The Lord of the Stars waved his hand, and the hatch of the Mother Goddess's Womb swung open. Asura threw the handsome young Caucasian man into the fleshy chamber and injected the blood stored within his dagger into it. Once the blade returned to pitch-black and the young man's body was dyed crimson, Asura sheathed the dagger and took two steps back.
The hatch of the Mother Goddess's Womb closed. The item, composed entirely of flesh and blood, began to pulse forcefully like a beating heart. Through the pale white membrane covering the hatch, the young man trembled violently as his body began to dissolve, as though he had plunged into the stomach of a colossal beast.
Once the sacrifice of the descendant was complete, the throbbing of the Mother Goddess's Womb intensified. An embryo visibly formed inside the chamber, rapidly developing into an infant. The infant grew vigorously, soon becoming a child, then transitioning through adolescence, youth, and middle age, until finally reaching old age.
The hatch slowly slid open, and a hand pushed through the membrane enveloping the opening.
With a sharp rip, a tall elderly man with graying temples and a faint bulbous red nose stood up from the fleshy chamber, dripping with viscous fluid.
It was none other than Bacchus, Old Mac!
He looked around, his gaze shifting from bewilderment to clarity, and then from clarity to astonishment and vigilance. He stared guardedly at the Lord of the Stars, constantly darting glances toward the black moon overhead.
From that detail alone, he understood that the Lord of Taiyin had perished and his origin had been seized by the Lord of the Stars.
Yet he could not fathom why Asura was coexisting peacefully with the Lord of the Stars. By all appearances, his resurrection had taken place right beneath the Lord of the Stars' nose.
Seeing Old Mac cast a confused, questioning look, Asura said in his gravelly voice, "The Lord of the Stars is a fellow traveler. The one I invested in was him all along. Ling Tuo was merely the figurehead displayed for the authorities."
Given his personality, explaining this much was already unusual.
The astonishment in Old Mac's eyes did not fade, but his vigilance gave way to deeper confusion and perplexity.
"All things have an end; where there is life, there is destruction, cycling endlessly. I agree with the ideals of the Freedom faction—the feminine deities beyond the realm are the true guardians of order," the Lord of the Stars explained simply.
"Agree with the ideals of the Freedom faction... Heh, interesting. So Ling Tuo's existence was merely a way for you, Lord of the Stars, to build up your own leverage?" Old Mac arched an eyebrow.
"It was to occupy as many spots as possible. By propping up a Lord of Taiyin, the orthodox faction was left with no choice but to choose between me and Ling Tuo. Had I lost to Ling Tuo, I would have gladly embraced death."
With that, the Lord of the Stars opened his inventory and retrieved a staff draped with ears of wheat and grapevines, as well as a murky crystal ball containing inverted, utterly chaotic depictions of oceans, blue skies, and continents.
He tossed both demigod items to Old Mac, his layered, majestic voice echoing, "These originally belonged to you. Re-refining them won't take much time, but make it quick. The Lord of the Sun could break in at any moment."
*The Lord of the Sun?* Old Mac's eyes narrowed slightly as he realized that the Lord of the Stars only wielded the Taiyin origin and bore no trace of the Sun's aura.
Catching the two demigod items, he asked in a low voice, "Who is the Lord of the Sun?"
"Yuanshi Tianzun!" the Lord of the Stars said.
The words detonated like thunder by Old Mac's ears. It was entirely beyond his expectations—the shock rivaled hearing that the Lord of the Stars was an ally of the Freedom faction.
Yuanshi Tianzun's ascension to Lord of the Sun meant he had stepped into level nine. More importantly, it meant that amidst a chaotic free-for-all of demigods, he had overpowered them all to seize the Sun origin.
Either possibility was staggering. Even with Old Mac's knowledge and experience as a demigod, he found it impossible to comprehend or accept.
Asura and the Lord of the Stars were not surprised by Old Mac's shock, yet neither offered further explanation. Asura said, "You can ask Asura and the other demigods later!"
Turning toward the Lord of the Stars, he adopted the tone of a blunt general consulting a strategist: "How are we fighting this battle?"
The Lord of the Stars replied calmly, "I am already prepared. Before that, summon the demigods on standby."
***
Former Chu Family Guild Dungeon, Empress Wa's Palace.
Under an azure sky, brilliant sunlight illuminated the dungeon's sole great mountain. It was not steep; in appearance, its slopes were gentle, resembling a massive knoll or a mound of earth patted together by a playing child.
Yet it rose two thousand meters high, its ridges extending five to six kilometers on either side, vast and magnificent.
The mountain was blanketed in vegetation resembling a primeval forest. Sturdy trunks and gnarled, sprawling boughs formed emerald umbrellas ten meters tall across the terrain. Cascading vines hung down in dense, curtain-like swaths.
At the mountain's peak stood a massive stone palace complex that spanned almost the entire summit. Supported by countless colossal pillars—each two hundred meters tall—it bore the weight of ancient, solemn halls.
Even set against a two-thousand-meter sacred mountain, the palace complex did not appear insignificant.
This was not a structure built by mortal hands. For something so grand and magnificent, the beings dwelling within had to exceed thirty meters in height.
Its foundations had long been swallowed by flora, and even the two-hundred-meter pillars were covered in thick layers of climbing grapevines.
Three figures appeared out of thin air, hovering high above and looking down at the magnificent sacred mountain and palaces.
In the form of a young boy, Old Ancestor Xie stared at the palace atop the summit and asked, "Empress Wa's shed mortal remains are inside?"
Wearing a silver mask and a black suit, Mr. President nodded. "After Old Ancestor Chu took his own life, the Chu family sealed Empress Wa's remains inside Empress Wa's Palace. Later, I added several more seals to prevent the Spirit Realm from completely reclaiming them and turning them into rewards for other dungeons."
Old Ancestor Xie mused, "Taking Empress Wa's remains from a dungeon won't trigger a backlash against you?"
Mr. President shook his head. "Empress Wa's Palace is an already cleared dungeon, and Empress Wa's remains are not a reward item of this dungeon. Taking them will not trigger the Spirit Realm's penalty mechanisms."
When those of the Void profession searched for treasures, backlash was guaranteed in only two scenarios: taking the reward item of an uncleared dungeon, or taking the reward item of an unactivated hidden quest in a cleared dungeon.
Of course, as treasure hunters, their stealth skills allowed Merchants to evade most Spirit Realm penalties. When searching for items in dungeons matching their level, they could usually escape with injuries rather than death.
The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter, no longer wearing her mask, urged, "Enough chatter. Let's go in."
The three turned into streaks of light and swept into the colossal palace complex.
They flew between the emerald-draped stone pillars, venturing deep past outer halls until they came upon an enormous figure lying quietly in the dim interior hall.
The divine remains lay motionless, radiating a profound aura of timelessness that spanned antiquity to the present.
She was half-human and half-serpent, stretching forty meters long. Her dark snake body was covered not in scales, but in dazzling, materialized patterns of universal laws.
Her human torso had the bosom of a woman, fair-skinned and still glistening and full despite the endless ages that had passed since her death.
She possessed an indescribable face. Though breathtakingly beautiful, anyone laying eyes on her would not think of mere beauty first, but rather warmth and benevolence—just as a child would never fixate on their mother's beauty, but would inevitably feel her warmth and kindness as a sanctuary for the soul.
"The seals have indeed worn off; she has reverted to her original form. Fortunately, the Lord of the Stars was busy matching wits with Yuanshi and had no attention to spare for this place, or Empress Wa's remains wouldn't have been preserved," Mr. President said, then sighed with feeling. "Alas, taken advantage of by the Myriad Realms Mall once again."
When the Myriad Realms Mall exchanged Empress Wa's remains to him, Mr. President had already anticipated that they could not have been traded without breaking the seals.
Old Ancestor Xie looked at Jiang Yu'er. "Are you ready?"
Jiang Yu'er nodded. "I'll be troubling Old Ancestor, then."
Old Ancestor Xie took out the Demon Refining Pot, caressing it with fond amusement. "Just doing the job I was paid for."
Stroking the pot, he continued, "Originally, I intended to turn you into an embryo and implant you into Empress Wa's remains, using your nurturing ability to have her give birth to you anew. That way, you could inherit seventy percent of her divine power. The remaining thirty percent could be refined after you reached level nine. The advantage was preventing you from being obliterated by demigod authority you couldn't bear.
"Now, however, with the Demon Refining Pot, I can refine all things in the world. Merging you completely with Empress Wa's body is effortless. That said, your rank is only level eight after all, so you can only channel a portion of her remains' power."
Once Jiang Yu'er nodded, he lifted the lid and drew both her and Empress Wa's remains into the pot.
Old Ancestor Xie sat cross-legged, palms facing upward resting by his dantian. Behind him, spectral female arms emerged, resembling a Thousand-Hand Guanyin.
The arms reached forward, encircling the Demon Refining Pot and rhythmically stroking it like a witch caressing a crystal ball.
Waves of spiritual energy poured into the Demon Refining Pot.
The pot floated in midair, spinning rapidly as bizarre, shifting lights illuminated its surface, while the caressing hands around it swayed like a cluster of pale sea anemones.
About half an hour later, Old Ancestor Xie retracted the illusory arms and guided the Demon Refining Pot to the ground.
*Thump!*
The lid popped open on its own, and a cascade of red threads erupted like a waterfall, shooting into the sky and unfurling across the air.
The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter stood amidst the carpet of red threads, dressed in a red gown with her hair fluttering in the wind. Her facial features were unchanged, yet refined to greater perfection, radiating an increasingly pronounced aura of motherly warmth and kindness.
From eighty-year-old elders to eight-year-old children, anyone who saw her would feel an overwhelming urge to call her Mother!
Mr. President clapped softly. "'Only mom is best in the world; a child with a mom is like a treasure.' Even I feel like calling you Mother. How do you feel?"
Jiang Yu'er offered a smile brimming with maternal warmth. "Aside from being unable to cast demigod skills, all my abilities have surpassed the threshold of a Dominator. I can affect demigods now."
She was now equivalent to a demigod whose core abilities were sealed.
While still inferior to a genuine demigod, entangling one for a time would pose no problem.
***
Battle of the Gods Dungeon.
Fear Heavenly King, Gu Dragon of the Spirit Society, and two Illusion Gods of the Nihility Sect were summoned in succession, returning to the dungeon under the authority of the Lord of the Stars.
The Lord of the Stars looked around at the assembled crowd, his layered, majestic voice resounding:
"Next, I shall outline the detailed plan to hunt down the Lord of the Sun..."
Chapter 998