Chapter 703: Thick Earth and Bright Heaven's Secret

Li Zihua's voice, though soft, carried a profound weight that caused the Moon Palace to tremble. The resulting sound waves even stilled the sea of blood surrounding Crimson Mother.

Xu Qing and the others also breathed a sigh of relief, quickly retreating. They understood clearly that the upcoming battle was not one they could participate in; not even those with nascent divinity were qualified.

On the sea of blood, Crimson Mother was expressionless. A blood-red fire flickered within her empty eyes as she watched Li Zihua, seemingly unsurprised by his revival and arrival.

"Profound Nether has departed; time has changed. Li Zihua, your awakening is meaningless," Crimson Mother stated calmly, her voice devoid of any emotion, neither joy nor sorrow.

This scene appeared differently in the eyes of various observers. The image each person perceived was instinctively altered by their cognition, manifesting at the very limit of what they could bear. For instance, to the Prince and others, the Crimson Mother they saw was a more ferocious, malevolent, and terrifying fusion of human form and feathers. The central fire in her eyes was not mere flame, but two writhing stars.

This is the nature of deities. Due to their extraordinarily high level of existence, they appear in countless forms to all sentient beings. Therefore, if a deity wished to destroy the world, they would only need to project their true form into the eyes of all living beings, and death would ensue. From this, one could also discern the terror of a deity's true form, for regardless of their cultivation, the deity in the eyes of all races and beings appeared the same.

At this moment, Crimson Mother's voice, upon reaching Xu Qing and the others, transformed into rolling thunder that reverberated within their minds, causing everyone to instantly lose all power of resistance. The Prince and others each employed their methods to barely withstand the pressure. Xu Qing, without hesitation, immediately took out a lump of mud and held it in his hand; this was left to him by the Mud Fox. Captain quickly produced a glowing red strand of hair, a token from Moon Devourer God. Though the deity had come and gone, leaving little behind. However, the Captain had always kept this hair. Only Li Zihua required no resistance; he stood silently within the Moon Palace, gazing at the Crimson Mother before him.

After a while, his voice emerged, soft and gentle.

"The mission remains!"

For Crimson Mother, these four words seemed to act as a form of provocation. The next moment, more blood flowed from Crimson Mother's body. The entwined thorns, blooming amidst countless Mandara flowers on the sea of blood, transformed her expression into one of venomous resentment, and she let out a low growl.

"Is it the mission of the Empyrean Heavens, or the mission of the Houtu Earth?""Li Zihua, have you forgotten the disposition you once held in the Empyrean Heavens?""We were born gods; who sealed our ancestors, causing our descendants to lose their divine status?"

Li Zihua closed his eyes. After a long moment, he shook his head. "I have not forgotten."

Crimson Mother's entire body glowed with a blood-red light. As the red aura surged, she took a step towards Li Zihua.

"Who raised the so-called Heavenly Dao above us gods to suppress us? And who imprisoned us beneath the Ancient Continent, building the world of cultivators upon our divine souls?"

As her voice echoed, Crimson Mother's appearance began to change in Xu Qing's eyes. Her originally beautiful female form was now fracturing, with blood-colored feathers gradually replacing her flesh. And her words continued!

"Li Zihua, I chose to become a god. When you left back then, you were just like me. But why did you later extinguish your divine fire and betray our bloodline?!""You came from the Empyrean Heavens, yet you became Houtu.""I came from the Empyrean Heavens and still represent the Empyrean Heavens."

With her final words, Crimson Mother appeared before Li Zihua. In Xu Qing's eyes, her body violently transformed, her previous appearance vanishing completely as she reverted to her initial horrific form of flesh and blood. At this moment, all her feathers rapidly unfolded outwards, revealing the interior of a composite mass of flesh and feathers, where a gigantic eyeball pulsed. Endless blood flowed from within. Facing Crimson Mother's words and approaching figure, Li Zihua remained silent, finally letting out a sigh.

He raised his right hand and pressed it towards the sky. With this press, the firmament shattered into countless falling fragments, which transformed as they descended, forming streams of earth-shattering aura. Subsequently, these fragments also transformed into countless illusory projections, containing stars, dragon-phoenix beasts, various ancient spirits, and even, to Xu Qing's surprise, a Golden Crow. As they appeared, and their auras erupted, a unique fluctuation belonging to Emperor-grade cultivation techniques surged from these illusory figures formed by the fragments. All of them were Emperor-grade cultivation techniques, encompassing those of all races, numbering no less than ten thousand.

At this moment, summoned with a wave of Li Zihua's hand, these tens of thousands of Emperor-grade cultivation techniques instantly displayed their true essence. In the blink of an eye, within the illusory figures formed by each Emperor-grade technique, forbidden elements emerged as if seals were broken. Weapons in the form of various objects, and the destruction Xu Qing had felt within the Golden Crow, now all manifested in the sky. These were forbidden arts; their emergence unleashed terrifyingly extreme fluctuations that then surged towards Crimson Mother.

Back then, Xu Qing had already sensed the hidden secret of Emperor-grade cultivation techniques from within the Golden Crow; he knew that each Emperor-grade technique was actually a seal, sealing away things that the Heavenly Dao did not permit to appear. Now, witnessing it firsthand, his mind was tremendously stirred for a long time. Such divine abilities were inconceivable, beyond even those with nascent divinity to grasp. This was an earth-shattering power that only a Dominator could unleash. Both Crimson Mother's strike and Dominator Li Zihua's counterattack far surpassed the scope of everyone's comprehension.

Thus, the next instant, Xu Qing and the others each spat out blood and retreated, their expressions filled with horror. The scene before their eyes also changed according to their varying capacities to bear it. The world reflected in Xu Qing's eyes no longer contained Li Zihua or Crimson Mother. The shattered firmament was now replaced by a colossal painting, composed of two colors: red and white. These two colors intertwined, yet remained distinct, swirling across the firmament to form a massive vortex. At the center of this vortex, a white eye opened. It had no pupil, which was instead replaced by a blood-red heart. The heart was now beating, emitting a sound like heavenly thunder, and around the eye grew countless eyelashes. These eyelashes extended and swayed like tentacles. From time to time, they would touch each other, forming blurry shadows composed of a third color. These were black, shadow-like forms, irregular in shape. The moment they appeared, they would instantly devour one another.

This was the divine battle as seen through Xu Qing's eyes. Because this battle surpassed his rank, the clash between Dominator Li Zihua and Crimson Mother appeared to him as an incredibly abstract painting. In the painting, red represented Crimson Mother, white represented Li Zihua, and the third color, which Xu Qing did not understand, seemed to be the shadows of Li Zihua and Crimson Mother. This made Xu Qing think of his own shadow.

"Little A Qing, remember what you're seeing. This is the pinnacle clash between two life levels: cultivators and deities." Captain stood beside Xu Qing, clutching Moonflame tightly while gazing raptly at the firmament, muttering. "One side embodies cultivation pushed to its extreme. The other chose to become a god, thereby instigating the great catastrophe of the Ancient Continent. The former's cultivation path leads to the pinnacle of life. Cultivators who reach this extreme are given various titles: some call them Venerables, others Immortals. On the Ancient Continent, this type of peak cultivator is known as a Dominator. This is the lifelong aspiration and a cherished dream of cultivators." Captain's voice reached Xu Qing's ears, carrying a hint of solemnity and a touch of melancholy.

"Little Junior Brother, did you know? There's an even older legend on the Ancient Continent." Xu Qing's heart stirred.

"Legend has it that a very, very long time ago, the Ancient Continent was not as it is now. There were no cultivators, no rules, no laws, and naturally, no Heavenly Dao. Cultivators came from the Lower Realm. The peak cultivators of the Lower Realm, once they reached that state, roamed countless cosmic worlds. Nothing could threaten an Immortal; they controlled all rules, understood all origins, traveled through any space-time, altered all things, and could even create sentient beings."

Hearing this, Xu Qing's mind reeled!

Captain gazed at the firmament, still muttering, "Whether they were Immortals or Dominators, to a certain extent, they were immortal, living as long as heaven itself. Their thoughts and desires had also changed; what they pursued was merely the Dao, the exploration beyond the very end of this cultivation path. And according to their different experiences, different understandings, and different ideals, they varied. Some had traveled very, very far, while others were still standing still. Therefore, in that bygone era, the only ones who could threaten Immortals were themselves."

"Until, as they advanced further, continuously breaking through world barriers, they arrived from the Lower Realm to the Upper Realm. It was then that deities—another extreme form of life—appeared within the Immortals' understanding."

"At that moment, Immortals changed!"

"They were told that these countless universes and worlds had never truly belonged to cultivators."

"Whether in the past, present, or future, all definitions, everything, ultimately originated from deities."

"It was deities who divided the world into upper and lower."

"The Lower Realm was Houtu Earth, and the Upper Realm was Empyrean Heavens."

"The analogy of a frog at the bottom of a well becoming a cultivator was most fitting at this time.... What followed was the war between Immortals and gods, the war between the Lower Realm and the Upper Realm, and more specifically, the war between Houtu Earth and the Empyrean Heavens." Captain paused after saying this softly.

Xu Qing instinctively sent out a divine thought. "What was the outcome?!"

"Well... the battling Immortals won, but they also lost," Captain murmured. "The Empyrean Heavens fell, becoming a sealed taboo. The Heavenly Dao was raised, and rules were redefined – this was a manifestation of the Immortals' victory. But it was also at that time that they, who came from the Lower Realm, learned a despairing truth. The infinitely vast Empyrean Heavens was merely one great divine realm of a deity. And in this immense Upper Realm, there were many, many such great divine realms. The Empyrean Heavens was just the tip of the iceberg, and far from the strongest. This place truly belongs to deities." Saying this, Captain turned his head and looked into Xu Qing's eyes. "And Li Zihua and Crimson Mother, they both came from the Empyrean Heavens."