Chapter 122 Her Parents
The old ancestor was determined to die.
"Nonsense!" Duan Jiuyou said sternly, "The Jiang Zhan you speak of is the first monarch I served. Before me, there had never been any divine officials in the Heavenly Realm, let alone the Supreme God."
"That's because in the battle at the bottom of the sea, all the gods were accomplices in the murder of your father. To hide the truth, they directly erased Duan Chenzhang from the register of celestial officials. By the time you grew up again, more than ten million years had passed. Ordinary immortals and soldiers who followed Duan Chenzhang had long since passed away. Only those hypocritical gods in the Heavenly Realm remained in their positions. If they didn't speak, how would you know? Later generations don't know about past lives; they rely entirely on a history book to see the past. Once a name is removed from history books and the register of immortals, who will remember his name? Alas, in that case, you should really thank my divine soul for not dissipating, otherwise this past would never see the light of day again—"
The illusion flashed, and the previous scene reappeared.
As the Ao in the clouds confronted the fierce Ling, the gods behind it silently focused their attacks on its four legs. They needed four celestial pillars as the core of the formation to suppress the fierce Ling once more. The Ao's legs were sturdy, and only by using them as pillars could the formation successfully descend.
The four deities unleashed their magical weapons, severing the four legs of the Cloud Turtle with their swords. Then, using a black crystal as a top, they pressed Han Ling into the formation. The remaining gods then placed eighteen heavenly locks into Han Ling's body, using the four legs of the Cloud Turtle as pillars, thus completing the fatal blow!
Duan Jiuyou saw Han Ling struggling in the formation, and Yun Zhong'ao, whose limbs had been severed, fell with him.
He landed outside the magic circle, in great pain, but all the gods were focused on Han Ling, and no one even glanced at him, as if he were born to be a tool of the gods, a piece of armor that could be used and discarded at any time!
Han Ling spoke up leisurely, as if he were an observer.
"It's truly pitiful. Even I, a demon who devours people without spitting out the bones, feel a pang of pity. The Divine Array doesn't necessarily need to use the Heavenly Pillar as its core. As long as they are willing to sacrifice half of their cultivation, they can still create a killing array. It's just that they are too ruthless and unwilling to sacrifice themselves."
"Your mother had just given birth to you when the battle at the Cliff Sea shook the heavens and earth. She heard a mournful cry. It was your father's voice, a voice of shock, anger, and despair. Realizing something had happened to him, she placed you, her newborn, within the barrier and rushed to the Cliff Sea. Unfortunately, the Divine Array was already complete, and the Cloud Turtle had its four legs severed. She was heartbroken and questioned the gods of the Heavenly Realm, how could they be so ungrateful! To ensure the Emperor's safe passage through the Heavenly Tribulation, her husband lost a bone of the Bone of No Pain. To protect the peace of the Three Realms, the couple fought tirelessly, battling everywhere! They shielded the Heavenly Realm from countless calamities, yet ultimately met a tragic end, their heads severed from their bodies?"
But if the gods had any conscience, how could they be so heartless and cruel?! Her questioning not only failed to awaken their conscience, but also stirred their murderous intent. The details of the battle at the Cliff Sea must not be known to anyone other than the gods present! They had to uphold their divine might and could not let the people of the Heavenly Realm know that they were a group of selfish and hypocritical villains! They exchanged glances secretly, joined forces to unleash the seal of the Underworld God, turning your mother into a stone, plunging her into eternal slumber, and taking her away from the seabed.
As for your father, you probably don't know yet, do you? Divine turtles that lose their Painless Bones will die. Their lifespan will change due to the loss of their divine bones; they will no longer be invincible, but can only withstand three fatal blows. The day Duan Chenzhang entered the sea was the third!
With each recounting of what happened, a scene appeared in the illusion. Duan Jiuyou clenched his fists, still saying, "Impossible, this can't possibly be real!"
She looked at Han Ling, who landed at that moment. A cloud of black smoke dissipated, revealing a humanoid form identical to that within the magic array.
"Of course you don't want to believe it, because you were taught by the gods since childhood to recognize a thief as your father. You take it as your duty to maintain the stability of the Three Realms and to protect the gods as your glory. You are the one who has been deceived the most."
"Shut up!" Duan Jiuyou was agitated, his whole body trembling. "I was raised by the Emperor Zong. He is my uncle, my mother's brother! If what you say is true, why did he hide the truth? Why did he make me a Celestial Official?!"
Everything she did was guided by the Emperor. He was strict, calm, and even his gaze towards her lacked emotion. Yet, he was her only family in this world, her blood relative.
"Emperor Zong?" Han Ling's face was full of sarcasm. "He's just a dog of the Heavenly Realm! The Heavenly Realm promised him high-ranking positions and generous salaries. After Duan Chenzhang's death, he will become a God-Emperor."
"Can a mere divine position really make a person lose their conscience, betray their family, and abandon their hatred?" Duan Jiuyou didn't believe it.
"That's because you haven't experienced the hardships of being an ordinary member of the Ao clan," Han Ling said. "Unlike the divine Ao, who are born with extremely strong spiritual power, the former can transform into human form the day they hatch, while the latter depends on their comprehension and destiny. It might take thousands of years, tens of thousands of years, or they might only be able to remain a four-legged mountain beast for their entire lives. Before the war between gods and demons, only two divine Ao were created in the world, namely your parents. The divine fetus is determined by heaven, and the spiritual bones are naturally bestowed. Even the emperor who shares the same father and mother as your mother did not receive such a blessing. He devoted himself to cultivation, spending tens of thousands of years to cultivate into human form, but even such a body is still difficult to achieve great things. So the gods offered bait, using spiritual pills as a lure and inviting him to the position of a supreme god, so that he could teach you to become the next god official who would be completely obedient to the gods."
Duan Jiuyou still felt that he was fabricating: "They committed such evil deeds, yet they still raised me. Aren't they afraid that one day I will find out the truth and rebel against the will of Heaven?"
Even if you seal the window tightly, it will still let in some drafts one day. Instead of raising her and letting her be used by them, wouldn't it be better to just kill her?
Before hatching, the Ao clan does not possess the power of immortality; on the contrary, they are extremely fragile, and killing an Ao egg is as easy as turning their hand.
"This brings us to your destiny. During the battle at the Cliff Sea, the gods intended to seal you away as well, but due to an unusual phenomenon, they dared not harm you. You are the first heterochromatic turtle in the history of the Ao Clan, and you were born to be the leader of the clan. They dared not defy the heavens and could only let you grow up."
Even more unexpectedly, you possess not only innate divine strength and exceptional comprehension, but your blood can also help ordinary Ao clan members ascend to become divine Ao. You dripped your blood into a pot, boiling the "bad guys" who couldn't hatch, accidentally turning them all into humans. You treated this as a game, boiling more and more until you created the entire Great Qi Ao Clan. Who wouldn't fear such power? The gods of the Heavenly Realm, fearing they couldn't control you, had no choice but to bring you under their command. You, unwittingly entering the game, were like a mountain beast domesticated by humans, transforming from a rebellious and sharp creature into a domestic dog with clear eyes.
Han Ling found it funnier and funnier, bursting into laughter, which was followed by a violent cough.
He was seriously injured by the gods. Even if his divine soul were to awaken, he would only have 20% of his original demonic power. Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to go to such lengths, impersonating others and stirring up wars everywhere.
Han Ling said, "I can help you. We can form an alliance. The gods who killed your parents have already ascended to the Outer Heavens to cultivate. The only way to lure them out is for me to be reborn."
They know I possess the power to destroy the Three Realms. If I don't reveal myself, even the tranquil Thirty-Three Heavens, where cultivation resides, will be annihilated! Before that, you only need to lead the Ao Clan to slaughter all the Celestial Gods, helping my physical body escape its confinement. Then, together we can slaughter those hypocritical ancient gods. You will have avenged your great grudge, and I can live freely. We can rebuild a Celestial Realm, a fair and just Celestial Realm that belongs only to the Demon Race!
"Enough!" Duan Jiuyou coldly looked at Han Ling. "When did I agree to join forces with you? When did I say I would destroy the Heavenly Realm? The scenes in the illusion can be faked, and all the stories just now were your own words. How much of what you said is true?! You failed to instigate the Huang Sheng clan, so you tried to entice my Ao Sect to start a war with them. You just wanted to use me!"
"Think about it carefully and you'll know whether the story is true or not. The four pillars at the bottom of the cliff cannot be faked. Parents and children are connected by blood. Unlike humans, you don't need to do any foolish verification of blood kinship. You are connected by divine energy. Just now when you touched the pillar, you clearly felt a connection. You have no parents since childhood and do not know that this connection is the bond of blood. Try it again when you go out later, and you will naturally be able to find out whether he is your biological father."
As Han Ling's voice faded and the illusion gradually disappeared, Duan Jiuyou returned to reality with the last sentence.
Di Jiang and Bai Yanxing looked at her nervously. They both knew that she had been pulled into the illusion by Han Ling, but her soul had left her body, so they dared not interrupt her easily.
Seeing that Duan Jiuyou looked dazed, Di Jiang hurriedly went to check her consciousness. Jiuyou gently stopped his hand, looked away, and looked at the pillar in the sky.
No one in this world knows the Ao Clan better than Duan Jiuyou. Han Ling was right; she could tell the truth from the falsehood at a glance.
But she refused to believe that what Han Ling said was true, refused to believe that what stood before her was the remains of her father.
She moved closer uncontrollably, trembling as she touched the giant claw's foot.
The divine energy connected instantly, a ripple of azure light spread, and the feet and body trembled slightly, as if in response, as if in affection, as if in pain, as if in sorrow.
Duan Jiuyou's heart was breaking, and he choked out, "Father..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com