My name is Houtu.
When those three words were softly uttered from the lips of Empress Pingxin, the entire Golden Sea of Merit seemed to freeze for a moment.
Pingxin is a name bestowed upon her by Heaven, and it is her identity as the Lord of Reincarnation.
Houtu, Tu was her real name.
It is her true name as the Ancestral Witch of the Wu Clan and a descendant of Pangu's essence and blood.
To acknowledge this name is to acknowledge the undying pride and resentment belonging to the Wu Clan deep within her heart.
It's equivalent to completely opening her heart to the man in front of her.
Qin Feng showed no surprise upon hearing the name.
He simply gazed at her quietly, his deep eyes seemingly reflecting endless time from the beginning of time to the ends of the earth.
Immediately afterward, in the dead silence, Qin Feng moved.
Instead of retreating, he took a step forward.
With this one step, he crossed the boundary of the Golden Sea of Merit, stepping directly into that golden ocean formed by the convergence of boundless merit.
The power of merit, enough to purify all sins and make even Daluo Golden Immortal unable to move an inch, was like a gentle stream encountering an unmoving sacred mountain the moment it touched his body. It silently parted to both sides, without even wetting the hem of his clothes.
Houtu's pupils contracted sharply once again.
She had imagined countless possible reactions from the other person: surprise, seriousness, or the start of discussing conditions.
But what I never expected was that he would step into his own Absolute Domain so directly and so disregarding the rules.
What captivated her even more was the look in his eyes.
There was no greed, no awe, and not the slightest emotion one would expect when facing an incarnation of a Earthly Dao.
Yes, it's just a pure appreciation to the extreme.
It's like a master painter admiring a timeless masterpiece.
It's like a master craftsman appreciating a perfect work of art.
Qin Feng walked up to her, stopped three feet away, and scrutinized her carefully from an almost rude distance.
"Indeed, this name suits you better."
He seemed to be talking to himself, yet also to her.
Houtu was completely stunned.
For millions of years, she has been the supreme Empress Pingxin, the Earthly Dao of true mercy, and the controller of the cycle of reincarnation for all sentient beings.
All living beings who saw her, whoever they were, had eyes filled with awe, supplication, and reverence for "God".
No one had ever looked at her like that before.
It was a gaze that pulled her down from her pedestal and reduced her to a "woman."
She wore an extremely simple palace dress, formed from the power of merit, without any patterns or decorations.
Even so, it could not conceal the innate boldness and nobility of the Ancestral Witch of the Wu Clan within that body.
Her beauty is not the kind that is breathtaking in the conventional sense.
Rather, it is a beauty of ultimate fusion.
It possesses both the towering and heroic spirit of the Wu Clan and the all-encompassing maternal compassion that arises after reincarnation.
Furthermore, as a Great Powers Quasi-Saint, he possesses a holy and majestic aura, ruling over the Netherworld.
These three distinct, even contradictory, qualities are perfectly blended within her, creating a stunningly beautiful "mature woman" charm.
In particular, the melancholy and aloofness accumulated in the depths of her compassionate eyes, from being trapped here for millions of years, were like the finest wine, adding a fatal attraction to her beauty.
Houtu felt extremely uncomfortable under his gaze. For the first time, her heart, which had been dormant for millions of years, experienced a feeling called "unease".
She even subconsciously tried to avoid Qin Feng's gaze.
But at that moment, Qin Feng's gaze slowly moved down from her face.
Finally, it landed on her holy body, which was pierced by several jet-black chains.
That was not a physical chain.
Rather, it is the embodiment of the Heavenly Dao Laws, the ultimate shackle that binds her to this place forever.
Each chain exudes the cold, ruthless, and supreme divine power of Heaven, as if constantly proclaiming that this is an inviolable final decree.
Upon seeing these chains, the light in Houtu's eyes dimmed involuntarily.
That was her eternal pain, her inescapable fate.
However, there was not a trace of reverence for the Heavenly Dao in Qin Feng's eyes.
On the contrary, it was an undisguised disdain.
He reached out, his slender fingers tracing an elegant arc in the air before slowly extending towards one of the black chains that pierced Houtu Houtu's collarbone.
Houtu's heart tightened suddenly!
What is he going to do?
Touching the chains of Heaven?
Has he gone mad?!
These chains are formed from the Heavenly Dao Laws, containing the supreme power of the entire world. Let alone touching them, even a saint would feel a stinging pain in his Primordial Spirit and find them extremely troublesome if he looked at them for too long!
Forcibly touching it will only provoke a frenzied backlash from the power of Heaven, instantly causing one to perish and turn to ashes!
"Don't want!"
She instinctively gasped in surprise, trying to stop him.
But it was all too late.
Qin Feng's fingertips had stopped just an inch away from the black chain.
He did not go any further.
It just hovered there quietly.
A trace of almost imperceptible Chaos Qi, deeper than the void, quietly seeped from his fingertips.
"Zzz--"
A piercing sound, like boiling oil being poured into water, suddenly exploded in the deathly silent sea of merit!
The indestructible chain of laws, representing the supreme majesty of the Heavenly Dao, trembled violently the moment it came into contact with that wisp of Chaos Qi, as if it had been splashed with concentrated acid on Mortal Iron!
The mysterious light on the surface of the chains, symbolizing the divine power of Heaven, dimmed rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye, emitting a mournful cry of unbearable strain!
Time seemed to stand still at that moment.
Houtu was completely stunned, as if struck by Nine Heavens Divine Thunder.
Her compassionate and beautiful eyes, which could see through the three realms and six paths and understand the cycle of all things, were now wide open, filled with endless horror and utter disbelief.
This... this is impossible!
That is the Heavenly Dao Laws! It is the shackles of Heaven that have bound her for billions of years!
This man... he didn't even actually touch him, just a wisp of his aura was enough to damage the Heavenly Dao Chains?
What kind of power is this?!
Just as her mind was shaken and her worldview was completely shattered.
Qin Feng's calm voice, tinged with amusement and frivolity, was like a devil's whisper, clearly reaching her ears.
"This chain is so ugly."
He paused, his gaze shifting from the dimming chains back to Houtu's blank yet exquisitely beautiful face, a slight smile playing on his lips.
"I am not worthy of your beauty."
boom!!!!
If everything before had only shocked Houtu...
These words were like a nuclear bomb, powerful enough to shatter the chaos, detonating with a deafening roar deep within her heart, a heart that had been dormant for billions of years!
She was completely stunned.
My mind went completely blank; all thoughts and ideas were utterly cleared away in that moment.
For millions of years, she has borne this shackle of fate, enduring eternal loneliness and torment.
She had seen people pity her, people revere her, and even people gloat over her misfortune.
Yet no one has ever felt indignant on her behalf because the chains of law, which represent supreme Heavenly Might, are "too ugly."
No one else would express their attitude towards her in such a frivolous, domineering, yet undeniably tender manner.
At this moment, she was not the Earthly Dao embodiment of Empress Pingxin.
It is not Houtu Ancestral Witch Houtu the Wu Clan.
She was simply a woman who had been imprisoned for billions of years, and for the first time someone told her, "You are beautiful, these shackles are not worthy of you."
"Thump!"
A deep, powerful heartbeat suddenly resounded from the depths of her sacred body, which had been silent for billions of years, without any warning.
The sound was so unfamiliar, yet so intense.
It felt as if it wanted to tear her entire chest apart!
For the first time in billions of years, a heart that had been dead and silent was not for "all living beings," nor for "reincarnation."
It was for "himself".
It jerked violently.