Not long after, a message came from the Infernal Court.
“I heard that the descendants of the old monk Xumi are crazy. Back then, my father had a missed opportunity to swallow the old monk Xumi. It has been a regret. Now that the descendants of the old monk Xumi appear, let me swallow him. Zhang Ruochen is mine. No one touches him.”
These remarks came from the eighth son of the Ghost Master—Ming, who was extremely overbearing, like Zhou Yu from the Heavenly Realm. He thought he would surely make mincemeat of Zhang Ruochen.
Who was the Ghost Master? He was the giant of the Ghost clan in the Infernal Court. After twelve Ghost Tribulations, he had attained the legendary Primordial Ghost, his strength beyond imagination.
He had nine heirs, each of which was stunningly talented. Most have attained Supreme Sainthood, Great Holy Realm, and only the eighth and ninth children remained in Saint Kinghood.
Back then, the ninth son of the Ghost Master, Chang, appeared in Luoshui. He was first repelled by Crone Qushan, and then Fairy Tianchu, who emerged from self-cultivation and beat him to his death.
And the eighth son of the Ghost Master, Ming, was undoubtedly many times stronger than Chang. He was the most powerful Saint King in the Ghost clan of the Infernal Court, his strength not below that of Zhou Yu.
According to rumors, Ming was a divine disciple of the Fane of Darkness, majoring in the Path of Darkness with strange and unpredictable modus. He would ruthlessly swallow anyone who tried to mess with him.
“Can Zhang Ruochen still have any hope of survival when Zhou Yu and Ming are targeting him?”
“He should have stayed low key to avoid trouble.”
“Zhang Ruochen is not a weakling either. He is the Scion of Time and Space. It is not so easy to kill him.”
“So what if he is the Scion of Time and Space? He is still too young after all, still behind the top powerhouses.”
…
Everyone knew that Zhang Ruochen had been so in the limelight recently that he had already annoyed the Celestial and the Infernal Court at once.
On the surface, it was Zhou Yu and Ming who were the most vocal and wanted to fix Zhang Ruochen.
But in reality, they were not the only persons who wanted Zhang Ruochen dead. Just that others were not as high profile as Zhou Yu and Ming.
But no matter how uproarious the outside world was, the inside of Peacock Manor always remained peaceful.
As everyone’s center of attention, Zhang Ruochen could not care less about things that were going on in the outside world. He was spending his time recuperating in the Peacock Manor wholeheartedly.
It took him a full half a month before Zhang Ruochen emerged from his retreat.
At this time, Zhang Ruochen had not only recovered from his injuries but also completely strengthened his cultivation base, his spirit and energy reaching a new level.
“You have really caused a lot of trouble, Zhang Ruochen. Just like me back then, you have now become the focus of attention of everyone. Many people want to kill you.” Blackie sounded as if he was laughing up his sleeve.
“It’s not that I like to cause trouble, but that trouble always likes to find me. Over the years, too many people want to kill me. Had I not been tough enough, I would have died multiple times over.”
Since he came out of Yunwu Commandery, he had faced countless difficulties and obstacles, and been experiencing countless life and death situations. To many people, he was a miracle to have survived until now.
“Over my dead body, if anyone thinks of getting to my junior brother,” said Jin Yu.
“Don’t think too much. I am not someone they can handle. They must be prepared to be killed if they think of killing me,” said Zhang Ruochen. “Compared to all these things, I am more eager to find out something from eight hundred years ago.”
The faces of Kong Lanyou, Jin Yu, and others changed upon hearing that.
“I know you are concerned about Grandfather’s seizure of power back then. You should have already guessed the reason,” said Kong Lanyou with a sigh.
“There are two reasons for that: one, our uncle was missing, no one was leading Shengming, and there was chaos. Grandfather was ambitious and naturally wanted to take that opportunity to control the royal of Shengming.
“On the other hand, Grandfather was the control of the Blood Empress. Chi Yao was right; Grandfather transformed into a colorful peacock and swallowed the Blood Empress, yet failed to kill her. Instead, she attained breakthrough in her cultivation base while leaving behind a terrible blood toxin. She then used a Blood Soul Technique to control Grandfather.
“The Blood Empress wanted to use Grandfather to control the Shengming royal court. Who would have expected that the Central Chiqing Empire would launch a war? Shengming was in a state of chaos. How could it withstand the Central Chiqing Empire’s attack? So it soon fell apart.
“In fact, I didn’t find these things out until later. I can only say that everything comes down to fate. Had my uncle never disappeared, the Blood Empress could never have messed with Shengming, no matter how powerful she was.”
Speaking of what happened back then, Kong Lanyou was emotional. The reality was really too cruel.
Her uncle whom she mentioned was none other than Zhang Ruochen’s father, Emperor Ming.
Zhang Ruochen fell into silence. If what Kong Lanyou said was anything to go by, the Blood Empress should still be alive. In this case, the identity of the person, who wanted to see him in the Endless Abyss, was already apparent.
“Why does this matter have anything to do with the Blood Empress?” asked Jin Yu.
Not only him, but Luo Chen and Bao Lie puzzled, too.
They were Emperor Ming’s disciples, but they did not know about the relationship between Emperor Ming and the Blood Empress.
“Because the Blood Empress is my biological mother in my previous life,” said Zhang Ruochen.
Those who were here were not outsiders, so he had no reservations and told of this great secret.
“Our master’s wife is the Blood Empress? How is this possible?”
Jin Yu, Luo Chen, and Bao Lie were all in disbelief.
Who was the Blood Empress? That was the most powerful Immortal Vampire 800 years ago. She was so powerful that even Emperor Ming was no match for her. He had to join hands with Emperor Qing before he could counter her.
Even now, Jin Yu and others still considered the Blood Empress as a terrifying figure in the legend.
Zhang Ruochen forced a smile. “I don’t want to believe it, but it is what it is. I hate the Immortal Vampires, but my previous biological mother is an Immortal Vampire, which sounds freaking ironic.”
“Everything was a conspiracy of the Blood Empress. Even my uncle was almost deceived. My cousin, you have already died once, and have nothing to do with the Immortal Vampires. So there is no need to worry about it,” said Kong Lanyou.
Jin Yu nodded. “Lan You is right. We don’t care about the Blood Empress. We only know that you are Zhang Ruochen, the son of Emperor Ming, and our junior. Other than that, nothing else matters.”
“That’s right, our relationships as brother and sister will never change,” said Bao Lie.
Luo Chen said nothing, but he was nodding with a serious face and his hand around Zhang Ruochen’s shoulder.
Looking at Kong Lanyou and his three seniors, Zhang Ruochen nodded vigorously. “I understand all of this. Don’t worry, I won’t worry about this too anymore.”
How Kong Lanyou and others treated him had touched his heart. So what if his biological mother was the Blood Empress in his previous life? After being reborn, he already had nothing to do with the Immortal Vampires, and would never ever side with them.
