Gate of God

"Boom!"

Heaven and Earth were linked.

The golden ray fell from the heavens and passed through Fang Zhengzhi and Chi Guyan before it went right into the ground, as if it was a bridge between Heaven and Earth.

A bridge linking Heaven and Earth.

The sky lit up gloriously, and dulcet tunes could be heard by all.

At this moment, it was as though time had stopped, and all movements had ceased, except for this golden ray, its music of grandeur, and countless golden characters around by it.

It was the arrival of the Heavenly Prophecy and appearance of the Chosen One.

"How could this happen?! Impossible, this is definitely impossible..." Tian Xing looked upon the golden ray that was a stone’s throw away from him, though he refused to believe all of these were real.

And it wasn’t only him. Everyone couldn’t believe it too.

It didn’t matter if they were the Heaven Dao Pavilion disciples or the Nine Pinnacles Mountain disciples, everyone had their eyes widened and mouths agape upon witnessing this shocking scene.

Mu Qingfeng’s body suspended in the air, stopping about ten steps away from Tian Xing. His long, white gown draped silently, and in his eyes were a mix of astonishment, peculiarity, excitement, joy, suspense, and countless other emotions.

He was shocked, but bewildered by its conclusion. He was excited and joyful because Chi Guyan was within the Heavenly Prophecy and being baptized by the Divine Message.

But he was also curious. Why was Fang Zhengzhi also in this golden ray?

Was this a coincidence?

Or was it a work of fate?

And if even Mu Qingfeng didn’t know, how would the rest of them standing at the Heaven Academic Altar know anything?

Whether it was the Great Xia Dynasty’s Emperor Lin Mubai, the Xian King Lin Yun, or the emperors and princes of the other two countries, everyone had their eyes locked towards the sky at the both of them enveloped within the golden ray.

But none of them uttered a single word.

So, even though everyone was shocked beyond comprehension, as they stood in front of the Heavenly Prophecy, all they could do was to admire in awe.

...

Fang Zhengzhi was as confused as the rest in the crowd.

Initially, he did not notice the golden ray shining from above him. What he knew was he was punched up into the air and rose toward the sky.

But as he flew up...

He saw Chi Guyan flying toward him.

He saw her blood-stained pink dress and her crystal-clear eyes before reached for her in an embrace.

Then, he felt as though he was wrapped in an aura of warmth.

In his arms, Chi Guyan started to emanate a glow of countless esoteric characters as golden rays of revolved around her body.

"What’s going on?" Fang Zhengzhi had a little trouble grasping the situation. He had too many questions on his mind, but too little time to process them all.

In fact, when he felt that warm sensation and saw the golden rays and characters around Chi Guyan’s body, he had another strange feeling.

It was as though every movement in the world had ceased.

Then, everything before his eyes vanished.

There weren’t any golden characters or golden rays remaining. Even Chi Guyan had disappeared. It was a realm of silent nothingness.

"Where am I?" Fang Zhengzhi had similar experiences in the past, such as when he entered The Vast World, and when he saw the mysterious white-dressed lady when he had mastered the Rebirth Plate.

However, this was obviously not The Vast World or the world with the mysterious white-dressed lady. Instead, it was a boundless galaxy.

There were countless stars glimmering around him.

Besides the stars, there was a belt of meteorite floating around. Fang Zhengzhi could even see every crater on these meteorites.

Was it the galaxy?

If this was really the galaxy, then what was that?

Fang Zhengzhi possessed scientific knowedge - of course he knew that the galaxy was the space beyond earth. However, he didn’t know that there were chains within the galaxy.

In addition, there were infinitely many of them.

They were non-reflective, and dull and black like ink. Many giant chains were linked up together, crisscrossing between the stars.

They resembled a giant, complex formation.

Most surprisingly, there was a huge, black rock above those giant black chains.

No.

There wasn’t only one rock.

Fang Zhengzhi wasn’t sure how many rocks there were. However, he spotted another black rock above the chains as he looked in the distance.

Its had a very similar shape to this rock above him.

Slightly further away, he could vaguely see another one at the intersection of these chains.

These black rocks gave off a terrifying aura and emitted an ancient smell.

"Crack!" And at this time, a tiny sound reached Fang Zhengzhi’s ear, which made him shudder.

He didn’t know why there was sound in space.

Yet he could sense it, real as ever, that the sound came from the black rock above him. He immediately turn to it.

Then, he spotted a crack in that rock.

There wasn’t just one crack.

There was a total of seven cracks.

Fang Zhengzhi didn’t know if there were more cracks on the top of this rock, but he felt that it could split any moment.

"Boom!" Everything was shaking.

Everything vanished again. The belt of meteorites, stars, chains and black rocks were all gone.

Fang Zhengzhi could see the golden ray, but the countless esoteric characters had disappeared.

In his embrace, Chi Guyan began to open her eyes.

Suddenly, Fang Zhengzhi had a hallucination. He could see the galaxy in Chi Guyan’s eyes, like the one he witnessed just now.

However, this galaxy in her eyes was glowing in different colors.

"A hallucination?" Fang Zhengzhi couldn’t be sure, but he was certain that the apparition previously behind Chi Guyan had become stronger.

This was especially true for her long snake’s tail. The pink scales covering it began to shine with a different texture.

What happened at the galaxy just now?

And, what exactly was the apparition behind Chi Guyan all about?

A human with a snake’s tail... but it’s neither a snake demon nor Medusa? It couldn’t possibly be the legendary creator of humans, Lady Nüwa, right?!

Fang Zhengzhi shuddered at this thought. Of course, he knew of Lady Nüwa, but he had never thought of this possibility.

It was because that was a myth from his past life.

At the beginning of time, there was nothingness. The mythical Lady Nüwa was indeed a woman with a snake’s tail. And it was this very powerful Lady Nüwa who created humans.

Legends and myths were passed down generations of people...

The story of Five-Colored Heavenly Gemstones and Lady Nüwa’s creation of mankind.

But shouldn’t this be merely a myth? Why would a myth from the past world be experienced in this world?

If Chi Guyan were really Lady Nüwa, then what would he be? Pan Gu? Or the King of Man? Or a servant who pours tea for Lady Nüwa?

This couldn’t be true!

Fang Zhengzhi was not a gullible person.

Of course, he couldn’t entertain such far-fetched thinking any longer. After all, be it Lady Nüwa or Pan Gu, they were mythical characters highly respected by many.

Even Fang Zhengzhi couldn’t bear to think of them in any possibly offensive ways.

So, no, Chi Guyan could not possibly be Lady Nüwa...

But if she really wasn’t Lady Nüwa, why would her Talent Bloodline create an apparition like Lady Nüwa - a woman’s body with a snake’s tail carrying such a commanding aura?

Bloodline... He finally understood it!

Chi Guyan wasn’t Lady Nüwa, but she had the same bloodline as Lady Nüwa.

Lady Nüwa’s bloodline!

The galaxy, chains, and the cracked black rock...

Fang Zhengzhi didn’t know why, but he felt a strong intuition that these events had to be linked, and this mystery was about to be revealed.

However, he didn’t have the time to ponder further about this now.

It was because someone was charging straight at him right now. It was a white figure charging at lightning speed.

White?

To Fang Zhengzhi, it would most likely be Tian Xing who would charge at him now. But no, Tian Xing was dressed in black.

Could it be Mu Qingfeng?

Nope.

Because this person had long, black hair. He was very young, and most importantly, he was wielding a sword by his hand. It was a long sword that was clear as ice.

Nangong Hao!

...

Beyond the Great Wall, the grievous wind blew and ice had already formed in Jiaohe.

The Northern Sea raged with waves and the Yin Mountain was covered in snow.

These two sentences described a chilly winter scenery, and in Great Xia Dynasty, there was indeed such a place.

In a mausoleum about five kilometers wide, gravestones were erected. And upon these gravestones by the snow, detailed inscriptions were etched on them.

This place was perpetually cold. The river had frozen in the chilly climate, and snow had piled on masses of celestine.

This was the Nangong Mausoleum, the hideaway of Nangong Nobles, the most famous family in the Great Xia Dynasty.

Nobody knew why the Nangong Nobles chose this place with winter all-year-round with very few people around as their hideaway. Just as nobody knew how long exactly the Nangong Nobles had been in existence.

But the matter of fact was...

This was the hideaway of the Nangong Nobles, and they seemed to have cut off all contact with the outside world. It was only during the biennial Law of Dao Examinations when others would spot the presence of a few disciples of the Nangong Nobles.

And more importantly, of all the disciples of Nangong Nobles who attended the Law of Dao Examinations, none of them were ever appointed as an official.

For a family like this, they could very well have gone unnoticed.

But Nangong Nobles had always been named as one of the greatest family in the Great Xia Dynasty, comparable to the status of the Thirteen Constabularies and Yan Family of West Liang.

Yet, they were not part of the government, had never been officials, had never paid tributes to the Emperor and were not ruled under the Dynasty.

The Nangong Nobles had lived peacefully in this icy barren land, keeping watch of this five-kilometer-wide mausoleum. A sanctuary away from the chaotic world outside.

And at this moment, in this five-kilometer-wide mausoleum, a middle-aged man who was slightly overweight stood in front of the Nangong Nobles. His thin shirt was flapping loudly in the chilly wind. If it weren’t for his fur scarf, only a handful would believe he was dressed like this in a cold winter.

"Master!" A figure appeared from behind the mausoleum, and like a snowflake, drifted behind the middle-aged man, then dropped to a half-kneel position.

"Yes!" The middle-aged man’s eyes slowly opened. His eyes were red with fatigue, but one couldn’t tell many of his facial expressions. It was calm, like a piece of celestine in the snowy wind.

"Master, the Divine Message has arrived, it’s time!" The figure said.

"Oh, it’s finally time?" The slightly overweight middle-aged man replied. He slowly raised his gaze toward the sky. There was nothing besides the dance of the snowflakes as they cascaded from the sky.

Yet, the middle-aged man stared intently at the sky. In his reddish eyes, there was a faint gleam, as though he was appreciating a highly exquisite piece of art.

"Yes, the elders have asked for Master to play host. The gifts have already been prepared." The figure spoke softly after a while.

"Got it. You may leave now." The middle-aged man nodded.

"Yes!" The figure nodded, then disappeared as quickly as he came. Just like a freefalling snowflake, he would only stay for a moment.

Then, the middle-aged man turned to another direction and looked yonder: "How many years has it been, it’s too many to count... It has been so long, and this mausoleum is getting bigger by the years..."

Then he didn’t say anything more.

He took a step forward, then a crack could be heard. It was the cracking of ice, and with this sound, there were two green footsteps on the ground.

The colors of celestine.

It was very noticeable in a white, snowy world like this.

Nobody knew how long the middle-aged man had stood there in the snowy wind. But it was certain that when he lifted both legs, the ice had already hardened beneath.

As the wind raged on, the green footsteps were quickly covered up by snow, blending into this white, barren land. And everything was a world of white. White and pure as snow.