Chapter 478 - Shen and Shang
It was too intense, way too intense.
Chi Xue had just expressed her discontent right in front of Western Mother Empress’s face, flagrantly revealing her dangerous ambition without any veneers or flowery words!
If Western Mother Empress wanted, Chi Xue could be killed with just the snap of a finger!
It was rather tensed inside of Chi Xue’s palace.
Zhong Yue had been holding a tensed heart, he was concerned of Chi Xue’s safety.
After the death of the other heiresses, the loss of the Peaches of Immortality and the Mother Empress’s impending death, it was true that Chi Xue was now the only choice that the Western Mother Empire had to succeed the throne, but…
This was the Western Mother Empress they were talking about!
The overlord that command the entire Kun Lun Realm!
No one in Kun Lun dared to defy her words, and no one dared to go against her. This was not to mention threatening her!
For an existence such as her, the Western Mother Empress’s emotions were unpredictable. Even though Chi Xue might seem to have the upper hand now, she was, in fact, in a more precarious position than ever!
Every word that came out of her mouth could potentially cause the empress to lash out. She was venting out all of her dissatisfaction and disappointment at at the empress. Zhong Yue knew it very well in his heart, after all, it was he who killed everyone that Chi Xue was claiming to have killed!
He was even the main architect of Shang Qing’s death!
For Chi Xue to take all the responsibility of his actions onto herself could only mean that she wanted to protect Zhong Yue or trigger a reaction from the Western Mother Empress!
She wanted to be acknowledged by the empress; she had cultivated hard, doing everything she could just so she could further increase her cultivation base. She had became the most prominent star of the whole Western Mother Celestial Race, even opening the sixth secret realm, achieving what not even her their ancestors could.
Yet, what she got from the empress she respected most were qualms and reservations. She felt wronged but continued to try her best to earn her acknowledgement. She entered the Returning Ruins and sought to bring the best Peaches of Immortality back to her empress.
But the series of events inside of the Returning Ruins had cause her bottled up emotions to spiral out of control, and somewhen in the Returning Ruins, hatred began to burgeon in the deepest parts of her heart, only growing stronger with every event that had recently transpired.
The palace then turned quiet and oppressive as how it was seconds ago.
After a long time, Western Mother Empress finally broke the oppressing silence, she sighed and said, “You have still said out your heart. You are more talented, stronger, and better; no matter in what aspects, you are stronger than everyone else and that you are the rightfully the best heiresses to the throne. But do you know why I chose them but not you?”
Chi Xue nodded puzzingly, emotions started to falter from her eyes and she slowly regained her usual composure.
Western Mother Empress said placidly, “Because I want to live again, I still want to be the Western Mother Empress when I resurrect.”
Chi Xue was startled and so was Zhong Yue, this was an answer completely out of their expectations.
Western Mother Empress continued, “Be it Qing’er, Yun’er or Yue’er, none of them were the best candidate to be the next Western Mother Empress. Even Shang Qing wasn’t considered as the best. Although he was the Moon Innate Spirit Body and had the Twin Spirits, his prowess was on par with yours, but his temperament was lacking. Hesitation and indecision always held him down. He takes way too many things into considerations and was too weak to make a decision when it was needed. He is not fit to be a ruler at all.
“But you are different — decisive, smart, intelligent, and calm. You can come out with many solutions even in the most perilous situation and make the best decision out of the limited choices. In addition to your incredible talents, you will make a great empress. But at the same time, you are the biggest obstacle to reclaiming the throne.
“Because you are too remarkable, you as an empress, will never give me even with a chance to revive. When the throne is passed into your hands, you will be the greatest empress in the history of the whole Western Mother Empire. I will never able to reclaim the throne from your hands and the best outcome I can have is to act as a guardian spirit to the Western Mother Empire. That’s why, I won’t pass the throne to you.”
Chi Xue was completely stunned, she mumbled, “But you are an existence who is even listed in the Legendary Board, while I’m only in the sixth place of the Godlike Board. If you are to revive into a second life, I won’t be possibly be of your match…”
The empress then shook her head and answered, “How old was I back then and how old are you now? The Legendary Board is already the limit to my potential but you are still young, your potential is yet to come to a limit. You can still climb, till one day, you will be stronger than my peak days.
“But the main reason is the sixth secret realm you have opened. The opening of the sixth secret realm will connect the mortal body and Yuan Shen together, allowing the two to share a balanced lifespan. I’m only ten thousand years of age and death is already upon me. But with the sixth secret ream, you can live for at least 50,000 years. If I want to revive into a second life and become the empress again, I will have to wait for when the death arrives at your doorstep. But that is too long, far too long for me; by then, even my spirit would have dispersed into thin air already. But if I chose Shang Qing, Chi Qing, or anyone else, I can easily take back my throne in the snap of a finger at anytime I desire so.”
Western Mother Empress breathed a long sigh, she said, “But I can’t if the throne is in your hands. Fifty thousand years of time, it is more than enough for you to surpass my achievements as a cultivator, as well as an empress! Thus, this is why I will never choose you.”
Chi Xue raised her brows, and a bitter smile spread across her face as she said, “Are you explaining all of this to me so that I can die in peace?”
Western Mother Empress had explained everything to Chi Xue, which could only mean that she intended to kill Chi Xue!
As soon as Western Mother Empress started explaining, Chi Xue knew very well of her end already.
However, Western Mother Empress suddenly shook her head and said, “No, I will not. Because you are right, I have no other options left, you’ve killed every potential competitor and shortened my time. If I kill you today, the Western Mother Empire will collapse right after my death. Every single effort our ancestors have poured in to build this empire will be taken to ground overnight. So, from today onwards, I will take you under me and teach you the way of how an empress should act and behave. You will be nurtured as the next Western Mother Empress. After all, I have no other options left.”
Chi Xue was quiet, she didn’t know what to say nor how to react.
“Now, I’ve just taught you your first lesson as the Western Mother Empress.” Western Mother Empress turned around and walked toward the palace door as she said in her usual placid, hoary tone, “As the Western Mother Empress, you can have all the wild ambitions and greed you want, you can kill your sisters who eyed your throne; you can kill your daughters, your descendants and anyone else, but these can only be your second priority. Your first priority shall always be the Western Mother Celestial Race! The purity of the royal family is the most important and every other thing else can only be placed behind it!”
Chi Xue’s heart shuddered violently, even Zhong Yue who was at the back palace was stunned.
Zhong Yue walked out of the shadow after the empress left and he asked softly to Chi Xue, “You’ve really eaten the Peaches of Immortality?”
Chi Xue nodded in conformation as she answered, “If I don’t, then I would be dead already.”
Zhong Yue nodded silently. The conversation between the Western Mother Empress and the heiress to the throne had clearly shown the Western Mother Empress’s ruthlessness. If there was a second option, she wouldn’t ever allow Chi Xue to live and would surely kill her at all cost.
The empress’s second option was robbed from her when Chi Xue ate the Peaches of Immortality.
The words Chi Xue told Western Mother Empress, she wasn’t purely letting go of her resentment, she was also threatening the empress as well, telling the empress there is only one choice she can make!
Western Mother Empress wasn’t wrong after all, Chi Xue was ambition.
Zhong Yue looked at her. The Chi Xue he was looking at now felt different to before. He now saw a leader’s air in her, a great empress to the empire and a majestic air that separated her from everyone and everything else!
He knew that the young lady’s majestic air would grow stronger and thicker until one day, her connection to the mortal dust would be severed as she completely donned her imperial aura.
Maybe, the closest their hearts could get was when they were both on the little star and the moon palace.
The time they spent together, the pleasure they have given to one another, the comfort and warmth they shared....
But those days were gone, and from today onward, they would steer further and further away from one another while leaving a deep mark in each other’s memories as they moved on with their own lives.
“Big Brother Yue, keep this golden tablet and the incense stick.” Chi Xue recollected herself, she turned around and handed the two items to him with a smile, “These two items connect the Ancestral Star and Kun Lun together. The golden tablet transports you back to Ancestral Star while the incense stick brings you back to Kun Lun.”
Zhong Yue kept the golden tablet and incense stick while Chi Xue asked, “When will you leave?”
“As soon as possible.” Rays flashed across Zhong Yue’s eyes as he said, “Peng Qianqiu and Kua Fuding survived the events and there is no doubt that they will expose everything I’ve done both in the Returning Ruins and the rocky planet. It is no longer safe for me here. After I leave, I need you to do one thing for me. Spread word that both of them have acquired the Peaches of Immortality, let the whole of Kun Lun know.”
Chi Xue nodded, this was to divert the public’s attention.
Zhong Yue had slaughtered too many experts in the Returning Ruins and the rocky planet. Every expert that died in his hands was backed by a god, and with him killing so many of the gods’ disciples, not even the whole Swords Gate would be able to stand a chance in the face of the many gods.
Spreading the word out and directing the public’s attentions to Kua Fuding and Peng Qianqiu first would be able to keep the two of them busy.
With the news stating that they had the Peaches of Immortality, regardless of the truth, the public would still be attracted by them and the bigger factions would surely hunt for them.
As for how many would believe it, that was something they couldn’t guess.
When she heard him saying that he would leave now, Chi Xue’s heart filled reluctance. But it wasn’t long before she cleared these emotions away from her mind.
She then asked softly, “I’ll send you back?”
“It’s alright,” Zhong Yue walked out to Chi Xue’s palace door, he raised his head up and looked at the starry sky before the young man surged his arcane energy into the golden tablet.
A golden door emerged out of thin air, and on the other side of the door, was linked to the snowy mountain in Western Barren.
On the other end, it was still day while here in Kun Lun, it was already night time.
Zhong Yue turned his head back and saw the young heroine, Chi Xue, standing a distance away from him; she was looking at him as well.
Zhong Yue nodded and he walked toward the door.
“Why don’t you stay?” The young lady’s voice came from behind, she smiled brightly and her clear white tiger teeth lent a certain purity to her heroic aura, “Don’t go, stay with me! I need you by my side when I become the empress, I can give you the title of Eastern Father Emperor!”
“The Eastern Father Emperor isn’t a title that can be given by a piece of paper.” Zhong Yue waved his hand without even turning his head back, he smiled and answered, “You have your own race and I have my own race too, you can’t follow me, and nor can I follow you.”
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“You will still come back, right? We can still be together?” The young lady shouted at him from the outside.
On the other side of the door, Zhong Yue has hesitated.
He looked through the door into the skies of Kun Lun. In the starry space, there was a total of twenty-eight mansions, and they were divided into four constellations. There was a mansion called Shen in the White Tiger of the West Constellation and a mansion called Shang in the Azure Dragon of the East Constellation. These two stars rose and fell in duality; when one rose, the other fell. Just like Kun Lun and Ancestral Star, when one was day, the other was night.
The Eastern Father Emperor was like the Azure Dragon of the East, and the Western Mother Empress was the White Tiger of the West. The dragon and tiger might have been in the river of love together, but the two were fated to be apart in the end. The tiger wouldn’t accept it nor would the dragon.
Exactly like Chi Xue and Zhong Yue’s hearts, they were like the Shen and Shang, they were both connected together but far apart from one another as well.
You are the Western Mother Empress, and I’m the Eastern Father Emperor…, Zhong Yue wove his hand as he strode further to the other side of the door, You and I, are the Shen and Shang…