# Chapter 3000: Unexpected Clue
"Father! Please spare us, your daughter already knows her mistake."
Yan Hanyu knelt as she moved forward, her hands reaching for the holy spear that pierced Mo Cuo's chest. But the moment she touched the holy spear, a powerful wave of energy erupted, sending her flying more than ten zhang away, like a scarecrow crashing to the ground.
Yan Wen was merciless and cold, saying, "Shameless wretch, spare you? Who will spare us? Who will spare Heavenly Beginning Civilization?"
"Sizzle sizzle!"
Flames in the form of divine flowers emanated from the holy spear, refining Mo Cuo's undying sacred body.
"Ah!"
Mo Cuo could no longer endure the pain that pierced into his very soul. He bit through his teeth and let out a hoarse scream.
Then, trembling, he said, "Don't... don't beg them... when I came here... I never thought I'd leave alive... Living together is certainly something to cherish... but dying together is also a beautiful vow, isn't it?"
When he saw Yan Hanyu's cultivation crippled, living miserably like a prisoner, and himself powerless to do anything, dying together had become the most beautiful thing Mo Cuo could imagine.
He believed Yan Hanyu was willing.
Luo Mingshu was Yan Hanyu's mother, dressed in a Daoist robe, holding a horsetail whisk, sacred radiance flowing around her body. She silently watched this pair of devoted lovers before her. For a moment, her heart softened, and she wanted to spare them, even let them go.
But she understood she could not make such a decision, nor did she have the power to protect them.
Even if she made such a decision, they would not be able to leave Heavenly Beginning Civilization.
"Fine, I'll grant your wish!"
Yan Wen's arm gripping the holy spear twisted violently, and immediately, dense cracks appeared on Mo Cuo's undying sacred body, sacred blood flowing even faster!
Yan Hanyu cast one last look at Luo Mingshu, placing her hope in the mother who had always cared for her, her eyes filled with endless longing and pleading.
But what she saw was only her mother's helpless face, eyes already closed, as if afraid to meet her gaze.
Her last hope shattered. Yan Hanyu seemed as if she had already died. She stopped crying, her eyes turning cold. Slowly, she supported her frail body and stood up from the ground.
"Clank!"
"Clank!"
...
Dragging the chains on her body, step by step, she walked toward Yan Wen and Mo Cuo, reciting, "Dying together is indeed the most beautiful vow in the world! It's just a pity that this vow has come too early. But it doesn't matter—I knew this day would come sooner or later..."
She grabbed the holy spear in Yan Wen's hand and said, "Father, why do you need to do the killing? Let us do it ourselves!"
This time, Yan Wen couldn't bear to send her flying again. He was shaken by the coldness on her face and stepped back two paces.
As a father, was he truly cold-blooded and heartless?
It wasn't Yan Wen who wanted to kill Yan Hanyu and Mo Cuo—it was the rules of this universe, the pressure of Heavenly Court and Hell, the will of all beings in the world.
Although Yan Hanyu's cultivation was crippled, she still possessed a Great Saint-level physical body. She pulled the holy spear from Mo Cuo's body, crouched down, and embraced him.
Yan Hanyu touched the wound on Mo Cuo's chest and said, "Coming to Heavenly Beginning Civilization was really foolish of you."
"And you, returning to Heavenly Beginning Civilization—wasn't that just as foolish?" A difficult smile appeared on Mo Cuo's face.
Yan Hanyu said, "But I'm very happy."
"So am I."
Mo Cuo circulated the sacred qi within his body, directing it toward his sacred source.
Yan Wen and Luo Mingshu were both at the Half-God realm and could mobilize the formations within the city lord's mansion, so they naturally weren't afraid of Mo Cuo self-destructing his sacred source. Their hearts ached, but they were helpless.
"Hua!"
A brilliant divine light bloomed above their heads, suppressing the sacred qi within Mo Cuo's body.
A melodious divine voice followed: "If you cripple your own cultivation, this god can spare both your lives."
Yan Wen and Luo Mingshu were greatly shocked and quickly bowed toward where the divine light had appeared, saying, "We pay homage to Mother Goddess!"
They were both delighted and alarmed. Delighted that Qing Shen had appeared, giving their daughter a chance at life. Alarmed that Qing Shen had never liked interfering in worldly affairs, yet today she was going against the will of the world to save two cultivators whom all of Heavenly Beginning Civilization wanted dead.
But Qing Shen had reason to intervene—she was Luo Mingshu's biological mother and Yan Hanyu's maternal grandmother.
Yan Hanyu's cold, hollow eyes gradually regained their luster, like the sun slowly rising in winter. She wept with joy, kneeling toward where the divine light had appeared, and said tearfully, "Thank you, thank you, divine one, thank you, grandmother..."
Qing Shen's voice sounded again: "Are you willing to cripple your cultivation? From now on, live in obscurity with Hanyu, go to a place where no one knows you. This god will announce to the outside world that you have been executed."
Mo Cuo supported his injured body and stood up. He glanced at Yan Hanyu, then bowed to Qing Shen.
"Slap!"
Shura fiendish qi surged within him, and the sound of his sacred source shattering came from inside his body. Instantly, his skin turned deathly pale, and he nearly collapsed to the ground.
A moment later, Yan Hanyu supported the severely injured Mo Cuo as they walked into the great hall and knelt before Qing Shen.
"Clatter!" The sound of breaking chains rang out. Yan Hanyu looked down and saw the chains on her body severed by a divine light.
Then, a vast life force surged into both her and Mo Cuo's bodies. Their pained and exhausted bodies felt like a desert being watered by a spiritual spring—instantly becoming relaxed, comfortable, and full of vitality, as if they had never been injured.
They looked up and saw a young man dressed in a Daoist robe sitting on the throne.
Mo Cuo exclaimed in surprise, "It's you, Zhang Ruochen—no, it's Ruochen Realm Lord..."
"Thank you, Realm Lord Ruochen, for healing us."
Although the two were shocked and filled with countless questions, given their current status, they dared not ask.
Zhang Ruochen was no longer the Great Saint targeted by various Hell Realm factions on the Heaven Hunting Battlefield. He had become a realm lord whose name shook the world, a divine envoy of the Heavenly Mother.
He could even sit as an equal with great gods.
Zhang Ruochen smiled and said, "Rise. From now on, the two of you will follow me! Although you have lost your cultivation, you no longer have to involve yourselves in the rights and wrongs of Heavenly Court and Hell. You can stay together with the one you love. I am truly envious."
Qing Shen stood within the divine mist, silent.
She truly couldn't see through Zhang Ruochen. Why would he, as a god, save two cultivators completely unrelated to him?
To most gods, those below the divine realm were nothing but ants.
Even their own children—except for the most outstanding few—were no different from ants.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze fixed on Mo Cuo, and his heart stirred slightly. He asked, "You entered Heavenly Beginning Civilization with the Shura clan army, didn't you?"
"That's correct," Mo Cuo said.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Have all the Shura clan gods left Heavenly Beginning Civilization? Or rather, have you noticed anything strange?"
Since the Death clan's heavenly god priest and the Rakshasa clan's gods had gone into hiding, Zhang Ruochen suspected that other major Hell Realm clans might also have gods participating in tonight's events.
But he didn't hold much hope—after all, with Mo Cuo's Great Saint realm cultivation, he couldn't possibly know such secrets, and it would be difficult for him to have contact with gods.
"Matters of the gods, Mo Cuo does not know," Mo Cuo said.
Zhang Ruochen exchanged a disappointed glance with Qing Shen.
Then Mo Cuo suddenly remembered something and said, "However... on my way rushing to Doushuai City, in a sea region, I sensed residual divine aura from a Shura clan god. My sensing ability has always been strong—I can detect many clues from subtle details."
"Just residual divine aura from a Shura clan god. When the Hell Realm army invaded Heavenly Beginning Civilization, spatial rifts were everywhere," Zhang Ruochen said.
Mo Cuo said, "Besides the Shura clan god's aura, there was also the aura of a Heavenly Court god. The aura was very faint—it should have been deliberately erased—but some of it had merged into the water and remained."
Qing Shen's expression shifted dramatically, and she quickly asked, "Which Heavenly Court god's aura?"
Mo Cuo shook his head, indicating he didn't know, and said, "I only smelled a faint fragrance of peach blossoms!"
"Peach blossoms?"
Zhang Ruochen's eyes lit up, and he said, "Someone from the Heaven-Slaying Organization?"
Qing Shen said, "Impossible! If a god from the Heaven-Slaying Organization had come to Doushuai City, with my clan's control over Heavenly Beginning Civilization, we couldn't have received no news at all. Unless he was like you, with someone above the ninetieth level of spiritual power helping him. But how could that be possible?"
Zhang Ruochen's face darkened deeply, and he said, "There's another god who also has some connection to peach blossoms."
"You mean..."
Qing Shen had already thought of that god, and her expression changed drastically, because that god was currently at the Fire Seed Assembly venue.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Lan Jun of the Jie Realm. Legend says his true form is a peach mountain."
"I'll go see Jin Cheng immediately and have him use the divine formation to suppress Lan Jun. Even if we're wrong, we can't let Lan Jun and the Hell Realm gods destroy the Fire Seed Assembly. The consequences of this are too severe—no one knows what destructive methods the Hell Realm gods have brought."
Zhang Ruochen stopped Qing Shen and said, "Right now, we're only speculating about Lan Jun based on the peach blossom fragrance. No one knows if he really had contact with the Shura clan god. Suppressing him directly would not only easily provoke public outrage but also alert the enemy. There might not be only one god at the Fire Seed Assembly who has secretly sided with Hell Realm."
"What wise suggestion does City Lord Zhang have?" Qing Shen was very anxious, unwilling to wait even a moment.
Zhang Ruochen said, "I'll test him!"
"How? What if you're exposed?" Qing Shen asked.
Zhang Ruochen put on the face that Tai Shang had painted, transforming into the Yellow Ox Daoist, and said, "I don't think anyone at the Fire Seed Assembly can see through my true identity. Yiman, I need all the information about Lan Jun from the moment he first gained sentience. How fast can you get it to me?"
"The Realm Lord's wife had already anticipated that the Realm Lord would use the Goddess Twelve Pavilions' intelligence network. My subordinates have already compiled information on all the gods who came to Heavenly Beginning Civilization."
"This is Lan Jun's!"
Yiman took out a jade book and presented it with both hands to Zhang Ruochen.
...
Today's second chapter will be updated in the evening.