# Chapter 1780: Last Year Today at This Gate
What must be faced, ultimately must be faced.
The Moon God sent Zhang Ruochen out of the Heavenly Court Realm, which was to unseal the Qiankun Realm within his Qi Sea.
Zhang Ruochen condensed a spiritual power avatar, entered the Qiankun Realm, arrived at the imperial clan tomb forest of the Holy Bright Central Empire, and appeared before a large tomb.
When he left the Kunlun Realm, Zhang Ruochen had moved the imperial clan tomb forest and the various imperial ancestral halls into the Qiankun Realm.
At this moment, a tombstone stood before him.
On the tombstone were carved the words "Empress's Tomb."
Eight hundred years ago, the Ming Emperor told him that his mother was buried in the Empress's Tomb, and Zhang Ruochen had always believed it without question.
But now, he had to verify it himself.
Zhang Ruochen stood there for a long time, took a deep breath, then released his spiritual power, extending it into the Empress's Tomb to investigate.
Doing this was disrespectful to his mother.
However, he had to know the truth and did not want to remain in the dark forever.
After a long while, Zhang Ruochen withdrew his spiritual power, a bitter and mocking expression appearing on his face as he laughed: "Haha, so Chi Yao didn't lie to me after all. It really is an empty tomb."
Then, Zhang Ruochen let out a heart-wrenching roar: "Father, why did you deceive me? Who is my biological mother? Why did you lie to me? Haha!"
Zhang Ruochen found it very difficult to accept the fact that Xue Hou might be his biological mother.
The Undying Blood Clan was synonymous with evil, destruction, and slaughter. They drank the blood of living beings to enhance their cultivation, constantly plundering, insatiably greedy.
Such a race was essentially destroying one civilization after another.
After all civilizations were destroyed by them, they too would eventually face extinction.
Zhang Ruochen was quite resistant to and hated this race, but now... an Undying Blood Clan member was likely his mother. How ridiculous was that?
At some point, the Moon God also entered the Qiankun Realm and appeared beside Zhang Ruochen. Her beautiful, ethereal starry eyes gazed at the rows of imperial tombs in the imperial clan tomb forest, saying: "The ancestors of the Zhang Clan are more than this. Many powerful figures are not buried here."
Zhang Ruochen could control his emotions and gradually calmed down. He used his Heavenly Eye to observe the imperial clan tomb forest.
The imperial clan tomb forest was an important site of the Zhang Clan, protected by Great Saint inscriptions.
Previously, Zhang Ruochen's cultivation was too low, so he had only visited certain areas of the tomb forest and was unfamiliar with many places. Even the relocation of the tomb forest was handled by the Dragon-Protecting Pavilion at the time.
Now, as Zhang Ruochen observed the imperial clan tomb forest again, he was slightly shocked to find that there were as many as nine tombs emitting Great Saint auras. Even though the Great Saint ancestors were dead, their auras were still very strong, with Saint Qi continuously emanating from the tombs.
Zhang Ruochen said: "I heard from my father that the imperial clan tomb forest was only established after the Holy Bright Central Empire was founded. The ancestors before that were not buried in the tomb forest."
The history of the Zhang Clan clearly far exceeded that of the Holy Bright Central Empire.
"I see," said the Moon God. "I was thinking that a god should have been buried here."
Zhang Ruochen thought of the name that made all Zhang Clan descendants proud, asking: "Does the Moon God mean the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable?"
The Moon God shook her head, saying: "The era of the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable is too distant. Even I have never seen him. However, at the end of the Middle Ages, the Zhang Clan did produce a god named Jie Zunzhe. It is said that he fought against another god and fell in the starry sky. His divine corpse was brought back to the Kunlun Realm by later generations of the Zhang Clan."
In the Moon God's view, since the divine corpse was brought back to the Kunlun Realm, it should naturally be buried in the Zhang Clan's imperial clan tomb forest, which was why she had said what she did earlier.
Zhang Ruochen frowned, saying: "I think I once saw an ancient book that mentioned the Zhang Clan had an ancestral land. However, at the end of the Middle Ages, that ancestral land was destroyed. As for where that ancestral land once was, there is no way to know."
The Moon God lost interest in the imperial clan tomb forest, turned around, and walked out of it, saying: "Going to the Kunlun Realm this time is extremely dangerous. I have inscribed divine patterns on your body, which might be of some use to you."
"Divine patterns!" Zhang Ruochen's eyes lit up, and the gloom in his heart was swept away.
Previously, when he saw the divine patterns on other divine sons and divine daughters, Zhang Ruochen was quite envious.
After all, with divine patterns protecting the body, it was like having an indestructible body, making it very difficult to be killed.
Now that he had divine patterns, even if he encountered a powerhouse of the level of the Truth Divine Temple's top ten divine disciples, he would have a certain chance of escaping.
Excellent!
As expected of the Moon God, the more he looked, the more she had the aura of a goddess.
Zhang Ruochen mobilized his Saint Qi to activate the divine patterns. Immediately, strands of white patterns appeared, covering every inch of his skin, bringing a faint coolness.
Soon, the smile on Zhang Ruochen's face froze.
Because he felt a coolness coming from between his legs, where dense divine patterns were interwoven.
"This..."
Zhang Ruochen felt an indescribable strange sensation.
The Moon God's voice once again reached Zhang Ruochen's ears, saying: "The divine patterns are not only arranged on your skin but also in your Qi Sea, which will seal the power of the Qiankun Realm from flowing out of your Qi Sea."
The strange feeling in Zhang Ruochen's heart instantly disappeared, and he asked: "Why?"
If the divine patterns sealed his Qi Sea, wouldn't Zhang Ruochen be unable to mobilize the power of the Qiankun Realm?
The world power of the Qiankun Realm was his greatest trump card.
"The world spirit of the Qiankun Realm has already begun to gestate. In the future, you will be the master of the Qiankun Realm, not its emissary. If you want to be the master of the Qiankun Realm, you should use your own power to suppress the world spirit of the Qiankun Realm and thus drive it. Rather than borrowing the power of the Qiankun Realm to help you kill enemies."
The Moon God floated up and rushed out of the Qiankun Realm.
Zhang Ruochen pondered the Moon God's words for a long time. After a while, his spiritual power avatar flew out of the Qiankun Realm and merged back into his main body.
The Moon God returned to the Paradise Realm, while Zhang Ruochen, along with Zhenmiao Xiaodao Ren, Tunxiang Tu, and the Demon Ape, arrived at a planet by the Heavenly River. Then, through the sacred path connecting the Heavenly Court Realm and the Kunlun Realm, they arrived at a planet not far from the Kunlun Realm.
This planet was called Tianquan Star. It had been recently developed by the Heavenly Palace, the Merit Divine Temple, and the Kunlun Realm together, serving as the main merit station.
On Tianquan Star, space teleportation arrays, merit exchange halls, and so on were built, all serving the Kunlun Realm merit war. Various worlds had also established strongholds here.
Although the Kunlun Realm battlefield had only been opened a few days ago, Tianquan Star was not quiet. Instead, it was overcrowded, with a continuous stream of cultivators arriving.
"The Kunlun Realm is full of opportunities. If I'm lucky, this time I might even obtain a Great Saint inheritance."
"It is said that the Kunlun Realm has many ten-thousand-pattern sacred artifacts left over from the Middle Ages, and even supreme sacred artifacts. If I can seize a few, my strength will surely increase greatly."
"A bunch of clowns. Are you robbers? Don't forget why we are going to the Kunlun Realm. We are going to fight, and our enemy is the Hell Realm. In this merit war, I must enter the 'Saint King Merit Ranking.'"
...
The cultivators going to the Kunlun Realm battlefield had various purposes. Some coveted the treasures of the Kunlun Realm, some wanted to temper themselves, and some wanted to make a name for themselves.
Zhang Ruochen did not pay attention to any of this and went directly to the main merit station.
After verifying his identity, the receptionist at the main merit station looked at Zhang Ruochen with a strange gaze, his eyes interweaving surprise, excitement, solemnity, and awe.
After a long while, the receptionist cautiously asked: "The Kunlun Realm has established seventy-two merit branch stations. Which branch station does Lord Ruochen wish to go to?"
"Are you a cultivator from the Kunlun Realm?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
The receptionist said: "The lower-level staff of this main merit station are all recruited from the Kunlun Realm. After all, this is the Kunlun Realm war, and we must also contribute."
Zhang Ruochen did not ask further, saying: "I want to go to the Demon Ridge in the Eastern Domain. Which merit branch station is closest to there?"
Although the Demon Ridge was a remote and barren place, it had produced two remarkable figures, Zhang Ruochen and Luo Xu, making it a well-known name.
The receptionist said: "The Thirteenth Merit Branch Station is closest to the Demon Ridge. It is built in the royal city of the Qianshui Commandery."
"Qianshui Commandery."
Zhang Ruochen uttered these words, his gaze becoming somewhat complicated.
Through the space teleportation array, Zhang Ruochen teleported directly from the main merit station to the Thirteenth Merit Branch Station. Stepping out of the station, he appeared on the streets of the Qianshui Commandery's royal city.
Qianshui Commandery was one of the upper-level commanderies of the Eastern Domain. Its royal city was built quite grandly, with city walls towering like mountain ranges. Now that the merit station was built in the city, the commandery's defense system was countless times stronger than before.
Back then, the surrounding commanderies had mobilized a million troops to declare war on the Yunwu Commandery. Within just ten days, the Yunwu Commandery had lost twelve cities in a row.
Forced into a corner, the Yunwu Commandery King had to bring Zhang Ruochen along to seek help from the Qianshui Commandery's royal city, hoping to survive the crisis. To save the country, Zhang Ruochen had even participated in the martial arts marriage tournament of the Qianshui Commandery's Thirteenth Princess.
Thinking of that martial arts marriage tournament, a figure as cold as an iceberg appeared in Zhang Ruochen's mind.
Suddenly, his heart ached fiercely.
If not for that martial arts marriage tournament, perhaps there would not have been so many subsequent grudges and grievances.
Zhang Ruochen walked on the crowded streets, his mind filled with countless thoughts, his body numb like a puppet. In contrast, Tunxiang Tu and the Demon Ape, having returned to the Kunlun Realm, were extremely excited, hopping and jumping on the streets, knocking over countless shelves.
Back then, when Zhang Ruochen's three meridians were all crippled, many enemies jumped out, wanting to find him and take the opportunity to eliminate him. At that time, everyone in the world knew that the Qianshui Commandery's Princess Huang Yanchen was Zhang Ruochen's wife.
To force Zhang Ruochen to show himself, led by the Undying Blood Clan, countless enemies stormed into the Qianshui Commandery's royal palace, killing all of Huang Yanchen's clan members and capturing the Qianshui Commandery King and Queen alive.
It was that ordeal that finally made Zhang Ruochen's heart completely open to Huang Yanchen, trying to truly love someone.
Unconsciously, Zhang Ruochen arrived before the gate of the Qianshui Commandery's royal palace. Several years had passed, yet faint bloodstains still remained on the palace walls, which the rain had not washed away.
Zhang Ruochen thought he had completely forgotten Huang Yanchen, but upon arriving here, he still felt an impulse to step through the palace gate. Perhaps if he walked in, he would see her as he did back then.
Either drawing swords against each other, or facing each other with cold brows, or looking at each other in silence, or... becoming strangers.
But in the end, Zhang Ruochen did not cross that palace gate.
Last year today at this gate, her face and the peach blossoms reflected each other's red.
Her face is nowhere to be found, but the peach blossoms still smile in the spring breeze.
"It's all in the past, in the past..."
Zhang Ruochen turned around and left the Qianshui Commandery's royal palace, walking farther and farther away, his back looking very desolate. Perhaps that would be a hurdle he could never overcome in his lifetime.
...
Regarding the character Huang Yanchen, Xiaoyu will definitely give everyone an explanation. Either becoming strangers, or drawing swords against each other... In any case, it will not just end with a simple "she is already dead."
Additionally, everyone can follow the Wan Gu Shen Di WeChat public account "feitianyu5", or directly search for "Feitian Yu" on WeChat.