CHAPTER 1973: CHAPTER 1239: CANG MOUNTAIN (PART 2)

Jiang Chen arrived at Cang Mountain, glanced at Shangqing Palace, but did not disturb anyone, proceeding straight to the summit of Cang Mountain.

Rumble!

At the peak of Cang Mountain, the sound of endless thunder could be heard. Upon looking up, one could see a vast celestial expanse, within which thunder surged like an ocean, constantly grand and imposing, releasing infinite majesty.

Shenxiao Nine Heavens, after the disappearance of Thunder Marsh, became the first Thunder Dao holy land born from the Prehistoric World, a place to manage the punishments of Heaven and Earth, also known as the Heavenly Prison.

There were too many strong beings in the Prehistoric World; those below the Daoist Sovereign were manageable, and grave offenders could be killed. But for the Daoist Sovereign and those above, who already possessed immortality, it was difficult to kill them.

If they committed grave errors, it was obvious that they could not be killed directly, for death was no longer considered a punishment for them.

The best punishment for them was to find a place to imprison them. And this place had to be extremely strong, or else it could not hold them.

The Heavenly Prison was prepared for this purpose, established in the depths of Shenxiao Nine Heavens, surrounded by an endless Thunder Sea.

Here, the punished received perpetual strikes of thunder day and night, keeping them in a weakened state. Only in this way could they feel suffering and repent for their crimes.

At the same time, the thunder would slowly refine their original source, using it to evolve various treasures.

The place that controlled the heavenly laws and imprisoned criminals, this was the purpose given to Shenxiao Nine Heavens by the Heavenly Dao, and it carried out its duty.

Currently, Shenxiao Nine Heavens is managed by Shangqing Palace. The criminals they capture are all sent to Shenxiao Nine Heavens to endure endless thunder punishments until their sins are atoned.

However, the strength of Shangqing Palace is limited, and it cannot capture overly powerful criminals like Innate Dao Sovereigns. Moreover, the power of Shenxiao Nine Heavens is not as strong as Heaven and Earth envisioned.

Though it can suppress Innate Dao Sovereigns and Quasi-Saints, it cannot suppress Great Divine Transcendents and Primordial Daluo Golden Immortals, or the even stronger Infinite Daluo Golden Immortals.

The ideal Shenxiao Nine Heavens should be able to suppress even strong ones in the Chaos Realm.

This is the flaw of Shenxiao Nine Heavens. To solve it is simple: find and fuse the thunder with Shenxiao Nine Heavens.

Once done, Shenxiao Nine Heavens would possess the power to suppress Primordial Daluo Golden Immortals, and even Infinite Daluo Golden Immortals.

"The key to finding Thunder Marsh lies in the Innate Thunder Treasure Tree. I hope you won’t disappoint me."

Jiang Chen entered Shenxiao Nine Heavens with a thought. The most striking thing within the Nine Heavens was not the endless thunder, but the giant divine tree standing at the center of Heaven and Earth.

Its height was indescribable, its whole body flickering with thunder light. Its trunk and leaves seemed to be composed of thunder, with thunderous light continuously cascading down. In addition, an endless flow of Creation Qi circulated around it.

The Innate Thunder Treasure Tree, one of the Ten Great Prehistoric Spirit Roots of the Primordial Era, was the original source of the Thunder Demon God, conceived in resonance with the original source of Thunder Marsh.

It is for this reason that there exists an unbreakable connection between it and Thunder Marsh, one that even the Thunder Demon God could not sever.

Roar roar roar～～

At the base of the Innate Thunder Treasure Tree, there was a huge Thunder Pool, where Thunder Dragons swam, letting out massive dragon roars.

Moreover, pills were swiftly forming, filling the entire Thunder Pool, continuously spilling out.

These Thunder Dragons are Jiang Chen’s disciples and progeny, many of whom are creatures he created.

In the past, to bind the Dragon Clan to his chariot of war, Jiang Chen made a deal with the Dragon Clan, to aid the transformation of the Dragon Offspring’s bloodline, evolving them from True Dragons into stronger Divine Dragons and Heavenly Dragons.

The temptation was too great to resist, and the Dragon Clan could not refuse. Thus, the East Sea Dragon King came forward and sent a large number of dragon youngsters and descendants into the Thunder Pool, an artifact made by Jiang Chen in imitation of Thunder Marsh, for bloodline transformation.

Although various changes happened later, Jiang Chen indeed fulfilled his deal with the Dragon Clan.

The dragon progeny delivered to Jiang Chen by the East Sea Dragon King, despite various transformations, survived and received enormous benefits.

Their bloodlines underwent earth-shattering transformation, reaching the level of second and third generation Dragon Clan, though not as exaggerated as the first generation.

Even in his youth, the East Sea Dragon King’s bloodline was merely at this level.

These dragon progeny, their bloodlines transformed due to Jiang Chen, naturally regard Jiang Chen as their patriarch.

And because of these dragon progeny, the Innate Thunder Qi and Dragon Qi within Shenxiao Nine Heavens combined, nurturing more Innate Thunder Dragons.

Although these Innate Thunder Dragons are dragons, they have no connection with the Ancestral Dragon, but rather were born because of Jiang Chen, thus offering Jiang Chen their allegiance instead of the Ancestral Dragon.

In addition, in the starry sky, more Starry Sky Dragon Clan were nurtured. In the Netherworld, the Underworld Dragon Clan was also born.

These are dragons too, but created by Jiang Chen and unrelated to the Ancestral Dragon.

However, the Dragon Clan acknowledged their existence and accepted them as part of the Dragon Clan. This led Jiang Chen to become an Ancestral Dragon, ranking among the top tier of the Dragon Clan, second only to the Ancestral Dragon.

Thus, unwittingly, Jiang Chen became an Ancestral Dragon, and his relationship with the Dragon Clan became indistinguishable. At that time, it was beneficial, as Jiang Chen could leverage this identity to gain the support of the Dragon Clan.

But now, it is the Dragon Clan benefiting from Jiang Chen. The Dragon Clan’s current status as a powerful race next only to the Human Race could be attributed to this reason.

Seeing the Dragon Clan benefit from this, the other clans, especially the bird and beast clans, were extremely envious.

As a result, they silently operated the divine mechanism, allowing the Phoenix’s Qi and Qilin’s Qi to continuously integrate with Heaven and Earth, thus nurturing many birds and beasts associated with Jiang Chen.

For instance, the Great Sun Phoenix, Nine Heavens Thunder Roc, Ten Thousand Star Finch, and Hell Nether Phoenix of the bird lineage. Similarly, the Thunder Qilin, Star Qilin, and Nether Qilin of the beast lineage.

These newly born divine beasts are all related to Jiang Chen’s authority. Or to say, they were born in response to Jiang Chen’s power.

Therefore, after their birth, though they belong to different forces, they all revere Jiang Chen as their patriarch and worship him as their Father God.

For Jiang Chen, this relationship, even if he wanted to deny it, he could not, so he had no choice but to accept it.

Pangu opened the heavens and was transformed into all things, and the innate saints of Heaven and Earth were mostly born because of him, hence they revered him as their Father God.

Jiang Chen’s situation is quite similar to that of Pangu Great God, not exactly opening the heavens, yet surpassing that act. New living beings born in Heaven and Earth due to him is perfectly normal. He can ignore these beings, but cannot deny their identity.

Because these living beings indeed came into existence because of him.

To some extent, this is the benefit of being a Creator God; since Heaven and Earth were born because of him, the living beings within naturally recognize him as their Father God.

The only awkward aspect is that there are two Creator Gods in the Prehistoric World. As a result, even within the same race, there are two Father Gods.

"These living beings were born because of me, inherently being my staunchest followers. Once they grow, my position as the Heavenly Emperor will be secure."

Seeing the Dragon Clan gain so much, Jiang Chen doesn’t reject it. After all, these beings will become his support in the future, and he is not foolish enough to reject his support.

"There’s also the Creation Pill and Chaos Origin Pill, which are now truly prospering."

The Creation Elixirs within the Thunder Pool were created by Jiang Chen earlier. In his vision, the appearance of the Creation Elixir would replace the Spiritual Stone as the currency in the Prehistoric World.

In the Old Era, many factions, opposing Jiang Chen, were reluctant to use the Creation Elixirs.

However, in the New Era, due to Jiang Chen’s increased influence, the Creation Elixir has finally become the mainstream currency in the Prehistoric World.

Transactions between immortals and gods are no longer conducted with Fairy Stones or essence of sun and moon but primarily with the Creation Elixir.