Chapter 271: 冥君

"Having lived for over 2,700 years, did you ever foresee this day?" the Seventh Tower Master asked.

The Dragon Mother looked at the Seventh Tower Master, her expression startled and horrified. "How did you know?" she gasped.

The Seventh Tower Master said, "Although the four divine towers each govern a millennium, history must be understood from above to pave the way for what comes after. Therefore, we have not only read through but also mastered the four thousand years of history in this world."

With her identity exposed, the Dragon Mother lowered her head, her pupils dimming as if she had completely lost her spirit.

The previous battle had left many wounds on her body, brutally forcing her cultivation, which was already half a step into the Five Paths, back down to the Purple Court Realm.

As twilight faded, the pearlescent glow on the Dragon Mother's long gown also diminished.

Iron chains tightly bound her immortal body.

Eight immortals from Luoshu Tower bound her and, led by the Seventh Tower Master, escorted her to Luoshu Tower.

Luoshu Tower, Rift God Gorge.

Luo Cangsu, clad in a divine robe, slowly floated down from the towering building that reached into the clouds.

Soon, he arrived in this mysterious forbidden area.

Within Rift God Gorge, a field was at work, composed of countless mutated spiritual energy particles colliding at high frequencies.

If an ordinary cultivator were to enter, their internal spiritual energy would be drawn out, and as it was extracted, it would cut through their body like knives, instantly tearing the cultivator into a thousand pieces.

However, Luo Cangsu's scaled body ignored this field, floating freely to the center of the forbidden area.

The particles in the field collided at high speed against his divine robe, sparks continuously erupting and illuminating his figure with dazzling brilliance.

Leading into the depths of Rift God Gorge were three "naturally formed" steps: three dragon bone fossils that descended into the depths of the rift.

Many carriages arrived from afar, treading along a path solidified in the void.

Each of those carriages dragged a large metal box.

Outside the forbidden area, the carriages stopped, and their cargo was unloaded.

Ten ancient god embryos or fossil fragments were found.

The ancient gods were not infertile, but their species was extremely rare, scattered sparsely across the world, almost never revealing themselves.

Therefore, every ancient god embryo was priceless.

All ten ancient god embryos were smashed.

A viscous liquid slowly flowed out.

Luo Cangsu rolled up his sleeve and injected spiritual energy into the liquid.

The injection of spiritual energy caused them to conflict with the field.

Amidst the high-speed collisions of particles, all the ancient god embryos mixed together uniformly.

A thick, bloody scent permeated the air.

Luo Cangsu used spiritual arts to filter out all impurities from the ancient god embryos, then gathered the essence into his sleeve. His body close to the ground, he slowly submerged himself into the depths of Rift God Gorge.

The underground palace had a complex structure, yet he navigated it with ease.

After traversing the intricate underground passages, he reached the deepest part.

In the center of the vast underground palace, a gigantic corpse was nailed to the ground by hundreds of massive wooden stakes. Most of its body was embedded in the rock, and its exposed rock-like armor had petrified, resembling precious metallic stone covered in a layer of stony skin.

This was merely a corner of Tianzang's corpse; if its entire body were revealed, it would be even larger than Luoshu Tower.

Surrounding this corpse were thousands of layers of restrictions, some for sealing, some for protection, and others for attacking intruders.

Luo Cangsu gazed at Tianzang's corpse.

Tianzang was the master of the metal element. After its death, it was deeply buried underground, returning to dust, its dragon-like body transforming into a hundred-zhang-long earth vein.

Even a life as powerful as Tianzang could not endure eternally in the long river of time.

Luo Cangsu raised his hand.

Dozens of swords appeared around him. These swords were as fine as needles, yet their craftsmanship was more intricate than that of the Immortal-Suppressing Swords.

These needle-like flying swords absorbed the ancient god embryos and pierced into the exposed parts of Tianzang's corpse.

This scale armor, once claimed to be the hardest in the world during its lifetime, was now effortlessly pierced.

The liquid from the ancient god embryos was injected into its body, seemingly a drop in the ocean.

But miraculously, not long after, the ground truly began to shake. This corpse, which had been dead for many years, seemed to come back to life, and the surrounding rocks and mountains shattered into rubble.

Luo Cangsu knew this was not a true awakening, but merely a fleeting resurgence of energy.

Only the mighty power of time could resurrect such an ancient god.

He withdrew from Rift God Gorge and returned to Luoshu Tower.

An hour later, the beautifully dressed Dragon Mother was brought in under arrest.

She was unable to move, bound by iron chains.

Luo Cangsu descended from the tenth floor of Luoshu Tower, a scroll in his hand.

"Jiyu, you've arrived." Luo Cangsu looked at her and spoke softly, as if seeing an ancient god.

Jiyu was the Dragon Mother's true name.

She raised her head, her eyes tear-filled, and looked at Luo Cangsu, her voice trembling. "You want me dead?"

Luo Cangsu replied, "No, I'm here to bring you to witness a miracle."

"A miracle?" The Dragon Mother looked puzzled.

The eight individuals holding the Immortal-Binding Chains simultaneously withdrew.

In the Luoshu Tower, as immense as a colossal peak, only the two of them remained.

Luo Cangsu said, "Years ago, I told you I liked you, and that one day I would grant you eternal life, allowing you to truly exist forever in this world, free from the pain of childbirth every few centuries."

"Silence!" the Dragon Mother retorted angrily. "You only want to refine me into Tianzang, to make me your puppet!"

Luo Cangsu said, "I will always be by your side."

He turned his head.

The Dragon Mother saw the scaled body beneath his divine robe and exclaimed in horror, "How did you come to look like this?"

Luo Cangsu smiled faintly. "I told you, I will accompany you in eternal life."

"You monster..." The Dragon Mother's beautiful eyes widened. Her delicate body trembled and struggled incessantly, but the Immortal-Binding Chains held her firmly, making escape impossible with her strength.

Luo Cangsu held the scroll in one hand and kept the other behind his back, looking towards Rift God Gorge.

"This is Luoshu," Luo Cangsu said, unrolling the unassuming ancient scroll in his hand.

Luoshu was the legendary creation divine scroll of this world, and also the true foundation upon which Luoshu Tower stood.

Luo Cangsu lightly tossed the book, which was so precious its value could not be measured.

Luoshu, like a bird, split open from its central pages, flapping its wings as it flew towards Rift God Gorge.

"It will turn its pages forward, one by one, from the current last page, rewinding the history of Rift God Gorge back three thousand years. That was the era when the Six Primordial Gods still controlled the world, and Tianzang was born to answer the call of destiny, an earth dragon armored with the most precious minerals. All mountains and lands were her kingdom."

Luo Cangsu spoke softly, his words as gentle as a breeze, sketching out an ancient legend.

"When Rift God Gorge returns to three thousand years ago, Tianzang will be resurrected. Unfortunately, even at its full power, it will no longer be the ruler of the world. Once it leaves Rift God Gorge, it will be rejected by the laws of heaven and earth, like a fish out of water."

Luo Cangsu pointed behind him and said, "These are the nine Immortal-Suppressing Swords. They are arrayed from the first floor to the ninth, all standing by. The moment Tianzang leaves Rift God Gorge, I will use Luoshu to trap it, and the nine Immortal-Suppressing Swords will fire simultaneously, destroying its entire body, leaving only its heart, which will then possess divinity."

"That is my gift to you."

Luo Cangsu walked over to her side and gently smoothed her slightly disheveled hair with his hand.

The Dragon Mother saw his deified face up close. The face wore an expression that feigned deep affection, yet it was terrifying enough to send shivers down her spine.

The Dragon Mother trembled all over, as if on the verge of madness. "You lunatic... aren't you afraid of the Great God Baizang sending down divine punishment?"

Luo Cangsu said, "The four divine towers inherently represent the will of Heaven. The existence of the Six Primordial Gods was already an implicit threat to the Divine Master. By resurrecting and then killing Tianzang, my actions can also be considered the Divine Master's will."

"That's just you talking to yourself..." The Dragon Mother shook her head repeatedly.

Luo Cangsu smiled calmly. "The Divine Master will not personally issue decrees. As the Divine Master's representative in the human realm, everything I do is divine will."

Lu Jiajia flicked the blood from her sword blade and sheathed it.

A drop of blood had splattered onto her pristine white clothes.

Lu Jiajia frowned slightly, a hint of displeasure on her face.

Ning Changjiu's injuries had largely recovered. Leading Qiu Yue, he stood behind Lu Jiajia and asked with a smile, "Little Qiu Yue, isn't your mother amazing?"

Qiu Yue looked at the sword-holder's head and nodded vigorously. "Mother is truly amazing... but it's almost evening now, and Mother will soon not be amazing anymore."

Lu Jiajia turned her head at the sound.

Ning Changjiu patted Qiu Yue's head and said, "What are you little head thinking about all day?"

Qiu Yue covered her head. "Clearly, *you're* the one overthinking things."

Lu Jiajia, holding her sword, turned around and asked about the matter at hand, "Have you figured it out?"

She was asking about the Dragon Mother from before.

The fact that the Dragon Mother could be summoned from the void indicated she was already dead.

"Who exactly was that Dragon Mother we saw earlier?" Lu Jiajia recalled the scene from that day and murmured, "Mr. Chu previously said that his determination to kill you was because you asked a question you shouldn't have, a question concerning the deity of Luoshu Tower."

"I'm sure my question was about the Dragon Mother's age," Ning Changjiu said. "The Dragon Mother lied to him; that's why he truly decided to kill us."

Lu Jiajia stated, "So it's highly possible she lied to us too!"

The Dragon Mother was integrated with the Rainbow Consort Immortal Palace. She couldn't lie to herself, so the Celestial River of the Immortal Palace should have displayed emotional reactions if she had lied.

But if this Dragon Mother was a fake, then everything would be overturned!

So, who was she then?

Where was the real Dragon Mother, and why did she die?

Ning Changjiu closed his eyes, recalling everything before and after the Dragon Mother's banquet.

He always felt he had overlooked something.

What could it be... what could it be...?

Ning Changjiu pondered with his eyes closed and head bowed.

Lu Jiajia was also thinking.

Qiu Yue, unsure what to think, also pretended to ponder, lowering her head.

Ning Changjiu's words were the first to break the silence.

"Ancient Spirit Sect! It's the Ancient Spirit Sect!"

Ning Changjiu suddenly spoke rapidly.

"What?" Lu Jiajia asked, puzzled. "What does this have to do with the Ancient Spirit Sect?"

Ning Changjiu said, "We had a misconception earlier. I previously said that the Dragon Mother would meet the champion to tell them something... We all assumed the champion she wanted to see was Mr. Chu, but now it seems that person couldn't have been Mr. Chu. Between them, it was clearly a life-and-death rivalry."

Lu Jiajia, also prompted, immediately recalled the other few individuals.

The champion of the Art was from the Heaven-Shifting Sect, so that was clearly impossible. The likelihood of the purple-robed fairy being the one was also low.

Only the most unassuming one, the champion of the Dao whose name they didn't even know...

He had an aura of the Netherworld about him.

Ning Changjiu immediately thought of something else: "Do you remember? When we first arrived in the Sea Kingdom, we heard something."

"What was it?" Lu Jiajia asked.

Ning Changjiu said, "At that time, the Heaven-Shifting Sect claimed they had lost important goods and were going to cause trouble for the Sea Kingdom. In the end... it was a high-ranking figure from the Ancient Spirit Sect who stepped in to mediate."

Lu Jiajia recalled it faintly.

But why would a high-ranking figure from the Ancient Spirit Sect be present at the Sea Kingdom banquet?

What did this have to do with the Ancient Spirit Sect?

They exchanged glances.

Speaking of the Ancient Spirit Sect, one could never avoid mentioning a certain ancient entity—the Nether Lord.