Forbidden Read!
Book 1 Chapter 1
Among the gods of heaven, there was a laughingstock so familiar throughout the three realms.
Legend has it that eight hundred years ago, there was an ancient land in the Central Plains called the Kingdom of Xian Le[1].
[1]: This kingdom is named Xian Le, which can also be read as Xian Yue. However, the author makes a note saying that we should read it as Xian Le. Xian Le means Heavenly Happiness while Xian Yue means Heavenly Music.
The Xian Le Kingdom was one of the ancient empires that had such a vast territory, abundant resources and prosperous people. This kingdom had four precious treasures: first, so many incomparable gentle beauties, second, such flourishing art and literature, third, treasures of gold and jewels, and secondly, treasures of gold and jewels, and the last and not least important, the most famous of all, is His Highness the Crown Prince.
This person, His Highness the Crown Prince, could be said to be a unique youth.
The King and Queen considered it their most precious pearl. They loved him so much and often expressed with pride: "In the future, our son will surely become a wise king, leaving a reputation and a good impression for future generations."
However, the Crown Prince did not have the slightest interest in the wealth, power, and normality he already possessed at the time.
What he is really interested in, quoting from the words he often says to himself, is-
"I want to save everyone!"
A young prince who was cultivating earnestly. During that time, there were two short stories that have been widely circulated.
The first story takes place when the Crown Prince is seventeen years old.
In that year, the Xian Le Kingdom was holding a massive parade of Offerings to the Gods.
Although the tradition has been abandoned for centuries, people can still imagine how grand the event is through surviving ancient texts and verbal stories circulating in the wider community.
The Day of Offerings to the Gods, the Main Path of Martial Gods.
Both sides of the Main Road were filled with a sea of humans. The nobles sat on top of tall buildings while exchanging friendly sentences; while the royal guards were paving the way with their clanking armor. Young girls danced gracefully as their snow-white hands spread flower petals, like rain that filled the sky as far as the eye could see. Makes people start to wonder which one is prettier, whether the girls are dancers or the flowers themselves. A melodious tone rang out from within the golden carriage, drifting through the entire Royal City. Behind the esteemed guards, sixteen white horses with golden reins walked side by side as they pulled forward a stage so majestic.
On the tall and majestic stage it was what was the center of everyone's attention. There, stood a martial artist who was doing a show to please the Gods.
During the festive celestial parade, the martial artist would wear a gold mask as well as fine clothing (a type of ceremonial robe) and carry a sword in one of his hands. He would play the role of the first martial god in a thousand years who had successfully subdued the savage demon-Emperor Heavenly Martial God Jun Wu.
To be able to be selected as a martial artist who had the responsibility of performing such a performance could be considered the same as receiving the highest honor, he said, therefore the selection criteria in choosing the person who will play the role is very strict. This year, the chosen one was none other than His Highness the Crown Prince. From the very beginning, the entire populace had believed that he would definitely become the most outstanding martial artist to ever portray such a show.
However, on that day, something unexpected happened.
The guards of honor were making a third round around the city walls, passing over the side that had a height equivalent to a hundred feet or so.
Just then, the martial god who was on the grand stage was about to land a killing blow on the savage demon.
It was the most exciting sight for the spectators. Therefore, the people on both sides of the Main Street also seemed so excited. Just like the people watching from above the city walls, they became more rowdy, jostling and scrambling to stick their heads out to see the scene, he said, they fought and pushed each other.
Just at that moment, a small child fell down from the top of the city gate tower.
Such a deafening shout sounded as if it was piercing through the sky. Just as everyone thought that the child was about to fall and splash blood onto the Main Road of Martial God, at that moment, the Crown Prince looked up slightly before he finally jumped up and caught the child.
People could only catch a glimpse, a white figure that looked like a bird floated in the empty sky, before the Crown Prince landed safely with the child. His golden mask fell down, revealing the handsome young face previously hidden behind the thing.
In the next instant, the crowd of ten thousand began to cheer after realizing what had just happened.
Ordinary people seemed so happy, but the royal priests had a headache over the incident.
It had never arisen in their minds for a million years, that such a huge mistake would occur at a time like this.
It's really bad, really, really bad!
Each round of the magnificent stage surrounds the Royal City, representing a year of prayer for the peace and prosperity of the country. Now that the round had been cut off, wasn't that the same as wreaking a disaster?!
The priests were worried to the point that their hair was falling out heavily. After they contemplated what had happened and what might happen in the future, they invited the Crown Prince to meet and wisely suggested, "Your Majesty, please, can you face the wall[2] for two months to show your regret? You don't have to actually do it, just being able to show your intentions is enough."
[2]: Facing the wall and meditating, in which case the priests wanted the prince to reflect on his actions.
The Crown Prince smiled before replying, "No need."
He also explained what had been in his mind, "Saving people is not a bad thing. How could Heaven blame me for doing the right thing?"
...And if by any chance Heaven decides to blame you?
"Then Heaven will be the wrong side. Why should the right person apologize to the wrong person?"
The priests were speechless again at the Crown Prince's reply.
His Highness the Crown Prince is this type of person exactly.
He never found anything he could not achieve, nor did he ever meet anyone who did not love him. He is always right, and he is the center of the universe.
The priests felt a deep sadness in their hearts as they thought, "What do you know!?"
However, it would be so disrespectful if they said more than that, and they did not dare to do so either. After all, His Majesty will not listen to them either.
The second story also takes place in the year when the Crown Prince was seventeen years old.
According to legend, on the south side of the Yellow River there is a bridge called Yi Nian Bridge[3], a place where there are famous ghosts who have been wandering for many years.
[3]: Yi Nian Bridge has many meanings. Yi \= One, while Nian can mean mind, memory, revenge, longing. Translator English he kept writing it with pinyin because not sure the real meaning to be conveyed.
This ghost was truly terrifying-wearing armor that shattered with the flames from hell that followed in his footsteps; its entire body was covered in blood, filled with the stabs of swords and arrows. Every step he took left a trail of blood and fire. Every few years, suddenly the ghost would appear at night, wander at the foot of the bridge and stop the pedestrians from asking them three questions:
"Where is this?"
"Who am I?"
"What are you going to do now?"
If one could not answer correctly, they would be completely engulfed by the ghost in one bite. However, no one knows what the right answer is. Therefore, after a few years, the ghost had engulfed many pedestrians.
One day the Crown Prince heard about the matter when he was traveling. He then searched the bridge. After he found Yi Nian Bridge, he started to stand guard and wait at the foot of the bridge continuously until he finally met the ghost that haunted the bridge one night.
The ghost appeared in an instant; and of course, its appearance was as terrifying and terrifying as the rumors that had been circulating said. When he met the Crown Prince, the ghost then began to open his mouth to ask him the first question. The Crown Prince then replied with a smile, "This is the human world."
However, the ghost replied, "This is the abyss."
A novice's luck; the ghost had only asked the first question, but he had already wrongly answered.
The Crown Prince thought, after all he would wrongly answer all his questions, so why wait for the ghost to finish asking? So without thinking any more, the Crown Prince took out his weapon and started fighting.
The battle lasted until the sky turned dusk and the ground darkened. The Crown Prince is highly skilled in martial arts, while the ghost becomes increasingly terrifying and increasingly terrifying. One human and one ghost fought on the bridge until the positions of the sun and moon had been exchanged, before finally, the ghost was defeated.
After the ghost disappeared, the Crown Prince planted a flowering tree at the foot of the bridge. At that moment, a cultivator accidentally crossed the bridge and saw the Crown Prince scattering a handful of golden earth to help escort the ghost to the next life. He asked, "What are you doing?"
The Crown Prince then uttered eight famous words: "The body is in the abyss, but the heart is in heaven."
When the cultivator heard that sentence, he slightly smiled before turning into a General wearing white armor. He stepped up the magic cloud, summoned a strong wind, and then flew towards the sunlight. The Crown Prince only realized afterwards, that he had coincidentally and luckily, unexpectedly had met the Heavenly Martial God Emperor himself who was descending into the human world to subdue the savage demons.
All the Gods had noticed this extremely prominent 'martial god' after he leaped into the sky on the day of the Worshipful Parade to the Gods. After meeting him at the foot of Yi Nian Bridge directly, the gods began to ask the Emperor: "What do you think of this Crown Prince's Majesty?"
Emperor Jun also replied with eight words: "The future is infinite, impossible to measure."
And in the midst of the rumbling and lightning flash that struck it, His Highness the Crown Prince rose to divinity.
As long as one ascended, Heaven would always shake once. And when His Highness the Crown Prince ascended, it instantly made the entire Heaven shake three times.
To achieve immortality through one's effort and knowledge is very difficult.
Because it required innate talent, high cultivation, and the right opportunities.
To be reborn as a revered god is, more often than not, an endless journey of a lifetime.
A young boy who rose to divinity and became an arrogant boy in Heaven was not something that had never happened before, but there were also many people who had bitterly spent their entire lives cultivating yet still had not attained immortality. Even if they got a chance from Heaven, if they did not make it through the heavenly calamity, they would either die or become useless. Countless humans, like the grains of sand in the desert, who had mediocre lives from beginning to end, would not be able to find the right path due to their ignorance.
And His Highness this Crown Prince, is undoubtedly the beloved lover of Heaven. The things he wanted, there was nothing he could not get. The things he wanted to do, there was nothing he could not possibly accomplish. And when he wanted to ascend to divinity, he actually ascended to divinity at the age of seventeen.
From the beginning, the Crown Prince had been so popular among his own people. Coupled with how he was the beloved son whom the King and Queen desperately longed for, they ordered the temples on behalf of the Crown Prince to be built vigorously in various corners of the kingdom.
Statues were erected and everyone gathered to pay their respects. The more worshippers he had, the more temples he had built, so he could live longer and become stronger. As a result, in just two years, Crown Prince Xian Le had grown rapidly and reached the peak of his spiritual power.
until three years later, when Xian Le fell into chaos.
The reason for this chaos was due to the King's ruthless rule, prompting the rebel army to rise up and seek justice. However, even though the flames of war had already started to burn in the human world, the Heavenly Officials could not interfere as they pleased. Unless it is the result of the actions of demons and ghosts that cross the line, then what happens must be allowed to happen. Disputes are everywhere in the world, and everyone believes that their actions are justice. If every god intervenes today you will help and support your kingdom, while tomorrow he will help his descendants to take revenge. Wouldn't the result that if the gods interfered so often, be something that would probably lead to the destruction of human life? In the case of His Highness the Crown Prince, it was something he should have avoided more than anything else.
But he doesn't care about it at all. He then told Emperor Jun, "I want to save everyone."
Even though Emperor Jun had accumulated his spiritual power for thousands of years, he did not even dare to lightly say that sentence so loudly. When he heard what the Crown Prince said, his mood could easily be imagined. However, Emperor Jun could do nothing and could only say resignedly, "You can't save everyone."
The Crown Prince replied, "I can."
Therefore, he descended into the human world without a second thought.
People from all over the Xian Le kingdom naturally celebrated that. However, since ancient times, fairy tales have long tried to warn people of the truth; that if a god who is powerless descends into the human world, a, then it will not produce good results at all.
Thus, the fire of the war did not go out, and instead began to burn even more wildly.
It was not because His Highness the Crown Prince did not do his best, but it would be better if he did not do his best. The more he tried, the more complicated the war became. The Xian Le people were beaten until their heads fell and blood flowed, they suffered serious suffering. Until finally, a plague struck the entire Royal City, and the rebels who broke into the palace; the end of the war.
One could tell that when the people of Xian Le were struggling on the doorstep of death, His Highness the Crown Prince was the one who had strangled them head-on.
After the kingdom was destroyed, the people suddenly realized something:
So, it turned out that their Crown Prince god was not as brave or perfect as they had imagined.
Roughly speaking, wasn't he just a useless figure who was incapable of achieving anything, except to ruin everything?
Unable to vent the agony they felt after losing their homes and loved ones, the angry and wounded rushed into the Crown Prince's palace hall. They dropped his divine image and burned his temples.
Eight thousand temples were burned for seven days and seven nights until they completely disappeared.
From then on, the Martial God known for his protection and peace disappeared, and a calamitous Demon God was born.
When people say you are a god, you are a god. And if they say you are trash, then you are trash. Whatever people say about you, that's who you really are. It's always like that.
No matter what, His Highness the Crown Prince could not accept this reality. And what he could not accept was the punishment given to him: exile.
His cultivation was destroyed, and he would be banished to the human world.
Since childhood, she had been pampered in thousands of ways until she was an adult, so she had never suffered the pain or hardship that normal people would normally experience. Thus, this punishment made it seem as if it was falling from a cloud so high heading right into the mud. And in that mud, it was the first time he had experienced hunger, poverty, and feeling dirty. It was also the first time he had done things he had never imagined he would do: steal, rob, curse violently, and abandon himself to despair. His pride had disappeared completely, completely gone, he had become as bad as people wanted. Even his most loyal followers could not accept it turning out to be that bad, so they chose to leave.
The body is in the abyss, but the heart is in heaven. The eight words were engraved almost everywhere on the rocks and boards in the Xian Le kingdom. Had the sentence not been burned to the ground during the war, if His Highness the Crown Prince found it again, then he would have been the first to rush to destroy the sentence.
Because the person who personally said that sentence had proved that when his body was in the abyss, his heart was not in heaven.
He went up quickly, and came down even faster. The words of the Martial God and his graceful eyes, who had met the demons and gods by chance at Yi Nian Bridge. It all looked like things that had just happened yesterday. Heaven sighed for a moment, the things that happened in the past will remain in the past.
Many years had passed when one day, a loud noise again shook Heaven. His Highness the Crown Prince ascended to the divinity for the second time.
Since ancient times, the Gods that had been banished would regard it as a setback that caused total destruction, before descending in degrees and turning into ghosts or demons. Really very few people were able to reverse their fate and return after his banishment. This second time ascension of the Crown Prince was something entirely worthy of being experienced only by a truly powerful and powerful person.
And what was even more amazing was that right after he ascended, he went on a rampage in Heaven and intended to beat and kill everyone in all directions. Thus, the Crown Prince only ascended for the time it took to burn one incense stick[4] before he was again kicked.
[4]: One incense stick: This is how people keep track of the time of the moment, this is the approximate time because each incense stick is different.
It can be said that it was the fastest and roughest, yet also short, hike ever in history.
If one were to say that his first ascension was something praiseworthy, then this second ascension could be said to be a joke.
After that second time, everyone in Heaven turned their bodies away from the Crown Prince. But even though they had thrown it away, they still felt somewhat wary. After all, after he had been banished once, he had been driven to a state of despair. Now, when he had been banished twice, would he turn into a demon and take revenge by hurting ordinary humans?
Who knew that after he was banished again, he did not turn into a demon and instead was earnestly able to adapt to his lifestyle during that banishment. There was no problem at all, and the only problem was that he really meant it too much.
Sometimes he performed on the streets, singing or playing any kind of inflatable instrument or swipe proficiently. Even breaking the giant stone in his chest was not difficult for him. Although they had long heard that His Highness the Crown Prince could sing and dance and was also very talented, he said, but to see that in a situation like this really makes one's mood complicated. Sometimes, he even diligently collected garbage on the streets.
All the gods are dumbfounded.
It was truly inconceivable that things would turn out this way. So far, if now someone were to say something like, "You have given birth to a Crown Prince Xian Le", it would be far more cruel than cursing them for good would have no offspring.
After all, he used to be someone so honorable, His Highness the Crown Prince, who had even been a Heavenly Official. To be in this state, absolutely no one else had ever experienced the same thing as him. The mention of the 'laughing ingredients of the three realms' was for this reason.
After laughing, those who were more hearty would probably sigh. The beloved son of Heaven who was haughty and felt far from the past had completely disappeared.
His divine statues have been dropped, and his ancient kingdom has been destroyed without a single devotee remaining. Slowly, he became someone the world gradually forgot. So no one knows where he went.
To be banished once was already an incredible humiliation. And to be thrown out twice, no one would be able to climb up again.
After so many years had passed, there suddenly came a day where Heaven was again interrupted by such a loud noise.
When the ground and the mountains were really shaking violently.
The altar lights that lit day and night shook until the flames seemed to be dancing wildly. Awakened Heavenly Officials began to depart from their palaces, rushing away and wondering inwardly, 'Who has just ascended? This place is shaking so great!'
Who knew right after they had bathed in 'how amazing, how amazing', the next second, all the Heavenly Officials felt as if they had been struck by lightning again and again.
Are you still not finished?
That famous freak, who became the laughingstock of the three realms, His Highness the Crown Prince of legends, he he he he! He's riding again!
Seriate...