Inside the ancient temple, groups of shamans and witch priests were sitting cross-legged inside the temple, chanting scriptures. A tall statue of the god was built in the hall, which looked like a giant with mountains and land under its feet. The entire hall was built entirely of stone, spacious and simple. As the sound of the scriptures spread out, the sound of the scriptures echoed throughout the ancient temple.
These are the witch priests of the ancient gods. Different from most of the shaman witch priests of the northern barbarians who follow the path of demons and cultivate their own bloodlines, the witch priests of the ancient gods follow a path similar to that of witch priests and immortals, cultivating spiritual and magic techniques.
Therefore, compared with most of the shaman rituals in the northern wilderness that are filled with evil spirits and resentful spirits, the witch rituals in this ancient temple seem to be full of simple and ancient atmosphere, with a taste of returning to nature.
Although each of them has totems on their bodies, some have demonic features and colors on their faces, and some come from the border, because the barbarian demons are constantly interbreeding with humans, they look almost the same as ordinary people. But at this moment, they are sitting cross-legged in the ancient and heavy temple on the snow-capped mountains, each of them is as peaceful as a blooming snow lotus, and their eyes are full of childlike innocence.
They are not only the shaman priests of the ancient gods, but also their preachers and defenders.
At this moment, a roar of a dragon was heard in the sky, and the sound of chanting in the temple was suddenly interrupted. Dozens of witches and priests wrapped in thin robes walked out of the hall, stood on the stairs and corridor outside, looking at the sky.
Then I saw the clouds in the sky rolled up into a ball, like a huge vortex spinning in the sky.
Among them, a strange beast whose head and tail could not be seen shuttled between the clouds and mist, emitting bursts of roars. The roars came from the blood suppression of the divine beast, and the suppression on the barbarians in the north was particularly strong.
"Dragon!" A young shaman priest wearing only a single garment with bare shoulders immediately recognized the existence in the sky.
"No! According to legend, dragons have feet. This should be a Jiaolong, or a beast of the dragon family." An old man with wise eyes and fire-patterned scales on his face immediately pointed out the other party's mistake.
"How could a dragon come here!" Groups of shamans in the ancient temple discussed it, not understanding how this powerful race that occupied the entire East China Sea in the legend, the descendants of the mythical beast, could cross such a source and come to the ancient temple in the northern wilderness of Dongzhou.
"I heard that there are many dragons that drifted from the East China Sea in the human territory. This one should have come from the human territory."
At this moment, the dragon in the sky circled down from the clouds, and swam across the sky like a dragon, heading towards the ancient temple. At this moment, everyone felt like they were facing a great enemy, and they looked at the sky with serious expressions.
"Quiet! The guests of the Ancient God have arrived!" An old man walked out of the Ancient Temple and roared. The sound spread like a huge bell, calming the panic in everyone's hearts.
Only then did they see a figure sitting on the dragon head, with a long beard floating between the majestic horns. The figure sat on it like an old monk in meditation, with his eyes closed.
Riding down on a dragon, it was like the arrival of a fairy from outer space, or the arrival of a god from overseas.
At this moment, everyone couldn't help but gasp. This dragon exuding infinite power made their backs chill. And at this moment, such a ferocious beast turned out to be this man's mount.
Looking at the appearance of this man, he was riding on this dragon all the way here, sweeping over the wind and clouds from an unknown distance.
The dragon was so huge that everyone could only see it clearly when it landed on the ground. Its body circled around the hall and its head proudly stopped in front of the hall door, as big as a house.
The god sitting on the dragon head slowly raised his head, but did not look at them. Instead, he turned his head to look behind the temple. There was a cave under the cliff behind the temple. In front of the cave, a figure was as conspicuous as the bright moon in the dark night.
The figure instantly turned into smoke and dissipated in the sunlight, chasing the breeze towards the cliff behind the temple.
The dragon shrank little by little, and turned into a magical dragon horse, landing in front of the ancient temple.
“You’re finally here!”
The smoke went up with the breeze. Before it got close, a soft voice was heard in my ears. A weathered old man sitting on the edge of a cave on the cliff spoke slowly.
Fang Xiu's figure slowly condensed with the smoke and landed beside the cave on the cliff. The smoke transformed him into a human form. A young man wearing a black and red master's robe sat opposite the weathered old man.
Fang Xiu opened his eyes and looked at Chang De sitting in front of him. In the blink of an eye, more than a hundred years had passed in this mountain and sea world. Chang De at that time had already reached the limit of his lifespan and was very old.
His body was covered with age spots, his skin was wrinkled like chicken skin, his face was old and his eyes were covered with white film, and his whole body was filled with the air of death.
But he was still holding on to his last breath, as if he was waiting for his arrival.
Chang De raised his head and looked at Fang Xiu. In an instant, his pair of eyes covered with white film burst into endless divine light, which contained the thousands of miles of mountains and rivers of this ancient mountain and the surging Milky Way.
He has been using human body to replace the position of the mountain god of this ancient mountain for more than a hundred years. His cultivation and divine power have reached the pinnacle of the human world, just like Fang Xiu.
But today this human body has reached its limit, and his soul is about to report to the underworld. His godly name will be ranked above the Book of Life and Death, and he will truly become the god of this ancient mountain.
"You came just in time. If you had come a step earlier or a step later, I wouldn't have been able to fulfill my promise!"
"If you don't come, I really can't hold on any longer!"
"You... are going to die!" Fang Xiu said this without any questioning words, but with an affirmative tone, but his voice was filled with complex emotions such as sighs, regrets, etc.
"No! I just want to truly become an ancient god." Chang De told Fang Xiu calmly, with a pair of eyes that saw through life and death, and understood the ways of the world.
Fang Xiu and Chang De sat opposite each other on the edge of the snowy cliff. In the distance, the vast mountains rose and fell. The faint snowflakes fell on their shoulders and rolled down their robes. "Are you waiting for me?"
Chang De nodded slightly: "Yes! I'm waiting for you, Fengdu!"
"After I die, as an important official in the sacred mountain of Huanggu Mountain, I will also have a rank in the underworld, and my soul will report to Yintianzi City in the underworld!"
"Then the gate to the netherworld will open for me, and you will be able to follow me into the netherworld with your soul. This is my promise to you."
Chang De let out a light laugh from his old face, his eyes narrowed together: "I finally returned your favor."
"In this world! I, Changde, will never owe anyone anything again!"
Fang Xiu was suddenly speechless, his face blank.
He thought a lot before coming here. He didn't know whether the talisman he gave to Chang De was good or bad, whether Chang De got everything he wanted here, and whether all this was exactly what he wanted.
Having spent more than a hundred years in the boundless world of mountains and seas, does he feel any regret in his heart, or does he have any resentment towards him
But when he saw those eyes and heard him say that he owed him a promise, Fang Xiu didn't know where to start for a moment.
Chang De didn't wait for Fang Xiu to speak, but asked, "How about the next game?"
"Go?"
"Chess!"
A chess box fell from Chang De's sleeve. The wooden chess box and wooden stones did not have any luxurious or magical aura. It even looked worn out and a little old and dilapidated, but it made Fang Xiu feel the simplicity and innocence of it. "I really can't play Go. I prefer chess!"
"It's a pity that there are not many people here who can accompany me! I can only go down alone!"
"That sounds pretty lonely!"
"you do not say!"
The two men played chess on the cliff of this ancient mountain. Fang Xiu made his moves carelessly, with a myriad of emotions in his mind. Chang De, while making his moves, narrated the ups and downs of his life, as well as the magnificent stories of his life over the past one hundred years.
When he first entered the mountains and seas, he landed in a tribe on the border of Pan Kingdom. He stayed in that tribe for several years. Later, the entire tribe was killed by the invading barbarians from the north. He was taken to the north as a slave. After experiencing many battles and twists and turns, he became a shaman priest of a small tribe.
He rose from the bottom, wiped out all his former enemies, and finally stood at the pinnacle of the Northern Wilderness Barbarians. He gathered faith and summoned the entire barbarian tribe to search for the decrees of the gods in the Ancient Wilderness Mountain, and transformed himself into a high and mighty god on this Ancient Wilderness Mountain to accept worship from all living beings.
The story contains endless killing, hatred, resentment, as well as joy and pride. He has killed countless people and was cursed to death for his wife and children. He was once captured and imprisoned as a slave, and he has also been high above and enslaved all living beings.
He has experienced all kinds of resentment, hatred and separation. He has been a mortal, a demon, and a king. Finally, he became an ancient god.
This path to immortality was far more difficult and painful than Chang De had imagined. In the end, he seemed to not even know what he was asking for.
Nearly two hundred years have passed, and everything has disappeared like smoke. Only he is left sitting on this ancient mountain playing chess with Fang Xiu.
"well!"
Halfway through the third game, Chang De was undecided about where to place his pieces on the board. Finally, with a sigh, he died.
The chess piece with a cannon on it suddenly fell on the chessboard, and Chang De closed his eyes.
Under the earth, in an instant, black spread out with Changde as the center, like a black bottomless abyss appeared on the ground.
The gate to the underworld opened, welcoming the dead soul of the ancient mountain god in reserve to the underworld, where his name was recorded in the Book of Life and Death. From then on, Changde was no longer a human being, but a god of the earth.
A golden soul leaped out from Changde's body, like a beam of light reflected into the darkness and plunged into the underworld.
Fang Xiu, who was sitting opposite, also closed his eyes. His body collapsed as if he had lost all strength. A white figure stood up from his body, then stepped into the black gate of the underworld and entered the netherworld.