Chapter 17 Mistake of the Gods

The smoke in the region is starting to settle. Ichrodae was standing there hunched over with his hands on either side of him. His hands had grown sharp claws, the runes that were once transparent were now glowing brightly and in a crimson like color. His hair broke out of the metal bands and were delicately flowing in the air like a stream. His skin was gery like that of the dead.

Ichrodae turns into a blip and instantly travels behind Qin Ming. A massive almost beast-like claw swipes lightning fast against Qin Ming's chest! Four slashes rip open and blood gushes out like a geyser. Qin Ming tries to close the wound through divine power but is unable to do so! "What the-!?"

Qin Ming struck out with his beast claw and stabbed directly into Ichrodae. Once his claw was thrusted deep into his abdomen, ice crystals dotted all around Ichrodae's abdomen. He didn't even react, he just tried to swipe his palm down once more. Qin Ming lifted his leg and kicked Ichrodae away just in time.

Ichrodae was a wild beast he zig zagged as he ran over to Qin Ming. He huffed out loudly and his body was so hot, the huffs of air that came out immediately turned to steam! Ichrodae jumped and flung himself at Qin Ming. Qin Ming swung his fingers like a conductor telling the musicians to play music! When he did this several icicles shot from the tips of his fingers and charged at Ichrodae.

These icicles couldn't even reach Ichrodae as when they were within a centimeter of his body they instantly melted and turned into water! Ichrodae continues to charge at Qin Ming, in this instant Qin Ming feels his heart clench. "All of you gods will fall to my hand!''I chordae snapped!

Qin Ming couldn't help but feel guilty after all he was a Godbeast! His lineage had some part to do in his making. Qin Ming quickly executed [Twig in a Stream] his arm snaked around Ichrodae and blasted Ichrodae's hand out of the way. Directly after that Qin Ming activated the third stance [Wave Cracks Stone] a jet of pressure shoots out of his fist and slams against Ichrodae's solar plexus. His dantian shudders and his meridians were disrupted momentarily!

Ichrodae coughed up blood, but for some reason he did not revert to his 'original' form. Qin Ming was perplexed "b-but how?! Your dantian should be out of commision!"

Ichrodae shook his head "that is the problem with you mortal's! You had everything spoon fed to you! I had to fight tooth and nail for what I have!"

He lifted up both palms and he swipes them down lightning fast. The Dao of Qiankun shudders around his palms and wraps around his beast like claws. This attack was simply too fast, Qin Ming could not dodge. His only choice was to block and minimize as much damage as he could. Qin Ming whips his hands like they were snakes and shoots them at him. His right hand executed his first stance. Both of his hands squirm around him. With his mind he explodes outward a wave of pressure executing his ninth stance as well.

Ichrodae continues to charge at him but his speed has dropped considerably. His claw scraped against Qin Ming's skin, but at this point the power had dropped so much it didn't even pierce the skin. Ichrodae flew into a fit of rage. He sent several palm blows that smashed into Qin Ming's skin. His skin splinters and blood seeps through the small cracks that formed. Blood dripped out of Qin Ming's mouth.

Qin Ming swings his head at the bridge of Ichrodae's nose. He smashes down with such force that his nose breaks and goes out of alignment. Ichrodae's eyes slightly water but then turn into steam just as quickly from the sheer heat of his body. In the next moment Qin Ming coats his hands in spiritual energy. He motions them in a circular pattern and pushes them into Ichrodae's chest. Qin Ming's hands poke through the other side then in the next moment two massive cones of spiritual energy shoot out like a cannon. The ravine is eaten up by the greedy energy.

Ichrodae is blown far into the walls into the ravine. He slumps over then breaks down. He reaches out with his hand. "No, no this is bullshit! Y-you runt you shouldn't be able to beat me! I gave Lord Buddah a challenge. I was personally created by the Lord Universal Lord of the Primordial Beginning! Then why, why is it Still lost to a runt like you!"

Qin Ming slowly walks over he lifts his hand up. A cone of spiritual energy reaches to the sky. Ichrodae burst into anger "no I refuse to lose! Not to you!"

"You are an old man. You are a frog in a well. And you are everything in between, you were a mistake!"

"GRRRRRRR RAHHHH!"

Ichrodae charges at Qin Ming, his hand forced to top the front of his body, ready to strike against him. Qin Ming swipes his hand and the cone cuts Ichrodae in two clean pieces, it even craves the rock behind him. Ichrodae's hand reaches out to Qin Mingn in its final moments before going lax and limp. A small tear falls from his eye.

Qin Ming took in a small breath then everything he saw entered his mind. He started to gain insights into the Daos of Qiankun, and Inferno! "Hmmm these Daos are so rudimentary… yet complicated?"

He sat down in a lotus position and slowly he sucked in the air of the area. "Even the air is simple! This region is so mysterious."

Qin Ming simply couldn't comprehend this ancient race of people. He sighed in amazement. He scoped the area with divine sense and noticed people were still here. He stood up. "Let's go hunting, shall we!"

He quickly began to rummage through Ichrodae's things. He was able to find many things including many manuals regarding the Abyssal Region. For instance these people were an ancient race known as Abyssal Remantes.

He turned his head "oh Tianlong Xun is still trapped!"

He jumped up and sped over to her direction. Soon he quickly reached her. Tianlong was sitting down in the lotus position. She was deep in meditation. Qin Ming didn't wish to wake her. "Hmmm what to do, what to do?"

He simply shook his head "I'll let her make her breakthrough. For now I will explore, then if she is still unable to brakethrough I'll help!"

He jumped off the cliff and began to search the area. This entire region was locked in time! These people have remained unchanged for trillions of years! These weren't even really mortal's. The children were born unable to die! These were creatures born from Primordial Chaos. They were from the Abyss Region. They were the very first things to exist. They work on a fundamentally different scale. They were also born with the Dao implanted in them.

They were born knowing how to use the Dao, because they came from the Dao! But the Daos they function in, are a much, much more backwards version of the Dao he practiced. From what Qin Ming read he realized these Daos were known as Primordial Daos, and the Dao he practiced was known as Lesser Daos.

He expanded his divine sense as far as he could push it. Since he did not fully reach the World level in the Dao of Martial Arts he couldn't cover this entire region. As for right now he could only see about ten kilometers with divine sense. When he actually reached the World level he could fully encompass an entire minor world with divine sense. When he reached the late stage in the World level he could fully cover an entire major world! Divine sense was entirely separate from cultivation. It was connected to the soul and the Dao.

Qin Ming was very close to reaching the World level in the Dao of Martial Arts and if he could, he would fully gain divine sense. Because he had already reached the World level in the Dao of Ice and was very close to reaching the World level on his own, this was the only reason he gained partial divine sense in the first place! If none of these things happened he simply could not have reached that level at all.

He put away some of the books he gained from Ichrodae. Then he began to walk around in the Abyssal Region. He did not dare be the least bit over confident, he had his guard way up. Every step he took led him closer to more danger! He didn't understand Primordial Daos too much and only gained the smallest of insights into enlightenment. He could not manipulate Primordial Daos at all. The Daos which he practiced was systemized and had a defined way to gain enlightenment. The Primodial Dao did not have this! It was either you mastered it or did not. There was no One With Qiankun level or World level. You couldn't even form Dao Realms!

However Qin Ming felt that if he could master a Primordial Dao he could somehow mix it with his own Dao and then he would function in a limbo-like state! He could touch both Primordial Daos and Lesser Daos, however they could not touch him!

In the memories Qin Ming received from Icedawn it seemed as though she was unaware of Primordial Daos herself. It must be understood that Icedawn was a genius in regards to the Dao. She was an unparalleled genius herself! For her not to know of the existence of Primordial Daos is absolutely stunning!

Qin Ming soon came upon a small village. When he set foot in this village he was greeted with open arms! Several villagers came out with food and wine and threw flowers on the ground to celebrate his arrival, "Chieftain Apedo we have a visitor!"

A small child called out to his Chief. This child had brown hair that reached his ears, he also had draconic runes on his body. He had two large fangs poking out of his mouth. A tallish woman came from behind the boy, she had a large chest that was bare. She was wearing a grass skirt. Her body was covered in snake runes. Those runes all led to her nipples. She picked up the youth "Xayle! Be quiet, can you not see this man is a warrior! You are not fit to address him!"

Xayle frowns slightly "I am sorry ma ma!"

The woman turns to Qin Ming "hello mighty warrior my name is Vegea if you need anything I'm here to serve!" she respectfully bows.

Qin Ming puts his hands up and sweats a little bit "thank you Vegea but I don't need you to serve me."

In the next moment a woman adorned in a headdress that was covered in feathers and bones. She had a feather skirt and her wrist and ankles had a golden bracelet on them. She also had runes but these runes looked very similar to Ichrodae's! She was bare chested and had an ample bosom. Her septum had a bone piercing as well as her nipples! She had green facepaint and the sides of her head were shaved. The top of her head still had long hair and was done in a ponytail that reached her back. "Greetings warrior I am Chieftain Apedo, I welcome you to my village!"

Qin Ming bowed respectfully "greetings Chieftain Apedo. My name is Qin Ming, I came to this ravine on a training expedition. When I was finished I was trapped in this ravine. I was met with three other Abyssal Remantes, Ichrodae, Jadenight, and Firecloud. However they moved for my death immediately, I made quick work of them!"

Chieftain Apedo looked a bit surprised but continued to listen diligently. Qin Ming continued "after I killed Ichrodae I learned of Primordial Dao's now I wish to learn from!"

Chieftain Apedo quickly apologized "I am truly sorry for those three, their actions are on us, they killed a few of our clansmen and I had each of them exiled. For them to cause you trouble is inexcusable, but the fact you managed to kill Ichrodae is incredible! I was only able to subdue him! Stay with us for as long as you like!"

Qin Ming liked this quick attitude change, in truth he came to this village with the intent to kill them all, but now he sees that is not necessary. It was those three who were the problem. He grabbed Chieftain Apedo's hands "thank you for welcoming me, let's make a lasting friendship!"

It was true this place was totally shut off from the outside world. Time outside did not flow one could spend a million years here and only three seconds have passed on the outside world! Time shifting techniques were insanely valuable because training could be done so quickly with no time actually passing.

Chieftain Apedo took his hand and gave him the tour of the village. "As you can see we are a peaceful race, we have an army to defend ourselves from other villages. There are also other things created by the gods more terrifying than us. If we don't properly defend ourselves we could die!"

Qin Ming shook his head, he seemed to understand. She continued "we have bakers and masters of the Dao. Primordial Daos are not so easily learned! We are born with the Dao, very few can learn any others."

Qin Ming was surprised "so learning other Primordial Daos is possible!"

Chieftain Apedo shook her head "it is very possible, just very difficult!"

Qin Ming stopped in his tracks "what do you want." he spoke coldly.

Chieftain Apedo smugly encroached on him "ah what makes you say I want anything?"

He shifted his body to gaze at Chieftain Apedo "you know as well as I do the Dao is not easily transmitted!"

She laughs and holds her gut bellyaching on the ground "you are quite perceptive what was your name again? Qin Ming was it? Well I'll tell you something about Qin Ming. I want to learn those Lesser Daos of yours."

Qin Ming gripped his head "oh boy who knew you could be so devious?"

Chieftain Apedo tilted her chin "so are you willing!"

"If this is the only way, then I have no choice! My only condition is that I can learn everything you have to offer."

"So you expect my village to bend over backwards for you?"

"Do you expect me to just hand over all my secrets to you?"

Chieftain Apedo laughs creamily "fine, fine let's meet halfway friend. Give us one of yours for three of ours, seems like a fair trade no?"

Qin Ming shook his head "this is fair, but if I run out of things to teach what then?"

Chieftain Apedo shrugged "we'll figure something out."

Qin Ming sighed daintily, "Fine this works, I shall trade the Dao of Ice for the Daos of Qiankun, Inferno, and Blood!"

Chieftain Apedo took a fluffy expression. Her face glows as she hardly contains herself, "come with me!"

Chieftain Apedo gripped his shoulder and dragged him to the next spot. As they drew closer to the center of the city a towering citadel became visible. She waves her hand "here it is!"

Qin Ming's jaw was on the floor, he held stars in his eyes that shined in marvel because of how exquisite it was! Chieftain Apedo snickered velvetly "I hope it is to your liking!"

The iron doors to the citadel were over a kilometer in length. Each door weighed about three tons. The doors flung open it was as though a mountain was being moved it made a horrid screeching noise. A tall scrawny man whose ribs were visible, scraped his scalp. He stuck a finger in his ear and blew the wax he pulled out of his finger. "Ehh who did ya bring me this time?"

Chieftain Apedo introduced him to "Qin Ming, this is Old Man Ping, he is a master of the Dao."

Old Man Ping cackled "oh is that what people are calling me?"

Qin Ming cocked his head "is it true?"

Old Man Ping cracked his lips and grabbed his wrist, dragging him into the citadel. The massive world like doors comes crashing down. The inside of the citadel smelt of brimstone, the stench made Qin Ming's eyes water. He gripped his nose as he spewed his guts which only added to the smell. "Oh quite over reacting!" Old Man Ping wasn't having any of it! He kicked Qin Ming's side.

They started to stroll past the almost endless corridor. Each section of the corridor was lined with lanky braziers. These brazier legs had marble snakes coiled around them. The scales of the snakes had gold filled in the cracks. Its eyes were made of sapphire. The fire inside of the braziers was a hint of crimson that flickered into an azure color. The color constantly changed and was never still for even a second. Old Man Ping flung his hand and basalt flew from his hand. The salt crystals flew into the braziers when they devoured the crystals the fire hissed and turned into a jade green.

The fire in the pot seemed to resonate with an aura that was similar to Firecloud and Jadenight. "Old Man Ping why does this feel like Firecloud?"

He sighs and motions his hand "these brazires are made with the Dao of Inferno, and Fireclod was a piece of the Dao of Inferno. Like Jadenight was a piece of the Dao of Jade."

Qin Ming shook his head and he seemed to understand, and Old Man Ping continued.

"Those two came from the Dao, they were hardly Abyssal Remanates. They were known as Origin Beasts, however by some stroke of misfortune they ended up being captured and lost all their memories."

Qin Ming felt something burning in the pit of his stomach "then what of Ichrodae, why did they follow him? Shouldn't they have been stronger?"

Old Man Ping yawned "ay boy you're gonna drive me nuts! Fine, I'll answer your question. Ichrodae is known as the mistake of the gods. In fact all of us are! The gods were trying to create the first lifeform not created by Primordial Chaos and the Dao. There were several failed attempts. Ichrodae was the first Abyssal Remanate."

Qin Ming finally got some answers. He thought deeply about this and was delighted to hear this.

He continued "then Mother Nuwa succeeded she created humans! Ichrodae didn't think much of it, he laughed 'oh what another failed attempt, what a riot!'. Then when they flourished the gods no longer cared much about us anymore. Ichrodae was furious, hehehe! He waged a war with them, however he was quickly dealt with. Enough of the past let's start!"

Qin Ming bowed respectfully "as you wish!"

Old Man Ping slaps his back "listen boy the Dao is not easily learned. We were born with it, however you did not. So we are going to have to create a rebirth of some sort!" Old Man Ping laughed.

"Oh boy what fun what fun!" he had gone mad, he was rubbing his hands with malintention!

Thus began the three week training session. It was hellish and brutal, Qin Ming was exposed to many forms of experiments that was bordeline torture. Old Man Ping had his hands through Qin Ming's solar plexus. When his hands were inside his stomach it was like Old Man Ping's hand were poking through the surface of a lake. Qin Ming's 'flesh' was even making illusory ripples!

"Interesting, interesting. How do you function? You have the body of a god yet the blood of something entirely new! It's not human what you are!"

An ear-splitting cry of agony wiggles its way out of Qin Ming's mouth. "HOW THE HELL ACKKK IS THIS SUPPOSED TO HELP ME LEARN THE DAO AGHHHH!!!"

He blustered out burdensome feverish breaths. Old Man Ping slapped his head, when he pulled his hands out of Qin Ming, he once more cried out. "Right, right of course the Dao!"

"Stand, stand, let's begin!"

Qin Ming became a slave to his body, it compelled him to remain on the ground. He put his hands on the ground trying to push himself up. Sweat flushed off his brow and his back arched itself. His arms began to convulse. His left arm gave, he crashed into the floor. Panting with a boisterous scream to follow! Old Man Ping frowned "I told you to stand! Now is no time to rest!"

Qin Ming gave a graceless laugh "I'm sorry Old Man Ping, the ground loves me so much it won't let go of my ass!"

Old Man Ping just glares coldly "funny."

Qin Ming once again attempted to stand and almost an hour later he was finally able to stand. "Ahh finally I thought I was going to die of old age!"

Qin Ming rubbed the side of his arm, his face was like a strawberry! He slightly sucked in his breath. Qin Ming was stiff like a board. Old Man Ping continued "we are going to start with the Dao of Blood, this is the easiest to master. We all have it, it's the Dao we are most commonly exposed to. You live and breathe the Dao of Blood! You just need to open your eyes, and realize it is there!"

Qin Ming nodded, he slightly breathed and slouched a little bit. Old Man Ping waved his hands "now follow me!"

Old Man Ping grabbed a massive breath of air, he held it for three seconds, before releasing it for three seconds. Qin Ming followed suit. Then they synced in breathing, they were locked on each other. They moved in tandem, it was as though they were one person.

Old Man Ping fell to his knees then moved into the lotus position. He formed a square with his hands in the pit of his stomach. "Now Qin Ming, tell me what you feel?"

Qin Ming tilted his head "feel? I don't feel anything."

"Wrong! Search deeper within yourself! What do you feel?"

Qin Ming started to slowly breathe "I- Feel...blood? What is this feeling?"

"Good, good keep that feeling, tell me can you control your blood stream, do you see your veins!"

Qin Ming remained still; he didn't understand it, but he surged divine senses through his body. He saw every cell in his body down to his blood! He envisioned his blood moving in the opposite direction. But he failed and he wasn't able to move anything.

He didn't stop though, he sat for minutes, hours, days, weeks! Seconds soon turned into months. In the blink of an eye he actually found a foothold in Pirmodial Daos! "Good, good you've gained a basic understanding, you can finally control blood flow."

Qin Ming stood up and bowed to Old Man Ping. "I can't teach you any more, just constantly practice that is all!'

Old Man Ping grins "I have noticed something you have ripples in the Dao, but for Qiankun? Interesting, very interesting."

They continued their training. Soon five months passed by. Qin Ming was on the floor with a gash in his stomach, drool pouring out of his mouth. Old Man Ping gave a side eye "boy you gonna stand up already!"

Qin Ming's flesh started to reform and soon he was at peak condition again. He stood up again "what are you testing master!"

Old Man Ping turned his head, "cultivation is interesting, I don't understand it, but whatever!"

Qin Ming tilted his head "huh you don't know what cultivation is?"

Old Man Ping chuckles "it was before my time son."

Qin Ming was wide-eyed. He had no idea this was a new concept "Wait but master then how did your people grow in power!?"

Old Man Ping sighed like silk "I mean this modern form of cultivation! Haven't you ever wondered why we all got runes on our bodies?"

Qin Ming was unable to move and had a fixed gaze on Old Man Ping, he continued "your form of cultivation is much easier and allows one to higher levels. Before we were thrown away there was one man named Lord Tathāgata. He led mortals to where they are now! What he did was discover the second path of cultivation, when he reached that level he believed that was the peak of power humans could reach, he named it the Xiantian level! Once he devised a systemized way of reaching that level he made the Buddhist Sangha. Soon every living thing reached that level!"

Qin Ming put his hand on his chin and silently hummed "wait! Then what level were the gods at!?"

Old Man ping placed a hand on his shoulder "well you see boy they are at the Celestial Immortal level, but you see we thought it was impossible for us to reach that level. For the most part that's true! We are capped at this level, our runes stop us at this level!"

Qin Ming nodded as he seemed to understand, the one thing he lacked in was knowledge of the Three Realms. Old Man Ping was a wellspring of knowledge. So any moment he got he probed him for his knowledge.

Old Man Ping sighed "alright boy, now for your end of the bargain. Teach me about Dao!"

Qin Ming chuckled "fine, fine, as you wish. You may only gaze at it, touching it allows you to learn four of our Daos! So Ineed to learn twelve of your first!"

Old Man Ping bellowed "boy you sure are never lacking in your jokes, I like you!"

Qin Ming pulls out the Icedawn Pearl, a blast of arctic energy fills the room and smashes against Old Man Ping, "W-WHAT IS THIS!?!"