Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 436 Killing God

After saying this, Erzhu Rong personally beheaded Empress Dowager Hu and the young emperor Yuan Zhao, and placed their heads at the very top of the Jingguan (a mound of heads).

"The dragon aura of the Tuoba clan will be ended today with you!" He turned Empress Dowager Hu's head upside down to show that she was the culprit; Yuan Zhao's head was pierced through the skull by a bronze sword to show that the Erzhu clan had killed the emperor of the Great Wei.

Both heads, like all others, faced north towards Mangshan, the site of the imperial mausoleum established after Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital.

As the heads of the two supreme rulers were placed atop the Jingguan (a mound of skulls), dark clouds churned above Heyin, and muffled thunder rumbled. It was as if even the heavens could not bear to watch and were about to unleash divine punishment, striking down Erzhu Rong, this murderous demon.

Erzhu Rong, however, was not surprised but delighted, and laughed loudly, "It's done, it's done!"

The high shaman then dipped his brush in the blood of Empress Dowager Hu and the young emperor while it was still hot and used it to draw shamanic incantations all over the Jingguan (a mound of corpses).

There were also many shamans dressed in red and green, wearing ghost masks, circling the mound of bones and heads, performing a ritual dance, waving human bones and heads, and chanting eerie incantations. They were not trying to appease the spirits of the dead, but rather to incite their resentment.

The moment the incantation was completed, day turned into night, and the howls of ten thousand wolves echoed from the depths of Beiman. From the cracks of the Jingguan (a mound of corpses), the resentment of the court officials who had died violent deaths condensed into a bluish-purple liquid, which dripped into the altar filled with the blood of kings and nobles. Under the blessing of the shaman's secret incantation, it transformed into a poison from the mythical era—'Heavenly Slaughter Dragon's Demise'.

This poison is not of this world, but rather a product of the accumulated ills of a dynasty. It does not destroy mountains and rivers, but only destroys the dragon veins—legend has it that the dragon veins are closely related to the dynasty's fortune, and destroying the dynasty's dragon veins means that the dynasty is not far from its demise.

When Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty from Pingcheng to Luoyang, he was drawn to this unparalleled dragon vein, with Mangshan Mountain at its head and the Yellow River as its body.

The vital point of this great Wei dragon vein lies in Heyin, beneath this altar stained with blood.

Then, the high shaman opened the gap at the bottom of the altar and poured the 'Heavenly Dragon Meteor,' formed from the blood spirits of the Northern Wei emperors and ministers, onto the dragon vein of the Tuoba family.

Everyone held their breath, watching this bizarre yet sacred scene. Gao Huan, Heba Yue, and the others finally understood that Erzhu Rong's massacre of the Wei emperor and his officials was not merely for political reasons, nor simply to vent his anger, but to hold a ceremony to become a god!
Who dares to say that slaughtering the entire court wasn't a divine miracle? Who dares to say that killing a god isn't divine?!
Gao Huan stared wide-eyed, desperately trying to memorize every detail. What Erzhu Rong could do, He Liuhun could do too! He'd write it down now; it might come in handy someday…

After an unknown amount of time, everyone felt their feet shaking; it turned out the ground was trembling.

The tremors gradually intensified, causing the warhorses to panic and become restless, which the Qihu soldiers could not calm down.

Suddenly, the sky collapsed and the earth caved in, a giant mouth appeared on the ground that swallowed many Qihu soldiers, and then spewed out lava that was more than ten feet high!
A red dragon roared and burst out of the cave; it was the dragon vein of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and was closely related to the fate of the nation.

At the height of the Northern Wei Dynasty, this red dragon could reach ten thousand feet in length, its imposing presence no less than that of a fully grown Yinglong. But now, with the Wei Dynasty in decline and its rulers and ministers slaughtered, the red dragon is reduced to only a hundred feet in length.

Its crimson body was covered with purplish-blue spots, clearly indicating that it had been poisoned by the 'Heavenly Dragon's Fall' and was on the verge of death.

However, the Great Wei had its own dignity, and the Red Dragon also had its own spirit. How could it silently wait to die without any resistance? So it rushed out of the cave, intending to perish together with Erzhu Rong.

Erzhu Rong was fully prepared. Standing atop the Jingguan Tower, with Yuan Zhao's severed head beneath his feet, he slowly drew his blood-red bronze sword. Pointing the sword at the charging red dragon, he said, "You need not be angry. The Tuoba family has destroyed more than ten kingdoms and killed thousands of times more people than I have. This is their just deserts!"

As he spoke, he slashed his sword into the void, and suddenly hundreds of ghostly hands stretched out from the Jingguan (a mound of corpses), tightly pulling at the red dragon.

The Red Dragon is the dragon vein of the Great Wei, and the emperor and his ministers are the Great Wei itself. Just as a shadow cannot harm its own body, it could not do anything to these ghostly hands, and could only roar as it was forcibly dragged into the Jingguan (a mound of corpses).

As the dragon vein was also destroyed in the Jingguan (a mound of fallen dragons), the lightning above Heyin reached its peak. The dark clouds were as black as ink, almost dripping down, and the fierce winds whipped up whirlpools over the Yellow River, some reaching several meters high!
Erzhu Rong, clad in tattered divine armor, stood proudly atop the Jingguan mound, his bronze sword pointing to the sky as he roared with laughter: "Eternal Heaven! If you acknowledge me as your new god, then send down lightning to strike you down!"

Before the words were even finished, the world was as bright as day, and the first bolt of lightning struck!
With a deafening roar, the lightning struck the bronze sword squarely. The terrifying divine lightning from the heavens instantly charred Erzhu Rong's entire body, tearing away the flesh from his right arm to reveal the stark white bone.

Immediately afterwards, the second bolt of Taiyi Golden Lightning struck, the red lightning penetrating the sword and melting the bronze sword into crimson gold!

The bronze sword that slaughtered the emperor and his officials of the Northern Wei Dynasty was reforged into a crimson divine sword—the words 'Heavenly Slaughter' appeared on its spine.

At this moment, the third bolt of chaotic tribulation lightning descended, striking Erzhu Rongtian's head directly and blasting him so badly that flames spewed from his seven orifices. His pupils also turned blood red, flickering with crimson karmic fire that burned away his soul!
"Not enough! Again!" Erzhu Rong still wasn't satisfied, so he thrust the Heavenly Slaughter Sword into the Jingguan, and countless vengeful spirits surged into his body along the sword, wanting to take revenge.

Unexpectedly, Erzhu Rong's internal organs had already turned into a furnace, instantly trapping him inside.

Then he desperately urged the divine fire to refine the fate of the Northern Wei Dynasty and the resentment of all spirits into a blood-red divine core!
In the darkest hour before dawn, Erzhu Rong drew his sword and pointed it to the sky. The mound of skulls collapsed with a deafening roar, and each head transformed into a black and red scale engraved with a skull, clinging to his armor.

The tattered old armor instantly transformed into black and red scale armor representing death and slaughter. The armor was covered in blood flames that scorched the sky, and the vengeful spirits transformed into wings and roared. Wherever it went, life was destroyed, dragon veins withered, the world changed color, and gods and immortals were devoured!
A single glance at him could cause ordinary cultivators to lose their minds and become slaves to killing and death.

The bronze sword in his hand was also forged into the divine weapon 'Heavenly Slaughter Sword'. The sword was more than twice as long, and its entire body was crimson red, with a red dragon patterned on it, which was the Great Wei Dragon Vein that was sealed within it.

With a gentle swing of his Heavenly Slaughter Sword, Erzhu Rong unleashed a cacophony of ghostly wails and howls.

He slashed his sword eastward, and the tall city gate tower of Luoyang collapsed in response;

It cleaved westward, and the Yellow River's flow ceased for three quarters of an hour;
He then plunged the sword into the ground, instantly creating a bottomless abyss. From the bottom of the abyss came inhuman roars, which seemed to lead directly to the Yellow Springs!
"Your Excellency has become a god!" The Great Shaman, his face filled with wild joy, knelt down and shouted, before dying.

He has been killed by the backlash of Heaven's will...

Murong Shaozong and his Qihu cavalry knelt and trembled. They all clearly realized that their lord was no longer a half-man, half-god, but a true god!
"Who says a god of slaughter cannot become a god? I will sacrifice my entire court to prove my divine power!" Erzhu Rong soared into the sky, looking down upon all living beings, and solemnly declared:
"From this day forward, those who fear me will offer incense, those who believe in me will become powerful, and those who oppose me will perish—I am the Heavenly Slaughtering God!"

(End of this chapter)