A sliver of power?
Zhang Ruochen hardly knew what to say.
To the Moon God, the God’s Left Leg held only a trace of strength, but to him, it was immense, dwarfing his own power many times over.
If the God’s Left Leg were a hundred-pound peerless weapon, Zhang Ruochen was like a seven- or eight-year-old child, too weak to wield it.
In some ways, it was even a burden.
As it stood, he limped with every step.
Mastering it would be a long journey.
Still, possessing it was an immense boon, with time spent refining and cultivating, unforeseen benefits might emerge.
Another thought struck him, “How’s Kong Lanyou?”
Before he’d passed out, he vividly recalled her grievous injuries, worry gnawed at him.
The Moon God stayed silent, the Guanghan Divine Palace’s air growing heavy.
The longer it lingered, the more anxious he became, “What’s happened? Tell me, I can handle the worst.”
She sighed softly, “Her immortal saint body was shattered, her realm fell back to Saint King.”
Pain stabbed his chest, fists clenching, “Damn Black Heart Demon Lord, if I become a god, I’ll slay him.”
For a Saint King to forge an immortal saint body and reach Greater Saint required supreme talent and piled opportunities.
Once achieved, they’d live at least three thousand years.
Even in death, their body could endure ten millennia.
But if that immortal body broke, falling back, reforging it was a hundred, a thousand times harder.
History held rare cases of success, yet most faded into mediocrity, unable to reclaim Greater Saint status despite a lifetime’s effort.
Kong Lanyou’s path was severed, her cultivation road now dark and treacherous.
It stemmed from her brief years as a Greater Saint, her foundation shaky, clashing with a divine avatar had led to this dire fate.
Had she honed her Greater Saint realm for over a millennium like Barbarian Sword Greater Saint, such an outcome would be rare.
The Moon God said, “Don’t fret too much, it might not be a misfortune for her.”
Zhang Ruochen took it as mere comfort, deaf to it, he turned to leave the palace, intent on reaching the Chaisang Saint Domain to see her.
He knew well the agony and despair of a severed path for a saint cultivator.
Kong Lanyou had waited eight hundred years for him, bearing his grudges as her own, battling Chi Yao for that span.
Those eight centuries had been bitter, her heart weary, a peerless beauty turned white-haired, he couldn’t forget the sorrow in her eyes.
“If you want to find her, you’ll have to go to the Kunlun Realm,” the Moon God called out.
“The Kunlun Realm? She’s returned there?” He halted.
“Not just her, many saint realm cultivators from the Hell and Heavenly Realms have gone too!”
His heart jolted, eyes widening, “The Kunlun Realm’s Heaven-Earth Altar was breached?”
“Indeed.”
“When?”
“A month ago.”
“It’s been that long?”
“A month ago, the altar fell, but the saint armies of various worlds only reached the Kunlun Realm in recent days, if there are people or matters there you can’t let go, you can still make it,” the Moon God said.
He exhaled slightly, calming his tangled thoughts, piecing them together.
He had to return to the Kunlun Realm, his mother Lin Fei, fourth brother, ninth sister, and the old guard of the Saint Ming Central Empire—he must retrieve and settle them.
Beyond that, mysteries demanded answers.
About the upheaval eight hundred years ago, he didn’t fully trust Chi Yao, nor believe his father, the Emperor, could be controlled by the Blood Empress, a man who stood tall against the heavens couldn’t be puppeteered, even by a god.
If he’d become the Blood Empress’s puppet, how could he have attained Buddhahood in the Western Heaven Buddha Realm, sending Ci Hang Fairy to deliver the Eight Dragons Umbrella to him?
His thoughts froze, realising he’d been misled before.
“Ci Hang Fairy only said the umbrella came from a Kunlun Realm emperor centuries ago, tasked to give it to me, but centuries back, my father wasn’t the only emperor.”
“Could the one who became a Buddha not be my father? Why else wouldn’t he meet me?”
“If it wasn’t him, where did Father go, is he alive?”
“And Xiao Hei, an old acquaintance of Black Heart Demon Lord, close to Thousand Bones Empress, what’s it hiding? Was it truly the Slaughter Heaven and Earth Emperor ten millennia ago? Why did Saint Monk Xumi seal its saint soul in the Universe Divine Wood Diagram?”
“Is my mother really the Blood Empress?”
…
Too many questions swirled, he shut his eyes, “Moon God, where’s Xiao Hei?”
“That undead bird?”
“After the divine war, it left Moon God Mountain and hasn’t returned,” she said.
“Damn it.”
Fists tightened, anger flared, that creature was hiding plenty, fleeing to avoid his questions.
Next time they met, he’d pluck every feather off it.
“I need to step out.”
He summoned the Golden Dragon Carriage, nine golden dragons pulling it from Moon God Mountain.
Before returning to the Kunlun Realm, some truths needed uncovering.
Two hours later, he reached a saint domain of clustered peaks, halting the carriage beneath a camel-hump-shaped saint mountain, his voice ringing out, “Zhang Ruochen, Crown Prince of the Saint Ming Central Empire, requests an audience.”
The empire’s two guardian divine beasts, both Greater Saints, held two saint domains in the Shatuo Heavenly Domain, where its semi-saints, saints, and Saint Kings cultivated.
This was one such domain.
As guardian beasts and Greater Saints, they were among the last to see Emperor Ming eight hundred years ago, Zhang Ruochen refused to believe they knew nothing.
Soon, the mountain quaked, two torrents of demonic qi surged forth.
A rabbit and a demonic ape burst from the mist.
“Zhang Ruochen, you’re finally here, I thought a god had finished you off!” The rabbit, plump as a pig, lunged at him in excitement.
He sidestepped swiftly.
“Thud.”
It crashed, carving a pit.
“Disrespecting His Highness, serves you right.”
The ape rolled its eyes, then clasped its fists, “Greetings, Your Highness.”
These were Tunxiang Rabbit Guoguo and the demonic ape from the Qiankun Realm, who’d pilfered his divine medicine leaves.
Those leaves were priceless, even he’d hesitated to consume them.
A “Moon” leaf had restored over half the Moon God’s power.
Yet these two hadn’t squandered them, their cultivation hitting Six-Step Saint King, their auras like twin demon gods.
Their growth outpaced Princess Bai Li, another leaf-thief.
She advanced steadily, mastering the Path of Truth, near invincible in her realm, unlike the pair, whose strength was gorged, a gap remained.
Recalling the theft, anger bubbled, “Why just you two, where are the Golden Ni Beast Emperors?”
The ape said, “The Kunlun Realm faces an unprecedented calamity, the beast emperors rushed back to join the fray.”
Zhang Ruochen frowned, “Nonsense, only those below Greater Saint can enter the Kunlun Realm battlefield.”
Tunxiang Rabbit rose, dusting its belly, “You don’t get it, the Kunlun Realm battlefield is for those below Greater Saint, but its surrounding starry sky is the Greater Saints’ arena.”
“They’re not just fighting each other, they’re vying for the Star Soul God Thrones left by Kunlun’s ancient gods, each one a prize Greater Saints crave, aiding their grasp of the divine path.”
“Damn it,” Zhang Ruochen cursed.
Those thrones in the Kunlun Realm’s starry expanse were treasures of its ancient gods, now helplessly seized by Greater Saints of the Hell and Heavenly Realms—infuriating.
Tunxiang Rabbit’s eyes darted, “It’s not that simple, without precise locations, even Greater Saints struggle to find them.”
“After a god falls, a throne’s glow dims, drifting in the dark starry sky, detectable only by spiritual power.”
“The beast emperors said the Kunlun Realm’s surrounding stars are like an ocean, the thrones mere islands, finding one is near impossible.”
“Plus, many were hidden by a Middle Age bald donkey using spatial arts, untraceable.”
“Bald donkey?”
He glared at Tunxiang Rabbit.
It clapped its paws, deadpan, “Yep, that’s what the beast emperors called him.”
“Then why’d they rush off if it’s so hard?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
“They plan to use a few thrones they’ve already located as traps to take down some Hell Realm Greater Saints.”
Tunxiang Rabbit grinned, rubbing its paws, if its realm were higher, it’d join them, even killing one Greater Saint promised unimaginable spoils for a Saint King.
Next, Zhang Ruochen took them to meet Grandmaster Taiyi, seeking what the Dragon Guard Pavilion built with the empire’s treasury.
Another miss—Taiyi had returned to the Kunlun Realm too.
Finally, he drove the Golden Dragon Carriage back to Moon God Mountain, it seemed the mysteries of eight hundred years ago required his own pursuit.
