This day held profound significance for the entire divine world. Countless gazes turned anxiously toward the southern heavens.
Even many elder gods of the Heavenly Court gathered beneath a sacred ancient mirror of the Giant Spirit Civilisation.
The mirror’s surface manifested scenes from the southern heavens star domain.
Should chaos erupt in the southern heavens, sparking infighting in the Hell Realm, they could immediately invade the Asura Star Pillar Realm, destroy the energy source, and halt its further penetration into the starry skies of the ancient civilisations.
When the Heavenly Matron’s divine edict appeared, they too heard that voice intimidating all gods of the world.
Even these elder gods, with hearts as steady as rocks, were profoundly shaken, erupting in a chorus of astonished murmurs.
“She is still alive, and her cultivation has reached that level. Once she emerges, who knows what tempests she will stir,” said a demon clan ancient god who had once beheld the Heavenly Matron, his face etched with worry.
“She can no longer be counted among this era’s cultivators. She has not engaged in this era’s conflicts, so she should not intervene in the war between the Heavenly Court and the Hell Realm. No need for excessive concern.”
“Her divine edict has already spread. Her emergence is merely a matter of time.”
“This is no mere divine edict. This is a heavenly edict!”
…
When Blood Absolute War God assaulted the southern heavens, the starry sky battlefield saw the Hell Realm shift from offence to defence, bracing for potential infighting among the ten clans.
Each of the ten clans dispatched divine venerable-level figures without delay to the southern heavens, aiming to avert the crisis.
Long-standing grudges festered among the ten clans, with myriad hidden contradictions. Should this spark ignite, it would trigger a chain reaction. For the Hell Realm, it would spell utter doom.
By the time the ten clans’ great figures arrived, the Heavenly Matron’s divine edict had preceded them.
No one knew what deliberations occurred among the ten clans’ great figures in the southern heavens. But half a day later, as they departed, Luo Yan the Great Emperor and the Undying Blood Clan patriarch escorted the unscathed Blood Absolute War God out of the southern heavens star domain.
This signalled that the Ancestor Holder, whose might blanketed the heavens and earth, had ultimately chosen compromise this time.
Whether yielding to the Heavenly Matron’s deterrence, to the ten clans’ great figures’ counsel, or to the assembly of the Heavenly Court’s gods.
In any case, it dealt a grievous blow to the southern heavens’ prestige, even heavier than the death of all three war gods.
Emerging from the southern heavens star domain, Luo Yan the Great Emperor’s face was sombre. He looked to Blood Absolute War God and said, “The Hell Realm cannot descend into chaos. No matter the depth of hatred, it must be endured for now. What we endure is not the Ancestor Holder, but the greater picture. The utmost priority remains finding Zhang Ruchen and rescuing him.”
The Undying Blood Clan patriarch said, “Indeed! The southern heavens have suffered heavy losses this time. The anger vented, the vengeance exacted. We come out even.”
Blood Absolute War God knew full well that the ten clans’ great figures had rushed to the southern heavens not to uphold justice or judge right and wrong. To them, Zhang Ruchen’s crippling was a trifling matter. Even the Breaking Army War God’s crippling and the blood calamity befalling billions of southern heavens’ lives were trifles.
To them, the paramount concern was defusing the enmity between sides, preventing escalation.
It was akin to a transaction, with the crippled Zhang Ruchen and the southern heavens’ losses weighed as goods on opposite scales.
But to Blood Absolute War God, this was no transaction. Crippling all three southern heavens war gods would not exchange for Zhang Ruchen’s lost cultivation.
Yet Blood Absolute War God also understood that this vengeance could proceed no further.
Luo Yan was right. For now, endurance was necessary. Not of the Ancestor Holder, but of the greater picture.
“You promised me?” Blood Absolute War God said.
Luo Yan the Great Emperor’s brow furrowed. He said, “Rest assured. This emperor’s word is ironclad, never to be reneged. Even if Zhang Ruchen’s martial path is crippled, should his mental force also be ruined, this emperor will still wed Luo Ji to him. This emperor’s pledge stands firm. How could I renege on a betrothal?”
The Undying Blood Clan patriarch chimed in, “Zhang Ruchen’s mental force talent is exceptional too. With proper nurturing, he may yet become a figure like the Ancestor Holder, one of the realm’s supreme powers.”
“Then the matter of rescue?” Blood Absolute War God said.
Luo Yan the Great Emperor grew impatient, feeling Blood Absolute War God was haggling. Clearly, he had come to the rescue, yet now it seemed as if he were the one beseeching.
Where was the logic in that?
Luo Yan the Great Emperor said, “When this emperor arrived at the Life and Death Ruins, Tian Yin and Luo Ji had already set out to save him. Besides, with the Heavenly Matron’s divine edict proclaimed, who would dare slay him?”
“Nonsense. Was that a divine edict? That was a heavenly edict,” the Undying Blood Clan patriarch insisted pedantically.
Luo Yan the Great Emperor said, “Fine, heavenly edict, heavenly edict.”
“The Heavenly Matron’s divine edict…”
Seeing the Undying Blood Clan patriarch’s glare, Blood Absolute War God hastily corrected himself. “The Heavenly Matron’s heavenly edict can indeed deter the world, but some will still risk it all. They might even use Zhang Ruchen to lure her out deliberately. Too many variables.”
Luo Yan the Great Emperor said, “You dote on him excessively. Whose path of cultivation has ever been smooth sailing? If Zhang Ruchen cannot surmount this trial, how will he ever attain supremacy in mental force?”
…
The Life and Death Ruins was the Death Clan’s forbidden ground.
The Death God Temple was the forbidden ground within the Life and Death Ruins, concealing the Death Clan’s greatest secret.
This was an inconceivably ancient stone temple. Compared to those grand divine halls, it lacked grandeur, shrouded in thick grey death mist, brimming with enigmatic allure.
The Ancestor Holder was the current guardian of the Death God Temple.
At this moment, the Ancestor Holder stood beneath a divine tree outside the Death God Temple. This tree was nearly identical to the Light Yin Death God Tree, yet only dozens of feet tall, with lush branches and leaves, roots twisting like coiling dragons.
The Sixth Great Lord’s face twisted in fury, murderous intent blazing in his eyes. He said, “Master, the southern heavens have endured this unparalleled humiliation. We cannot let it stand! Blood Absolute War God and the Blood Absolute Clan must pay dearly.”
“Sixth, your mental force has reached the seventy-ninth阶, has it not?” the Ancestor Holder said flatly.
The Sixth Great Lord replied, “Yes!”
“Why then can you not master your emotions? Perhaps that is why breaking through to the eightieth階 eludes you. Seventh has already surpassed you!” the Ancestor Holder said.
The Sixth Great Lord promptly dropped to one knee, his expression sobering considerably.
The Seventh Great Lord stood aside, serene and composed. He said, “In the current situation, we cannot touch Blood Absolute War God.”
The Ancestor Holder’s form was aged yet erect as a pine. He mused thoughtfully, “I underestimated Blood Absolute! Not his cultivation, but the vast forces coalesced around him.”
The Seventh Great Lord said, “The lower three clans have long groomed Blood Absolute War God as the future voice of authority. Even other clans have factions investing in him preemptively. Thus, in the Hell Realm, none can move against him! Blood Absolute War God clearly knows his own weight, hence his unbridled assault on the southern heavens.”
“For the Hell Realm, Blood Absolute War God indeed holds the potential to become the pillar upholding the next era. Thus, for the southern heavens to slay him would mean enmity with the entire Hell Realm. What Master underestimated was not only Blood Absolute War God, but also the weight Zhang Ruchen holds in his heart. Fortunately, Zhang Ruchen’s martial cultivation is crippled. He will achieve little henceforth, sparing the southern heavens a major threat in advance.”
“Shall the southern heavens’ humiliation this time simply be overlooked?” the Sixth Great Lord said.
The Seventh Great Lord said, “Of course not! We harbour hatred, but does Blood Absolute War God lack it? Should he truly rise as the next era’s pillar, where would the southern heavens find respite?”
“But slaying Blood Absolute would pit the southern heavens against the entire Hell Realm,” the Sixth Great Lord said.
The Seventh Great Lord smiled. “The southern heavens cannot act directly, naturally.”
“I see! Why not strike first at the Blood Absolute Clan?” The Sixth Great Lord grinned, his smile laced with cruelty.
Seeing the Ancestor Holder lost in thought, the Seventh Great Lord asked, “Is Master pondering the Heavenly Matron’s stance?”
The Ancestor Holder smiled with approval. “Seventh, you are the one who understands this master best, save for your eldest senior brother. Alas…”
The Ancestor Holder sighed deeply, his gaze complex and profound.
The Seventh Great Lord had cultivated under the Ancestor Holder for hundreds of thousands of years, yet he had never laid eyes on that legendary eldest senior brother, hearing him mentioned only a few times. Each mention stirred emotions on the Ancestor Holder’s otherwise placid face that the Seventh Great Lord could not fathom.
By rights, the Ancestor Holder never betrayed emotions on his countenance.
“Forget eldest senior brother. Even if second senior brother were in the southern heavens, Blood Absolute would enter but never return,” the Sixth Great Lord said gravely.
He knew well that second senior brother had survived six Yuan Hui tribulations, living seven hundred thousand years. The Death God Hall had once invited him to serve as hall master, only to be refused.
In the past hundred thousand years, the Ancestor Holder had rarely emerged. Yet whenever matters arose, no matter how grave, even against divine venerable-level foes, a mere dispatch of the Second Great Lord sufficed to settle them.
The Ancestor Holder said, “In this world, those who give this master pause number few: Haotian, the Great Emperor of Fengdu, and now the Heavenly Matron makes three. Why would a being at the cosmos’s pinnacle so fiercely shield a cultivator whose martial path is crippled?”
“Does Master fear the Heavenly Matron will restore Zhang Ruchen’s cultivation?” the Seventh Great Lord said.
The Ancestor Holder pondered briefly, his gaze shifting to Lan Pojun, kneeling on one knee in atonement.
“Splash!”
Lan Pojun’s shattered divine origin and fragmented divine soul flew from various reaches of the southern heavens star domain, hovering above the Ancestor Holder’s head, swirling in a vast vortex.
The Ancestor Holder drew a deep breath. Blue light erupted from his form. One hand grasped the adjacent divine tree, the other extended palm-up.
The vortex contracted sharply.
The divine origin shards and tattered divine soul coalesced, forming a complete divine origin.
“Go!”
The Ancestor Holder uttered the word.
The divine origin plunged into Lan Pojun’s body.
In an instant, Lan Pojun felt power surge through him like a gushing spring. His hollow divine qi rapidly replenished, blood qi raging like a river in flood.
The Sixth and Seventh Great Lords were utterly astounded, never imagining their master possessed such profound arts.
Lan Pojun’s face lit with elation. He said, “Many thanks, Ancestor Holder!”
The Ancestor Holder glanced at him, shaking his head in disappointment. “Your cultivation is greatly diminished, your foundation ruined. This life holds no hope for Boundless Realm. Moreover, you will not survive the next Yuan Hui tribulation. Only tens of thousands of years remain.”
“Tens of thousands of years suffice. I offer this life to slay Zhang Ruchen, exterminate the Blood Absolute Clan, and cleanse the southern heavens’ shame. I beseech the Ancestor Holder to cast me from the southern heavens.” Lan Pojun’s gaze burned with resolve, thick with killing intent.
The Seventh Great Lord discerned the true intent behind the Ancestor Holder’s reformation of Lan Pojun’s divine origin and smiled. “Blood Absolute War God crippled the Breaking Army War God’s cultivation. Even with Master’s methods, restoration proves impossible. You crippled Zhang Ruchen, Master. Who else in the world could aid his recovery? Master may rest easy!”
“Send word to Second. Have him return. Henceforth, all affairs of the Life and Death Ruins fall to him.”
With those words, the Ancestor Holder entered the Death God Temple.
