Chapter 120: The Heavenly Emperor’s Throne Changes Hands

Chapter 120: The Heavenly Emperor’s Throne Rotates

The Tianchen Realm, located at the edge of the starry sky, is a minor world under the jurisdiction of the Celestial Court. Discovered years ago by a celestial general and incorporated into the court’s records, it was initially deemed insignificant because no civilization had yet emerged within the planet. Consequently, no immortals or divine officials were dispatched to oversee it. In the eyes of the Celestial Court, a star without civilization is merely a resource-rich sphere, no different from a piece of rare treasure cataloged and stored in a vault.

Tens of thousands of years passed, and the Tianchen Realm gradually began to foster life. However, because celestial officials were occupied with their respective duties and the immortals were largely focused on their cultivation, the realm was overlooked—until Luo Feng, the Northern Water Virtue Star Lord, took office. It was only when he decided to reorganize the Celestial Court’s water veins and redefine the order of water elements that he discovered the existence of human tribes in the Tianchen Realm.

Stepping through the spatial portal, he swept his divine sense across the entire planet. Unlike the paradises created by immortals, which are often depicted as having a round sky and a square earth, the Tianchen Realm is a planet. Its volume is modest, roughly equivalent to the moon from before Luo Feng’s transmigration. Across the world, bustling human tribes are scattered, interspersed with wild beasts roaming the land and indigenous deities and demons dwelling within the great mountains and rivers.

Most of the indigenous beings and deities born in the Tianchen Realm possess power at the Golden Core or Nascent Soul level; the strongest, residing on the realm’s highest peak, possess power approaching that of the Primordial Spirit. Luo Feng glanced over them briefly and then lost interest; after all, this was not a minor world he had discovered himself, but public property of the Celestial Court. Being public, it must be handled with impartiality. As the Northern Water Virtue Star Lord, he could exploit it, and the Celestial Court would likely turn a blind eye, but to do so would be to lose his professional integrity. In the Celestial Court, losing one’s sense of duty is a grave matter. A minor stain now could become a gaping chasm eons later—a price not worth paying.

With a single step, he arrived near the riverbed where the shaman was performing a ritual. Due to a prolonged drought, the meandering river had dried up, leaving behind only parched channels and muddy pools downstream.

"Ulla-lla..."

The wrinkled old shaman ordered his men to throw a young girl into the river, followed by various wild beasts intended as offerings. Simultaneously, several burly men covered in animal skins began beating a hide drum. A vast, archaic atmosphere surged forth, the sound deafening and echoing to the heavens. Not only did Luo Feng, high in the sky, hear it, but so did the crocodile demon lurking in the muddy pool downstream. Opening its cloudy, yellow, beastly eyes, it let out a roar, and a clear spring surged from the mud, rushing upward toward the sacrificial site. The crocodile demon remained submerged, waiting to feast upon the offering.

"So that is how it is." Luo Feng smiled slightly. This crocodile possessed a modicum of intelligence, knowing how to use water as a threat to force the human tribe into making sacrifices.

If one were to threaten them by force, it would only lead to mutual destruction. The primitive humans were tall and physically robust, and the old shaman’s cultivation of his spirit was quite decent, reaching a standard equivalent to the innate level. However, this crocodile demon was not the mastermind behind the long-standing drought. Looking down at the Tianchen Realm, Luo Feng observed that there were three main river systems on the continent: one in the north and two in the south. The northern system was unharmed, while the two southern rivers were near extinction. A disaster of this magnitude, capable of altering the landscape, could not possibly be the work of a single crocodile demon. This Golden Core crocodile was merely occupying a tributary and plaguing the local area.

As he pondered, the crocodile had already descended upon the water, ready to devour the girl. The shaman’s expression shifted; with a wave of his hand, some men moved to cast the wild beasts into the water, while others grabbed wooden buckets and stone tools, hoping to collect the water.

"Vile creature, you court death." Luo Feng let out a cold snort. The crocodile’s actions had crossed his bottom line. To eat people—to consume sentient beings—this was the mark of an evil god or a wicked demon. It was not for any other reason than that Luo Feng was human; one’s position dictates one’s perspective. A person’s seat often determines the angle and scope of their thoughts.

With a flick of his finger, the crocodile and the clear spring were frozen in place, as if that patch of space had been locked; no matter how it struggled, it could not escape. With another flick, the girl, who had been weeping in the dry riverbed, was surprised to find herself lifted into the air and deposited safely on the bank.

The tribe was thrown into a panic. The old shaman was struck with astonishment, but he quickly regained his composure. Relying on his long-standing authority, he shouted a command, causing the entire tribe to kneel. The shaman spread his arms in obeisance, chanting prayers. Luo Feng’s expression tightened; he understood the shaman’s words.

An Earth Immortal can refine the yin essence of the body with a spark of true yang, allowing the spirit to wander under the sunlight. Wherever the spirit wanders, it knows; thus, they are called "All-Knowing Real Men." An Earth Immortal can touch the laws of the world and understand the meaning behind any language or text. Furthermore, as an avatar of a Golden Immortal, the moment he stepped into the Tianchen Realm, he had already communicated with the world’s laws and perceived its origin. That he had previously only sensed things vaguely from his Water Palace was because of the separation of billions of galaxies and countless vast worlds. If one could cross such distances to listen to voices, they would no longer be a mere Golden Immortal, but a Being of the Great Luo.

"Praying to the noble Great God to spare the Mud Crocodile God."

This was the old shaman’s prayer. The victims were actually begging for the murderer to be spared. It was truly the height of absurdity.

Luo Feng slowly descended from the clouds and asked in a deep voice, "Why do you ask me to spare this crocodile demon?"

The old shaman looked up, startled and terrified. He was surprised that the newcomer spoke the human tongue, yet fearful that he had guessed wrong and offended a demon god. Upon seeing Luo Feng’s appearance, the old shaman said with excitement and reverence, "My Lord, do you come from the Ancestral Land?"

The Ancestral Land? Another new term; perhaps the origin of the humans in this realm.

Luo Feng replied calmly, "Answer me first: why spare the crocodile demon?"

The old shaman said with a bitter, helpless expression, "Reporting to you, my Lord, I thought you were another demon god. A demon god would kill the Crocodile God but would not care about us; they act entirely on whim. With the Crocodile God here, one person dies so the whole tribe may live. If the Crocodile God dies, the whole tribe dies."

Luo Feng nodded thoughtfully, then asked, "Why are you so certain that I am human?"

The old shaman was bewildered. "No demon god would willingly take the form of the weak human race."

The weak human race? Hearing this, Luo Feng’s expression became strange. To say nothing of the Yin Shang Dynasty, which occupied the majority of the human world and stood in opposition to the Celestial Court, the great figures in the Fire Cloud Cave were not to be trifled with. The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors were all Beings of the Great Luo. Some of the sage-kings had even served as temporary Heavenly Emperors before the Jade Emperor Great Heavenly Venerable ascended the throne.

The Azure Emperor Taihao, the Flame Emperor Shennong, the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan, the White Emperor Shaohao, the Black Emperor Zhuanxu. The tides of fortune turn, and the throne of the Heavenly Emperor rotates. In the age of ancient humanity, this was not a joke, but an ironclad fact. Some humans were truly weak, but some humans were terrifyingly strong.

"Are you not descendants of the humans who migrated from the Primordial Continent?" Luo Feng asked with a frown. "Is there no sage from the Fire Cloud Cave leading you?"

He had originally assumed that the humans of the Tianchen Realm were a branch of the Primordial humans who had migrated here.