Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Among the five emperors of the ancient times, the Golden Emperor has never made herself seen. As such, there were many legends, but they were mainly been based on a flat peach, Jasper Lake, a female goddess, and many more. Sometimes mortals would even mistake her as the wife of the Celestial Ruler, having the opinion that while she seemed like a mother to all three realms, in reality she is more of a vassal to the Celestial Ruler. Up until Liu Shuyu pointed out that the Ajati Matriarch is the Golden Mother of the Jade Pool did Meng Qi suddenly remember that there was still such a person among the five emperors.
Even if she was reincarnated as the Ajati Matriarch, wreaking havoc on earth and during times when human emperors ruled the lands, the number of times those incidents have occurred could be counted with the fingers on one hand, so much so that you could describe her as low profile and mysterious.
Now, under the mask of low profile and mystery, the Golden Emperor certainly is a shrewd person that plans far and wide, preparing very early on for her Heavenly Tribulation and ascension to Nirvana. On this note, she and Gu Xiaosang definitely shares the same goal. It is no wonder the Ajati Matriarch values her very much as a Dao Biao and also as a body to return to.
After all, Zhen Yuanzi was the Golden Emperor’s incarnation, he also secretly worked for the Golden Emperor. Because he was just as elusive as the emperor, not many people knew of his whereabouts. Meng Qi was obviously oblivious, the only confirmation he could get was that Wu Zhuang Guan’s lineage flowed the same to that of Jasper Lake.
How did the Immortal Luya see through this secret? It was inconvenient for him to show up because he was being closely monitored by the influential figures of the Nirvana Realm so he went through me, which caused an innumerable amount of karma from the influential figures to be involved just to give a hint to Wu Zhuang Guan? Meng Qi thought.
Because it involved too much karma from the influential figures, it created a weird balance in his own body, nobody was willing to be the first to snoop around. Moreover, the oldest Nirvana Realm individual, the Heavenly Lord Yuan Shi’s origin was unknown, and could be hiding behind Meng Qi’s back, managing matters through him makes it more secretive and appropriate since the Heavenly Lord Yuan Shi had the Principles of Karma. It wasn’t until the Golden Emperor got the Wu’Ji Seal from the Jade Palace did he finally understand his past and made the first important step to ascend to the Nirvana Realm. Meng Qi and the Immortal Luya thought it would be far-fetched to say that Heavenly Lord Yuan Shi was oblivious about the relationship between the Golden Emperor and Wu Zhuang Guan and so he did not mind if the Heavenly Lord Yuan Shi knew about it.
Did Immortal Luya hint at this to coerce the Golden Emperor or to secretly work with her in the dark? Meng Qi surmised Immortal Luya’s intentions.
He was only guarding against letting the influential figures of the Nirvana Realm from knowing, he did not worry that he would find out about it himself. Who knew that the evil relic on him, the Demonic Peach, would incite this accident and make him see through secrets and also giving him the power to glimpse at other’s thoughts.
What great things they are, the Tree of Da Dao and the bewitching Demonic Peach has helped him countless times by letting him break through tricky situations!
The Tree of Da Dao came from the Heavenly Primogenitor, but what about the Demonic Peach? Whose work was it from? The Demonic Peach was said to be initially nurtured in the brain of the corpse of the God of Longevity at the Flat Peach Garden, but it is not as if the Nine Levels of Heaven have been damaged and breached before. The God of Thunder came before, the Divine Master of the Sun came before, even Yang Jian came before, yet they have not noticed it until he and Gu Xiaosang discovered it?
The more he thought, the more Meng Qi felt that there was something interesting. The old men continued their game of chess without knowing the lives of the commoners. No wonder even the calculative maniac Grand Wang Trickster said something like, “It is better to flip the board if one is too lose every game they play.”
Xu Xuan, Ao Zhen and the others looked at each other in consternation, they were astonished. A ginseng fruit was obtained when a flat peach was soaked into the water of Jasper Lake!
This just completely changed their views!
Haha, I wonder how many Great Mediums are looking at me right now? With their vast power, it is impossible they have not noticed anything. The Immortal Luya failed to convey his hint, perhaps it might even worsen the hatred the Golden Emperor has for him, how gratifying. While I, on the other hand, finished my assignment with satisfactory results, whatever happens next is not my problem… Meng Qi sniggered to himself. Suddenly Bao Xiangzhuang said, “The world works in mysterious ways, the flat peach shares the same origin with the ginseng fruit, what a surprise.”
“Yeah, I heard that they were both of the same family tree but not to the point that they were actually the same,” said King Fu Hai.
Ao Zhen and Ao Qing, even with their vast knowledge of matters of the past, they too were stumped with the event. The heavens have flat peach, the earth have ginseng fruit. They both were different in terms of characteristics, the former being better than the latter, but not by a long shot, and in the end this is the reason?
Xu Xuan sighed, put away the leftover water from Jasper Lake and a half and half hybrid of flat peach and ginseng fruit, he lamented, “So this was the hint that our ancestors have been giving, with water from Jasper Lake, the ginseng fruit trees will surely grow even faster.”
This matter involved the Golden Emperor. Meng Qi felt uneasy staying at the Lifeless Heaven so he made the decision to leave. Suddenly, he had a thought, he slowed to a stop and asked, “Martial Nephew Xu, have you seen this girl before?”
His right hand shone bright and produced a realistic portrait of a lady in a white robe standing at the front of a small boat on a peaceful river while playing a flute. The one in the picture was Gu Xiaosang.
After the incident of the flat peach and ginseng fruit, the relationship between Wu Zhuang Guan and the Golden Emperor was confirmed to be deeper than it seemed. Not only was it the favor left behind by the Ajati Matriarch, Meng Qi believed that if Xiaosang went on the Pilgrimage to the West to complete her mission of Samsara, it was as sure as day that she would borrow the power from the Lifeless Heaven and might even command Xu Xuan and the others before.
In the myriad worlds, there were many believers of the Ajati Matriarch. The Luo Sect also has many other names, such as the holy maiden and religion reincarnate, when Gu Xiaosang wants to accomplish something she can call on the help of others easily, and this was not only limited to the real world. This was the scary reality of being a top power.
The moment Xu Xuan saw the picture, he immediately gasped, “The holy maiden!”
Huh? Ao Zhen and Ao Qing looked towards his direction.
Xu Xuan explained, “She is the incarnation of Ajati Matriarch that roams the earth to ease suffering. She came to Lifeless Heaven before, and even took the remains of a ginseng fruit, and allowed us to kill off a band of enemies.”
A band of enemies? Does he mean reincarnated individuals? Meng Qi muttered, “She never came back after that?”
Gu Xiaosang does not lack any lifespan, so why would she take a ginseng fruit?
“No,” Xu Xuan shook his head.
Meng Qi went quiet for a while, silently chanted the name of Lord Namo’s once, with a heart filled with pity for the world, “This poor monk will now take his leave, take care of yourself, Martial Nephew Xu.”
As he finished speaking, he disappeared into a barrier, into the World of Gods.
“This…” Xu Xuan and King Fu Hai mingled among gods, they sharply observed the oddity of Meng Qi leaving. Now this is something of the legends!
King Fu Hai chuckled, “Brother Xu, you have a good martial uncle!”
Surprised and emotional, Xu Xuan said, “Martial uncle’s cultivation must be as deep as the ocean.”
“Looks like your martial uncle is on a wild goose chase in search for his lover,” Ao Qing suddenly perked up his head while Ao Zhen nodded in agreement.
—
In the World of Gods, the moment Meng Qi arrived, he realized that a small red gourd jumped out and transformed into Immortal Luya. He seemed the usual, stoic eyes that betrayed no emotion. He could hardly tell Luya’s reaction to the mission.
“Lord Immortal, I have given the jade box to Wu Zhuang Guan’s next of kin,” Meng Qi said concisely.
The Immortal Luya gave no expression, but he asked lightly, “Are we going to save Zhao Heng this time?”
“Yes,” Meng Qi answered confidently.
The Immortal Luya did not say much, he took out his List of Deification, ran his fingers across it making Zhao Heng’s name appear and transform into golden pieces.
This time, Meng Qi did not leave, right hand holding onto his sword hilt. Then, with a loud clang, he unsheathed a longsword.
Clang!
Shen Dou Dajin Dynasty, within the Imperial Palace.
Zhao Heng was taking in the Forces of Living Beings, training himself when he suddenly opened his eyes as bright purple rays were emitted from the Myriad World Talisman. It cut through the air, creating a gap consisting of strings after strings of karma.
Reinvigorated, Zhao Heng took the opportunity to merge the form with the Primordial spirit, and took a step into Half-Step Realm.
Meng Qi resheathed his sword in front of the Immortal Luya, as if he did nothing.
“Not bad, to be able to wield the Principles of Karma with such finesse, truly not bad,” Immortal Luya raised his eyebrows as if thinking of something sad.
“Lord Immortal, are there any more missions? I want to wipe out some other names and save some real spirits,” Meng Qi asked calmly.
Ha, Immortal Luya chuckled, “As of now, no. I am not against you, but I have decided to go behind the scenes to cultivate my heart and nurture my mind. Furthermore, those with heavenly marks mostly rely on the tribulations of Samsara. If they cannot overcome, there is still the hope of Dharmakaya. For example, only if Ice Fairy experienced life and death will she achieve self-enlightenment, and from here she will accomplish Dharmakaya. However, if she loses this opportunity, she will never be able to take her first step. As for the inner real spirits, have you prepared enough to remold their bodies? Those dark spirits are hard to admit into the holy land. Without good preparation, even if you let them out, you will only cause them to completely sink, unable to overcome innumerable tribulations, and even cause them to be reduced to ashes.”
Clang!
“Immortal Lord, your reasoning is sound,” Meng Qi admitted.
With a smile, Immortal Luya said, “Not to worry, to be honest, you are such a good pawn, how could I neglect to use you? The resentment cannot beat the benefits. Someday in the future perhaps there will still be a chance we can work together, just prepare well in advance for it.”
As he finished, he transformed back into the red gourd and hopped to somewhere Meng Qi could not track.
Prepare well… alright, meticulously open all the acupuncture points, ascend to the Summit of Earth Fairy and then return to Jade Palace! Meng Qi conceived a plan.
The Golden Emperor was enlightened in the Jade Palace, and took away Wu Ji and Seal of Void. She must have known parts of the rules and restrictive spells. Perhaps that is why Gu Xiaosang could enter certain parts of the Jade Palace; Green Lotus Seed of Chaos on the other hand is the item of Tai Yi Immortal given by Heavenly Lord Yuan Shi; coupled with the fact that the Jade Palace is isolated from the Nirvana Realm… Meng Qi connected these three facts to suspect that Xiaosang left someone at the Jade Palace, and so he decided to increase his strength before returning to the Jade Palace.
—
Within Shen Dou Imperial Palace.
Zhao Heng stabilized the realm. Then, smiling, he took the Myriad World Talisman and communicated with Meng Qi for a while before thanking him and putting down the metal symbol. He walked out of the bedchamber, entered a secret room, and unraveled the restrictive spell.
Within the palace stood a handsome person with billowing sleeves, he was precisely Han Guang, the Devil Master. He crossed his hands, looking into the night sky, without answering anything, he said, “The Myriad World Talisman is truly a mystery, highly valued. But holding onto the Myriad World Talisman is equal to letting Su Meng to hang a knife on his own neck, we could suddenly be struck or spied on by him. We should distance ourselves from the forbidden area as much as possible, only going near it when needed.”
“That is how it should be,” Zhao Heng did not deny it.
Even if he trusts Xiao Meng, he could not afford to be careless, same with trusting Mr Lu and the others.
Han Guang turned around, in a dominating demeanor, he asked, “Have you thought it through?”
“I have. We will submit to the emperor, and the Dajin Dynasty will now belong to the Great Zhou Dynasty,” Zhao Heng’s voice was unusually calm.
Han Guang simpered, “Not bad, I see you, too, can see the sense in doing so.”
