Chapter 3980: Fifty Thousand Years Later
After fighting with Jie Tian, Zhang Ruochen instead became completely calm. When he returned to Chenxin Haoyue Hall, the Moon God had already left. Only Wu Yue sat alone by the palanquin bed, her gaze calm, as if waiting for Zhang Ruochen's judgment.
"Tap, tap!"
Footsteps echoed through the hall.
As Zhang Ruochen walked past, the lamp candles on the pillars flickered.
But a long time passed, and the anticipated storm never came. Wu Yue slightly raised her eyes and found Zhang Ruochen sitting on the steps below.
This kind of calm was suffocating.
"Why?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
A self-mocking smile appeared on Wu Yue's face: "I wanted a child! But I am a Ghost Clan member. Even if I eventually transform into a Death Clan member, the probability of me being able to conceive on my own is extremely slim."
Zhang Ruochen looked at her with an incredulous expression: "Just because of that? But even if you had a child, it would be the Moon God's."
Wu Yue shook her head: "The Moon God is pure and chaste. For hundreds of thousands of years, she has been the first goddess that cultivators across the universe delight in discussing. If you married her, it would bring nothing but harm to the Sword Realm. She should forever remain untouched by worldly affairs, pure and flawless, so she can serve as a banner for the Sword Realm, attracting successive waves of outstanding heroes to come and pledge allegiance."
Zhang Ruochen shook his head and laughed: "So, if the Moon God had a child, you would have to raise it?"
Wu Yue said: "Last night, the Moon God and I merged our souls, intending to refine and absorb the Tianlan Divine Pill. Although I am a ghost body transformed into soul, I was always there. The child was also partly mine."
"Why are you so fixated on this? With your personality, you shouldn't be like this," Zhang Ruochen sighed.
Wu Yue said: "Because I don't want to be ridiculed, forever unable to compete for the position of Empress. I was the first woman you married; the gods of the Hell Realm can testify to that. Also, because... I want to live..."
Her eyes became moist as never before: "Fengyun Ba died by my hand. Besides the Wind Clan, among the cultivators under the Sword Realm's banner now, those who want me dead are everywhere. Have you, Emperor Chen, never thought about this? A floating duckweed without roots, without support—that is my situation!"
"Since you married me, I will naturally protect you," Zhang Ruochen said.
He gazed intently at her, finding it hard to imagine that Wu Yue, who had once been ruthless, decisive, cold, and strategic, could become so anxious and insecure.
"What if you're not here?"
Wu Yue continued: "People like Hao Tian, Tian Mu, and Candeng Master—who knows how long a battle of divine techniques will take, or if they can even return? Who can protect me? But if I have a child, they will naturally have to show some restraint."
"Zhang Ruochen, let me ask you. If one day you return from a distant place and find that I have been killed by Feng Yan, what would you do?"
Her eyes were full of expectation, staring straight at Zhang Ruochen.
"I..."
Zhang Ruochen sank into deep thought.
After all the laughter and indulgence, he still had to face the interrogation of reality, and the bloody old wounds would be peeled open layer by layer.
Wu Yue said: "You wouldn't avenge me, because he was taking revenge. Avenging his father is only natural. But at that time, the two sides were already hostile, and you and I didn't have the marital bond we have now. Was I wrong to do that? If I remember correctly, Fengyun Ba was also hunting you at that time, wasn't he?"
Zhang Ruochen wanted to say "Feng Yan wouldn't do that," but that was entirely his own wishful thinking. Didn't Feng Yan also have pain in his heart?
Some things were wrong from the very beginning!
Wu Yue lowered her head and murmured: "If I had a child, would they spare me?"
Seeing her so sorrowful, worried, and pitiful, although he knew she was highly intelligent and might be putting on an act, most of his anger subsided. "But you shouldn't have schemed against the Moon God! She has shown me great kindness and has always been an outsider."
Wu Yue's eyes were slightly strange: "How does Emperor Chen know that the Moon God was completely unwilling?"
"What do you mean?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Wu Yue said: "Because I know her worries, and she knows mine."
Zhang Ruochen said: "What is she worried about?"
Wu Yue said: "How should the Moon Tribe be passed down? If she grows old and dies alone, the Moon Tribe's lineage will be cut off."
Zhang Ruochen naturally knew that the Moon Tribe of the Holy Clan once had an ancient Moon God who sacrificed the entire Moon Tribe's people to live a seventh life.
Only a few people escaped to Guanghan Realm.
But to this day, only the Moon God remains alive.
Wu Yue said: "Hao Tian once tried to matchmake her with Bian Zhuang War God, but it failed. I once asked her jokingly, what do you think of Zhang Ruochen? Guess what she said?"
Zhang Ruochen's heart actually rose with unprecedented curiosity: "What did she say?"
Wu Yue imitated the Moon God's tone and demeanor, quite cold and disdainful: "Just a child who will never grow up!"
Zhang Ruochen frowned with the most serious expression, a hint of unwillingness in his eyes.
Wu Yue said: "Of course, this was after my first soul fusion with her. At that time, you hadn't yet reached the Infinite Realm. To be honest, even I felt that you weren't mature enough back then. You were already fighting against the Quantity Organization, deciding the fate of trillions of living beings, yet you could still mess around with Xue Tu and Xiao Hei. You liked to make random promises to others, and you liked to meddle in matters that weren't your concern. You had no complete plan or careful thinking for the future."
Zhang Ruochen thought back to when the Moon God had carved divine patterns all over his body.
Perhaps at that time, the Moon God completely regarded him as a child, so she had no reservations.
Wu Yue said: "But it's different now. Even Yunshen Daozhu and Wen Tianjun can safely entrust the entire Wuding Divine Sea to you. Your cultivation has long reached Indestructible Infinite, allowing you to contend with Heavenly Venerable-level beings. Even someone like Qishier Pin Lian, who is skilled in scheming, was defeated by you in this round of planning and battle."
"Emperor Chen, when the Moon God didn't explicitly reject my question back then but answered that way, wasn't she waiting for you to become strong and mature before considering it?"
Zhang Ruochen naturally wouldn't believe Wu Yue's one-sided account and planned to go to Guanghan Realm.
Suddenly thinking of something, he questioned: "Hao Tian once tried to matchmake Bian Zhuang War God and the Moon God? What kind of person is Hao Tian? Why would he meddle to this extent?"
"Because Hao Tian hopes the Moon Tribe can continue," Wu Yue said.
Knowing that Zhang Ruochen had doubts in his heart, Wu Yue continued: "Hao Tian vaguely told the Moon God that this matter concerns the survival of the universe."
Zhang Ruochen thought that even if Wu Yue were fabricating lies, she shouldn't be this absurd.
But he still waited for her to continue.
Wu Yue said: "The Moon God speculated that this matter is related to the Holy Clan's ancestor, Truth Great Emperor. At the same time, it has a great connection with the Wu Cauldron!"
Zhang Ruochen suddenly recalled some things in his mind: "Could the Wu Cauldron be used to summon the power of Truth Great Emperor?"
Back then, in the ruins of the Heavenly Venerable Divine Temple on Xinghuantian, the Moon God held the Wu Cauldron at the relic site where the ancient Moon God had refined the Moon Tribe's people, communicating with the power of the ancient Wu Ancestor, thus achieving a rapid breakthrough in cultivation.
At that time, the Moon God had told him that according to legend, the Wu Cauldron among the Nine Cauldrons could channel the power of the Nine Great Wu Ancestors, connecting the past and present.
Of course, that was just a legend.
What the Moon God truly felt at that time was that after activating the Wu Cauldron, the Wu Dao rules of heaven and earth were awakened, the rules of heaven and earth were changed, summoning the mysterious power of the Wu Dao, and also sensing a powerful aura from the depths of time and space.
At that time, Zhang Ruochen hadn't taken any of this seriously, but his recent experiences and observations had led him to a bold speculation.
If the Truth Great Emperor, whose identity had always been uncertain, was one of the Nine Great Wu Ancestors, then everything made sense!
Ten Eons ago, the Immovable Bright King Great Venerable re-refined the Wu Cauldron, perhaps precisely to break through time and space, connect the past and present, and channel some of the Nine Great Wu Ancestors to deal with the Immortal.
It was for this reason that Blood Shadow Divine Mother sensed the aura of Ancestor Yin ten Eons ago.
Because Yin had a great connection with "Huangtian Great Emperor," one of the Nine Great Wu Ancestors.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen somewhat understood why Da Guangming Ma'er had erased all information about "Chi." Because Chi was also one of the Nine Great Wu Ancestors.
Ma'er was covering up the truth, not wanting later cultivators to know that Chi was a Wu Ancestor. Or, making them think Chi was him, thus deceiving the world. At the same time, he didn't want later cultivators to find Chi's descendants.
With this kind of interference, the identities of the Nine Great Wu Ancestors remained undetermined to this day.
Zhang Ruochen's thoughts raced rapidly, but there were still a few things he couldn't figure out.
For example, what exactly was going on with Yao Zu Ling, Long Chao, and Wa Huang Gong?
Were they sent to this era from the River of Time by the Wu Ancestors?
Another example: why must the Moon Tribe be passed down? Was channeling Truth Great Emperor dependent on the Moon Tribe's descendants?
But the River of Time had already been severed. Cultivators from the past, even those as powerful as the Wu Ancestor level, could no longer come to this era!
The battle ten Eons ago had already fulfilled their mission.
"It seems it's time to go to Shen Gu Chao," Zhang Ruochen said.
This matter with Wu Yue was temporarily set aside. Zhang Ruochen was very clear that the root cause of the great mistake was himself—whether it was marrying Wu Yue back then or the problems that arose in his cultivation.
If only he could have controlled his emotions better, this wouldn't have happened.
...
Guanghan Realm, Moon God Mountain.
"Greetings, Emperor Chen."
Shang Yue and Xiao Yu bowed together to Zhang Ruochen.
"Don't stand on ceremony."
Zhang Ruochen, with a smile, was about to barge in, but was stopped by Xiao Yu, who had transformed from the Imperial Saint Jade.
Xiao Yu showed a troubled expression and said in a low voice: "Emperor Chen, please return! The Moon God, the Lady, has instructed that if you come to Moon God Mountain, we are to drive you out. Naturally, we wouldn't dare, and we can't beat you either. But... the Lady is really fierce today!"
Shang Yue said: "If Emperor Chen insists on forcing his way in, we naturally cannot stop you. But please kill us before you enter. Otherwise, when Master punishes us, we will have no choice but to die to atone."
Zhang Ruochen said: "Shang Yue, are you threatening me too?"
"I wouldn't dare," Shang Yue said.
Xiao Yu said pitifully: "I don't know how you provoked the Lady, but she's in a rage right now. Emperor Chen, it's better to come another day!"
Zhang Ruochen naturally wouldn't be threatened by the two of them, but if the Moon God was truly furious right now, forcing his way in would indeed not be a wise choice.
Zhang Ruochen sent a voice transmission deep into Moon God Mountain: "If the Moon God has any needs, you can tell me. The mistake has been made. Zhang Ruochen will naturally do his utmost to compensate. I will fulfill any request."
Leaving Moon God Mountain, Zhang Ruochen immediately found Mu Lingxi and asked her to go investigate the Moon God's situation.
After all, Mu Lingxi had once been the Moon God's disciple. Going to pay respects to her master was a perfectly reasonable matter.
Of course, Zhang Ruochen didn't ask Mu Lingxi to find out whether the Moon God was pregnant. Instead, he asked her to probe the Moon God's true emotions so he could make the next arrangements.
...
Fifty Thousand Years Later.
Sword Realm.
At the edge of Qingmu Continent, the Red Tide Sea sent waves dozens of feet high, burning like flames as they washed against the shore rocks.
Zhang Ruochen stood on a cliff facing the wind, smiling as he watched a man and a woman engaged in a magical battle on the sea surface.
"Beize, your blade intent is weak. The blade path values momentum above all. If you don't summon a spirit of 'it's me or no one,' you'll soon lose to your sister!" Zhang Ruochen said.
Wu Yue, wearing a veil, stood beside Zhang Ruochen and laughed: "Su'e is his sister. How could his blade intent reach its peak? The peak of blade intent is killing intent. I'm not surprised he lost."
Zhuo Fang, standing diagonally behind the two, said: "Lady Wu Yue's words are reasonable."
Zhang Beize and Zhang Su'e were the children of Zhang Ruochen and the Moon God.
Zhang Beize didn't like the sword path and preferred the more domineering blade path. Therefore, Zhang Ruochen had found Zhuo Fang, who had the highest blade path attainment under the Sword Realm's banner, to be his master.
Zhuo Fang's blade path originated from the Blade Venerable, naturally making it a unique tier in the current universe.
The name "Beize" came from the magnificent Beize Great Wall in the starry sky, showing how much Zhang Ruochen expected of him.
Zhang Beize was ultimately defeated, knocked into the seawater by Zhang Su'e using a formation seal.
"Convinced now?"
Zhang Su'e stood on a golden, shining formation seal, with a bright moon behind her. She bore a six or seven-tenths resemblance to Wu Yue and the Moon God, full of spiritual energy.
Zhang Beize, bare-chested, shouldered a heavy war blade and climbed up from the beach without looking back: "You're two hundred years older than me. You've been cultivating that much longer, and we're still evenly matched. What's there to be proud of? If you have the ability, go fight with Kong Le, go fight with Hong Chen!"
"Father, I want to go to the Blade Realm to become a disciple of the Blade Venerable. Master Zhuo has nothing left to teach me!"
Hearing this, Zhuo Fang couldn't help but show an awkward expression on his face.
(Chapter End)