Chapter 947: The Secret of the Ancient Times: The Birth of the Heavenly Demon (Part 2)

And all of this unfolded under the gentle gaze of Haotian.

Living beings constantly experienced things they had never experienced or even imagined.

Some things even Haotian had never experienced.

Because although Haotian was a natural First Grade, from the moment of his birth he had already surpassed the world itself; his existence was grander and more real than the Universe, yet there were still many things he did not understand, nor had he imagined.

At that time, Haotian was a young man with immense power, his mind not yet mature enough to be tempered by the Reboots of infinite Universes to the point of near omniscience as it is now.

Back then, Haotian was still full of wonder and excitement for this world.

Looking back from the present, he almost joyfully watched the creatures born in this first Universe, seeing them fight and kill each other for their survival and various interests, yet at the same time, many beautiful things were born from this struggle.

Love, humanity, wisdom, knowledge, progress, art, music—many things were created.

Especially 'music'; Haotian loved music so much that in all rituals dedicated to Haotian, music was an indispensable part.

From the perspective of the present, after the Universe had Rebooted many times, one could clearly see the reasons behind everything Haotian and the Myriad Races did in the past.

At that time, Haotian understood this Universe in the same way the Myriad Races understood music: this Universe was composed of a series of characteristics, different pitches, different intensities.

In his youth, Haotian had an extraordinary interest in this toy and played with it happily, creating endless main melodies and counterpoints.

For Haotian at that time, it was difficult to exhaust all the subtleties of music solely through his 'creativity'; although he made many attempts, he eventually even ran out of inspiration.

However, at this point, he discovered that many of the inanimate musical pieces he had created earlier, such as genetic codes and self-replicating entities, were not numerous, but some of these works went against Haotian's original intention and began to show their unique traces of life.

Notes that Haotian had not composed appeared in their melodies.

However, Haotian was not angry; he even observed them with great interest, discovering that these lives that composed unknown notes could always be stimulated by various impulses, inspiring new ideas—ideas Haotian had never experienced.

Thus, he intentionally projected his feelings and will into them, and under his instruction, sentient minds began to exhibit patterns and regularities of certain qualities.

This brought joy to Haotian, as the new creations of Mortals gave him new inspiration.

This also led to the emergence of the position of 'Grand Director of Music', whose role was to play music for Haotian during sacrifices, compose music in daily life, and educate others about the power of music.

The Director of Music arranged music in order, for sacrifices, for offerings, for worship, then played the Yellow Bell, sang the Grand Bell, danced the Cloud Gate, to worship the Heavenly Gods.

According to the Human Race's saying at the time, it was: "The origin of all sounds comes from the human heart. The movement of the human heart is caused by external things. Being moved by things, it takes form in sound. When sound forms a pattern, it is called music."

Music is the source of sound. Its root lies in the human heart's response to things. Therefore, when the heart is moved by sorrow, its sound is sharp and mournful; when the heart is moved by joy, its sound is gentle and slow; when the heart is moved by happiness, its sound is expansive and free; when the heart is moved by anger, its sound is rough and stern; when the heart is moved by reverence, its sound is upright and pure; when the heart is moved by love, its sound is harmonious and soft.

Shaman Dao also had a similar statement: "All sounds originate from the human heart. Heaven and humanity are interconnected, like a shadow following a form, or an echo responding to a sound. Therefore, for those who do good, Heaven rewards them with blessings; for those who do evil, Heaven rewards them with misfortune, which is natural."

When the Spring Palace is in Autumn's rhythm, all flowers must wither; when the Autumn Palace is in Spring's rhythm, all things must flourish; when the Summer Palace is in Winter's rhythm, rain and hail must fall; when the Winter Palace is in Summer's rhythm, thunder must sound. Music is of utmost importance, its influence is great.

Therefore, it is said: "He who understands the essence of rites and music can create; he who understands the patterns of rites and music can describe."

Sages create music to spread Qi and bring harmony, to align with Yin and Yang. The ultimate music is not merely sound; it must first align with Heaven, conform to humanity, be understood in the heart, and be suitable to nature, before it can be expressed in sound and performed as a melody.

The four seasons rise and fall, all things follow life, one flourishes, one declines, civil and martial arts follow their course, one clear, one turbid, Yin and Yang harmonize, flowing and filling with their sounds.

When the four seasons rotate, hibernating insects begin to stir, startled by thunder, played with the harmony of Yin and Yang, illuminated by the light of the sun and moon, natural rhythms filling the space between Heaven and Earth.

The six lü, six lü, five sounds, eight tones, six dances, and grand ensemble music could summon ghosts and Di Qi (Earthly Qi), harmonize nations, unify the Myriad Races, comfort guests, and please distant people.

This shows the importance of music in the sacrifices and various Divine Abilities and spellcraft of that time.

In the eyes of the Myriad Races at that time, the most terrifying state of society was 'the collapse of rites and music', which signified the severance of civilization and the ruin of everything.

Through music, all things established a connection with Haotian, and eventually, the Heavenly Gods began to descend to the Mortal realm in large numbers, leading Mortals.

With the help of sacrifices, rites, and music, all Myriad Races had their own 'Shaman'.

Yes, Shaman Dao was not exclusive to the Human Race; anyone who communicated with the original great Heavenly Gods could be called a Shaman, regardless of race.

Then, various races also began to develop, and on that primeval, vast continent, round after round of Myriad Race Hegemony unfolded.

The Heavenly Gods were pleased by this, especially Haotian; from his fervent imagination, one race after another emerged, each more complete and exquisite than the last.

Under Haotian's hand, the patterns of physical qualities he manipulated produced individuals that they themselves did not possess; different life races were born.

True life erupted, which was astonishing; life could create things that even Haotian rejoiced in, and other Heavenly Gods could not imagine the astonishing creativity possessed by those weak Mortals.

In this primordial world, where Haotian could be said to be 'omniscient', everything created by Mortals was Haotian's 'unknown'. Therefore, under Haotian's instruction, these beings began to shape that vast continent according to their own forms, fighting each other; these lives struggled desperately, each believing itself to be correct, suffering immensely when they failed, but overjoyed when they succeeded.

In such an atmosphere, the Myriad Races stood side by side, forming alliances and rivalries, eventually climbing step by step, and various cultivation methods were also developed.

Martial Dao Body Refining, Daoist Qi absorption, and Shamanes began to attempt combat with the blessings of Heavenly Gods and Di Qi (Earthly Qi), though they were very unskilled at fighting.

Demons began to utilize their physical instincts, and True Dragons also began to emerge.

As their cultivation improved and their technical skills developed, they quickly developed new things.

Various ideologies began to appear, all due to cultivation methods.

From a biological and psychological perspective, the types of these new ideologies were very diverse.

A small portion of species, by chance and good fortune, were able to continuously upgrade and evolve into more complete individual traits and clearer minds.

In some cultivation methods, the biological functions of a species were fixed; once one entered the cultivation path, they would gain fixed power, and there was no process of 'becoming stronger'.

Some cultivation methods, on the contrary, would lead to weakening.

All sorts of cultivation methods were created, and countless physical forms emerged, too numerous to describe one by one. In general, each creation was more complex and larger than the last.

Even Mortals began to 'Open Heaven'.

The volume of the Universe's ultimate physical units began to expand, becoming increasingly larger relative to the overall volume of the Universe.

In terms of biological populations, the number of conscious individual beings and different species groups in each Universe also increased, and the intelligence level achieved by the most Awakened beings was higher than before.

Some of the Heavenly Gods began to panic, because Mortals who had mastered the power of Open Heaven had, to some extent, mastered the authority of gods.

They also learned to control Qi, they learned to create life, and they even became immortal.

Regarding this, the Heavenly Gods also became divided.

Some were prepared to destroy Mortals, because in 'Open Heaven', Mortals had 'slain gods'.

Mortals who had mastered the power of Open Heaven slew Heavenly Gods, even including some gods of no small rank.

Some Heavenly Gods felt it was no big deal; they did not differentiate Mortals and Heavenly Gods so clearly, believing that all were highly intelligent beings and no different.

Just as Mortals killed each other, Heavenly Gods had often done the same among themselves; now it was just as before.

Others, however, were extremely enraged. Some could not accept their nurtured pets turning on their masters, some could not accept their brothers and friends being killed, and others feared that the status of Heavenly Gods was being challenged.

Their views on Mortals caused the division among the Heavenly Gods, leading to a divergence in 'ideologies'.

Compared to material disputes, ideological divergences were far more terrifying.

Material differences could be reconciled; if there was enough to go around, enemies could become friends.

Ideological differences were irreconcilable; it was either you die or I perish.

Thus, under the leadership of the Heavenly Gods, Mortals also began to fight.

And this time it was not for survival resources and territory, but for their respective ideologies.

Haotian still watched all of this, gentle yet indifferent; he would not change anything. These unexpected events were all good; in Haotian's view, even the warring parties were part of 'beauty'.

They were fighting for what they wanted, so what reason did he have to stop them?

And so... the Emperors and Sovereigns split.

The Myriad Races fought chaotically, and the sole continent consequently fractured.

Mount Buzhou was broken, the Heavenly Pillars destroyed, the firmament leaked, and floods descended from the sky.

Thus, Empress Wa mended the sky, Emperor Yu controlled the floods, and Emperor Gaoyang severed the connection between Heaven and Earth.

All of this... continued until the birth of the second 'First Grade'.

Under the hopes of all beings, the second First Grade appeared.

At that time, there was no concept of grades; everyone referred to the strong in their own ways, but... Haotian remained unique.

No one could reach Haotian's level; the Heavenly Emperor was the strongest and greatest Heavenly God, an ineffable, even unobservable, magnificent existence.

It was said that no one could reach, no one could touch Haotian.

However, after this great war, the Lord of the Myriad Stars, 'Great Sovereign' and 'Grand Emperor', accomplished this great feat.

That was a junior of Haotian, a Heavenly God named 'Taiyi'.

After that, the Universe experienced its first 'Reboot'.

Just as Li Qi had thought.

For a First Grade, their birth necessarily required a Reboot.

The reason was very simple.

This was Li Qi's previous speculation.

There was a person who obtained a blank book, and he was surprised to find that this book was the 'script of the real world'; as long as he wrote words on it, everything written on it would come true exactly as written.

However, just as he excitedly began to reshape reality according to his wishes, this person suddenly discovered that he was not the only one writing in the book.

On the book, there seemed to be many other authors.

Thus, this writer of reality easily developed a doubt—

That is, perhaps someone was writing him?

So, he made a choice: to directly write, "In the beginning, only I could write on this."

In this way, all the authors of this book became the 'first author'. (See Chapter 900 for details)

At that time, existences that had achieved substantiality were astonished to find that everything had started over.

Everything that had happened before seemed to have never happened at all.

Everything seemed like a joke.

Even Haotian himself was shocked, because Haotian had never thought of using his power to Reboot everything. As the 'true first author' of the Universe, he had never thought of doing so, and naturally would not do so.

But it was clear that Taiyi realized this; he was not the first author, so he had to modify himself to become the first author, otherwise he would forever be subject to Haotian.

So he did just that.

Haotian did not stop him; he was always so gentle.

But the result of this Reboot was that a large number of powerful Myriad Races suffered a collapse of their Dao Heart.

They began to question everything that existed, questioning whether the reality they were in at that moment was the true reality.

Did this Universe... truly exist?

Because this regression had shattered everything they had, making all their actions seem like a joke.

Amidst this large-scale collapse of Dao Heart...

'Demons' were born.

The third First Grade appeared.

From the hearts of all beings, and even Haotian and Taiyi, this unease, this fear of an unstable 'reality', this questioning of all existence, and this confusion over whether the Universe had meaning, fostered the birth of the second natural First Grade in the Universe.

Heavenly Demon of Enjoying Others’ Emanations.