My husband is gone, and if my only child dies too, I, the Western Emperor, will no longer care to distinguish right from wrong. Take this strike of mine: Let jade and stone burn alike, let heaven and earth perish with me!
The Saint of the Jade Pool could hear the hatred and regret of that Female Emperor from years past, carried within the Western Emperor Pagoda—that utter resolve, that madness.
The Saint thought this with great irreverence.
She was deeply shaken. Today, she had heard a true imperial secret, one so terrifying that revealing it would shake the world.
Who could have imagined that the ancient star beneath their feet was not merely formed from the remains of a Chaos Body from the Mythological Era, but was also a Five-Colored Altar, to be used when the Road to Immortality opened?
Thoughts flashed through the Saint's mind. She recalled the layout of Beidou's Five Regions, which were indeed divided into five colors. Understanding dawned on her at once. So that was it. That really was it!
Five Regions, five colors... Without someone pointing it out, there seemed to be nothing special about it. Once it was laid bare, even a Saint felt her hair stand on end.
More chilling still was the immense undertaking the Western Emperor had secretly arranged, the resolve and actions she had taken for her only child.
If the day ever came when things went awry, she would sacrifice all of Beidou, all the remains of that Chaos Body, to unleash a devastating strike beyond its peak in life. It would be as though every being who had attained the Dao and bestowed power upon this ancient star throughout history had contributed!
That would mean destroying the painstaking efforts of all the emperors who had once placed their hopes in this ancient star, solely to avenge her own blood feud.
The Underworld's forbidden zone?
The Ancient Supremes had strength in numbers?
The Heavenly Passage Underworld Treasure possessed extraordinary wonders?
Then descend into the Yellow Springs with me, the Western Emperor!
Of course, the consequences would be severe. All the Forbidden Zone Supremes currently residing on the Big Dipper Ancient Star would be dumbfounded... Where had their enormous Chaos Body Five-Colored Altar gone?
Western Emperor, how could you be so selfish?!
Without the Five-Colored Altar, how were they supposed to join forces and battle their way down the Road to Immortality?
The Supremes would probably all go mad with rage.
Nothing short of surrounding and slaughtering the Western Emperor's entire family would vent the hatred in their hearts.
What?
The Western Emperor's entire family was already dead?
Once her whole family was dead, what did they care if the world drowned in a raging flood!
Beidou's Road to Immortality?
Go eat a great big pile of shit!
When Wushi emerged and began walking the world, the Western Emperor's most ruthless contingency was activated. The deity of the Western Emperor Pagoda awakened, silently watching the Emperor's Son grow.
It was like a bomb with its fuse already lit. Everything depended on whether something happened to Wushi.
The Western Emperor had only endured in the past because of her child.
If even her only child was gone, to hell with anyone's grand dreams of immortality!
Of course, things had changed somewhat now.
"I have no need of Mother's contingency. I will climb toward the pinnacle of strength, step by step, and one day raze the Underworld to avenge my parents' blood feud!"
Wushi swore solemnly.
"It is good that you have such resolve..." the Emperor Tower's deity said softly. "But if you could also have eighty or a hundred children, that would be even better..."
At those words, Wushi's face soured as though he had swallowed a dead rat.
Feng Jiu was not here in person.
But his "Dao erosion" was flying through time, hunting Wushi down!
"I think I am still young. There is no rush when it comes to children. That calls for careful, long-term consideration."
Wushi looked perfectly serious. "For now, cultivation must take priority!"
"Ah..."
The Western Emperor Pagoda's deity sighed softly, as though reluctantly acquiescing-or perhaps making some other plans.
Wushi hurriedly changed the subject. He could not spend even one more day in the Jade Lake Holy Land.
If he stayed any longer, the Emperor Tower might well start choosing consorts for him from the Jade Pool!
"That assassin Dao brother of mine really is no easy customer. Now that the True Dragon Immortal Medicine has appeared, could this have been his true target all along?"
"He used my identity as a Sacred Body to lure the three great assassin organizations into the Nether God Palace's territory-not for the Primordial Imperial Clan, but for this Immortal Divine Medicine?"
"Hmm, perhaps this divine medicine was wandering within that Primordial Imperial Clan's ancestral grounds, making it difficult for him to obtain alone. Is that why he is now killing with a borrowed knife?"
Wushi speculated, assuming the worst of Feng Jiu.
"Is he really not afraid of losing control, driving an Ancient Emperor clan mad and making them turn out in full force to plunge the world into chaos?"
Wushi stood on the moral high ground and wagged his finger.
But as he kept wagging it, he suddenly found himself unable to say much more.
After all, he had only just learned of his mother's final arrangements before her death. She had intended to drag the Big Dipper Ancient Star into the grave with her, burying the dreams of immortality of countless Supremes throughout history along the way!
So Wushi swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue.
"An Ancient Emperor clan has its own Emperor Weapon, as well as an Emperor Formation... Surely the three great assassin organizations will ultimately have no choice but to retreat?"
Wushi asked.
"Well... that is hard to say."
The Saint of the Jade Pool seemed to have thought of something, however, and cautiously offered a different opinion.
"As far as I know, the Saints of the Assassin Heavenly Court are already very old-so old they are nearing the end of their lives, with no younger generation ready to take their place."
"And an Immortal Divine Medicine can grant someone another lifetime..."
"As it happens, the Assassin Heavenly Court possesses the Nine Secrets: Xing. Ordinary formations cannot stop this Secret Technique... They really might get what they want."
Among the countless living beings, how many could face death without fear?
Even Saints feared death!
If they could live, who would not want to keep living?
In the past, some Great Powers and sect leaders had even dared to enter Life Forbidden Zones to prolong their lives!
Saints were not quite so impulsive... but only because they understood the limits of their abilities and would not enter a forbidden zone to seek death.
But a mere Ancient Emperor clan?
Charge!
Moreover, what an Immortal Divine Medicine symbolized to the Assassin Heavenly Court... was far from ordinary.
"The first Lord of the Heavenly Court of our Assassin Heavenly Court obtained a fruit of an Immortal Divine Medicine through a chance encounter and lived a second lifetime. From there, he comprehended the domain of time and ascended to the realm of Quasi-Emperor!"
"Our current Lord of the Heavenly Court surpasses the First Generation in talent... All he lacks is an opportunity!"
"If our revered Killing Saint obtains this True Dragon Immortal Medicine, he will surely recreate the legend of the First Generation, bringing another Quasi-Emperor into our Assassin Heavenly Court and forging a legend!"
"For our great Killing Saint, brothers, give it everything you have!"
At that moment, Feng Jiu stood atop a high platform, shouting so loudly that his voice shook the surroundings and set the blood of the Heavenly Court's many assassins boiling.
The Immortal Divine Medicine held an overwhelmingly legendary place in the Assassin Heavenly Court.
After all, the first Lord of the Heavenly Court had risen to greatness through it!
The later Lords of the Heavenly Court had all lacked that opportunity... At times, how could they not wonder: If we were given the same opportunity, the same fruit of an Immortal Divine Medicine, could I not bring the Nine Secrets: Xing to transcendent perfection, step into the domain of time, and become a
Quasi-Emperor of my generation?
In the distance, a gleam flashed through the eyes of the Heavenly Court's Killing Saint. He was too old, so old that death was near, and he already yearned to prolong his life.
He had consumed every Medicine King he could. He had reached his limit, and in another eighty or a hundred years at most, he would pass away.
But things were different now. Hope of survival shone before him, and a spirited young man was cheering him on, rousing his spirits!
An opportunity to surpass his predecessors and ancestors lay before him now. He had to consider whether this was the only chance he would ever have in his life!
"Does the Nether God Palace refuse to let our Heavenly Court take over?"
The Killing Saint thought for a long time, then suddenly said, "Then... slaughter them all!"