Chapter 441: The Voyage of Ming, the True Lord's Transaction

Life-Origin Star Realm, Sacred Kingdom Sacred Mausoleum.

Watching Jiang Ying take Du En and disappear in an incomprehensible way, Ming stood rooted to the spot for a long time without moving.

Only then did she make a move; she looked around, examining the area carefully.

With the use of the leftover eggshell, the secret space had already vanished—otherwise, it would have been impossible to fit it into the Blessed Land of Kongsang Mountain—so, at this very moment, the underground here was just an ordinary tomb pit, a place that looked completely unremarkable.

Yet, even though it was clearly her first time here, her first time seeing it, she had an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

Now that she finally had a moment of leisure, she couldn't help but investigate this.

"Why..."

The solitary murmur echoed in the deathly silent mausoleum; she walked here and there, finally returning to her original position, her furrowed brows suddenly relaxing.

Searching for that sense of familiarity, she traced it back several decades, and then, a memory that had almost been forgotten and buried quietly surfaced; looking around again, everything seemed to return to how it was back then.

At that time, Ming was only one year old, still just an infant.

Like the many non-native beings who descended from the heavens into the Life-Origin Star Realm, she was an infant who had fallen from the sky.

"Quick, quick, quick!"

"The Crown is over here, we must let her make the decision!"

"This child's condition is truly dire, little one, hold on!"

Several hurried male and female figures burst into the resting place of the Sacred Kingdom's dead, bringing with them an unusual vitality, while in the arms of one of them, a corresponding deathly aura was permeating.

The tender flesh was splitting open, and scarlet blood seemed to have a will of its own, erupting from that tiny body, hissing like high-pressure water, staining it bright red until it looked like a lump of rotting mud.

"I'm telling you, is it really okay for us to just run in here like this?"

"Is there any time to think about that now?!"

"No, no, no, this is the Sacred Mausoleum, hundreds of years of painstaking effort went into its layout, sneaking in like this... fine, standing by and watching someone die isn't an option either."

There was some bickering along the way; the person holding the small infant and running the fastest seemed to have just reacted, voicing their opinion—of course, their pace never slowed, and even now, as Ming thought about it, she felt this person was quite awkward, possessing a sharp tongue but a soft heart.

"Putting the cart before the horse is not acceptable!"

Just then, light surged from ahead, and an eye appeared, rolling around—it was the Eye of the Sacred God.

"Place her here in the center, I hope to be able to save her life..."

Before the Sacred God could finish the two sentences, the apostles had already scrambled to place the infant in the designated spot, each taking action, and in the blink of an eye, they had constructed a Sacred Platform.

Suddenly, a clearer light appeared in the dark underground where the dead slept.

The infant's dire situation was finally contained.

But it was clearly not a task that could be accomplished in a single day.

Because what was rampaging and running wild in that fragile body was a fragment of the supreme origin! As time passed, several days went by, and the apostles of the Sacred Kingdom had all gathered together.

With their cooperation with the Sacred God, they finally contained the little infant's condition, allowing her to recover, her eyes still filled with lingering pain as she pursed her lips and looked around.

Large faces crowded in all at once.

"Hahaha, what a tenacious little one, to be able to survive this!"

"This child is truly extraordinary!"

"So young and yet so resolute, she will definitely be able to take over for me in the future!"

"Alright, alright, you lot don't crowd so close, you're scaring her!"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

"Come to think of it, this is a heaven-sent lucky star!"

It was clearly a terrible situation, very likely a case of the mastermind behind the scenes taking the opportunity to observe the secrets of the Sacred Mausoleum; such a heaven-sent infant was by no means a good omen, but in the end, these scenes in her memory left Ming completely unsurprised.

"It was clearly a terrible development, yet it always seemed to point toward a good direction; these people..."

She thought to herself, and the memory had not yet ended.

Amidst the joyous atmosphere, the God and the people spoke one after another.

"We must give her a name!"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

"Since she is a heaven-sent lucky star, then..."

"Able to endure pain without crying, in that case..."

"A new life should have a beautiful future..."

"..."

Everyone chimed in, finally merging into one sentence.

"Ming, look forward to tomorrow!"

The words seemed to echo at the bottom of the Sacred Mausoleum, as if countless sleepers had once remembered this phrase.

Ming couldn't help but be stunned, taking a good while to come back to her senses.

Looking closely at her surroundings again, it was still just an ordinary pit; she couldn't help but lower her head, looking at the golden thread coiled in her hand—it was the transformation of the spiritual vein created by the Sacred God, the last thing left to her.

When she was alone like this, there was no need to maintain her composure; her eyes trembled slightly, and her murmured words were filled with cold logic: "So that's how it is. The Sacred Mausoleum was an attempt to imitate the work of the Life-Origin; not the Life-Origin of the stars, but the Life-Origin of living beings and people. The original 'end' should have been this, but the result was replaced due to an accident. That's right, not all layouts and plans succeed."

Through the memories restored by the scene, Ming perceived the intended purpose of the Sacred Mausoleum from the details of how she was saved back then.

However, muttering like this now felt like a way to relieve her emotions.

Turning around to look, at the original secret location, in the deepest part of the pit, there was a faint, soft light.

Golden eggshell fragments were quietly placed there, with three light spots of different colors circling above them, the interweaving of light forming a dreamlike egg shape.

At the very center of it was a tiny, curled-up human figure.

The Sacred God.

Like Du En's burning together with the world, she had paid an even greater price; she should have been completely annihilated in body and soul to achieve her goal.

However, because she insisted on sending Du En into the egg to be nurtured, she allowed him to wake up in that moment, using that fragment of the Source of Ten Thousand Lights, plus the Phoenix legacy she had taken the opportunity to retrieve when the Fiery Eyes were shattered, and under the invisible guidance of the Vermilion Bird's lingering rhyme, she successfully gathered the just-shattered and withered Sacred God back together.

Then, it was once again gestated.

With the Phoenix Legacy present, and the Origin Fragments present, it would gain a new life once more in the future.

At the time, Du En did not hesitate at all, nor did he feel any stinginess or heartache.

Mainly because this thing, the Phoenix Legacy, was actually a bit of a "chicken rib" to him.

It had emerged earlier in response to his True Flame, pointing toward the highest form of Phoenix Fire: the Heavenly Grade Dao Law, the Five Virtues Divine Fire.

The five virtues governed by the Phoenix are: Virtue, Righteousness, Propriety, Benevolence, and Trust.

In other words, to learn, master, and fully unleash the power of the Five Virtues Divine Fire, one needs to satisfy these five virtues in speech, conduct, and character; that is why it is a Dao Law that even the few Supremes cannot master, for Supremes are all people devoid of benevolence and righteousness.

As for Du En, he considered himself no sage of benevolence and righteousness, and to tell the truth, he had not figured out how to utilize this Phoenix Legacy; or rather, the moment he thought about utilizing it, he was actually unable to. When it comes down to it, the Phoenix's legacy should have been five points of the five virtues, yet only three appeared before him; it was already lacking from the start, and it was likely that it only responded and appeared because it saw him bearing and restraining his own lingering resentment.

Therefore, he had quietly taken it out earlier, and then just now used it in a place he deemed appropriate.

As expected, it had a miraculous effect.

Ming, looking at the Holy God's new egg at this moment, had her gaze soften, and she murmured, "Although his stepping forward to attract attention can mask your existence, I cannot avoid it; if I do not leave, it will only cause the stars, which have finally broken free, to be shackled once again.

So, in the time to come, perhaps I can succeed in bringing back the true dawn, but it is more likely that I will fail and fall into the dark night; in any case, I hope we can meet again in the future, Mother."

Having said that, she turned and left.

With silver beads strung on gold thread hanging before her chest, her expression was as firm as ever, her gaze calm and composed, as she strode meteor-like through the underground tunnel.

War puppets lay silently along the path on both sides, filling in the pits and bumps the master had made earlier, sleeping silently and entering a state of autonomous maintenance to guard the tranquility of the Holy Mausoleum.

Finally, beneath the entrance and exit of the Holy Mausoleum, in the area shrouded by light, the barely repaired puppet Du En stood quietly, not sleeping like the other puppets.

It would follow Ming.

Du En wanted to reserve a path of retreat in the starry sky, and Ming also needed sufficient assistance by her side, so the two hit it off immediately, and it was left behind to be used by Ming.

"Let's go."

Saying this, she leaped up and left the Holy Mausoleum.

Then, as the massive sealing stones of the mausoleum fell one by one, this place where the citizens of the Holy Kingdom rested in peace returned once again to its customary stillness.

Outside the entrance, two people and one snake were waiting.

Taking advantage of the time just now, Jin had already treated Xiao Hui, the fifth-rank great snake, to a fair degree, making it vigorous and lively again; however, it looked at this man with a gaze of deep fear.

It was clear that the treatment process just now must have been very unpleasant.

"Hiss!"

The moment it saw its master, it hissed immediately like a whimpering puppy, its body shrinking significantly as it swam over, still eyeing puppet Du En with wariness and fear.

With its brain, it could not fully understand how he had suddenly turned from an enemy into a friend, and thus it carried a touch of tension and vigilance.

Ming reached out and patted it, then looked at Jin and Yun.

"Are you leaving already?"

"Can't you stay a while longer?"

The brother and sister spoke different words.

"Although this world, our homeland, has been healed, the fundamental problem has not been solved, so I must leave immediately; the Holy Kingdom and the Dark Kingdom, and the compatriots who are still alive, can only be entrusted to you to look after."

All three had the experience of serving in the Holy Kingdom and the Dark Kingdom in succession, and in a sense, they were the most suitable people in charge now, but Ming could not stop and dared not slacken, so she could only leave the matter to the two of them.

"Rest assured, we will look after them well."

"Mm, when you return, it will surely have recovered to its former prosperity!"

"Good, I will return."

Ming nodded calmly, and with that, the farewell was complete.

She patted Xiao Hui, and it understood immediately, opening its mouth to spit out an object—it was the Divine Remains Armor.

With a click, it assembled itself onto Ming, making her once again that imposing great general.

Xiao Hui roared, shook its body, and manifested a thousand-zhang-long form, floating in the air and revealing a faint trace of pressure, different from before.

It was the dragon transformation taking a step further; this was Jin's handiwork.

Ming nodded slightly to him, flew and landed on the snake's head with puppet Du En, and then raised a hand to point at the sky, from which a silver light burst forth.

The Dark God had long ago secretly visited the Puppet Sect Tower, and had once infiltrated the Holy Kingdom with an avatar to find that great dragon, searching its soul to learn various information from outside the stars, and based on this, had long ago planned and laid out many secret moves in the starry sky.

At this moment, Ming used the backup plans left behind by him to open the starry sky route laid out by the Dark God.

The white sun rose, and the stars floated once again.

The starry sky of the universe seemed to extend a tentacle, like a heavenly ladder, descending into their eyes.

Xiao Hui exerted its demon power, soared into the air, and followed the guidance of the starry sky, beginning to ascend into orbit.

Looking into the distance from an increasingly high altitude, one could see that on the land where the scars were healing, purely mechanical puppets were rebuilding their homes under the leadership of people who were now able to move.

They sensed something from afar and could not help but look up, but they could only see the distant horizon, where a white sun and bright star seemed to flash and vanish.

Ming had already left.

"Has she left?"

True Monarch Buyi murmured thus.

He had just returned to his Fourth Peak and looked as if he had no wounds, as cold and hard as ever, but in reality, he had a multitude of major and minor injuries and needed to go into seclusion to recover.

"Fighting the Junior Martial Brother now is very disadvantageous; after all, no matter how we strike, it will only accelerate his Dao Body of Combined Transformation, unless we truly fight to the death and use killing moves that cannot be restrained or retracted, only then can we bypass the profound strangeness in his integration process."

The voice of an uninvited guest came from behind.

True Monarch Buyi turned his head silently and looked at the other party.

His Second Senior Brother, True Monarch Zuding.

He looked like he had come to watch the fun, almost tucking his hands into his sleeves, with a faint smile on his face.

True Monarch Buyi's expression did not change, and he stated flatly: "Life and death will be decided sooner or later; now is just a rehearsal, and this is also a development that was expected."

"Indeed, as you expected, under internal and external pressure, you have stepped into the realm of a Strong Heaven's Pride; I must congratulate you on that."

As for the matter of the Source-Life Star Realm, just as True Monarch Zhuding said, it is True Monarch Buyi verifying the results of his own work.

His own side is already very clear; as for the Star Realm side, the scheme was ruined and the observation subject slipped out of control, proving that his previous assumptions were incorrect and needed timely adjustment, yet there was no additional loss; rather, one could say he gained new inspiration and possibilities from it, observing the factors he needed that had already surfaced.

If it had not been ruined, it would only have proven that his original assumptions were still considered correct, though certainly still lacking in maturity, and subsequent investments could have been added to further expand the observation and profit.

In any case, he simply would not lose! True Monarch Buyi felt no pride; his expression, like his mood, was without a ripple, solidified like stone, as he opened his mouth to say: "Senior Brother, you came here specifically, is there something the matter?"

"Of course there is. Your old scheme has ended and your new one is about to begin; you must be very short on all kinds of resources, right?"

"I am indeed very short. So, what do you want?"

"Stars."

"Very well, those five hundred stars where all living beings have perished, I will sell them all to you."

"Deal."

At this point, the reason why Meng Changqing was angry to the extreme this time and finally could not help but erupt surfaced to the surface.

For the sake of the Source-Life Star Realm as a testing ground, whether it was the Fluorite Sickness or the alienated source-life, all sorts of things had exhausted five hundred stars, and the living beings upon those five hundred star realms.

That is why that Dark-Sun Extinction was so powerful, capable of forming sufficient internal tearing.

That was precisely the resentful roar of countless living beings, the evil fruit borne of countless evil causes... although in the end, it was still consumed by True Monarch Buyi, becoming his stepping stone.

(End of this chapter)