As Saint Monk Sumeru’s divine oracle hovered in midair, Zhang Ruochen’s spatial ring vibrated slightly.
“What’s happening?”
Zhang Ruochen sent his spiritual power into the ring’s inner space.
He discovered that the Sundial, obtained from the Phoenix Nest, had been triggered by some force, emitting a faint glow.
A spark of joy flickered in Zhang Ruochen’s heart as he thought, “Could it be that the divine oracle contains a trace of Saint Monk Sumeru’s divine power, stimulating the Sundial?”
According to Princess Raksha, the Sundial’s former owner was Saint Monk Sumeru.
The Sundial concealed secrets about the Hunter God’s divine star soul, and it might even lead to the monk’s resting place, implicating immense stakes.
Yet since acquiring it, despite repeated study and probing, Zhang Ruochen had elicited no response from it.
Now that the Sundial finally showed signs of life, he was naturally elated.
If he could use it to locate the Hunter God’s star soul and master the Orion Eight Stars, even a Greater Saint wouldn’t intimidate him.
“No, Saint Monk Sumeru’s long beard also contained divine power, so why didn’t the Sundial react then? Could there be a deeper connection between this oracle and the Sundial?”
Zhang Ruochen pondered how to wrest the oracle from Chi Yao’s grasp.
A divine oracle from Saint Monk Sumeru, transmitted across ten thousand years through the river of time, must be made of an exceptionally rare material, capable of withstanding time’s erosion and spatial impacts.
Moreover, it harboured the monk’s divine power, inscribed with divine script and imbued with vast divine will, capable of unleashing extraordinary force, making it a priceless treasure.
Chi Yao would never willingly hand it over.
Should he ask the Moon God to seize it by force?
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. The Paradise Realm’s Saint Kings were still in his custody, and their gods were undoubtedly watching, ready to intervene at any moment.
A clash between the Moon God and Chi Yao would only give the Paradise Realm an opening.
As Zhang Ruochen mulled over a solution, he sensed a pair of intense eyes fixed on him.
It was Chi Yao.
She studied him, nodding slightly, “Zhang Ruochen, you were once part of the Kunlun Realm, tied to it by countless threads.”
“With the Kunlun Realm’s great calamity approaching, why not set aside past grievances, unite against a common foe, and face the Hell Realm’s invasion together?”
“If you return to the Kunlun Realm, I can appoint you as the Saint Bright King, granting you the former territories of the Saint Bright Central Empire as your domain. There, you’d be an emperor in your own right, free to build your court, answerable only to me.”
“This way, the old vassals of the Saint Bright Central Empire would no longer face pursuit or warrants from the court. Their families wouldn’t live in fear or flee endlessly, they could settle peacefully and rise to prominence.”
“Haha!”
Zhang Ruochen burst into laughter, “Chi Yao, what do you take me for?”
“A mere title of Saint Bright King to buy me off?”
“Had you not mentioned this, I might have returned to the Kunlun Realm for the sake of its common folk, the old vassals of the Saint Bright Central Empire, and my loved ones, doing what I could. But hearing you say this only disgusts me.”
“Don’t you want the Chaos Spacetime Lotus? I’ll give it to you, but you must answer a few questions first.”
Chi Yao’s expression remained impassive, “You want to know why I killed you eight hundred years ago, don’t you? No need to ask, I’ll tell you now.”
Zhang Ruochen’s heart clenched.
This was indeed his deepest knot, the question he’d always sought to unravel.
Chi Yao’s eyes flared with piercing cold light, masking her true emotions from him, “Because your veins carry the blood of the Undying Blood Clan, one of the Hell Realm’s ten tribes. Your mother was Blood Empress, one of the Kunlun Realm’s three empresses eight hundred years ago. Is that reason enough?”
Zhang Ruochen felt as if struck by lightning, his mind reeling, his expression turning blank.
Seeing him like this, Kong Lanyou’s heart ached. She glared at Chi Yao, her voice trembling, “You promised me you wouldn’t reveal this secret to him.”
Chi Yao’s gaze grew colder, her face devoid of emotion, “Did you hear that clearly? You may not trust me, but surely you trust Kong Lanyou? Blood Empress is your birth mother, the rear tomb in the imperial mausoleum holds an empty coffin.”
“Eight hundred years ago, the young Blood Empress, not yet at Greater Saint level, clashed once with Kong Lanyou’s grandfather, Kong Shangling, the master of Peacock Villa at the time.”
“Kong Shangling transformed into a seven-coloured peacock and swallowed Blood Empress whole.”
“Inside the peacock, she not only survived but spent ninety-nine days forming a blood foetus, breaking through her realm. She then tore through the peacock’s body, gravely wounding it.”
“Blood Empress spared the peacock’s life, leaving a blood toxin within it to control its fate.”
“Having spent eighty-one days inside the peacock, it was as if it became her surrogate parent. Later, she assumed the identity of Kong Shangling’s daughter to meet your father, Emperor Ming.”
Chi Yao produced an ancient tome and tossed it to Zhang Ruochen, “This book was written by your teacher, Grand Tutor Shangguan Que. You should recognise his handwriting, yes?”
Zhang Ruochen didn’t pick it up, standing motionless.
There was no need to read it, he’d seen the same account in the *Blood Clan Secret Scroll* given to him by Yan Liren, the Blood God Sect’s Supreme Elder.
The scroll’s final page had been torn out, leaving him unaware of the battle’s conclusion between Kong Shangling and Blood Empress.
Chi Yao’s words were likely true.
Kong Lanyou looked at Zhang Ruochen with deep concern, fearing he couldn’t bear this truth and might collapse emotionally, softly calling, “Cousin.”
Zhang Ruochen’s emotions surged, but after a long moment, he laughed, “If half my blood is from the Undying Blood Clan, why didn’t I feel the urge to drink blood until I was sixteen?”
Chi Yao replied, “Emperor Ming used his formidable cultivation to seal that half of your Undying Blood Clan lineage. But doing so meant you could never break through to the Fish-Dragon Realm, it’s why, in your past life, you were stuck at the peak of the Heaven Realm.”
She continued, “Blood Empress approached Emperor Ming to control him, and through him, the Saint Bright Central Empire, ultimately aiming to dominate the Kunlun Realm.”
“While Emperor Ming reigned, Blood Empress, via Kong Shangling and others, already controlled much of the Saint Bright court. When Emperor Ming uncovered her identity, he and Emperor Qing tried multiple times to defeat her, all in vain.”
“It was only when she gave birth to you, at her weakest, that Emperor Ming cast her into the Endless Abyss.”
Zhang Ruochen roared, “If Blood Empress was dead, why did you still kill me eight hundred years ago? Why did Emperor Qing lead an army against the Saint Bright Central Empire?”
Chi Yao spoke slowly, “Because someone sent word that Emperor Ming hadn’t killed Blood Empress but was instead controlled by her, becoming her puppet.”
“Who sent the message?” Zhang Ruochen demanded.
“That’s irrelevant, what matters is Emperor Qing enlisted Emperor Wen to divine Blood Empress’s fate with the Chessboard of Heaven and Earth. They confirmed she wasn’t dead, that was enough.”
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes reddened, “So you secretly plotted to kill my father, purge the Saint Bright Central Empire’s court, and you stabbed your own fiancé to eliminate me, the threat?”
Chi Yao fell silent, then after a pause, “Yes.”
“Back then—I mean at sixteen—did we ever have feelings between us?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Chi Yao went quiet again, this time for longer.
After an indeterminate time, she let out a self-mocking laugh, “Feelings? Perhaps there were, but that was eight hundred years ago, how could I clearly recall what I thought as a youth? It’s long forgotten.”
“Zhang Ruochen, you’re not so naïve as to think I still harbour feelings for you, are you? If so, I’d advise you to abandon such delusions, in a god’s eyes, you’re just a somewhat useful pawn. Isn’t the Moon God using you as one too?”
Chi Kongle shouted, “Enough, stop talking!”
Chi Yao ignored her, pressing on, “Since we’re all pawns, why not return to the Kunlun Realm and be mine? I can offer you more—status second only to me, the chance to aid the Saint Bright Central Empire’s old vassals, enviable territories, access to the Heavenly Wheel Seal for cultivation…”
Insult!
This was an outright insult!
Fury blazed in Zhang Ruochen’s eyes. He raised his arms, thirteen dragon souls and thirteen elephant souls materialising, unleashing earth-shaking roars and trumpets.
“Boom!”
He struck out with a palm towards Chi Yao.
But ten zhang from her, his hand met an invisible force.
It was like striking an unyielding iron mountain. A stronger recoil sent him flying back, spitting saint blood, tumbling like a straw man.
Chi Yao snorted, “A mere Saint King daring to strike a god, overestimating yourself. Zhang Ruochen, if you don’t want to be a pawn, first reach the Greater Saint realm—or better yet, ascend to godhood, then I might see you differently. For now… you’re no different from a mundane mortal in my eyes. No, there’s a difference, you’ve at least earned the right to be a pawn.”
Her delicate, seemingly fragile hand reached out, grasping at the air.
The Chaos Spacetime Lotus flew from Zhang Ruochen’s body into her palm.
“Let’s go!”
Chi Yao retrieved the oracle as well, preparing to leave with Kong Lanyou.
“Wait.”
The Moon God helped the gravely injured Zhang Ruochen to his feet, gently wiping the blood from his mouth, her voice soft, “I must correct a mistake, Zhang Ruochen isn’t my pawn, we’re partners.”
Zhang Ruochen looked up at her, surprised.
He’d always insisted their relationship was a partnership, but he knew his current cultivation and strength didn’t qualify him as the Moon God’s equal—he was still just a pawn.
Chi Yao turned, her eyes narrowing slightly as she watched the Moon God’s tender actions, her lashes trembling faintly.
No one noticed these subtle shifts.
The Moon God’s moon-bright eyes met Chi Yao’s, “I’m indeed sheltering Zhang Ruochen, but he lent me a million saint sources, enabling the Guanghan Realm to cultivate countless saints in just two years.”
“Beyond that, he provided divine medicine to hasten my recovery and greatly aided the Guanghan Realm in the Truth Heavenly Domain. If anything, I owe him more.”
“Chi Yao, listen closely, it’s a loan. Do you think a master borrows from a pawn? So don’t presume to understand my relationship with Zhang Ruochen.”
Her words pierced Chi Yao like needles.
No one could fathom her thoughts, she merely laughed coldly, “He’s quite generous.”
The Moon God continued, “Since you have Saint Monk Sumeru’s oracle, I won’t stop you from taking the Chaos Spacetime Lotus. But Zhang Ruochen helped the Kunlun Realm immensely, and you plan to leave just like that? He may not demand recompense, but I can’t let him suffer a loss, I’ll claim it for him. That oracle of Saint Monk Sumeru seems a decent treasure, leave it behind!”
Earlier, the Moon God had noticed Zhang Ruochen’s keen interest in the oracle.
