#663 - Chapter 663: Not from the Same Origin

“Then what is your real identity…?” Dongfang Chen asked.

“What real identity, fake identity? I am just me, aren't I?” Old Qin said, between laughter and tears.

“Shen Huiying is over three thousand years old and is only at the 7th level. Surely, you must be even older, right?” Dongfang Chen asked.

“I don’t remember my age anymore. But I should be over 5000 years old,” Old Qin replied.

“Five thousand years? Doesn't that span the entire Chinese civilization?” Dongfang Chen clicked his tongue in amazement.

“Ah! Roughly! I was born in the Yellow Emperor's tribe and followed him in his eastern and western expeditions in my early years. I was injured in the Battle of Zhuolu and have been cultivating in the Zhongnan Mountains ever since,” Old Qin replied.

“Then, do you have any connection with the Manichaeism?” Dongfang Chen asked.

“That's a long story. Several large-scale battles between cultivators have occurred in the history of China. The Battle of Zhuolu was the first one I personally experienced. The Yellow Emperor himself was a cultivator. He unified the northern tribes with his powerful force and established a tribal alliance. And Chi You was also a cultivator, their strengths were evenly matched. In the Battle of Zhuolu, Chi You was defeated and killed. Countless low-level cultivators were killed or injured.”

“That battle completely changed the landscape of China. All the cultivators went into hiding, not showing themselves in public,” Old Qin recalled.

“Why?” Dongfang Chen asked.

“When you have a long lifespan, you will know that if you want to live, don't let people notice you,” Old Qin replied.

“The importance of cultivators on the battlefield led to this group becoming the primary target for assassinations between tribes.”

“I understand, please continue,” Dongfang Chen said.

“In that era, there was no such thing as Manichaeism. Some cultivators, considering themselves to be of a high realm, gradually gathered forces and constantly stirred up trouble. In the following one or two thousand years, there were several more major battles. Especially the Battle of Muye, where most of the high-level cultivators were almost completely wiped out.”

“Since then, until now, China has never seen such a large-scale battle of cultivators again. Therefore, the Battle of Muye is also known as the Battle of the Gods.”

“The name Manichaeism probably reached China during the Western Han Dynasty. At that time, the gradually formed Silk Road became their main route for spreading their religion.”

“The emergence of Manichaeism greatly threatened the rule of the Han Dynasty. At the same time, the surviving cultivators within China almost no longer participated in secular conflicts. This led to the Hexi Corridor area being completely controlled by Manichaean missionaries. After Emperor Wu of Han ascended the throne, he vowed to drive them back to the Western Regions.”

“At that time, a very talented cultivator appeared, reaching the Dongxu stage at the age of 14, which is the level of a 7th-level mutant. At the age of 20, he successfully advanced to the 9th level, the Tribulation Transcending stage.”

“His appearance completely overturned the entire structure of the Han Dynasty. The Manichaean missionaries and their established forces entrenched in the northwest were all uprooted within a few years.”

“Unfortunately, heaven is jealous of talent. This genius suddenly died of illness at the age of 24, which is truly regrettable.”

“Are you talking about Huo Qubing?”

“That's right.”

“After saying so much, you must have understood that the cultivators of China and Manichaeism are not of the same origin. In the past two thousand years, there have been countless life-and-death struggles between them,” Old Qin said.

“But as far as I know, Manichaeism tried to invade China five thousand years ago,” Dongfang Chen said.

This was Mongka's previous description.

Thousands of years ago, before the Silk Road existed, Manichaean missionaries mainly entered the Central Plains through the narrow strip of land between Lop Nur and the Taklamakan Desert.

And the people of the Sanxingdui Laventa clan who lived in the Sichuan area were wiped out at that time.

“Impossible, right?” Old Qin said.

“It’s true. The Sanxingdui civilization, which lived in the Jincheng City area of Sichuan Province, was destroyed at that time.”

“Maybe they weren't called Manichaeism at that time,” Old Qin replied.

“There is such a possibility. Then I have a question, why didn't you tell me the truth when I was investigating the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum and the Bayingol area before?” Dongfang Chen nodded and continued to ask.

“What do you think is the secret that Chinese civilization has passed down to this day? Is it that there are cultivators in China? Is it that cultivators have powerful strength?”

“No, quite the opposite.”

“As a witness to the continuation of Chinese civilization to this day, I can tell you very responsibly that the most crucial factor is the unknown.”

“I don't know how many cultivators there are in China, and I don't know what level these cultivators are at. As a former Chinese councilor and now a Pavilion Elder of Moyutai, I don't know these things, so other cultivators probably don't know either.”

“Uncertainty means the greatest variable.”