Chapter 2809: Heavenly Mother
The seventy-two Demon God Stone Pillars towered into the clouds, exuding overwhelming demonic might, each statue striking awe into the heart.
The yellow stone ancient well was covered in cracks, mottled and weathered.
Above the well, the Udumbara flowers bloomed, their fragrance filling the air, petals crystal clear and refreshing, illuminating the world shrouded in demonic qi, brimming with surging life force.
...
Zhang Ruochen and Gu She Huanhuan stood by the well, exchanging many words, their gazes often drifting toward the distant figure of the woman in red with white hair—solitary and transcendent. Their eyes grew increasingly shocked and reverent.
It was now certain that what lay before them was no illusion.
Zhang Ruochen stepped forward, steadying his turbulent emotions, and bowed respectfully. "Greetings, Senior Heavenly Mother."
The figure before him was a true legendary being, one who had vanished for endless ages, absent from the Hell Realm for hundreds of thousands of years. If not for her presence here, how could Gu She Huanhuan have ever reached this place?
Even the master of the Rakshasa Clan's most fearsome forbidden ground, the Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm—Di Mu—was merely her disciple.
The Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm dared to call itself the Rakshasa Clan's foremost perilous land, and for so many years, no one had dared provoke it, precisely because of this figure's existence. As long as she remained, no one would lightly set foot within its borders.
Heavenly Mother stood beneath the seventy-second Demon God Stone Pillar, her face still youthful, yet her white hair fluttered in the wind. She turned her head to glance at Zhang Ruochen.
Her eyes were bright.
Yet her gaze was vast as the ocean, having long experienced the myriad facets of life, the joys and sorrows of the world.
She stared at Zhang Ruochen for a long time, as if recalling distant memories. "The Udumbara flowers are not yet mature. I will not allow you to take them away."
Zhang Ruochen said, "I did not come to the Abyss of Darkness for the Udumbara flowers. I only seek to find the Mani Pearl, or Yinyue Tian, to break the curse upon me. I beg you, Senior, to show me the way!"
Gu She Huanhuan joined in the plea, her voice sweet and obedient. "Ancestor, you possess great divine power and are the guardian of the Ancient Desolate Ruins City. Surely you can help him, right?"
The secrets within Zhang Ruochen had clearly long been seen through by Heavenly Mother.
Her voice carried endless desolation. "Yinyue Tian went to the Great Dark Mountain many years ago and is no longer in the Ancient Desolate Ruins City. As for the Mani Pearl, its entanglements run far deeper. I am powerless to help."
Gu She Huanhuan quickly pressed, "Ancestor, is there any way to break the curse on him? Please, look how pitiful he is."
Zhang Ruochen wore an awkward expression.
When had he ever been pitiful?
"There is no way."
Heavenly Mother shook her head. "He bears the auras of many powerful beings. If Yinyue Tian's Severing Dao Curse were so easily broken, he would not have come to the Abyss of Darkness."
Gu She Huanhuan's face darkened considerably. Even Heavenly Mother had spoken such words, proving that the *Divine Reserve Scroll* was correct—Zhang Ruochen was indeed fated never to become a god.
It was all destiny!
"If the only chance to break the curse lies in going to the Great Dark Mountain, then I will go," Zhang Ruochen said.
Heavenly Mother's tone turned colder, carrying a note of warning. "Do you know what kind of place the Great Dark Mountain is? Since ancient times, countless heavenly-level beings have gone there and never returned. With your cultivation, you wouldn't even reach it; you would die halfway."
Zhang Ruochen's gaze was deep and restrained, unafraid, unwilling to retreat. "If I cannot step into the divine realm, there are many things I cannot do. I will fail the expectations of many, and I will invite the vengeance of past enemies. What difference is that from death?"
Heavenly Mother paced forward, taking dozens of steps before suddenly speaking. "You and I share some connection. I can grant you a divine decree. After you leave the Abyss of Darkness, simply unfurl the decree, and the gods of the Heavenly Court and Hell will receive my command. Then, no one will trouble you anymore."
This was not protection—it was a decree.
Such boldness, such will—like Hao Tian to the Heavenly Court, Luo Yan Great Emperor to the Rakshasa Clan, or Yunshen Daozhu to the Kunlun Realm. Yet her will was directed at all the gods of both the Heavenly Court and Hell.
Zhang Ruochen believed that Heavenly Mother possessed such power.
After all, no deity in the Hell Realm wished to provoke her. If the Heavenly Court knew she still lived, they too would not want to rouse her from seclusion—it would only add fuel to the fire.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Does Heavenly Mother wish for me to live a mediocre life, to cease pursuing the Great Dao?"
"Struck by the Severing Dao Curse, this is your only choice," Heavenly Mother said.
Zhang Ruochen let out a self-mocking laugh, yet his tone was resolute. "What if I still want to fight?"
"Fighting means you might die," Heavenly Mother said.
"Everyone dies eventually."
Zhang Ruochen continued, "In truth, I once thought of giving up the pursuit of the divine path, of no longer involving myself in the world's conflicts. I only wanted to live a leisurely life with those I love and my friends—carefree and content. But I realized that was a luxury. When the heavens and earth turn upside down, the entire universe becomes a battlefield. Where is there a place for leisure?"
"Without powerful cultivation, I wouldn't even have the right to choose. How could I protect myself, protect those around me, or live freely and contentedly?"
"I must cultivate. I must grow stronger—stronger than everyone."
Heavenly Mother said, "Very well. Since you have rejected my kindness, the challenges and slaughter ahead are yours to face alone. There will be no divine decree."
With that, she walked forward.
Gu She Huanhuan stamped her foot in frustration. "You're already barely holding your ground in the Hell Realm, and you still care so much about face? With one divine decree from the Ancestor, even the Destiny Temple and Darkness Temple would stop targeting you. Even if you want to save face, you should have taken the decree first!"
Zhang Ruochen said, "Would holding the decree force the Nether Hall to lift the curse?"
"The Nether Hall may not even have the power to lift the curse. Besides, does the Nether Hall have no face to save? You need to understand—using a decree to intimidate them into not doing something is entirely different from commanding them to act according to Heavenly Mother's will," Gu She Huanhuan said.
From afar, Heavenly Mother's voice came again: "No one in the world can truly break the Severing Dao Curse. But the curse cannot sever you—have you not already become a god?"
Gu She Huanhuan said, "But he only became a god through spiritual power."
"If you can become a god through spiritual power, you can also become a god through martial arts—as long as your will is strong enough. Of course, if you can cultivate absolute physical Dao transformation, you can mobilize more power to resist the curse. In this, I can help you."
Zhang Ruochen understood. Heavenly Mother had been testing him all along, wanting to gauge his resolve.
If he had wavered, she would not only have refused to help him cultivate absolute physical Dao transformation—she might not have even given him the decree.
For beings of Heavenly Mother's level, those they deemed worthy would receive their full aid. Those they deemed unworthy would not even warrant a second glance.
The so-called "Supreme Realm" referred to a cultivator's physical body merging with their sacred Dao rules to cultivate a Supreme Dharma Body.
One sacred Dao rule fused with one physical particle.
A human body is composed of roughly sixty trillion particles—some may have only fifty-five trillion or fewer, others sixty-five trillion or more.
Absolute physical Dao transformation means that every particle in the body fuses with a sacred Dao rule. This is the most ideal state of the Supreme Realm, an unattainable goal.
Thus, absolute physical Dao transformation has no fixed number of sacred Dao rules.
But once achieved, the physical body's strength could even surpass that of a lower-rank true god's divine body.
With such a body, combined with unwavering spiritual will, one could face the tribulation—even under the Severing Dao Curse—and have a chance to survive the divine tribulation.
Zhang Ruochen was already very close to absolute physical Dao transformation, but after many attempts, he had failed each time.
Among the three great demonic sources, the Demon Ancestor lineage was renowned throughout the ages for cultivating demonic bodies and physical forms.
If anyone in the world could help Zhang Ruochen achieve absolute physical Dao transformation, it could only be Heavenly Mother.
Unfortunately, after leaving those words, Heavenly Mother vanished without a trace, leaving no instruction on how she would help Zhang Ruochen.
After waiting for a long time, Zhang Ruochen finally couldn't hold back. "Where has Senior Heavenly Mother gone?"
Gu She Huanhuan shook her head. "I only arrived recently myself. Who knows if this ancestor has already forgotten about helping you?"
Then, looking at the seventy-two Demon God Stone Pillars, she clenched her fists and speculated, "Do you think the ancestor wants you to comprehend it yourself? She once told me that these seventy-two Demon God Stone Pillars are extraordinary and that I should grasp their mysteries. Perhaps the secret to cultivating absolute physical Dao transformation lies within them."
"Is that so? I feel like you just want me to help you comprehend them," Zhang Ruochen said.
Suddenly, Gu She Huanhuan's face turned cold, and she snorted. "My comprehension is no weaker than yours. Why would I need your help?"
With that, she flicked her sleeves and walked away, sitting cross-legged beneath one of the Demon God Stone Pillars, ignoring Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen was stunned for a moment, then muttered to himself, "What changed all of a sudden?"
...
Beneath the Witch Hall, Yan Wushen stood nine zhang and six chi tall, radiant with golden light, his divine might surging into the heavens. Rings of divine power rippled beneath his feet like rolling waves.
"Boom!"
He threw a punch, striking Wujiang of the Dark Domain Heavenly Net, sending him flying sideways, spitting divine blood, his chest caved in, most of his divine bones shattered.
The suffering and humiliation of the six Yama Clan gods had driven Yan Wushen to utter fury. Abandoning all thoughts of cultivating absolute physical Dao transformation, he recklessly broke through his limits and stepped into the divine realm.
"You all must die!"
Though Yan Wushen manifested the golden body of Buddhism, his eyes were bloodshot, like an Asura of the dead, his voice low and hoarse.
Gui Si struck from ambush, unleashing a silver shuttle-shaped war weapon.
With his upper-rank god cultivation, this strike was extraordinary in both speed and power. The shuttle-shaped weapon flew, igniting the air, its sound as thunderous as a divine roar.
Yan Wushen reached out and grabbed the flying shuttle-shaped weapon, glaring at Gui Si with fury.
"Bang!"
The six-element monarch sacred artifact-level shuttle-shaped weapon was crushed in Yan Wushen's single hand. The metal fragments burned and melted into golden droplets.
"How is this possible?"
Gui Si's eyes were filled with disbelief.
...
Note 1: It is Heavenly Mother (mu), not Heavenly Mother (lao).
Note 2: The seventy-two pillar demons are not original; they originate from the demonological text *The Key of Solomon*, the seventy-two demons of Solomon.
Note 3: The three great demonic sources: Demon Ancestor, Great Demon God, Heavenly Demon. Chapter 2460 "Demonic Source" mentioned that the three great demonic sources are each different.