If Surya could keep his cool, the same didn't go for the other Primogens. Ensnared by the incommensurable Life Laws that transcended even Wielding, the Divine Lords went mad with greed and soared into Heaven's sky, leaving their domains behind to shoot like meteors toward the Essence Nurturing Forest.
Boiling with more fury than greed, Daksha and Durga too rose, with the thirst for vengeance setting their eyes ablaze! Gargantuan magenta clouds left the Sea Dream Temple while a sea of darkness departed from the Eternal Void Sect as the two Cardinal Lords rushed toward the Essence Nurturing Forest.
The Radiant Light Mountain, however, saw no movement. Not because Brihaspati saw through the lure, but because he was unable to interfere!
And as he stared, helpless, at the broken plates and struggled to suppress the aftermath of his cultivation deviation, veins pulsed on his temple. Laced with fury, his head turned toward the now mortal Tara who knelt within the room, trembling before a side of Brihaspati she didn't know existed.
"Get lost! Out of my Radiant Light Mountain, never to return!"
Brihaspati bawled, almost tearing Tara's mortal eardrums to shreds. Frightened, she trembled, quivering on her knees without daring to raise her eyes toward Brihaspati's face. Following that night, Tara awoke in her bed, without an ounce of cultivation or memories of what occurred. Her maids soon told her a story of how she was abducted, and her cultivation harvested by a lust-frenzied Chandra.
Almost mad with grief, she rushed toward Brihaspati, but he refused to see her! After letting her kneel at the gate for three days he finally deigned to meet her. Never did she expect that he'd again have her kneel and that his following words would be expulsion!
"Hus-husband I…I do not understand what happened. I have no memory of the event…and even if I did..,how…how can you blame for something that occurred against my will?"
Tara stammered, unable to comprehend why instead of consoling her, Brihaspati flew into such a rage. But hearing those words of hers, his rage blossomed into all-out madness! Were it not for his cultivation deviation, he'd have executed her!
"Against your will?! Against your will?! Do you think you can deceive me?! That night do you think I didn't see how you groaned and begged for more? Even asking that pig to breed you with INFINITE CHILDREN?! Were you that desperate for it?!"
Brihaspati snarled, as his body shook and his livid face reddened in fury. That night would forever be his life's greatest humiliation, a nightmare that ruined his cultivation path, and a trauma he couldn't rise above of.
And hearing those words, Tara's eyes widened in disbelief. Although she was no nun, she wasn't especially promiscuous either. How could she speak such words? Children?
"Impossible you know I hate children. In my right mind, I could never speak such words!"
She snapped. Alas, the words brought Brihaspati no consolation. On the contrary, they only made him crazier…if that was even possible.
"You hate children when they come from me! But clearly, Chandra's are another matter! In consideration for your mother, I didn't expose your hypocritical licentiousness! But if you insist on wasting my breath, do not blame me for being merciless!
Get lost! You sicken me! In this life, may we never meet again!"
With every word, Brihaspati slammed his balled right fist against his chest, gritting his teeth while daggering his partner of eons with his bloodshot eyes. But when those last words of his echoed, indignation surged within Tara's eyes, and she raised defiant eyes to face him.
"As a man, you do not blame yourself for being incompetent and letting your wife fall into the hands of a miscreant. Instead, you blame me who now stand without an ounce of cultivation for events you failed to prevent.
So much for Fate Wielding. So much for the Cardinal Light Lord. What? Should I kill myself to apologize to you? Why don't you first apologize to me for being such a waste of a husband?
No need to seek excuses. I sicken you? No, you sicken me!"
Tara retorted, eliciting a new wave of outrage within Brihaspati's heart. Madness filled his eyes as he aimed his wobbling index toward her face he once found so riveting.
"You…You! YOOUUU! Good, very good! Die!"
Brihaspati bawled, gathering his cultivation and abandoning himself to deviation as he sentenced Tara's Fate Standard to destruction. He'd now truly fallen to his heart demons, thenceforth embarking on a demonic road there was no coming back from.
White light gathered at his fingertips, becoming a white ray that flew toward Tara's forehead.
However, right before the lethal ray hit home, Tara vanished from Brihaspati's sight! Confusion filled his eyes!
"How…how can this be?"
And as the Cardinal Light Lord wondered what could possibly result in this scene, a voice echoed within his mind.
"My women, no one can harm. If you truly wish to find out the truth, come find me within the Essence Nurturing Forest. I will be waiting."
Konrad's invisible Truth Devil whispered in Brihaspati's ears before returning to the main body. Naturally, since he claimed her, Konrad wouldn't let Tara suffer Brihaspati's frenzy. Since her presence in the Radiant Light Mountain no longer served any purpose, it was time for her to go home.
Now, Brihaspati realized there was more to the matter than he previously thought. Indeed, Tara loathed children. What skills did Chandra have that he could pull such words from her lips? He was but a pig!
"Who is it? Who is it?! Whoever you are…give me your life!"
Brihaspati roared while dark fog rose from his pores alongside a massive surge of light. His sclera became red, and he soared into the sky in a radiant light beam hurtling at the Essence Nurturing Forest.
……
Meanwhile, Konrad freed Rati from his profane grasp, and as his eyes looked beyond the trees to locate the three intertwining sources of Life Laws, they widened in disbelief and his lips curled into a radiant smile! Not because of the opportunity to snatch a Life Embodiment inheritance. No, to him, such an opportunity held no appeal.
What kindled his delight, was the product of those three energy sources! Three Bloodline Fruits matured within the emerald pillars, serving as their core and energy source.
Three…Primogen Fruits!
"Heaven's Will surely is generous. This time, I refuse to believe my Auspicious Clouds won't catch up to that old foggie's."
Konrad uttered more for himself than anyone else. And at first, Rati who still lay beneath him failed to comprehend the meaning of his words. But when she felt the billowing Life Laws, she realized great opportunities appeared.
Opportunities able to throw Heaven into chaos! To say nothing of the Primogens, even the Warden could make a move! All leading Deva Gods would gather for the hope to snatch that chance. This was clearly a lure!
"Beautiful, proper business requires my attention. We shall keep playing later."
Konrad stated and stood up, stepping into the air to stride toward the center of those three forces. As he did, Rati was startled to see his height increase to two meters, his porcelain skin turn snow-white, and his hairs adopt a translucent hue.
Though she couldn't see the change in facial features, as Konrad now donned a black robe and let his devil force and chthonian energies unfurl, if Rati previously held any lingering doubt regarding his identity, she no longer had any.
The Lord of the Underworld had set out to face Heaven's strongest!
