Chapter 223: Empress Wu (2)
Wu Hong nodded as this was the broad and general description of the historical events that occurred during that Era. After re-organizing her thoughts, she started to narrate:
"Well, Empress Wu was born in a very small village in the mortal world. As you can imagine, back then, the lives of mortals was even worse than cultivators as they did not even have the strength or the Will to resist the Devil Race.
"According to the law back then, every time a mortal kingdom, city or village reached a certain level of population, 90% of the people would be selected as food, slaves, or plaything for the Devil Race. As for the remaining 10%, they would be left alive in order to repopulate before the next selection.
"Right after Empress Wu was born, her parents were selected and she was raised by the old uncle in the village.
"When she was 18, she had grown into a beautiful young woman--which caught the attention of a human noble."
Wang Wei frowned after hearing this, so he asked: "There was still human nobility back then? In such a terrible era?"
Wu Hong nodded before explaining: "The so-called Human Nobles were actually traitors of the Human Race. Most of them betrayed their own race and submitted to the Devil Race and became their running dog. The Devil race--which reveled in sins--truly like seeing those traitors and used them as a way to control the other human race.
"As a matter of fact, some of them even inserted the Devil Race Bloodline inside their bodies in order to become closer to their enslaver."
Wang Wei nodded as he could foresee this happen. The human race is a very complex one, and it is not unaccepted that they would betray their own kind. Even the Demon Race that has the concept of tribe and bloodline connection embedded deep in their souls has traitors among them--let alone the human race that is easily divided amongst each other.
However, Wang Wei still had a question, so he asked: "There are rumors that Devil Cultivators originated from the Devil Race, is that true?"
"Indeed," replied Wu Hong. "The early Devil Cultivators were actually normal cultivators that took the Cultivation Path of the Devil Race and studied it. Then, they combined it with the Origin Path in an attempt to become stronger and end the Nine Devil God World’s occupation of our world.
"In some ways, they were successful as many Devil Emperors were born in that Era, and they all fought against the Devil Race to their deaths. This is the reason that even though many cultivators do not like the Devil Cultivators, they are still allowed to occupy the Western White Tiger Continent.
"It was all thanks to their merits during the Devil Era that even Heavenly Dao acknowledged their contributions to the world."
Wu Hong paused for a brief moment, and seeing that Wang Wei had no more questions, she continued her narration.
"The human noble did not want Empress Wu for himself, but to be handed to a Devil Prince....Well, Devil Princes were actually inheritors to the Devil God position. Once one of the nine Devil Gods left their positions and became true Great Emperors, the Devil Princes would battle it out and the winner would become the next Devil God.
"Knowing what her fate would be like if she was caught by the human noble, the Empress ran away from the village. It was then that she had a fortunate encounter and started on the path of cultivation.
"However, her early years were quite miserable as he was constantly on the run from that human noble; things got even worse when that Devil Prince became aware of her existence and desired her. He even promised the Human Race Alliance that if they sent her to him, he would negotiate with the other Devil Princes to ease the suffering of the humans in the world.
"As that Devil Prince was a genius that appeared once every thousands of generations in the Devil Race, and given the fact that he was the most powerful one, the Human Alliance believed his words."
Wang Wei frowned after hearing this as he had read about the Human Alliance. It is similar to how all the factions of the world banded together in the Ancient Emperor Era to fight the Golden Ape Emperor.
However, this time they were fighting the Devil Race, and Wang Wei also knew that the Dao Opening Sect was in fact in charge of the Alliance during that time, but he had never heard about such a thing.
Wu Hong further explained the situation as he could guess what he was thinking.
"This Devil Prince was so talented that in his generation, the Nine Devil Gods decided not to sacrifice that generation’s Heaven Will to their own world’s Heavenly Dao, but instead let him use it as he could possibly become an Eternal Emperor.
"As for the reason you did not hear about the fact that the Human Alliance accepted his offer, it was probably because they erased such embarrassing things from history in order not to look bad. I am sure if one day you get access to the Secret Archive of your sect, you will find the real history written in them."
Wang Wei nodded as he was not that surprised; he was not a gullible person who believed that his sect never did anything wrong. As the most powerful faction of the Myriad Emperor Word, Wang Wei knew that the Dao Opening Sect had done many cruel and shady things in order to retain their power and position.
He can guess that even his father--who always had a happy and doting look--has done some shady things in his life as a Sect Master. And when he takes that position, he will do the same.
So, he was not fazed to learn that his sect has fabricated history in order to make themselves look better; all factions have done this at some point.
Meanwhile, Wu Hong continued her narration; she also knew that Wang Wei would not be fazed by such a thing.
"Where was I? Yes, the promise of that Devil Prince. After he said these words, the Empress spent her life running and hiding. She could not even trust her own race.
"And the few people that she could trust would always tell her that she should be happy that the Devil Prince wanted her, that she was not worthy of him and should be glad that she caught his eyes.
"For a poor and mediocre cultivator like the Empress at that time, it was a constant pressure just existing as everyone always questioned her value or worthiness."
After hearing this, Wang Wei understood how Wu Hong formed her temperament; it was probably modeled or is directly from Empress Wu after she proved the Dao and became a Great Emperor.
However, he was truly surprised to hear the word ’mediocre’ describe Empress Wu, so he asked: "Are you saying that Empress Wu, an Eternal Emperor and one of the greatest Great Emperors to have existed in this world was ’mediocre’?"
Wu Hong nodded her head calmly before explaining:
"At the beginning of her cultivation journey, she was indeed mediocre. As a matter of fact, it was not until she reached the Void Shattered Realm and comprehend the Law that her extraordinary nature showed up.
"Of course the changing course of her life started after she broke through the Supernatural Realm."
Wang Wei frowned as he did not understand, so he said: "Elaborate, please!"
"Well, Empress Wu started her cultivation journey with an ordinary cultivation technique, with no proper training or guidance, no resources and people always chasing after her.
"So, in the Body Refining Realm, she only cultivated to the 9th Layer, her Divine Sea was ordinary, she only had 270 Divine Veins in her Altar before entering the Supernatural Realm. Even her Good Fortunate Flame was 9-colored. Back then, she was nothing but an ordinary cultivator."
Although Wang Wei was surprised after hearing this news, he realized that it made sense after thinking about it rationally. Given the Empress’ background and time period that she was born, it made complete sense.
Although things made sense, he still had to sigh at Empress Wu to be able to come so far and accomplished so much with all the shitty cards that life gave her.
He admired her even more and became more thankful for all the things that he was born with, for all the things he was blessed with from birth: whether it was his healthy family and friends, or all the generational wealth that he has inherited.
He also promised himself to do whatever it takes to make sure that he cherishes and protects all these things.
"So, what happened to her in the Supernatural Realm that made her so exceptional?" asked Wang Wei with an intrigued voice.
"After acquiring a relic from the past, the Empress was able to absorb enough Qi Luck to reach the level of Purple-Gold. Then, she acquired a Taboo Innate talent called: Universal Seal."