Chapter 946: I Bloom, Then All Other Flowers Die

These words had been uttered multiple times today by the Human Emperor. Each time, the Eleventh Prince's heart sank a little lower, until now, it plunged uncontrollably into an abyss of despair.

At this moment, his face was pale, his body instinctively recoiled several steps, trembling, his eyes filled with bewilderment and utter disbelief. The Human Emperor, meanwhile, remained calm and composed, showing no change from beginning to end. No matter what the Eleventh Prince did, what trump cards he revealed, or what ultimate moves he unleashed, everything seemed like nothing more than a farce to the Human Emperor. That is why the Human Emperor never had anyone suppress the Eleventh Prince from the start, letting him make a fuss. Clearly, in his mind, it was just a child throwing a tantrum in front of a parent. If the parent did not mind, then let the child act out; a good cry would release the resentment, and then the child would be well-behaved again. But if the parent became displeased, the child would inevitably suffer a lesson, taught by the parent. After the lesson, the child, now knowing fear, would still be an obedient child. As for the external enemies summoned by the child, they were nothing; it was merely a fishing expedition, and no matter how many were caught, a single strike would suffice to deal with them.

This attitude, this gaze, created a suffocating despair for the Eleventh Prince. He felt his breath constrict, his chest incredibly tight, and his once resolute heart began to crack. An indescribable sense of powerlessness, born from his fractured heart, swept through his entire body and culminated in a gush of fresh blood, which spurted from his mouth.

He exclaimed how this could be, crying out in disbelief how the Human Emperor could be at the peak of the Dominator realm and how the curse could have failed. The Eleventh Prince was utterly distraught, his eyes bloodshot, his body trembling even more violently. All his preparations were insignificant before the Human Emperor. His collaboration with foreign races, for which he paid any price, was extinguished with a single palm strike by the Human Emperor. His entire arsenal of items, from the Resentment Diagram to the Blood of Curses, had all become mere toys.

The Human Emperor simply stood there, like a mountain supporting heaven and earth. As long as he did not fall, the world of the human race would not collapse. This feeling was incredibly strong, not only surfacing in the Eleventh Prince's heart but also intensely rising in the hearts of the surrounding ministers and the common people of the Imperial Capital.

Yet, the Eleventh Prince remained unwilling to yield. His eyes bloodshot, he stared at the Human Emperor. Under the Human Emperor's calm gaze, his heart, instead, burned with a fierce fire, which suddenly erupted throughout his body, filling his mind. He abruptly raised his right hand and swung it forward. Instantly, an ancient scroll materialized out of thin air before him.

The scroll depicted a woman. She wore a simple, elegant blue gown with no ornaments in her hair. Her features were delicate, her eyes held a hint of slyness, and her lips curved upward in a smile that conveyed a playful humor. While not exceptionally beautiful—many were prettier than her—she was undeniably a woman of great character. Her eyes seemed to sparkle with light, and through the portrait, one could feel her lively personality. This was precisely the painting that hung in Ning Yan's mansion, depicting the Eleventh Prince and Ning Yan's birth mother.

The artist of this portrait was unknown, but it was incredibly lifelike, even depicting what was reflected in the subject's pupils. Although somewhat blurry and indistinct, the outline visible in the portrait's pupils seemed to be that of an altar. Gazing at the scroll, Xu Qing sighed inwardly, recalling Ning Yan's tearful appearance before this very painting that day. Now, looking at the scroll again, Xu Qing felt a pang of emotion. Suddenly, his gaze fell upon the pupils of the person in the painting, where the faintly reflected outline of an altar struck him as somewhat familiar. In the next instant, Xu Qing's pupils constricted. The altar was five-sided, and it appeared remarkably similar to the altar he had previously destroyed. This sight sent a jolt through Xu Qing's mind.

The Eleventh Prince uttered Xuan Zhan's name, roaring, his expression distorted. By this point, he had completely thrown caution to the wind, glaring furiously at the Human Emperor. The Human Emperor remained silent, shifting his gaze from the Eleventh Prince to the painting. As he gazed at the woman in the portrait, a ripple of emotion crossed his expression, and a hint of recollection entered his eyes.

This, the Eleventh Prince declared to Xuan Zhan, was the last gift he had prepared for him. The Eleventh Prince's voice was like a sharp blade, threatening to tear through heaven and earth. He stated that all his actions today, his willingness to ally with foreign races and pay any price, were solely for avenging his mother. He asserted he did not care about clans or grand righteousness, nor did he need the identity of a prince. He knew his actions would be scorned and resented by countless people, but he no longer cared about such things. Let heaven and earth collapse, let clans be exterminated—what did it matter to him? From beginning to end, he declared, he had only wanted to do one thing: to kill him. The Eleventh Prince's voice was shrill, and a monstrous bloodlust surged forth at that moment.

Here today, he, Ning Chang, demanded an answer from the ministers of the human race regarding the Sun of Dawn. He reminded them that though Emperor Jingyun Human proposed the concept, it had not been successfully developed for tens of thousands of years, with progress always slow. It was his mother, he continued, who, with her unparalleled talent, designed its entire internal operation in a mortal body. It was his mother who, without hesitation, expended her lifespan and vitality for the human race, for the Human Emperor, for all of them, advancing the birth of the Sun of Dawn by at least thirty thousand years. It was his mother who elevated the Creation Department's research on deities to a level comparable to powerful races. And it was his mother who repaired the human race's protective grand formation, empowering it to its peak to shield them. But what, he bitterly asked, was her end?

Her end was to become the Human Emperor's nourishment. She became the nourishment for the Human Emperor they all looked up to, the nourishment for his path to enlightenment. He accused Xuan Zhan of having mediocre aptitude, of sacrificing an outer domain to forcibly ascend to Dominator, then going insane, coveting his mother's talent, and devouring her, disregarding their bond as companions. He declared Xuan Zhan unworthy of being the Human Emperor, unworthy of being a husband, and unworthy of being a father.

The Eleventh Prince let out a desolate laugh, his voice echoing in all directions. The ministers fell silent. The Human Emperor closed his eyes.

Although Xu Qing had never truly met Ning Yan's mother, he had heard about her from Ning Yan during his years in the Imperial Capital region. Even though Ning Yan had not said much, from the few words he shared, Xu Qing could still sense the woman's astonishing brilliance. However, with her death, all mention of the Human Emperor's beloved's name and past became taboo, never spoken of. What truly happened back then also became a secret.

Amidst the ministers' silence, the Eleventh Prince suddenly knelt before the painting, kowtowing forcefully, tears streaming from his eyes as if in farewell. Then he raised his hand, pricked his fingertip, and a drop of fresh blood suddenly shot out, flying straight towards the painting. The Human Emperor did not stop him.

As the drop of blood merged, in the next instant, the eyes of the Eleventh Prince's birth mother in the painting slowly gained a subtle glow, emitting faint specks of luminescence. These lights flew out of the painting, converging before the Eleventh Prince, forming a firefly-like flower. However, this flower appeared withered and desolate, as if on the verge of fading. Gazing at this flower, a bitter sorrow rose in the Eleventh Prince's heart, mixed with pain and a profound longing. His mother's voice and appearance from his memories continuously resurfaced.

This, the Eleventh Prince explained, was his mother's Natal Flower. He elaborated that though his mother was mortal and could not cultivate due to various reasons, when it came to aptitude, she was surely the foremost among the human race. When she was researching the Sun of Dawn back then, she gained an insight and, using a special method, managed to condense a Natal Flower even without cultivation. She gave this Natal Flower, formed from her own bloodline, to him and Ning Yan. At that time, he did not understand. But looking back now, it was clear Mother already knew her fate, so she left this flower for them brothers as a protective charm.

To some extent, he explained, this flower could be called the most primitive Sun of Dawn, or even the Source of Dawn. All that had been illuminated by the light of the Sun of Dawn were bound by its karma. Therefore, if it withered, all things prospered; but if it blossomed, all things that the Dawn once shone upon would wither. Xuan Zhan, this was why he had stolen the Sun of Dawn. Although Xuan Zhan had extinguished its collapsing ripples, by holding the Sun of Dawn, he had already been illuminated by the Dawn. He challenged Xuan Zhan to see how he would escape this killing trap specifically designed for him.

The Eleventh Prince's voice shook the heavens and the earth. The moment it echoed, the withered, firefly-like flower before him suddenly swayed. Its petals unfolded in that instant, and its stamens trembled. This withered flower now bloomed in the heavens and the earth, like a magnificent burst of life.

In an instant, under the vast sky, the light of dawn appeared from nothingness. Intense heat surged through heaven and earth, incinerating the void, altering the colors of the universe, and bringing the winds to a standstill and the clouds to rest. Whether in the Imperial Capital, on the Mist Bridge, or within the Ancient Emperor Star, light specks surprisingly appeared on everyone's bodies at that very moment. These specks of light, like karma, were remnants from the Sun of Dawn's influence, settled within their bloodlines. Now, they collectively ascended, and to the shock of all present, these light specks formed the blossoming flower in the heavens and earth. It adorned the world and stirred the hearts of all. Its light, like stars in the sky, descended upon the mortal realm, displaying life and power in the hearts of all, vast and boundless. It was akin to the autumn's arrival on the eighth day of the ninth month: when this flower bloomed, all others would wither.

In an instant, the essence of wilting rose from the earth, from all living beings, from all things, and from the vast sky. Finally, it all converged upon the Human Emperor. At this moment, the Human Emperor opened his eyes. His eyes revealed recollection, remembrance, and complexity, until finally, for the first time in many years, a sigh escaped his lips.

With that sigh, he raised his hand and with a gentle summon, beckoned the blossoming flower in the sky. This summoning led to an astonishing sight that left everyone incredulous and shocked the Eleventh Prince to his core. The blossoming flower actually flew towards the Human Emperor, landed on his palm, and then merged into his body without any resistance or hesitation. Its integration was like returning to its source, as if the flower and the Human Emperor were originally one entity. Heaven and earth fell silent at that moment.

Countless gazes, filled with untold horrified conjectures, all fell upon the Human Emperor. These gazes contained intense turmoil; if they could materialize, they would surely form monstrous waves capable of engulfing the entire region. And the most intense among them, naturally, belonged to the Eleventh Prince. He seemed struck by a million bolts of lightning, his body trembling, his breathing ragged, his face turning pale in an instant, then immediately crimson. He cried out in disbelief, asking how such a thing could be possible. He protested that it was his mother's Natal Flower, which absolutely would not merge with another person's body. He stammered, accusing the Human Emperor.

At this moment, Xu Qing's heart also surged with immense waves of emotion, and the same previously unthinkable conjecture arose within him. Amidst the hurried breaths of the crowd, the silence of heaven and earth, the flames of the Ancient Emperor Star, and the surrounding oppressive atmosphere, the Human Emperor's gaze shifted from his palm, swept across the surroundings, and finally settled on the Eleventh Prince. Then, he raised his right hand, placed it on his brow, and gently tapped.

In the next instant, his face blurred, and a layer of skin peeled away, revealing his true appearance. It was a woman. Her features were elegant and beautiful, her demeanor noble and refined, emanating an innate aura of regality. Her eyes were bright as stars, sparkling with the light of wisdom and decisiveness, as if capable of peering into hearts and comprehending the ways of the world. Her eyebrows were soft yet firm, like distant mountains veiled in mist, conveying a sense of composure and resolve. Her posture was upright, like a pine standing proudly against frost and wind, seemingly able to maintain her dignity in any circumstance. Her movements were calm and graceful, as if every moment she lived was writing her own legend. Her face was identical to that in the painting of Ning Yan's mother, though now bearing a touch more weariness and a hint more majesty.

At this moment, the entire world was shaken. The Eleventh Prince's mind roared, turning blank in an instant. He cried out the word 'Mother'.