation, which was very simple and rudimentary, until they reached the Eighth-Tier Divine Spirit stage, when they could ignite the sacred fire and begin to access the power of bloodline laws.”

A Godhead universe?

Xu Zhi remained silent, his eyes slightly brightening. He felt that this type of bloodline universe indeed had some shortcomings: mortals from the first to seventh tiers could only practice soul and body cultivation, the most ancient and unadorned methods, lacking diversity. However, it was indeed another manifestation within the "bloodline universe" framework, with concentrated bloodlines, where only one individual from a bloodline race could awaken at a time.

Time flew by.

Garth became a Tenth-Tier Ultimate Being, successfully attaining enlightenment, and the rules of the universe changed accordingly. He opened the path for mortals, but also caused extreme panic among the gods. For them, who had no ambition, the manner in which new gods were born was irrelevant; at most, it simply meant more of their kind. However, these new gods were ambitious individuals with monstrous talent; their combat power and wisdom far surpassed the old gods. Moreover, to become a true 'Enlightened One,' they needed to hunt other beings and gather four bloodlines...

“We are the weakest; we will be killed!”“He’s mad! Utterly mad! Garth, the traitor, he brought a torch to mortals and ignited their divine spark. These mortals will kill us, the old gods!”“Kill him!”“He must be punished! He has brought disaster to the Mountain of Gods!”“Bind him with chains to a pyre on the Mountain of Gods, and let vultures feast on his entrails daily, making his life worse than death.”

Faced with death, these ancient gods were overcome by the most extreme fear. Death was a word that all living beings dreaded beyond measure. They wanted to execute Garth. But he was already a Tenth-Tier Saint, while they, having never truly cultivated, were merely Eighth-Tier divine spirits, utterly powerless against Garth.

Time flew, and the doomsday for the old gods arrived. They began to be eliminated by the perfected cosmic rules, becoming walking transcendent bloodlines. The new gods slaughtered them one by one, absorbing them into their own bodies to become Enlightened Ones. A new era dawned. It was an era of powerful cultivators with strong aptitudes, possessing dreams, ambitions, and a desire to explore the world, each propelling the age forward.

“This is the Titan race, masters of earth power! Seize his Godhead!”“Godheads! Acquire Godheads! Only with four Godheads can one become a great Cosmic God!”

Various voices began to spread as the strong contended and fought, and an era of great contention descended. “Slaughter will usher in new life.” Both Xu Zhi and Nu Yi clearly understood that a flourishing Primordial Universe had entered its proper course. Only through killing could the era advance; the fittest would survive, and the weak would be eliminated. Though it sounded cruel, that was the reality. Similarly, the various ancient biological overlords on Earth evolved through eons of slaughter. It was the law of the jungle that allowed the most excellent to survive.

“I ignited the sacred fire for mortals, and I also opened wide the divine gate for all under heaven.” Garth began establishing sects and preaching to the common people, nurturing disciples to become Saints and attain Godheads, all striving to enlighten this incomplete universe. Soon, thousands of Saints successively began their paths to enlightenment. They cleaved open the universe, some even inviting their favored disciples, Saints who had attained enlightenment regarding cosmic laws, to make the first cut into the material laws of the entire universe. The sky cleared, and the earth became distinct. Cosmic matter began to take on order, forming layers and settling like a still river. Matter began to divide into distinct strata, developing its own internal laws.

“Another scene similar to the enlightenment of the Three Thousand Demon Gods!” Nu Yi exclaimed, her eyes shining brightly. “Even if it’s a different universe, it’s a similar cosmic era: the Primordial Sculpture Era, the Creation Era. Doesn’t the next era signify the end of the Age of Primordial Beings?” Nu Yi soon witnessed that very scene.

Tens of thousands of years passed. Garth sensed the arrival of the universe’s Great Expansion Era. Because they were immortal and simultaneously four-dimensional beings, as long as one became an Eighth-Tier divine spirit, they could quickly advance to the Ninth and Tenth Tiers, reaching the distant future and directly becoming Saints.

“The universe is progressing too quickly.” Garth also perceived this. Too many Saints appeared, causing a great explosion. Mortals barely lived for a few millennia, and generations cycled so rapidly that cultivators continuously emerged, making the universe expand at an accelerating pace, as if it had consumed a leavening agent, swiftly entering its prime... and even heading towards senescence.

“I must make another cut against the gods!” This voice arose within him, aiming to curb the universe’s destruction and allow mortals to enjoy life not for a few millennia, but for tens of billions of years.

Tens of thousands of years later, Garth brought a few disciples, guiding them to attain the Primal Chaos Way and make a cut against the gods. “I desire to make a cut against the gods, so that from now on, cultivation shall include birth, aging, sickness, and death!”

Like Yi Mang in the past, he began to sever the past and future of four-dimensional beings, leaving only a small, controllable segment of the timeline. This method utterly enraged all the Saints. A great cataclysm befell heaven and earth.

“Filthy clothes, withered hair, sweating armpits, foul body odor, no joy in one’s seat... This is the Five Signs of Decay experienced by primordial Saints who become the order of heaven, a form of assimilation by the entire universe. How could we mortals experience this?” At that moment, vast swathes of living beings across the universe withered and died of old age. The recently developed and flourishing population, astonishingly, had plummeted by over eighty percent. The universe faced an unimaginable mass extinction; all beings wailed and shrieked. The Saints of that era had long harbored some dissatisfaction with Garth, and this 'cut against the gods' severely impacted them. Yet, the beneficiaries of this cut were the very mortals... Why should one strive for the well-being of those ridiculous mortals, mere ants in the grand scheme of things, beings that are simply harvested and regrown? A great war erupted.

Garth was cast down from his pedestal. He bore the greatest infamy from all beings and was even besieged. “Bind him with chains to a pyre on the Mountain of Gods, and let vultures feast on his entrails daily, making his life worse than death.” Countless Saints glared at him with cold, stern eyes. It was this same cry again, just as in the past. Had it been the past, those foolish, corrupt old gods would have been utterly incapable of overthrowing Garth, which is why they failed. But these new gods were true powerhouses, having obtained their Godheads through their own might... Outnumbered, Garth, that great sage of the universe, was ultimately placed on a pyre on the Mountain of Gods, bound with chains, allowing vultures to feast on his entrails daily, making his life worse than death.

What exactly did I fight for?

He looked at the new gods, their brows furrowed in cold disdain, and suddenly felt a haze in his mind. Numerous fragments flashed through his thoughts like a revolving lantern.

“Garth? Do you admit your guilt?” asked the three leading Saints—precisely the three trusted mortals he had led in the past: Misa, Byron Jones, and Lucius.

“Yes, I am guilty,” he replied, “for I sought the well-being of mortals.”

“That is not it!” one of the divine beings retorted angrily. “Instead, you added birth, aging, sickness, and death for mortals, and imposed restrictions on the gods!”

“Are you judging me as gods?” Garth was imprisoned on the Mountain of Gods, bound by chains, wearing iron rings, his body drenched in blood, as vultures pecked at his entrails.

“We, naturally, are gods,” one by one, the holy beings of heaven and earth declared, standing amidst golden radiance.

“Oh, so you are gods.” Garth threw his head back and laughed. “In the past, when I made my first cut against the gods, igniting the sacred fire for mortals, you rejoiced… because you were mortals. Now, when I make another cut against the gods, opening up the future for mortals, you are consumed by hatred… because you are now divine beings. Nothing has changed, yet you stand on the opposing side. This is a cycle; the laughable mortals have ultimately become the gods of the heavens.”

The two points of light in his eyes gradually dimmed. “I once believed that all gods were corrupt and only mortals possessed ambition, which is why I chose humanity... Only now do I understand that divinity, mortality, all are human nature... There was no difference from the beginning.”

The era drew its final curtain. The universe ultimately began to have a lifespan, experiencing birth, aging, sickness, death, formation, stasis, decay, and emptiness. The era of immortal, unaging chaos demon gods had ended. All cycles of history seemed similar, yet also subtly different.

After witnessing everything, Nu Yi turned, her expression suddenly complex, and spoke to the Creator God, uttering the same words she had once directed at Yi Mang: “You said... is the decay of life merely coincidental, or will eternal life inevitably lead to decay in the future?”

The Creator God’s phantom remained silent for a moment, not directly answering.

“Only truth is eternal.”