Chapter 524

Outside An'yang City, Linghu Clan's separate courtyard.

- An'yang City

- Linghu Clan's Separate Courtyard

Linghu Qingqing stood in the rear courtyard, hands behind her back, watching a few white petals drift by in the murmuring stream.

- Linghu Qingqing

- rear courtyard

- murmuring stream

- white petals

His mood wasn't good; he wanted to bring back Silver Fish Child openly and properly, to take her home as a legitimate wife. But his order met with unanimous opposition from the Linghu clan, from his old brothers to his many nephews and nieces, and even those who dared not speak to his face but gossiped behind his back—great-grandsons and great-great-grandsons—not a single one supported him.

- Silver Fish Child

- Linghu Clan

- old brothers

- nephews

- great-grandsons

Resistance was strong; Linghu Qingqing felt troubled.

- Linghu Qingqing

"Ding," a crisp sound rang out as the jade ring held in Linghu Qingqing's left hand rippled with faint light. He flicked his wrist and tossed the jade ring into the stream; large patches of water stirred up tiny ripples, and soon a faint glow rose from the water.

- jade ring

- stream water

A blurry, indistinct face appeared in the bright light. Old Master Hu's voice rang out: "The position given by the Heavenly God is correct; here, indeed there is great evil. But I do not know what exactly is nurtured here, how great its power, whether it can fulfill your... grand ambition."

- Old Master Hu

- Heavenly God

- father

Linghu Qingqing clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and nodded slowly: "Then, be careful. Our Linghu clan has paid such a great price to obtain the Heavenly God's promise; we must not fail."

- Linghu Qingqing

- Linghu Clan

Now Linghu Qingqing is the eldest ancestor of the Linghu clan, the highest in status and seniority. Therefore, this ancestor wanting to take in a woman of poor background through a proper marriage will naturally face opposition from all clan members.

- Linghu Qingqing

- Linghu Clan

- ancestor

Only under one circumstance will the clan members' opposition become weak and powerless: when Linghu Qingqing replaces Sima Xian, when the Linghu clan under Linghu Qingqing's leadership replaces the Sima clan, when Linghu Qingqing ascends the throne in the Nine Heavens Palace, overturning the dynasty and reversing heaven and earth, becoming the new dynasty's God Emperor; then he need not speak, and the officials will naturally petition him to fill the harem.

- Linghu Qingqing

- Sima Xian

- Linghu Clan

- Sima Clan

- Nine Heavens Palace

- God Emperor of the New Dynasty

- court officials

- imperial harem

The Linghu clan's eldest ancestor cannot arbitrarily take in people.

- Linghu Clan

- ancestor

But as a God Emperor of an era, one can do as one pleases; even if forced, one must replenish the harem every few years, otherwise it is favoritism, risking chaos by in-laws, and you become a foolish ruler!

- God Emperor

- imperial harem

- relatives by marriage

- foolish ruler

In response, Linghu Qingqing could not be more pleased.

- Linghu Qingqing

After pondering, Linghu Qingqing clapped his hands, and several black-clad figures emerged from behind the trees: "Inside and outside An'yang City, any movements? East Garden, West Garden, South Garden, North Garden, and the Twelve Guards Forbidden Army—how are they?"

- Linghu Qingqing

- black-clad persons

- inside and outside An'yang City

- East Garden

- West Garden

- South Garden

- North Garden

- Twelve Guards Forbidden Army

Several black-clad figures kn

- black-clad persons

The East Garden Forbidden Army is intensively training, its combat power rapidly forming; according to their observation, East Garden Colonel Huo Xiong personally oversees the Four Spirit Warship each day, commanding the large army's drills.

- East Garden Forbidden Army

- East Garden Colonel Huo Xiong

- Four Spirit Warship

- large army

Meanwhile, in the South, West, and North Gardens' Forbidden Army, Princess Jing Sheng is meddling with power, contending with Prince Xuan Sima Zhi, commander of the Capital Garrison Command, for power and profit. Princess Jing Sheng has gathered a large retinue of followers, causing the Three Gardens Forbidden Army to fall into disarray; to this day, even military equipment has not been distributed properly.

- South Garden

- West Garden

- North Garden

- Three Gardens Forbidden Army

- Princess Jing Sheng

- Capital Garrison Command

- Prince Xuan Sima Zhi

- subjects under her skirt

- Three Gardens Forbidden Army

Within the Twelve Guards Forbidden Army, Princess Jing Sheng, the Eastern Palace Crown Prince Sima Fa, and even several powerful princes unwilling to remain idle have all taken action. The Twelve Guards Forbidden Army is a mix of fish and dragons, mud and sand, with people from all sides mixed in; even suspicion arises that scouts from Great Wu and Great Wei are lurking.

- Twelve Guards Forbidden Army

- Princess Jing Sheng

- Eastern Palace Crown Prince Sima Fa

- powerful prince

- Great Wu

- Great Wei

- spies

Even more astonishing, within the Twelve Guards Forbidden Army, the provisions of two guards' units have, under Sima Fa's personal intervention, been pre-claimed for three years' worth. This huge amount of resources, transferred from the Military Deployment Bureau's storehouse, went straight into the Capital Garrison Command's storehouse, circulated there, and then went directly into the Eastern Palace Treasury.

- Twelve Guards Forbidden Army

- Two Guards Forbidden Army

- military provisions

- Sima Fa

- Military Deployment Bureau

- storehouse

- Capital Garrison Command

- Eastern Palace Treasury

That night, Sima Fa held a grand banquet, inviting countless fox friends and dog companions to revel all night; the music girls and dancers overseen by the Office of Ritual and Music were almost entirely drawn away by him.

- Sima Fa

- fox friends and dog companions

- Office of Ritual and Music

- music girls and dancers

Moreover, the main force of the Great Jin Destroy Wu Army has already approached Da Ze Prefecture. The vanguard corps of the Destroy Wu Army, under Linghu Song's command, barely resisted the fierce assault of the Great Wu Destroy Jin Army; now the front line is barely holding in the poor mountains near Feng Prefecture, close to Da Ze Prefecture.

- Great Jin Destroy Wu Army

- main force

- Da Ze Prefecture

- Destroy Wu Army Vanguard

- Linghu Song

- Great Wu Destroy Jin Army

- poor mountains near Feng Prefecture

- Feng Prefecture

"Has the main force of the Destroy Wu Army already nearly reached Da Ze Prefecture?" Linghu Qingqing snatched the jade ring from the stream, saying softly: "The Destroy Wu Army's current scale is still insufficient, still not enough. We will draw elite troops from the Divine Might Army, conscript state and private armies from various prefectures, and form a reserve corps. Well, the scale—we will prepare according to ten times the Destroy Wu Army's size."

- Destroy Wu Army main force

- Da Ze Prefecture

- Linghu Qingqing

- jade ring

- stream water

- Divine Might Army

- state and private armies

- reserve corps

- Destroy Wu Army

Linghu Qingqing smiled, slowly raised his hand, and pointed at a fruit hanging from a branch above his head, shattering it with a light touch.

- Linghu Qingqing

- (no other named entities)

"Also, keep a close watch on the East Garden Forbidden Army. At critical moments, no accidents can be allowed. Keep an eye on Duke Huo Xiong of Yu Prefecture; if he shows any abnormality, take his head directly."

- East Garden Forbidden Army

- critical moment

- Duke of Yu Prefecture Huo Xiong

- head

On a coffin-shaped large island, Wu Tie hid in concealment at the edge of a big pit, silently sensing the mingling of extreme yin and evil and extreme yang and righteous energies drifting around him. These two energies are extremely extreme, yet mixed with various complex additional attributes.

- Big Island

- Wu Tie

- Ultimate Yin and Evil

- Ultimate Yang and Righteous

For instance, within that ultimate yin and evil energy, there are various twisted, mutating legal patterns—corrosion, decay, aging, death, and so on…

- (no named entities)

While within the ultimate yang and righteous energy, there are various purifying, scorching, anti-evil, and life-generating forces mixed in.

- (none)

This differs from Wu Tie's comprehension and integration into the divine fetus of the innate and acquired Yin‑Yang Dao; his integration into that Dao mainly stems from the inheritance of the ancient Great Peng Ming King and his insight into the Yin‑Yang Two‑Qi Vessel. Consequently, Wu Tie's Dao is exceptionally pure and utterly pristine.

- Wu Tie

- Divine Fetus

- Innate and Acquired Yin Yang Grand Dao

- Primordial Great Peng Bright King

- Yin Yang Two Qi Vessel

The extreme yin and evil and extreme yang and righteous energies spewing from this pond, though extreme, encompass almost all transformations that yin-yang power can evolve, containing them all. This is what is called the eight hundred forty thousand side branches directly affiliated beyond the three thousand great dao.

- pond

- Ultimate Yin and Evil

- Ultimate Yang and Righteous

- Yin Yang Power

- Three Thousand Great Dao

- Eighty-four Thousand Side Branches Directly Affiliated

Wu Tie let go of his mind and fully immersed himself in sensing the dao rhyme here.

- Wu Tie

- Dao Rhyme

The Yin Yang Two Qi Vessel was held in his divine fetus's embrace; the yin and yang qi coiled, guarding his divine fetus. When external qi entered Wu Tie's body, it was instantly shattered and transformed by the Yin Yang Two Qi Vessel, thread by thread of pure dao rhyme merging bit by bit into his divine fetus.

- Yin Yang Two Qi Vessel

- Divine Fetus

- Wu Tie

- Dao Rhyme

Hundreds of great dao patterns, like winding little dragons, swiftly appeared above Wu Tie's divine fetus's head, then rapidly flowed throughout his divine fetus's body.

- Great Dao Patterns

- Wu Tie's Divine Fetus

His Dao advances incrementally, while his magical cultivation remains unchanged, yet his actual combat strength continues to grow. Wu Tie's harmony with the four‑direction void and the Heaven‑Earth Great Dao spikes again, and even the potency of his invisibility technique suddenly more than doubles.

- Dao Cultivation

- magic power cultivation

- actual combat power

- Four Directions Void

- Heaven Earth Grand Dao

- Invisibility Technique

Hundreds of heterodox side‑paths' Dao resonances swiftly fuse with the divine fetus; catalyzed by the innate and acquired Yin‑Yang Great Dao, these resonances—derived from the Yin‑Yang Dao—merge at breakneck speed, so rapid that even Wu Tie feels like a novice.

- side-way left-hand paths

- Dao Rhyme

- Divine Fetus

- Innate and Acquired Yin Yang Grand Dao

In the next instant, Wu Tie's heart throbbed violently, and he stared wide-eyed.

- Wu Tie

In the black pond ahead, a woman in a great red robe floated out slowly. She was over ten zhang tall, with exquisite beauty, her scalp smooth like crystal, without a single hair. Her aura was strange—extreme yin evil and extreme yang righteous mixed together, the two energies interweaving chaotically.

- black pond

- great red robe

- woman

- (no named entities)

However, this woman had a huge hole in her brow, a round wound piercing from her forehead straight through the back of her head; such a blow to an ordinary being would obviously annihilate soul and spirit, extinguishing all life.

- (none)

Indeed, there was no soul fluctuation on her body, but her life force was immensely strong; especially, a faint heartbeat could be heard from her prominently swollen abdomen.

- (none)

Wu Tie stared wide-eyed.

- Wu Tie

The Dark Dragon Venerable and his fellows, who had fled far away, waited a moment, then sneaked back like thieves, hovering ten-odd zhang above the ground, poised to flee at any moment, staying at the basin's edge, peeking and probing at this strange woman.

- Dark Dragon Venerable

- fellows

- basin

"How many years could this woman have been dead?" the Hundred Ghosts Lord muttered.

- Hundred Ghosts Lord

- woman

"Is there something alive in her belly?" the Fire Tiger Lord exclaimed, snorting hard: "Can a corpse still bear a child? What monster is this?"

- Fire Tiger Lord

- belly

- living thing

- monster

The Fire Tiger Lord gave a strange laugh, brandished his long blade, and a blade-light burst forth, heavily striking the red-dressed woman's prominently swollen belly.

- Fire Tiger Lord

- long sword

- sword light

- red-dressed woman

- belly

With a crisp sound, the blade-light scattered, yet the woman's body remained unmoved, not even a thread of her red robe damaged.

- (none)

Among the outlaws, a woman with astonishing cultivation saw her eyes suddenly brighten; she knew the Fire Tiger Lord's level, and his long blade was a heavenly dao divine weapon-level treasure, able to withstand his blade-light without damage—this red long skirt was clearly a powerful defensive secret treasure.

- outlaws

- cultivation level

- woman

- Fire Tiger Lord

- long sword

- heavenly dao divine weapon level

- treasure

- red long skirt

- defensive secret treasure

Especially, though its style was somewhat odd, it was oddly beautiful enough to stir these women's deepest vanity.

- (none)

As the blade-light scattered, a strange sound came from the woman's abdomen.

- (none)

Her protruding belly gradually flattened; her mouth opened slightly, and threads of white qi sprayed out, quickly forming a light cocoon about a zhang in diameter above her. Scorching qi sprayed from the cocoon; the cocoon's qi was supremely upright and bright, divine pure yang, with not a trace of yin evil mixed in.

- white aura

- light cocoon

- upright and bright

- divine pure yang

- yin evil

Before anyone could act on the light cocoon, it burst open, and a woman over nine feet tall, with a graceful figure, her body wrapped in a thin layer of white flame, dignified and divine, emerged slowly from the myriad points of exploding light.

- white flame

- divine and dignified

- woman

The woman floating on the black pond had a mixed aura of yin and yang, while the woman born from her abdomen had a purely upright and bright aura, utterly free of evil qi. It was like pulling a perfect piece of mutton-fat jade from a latrine where a rotten stone had soaked for tens of thousands of years— the mental impact was immense.

- black pond

- woman

- yin energy

- yang energy

- upright and bright

- evil energy

- latrine

- rotten stone

- mutton-fat jade

The woman enveloped in white flame was exquisitely beautiful, beyond any evaluation.

- white flame

- woman

Her scalp was smooth, without a single hair.

- (none)

What made people feel a chill down their spine and a tingling scalp was that she looked exactly like the red-dressed woman floating on the water, except that the red-dressed woman was over ten zhang tall, while she was just over nine feet.

- red-dressed woman

- water surface

"Hehe," she laughed lightly, pointing at the pond below; the red skirt turned into a red light that flew up, circling her several times. The red light faded, and the red skirt settled on her, making her look even more like a fairy, not a mortal being.

- Hehe

- woman

- pond

- red skirt

- red light

The many outlaws present were all top-notch evildoers and thugs, among them not lacking those lustful and heaven-defying types.

- outlaws

- evildoers

- thugs

- lustful and courageous to the heavens

- types

A short, skinny, lecherous man under six feet tall lunged forward two steps, reaching out to grab the woman's tender hand like a water onion: "Little lady, your mother is dead; why not come with me, big brother? I'll surely feed you white and plump, watery and pink."

- skinny man

- woman

- young lady

- big sir

"Pop!" the skinny man exploded.

- Pop!

- skinny man

Accompanied by a miserable wail, the blood mist from the exploding skinny man revealed a figure about nine feet tall, shaped like black crystal, with faint wind-and-fire dao patterns coiling around a divine fetus, which the red-dressed woman snatched away. She tilted her head, glanced blankly at the divine fetus in her hand, then suddenly burst into a happy laugh.

- miserable wail

- man

- blood mist

- Divine Fetus

- red-dressed woman

- wind and fire dao patterns

In everyone's shocked gaze, the red-dressed woman seized the lecherous man's divine fetus, kneaded it with both hands into the size of a meatball, then swallowed it with a "gloop."

- red-dressed woman

- lecherous man

- Divine Fetus

- meatball

- gloop

Threads of black qi continually seeped from the red-dressed woman's smooth scalp; her aura rapidly increased, and after just a few breaths, no more black qi rose from her scalp—clearly, the impurities in the lecherous man's soul had been completely refined away by her.

- black aura

- red-dressed woman

- scalp

- aura

- breaths

- lecherous man

- soul

- impurities

- refined

"The feeling of being born by oneself is truly strange." The bewildered look in the red‑clad woman's eyes quickly faded, and she spoke softly: "However, this great divine ability of borrowing death for rebirth is truly excellent; in that inevitable deadly battle, I still managed to survive."

She smiled charmingly, the woman in red asked softly: "May I ask, what year and month is it now? Which God Venerable is in charge?"

The Dark Dragon Venerable and his companions were bewildered; everyone, except Wu Tie who was in a state of invisibility, instinctively retreated several li, while the lecherous man, who among the many leaders present was of middling strength, would take the Dark Dragon Venerable and his group some time to subdue.

But in the woman in red's hand, a single strike was enough to kill the lecherous man.

Especially her practice of devouring divine fetuses was downright demonic, clashing with the righteous aura she emanated; such an aberrant existence is best avoided.

"What God Venerable is in charge?" the Lord of Hundred Ghosts said in a deep voice: "This is the extreme eastern border of the Great Jin Divine State, the extremely deep part of the East Sea; miss, may I ask your esteemed name?"

The woman in red furrowed her brows: "Huh? Great Jin Divine State? Extreme East Sea border? I recall now—when my former self was nearly shattered into soul and spirit, a single fragment of my remnant soul drove my former self westward for a full hundred years; only with great difficulty did I find this newly opened island, where I employed the Borrow-Death Reincarnation Divine Ability… Is this place the far western barren lands?"

The Dark Dragon Venerable and his companions were bewildered again; they completely failed to understand the woman in red's words.

After a light cough, the Dark Dragon Venerable said in a deep voice: "Miss, you killed our people; you owe us an explanation."

In the next instant, the woman in red appeared before the Dark Dragon Venerable out of thin air, lightly grasping his neck with both hands; she coquettishly and softly asked him: "An explanation? What kind of explanation?"

The Dark Dragon Venerable let out a startled yell, his body flickered, and he turned into a dim flame that shot up into the sky.

In the snap of a finger, the Dark Dragon Venerable fled over a hundred li.

But when he came to a stop, the woman in red still clung to him like a bone‑eating maggot; though she had been in front of him moments before, she was now behind him, with one hand deeply plunged into his back.

Everyone heard the sharp crack of breaking bones; the woman in red crushed the Dark Dragon Venerable's spine with a single palm, laughing 'keke' as she forcibly tore out his heart.

"Ah, all bloody and mangled—this isn't fit to eat." The woman in red smiled sweetly: "Back then I just ate meat indiscriminately, so my inner aura was impure, preventing me from breaking through to the Supreme Realm. But the divine souls and divine fetuses of cultivators like you are the finest tonic—pure and unblemished—and with the Extreme Yang Body I gained after using the Borrow-Death Reincarnation Divine Ability, it's also easy to dispel."

"Hmm, you still haven't answered my question—what year and month is it, and which God Venerable is in charge?"

"I used the Borrow-Death Reincarnation Divine Ability—just how many years have passed?"