"What do you want? I'd agree to a hundred things."
Mu Feng abruptly lifted his head and declared loudly.
"Before Chen'er is born, enter the Three Days Realm."
"Consider it a gift for our child."
Qing Yanjing looked at her husband and said each word clearly.
Chen'er—Mu Chen. The couple had settled on that name for their child long ago.
"The Three Days Realm? All right. Just wait for me, A-Jing!"
At her words, Mu Feng gritted his teeth and nodded firmly. Then he left without looking back, his steps light, his silhouette bold, his robes fluttering in the wind.
His dejected look was gone, replaced by a spring in his step.
He found a secluded room and went into seclusion, swearing not to emerge until he broke through.
The Heaven Melting Realm was difficult to reach, but even it could not overcome his longing for his wife and child.
Watching his tall figure disappear into the distance, Qing Yanjing smiled warmly. She unconsciously stroked her still-flat belly and murmured, "Child, your father isn't some cowardly bear. He's a great hero who stands tall between heaven and earth."
As she spoke, she began humming an old, nameless nursery rhyme passed down through the Buddha Continent.
Its lilting melody drifted farther and farther away.
Ten months later, Mu Feng emerged from seclusion, having successfully broken through the Heaven Melting Realm.
As promised, Qing Yanjing told her husband everything.
She was the daughter of the head of the Qing Branch of the Buddha Ancient Clan, one of the Great Thousand World's Five Great God Clans.
Her grandfather, now deceased, had once led the clan. A Saint Grade Heavenly Sovereign and one of the Great Thousand World's top fighters, he had stood shoulder to shoulder with towering figures like the Green-Shirt Sword Saint and Lord of Undying.
Noble birth, ancient blood, peerless beauty.
Every lavish and elegant word applied to her.
She had fled her clan to avoid marrying Mohe Tian, the current leader of the Mohe Ancient Clan, and spent decades wandering the Great Thousand World. Later, a mysterious powerhouse ambushed her, forcing her to drift to the Hundred Spirit Continent.
After hearing it all, Mu Feng felt as if he were in a dream.
He was just a foolish young man from some backwater. What had he done to deserve the favor of a Phoenix Girl destined to soar through the heavens, a daughter of heaven herself?
And now they had conceived the fruit of their love together, soon to welcome their precious child into the world.
But Mu Feng had little time to absorb these earth-shattering revelations. His wife was about to give birth.
The air outside the delivery room was unbearably tense.
Mu Feng, soon to become a father, pressed his lips together, worry written all over his face. He paced back and forth across the courtyard like an ant on a hot pan.
"Domain Lord, Madam's cultivation is profound and her constitution is strong. She should be fine."
The speaker was a thin young man with sunken eyes and a gloomy air. His tightly pressed lips gave him a sharp, chilling look.
Zhou Ye was Mu Feng's sworn brother, his right-hand man, and utterly loyal. The two had gone adventuring together as youths, then followed the couple as they founded Mu Domain.
A Heavenly Sovereign was giving birth. The midwives in the mansion, none of whom possessed spiritual power to strengthen their bodies, were useless. With no one able to help, Qing Yanjing had to manage on her own.
But then again, how terrifying was a Heavenly Sovereign's constitution? It rivaled that of a super divine beast.
It was only childbirth. He had never heard of a Heavenly Sovereign suffering a difficult labor.
Mu Feng was simply worried sick.
"My child has Nine Divine Veins. Truly, heaven has sent me a prodigy."
Inside the room, Qing Yanjing—the woman Mu Domain's lord was fretting over—showed little sign of distress beyond a flush on her face and slightly labored breathing.
At that moment, by controlling her Heavenly Sovereign Spiritual Body, Qing Yanjing could clearly sense what was happening within her unborn child: it was as if nine sacred Great Suns were taking shape inside him.
Those who possessed Spirit Veins were several times faster than ordinary people.
One or two were Human Veins, three or four Earth Veins, and five or six Heavenly Meridians.
Seven, eight, or nine were Divine Meridians!
When a living being reached the Heavenly Sovereign level, these could be further refined into Spirit Vein Divine Abilities.
The most powerful could even rival Peerless Divine Abilities.
Qing Yanjing, for instance, had Eight Spirit Veins and possessed the Spirit Vein Divine Ability, Spirit-Devouring Purple Flame.
Only the three founders of the Buddha Ancient Clan had ever been born with Nine Divine Veins.
Even Buddha Ancestor, that peerless powerhouse who had created the Eight-Part Buddha, one of the Great Thousand World's Thirty-Six Peerless Divine Abilities, and revived the Buddha Ancient Clan, had possessed only Eight Spirit Veins.
This meant that Qing Yanjing's son had bloodline purity nearly on par with the Ancient Clan's founder.
There was no denying the bitter irony of it.
If those rotten old fools in the clan learned that a mixed-blood—the lowly bastard they believed had sullied the God Clan's bloodline—had blood rivaling their founder's, they would probably be so enraged that their minds would snap and split in two.
She absolutely could not let the clan's old relics discover that her child existed.
Otherwise, Chen'er would be in danger.
As these thoughts crossed Qing Yanjing's mind, the radiant smile on her lovely face faded. After a few moments of contemplation, as though she had made a decision, resolve replaced the pondering look in her eyes.
She had Eight Spirit Veins. Gritting her teeth against pain that pierced to the bone, she forcibly tore the Eight Spirit Veins rooted deep within her Heavenly Sovereign Spirit Body from her flesh.
Then, using a heaven-defying ability, she sent them into her child's body and planted them there.
Finally, she sealed both the Eight Spirit Veins and the Nine Divine Veins with a Micro Spirit Array.
The two layers of deception were flawless.
Even if someone saw through the first seal, the Eight Spirit Veins concealing the Nine Divine Veins would draw their attention. The Eight Spirit Veins were powerful, but hardly shocking enough to stir the world.
Besides, Qing Yanjing was confident that unless a Great Thousand World powerhouse beyond Immortal Grade investigated, no one could see through the methods of a mid-grade Grandmaster of Spirit Arrays.
"My child, you must grow into a peerless powerhouse one day. Otherwise, all your mother's sacrifices will have been for nothing."
By the time Qing Yanjing had finished, sweat soaked her from head to toe.
Where her gentle, watery gaze fell, a new life was coming into the world.
Within the Buddha Realm, on the Buddha Continent.
In a grand and imposing ancient hall, a dark red stone stele stood like a pillar reaching for the sky, its surface crawling with ancient spirit patterns. Profound ripples emanated from it, suppressing the heavens.
It was an extraordinarily rare Peerless Sacred Artifact.
Its name was the Spirit Vein Stele.
The Buddha Ancient Clan occupied a supercontinent and ruled an immeasurable territory. They had flourished for over a million years, and their descendants numbered beyond counting.
Yet this Spirit Vein Stele could perceive the Spirit Veins in every member of the clan's bloodline. Whenever a new clan member was born, it sensed them and recorded their veins, making it easier for the clan to nurture them.
The Spirit Vein Stele, operating normally, suddenly blazed with light—then fell silent.
If not for the sharp eyes of the Supreme Being on duty there, he would have thought he'd imagined it.
Before the puzzled clansman could rise and report the matter to his superiors, the air rippled faintly, and an ancient figure with a terrifying aura gradually appeared.
The Spirit Vein Hall Master had arrived!
"Hm? That sensation just now..."
The Spirit Vein Hall Master, a Heavenly Sovereign, murmured in surprise. He stared at the ancient Sacred Artifact before him, inherited from the primordial era. It had never behaved like this before.
The Buddha Ancient Clan had three main branches: the Qing Branch, Xuan Branch, and Mo Branch.
These three branches controlled the Council of Elders and held the clan's power, while countless lesser branches depended on them.
To prevent the three main branches from undermining one another, important positions like the Spirit Vein Hall Master had always been filled by capable members of lesser branches, ensuring impartiality.
As a result, ever since taking office, this Hall Master had always acted with extreme caution, as if treading on thin ice.
Mu Domain Lord Mansion, rear courtyard.
"Waaah, waaah!"
Accompanied by a clear newborn's cry, Mu Feng and his wife became parents at last, welcoming the living proof of their love.
They named their son Mu Chen!
ps: The reading side already has 500 collections. Impressive!
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