# Chapter 2722: Earth Mother Emerges from Seclusion
In the divine hall, clusters of scarlet flames floated, casting the dark world in an even more eerie and sinister light.
White bones were piled up in many places, shaped into altars, with saint realm cultivators standing guard. As Guye Jing, Zhang Ruochen, and Luo Sha passed by, they all knelt and bowed.
Given Zhang Ruochen and Luo Sha's cultivation levels and status, they would surely receive the highest standard of reception at any power they visited.
Even though Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm was known as the Rakshasa Clan's most dangerous territory, they dared not slight them. Along the way, dozens of Great Saints had come to welcome them, each of distinguished status.
"Greetings, Heavenly Pavilion Eye."
"Respects to Senior Sister."
"Greetings, Princess Luo Sha."
...
Although they only paid respects to Guye Jing and Luo Sha, they did not neglect Zhang Ruochen either.
With the insight of a Great Saint, how could they fail to see that Zhang Ruochen's cultivation was exceptionally powerful and unfathomably deep? Someone who could travel with Heavenly Pavilion Eye and Princess Luo Sha could not be an ordinary person.
Surrounded by a crowd of Great Saints, Zhang Ruochen and his two companions entered a magnificent golden hall.
Inside the hall, black dragon candles as thick as a bowl's rim were burning.
Guye Jing's gaze fixed on a middle-aged woman who appeared to be around forty years old. "Third Senior Sister, have you notified Fourteenth Junior Sister?"
"The Master has already personally transmitted a message to her. She should arrive soon," Cen Hong replied.
Cen Hong was the eldest among the disciples taken in by Guye Yunliu during this Eon, having already reached the Supreme Realm. The two disciples ranked before her had both fallen, neither having survived the Divine Tribulation.
Guye Jing was surprised. "This matter actually alarmed Mother Goddess?"
Cen Hong smiled. "Young Master Ruochen is the Mortal World Myth, Lord of Ten Realms. For such a figure to grace Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm, it's only natural that it would alarm the Master. Moreover, hasn't Princess Luo Sha also come?"
"How did Senior Sister learn of what happened on the Ten Realms Battlefield?" Guye Jing asked.
Cen Hong lowered her voice and transmitted a message to Guye Jing, then said, "At the time, I was accompanying the Master and heard all of this."
Guye Jing glanced at Luo Sha, a thoughtful expression in her eyes.
It seemed she had underestimated Zhang Ruochen's influence in the present day.
Zhang Ruochen and Luo Sha sat side by side, communicating through voice transmission.
Zhang Ruochen said, "This Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm is quite strange! Along the way, everyone with status and position has been female. Male cultivators are either servants or guards."
"It's not like this throughout the entire Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm. It's just that the Guye Clan is rather special. I won't go into the reasons here."
Luo Sha extended her jade finger, pointing upward.
She was hinting to Zhang Ruochen that they were in the Yunliu Divine Hall, and their current transmissions might be heard by Liu Shen.
Arriving at the Yunliu Divine Hall, Zhang Ruochen's usually calm heart suddenly became impatient. His gaze frequently drifted toward the hall's entrance. Yet he had to maintain a composed appearance, waiting quietly.
Within the Divine Realm World, crimson strange flowers bloomed everywhere.
Two beautiful Rakshasa Clan goddesses in palace attire, wearing divine robes of red and blue respectively, stood gracefully, looking down at the clouds and mists below.
They were Guye Yunliu and Heavenly Sound Divine Mother.
Through the clouds, Guye Yunliu could see Zhang Ruochen sitting in the hall. Her tone carried a hint of disdain. "Is this all the mental state of the so-called Mortal World Myth?"
"Mortal men and women, with deep bonds of love, separated for a thousand years, about to reunite—how could they possibly remain calm and peaceful?" Heavenly Sound Divine Mother said.
Guye Yunliu said, "So-called emotions are nothing but a burden to cultivation. If the heart is not focused, achievements will be limited. I don't think highly of his ability to step into the ranks of Divine Venerables in the future. Your expectations of him are too high."
Heavenly Sound Divine Mother smiled. "Your Guye Clan advocates severing emotions and desires, viewing feelings as baggage. But for other cultivators, the seven emotions and six desires are also a form of cultivation. Moreover, Fu Lu Divine Venerable and the Great Emperor's expectations for him go beyond just becoming a Divine Venerable."
Guye Yunliu was finally moved. "So that's why you personally came to Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm to protect him. In other words, you've chosen him and plan to groom him as the future universal spokesperson for the Lower Three Clans?"
"The war between the Heavenly Court and Hell will only grow more brutal. There will surely be great upheavals in the future. The Lower Three Clans are mostly living beings—once the Heavenly Court falls, who can predict how things will develop?"
"The Lower Three Clans must have a universal spokesperson who can stand firm."
"The first choice remains Xue Jue."
"However, Zhang Ruochen is also a member of the Blood Absolute Clan, so he can fully serve as the second backup option," Heavenly Sound Divine Mother said.
Guye Yunliu sighed. "I have to say, the Blood Absolute Clan truly has an abundance of talent. Within at most two more Eons, the structure of the Undying Blood Clan's ten major tribes may be greatly transformed because of them. In the future, it's not impossible that an Ancestor-level figure might emerge, like Fengdu Dadi, who speaks for the entire Middle Three Clans with no one objecting."
...
Inside the hall.
Mu Lingxi had already met with Zhang Ruochen, and the two embraced.
From the moment she stepped into the hall, Mu Lingxi had been in a daze, her mind blank, her body unable to react, letting Zhang Ruochen hold her in his arms.
"Let's go, we should step out first."
Luo Sha pulled Guye Jing along, then called out to the other Rakshasa Clan cultivators in the hall, and they all withdrew.
Leaving the two of them alone, with space and time to themselves.
"How can you be so magnanimous? The one inside is your fiancé," Guye Jing said, feeling it was unfair to Luo Sha, her tone carrying resentment.
Luo Sha smiled faintly, then sighed softly. "What would you have me do? Forcibly separate them? Or kill Mu Lingxi?"
"With your status, talent, and beauty, you could find any man you want. Why must you..." Guye Jing said.
Luo Sha said, "There's no other Zhang Ruochen to be found. Actually, I know that the woman he cares about most in his heart is not me."
She was silent for a long time before speaking again. "But so what? As long as I can tolerate the women he cares about, then I will inevitably become the one he needs most. As long as he's happy, I'm actually quite happy too."
Having said this, Luo Sha quickly walked away.
Of course, she couldn't truly be that magnanimous.
But she knew she couldn't change Zhang Ruochen, nor could she change the fact that she loved Zhang Ruochen. So she had to force herself to learn to stand in Zhang Ruochen's shoes, loving what he loved, hating what he hated.
She was betrothed by a Divine Venerable, and she was a princess of the Heavenly Luo Divine Kingdom. In the future, she would inevitably be the primary wife.
A primary wife must have the bearing of a primary wife.
Even if she didn't have it now, she had to learn to acquire it.
Inside the hall, candlelight cast flickering shadows.
Mu Lingxi nestled in Zhang Ruochen's arms. The two recounted the bits and pieces of the past thousand years, sometimes laughing, sometimes crying, pouring out all their longing and emotions to each other.
Zhang Ruochen kept wiping away the teardrops on her crystalline face, telling her that from now on, he would never let her worry or suffer like this again, and they would never be separated again.
A thousand years—Zhang Ruochen had lost so much, and he didn't want to lose Mu Lingxi.
A thousand years—Mu Lingxi had lived in hatred, sustained by the belief of avenging Xiu Chen Heavenly God. She had lived very tiredly, not happy at all.
The warmth and sweetness of this moment surpassed everything from the past thousand years combined.
"So, I should actually thank Xiu Chen?" Zhang Ruochen held Mu Lingxi's snow-white, saint-light-radiant face in both hands, gazing at her intently, as if he could never look enough.
Mu Lingxi didn't resist, pouting. "Why thank it? If anyone deserves thanks, it's Sister Luo Sha. She always believed you were still alive, so I always held onto a sliver of hope."
"Luo Sha..."
Zhang Ruochen then realized that Luo Sha and the cultivators of Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm had already withdrawn from the hall. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
After all, Luo Sha was his fiancée.
Yet it was Luo Sha who had accompanied him to Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm to see Mu Lingxi. A strong sense of guilt welled up in Zhang Ruochen's heart.
How could Mu Lingxi not see what Zhang Ruochen was thinking? She said softly, "Why don't you go see her? I can tell that Sister Luo Sha truly loves you, and she has been very kind to me."
Zhang Ruochen gently shook his head, not leaving.
After who knows how long, Zhang Ruochen and Mu Lingxi finally walked out of the hall. They didn't see Guye Jing or Luo Sha, only Cen Hong waiting outside.
Cen Hong smiled. "Young Master Ruochen, the Master has prepared a divine banquet, waiting for the two of you to take your seats."
"A divine banquet!"
Mu Lingxi was surprised.
Only when a god visited the Nine Demon Caverns would a divine banquet be arranged. Zhang Ruochen clearly hadn't reached the Divine Realm—why would he receive such a level of reception?
When the two arrived at the banquet, they finally understood what was going on.
It turned out that Heavenly Sound Divine Mother had also come to the Nine Demon Caverns.
Zhang Ruochen cast a grateful glance at Luo Sha, thinking she had asked her mother to come to Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm to protect him.
Besides Guye Yunliu and Heavenly Sound Divine Mother, all the Great Saints of the Nine Demon Caverns attended the divine banquet.
Just as the banquet was about to begin.
"Whoosh!"
Outside the hall, a bright light appeared, tearing through the darkness.
On the southeastern horizon, a demonic sun rose.
Earth Mother, with her white hair, stepped out from the demonic sun, her aura surging powerfully as she walked slowly toward the divine hall.
In an instant, she had arrived outside the hall, at the entrance.
"Greetings, Earth Mother."
All the Great Saints bowed, their faces nearly touching the ground.
Hearing the words "Earth Mother," how could Zhang Ruochen not know who had arrived? This was the master of Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm, a terrifying existence of the highest order in Hell Realm. Not daring to look directly at her, he followed suit and bowed.
Heavenly Sound Divine Mother and Guye Yunliu exchanged glances and stood up.
After all, they had only survived one Eon Calamity. Compared to Earth Mother, an ancient powerhouse who had lived since antiquity, they still had a great gap to close.
"Everyone, sit down! This old one has emerged from seclusion mainly to see what the Mortal World Myth, who unites ten thousand ages into one, actually looks like."
Earth Mother's gaze swept around the hall, finally settling on Zhang Ruochen.
Her eyes were aged and murky, yet Zhang Ruochen felt as if all his clothes had been stripped away, with no secrets left hidden. Naturally, his heart was quite uneasy. Some secrets he was worried might be exposed.
Of course, his face showed no trace of any fluctuation.