Edited by Aelryinth

The final showdown for the throne of the Emperor of Feathers was no longer the group's concern. Only the strongest winged beasts could reach the Skycloud Realm and the legendary Sacred Waterfall. The members of their group were barely qualified to face Ruler-level creatures. However, the Ruler Level and the Super Level were extremely broad and limitless, just like the Skycloud Realm!

Achieving a higher level was like entering a bigger domain. They were merely rookies in the domain. The Silver Skyruler might be weaker than the Black Totem Snake, but the Black Totem Snake was more or less at the top among Ruler-level creatures. Mo Fan had to put a lot more effort in if he was planning to reach the same height as the Black Totem Snake. Luckily, he found the path of cultivation rather enjoyable, especially when so many people were making their way toward the stronger domain together with him!

---

The group descended the mountain upon which the Tree of Vows was located. Li Dexin managed to withdraw the Great Lesser Earth Dragon, who was clinging to a cliff, back into his Contract Space on the way down.

"We should be careful on our way back. Many winged beasts will still be roaming in the mountains," Bai Hongfei reminded them.

"Bai Hongfei, didn't you notice the winged beasts are not showing any intentions of attacking us? They are even clearing a path for us!" Yu Shishi pointed out.

Bai Hongfei immediately looked around, and finally noticed the winged beasts were deliberately avoiding them. Bai Hongfei initially thought the winged beasts were wary of their strength, but after a closer look, he realized they were behaving respectfully, instead of displaying hostility in their eyes!

"We've taken part in the Ceremony of the Winged Beasts and managed to reach the Tree of Vows. We might be outsiders, but the winged beasts will still respect us for that!" Jiang Shaoxu judged.

"Does that mean we can go anywhere we want when we come to the Qinling Mountains again?" Zhao Manyan asked.

"Not necessarily. The winged beasts that obey the ancient rules and respect the Tree of Vows will be friendly and respectful to us, but those that are savage and violent will still attack us, such as the White Magic Falcons, who don't really obey the ancient rules of the winged beasts. The same goes for the Nanjiang Birds. They are very belligerent!" Zhang Xiaohou stated firmly.

"The main reason is because we are not winged beasts. Things would be a lot simpler if we were," Jiang Shaoxu said.

"Little Moon Moth Phoenix must have a certain status though, right?"

"Of course!"

The Moon Moth Phoenixes had rarely stayed in the Qinling Mountains. She was most likely going to stay at Fanxue Mountain, since there were countless blue moths within its territory!

---

"Mo Fan, the Deer God Totem Beast is another half," Lingling suddenly spoke up.

"What do you mean another half?" Mo Fan asked.

Lingling showed Mo Fan the complete seal symbolizing the Deer God.

"Take a look at this! Little Moon Moth Phoenix's Totem Seal can merge with the Totem Seal of the mysterious feather!" Lingling took out a scroll of the Totem Seals she had drawn.

The scroll contained the Totem Seals that Lingling had discovered so far. They had learned from Jiang Shaojun's notes that the Totem Beasts were closely related to one another. They could use simple arithmetic to figure out the identities of which Totem Beasts were related.

For example, the Totem Seals of the Black Totem Snake and Baxia represented the Black Tortoise once they were combined!

"I know about that," Mo Fan said.

"Look at the Seal of the Deer God. It can't combine with the Seal of the Moon Moth Phoenix. The Seal of the mysterious feather couldn't combine with the Seal of the Deer God, either!" Lingling pointed out.

Mo Fan immediately felt his head spinning.

The Totem Seals were very complicated. They were not just a combination of several simple shapes; they were just as complicated as a person's fingerprint, so it took a lot of time to analyze and compare them. They had to familiarize themselves with the traits of the Totem Seals to do so. However, Lingling had already discovered that the Totem Seal of the Deer God was incompatible with the Totem Seals of the Moon Moth Phoenix and the mysterious feather, and they were not even that far from the mountain. How ridiculously efficient was she!?

"What did you infer then?" Mo Fan asked.

Jiang Shaoxu suddenly squeezed her face between them and asked them both, "Do you know the true origin of the Nine Provinces?"

Mo Fan and Lingling were startled. Where did the woman come from? Had she been eavesdropping on their discussion about the Totem Seals?

"Didn't the Nine Provinces rely on the Totem Beasts to grow stronger?" Mo Fan had to ask.

Jiang Shaoxu put on a cunning grin, as if she was keeping them in suspense, yet she ended up running out of patience first. She said, "That is only the surface of it! Do you know why the Nine Provinces were so strong in the past, when other countries and continents were still in their primordial state?"

"Is this a history test now?" Mo Fan scoffed at her.

Historical records only started from the beginning of the Magic Civilization. Every record about the era of the Totem Beasts was deemed forbidden, thanks to the Magic Association. As the highest authorities of society, the Magic Association clearly did not want people to know too much about the past. In other words, learning that humans were merely slaves or vassals during the era of the gods!

Countries like Greece, Egypt, and India had their own ancient gods.

The ancient gods in China were the Totem Beasts, but even so, the records never mentioned anything about them. Mo Fan had no idea how the ancient gods of the other countries treated humans in the past, but after interacting with the Black Totem Snake, Moon Moth Phoenix, and Baxia, he was quite convinced that the Totem Beasts were extremely friendly and sincere to humans. They were unable to reproduce, so they had treated the Chinese as their own people.

As for Greece, their ancient gods were more violent. The Tyrant Titans enjoyed feasting on humans as they pleased, hence the rise of the Parthenon Temple was like a blessing to the people. The Parthenon Temple and the Tyrant Titans were still warring with one another, even today!

The extinction of the Totem Beasts in China was perhaps the most difficult mystery to solve, or maybe it was not the same in the past. The Totem Beasts might have waged a war against their ancestors, too!

"The Nine Provinces had several ancient gods. These extraordinary creatures were the leaders of the Totem Beasts. In the earliest days, the Kunlun Mountains were under the control of one of the leaders. The first Moon Moth Phoenix was the Emperor of Feathers in the Qinling Mountains, but the truth is, the first Moon Moth Phoenix was only a subordinate of the leader of the Totem Beasts in charge of the Kunlun Mountains!" Jiang Shaoxu declared.