Chapter 1401: Heroic Journey

After Yao ascended to the position of Great Emperor, the world fell into chaos. One major event was the appearance of ten suns, and in addition, ferocious deities like Ya Yu, Zao Chi, Jiu Ying, Da Feng, Feng Xi, and Xiu She also emerged... The voice seemed to get lost in its memories, recounting the events of that time.

Zu An, however, was startled. Da Feng?

He also had a skill called Da Feng. He wondered if his skill was related to the Da Feng the voice mentioned.

"Furthermore, the infamous Four Perils—Qiong Qi, Hun Dun, Tao Wu, and Taotie—also originated during his reign," the voice continued.

The three women—Yan, Yun, and Yu—instinctively looked at Zu An. They had just encountered a monster in Mount Yu that he had called Tao Wu. Could it be the same creature?

"Is the Tao Wu you're talking about a creature that looks like a tiger, with fur several feet long, boar tusks in its mouth, and a tail dozens of feet long...?" Zu An roughly described the monster he had just seen.

"That's right," the voice remarked with emotion. "I sensed its aura again just now. It seems you've released it."

Zu An and the others were stunned. "We didn't do anything; it just suddenly appeared."

"Did you encounter a giant rock that resembled a massive tortoise?" the voice asked.

"Yes, we did. There were many bones inside, seemingly from some kind of colossal creature," Zu An nodded.

"That explains it. That was the seal suppressing Tao Wu. The fact that you could break it means your cultivation is much higher than I imagined," the voice said with surprise, as if re-evaluating them.

Zu An's expression was strange. "We didn't destroy that seal; it was done by someone who came in with us." After a moment's hesitation, he added, "That person is a Golden Crow. I don't know if it's the same Golden Crow you just mentioned."

"The Puppet Curse on you was cast by him, wasn't it?" the voice stated. "That settles it. This is a unique skill of the Golden Crow bloodline; others cannot imitate it."

Zu An and the others exchanged glances. They never expected the history of the Demon Emperor to be connected to this unknown land. It all felt surreal.

"By the way, now that we've released Tao Wu, one of the Four Perils, it won't trigger the end of the world, will it?" Zu An asked hurriedly, recalling how such events unfolded in movies.

"Just releasing Tao Wu alone isn't enough for that," the voice replied casually.

"From what you're saying, it sounds like releasing a few more would cause problems?" Yun Jianyue asked.

"That would indeed be somewhat troublesome," the voice said vaguely, then changed the subject. "Do you know why the Four Perils are called the Four Perils?"

"No," Zu An replied, wondering if the Taotie he had encountered in the Yin Ruins secret realm was one of the Four Perils the voice was referring to.

"Ya Yu, Zao Chi, and Jiu Ying, whom I just mentioned, were naturally born as powerful, ferocious deities. But the Four Perils were not fierce beasts from the start; they were humans," the voice sighed.

"Humans?" Zu An and the others were astonished. The terrifying appearance of Tao Wu they had just witnessed flashed through their minds. How could that have anything to do with humans?

"Exactly. Hun Dun was originally Huan Dou, a son of Zhuan Xu. Qiong Qi was Gong Gong, a descendant of the Flame Emperor. Taotie was Chi You, also from the Flame Emperor's lineage. And Tao Wu was Gun, a descendant of Zhuan Xu. All these individuals opposed Yao. After years of warfare, they were defeated. Yao exiled Gong Gong to Youzhou, banished Huan Dou to Mount Chong, relocated the San Miao tribe to Sanwei, and executed Gun at Mount Yu. The resentment and unwillingness of these people after their deaths transformed into the legendary Four Perils," the voice explained.

Yan, Yun, and Yu looked utterly bewildered. These names were completely unfamiliar to them, as if they were listening to an incomprehensible scripture.

Zu An, however, was inwardly shaken. It felt as if he was hearing many things that defied common knowledge. He never expected Gong Gong and Chi You to be from the Flame Emperor's lineage.

In his previous life, people from his country were called "descendants of Yan and Huang" because, in ancient times, the two largest tribes, led by the Flame Emperor and the Yellow Emperor, united, continuously grew, and eventually formed the Huaxia civilization.

He couldn't help but ask, "Is the Gong Gong you mentioned the one who angrily struck Buzhou Mountain, causing the sky to collapse and a great flood on earth? And is Chi You the demonic god Chi You who fought a great battle with the Yellow Emperor?"

Huan Dou and Gun were relatively obscure in history, though Gun was remembered by some as a negative example in Yu the Great's flood control efforts. However, compared to Gong Gong and Chi You, their renown was nowhere near.

One caused the sky to crack open and the world to be submerged in a great flood, forcing the goddess Nuwa to mend the heavens. Chi You, on the other hand, fought a great war with the Yellow Emperor, repeatedly pushing a formidable figure like the Yellow Emperor to the brink, only for the Yellow Emperor to turn the tide with external support. In various films, television shows, and online novels from his previous life, Chi You was undoubtedly one of the most popular major antagonists.

"Oh, you seem quite knowledgeable about the events of our era," the voice said with surprise, but continued to explain, "The Gong Gong you mentioned and the Gong Gong I'm referring to are not the same. Gong Gong is a title; a new Gong Gong emerges in each generation. The one who angrily struck Buzhou Mountain was the first Gong Gong. He failed in his struggle for power with Emperor Zhuan Xu, which is why he angrily struck Buzhou Mountain."

Yan, Yun, and Yu, surprisingly, found this easy to understand. It was similar to the demon race, where each generation's leader was called the Demon Emperor, but the individual was entirely different.

The voice continued, "The Gong Gong I just mentioned lived many years later, during Emperor Yao's time. In the ancient conflict between the Flame Emperor and the Yellow Emperor, the Flame Emperor was defeated. However, his lineage remained powerful and never truly accepted subservience to the Yellow Emperor's line, leading to several wars against the Yellow Emperor's clan."

"The most famous among these were the Battle of Banquan between the Flame Emperor and the Yellow Emperor, the Battle of Zhuolu between Chi You and the Yellow Emperor, and the struggle between Gong Gong and Emperor Zhuan Xu."

"As for the Gong Gong I mentioned from Emperor Yao's era, he was a later Gong Gong. And that Chi You was not the original Chi You; it was merely a title for the leader of the San Miao tribe."

"I see," Zu An mused, wondering who this person truly was, possessing such detailed knowledge of events long lost to antiquity, as if they had experienced them firsthand.

"At that time, the world was in great turmoil, and Yao was overwhelmed. However, he was very capable and skilled at identifying talent, promoting many able ministers and renowned generals. This enabled Yi to slay Zao Chi in the fields of Chouhua, kill Jiu Ying above the Fiendish Waters, capture Da Feng in the marshes of Qingqiu, shoot down the ten suns, eliminate Ya Yu, sever Xiu She at Dongting, and capture Feng Xi in Sanglin."

Zu An was greatly impressed, thinking that Yi was truly an unrivaled powerhouse—capable of controlling Chang'e with his charm and slaying ferocious deities with his martial prowess.

At this point, the voice continued, "The reason I'm telling you all this in such detail is that you need to retrace Yi's heroic journey from back then. Only by doing so can you gain the recognition of his divine artifacts and have a chance to confront that powerful entity."