From the moment that the Red-Tongued Devil appeared, the corrosive powers leaking out of its Demon Heart and Evil Qi had been eroding the Mourning Shadow hall disciples' desire to live. Their leaders were no exception, and even Xiao Hu, who could count on the runic defenses of Xinzi's carriage, succumbed to depression.
By piercing the Demon Heart, Xinzi's Divine Guardians made this corrosive power increase tenfold. Mourning Shadow hall disciples threw themselves into the Endless Sea, their leaders mustered the full depth of their cultivation bases, attempting to resist this call for mass suicide. The sea dragon driving Xinzi's carriage was no different, pulling Xiao Hu down alongside it.
In that instant, Xiao Hu, who got enlightenment in the battle, comprehended a new Yin-Yang technique: the Wailing Life Transformation. From now on, each time that she faced death or the extremes of grief, her body would experience a complete rebirth, increasing her Blood Energy by a large margin—a matter for another time.
"Steady yourselves," Xinzi said, and the Glorious Eye of Heaven flashed, unleashing a wave of Divine Power that cleansed all of his subordinates' suicidal needs. The carriage stopped its descent, the dropping Mourning Shadows flew back into the sky, sweat dripping from their foreheads as they considered that the False Devil's aura alone nearly drove them to death.
Xinzi, who could count on his Stainless Sovereign Heart and the Glorious Eye of Heaven, never had to consider this pressure. Still, that didn't prevent him from foreseeing the impact that a Devil of the Relentless affiliation could have on his men.
The Red-Tongued Devil's corpse slid off the Divine Guardians' spears, joining the head and 100 Corpse Demons that'd already sunk into the Endless Sea. 'Is he not going to collect the corpses? What a waste.' Xiao Hu wondered, then recalled that with the Thousand-Faced Shadow watching every one of Hengye Zhen's moves, Xinzi wouldn't risk the charge of demonic collusion.
Then again, if all the shadow could do was to watch, she couldn't help but wonder why Xinzi showed such restraint. Throughout the Great Desolation world, was there anyone capable to face the might of Hengye Zhen? The answer would come later.
Xinzi stretched his hands out. Dao runes pervaded the air, and the remaining souls of the Qiu clan—those below the Nascent Soul stage—rose into the sky. Radiant light swept past them, transmuting all the souls into Soul Nurturing Divine Pills.
Unlike what Xinzi could accomplish through the Five Elements Transmutative Technique, Gods could only transmute things into forces or items related to their element. That, or something with pure Divine Power. In his Zhen-body, Xinzi didn't have access to the Five Elements Transmutative Technique, and so had to settle for this batch of 3,000ish Divine Pills.
Thankfully, for his Dongli plans, they'd do just fine.
"One lone Qiu clansman got into the rift. Although said rift has been destroyed, they still brought the body in. Zhen'er, was this mistake intentional?" A cacophony of voices spread from the Thousand-Faced Shadow, grating Xinzi's ears.
"I'm confused. Is this not what you wanted?" He replied immediately, and the faces smiled at his words.
"Good, very good. Zhen'er, My Divine Self is pleased to see that you've not forgotten our aspirations." Yongye rarely communicated with her son, making some wonder if the shadow wasn't there just for show. Xinzi, however, dared not forget that whenever he stood in his Zhen-body, all of his mother's eyes watched him at once.
"Divine Mother, your son dares not forget. The Northern Dark Sea legacy was built for Qiu Meng's sake, so it's likely that Divine Spirits can't get in—at least not with their Divine Souls. Perhaps other safety nets exist as well. Granted that Qiu Sanbao and Qiu Sanren didn't meet much trouble, we should still approach it with caution." The Qiu clan had only harvested a portion of the Northern Dark Sea legacy. Tremendous opportunities awaited within, opportunities that could influence even an Hengye branch.
"Act as you see fit. A legacy of that level is of no interest to My Divine Self. Qiu Meng's return is the only thing that matters. Zhen'er, this is our secret. Take good care of him. After drifting across the River of Time, he might be prejudiced towards us, but you can't stand in his way. Let him grow, so Divine Mother can harvest this pawn on her way to dominate the Four Realms of Existence." The voice vanished here, and after staring at the sea below, Xinzi returned to his carriage.
And if before, Xiao Hu struggled to relax in the luxurious vehicle, after watching firsthand the Zhen-body dominating demons, devil and immortal-level defenses, she no longer knew where to put herself.
…
Meanwhile, propelled by the Qiu clan's energy gift, Qiu Chen drifted into a colorful void space. Underneath him, a translucent gray river stretched as far as the eyes could see, encompassing the past, present and myriad variations of the future. In that river, Qiu Chen could see the scenes of his relatives' extermination replay. The divine arrows rending through powerless lives, the black lightning erasing hundreds upon impact, Qiu Chen's eyes went bloodshot, his grip tightened on the mortal shell, which alone gathered the hopes and sacrifices of his clan.
"Hengye Monarch, you'll pay for this!" Qiu Chen made this pledge and raced across the River of Time. But barely had he started his race that irresistible forces wrapped around him—dragging him to an unknown location.
Still above the River of Time, at the spot where past, present and future diverged, one silhouette appeared before Qiu Chen, sitting crossed-legged in meditation. His slender and effeminate looks gripped the onlookers' attention, but the man seemed devoid of any aura, as if he existed in a dimension of his own, with all flesh-made entities being able to walk past him.
"Ancestor!" As soon as Qiu Chen's eyes landed on this man, he recognized him. And how could he not, when from infancy to maturity, he'd been learning all there was to know about this legendary existence?
The last Celestial Grandmaster, the Eunuch Immortal: Qiu Meng!
His eyes opened, but instead of the warm welcome that Qiu Chen expected, deep sorrow greeted him.
"Sanren, Sanbao, why…why were you so stubborn? What….a waste," Qiu Meng said, making Qiu Chen's eyes stretch in confusion.