Chapter 4: The Night of the Celestial Path and the Yasha Heaven
In Cold Wind City, a solitary light shone brightly, piercing through the seemingly eternal silence of the night.
Suspended in that solitary glow was the Cold Moon Great King, appearing like a stunning beauty who had slumbered in an ice palace for ten millennia—cool, aloof, and utterly untouchable.
The monster folk, who had originally held torches around Cold Wind Cave, found themselves weak in the knees upon witnessing this awe-inspiring phenomenon.
Cold Moon and the other great demons were positively giddy, their eyes glued to the Great King with starry admiration.
Last time, the Great King had graced them with an immortal masterpiece titled “I Have a Dream” that echoed through the ages. Even to this day, Cold Moon pondered every word of that speech as if it were a treasure map leading her to the lofty spiritual realms of the Great King.
Now, the Great King had summoned everyone in Cold Wind City, and it was clear she had something mighty important to say.
“The heavens have dictated rules for the monster folk,” the Great King declared, “but I say, all of that is completely wrong!
Are you… still willing to listen?”
As soon as the Great King’s words left her lips, a series of thunderous booms rang out in the eerily quiet night sky.
“Boom… Boom…”
People turned toward the sky in terror.
It was as if the Cold Moon Great King’s words had incited the wrath of the heavens themselves. Bolts of icy lightning flickered, revealing a swirling mass of dark clouds gathering over Cold Wind City, trying to swallow that solitary glow.
But no matter how the dark clouds rolled and raged, the Cold Moon Great King simply waved her sleeve, making the light become even more brilliant, radiating an aura that rendered it untouchable.
The thunder grew increasingly frantic, with bolts of lightning darting across the dark clouds like silver snakes.
“Boom! Boom!”
Was this divine wrath?
Goodness, the Great King’s words had apparently made even the heavens furious!
For a moment, everyone was stunned, unsure whether they should respond to the Great King’s question.
Amidst the deafening thunder, Cold Moon was the first to drop to her knees at the Great King’s feet.
Just moments ago, her mind was swirling like a storm.
From the day she was born, she thought everything she had seen and experienced was utterly ordinary because that’s just how the monster folk had been for thousands of years.
She never considered that there might be anything wrong with it.
To her, the only variable had been meeting the Great King, who transformed her worldview and fueled her courage to dream of a grand future for the monster folk, all thanks to the King’s teachings.
She thought that should be more than enough to last her a lifetime.
But to her shock, the Great King had just proclaimed such earth-shattering words.
“The heavens have dictated rules for the monster folk, but I say, all that is wrong!”
Could the heavens really be wrong?
At that moment, as the Great King’s words rang in her ears, terrible omens filled the sky, warning her that she shouldn’t continue.
The Great King was taking a tremendous risk, daring to challenge heavenly principles and share enlightened wisdom.
To hear this truth, even if it meant her immediate demise, she desperately wanted to know what the heavens were hiding.
“Thud,” she knelt down, looking up at the Great King’s ethereal figure, and solemnly replied, “I’m willing to listen to the Great King’s teachings.”
She believed in the Great King—if the King said the heavens were wrong, then they must be wrong!
“Boom!”
As if in response to Cold Moon, a clap of thunder echoed through the sky, making it seem like the entire earth was about to collapse!
But Cold Moon continued to kneel with reverence.
The winds picked up speed, and it felt like the Cold Moon Great King would vanish into the gusts at any moment, her long hair and dark dress blooming like an extravagant flower.
Suddenly, the Great King chuckled lightly.
“To listen to my teachings is to become an enemy of divine order. So, do you still wish to continue?”
Cold Moon answered without hesitation, “Please teach us, Great King.”
“Very well. I present you with two options.
The first choice: if hearing my words brings you unease and fear, then it’s best you leave Cold Wind City now, and we shall part ways forever.
The second choice: stay and listen to my teachings, and perhaps you’ll hear a truth completely different from what you’ve always known. But believe me, that’s simply the origin the heavens have been desperately trying to hide.
Now, please make your choice.”
As soon as the Great King finished speaking, dark clouds above suddenly coalesced into a hazy claw, swooping down to grasp the Great King, bypassing the solitary glow.
Gasps echoed through the crowd.
But what they didn’t expect was that just as the oily, light-absorbing claw was about to seize the Great King, an enormous figure appeared behind her.
“Boom!”
The two collided, creating a tremendous shockwave.
The dark clouds dissipated immediately, revealing the massive form of a black Yasha, seated on a lotus throne with a long-handled iron hammer raised high.
At the moment the Yasha blocked the dark clouds, the lightning and thunder vanished, and the night sky returned to its original, still demeanor.
“It’s the Yasha Heaven of the Celestial Path!”
“It’s the Yasha Heaven of the Celestial Path!”
The great demons shouted in terror.
Having previously encountered the trickery of the Hell Path’s evil spirits, now the Yasha Heaven of the Celestial Path had shielded the Great King from heavenly wrath. It seemed that the Great King even possessed the terrifying power to rival the divine order, and how could they not feel shocked and amazed?
Any hint of doubt or hesitation vanished like mist.
What did it matter if they opposed the heavens?
With the Great King by their side, even if they had to face the divine one day, they’d tremble in defiance.
At the very least, they were finally learning the truth the heavens had long been concealing, rather than living out their lives like the clueless monster folk of old.
They all knelt around the Great King.
The solitary glow expanded, enveloping everyone in its embrace.
Cold Moon raised her head, gazing at the brilliant galaxy in the night sky, her heart filling with clarity as if she had suddenly grasped a great truth.
The Great King’s voice was soft yet firm, though she was far away, her words felt close as if whispered right in their ears.
“What is a monster?
Why do monsters exist in this world?
Because all things have spirits, and under the guidance of the divine order, they instinctively strive toward becoming something celestial.
When we absorb the essence of heaven and earth, and gain our own first flicker of consciousness, new monsters are born into this world.
In that instant, we almost instinctively want to take form, even if our power is limited, to transform into something resembling humans.
This has nearly become a collective instinct of the monster folk.
The stronger demons, proud of their power, feel a sense of achievement in taking on the perfect form of a human.
But have you ever thought about why the monster folk aspire to become human?
Is it because humans are inherently superior to monsters?
Although many great demons scoff at this notion, deep down, at the moment we strive to take human form, our true thoughts become glaringly obvious and painfully clear.”
Upon hearing this, the hearts of the monster folk quaked like they were experiencing an eight-point earthquake, rendering them speechless and dry-mouthed.
What they had thought was that monsters transforming was as natural as the wind blowing and the moon shifting—just the way of things, nothing to bat an eye at,
But the profound truth hidden behind these celestial mysteries had never crossed their minds. They could explore what lay beneath the surface.
…
P.S.: The third update will be around 8 PM. Just a little heads-up.
