The next day, the Jade Emperor brought a jade box containing one of Demon Ancestor Rahu's feet to a mountain range in the celestial realm called "Heaven Pillar Mountain." Legend had it that this was once known as Buzhou Mountain, but hundreds of thousands of years ago, the Water God Gonggong, in a fit of rage, smashed it in half. Now, only the lower half remained in the celestial realm, renamed Heaven Pillar Mountain.
The True Martial Demon-Suppressing Great Emperor personally led forty-nine Golden Immortals to Heaven Pillar Mountain. After the Tathagata Buddha, along with various Bodhisattvas and Arhats from the Buddhist realm, jointly set up the Nine-Petal Eight-Direction Grand Formation, the True Martial Demon-Suppressing Great Emperor and his disciples deployed the celestial realm's famous "Big Dipper Seven-Star Formation" around the outer perimeter, sealing Demon Ancestor Rahu's foot there.
Unfortunately, during the day, Jiang Yuan had logged off to attend class and missed witnessing these two renowned formations of the immortal and Buddhist realms. He only learned about these details later while chatting with Nezha, the Third Lotus Prince.
After completing a few daily Golden Core quests and clocking in for half a day at the Judicial Department, Jiang Yuan earned 500 Taiji Golden Cores, raising his level to 128.
Opening the leaderboard, he saw that the top spot had been snatched back by Proud Dragon Emperor. He and players like One Blade Breaks Ten Thousand Laws and Call Me War God had teamed up to clear the Phantom Moon Cave dungeon, boosting his level straight to 131.
"What's up with Proud Dragon Emperor? Ever since arriving in the celestial realm, he's been leveling up like crazy. I just don't get it," Jiang Yuan muttered to himself, but he didn't take it seriously. Since ascending, Proud Dragon Emperor hadn't actively caused trouble for Jiang Yuan, as if their grudges from the mortal world had been wiped clean.
Jiang Yuan wasn't one to hold grudges either. Since Proud Dragon Emperor chose to keep his distance, he saw no need to provoke him.
After finishing the Golden Core quests, Jiang Yuan went to the sect's exchange NPC. Yesterday, he'd been halfway through browsing equipment when the Seal Official summoned him to the Lingxiao Hall, so he hadn't even had time to exchange for any gear.
Opening the equipment exchange interface, he browsed for a while and chose to exchange for a level-120 top piece, costing exactly 100 Victory Stones.
[Kun · Calming Cloud Brocade Robe] Level Requirement: 120 Equipment Quality: Realm Requirement: Loose Immortal HP + Defense + Intelligence +200 Stamina +200 Resilience +200 [Three-Piece Set Effect]: Critical Hit Reduction +10%, Critical Damage Reduction +50%, Fire Resistance +100, Light Resistance +100, Ice Resistance +100, Dark Resistance +100
After equipping the item, Jiang Yuan contacted Dominating the World, Hamster Pudding, Ding Ye, and Genesis Little Cloud, arranging to meet them at Flowing Cloud City to share what he'd seen and heard at the Lingxiao Hall the day before.
"Yuanzi, why call us so early? There are still over three hours until tonight's event!" Ding Ye, who had only half-finished his Golden Core quest when Jiang Yuan summoned him, grumbled in dissatisfaction.
"Last night, a major event happened in the celestial realm. I think it'll affect the game's storyline going forward, so I wanted to discuss it with you guys ASAP."
"Oh? Sounds important. Spill it," Dominating the World urged after Jiang Yuan spoke.
So Jiang Yuan relayed everything he'd heard at the Lingxiao Hall about Demon Ancestor Rahu's foot to his four companions.
"Demon Ancestor Rahu? Who's that? Sounds pretty badass!" Ding Ye, intrigued by the imposing title, couldn't help asking after Jiang Yuan's account.
"He's a demon god from over a hundred thousand years ago, on par with Pangu, who split heaven and earth, and Nuwa, who molded humans from clay in mythological tales."
"Yeah, I've heard similar myths. Legend says Demon Ancestor Rahu wielded a God-Slaying Spear that killed gods on sight and slaughtered immortals at will, throwing the primordial world into chaos. Countless deities fell to that spear, until the Lord of the Heavenly Dao stepped in to slay him," Dominating the World added after Jiang Yuan finished.
"Wow! That's intense! But isn't he dead already?" Hamster Pudding asked.
"Yes, this time, the Star Lord of Fate and others brought back one of his shattered body parts—a foot," Jiang Yuan nodded, confirming that Demon Ancestor Rahu had been dead for eons.
"So what's there to worry about? He's been dead forever. Can a single dug-up foot bring him back?" Ding Ye shrugged nonchalantly.
"Old Ding, that's a bit narrow-minded. You need to think long-term! Just one foot made the Jade Emperor and Tathagata Buddha this wary—that means the game's later main storyline will likely revolve around him!" Jiang Yuan looked at Ding Ye with an expression that said, "Kid, you're not seeing the big picture."
Hearing Jiang Yuan's analysis, the group began to grasp the implications. Dominating the World immediately said, "I think we all need to focus on leveling up from now on to handle any sudden main storylines or quests. My guess is, if they release an expansion about the Demon Ancestor's rebirth, we'll need at least Mystic Immortal or even Golden Immortal realm!"
"Brother Cangsheng hit the nail on the head. Based on my speculation, if the celestial realm releases related quests, they'll pick players with higher realms. If someone else gets ahead, our losses could be huge!" Jiang Yuan nodded at Dominating the World with a look of approval. This foot incident was already signaling that the Three Realms would soon face a calamity, and within that calamity lay countless opportunities. If their levels or realms lagged behind, they might miss out on top-tier equipment and items!
"I get it now—so we need to boost our realms and levels to catch the first wave of main storyline benefits, right?" Ding Ye finally understood after the hints from Dominating the World and Jiang Yuan, looking at them for confirmation.
"Looks like you're not too dense after all. You finally figured out the twists and turns," Jiang Yuan patted Ding Ye's shoulder with a smile and nodded.
"Cut it out—are you praising me or mocking me?" Ding Ye slapped Jiang Yuan's hand away, rolling his eyes.
"Praising you, of course. Your IQ's online—nice, very good!" Jiang Yuan chuckled.
After their discussion, the five of them predicted the game's future trends and realized the importance of leveling up. They immediately got to work, each heading off to do their quests, agreeing to meet at Flowing Cloud City at 7 PM to participate in tonight's "Star Constellation Challenge" event.