Half a month later.
Zhang Ruochen stood beside the solitary grave under the blood maple tree, gazing at the unique world before him. His heart was calm, his mind drifting through memories, sometimes smiling, sometimes solemn, sometimes bitter.
“What is the Young Master thinking?” Kong Xuan asked.
Kong Xuan was the top courtesan Zhang Ruochen had once purchased at Tianyue Tower, possessing rare beauty. Not purely human, she was of the Peacock Half-Human Clan.
She cultivated the *Peacock Sacred Canon*, taught to her by Zhang Ruochen, the same technique practiced by Kong Lanyou.
Kong Xuan had been loyally serving Consort Lin at Zhang Ruochen’s arrangement.
Her talent was remarkable. After the Kunlun Realm’s revival, she was chosen by the Awakened Ones and secretly trained as a talent for the realm’s resurgence, now reaching the level of an Eight-Step Saint King.
Of course, her achievement was aided by the perfected cosmic rules after the Kunlun Realm’s revival, making cultivation far easier than before.
Zhang Ruochen, no ordinary man, had emerged from his grief. In a gentle voice, he said, “From now on, cultivate with Lanyou.”
Kong Xuan shook her head lightly, “I wish to serve by the Young Master’s side.”
“You’ve reached the Saint King level. Don’t view yourself as a servant anymore. You need the heart of a powerhouse. Without transforming your mindset, you’ll never reach the Great Sage realm.”
He continued, “These years, Mother was fortunate to have your care. I’m deeply grateful. This holy medicine might help you break through to the Great Sage realm. Of course, your greatest challenge is still your mindset.”
Zhang Ruochen handed her a primordial holy medicine from the Origin Temple.
The medicines from the Origin Temple, imbued with pure origin power, could indeed boost cultivation.
“To transform her mindset, she’d need to go to the Battlefield of Merits. Whether she survives is uncertain,” Kong Lanyou said, approaching.
Kong Xuan returned the medicine to Zhang Ruochen, “I don’t want to go to the Battlefield of Merits. I wish to serve the Young Master and Great Sage Lanyou forever. Why must I risk my life for the Great Sage realm?”
Zhang Ruochen and Kong Lanyou exchanged a glance.
Everyone’s mindset and aspirations were clearly different.
They did not press her further. Forcing her to the Battlefield of Merits with her disposition would likely lead to a bad outcome.
“Keep the holy medicine. If there’s a chance in the future, I’ll help you refine a divine source to become a pseudo-god,” Zhang Ruochen said, genuinely grateful, making such a promise.
For cultivators with insufficient mindset, refining a divine source to become a pseudo-god was the only path.
A pseudo-god’s lifespan was one primordial cycle, 129,600 years.
Of course, this was no simple feat, nor could just anyone with a divine source achieve it. For a Saint King to become a pseudo-god was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.
Zhang Ruochen’s confidence stemmed from having crossed eons, witnessing the grandeur of figures like the Great Venerable, Heavenly Demon, and Confucian Ancestor, igniting in him an ambition to conquer all.
To obtain a divine source, one could slay a god.
In truth, Zhang Ruochen’s mindset had been tempered countless times. His inner demons were shattered by his third-grade Sword Path holy intent and fully suppressed by the Unity of All Ages Dao domain, becoming one of the myriad rivers in “all rivers to the sea,” one of the countless forms in “encompassing all.”
When he formed the Unity of All Ages Dao domain, his doubts could no longer trouble him.
Upon returning from the river of time, Zhang Ruochen had reached the peak of the Thousand Questions Realm, with over one hundred billion holy path rules.
If he wished, he could now reach the Life-and-Death Realm.
Yet, his heart still held attachments, requiring a return to the Kunlun Realm and the Heavenly Court to achieve completion. Thus, he chose to follow his heart rather than forcibly sever his thoughts.
Zhang Ruochen noted that Kong Lanyou’s cultivation had reached the peak of the Life-and-Death Realm, with five trillion holy path rules accumulated.
The Endless Abyss was profoundly mysterious. Even the Blood Empress, a divine being, dared not venture into some of its secret places. Kong Lanyou’s high cultivation was likely due to great opportunities, which did not surprise Zhang Ruochen.
As for the abyss’s secrets, he had no interest in exploring them now, nor did he wish to take risks even gods avoided.
Returning to the Kunlun Realm, he had many tasks to accomplish.
Before the grave, Zhang Ruochen kowtowed three times, then took the entire grave, the nearby courtyard, and the blood maple tree into the Qiankun Realm.
He decided to bury his mother beside his father.
Kong Lanyou, concerned, said, “Cousin, the Kunlun Realm is different now, with many Middle Age Awakened Ones and gods stationed here. If you go to Wang Mountain, let me come with you.”
“What, afraid I’ll be killed by the Kunlun Realm’s gods?” Zhang Ruochen’s mood remained low.
Kong Lanyou was indeed worried. Though many knew Zhang Ruochen went to the Hell Realm to save his daughter, his actions there a thousand years ago drew much criticism.
Moreover, his identity as the Blood Empress’s son and Blood Absolute War God’s grandson was enough to bring deadly peril.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. At least in the Kunlun Realm, no one can kill me.”
“Cousin!” Kong Lanyou called out.
Zhang Ruochen paused, looking at her, “Anything else?”
Though a thousand years had passed, Kong Lanyou’s appearance was unchanged: snow-white hair, skin delicate as if it could break with a touch, lips like sparkling gems.
Time had left no mark on her.
Meeting his gaze, she said, “First I waited eight hundred years, then another thousand. Cousin, how much longer must I wait?”
Her words were filled with emotion.
Perhaps a thousand years ago, she wanted to say this.
For a woman to wait for a man for eighteen hundred years, such devotion needed no further words.
Zhang Ruochen was silent for a long time before saying, “Pack your things and come with me.”
For that sentence, she had waited countless years.
Kong Lanyou wept with joy, unable to describe her feelings, softly saying, “Wait for me. Don’t sneak away. This time, you won’t deceive me or leave me behind.”
Watching Kong Lanyou fly toward the blood mountain’s peak, Zhang Ruochen sighed lightly.
His feelings for Lanyou had always been sibling-like, and he shouldn’t get too close.
But after Consort Lin’s death, Lanyou was his closest kin in the Kunlun Realm. After her words, he thought of a hundred rejections but couldn’t bear to say them.
She had stayed in the Endless Abyss for a thousand years. Should she remain until her death?
Returning to the Kunlun Realm, Zhang Ruochen felt no pressure or burden, nor did he fear being hunted.
Thus, he could spend time with Lanyou, who had not had an easy time either.
Zhang Ruochen, Kong Lanyou, and Kong Xuan left the Endless Abyss, heading straight for the Blood God Sect.
According to Kong Lanyou, the current Blood God Sect leader was Yan Liren.
Five hundred years ago, Yan Liren’s true body emerged from the Blood Realm of the Endless Abyss’s second gradient, retrieving his cocoon body and returning to the Blood God Sect.
Yan Liren had never been interested in the sect leader position. As the sect’s strongest, he once passed the role to Chi Linyuan.
He took the position because the Kunlun Realm’s revival required a secular powerhouse to secure its interests in the Heavenly Court.
Though the Death God Island Master’s return led the Kunlun Realm to bide its time without purging past traitors, secular conflicts had reached a fever pitch.
The Kunlun Realm’s rapid rise alarmed the Western Universe’s ruler, the Heavenly Realm, which used every means to suppress it.
Without powerhouses like Yan Liren, the secular world would have no chance to resist.
The Blood God Sect had become a holy land, brimming with cosmic holy energy.
The concentration of holy energy was over ten times greater than a thousand years ago.
Zhang Ruochen transformed into Gu Linfeng’s appearance and headed to Infant Master Peak. Along the way, he saw many young Blood God Sect disciples in blood-red holy robes, vibrant and spirited, discussing world affairs or sparring with sword techniques.
No one recognised Zhang Ruochen, the sect leader from a thousand years ago.
The sect naturally had portraits and statues of past leaders, but they depicted Zhang Ruochen, not Gu Linfeng.
Kong Lanyou and Kong Xuan, veiled, drew many young cultivators’ gazes.
But Kong Xuan’s powerful holy aura deterred anyone from approaching.
“Can you sense it? That woman with peacock wings has a holy aura like a celestial river. I bet she’s a Saint King.”
“A Saint King trailing behind? Who are the man and woman in front?”
“Didn’t you see them heading to Infant Master Peak? They must be the sect leader’s guests.”
At the base of Infant Master Peak, a Half-Saint, no older than fifty, waited—a prodigy.
His name was Sun Jueduan, Yan Liren’s disciple.
Sun Jueduan’s gaze fixed on Kong Lanyou, smiling, “My master foresaw Senior Kong’s arrival at the Blood God Sect and sent me to welcome you.”
With the Endless Abyss neighbouring the Blood God Sect, Sun Jueduan naturally knew of Kong Lanyou, the formidable powerhouse.
His gaze shifted to Zhang Ruochen, curious about the cultivator walking side by side with Senior Kong.
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes fixed on Sun Jueduan’s backside, saying, “What’s your relation to Sun Dadi?”
Sun Jueduan had a tail, marking him as a Spirit Monkey Half-Human.
Slightly surprised, Sun Jueduan bowed respectfully, “Senior knows my grandfather?”
His grandfather, Sun Dadi, was a Great Sage of the Blood God Sect, the top powerhouse under the sect leader. Who could casually call him by name but an extraordinary figure?
