Chapter 34: Yi Shoots Down the Nine Suns

Temple of Origin.

"God-Slayer, Heaven-Punisher, Azure Lotus, Asura, Universe, Primordial, Creation, Immeasurable..."

"None of these names will do!"

"Is there nothing better?"

The Mother Goddess Nuwa glanced at the list of names Mu Changge had provided, rejecting them all and demanding another suggestion.

Mu Changge’s mouth twitched; it seemed this was a difficult master to please. Last time, he had written down the names of magical artifacts from web novels he had read—names like "Void God Armor" or "Kunwu Sword"—but none had been accepted by the Mother Goddess.

Athena, watching from the side, suddenly spoke up: "Why not try a different approach? How about using the divine names of the Mother Goddess herself?"

Nuwa shook her head. "I have already tried. The divine weapon did not respond to me. Clearly, that will not work."

"Names, huh..." Mu Changge muttered, then glanced at Athena.

An idea suddenly struck him. He immediately asked, "Mother Goddess, how about 'Xian-Ge'?"

"Xian-Ge?" Nuwa repeated, then closed her eyes to sense the resonance.

After several dozen breaths, she opened her eyes and turned to leave the great hall.

Before she departed, her divine voice echoed through the hall: "I shall go and test it to see if it can gain the recognition of the divine weapon."

After Nuwa left, Athena looked at Mu Changge and said, "That is a combination of the last characters of your name and mine, isn't it?"

"Aren't you called Athena, Teacher?" Mu Changge laughed.

Athena immediately gave him a sharp chop to the neck. "I am also Luo Qingxian!"

***

Humanity.

As Yao became the leader of the human tribal alliance, the Celestial Emperor Di Jun sent the deity Zongbu Yi to assist him.

Zongbu Yi helped Yao eliminate the six great fiendish beasts—Yuyu, Chichi, Jiuying, Dafeng, Fengxi, and Xiushe—and defeated Bingyi to rescue the Goddess Luo.

Furthermore, the immortality elixir gifted to Zongbu Yi by the Goddess of Punishment, Queen Mother of the West, was stolen and consumed by Yi’s human wife, Chang'e. Consequently, she fled to the moon and transformed into a toad that pounded medicine, only later regaining human form through cultivation and the power of the elixir.

Yao invented alcohol and created the game of Go, enriching the life of the human race.

The shooting of the nine suns by Yi and the pursuit of the sun by Kuafu both occurred during Yao's reign.

***

Because the Celestial Emperor Di Jun’s recovery was taking a long time, his ten sons harbored thoughts of usurping his throne.

The First Sun, Second Sun, Third Sun, Fourth Sun, Fifth Sun, Sixth Sun, Seventh Sun, Eighth Sun, Ninth Sun, and Tenth Sun joined forces, planning to force Di Jun to abdicate.

To ensure their success, the ten suns sought out Youyue, the most ambitious of the twelve lunar stars.

After consulting with her, the ten suns decided to first help Youyue devour the other eleven lunar stars.

Soon, with the help of these allies, Youyue successfully consumed her eleven sisters, leaving only one lunar star remaining.

Thus, Youyue was tasked with keeping the Celestial Emperor Di Jun occupied at the imperial capital of Kunlun, while the ten suns went to the human realm to negotiate with Yao, seeking the support of humanity.

Yao sternly rejected the demands of the ten suns.

"Why? Emperor of Humanity, you must consider this carefully. The Celestial Emperor is currently wounded and has yet to recover!"

"If we cooperate and act together, we will surely be able to replace the Celestial Emperor."

"If we replace him, humanity will have a better future!"

"We, the ten brothers, pledge this here!"

Yao replied, "Suns! There are two reasons why I refuse to cooperate with you!"

"Firstly, the Heavenly Covenant established by the Heavenly Sovereign Taihao Fuxi and the Celestial Emperor cannot be violated by humanity; to do so would be to act without faith or righteousness!"

"Secondly, if humanity helps you replace the Celestial Emperor, we would be condoning your unfilial conduct!"

"We humans are absolutely not a race that lacks faith, righteousness, or filial piety!"

"Therefore, please forgive us, but we will absolutely not comply!"

"Argh... How unreasonable! This is simply outrageous! These mere humans are going too far!"

"Detestable humans, do you think we are easily bullied?"

"If that is the case, Emperor of Humanity! Do not blame us for being ruthless!"

Not only did Yao refuse their offer, he also criticized their lack of filial piety.

Enraged, the ten suns violated the orders of the Celestial Emperor and appeared in the sky all at once.

"Hahaha..."

"Humans! This is the price you pay for daring to insult us!"

"Since you refuse to assist us, there is no need for humanity to continue existing!"

"Accept our punishment! Die in the scorching heat!"

"Humans! Feel regret! Pay the price for your wrong decision!"

The entire human race suffered under the intense heat caused by the ten suns, and countless lives were scorched to death.

The actions of the ten suns and Youyue infuriated the Celestial Emperor Di Jun!

Using the Nine Heavens Bagua Formation, Di Jun imprisoned Youyue directly and sent a telepathic command to Yi in the human realm to assist Yao.

Yi used his crimson divine bow to shoot down nine of the ten suns, leaving only one.

This was the shooting of the nine suns.

***

To punish the final sun and the final moon, the Celestial Emperor Di Jun used his divine power to strip away their souls. He then brought out the supreme treasure bestowed upon him by Ouroboros: the Origin-Returning Reshaping Disk.

Using this disk, Di Jun transformed the soul of the sun into a divine beast, the three-legged crow, or Jinwu. He also transformed the soul of the moon into the divine beast that pounds medicine, the Jade Rabbit.

Di Jun issued an imperial decree: from that day forward, the Jinwu would guard the Fusang sacred tree within the sun, and the Jade Rabbit would guard the laurel sacred tree within the moon.

At the same time, Di Jun appointed the ancient gods Yuan and Yeming to oversee them.

When the Celestial Empresses Xihe and Changyi heard of the ultimate fate of their children, they were filled with unbearable grief and begged Di Jun to punish them as well.

They argued that because of the children's mistakes, the mothers were at fault for failing to fulfill their duty of education.

Di Jun, Xihe, and Changyi remained in the Central Temple to discuss the matter, while all other gods were ordered to leave.

No ancient god knew what was said or what transpired between them in the Central Temple.

Three years later, they emerged.

Finally, Di Jun granted the request of the two Empresses.

Thus, Empress Xihe transformed into the Solar Saint Beast Zhuzhao, and Empress Changyi transformed into the Lunar Saint Beast Youying. Di Jun permitted the Solar Saint Beast to accompany the Jinwu, and the Lunar Saint Beast to accompany the Jade Rabbit.

As Di Jun watched his Empresses transform into Saint Beasts, he suddenly coughed up divine blood...

Later, the myriad races referred to the Jinwu clan and the Jade Rabbit clan as the Sun Emperor Clan and the Moon Emperor Clan.

Because both the Jinwu and the Jade Rabbit were the children of the Celestial Emperor Di Jun, they were naturally of the Imperial Clan.