1131 Expecting Better (1/2)

Mountain God Li opened his beak and picked up the old man, raising his head and swallowing him completely. After, he flapped his wings, transforming into a beam of red light and disappearing into the distance.

Qin Mu was stunned. When he watched the god and the old man engage in small talk, he had really believed that there was such a rule that one was to serve the mountain god when they were of old age. Thus, he wasn't able to stop him in time.

He followed behind Mountain God Li. Mountain God Li had flown for several thousand miles before he retracted his wings and landed at a divine mountain. He turned his head around abruptly, and only then did he notice Qin Mu. He hurriedly exclaimed, ”Senior Brother, I pay my respects to you!”

Qin Mu nodded his head gently. ”Mountain God Li, I watched you eat someone just now, yet he seemed to have enjoyed your conversation with him. What's the reason behind this?”

Mountain God Li laughed. ”Is Senior Brother a foreigner? No wonder you are unaware of the rules here. Our heavens of the south are a place of civility and etiquette, it's where Celestial Venerable Huo teaches. The gods of Southern Heaven live in harmony and peace with the tens of thousands of races in the world. The mortals ask for things from us, such as good weather and plentiful harvests, but we also need to eat. Thus, a rule like this was set. Any normal mortal who has reached the age of 60 will be considered a dead man and will be required to go to the temple and become an offering to the gods.”

Qin Mu questioned, ”This was laid down by Celestial Venerable Huo?”

Mountain God Li replied, ”Yes. Southern Heaven is a land of civility. We are unlike Western Heaven and Northern Heaven. They are so barbaric. We are also better off than Eastern Heaven.”

Qin Mu questioned again, ”What about divine arts practitioners? Human divine arts practitioners can live for up to 800 years.”

”If a divine arts practitioner fails to become a god after 700 years, he has to enter the temple to worship the gods.”

Mountain God Li smiled and said, ”If one becomes a god, they become our equal and our brother. It's just that there are few divine arts practitioners in my territory, so I can only eat them once every half a year. Brother, you come at an inopportune time. There are no divine arts practitioners that are 700 years old now, else I would've invited you to feast on them with me.”

Qin Mu frowned and said, ”The whole Southern Heaven follows such a rule?”

Mountain God Li said, ”Yes. Look at this place. It's all peaceful. Humans and gods co-exist peacefully. Half-gods and Postcelestial lifeforms don't fight either. Isn't it pure?”

Qin Mu vaguely smiled. ”Why would there be the consumption of humans in a pure land? This act of getting humans to die voluntarily by Celestial Venerable Huo is cruel and brutal.”

Mountain God Li said solemnly, ”Brother, it's wrong for you to say that. We are reasonable. We ask them beforehand about eating them.”

Qin Mu asked, ”What if that man said no? Do you not eat them if they reject?”

Mountain God Li smiled and said, ”Brother, your naivete makes you cute! It's merely a formality to ask. We eat them even if we get rejected.”

The dragon qilin couldn't help but ask, ”What about human gods? Will human gods tolerate you eating their people?”

Mountain God Li smiled and said, ”Brother, human gods aren't humans! How high up are gods? Wouldn't one become a laughing stock if others knew that they still thought of themself as a human after becoming a god? Divine arts practitioners train hard for their entire life to become a god high up! If you told human gods that they were still humans, they would be angry and curse at you!”

Qin Mu's murderous intent was triggered before dissipating instantly.

It was the case of Southern Heaven. Killing Mountain God Li wouldn't make a difference.

Killing Mountain God Li would instead cause disasters to strike the place he guarded, causing more to die.

'The pure land that Celestial Venerable Huo created. Heh…'

He led the dragon qilin and Yan'er to leave while Mountain God Li watched. He frowned and said, ”What a weird person that lacks manners! Barbaric outsider!”

Qin Mu's tour of Southern Heaven led him to conclude that the place was merely an orderly yet primal society. Humans slashed and burned while divine arts practitioners stayed secluded in the mountains, refusing to help normal humans.

Yet human gods were so high up that they deemed themselves brothers of half-gods. They refused to think of themselves as being the same as humans after becoming gods. Fighting to the death for other humans would only earn them mockery.

They would never do that. They wore bright clothes and used luxurious carriages to rush to the banquets of half-gods. The people they associated themselves with were gods too. They followed inflexible manners.

Southern Heaven was a land of customs.

Qin Mu saw many sects in his tour there. They were sects built by the gods of Southern Heaven. They were nearly identical to those of Eternal Peace in the past.

However, the past sects of Eternal Peace had stood in great numbers. They also controlled normal people's fortunes, lives, deaths, and the conquest of nations to steal land.