Chapter 3919: Meeting the Heavenly Mother
The Upper Three Clans guarded the Dark Abyss defense line, and naturally, their divine cities had been relocated here.
The Nether God City had a peculiar shape, divided into an upper and lower layer.
The lower layer was spherical—specifically, a planet—but its volume was far less exaggerated than the Stone Clan’s divine star, with a diameter of only one hundred and twenty thousand miles. Most of the city’s domain housed Saint realm cultivators.
The upper layer was ring-shaped, with an outer diameter exceeding one million miles, irregular in form, with towering mountains and steep peaks serving as the dwellings of gods. Of course, the disciples, servants, and relatives of these gods could be brought to the “upper city.”
Both layers only rotated from left to right.
When viewed from above, the Nether God City looked exactly like an eye with a tiny pupil.
The Heavenly Mother’s Witch Palace was located in the upper city.
Zhang Ruochen was not seeing the Witch Palace for the first time, but he was still shaken by the ancient, weathered aura and primordial majesty it exuded, as if he were instantly transported to the desolate ancient era, where great witches roamed, roaring across mountains and rivers.
Divine stones, ten thousand times larger than mountains, were polished into pillars, and a thousand-mile-long ancestral dragon divine bone served as the beam.
“Greetings to the Heavenly Mother!”
The gods of the Undying Blood Clan all bowed to the Witch Palace.
Gu Ye Jing wore a purple-black divine robe, her hair coiled high, with divine bones carved into hairpins. There were as many as seventeen hairpins, crystal clear, like carved jade treasures.
After becoming the Heavenly Lord of Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm, compared to before, she had shed her youthful greenness, gaining a mature, steady, and grand aura.
She lacked Gu Ye Jing’s icy sharpness, nor did she have Gu Ye Huanhuan’s playful mischief.
“Imperial Dust, Blood Absolute Clan Leader, Bore Divine Venerable, follow me! The rest, wait here.”
Gu Ye Jing moved gracefully, her demeanor dignified, leading the way.
Blood Absolute War God transmitted his voice: “Regret it? After going from Heavenly Pavilion Leader to Heavenly Lord, isn’t she becoming more and more alluring? But now her status is different, and with the Heavenly Mother backing her, it won’t be so easy for you to marry her! The Heavenly Lord of Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm won’t marry out. Don’t keep staring at the back of her head—do you think she can’t feel your gaze?”
Zhang Ruochen said, “I heard that every time she kills a god, she carves one of their bones into a hairpin. I’m wondering, as she kills more and more gods, will she have enough room on her head to stick them all?”
“You…”
Blood Absolute War God was speechless but kept his expression unchanged, continuing to transmit: “Do you have any feelings for her or not? If you do, bring it up with the Heavenly Mother this time. The Heavenly Mother values you so much; she might amend the laws of Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm for you. Don’t say no—I don’t believe it. Every time you activate the Sundial, you invite her. Dare you say it’s purely platonic?”
“You’ve said both yes and no, so what’s left for me to say? What if I say I invited her just to curry favor with the Heavenly Mother? Is that acceptable?” Zhang Ruochen said.
Blood Absolute War God stopped, watching Zhang Ruochen follow Gu Ye Jing as she turned left into the hall. He took a long breath, quickly caught up, and continued in a deep voice: “I won’t meddle in Jing Heavenly Lord’s affairs! But what about your descendants in the Undying Blood Clan? Xia Yu has waited for you for so many years. Don’t you really consider it? She’s now…”
“Greetings to the Heavenly Mother.”
Gu Ye Jing, Zhang Ruochen, and Bore all bowed in unison.
Blood Absolute War God, noticing the Heavenly Mother was inside, immediately stopped his transmission and made a gesture of clasped fists in salute.
The Heavenly Mother wore a bright red robe that trailed to the ground, her white hair and jade-like skin free of any impurities, like the purest, cleanest luminous substance in the world.
In her right hand, she held a yellow-brown scroll, walking beneath a bookshelf ten feet high, searching for some text. “Here, make yourselves at home. Don’t be so formal. Zhang Ruochen, why did you only come today? I’ve been waiting for you for nine hundred years.”
“Are you referring to the black hand of the Immortal, Heavenly Mother?”
Seeing the Heavenly Mother not respond for a long time, her figure disappearing among the maze-like bookshelves, Zhang Ruochen boldly walked over, searching shelf by shelf.
The hall was silent, filled only with the sound of Zhang Ruochen’s footsteps.
Under one bookshelf, Zhang Ruochen saw the withered bones recording the “Gui Cang.”
Under another, he saw the jade slab engraved with the “He Tu.”
…
Finally, Zhang Ruochen found the Heavenly Mother.
She stood beneath a bookshelf, holding a brush, recording newly realized insights on a scroll.
At her level of cultivation, only striving for the Ancestor realm was worth such seriousness.
Zhang Ruochen said helplessly, “I wanted to come to the Dark Abyss earlier, but I was delayed in Wuchang Ghost City. I also thought about having someone bring the black hand here, but the spiritual will inside the black hand has always been a threat. I’ve been wanting to ask you to help erase it, Heavenly Mother. Yet I feared the Dark Weirdness might intercept it on the way, harming the carrier.”
“Are you blaming me for not coming to find you myself?” The Heavenly Mother was still busy with her own affairs, not looking at Zhang Ruochen.
“How would I dare, junior?” Zhang Ruochen quickly said.
The Heavenly Mother said, “Didn’t you ask Lady Shiji to refine it either?”
“Lady Shiji didn’t bring it up. I was afraid… afraid she didn’t want to take on this karmic burden. After all, once the spiritual will inside the black hand is refined, the Dark Weirdness will surely sense it and might strike. One-on-one…” Zhang Ruochen said.
“I understand! You think I’m also afraid of the Dark Weirdness, which is why I never came to find you. You think coming to me would definitely be met with a cold shoulder, so you never came.”
The Heavenly Mother finally looked up, fixing a serious gaze on Zhang Ruochen.
That gaze was calm and natural, but Zhang Ruochen felt as if he had been stabbed by a sword. He shook his head repeatedly, then summoned the black hand.
“Too late!”
The Heavenly Mother sighed softly: “My true body has already gone to the Soul Realm Star Domain. With only a clone, I cannot refine the spiritual will within the Immortal’s palm.”
Zhang Ruochen was greatly shocked.
He thought that with his current spiritual power and cultivation, he could already look down on the universe, yet he couldn’t even see through a clone of the Heavenly Mother.
Truly, any casual move by a Half-Ancestor was astonishing and world-shaking.
Zhang Ruochen put the black hand away again and said, “I’m very curious—why hasn’t the Dark Weirdness attacked me to seize the palm? Doesn’t it want to quickly restore its strength?”
The Heavenly Mother gave Zhang Ruochen a strange look, ignored him, and walked away from the other end of the bookshelf.
“I’ve made seven revisions to the ‘Dead Spirit Diagram’ cultivation method. Take it and keep it well, to pass down to future generations.”
After handing the scroll to Gu Ye Jing, the Heavenly Mother said, “Have you figured it out?”
Zhang Ruochen, who had come out a step later, said uncertainly, “Is it because of the twelve stone men?”
“You only understand now? Zhang Ruochen, I overestimated you.” The Heavenly Mother said.
Zhang Ruochen smiled bitterly: “Everyone can be blinded by a single leaf! Besides, these twelve stone men are the twelve old clan emperors of the twelve ancient clans, still sealed within the stones and not truly awakened. I’m not sure if they will revive the next time the Dark Weirdness strikes. What if last time was just a coincidence?”
“Would something left by the Great Venerable be a coincidence?” The Heavenly Mother said.
Zhang Ruochen said, “So, you mean I can release the twelve stone men and use them to deal with the Dark Weirdness?”
“That’s your affair. Whatever decision you make, you must bear the consequences yourself.” The Heavenly Mother said.
Zhang Ruochen’s smile grew even more bitter: “You are a Half-Ancestor, someone who has lived through that era. I am just a junior. Isn’t it unfair to let a junior make decisions and bear responsibilities?”
Zhang Ruochen added, “At least you should tell me what you know, so I can make the right judgment.”
“What I know is not more than what you know.” The Heavenly Mother said.
Zhang Ruochen sighed: “Fine! I knew that even a Half-Ancestor wouldn’t want to get entangled in too much karma. It was right not to bring the black hand to visit you earlier.”
“How dare you speak to the Heavenly Mother like that? Just because you’re sealed as Imperial Dust, you’ve become so arrogant? A Half-Ancestor could crush you with a single finger.” Blood Absolute War God scolded angrily.
The Heavenly Mother’s slender jade hand reached into the void, and the “He Tu” jade slab flew into her palm. She said, “This ‘He Tu’ I borrowed from Feng Caiyi. It is profound and boundless, full of mystery. Take it.”
“Just return it to her, Heavenly Mother. Why give it to me?” Zhang Ruochen said, looking somewhat reluctant.
“It contains three of my divine abilities, equivalent to three full-powered strikes from a Half-Ancestor. If the twelve stone men prove unreliable, rely on this. Don’t keep looking like everyone owes you something. You carry great fortune, so you must bear great karma. To cultivate the Ancestor realm, you must first be more magnanimous.” The Heavenly Mother said.
Zhang Ruochen immediately put away the “He Tu” and bowed: “What the Heavenly Mother says is true. Ruochen will remember it.”
Indeed, only crying children get candy.
Blood Absolute War God recounted the events encountered on the way and asked, “The Heavenly Mother guards the Dark Abyss defense line. Do you have any suspects?”
The Heavenly Mother said, “So it has leaked after all.”
“Did the Heavenly Mother deliberately leak it?” Zhang Ruochen said.
The Heavenly Mother said, “The fact that three Half-Ancestors entered the Nether Prison couldn’t be hidden for long. Why not use this news to eliminate the internal hidden dangers?”
“Who is it?”
Blood Absolute War God’s eyes flashed with cold light.
The Heavenly Mother said, “Wen Zhiren.”
Before Zhang Ruochen, Bore, and Gu Ye Jing could react, Blood Absolute War God blurted out: “The Nether Hall Hall Master.”
Very few cultivators knew the Nether Hall Hall Master’s real name.
The Heavenly Mother said, “Zhang Ruochen, you have a grudge with him. Go and settle it.”
“That grudge between us is nothing.” Zhang Ruochen didn’t want to reveal the secret of his arrival at the Dark Abyss so soon; he had further plans.
The Heavenly Mother said, “Then what about Qing Cang?”
Zhang Ruochen was momentarily stunned, pondering why the Heavenly Mother asked this.
Before he could ask, the Heavenly Mother spoke first: “With Lady Shiji’s help, Qing Cang’s spiritual power has reached the ninety-third level. Do not underestimate the cultivators of the world. Though the three Half-Ancestor strikes are powerful, your opponent may not give you the chance to use them.”
Zhang Ruochen understood and said, “Rest assured, Heavenly Mother. During your time in the Nether Prison, I will prioritize the greater situation. Personal grudges can wait until later. However, if Qing Cang strikes first…”
“If he strikes first, Lady Shiji will teach him a lesson.” The Heavenly Mother said.
Zhang Ruochen vaguely sensed that the relationship between Lady Shiji and the Heavenly Mother was not harmonious, and they were avoiding conflict. Thinking about it, one mountain cannot hold two tigers, especially two tigresses.
Zhang Ruochen only hoped their differences were ideological, not a struggle for power.
“I wish to borrow the ‘Luo Shu’ and am informing you in advance. If there’s nothing else, you may withdraw. What Lady Shiji mentioned to you, I won’t bring up again.” The Heavenly Mother turned and walked back toward the bookshelf.
She said she wouldn’t bring it up, but wasn’t that exactly what she just did?
Zhang Ruochen grumbled inwardly, then asked, “Heavenly Mother, don’t go yet. I have one more matter. I wish to enter Chao Tian Que. Do you have any advice for me?”
(End of Chapter)