The Stone of Recording flew into the air, emitting a dazzling golden light that projected a water screen. A colossal divine tree appeared before everyone's eyes.
"Daddy, hurry!" a beautiful woman called out to an old man behind her. She had just given birth, and her husband was away. Overjoyed, she sought out her father in the Nine-Tailed Fox tribe to share her happiness. The old man followed behind her, trembling. What a sin, about to return to chaos, yet she had given birth to this troublesome little sprout.
"Daddy, it's not that I'm complaining, but you just lie around drinking fox wine all day and never cultivate. Look how tired you are from this short walk," the maiden grumbled.
"Hey, you unfilial brat. I've lived for a million years and was about to be buried in chaos, who knew I'd have you. Why didn't you come sooner? If you had come a million years earlier, perhaps you would have seen your daddy's handsome appearance."
"Hmph! Who said only Mommy could look at your appearance? Ever since Mommy died in difficult childbirth, you've never bothered to groom yourself. Sob, sob, my poor little fox, I lost my mother as soon as I was born, and now even my father dislikes me!" The maiden then began to weep disingenuously.
"Alright, alright! My dear lady, Daddy dotes on you. Now, tell me, what exactly are you taking me to see?"
"Oh, I almost forgot." The maiden helped the old man into a tree hollow.
"Oh dear, oh dear, whose egg is this? Hu Jiu, did you steal someone else's egg? A phoenix's? Or perhaps from the White Crane family? Hurry and return it, or I won't be responsible if they come looking for it."
The scene shifted, and inside, the old man exclaimed in shock at the egg in the fox den.
"Calm down, calm down, Daddy, this is my egg, I laid it." The maiden suddenly smashed a golden hammer into the old man's head.
"Wait a moment, wait a moment, Daddy didn't hear clearly, say it again."
The maiden rolled her eyes.
"I said, this is my egg, my child. Beautiful, isn't it!"
"What? Which rascal made you lay an egg? No, you haven't even had your coming-of-age ceremony yet..." The old man was furious. His little sprout, whom he had cherished, had been plucked away silently. In his anger, he forgot to conceal his true form, reverting into a stunningly handsome man who bombarded the maiden with a torrent of words.
"Daddy, you're actually so handsome!" The maiden paid no attention to her father's fiery outburst. She was completely captivated by her father's unparalleled beauty.
...
The scene shifted again, depicting a wedding. The Crown Prince of the Golden Dragon clan arrived with heavy gifts for the bride. The scene was chaotic, as the Fox tribe's chief pursued the Golden Dragon Crown Prince with a wooden stick. The Crown Prince was howling in pain. The maiden, holding her egg and eating immortal fruits, sat nearby with several older brothers watching. Even the dragon elders watched with amusement, showing no intention of intervening.
Ju Yin and the others were surprised to see the Dragon God in his youth and witness such a sensational scene. It seemed that the maiden was Hu Hu's mother.
How avant-garde! Unmarried and laying eggs, and even seducing a minor. Uncle Dragon, so this is the kind of Uncle Dragon you are.
"Hehehe, this is so fun! I want to record it," the maiden said, taking out a stone.
It turned out this Stone of Recording belonged to Long Hu Hu's mother.
The scene changed again, recording much of Hu Jiu and the Golden Dragon Crown Prince's married life. They bickered but were deeply in love. However, the egg still hadn't hatched. Many years later, the Golden Dragon Crown Prince became the leader of the dragon clan. The maiden grew mature and beautiful, but their child still hadn't hatched.
"I was too reckless back then. If I hadn't given birth to her early, she wouldn't be like this," Hu Jiu blamed herself deeply. Back then, she had a one-night stand with the dragon prince in her youthful ignorance. She didn't even realize she was pregnant and thought it was an external object, expelling it with her magic only to realize it was her own egg, her child. Since the fox tribe had always given birth to live young and did not intermarry with other tribes, she was both happy and panicked after laying the egg.
Even using the Phoenix tribe's Phoenix wood to build a nest, after ten thousand years, it still hadn't hatched.
"It's my fault, Jiu'er, it's not just your fault." The Golden Dragon Crown Prince blamed himself. The image suddenly blurred.
...
The scene shifted once more. The colossal divine tree was engulfed in flames, and many unknown enemies appeared, with the Demon race leading the charge. Vaguely, immortal race members could be seen, but they wore black clothes, concealing their appearances. Yet, the cultivation techniques they used were from the immortal race.
The Fox tribe, Phoenix tribe, Crane tribe, Vermilion Bird, and various divine beasts reverted to their true forms to defend against the enemies. The battle was exceptionally fierce...
Everyone present watched with immense anger. They hadn't expected the truth to be so cruel.
"Jiu'er, hurry and escape, take Hu Hu and escape. Long San is missing." The majestic Nine-Tailed White Fox, despite being covered in wounds, still drove back the enemies and urged her beloved daughter to flee.
"No, I will never abandon you, Daddy. You send Hu Hu away, send her to Ye Ming. Long San is sworn brothers with him; he is trustworthy. I beg you, Daddy." Hu Jiu waved her sleeve, took off a piece of battle attire, which transformed into a light that attached itself to the Stone of Recording. This recorded the invasion of the Divine Tree Realm, hoping that one day the truth would be revealed to the world.
The Nine-Tailed Fox Clan Chief sighed deeply. So be it. His wife had never met their youngest daughter, and they would return to chaos together, a complete family. Hu Hu was the hope of the Fox and Dragon tribes. He used a secret technique to forcibly open the Divine Tree Realm, which had been sealed by extraterrestrial demonic creatures. He sent out the dragon egg and the Stone of Recording, but he visibly aged. His massive fox body shrunk by a measure, nearly unable to maintain his true form.
The divine tree seemed to weep, and in the final images, it appeared to release its divine power, protecting the bloodlines of the divine beasts...
The image abruptly cut off.
Everyone remained silent for a long time, their eyes stinging, their blood seeming to boil, suppressing the urge to kill those responsible. Ju Yin was so grief-stricken she could barely breathe. Yu Shou had shown her these scenes before. But she hadn't expected the unfallen Divine Tree Realm to be so beautiful, only to be cruelly destroyed by someone.
"Why... why did they destroy the Divine Tree Realm?" a hoarse female voice suddenly broke the silence.
Ju Yin spun around abruptly and saw Hu Hu, tears streaming down her face, her lips bitten until they bled. How long had she been listening? She put away the Stone of Recording, deciding to watch the rest later; she couldn't agitate Hu Hu any further now.
"Hu Hu, don't bite yourself, cry, be good, listen to your sister, cry it out," Ju Yin said urgently, hugging her tightly.
"Sister, why did they destroy the Divine Tree Realm? Why did they kill so many people? Are all the beings in that realm gone?" Long Hu Hu asked stubbornly, her eyes red.
"To become gods!" Hua Xun hit the nail on the head.
"Divine beasts are born of heaven and earth, possessing divinity from birth. Barring unforeseen circumstances, they can all cultivate to fruition, and after becoming gods, they will live as long as heaven. They are called the Godly race.
As for humans achieving immortality and godhood, it is far more difficult. Thus, they fear, even envy, the Godly race.
The Heavenly Dao is fair; opportunities and destiny are limited. To obtain more opportunities and destiny, they could only destroy the Godly race who competed with them for resources..." Hua Xun said sarcastically.
"Unfortunately, after the destruction of the Divine Tree Realm, those who believed they could become gods have only become demigods to this day. Although they possess divinity, they have not been officially conferred by the Heavenly Dao; they are merely false gods."