ASER - Chapter 251
Chapter 251: Shen Luo
Everyone present was a powerful individual whose thoughts could perceive the world. Although the capitals of Lie Qin and Nan Jin were distant, they still learned the details of the "accident."
The national character of Lie Qin was predominantly fierce, skilled in martial arts, and unrestrained. The architectural style of its capital was similar. For this final battle, whether it was the Lie Qin Imperial Family or others, all had committed to a desperate, last-ditch effort, striving to hold out until the very end.
The city walls served as protective barriers, sealed by unparalleled restrictions, with vast battle formations of forbidden items, and numerous powerful individuals trapped in defense.
This was the imperial family's determination, a veritable wall of bronze and iron.
Faced with such a grim situation, the citizens were conflicted. On one hand, they were bound by years of the imperial family's feudal system, believing it was their duty to protect the monarchy at all costs. Yet, three hundred years of technological development and flourishing education had enlightened minds, leading civilization in another direction. The feudalism, selfishness, and even cruelty of the imperial family's rule were deeply loathed by the new generation.
Actually, being taken over by A'Diao wouldn't be so bad, would it?
At least she was young, powerful, and full of vitality. Moreover, she wouldn't need to support a bloated and greedy swarm of royal parasites, who siphoned the nation's lifeblood and resources for their own pleasure like vampires.
At least she wouldn't.
Because this person recognized no family ties.
But they were also unwilling for their country to be defeated, to become people without a nation.
In such a state of ideological division, the people were powerless to resist, only able to hide in their homes and await the outcome.
The result was that the people of Tang Song still came, but they were intercepted. What stopped them were not the forces and defenses deployed by the imperial family, but the cultists and the Demonic Spirit Race that had surged into the city.
This time, the mentality of most commoners was on the verge of shattering.
They could tolerate the unbearable imperial family's desperate struggle out of national honor and patriotism, but they could not tolerate them allowing cruel cultists and Demonic Spirits into the city to surround the Tang Song national army. Wouldn't they kill people?
They would. Many people had already died.
The outskirts of the Lie Qin capital on the east, west, and south sides were a bloodbath. When the cultists and Demonic Spirits entered the city, they showed no rationality; wherever they passed, not a blade of grass remained, and lives were devastated.
The cruelty of war seemed to have only revealed a corner; the truly bloody part was yet to come.
And the cultists and Demonic Spirits outflanked Song Ling and the others from the rear. Wherever they passed, many commoners were terrified, fearing they would burst into their homes...
Outside, in the streets, dark figures moved brutally, whistling past, amidst blood mist and dark clouds, with all sorts of collisions and killings.
In a house nearby, a single mother held her two children tightly. The children trembled with fear, but the mother covered their mouths, not daring to let them make a sound, but...
Boom!
The main door was smashed open, and a cultist was knocked into the house. He was no match for Xiao Mieluo outside and, in desperation, rushed towards the mother and her two children to take them hostage for self-preservation.
Xiao Mieluo outside was shocked and tried to intervene, but he was a step too slow because someone else was faster.
To be honest, it might not have been human.
A beam of light suddenly shot in from the left window, directly exploding the cultist's head.
Xiao Mieluo was greatly startled. He turned his head and saw, amidst the dust and smoke from the fighting in the street outside, a cold, metallic figure.
Martial, powerful, devoid of any biological aura, yet it gave the impression of a divine weapon descended from heaven.
Looking closely as the dust settled: a gleaming golden surface, round circles, a flexible tail, a round, plump head, and a short, stocky body...
After blowing off the cultist's head with one shot, it turned, flew up, and began accurately shooting at other cultists in the city, while dodging other things.
Watching it, when it occasionally couldn't dodge, the attacks hitting its mecha only made its body sway a little before it continued its assault.
It was not human.
It was a chubby, golden leopard-like mechanical warrior.
It was a moving, large Yuanbao.
It was an ultra-cute, adorable super mechanical warrior.
Xiao Mieluo: ???
So cartoonish? Did it have to be this cute? It looked as if someone had poked a leopard's den.
Not just one. They descended from the sky, densely packed, numbering in the millions.
As they fell, sky-faring vessels descended from the clouds, piercing through the capital from high above, delivering precise strikes.
It was the most terrifying ambush force, and also the trump card that would decide the outcome.
The defensive lines of the two capitals were directly shattered. Cultists, Demonic Spirit hordes – all were flattened by these robot legions that felt no pain and could fight indefinitely.
This was the power of technology, the power of a new civilization.
Not to mention Xiao Mieluo being somewhat bewildered, Song Ling and the others were also a bit stunned.
But they quickly realized they were allies, because these golden leopard mechanical warriors were clearly the combat version of a certain super-cute butler...
Xiao Yuanbaos were everywhere, in the sky and on the ground.
Round and plump, gleaming gold, wielding machine guns and laser cannons, capable of disassembling and reassembling their mecha into even larger armored giants to enhance their combat power...
Awesome, truly awesome.
The power of technology, omnipotent!
"Ho...ly shit?" Xia Sanlu couldn't hold back. He turned to look at Xu Ye, who stood imposing with a long spear, surrounded by deadly ice-snow roses. Her beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, but she didn't respond to the inquiring gazes of the crowd, though she knew full well.
Chen Xun.
This big brother was, as always, both terrifying and a bit perverted.
But even at a time like this, he still seized the opportunity to curry favor with A'Diao. Truly... Hmph!
"Truly perverted." Although Daoguang Jingci had long had a private collaboration with Chen Xun, independent of A'Diao, it was only to provide mineral materials. She didn't know what he was ultimately planning.
She had guessed it would be some kind of technologically advanced weaponry, as he was calm-minded and knew how to play to his strengths and avoid weaknesses.
But she had never expected Chen Xun to create such a massive robot army.
Well, alright, actually, she hadn't expected him to model the imposing, super-tech robots into such cute, chubby golden leopards.
A large group of little Yuanbaos.
Unfortunately, she had seen the original version of little Yuanbao knitting sweaters, mopping the floor, and even hanging A'Diao's small underpants out to dry...
And now, looking at these imposing, domineering little Yuanbao 2.0 and 3.0.
Daoguang Jingci's eyes ached just looking at them.
So shiny, it was a bit blinding.
But they were indeed very cute. The more she looked, the more she wanted to laugh.
Who was the surprise?
The little Yuanbao army?
No, it was Chen Xun. Or rather, more than one Chen Xun.
In the Chen family home, Chen Ran was somewhat dazed. After a moment, he suddenly realized something and turned to ask Chen Xun, who was sitting in the living room watching a documentary on antiques.
The latter wore glasses, black trousers, and a white shirt, looking refined and reserved, seemingly unmoved by the outside world.
Chen Ran, however, asked woodenly, "You did this?"
Chen Xun, watching the television, casually replied, "Mm."
Chen Ran: "Where did you get so much money?"
How many military production lines and how much capital would be needed to create such a vast army?
Even if Chen Xun was the head of the Ministry of Works, he had only recently risen to that position. Moreover, to keep it secret, it would be difficult to go through the Ministry. So, did A'Diao give him all this money?
But Chen Ran vaguely felt that wasn't it. He could sense that their collaboration was based on "what the other person could do" rather than "what they could do together."
Bound by interests, but not dependent on each other in terms of ability.
Chen Xun was straightforward, replying directly, "The First Madam gave it."
Chen Ran looked with a bewildered gaze at Xu Zhaoyin, who was arranging flowers not far away.
He walked over and asked blankly, "Your money..."
Although Chen Ran had many flaws, he also possessed some qualities far superior to many men of his time: he wouldn't brazenly claim everything belonging to his wives and concubines as his own.
Xu Zhaoyin placed a dewy baby's breath into the vase, adjusted its position, then turned to look at her husband, his refined and handsome features still the same. "We are family; there's no distinction between yours and mine."
Chen Ran vaguely felt he had missed a lot, yet also vaguely felt it wasn't that he had missed it, but that he had been excluded.
He felt uneasy, but for a moment, he didn't know what to say.
Although the situation had clearly improved, he felt a sense of panic.
This familiar family, which he believed was thriving under his rule, a family that depended on him for a stable life, had actually slipped from his control long ago.
It was being led by a mysterious and terrifying hand towards an unknown direction...
What was even more terrifying was that no matter how stormy it was outside, no matter how perilous and fluctuating the situation, this family and this residence could always maintain an unruffled, low profile.
Obscure and silent.
Previously, he had felt fortunate about this, believing his family's atmosphere was peaceful and stable. Now, however, he was a bit lost.
Was he an outsider, or part of the game?
He didn't know what he was thinking; his steps felt somewhat unsteady. He couldn't help but walk out of the living room, step by step, towards the backyard.
Chen Xun and Xu Zhaoyin watched his retreating figure, their expressions complex for a moment.
Why were they calm?
Because long ago, they knew this day would come.
The little Yuanbao army indeed made Kunlun and the others look on with surprise and suspicion, and once again, they marveled at the caliber of talent in the Chen family.
However, Kunlun and his group were experienced and maintained their composure. In contrast, Yu Xuanji, Baiyue Lingxi, and others who had rushed over to fight the Demonic Spirit army had a stronger reaction.
They hadn't shown themselves earlier because the power and presence of the Arbitration Council's arrivals were too overwhelming. Before A'Diao and her group dealt with them, being nearby would have been suicide, so they hadn't come.
Later, when the high-end combatants were mostly cleared out and the situation became controllable, the Demonic Spirit army remained uncontrollable, so they came.
This was why the vast Demonic Spirit army, while invading the human realm and slaughtering wantonly, was effectively blocked at the entrance of the Demon Cave.
War was war, but human lives were also human lives.
A'Diao's plan didn't include these people, nor did it interfere with their principles or demand they fight for her (though she often spoke of fighting to the death, she actually looked down on their strength). This was perhaps the biggest difference between her and the imperial families.
The imperial families were so stingy and conniving, perhaps because they weren't strong enough.
However, at this moment, many from the Duanmu and Cao families, and other prominent clans, even from Lie Qin and Nan Jin, were gritting their teeth.
Similar voices rose and fell across the battlefield.
"That old dog Chen Ran..."
His ancestral graves must be emitting green smoke! Damn it!
However, the appearance of the little Yuanbao army pushed forward the unification of the three national Dragon Veins.
No one knew if her speed of assimilating the three Dragon Veins would be slower than Dantai Zongming's.
On Dantai Zongming's side, the Celestial-Demon Qi was about to complete... the majestic celestial phenomenon was already seventy to eighty percent formed.
Once it was complete, he could achieve a complete godhood, becoming the first person in all worlds to ascend to a divine position, surpassing the naturally demigod Divine Maiden, and becoming the supreme Demon King cultivated from countless Demonic Spirits.
He would be the foremost person under all heavens.
But even so, he made his move before it was fully completed.
"A'Diao, you're out of time."
Even though he had not yet fully achieved godhood, Dantai Zongming said softly.
He stretched out his hand, and the colossal divine-demonic avatar behind him reached out towards A'Diao. An ancient spear tore through the void, absolute and mirror-like. Wherever it passed, all energy systems were suppressed.
This was suppression stemming from a higher echelon.
It was also out of fear of A'Diao. She had too many methods and unparalleled cunning. He would rather sacrifice some of his own future prospects to ensure she was slain in time.
In wartime, one must be decisive, not hesitant or indecisive.
Back then, how ruthless, how venomous he had been to finally stand at the pinnacle of victory.
Now, he was the same.
Seeing Dantai Zongming completely eschew the "villain dies from talking too much" trope and strike decisively, A'Diao was clearly in crisis. No one could stop him.
At this moment, A'Diao looked up and saw the world's primordial spear coming to kill her.
This was power approaching the divine level, the realm that cultivators since the first generation had most yearned to touch...
At that moment, A'Diao saw she still had one unabsorbed Dragon Vein left, and she raised an eyebrow.
Still too slow.
Then Plan A wouldn't work. Time for Plan B.
Let's switch to someone who can digest these Dragon Veins in an instant.
A'Diao sighed and suddenly activated the array disk within her body that she had prepared long ago.
Buzz... Eight enormous spiritual disks floated around her body. Simultaneously, 99 oversized spiritual gates stood tall in the sky, forming a vast small world of spiritual gates around her.
At this time, the spear was but a blink of an eye away from her.
But it also took her only a blink of an eye to activate all this.
Then... all the Karmic Luck on her body and the unabsorbed Dragon Veins flowed, flowed into an entire courtyard she had summoned to her side.
In the Tang Song capital, Kyoto, due to the great national war, even Kyoto was exceptionally quiet today. Everyone stayed behind closed doors. However, many people still saw myriad golden lights emanating from the backyard of the Chen family, the center of world-shaking events.
Chen Ran, who was just about to push open the gate and enter the courtyard, was a bit stunned. Before he could react, he was summoned away by a teleportation array set up beneath the entire courtyard.
Inside the house, the person kneeling before the Buddha statue, tapping a wooden fish, opened their eyes. Looking at the golden threads climbing onto their body, they showed neither joy nor sorrow, merely putting down the wooden fish.
The classical old house thus appeared before everyone's eyes.
Countless streams of vast Karmic Luck surged in, while Chen Ran, outside the courtyard, fell to the ground in terror.
Kunlun and the others were first surprised, then enlightened.
So it really was... the Celestial Maiden?
Dantai Zongming was somewhat incredulous, his face dark. "Celestial Maiden? Back then, to kill her, Chen Gui led a group of experts from my three imperial clans to besiege her. They finally forced her to destroy her spiritual sea and curse the Chen family. That was a death curse! I never thought she could still be alive, and even give birth to a descendant like you, A'Diao... There's clearly a reproductive barrier that myriad creatures cannot cross. Why were you born?"
A'Diao: "This shows I'm the chosen one, while you are artificial products. Our levels are different. You, an artificial Celestial, why must you make things difficult for yourself and insist on pursuing cause and effect?"
This mockery made Dantai Zongming laugh instead of getting angry. "So what if she's the Celestial Maiden? The one who truly possesses demigod status is the Divine Maiden. The so-called Celestial Maiden is merely the discarded refuse of a pair of twins, inferior to a demigod. Even if she can absorb the human race's Karmic Luck represented by the three national Dragon Veins, to me, she is still an ant!"
After speaking, he raised his spear again and hurled it towards the Buddhist hall...
A'Diao rolled her eyes: Not entirely unmoved, I see. Still has a natural reverence for the Celestial Clan, otherwise he would have come to kill me first.
As for her own old ancestor... was she the Celestial Maiden?
The spear arrived in an instant.
Suddenly, in a blink, it shattered... turning into a dancing mist of light.
The door opened. A pale hand rested on the doorframe. This person gradually revealed their figure, cool and indistinct in the mist, seemingly damp, appearing and disappearing. The crowd could only see a slender and gracefully tall physique, and long, silver, ethereal hair.
She had probably just revived her body, still damp all over, like a newborn creature fresh from the womb, carrying an innate spirituality that set her apart from the mortal world, and a pair of silent golden pupils imprinted with cosmic six-pointed stars.
A'Diao had seen the Celestial Maiden's body, seen that captivating beauty. She had assumed twins would look alike, but unexpectedly, they were very different.
The Celestial Maiden was proud, her vibrant beauty outwardly displayed.
This person was different. She was closer to transcendent divinity. Whether it was her unreal, silk-like silver hair, her hexagram golden pupils, or the divine bearing that, even in weakness, made one feel as if a sacred mountain of jade was crumbling – all made her seem ethereal.
These eyes.
This face.
Dantai Zongming screamed in a squawking voice, "It's you!!! How is this possible!"
Not the Celestial Maiden.
This person made all living beings in the heavens, earth, and the three realms pale in comparison.
Jiu Wei subconsciously touched her own face.
And Daoguang Luoshen directly knelt.
The ancestors of the three heterodox imperial clans all knelt.
Regardless of past grievances, the three of them had ultimately been enlightened by the Divine Maiden. Daoguang Luoshen's direct impression and standard of beauty came from the Divine Maiden.
This was an enlightenment.
Kunlun and the others recognized her, unable to hide their shock. They subconsciously lowered their heads, slightly humbled.
This person's identity was practically on the verge of being revealed.
The others were bewildered: So, the monstrous success rate of the Chen family wasn't because of that old dog Chen Ran, but because of her?
She seemed very weak, leaning against the door panel, taking a slight breath. And the vast Karmic Luck seemed to encounter no obstruction, flowing directly into her body.
Actively and joyfully.
This person, who exactly was she?
Only Chen Ran couldn't help but ask in shock, "Who are you?! Where is my mother?!!"
Where is my old mother?
My old mother who, for decades, piously worshipped Buddha, was sharp-tongued, and had an unremarkable appearance!?
This person who clearly wasn't human, who exactly was she?
But the other party didn't look at him, only at Dantai Zongming.
Reminiscing? Entangled in past grievances? As their eyes met, Dantai Zongming was terrified to the extreme, as if he had returned to the scene back then when the combined power of human experts took advantage of her weakness to attack her.
In that battle, many, many people died, bodies piled up like mountains.
The other party showed no emotion. Even when fighting to the end, on the verge of perishing, she displayed no feelings.
But this time, Dantai Zongming saw in her a divinity different from three hundred years ago... Her eyes held the loneliness and harshness of the mortal world.
She was, after all, the Divine Maiden he had worshipped for countless years. Was he truly fearless in his heart? Otherwise, why destroy the records about the Celestial Clan after succeeding?
The inner demon still remained.
He must kill her!
"Shen Luo, your divine body is destroyed! Why do you still linger in the mortal realm? Don't blame me; this world should have been mine to rule long ago!"
Just then, the Celestial-Demon completely merged. Dantai Zongming impatiently controlled the divine-demonic celestial avatar behind him, roaring as he raised a mighty light sword, a single strike cleaving the starry river, landing in the void.
He was certain that Shen Luo, having lost her divine body, was as weak as Kunlun. While Kunlun later had a body created by A'Diao, Shen Luo's body could not be created. Her body was naturally demigod, born and nurtured by the Celestial Realm, irreplaceable by any substance in time.
Her divine body destroyed, she should have died long ago.
Die!
This sword strike from Dantai Zongming was born of fear, and also of decisiveness.
Daoguang Luoshen and the others wanted to rush out and intercept, but they were stopped by a force. Looking back, it was A'Diao.
A'Diao watched everything with cold eyes and also stopped them.
Wasn't she worried? Weren't she and her grandmother, er, the Divine Maiden, on the same side?
Amidst surprise and doubt.
Baiyue Xiangsi, however, said in surprise, "That sword, something's wrong with it."
Or rather, something was wrong with Dantai Zongming.
He was in pain because terrifying curse marks were spreading across his body. His pupils were trembling. No matter how powerful the divine-demonic energy in his body, it couldn't stop this horrifying curse...
Because he was assailed by the curse, he couldn't control the sword at all. Thus, the sword trembled and struck askew.
The sword strike tore open the void, directly creating a passage to the Demonic Spirit world.
Much more effort-saving than the Demon Cave.
"You... how could you..."
A pained sound came from his throat as he spat out black blood.
And the Celestial Gate behind him also trembled, actively detaching from his body.
"No... mine..." Dantai Zongming reached out, trying to hold onto the Celestial Gate, but it was still cruelly stripping away from his body.
Without any lingering attachment.
As if it knew he was an impostor.
Shen Luo remained weak, silent. Only a drop of blood-red cinnabar between her brows emitted a dim light. She raised her hand, and with a flick of her fingertips, the fragments stripping off from the Celestial Gate were returning to her palm.
"Fool. The Celestial Maiden cursed Chen Gui's lineage with a bloodline curse. This shows that the Celestial Clan excels most at bloodline curses. Such curses can be external or internal. Did you think the Celestial Clan didn't know their own kind were like Tang Monk's flesh – eating it grants immortality? If so, wouldn't their clan have countermeasures? When your group consumed Celestial flesh and bones, and even implanted Celestial Seeds nurtured from Celestial bodies into yourselves, you entered the optimal state to be cursed. And all the bloodline genes of your three lineages would be affected."
"No matter how high your cultivation, when it concerns genes, it's fundamentally indefensible. It's like a burly man, even if he can uproot mountains with peerless strength, if he's impotent, he's impotent."
"If I'm not mistaken, you're not the only one cursed right now."
After A'Diao finished speaking, the three Cardinal Archbishops also screamed, painfully tearing at their bodies.
Curse marks appeared, tormenting them from the inside out.
Weakness, vomiting, dizziness, stabbing pain, decay, heart-piercing agony... all categories of human suffering manifested together, originating from the depths of their genes, affecting every part of their bodies.
How painful was it?
Even peak Great Spirit Kings couldn't bear it, letting out agonized roars, rolling on the ground.
The manifestation of suffering is always similar – when facing a terminal illness, there's no difference between emperors, the wealthy, or commoners.
All members of the three imperial clans present were cursed. What about those not present?
Because it was being live-streamed, many people were shocked. In the Tang Song prisons, a group of guards subconsciously looked into the cells.
Dantai Sheng suddenly felt unwell. He scratched his neck, his palm covered in blood. In his daze, an even more terrifying pain assailed him.
He was bewildered. Looking up, he saw his other clan members struggling in agony.
He seemed to understand, yet not fully.
But he saw that the "Big Sister" in the next cell was completely fine. Her favored concubine mother, however, was very panicked. "What's going on, Zhuying? What is this?"
Dantai Sheng suddenly calmed down. "It's a bloodline curse... the Celestial Clan's curse."
Whether it was A'Diao's or someone else's.
The three imperial clans had finally met their retribution.
A thousand years of glorious indulgence, it was enough. It's just that the ending was too tragic.
"Why, why? I don't want to die!!"
"Ah! Damn you, A'Diao, you beast!"
"I'm not resigned! You rebels, I won't let you go even as a ghost, ah!"
"Big Sister, why are you alright?"
"You..."
Dantai Zhuying looked at their terrifying state and was also afraid, but her body had no reaction. She was momentarily bewildered, even subconsciously wondering if her early, clever surrender had made A'Diao spare her. But she vaguely felt something was amiss, until she saw her old mother plop to her knees, hands clasped in prayer to Buddha, giving thanks.
"Buddha bless us, Buddha bless us! Fortunately, I was disgusted by that old bastard and didn't want to bear his children. But I had to give birth, so I could only have an affair. My Yingying is not that old bastard's child! Wonderful, truly wonderful! Hahahaha!"
Dantai Zhuying was shocked: "Mother Consort! How could this be! But I clearly have the bloodline..."
Favored Concubine: "That's because my lover also happened to have this kind of bloodline talent! Did you really think the Dantai ancestors' talent was unique? Even when I was pregnant and gave birth to you, no one suspected. They were so confident in their own bloodline. I calculated this long ago! My child, rest assured, your father, to protect us mother and daughter, went far overseas. Hearing that the old dog Dantai has fallen, he is now on his way back... Hahaha!"
This Favored Concubine really had something up her sleeve; she was incredibly formidable.
Other members of the Dantai Imperial Family: "..."
Dantai Sheng, amidst his pain, was speechless. Staring at Dantai Zhuying, who was first bewildered then ecstatic, he suddenly felt a bit envious.
Unfortunately, there were no "ifs."
They were dying tragically.
The three imperial clans, all those possessing the bloodline, were wiped out in one fell swoop.
When it came to ruthlessness, the former NO1 of the three clans was the most ruthless.
Her first move was a killing blow.
And even someone as powerful as Dantai Zongming was collapsing.
"Shen Luo, A'Diao, only now do I realize you two are truly related by blood... such inherited methods!"
No direct confrontation, just scheming for the vital points, effortlessly annihilating the opponent.
Extreme viciousness.
"But I don't understand, how did you manage to survive and have a descendant like A'Diao..."
Shen Luo ignored him, but A'Diao was talkative. "I know, I know! My Divine Maiden great-grandmother survived because she and Great-Aunt Celestial Maiden weren't twins at all, but a split existence. That is to say, they were originally one body, but their birth was imperfect, unable to fuse. So they appeared as twins, but could actually complement each other's destiny. I think back then, Great-Aunt Celestial Maiden sensed it when Divine Maiden great-grandmother was dying, so she sacrificed herself, completed her destiny, allowing her soul to remain in the mortal world... As for matters like childbirth..."
Before A'Diao could continue, she suddenly heard a miserable scream.
Turning her head, she saw Chen Ran vomiting blood, kneeling on the ground, the curse spreading over his body inch by inch.
A'Diao suddenly dared not speak. The others also fell silent.
Shen Luo didn't move, just looked up at A'Diao. "So much talk, just probing for my weaknesses, afraid that this Plan B of mine will exceed control and kill you?"
She finally spoke.
Her voice was hoarse, yet it had recovered the grace and elegance of the Divine Maiden of yore; even her voice carried a touch of otherworldly refinement.
But far more forbearing and dangerous than back then.
A'Diao took a step back, her entire body poised to strike. Not far away, Chen Ran was still painfully vomiting blood. The others, seeing this, also sensed something and grew tense, looking back and forth between the two.
It couldn't be.
A'Diao smiled. "How could it be Plan B? Grandmother, you've been scheming for me since I was little. First, you cultivated Chen Ran's character, using his coldness to hurt me, making me renounce familial affection so I wouldn't be burdened by emotions. Then you had that old Daoist take me away, repeatedly making me suffer loneliness and helplessness, cultivating my character to seek strength in all things. Then you enlightened me with books... From aptitude to temperament, you planned every step for me, creating the me I am today. In terms of interests, we are one."
As she said this, she deliberately observed Shen Luo's expression, only to see the latter was very calm, her hands forming seals, seemingly preparing something, yet she conversed with A'Diao calmly.
"Give me her body."
A'Diao: "Then you return the Karmic Luck to me."
Waiting here for a trade.
Seeing Plan A wasn't up to par, she summoned Shen Luo to KO Dantai Zongming, and then used the Celestial Maiden's body to force her to return the national Dragon Vein's Karmic Luck.
She never suffered a loss.
After all, she was raised by her.
Grandmother and granddaughter looked at each other.
Shen Luo, however, gave her a deep look. "Do you know that the Celestial Gate controls all spaces?"
A'Diao choked. Just as she was about to stop it, the bronze coffin within her living space flew out and arrived beside Shen Luo.
Damn it, if you have such means, why did you even ask me!
Shen Luo stood up, her palm stroking the coffin, her eyes calm, her thoughts unreadable. But Chen Ran asked, "Was what A'Diao just said true? You cultivated me, cultivated her, all intentionally... For what purpose?"
He couldn't understand. Was it for revenge?
This time, Shen Luo looked at him, but her gaze was strange, as if looking at a completely unrelated person.
But she had no intention of communicating with him, not about the past, not about the three hundred years of dormancy, not about how she schemed and plotted within the Chen family, not about how A'Diao was born.
Those were all means; she shouldn't waste time at this moment explaining to irrelevant people.
She was recovering. Once recovered, she would get serious.
Dantai Zongming had reached an extremely weakened state because the Celestial Gate had been stripped away, and the cursed three imperial clans were now basically all dead, except for him and the three Cardinal Archbishops.
About to be completely annihilated.
Terrifying Shen Luo, despicable A'Diao.
But he was also unwilling. "Shen Luo, even if you kill us with a curse, your divine body is destroyed. You can never ascend to godhood again. What's the use of taking these three nations' connections? Don't tell me you want to possess A'Diao and occupy her body?"
This possibility was too great, instantly making many people realize.
But as soon as he finished speaking, A'Diao kicked him, sending him sprawling. "You're talking nonsense! My grandmother loves me as her own life! I've been her precious darling since I was little! You scumbag, still trying to sow discord when you're about to die, wanting me to kill my grandmother so you have a chance to live?!"
While cursing verbally, A'Diao was actually on guard, having placed many layers of defense on her spiritual sea.
Her character was already formed; she would never naively trust anyone.
Including this old lady.
Shen Luo probably saw through her, gave her a cool glance, and then activated the Celestial Gate.
Her purpose had always been clear: cultivate A'Diao, create the current war situation, obtain the Karmic Luck of the three nations, and then...
The Celestial Gate opened. She stood before it, hands clasped, fingers pointed, gazing into the distance, silently chanting an incantation... Karmic Luck swirled around her, extracted and imprinted onto her soul, then burned.
Burning?
A'Diao was startled; the others were stunned.
Qu Xia'er seemed to sense something. "This is... soul summoning?"
Life and death in the mortal world, the coming and going of souls. If scattered, do they seem to remain? Time flows like water; are old friends still here?
Only then did everyone understand: had Shen Luo done all this just to revive her former clansmen?
Including the Celestial Maiden.
Heaven and earth grew dim. Amidst earthquakes and shaking mountains, the Celestial Gate opened the portal to the Celestial Realm. Secret places throughout the mortal world also opened up. But the areas where Celestial Clan members had once died in battle were now controlled by an extraordinary power; wherever it passed, it searched for souls.
The scale of this was far greater than when the Qu sisters revived each other in the past.
The Celestial Clan was the Celestial Clan. Their destinies were different, their level as living beings was different, and moreover, the years spanned were also different.
Qu Xia'er thought to herself: A'Diao probably guessed this long ago, even knew how she herself was created. Actually, if the old grandmother were the Celestial Maiden, none of this could have happened. But if she were the Divine Maiden, it seemed to make sense.
There was, after all, a difference between the Divine Maiden and the Celestial Maiden.
"The Arbitration Council's previous speculation about A'Diao was probably correct. First, the Celestial Maiden's curse created bloodline isolation. Then, the Divine Maiden lost her divine body and remained in the mortal world in a mortal form. But as a natural demigod who later obtained the Celestial Maiden's destiny, her soul should be comparable to a godhood. So even in a mortal body, she had a spiritual sea inheritance. Perhaps their Celestial Clan's bloodline could be nurtured within the spiritual sea, bypassing the reproductive isolation of bloodline and physical body by taking the spiritual sea route, thus creating the possibility of childbirth. So, to preserve a Celestial descendant, she indeed chose a Chen family descendant to combine with and conceived Chen Ran. But Chen Ran failed; he didn't retain the Celestial bloodline. However, he was likely a carrier of recessive genes. Though useless, there was the possibility of atavistic inheritance. Thus, Chen Ran later had four children, among whom A'Diao succeeded. But being born with a curse made her prone to premature death. Of course, carrying the curse might also have been part of the design for her aptitude..."
Cruel, meticulous, without considering anyone's suffering, just coldly following the path of the chess game step by step, ultimately leading to today's situation.
The speculation Qu Xia'er exchanged with Qu Jiangnan was, in fact, the truth.
It was also what A'Diao had guessed. Ever since she learned that the Celestial bloodline could be hidden in the spiritual sea, she knew how she was born, and from this, she even deduced that the Divine Maiden hadn't died.
That's why she was certain the other party could help her eliminate Dantai Zongming.
Unfortunately, she still hadn't anticipated her true purpose.
What happened to being family? Using her and then self-immolating? This is insane!
Such a beautiful face, wasted.
"No, shouldn't you be on a killing spree, wiping out these Demonic Spirits? There's still a bunch of Demonic Spirits here not yet killed! Why are you burning your soul to summon souls?! Aren't you afraid of death, damn it! You old hag, you're pissing me off!"
A'Diao was anxious, her face showing the frustration of failing to use her further, yet still exasperated.
But Shen Luo ignored her.
A'Diao continued to curse: "Fine! You and that damned foot-picking old Daoist taught me to be ruthless. What about yourself? Your sister was love-struck, and you're not much better! A hypocritical, double-standard dog! And you worship Buddha every day – worship my ass! No wonder you never once offered anything to the Buddha statue!"
Since she was very young, she knew this grandmother of hers was not what she seemed.
Such a pious appearance of worshipping Buddha, but always too lazy to offer anything. What kind of Buddha worship is that without offerings?
It's a violation of labor laws!
Buddha will call for labor arbitration!
She cursed harshly, making listeners' hearts tremble with fear, but Shen Luo gave her a slight reaction. "Buddha cannot save me."
A'Diao fell silent for a moment.
Then who could save her? Herself.
Burning herself to summon the souls of old acquaintances.
This was her redemption for herself...
And the result?
The world was dim, with spirits chanting. Everyone seemed to see hell and the Yellow Springs Road, but they saw... no souls at all.
Not a single wisp.
So many people in the Celestial Clan, yet not a single soul remained.
Naturally, this included the Celestial Maiden.
The world was so silent. The wind was strong, blowing her silver hair.
She had pretended to be an old woman for so many years, always with a dull, twilight aura. She had recovered, peerlessly elegant, but that twilight aura still lingered.
Dantai Zongming, black blood streaming from his mouth, laughed strangely. "A futile act! So what if you're Celestial? Those who should die, still die. Souls aren't necessarily that noble. Three hundred years, Shen Luo, three hundred years! You lost your divine body, and also your former absolute composure. Entering the mortal world, you gained human delusions – knowing it was impossible, yet spending so many years scheming, even deigning to unite with a lowly Chen family disciple, giving birth to lowly humans, all to obtain human Karmic Luck, enough for you to forcefully summon Celestial souls, yet you gained nothing! Isn't this a colossal joke? Hahahaha!"
"In the past, you never approved of your sister being with Chen Gui, saying something about Celestials and humans being incompatible. And what's the result? You followed her old path, even becoming more debased than her, hahaha!"
The more pain one feels, the more one wants to derive pleasure from others.
Shen Luo probably had her suspicions long ago, but at that moment, her eyes still darkened. A'Diao, however, tilted her head, and with a thought, a group of Demonic Spirits lost control of their bodies... suddenly urinating copiously all over Dantai Zongming.
Dantai Zongming, after all, had a divine-demonic body, only harmed by the curse. Ordinary attacks could hardly damage his physique, which was why A'Diao and the others hadn't attacked him just now. However, his flesh was already rotten, causing him unbearable pain, and he relied solely on his mouth to retaliate against Shen Luo.
Shen Luo didn't care about her, but A'Diao was different.
She had always been insidious.
Feces and urine drenched him, an unbearable stench.
This was an extreme humiliation for this human NO1, causing Dantai Zongming ultimate pain. But she added with a smile, "Actually, Your Majesty, you are a revered High Ancestor, an emperor for a lifetime. It's a pity you're too old; billions of humans now don't recognize you. Now it's better, I'll let you debut in the C-position. Are you happy?"
"That's right, I've been live-streaming all along."
From Dantai Zongming +50,000 stars!
From...
She reaped a large amount of Mental Power.
Only Shen Luo's was missing, because she was currently frowning, one hand on the bronze coffin, probably reminiscing about the past. She gave a bitter smile and suddenly transferred all the Karmic Luck to A'Diao.
As the Karmic Luck entered her body, A'Diao thought Shen Luo had come to her senses. "That's right. Let's team up and kill him quickly. The curse is too slow, lest complications arise... You... what are you doing?"
After returning the Karmic Luck to A'Diao, Shen Luo suddenly increased the speed at which her soul burned.
Continuing to summon souls.
In the blink of an eye, her soul was about to dissipate.
Knowing it was futile, yet without regret.
Perhaps having been the Divine Maiden for too long, she was indeed different. From the moment she appeared, she exuded an aura unrelated to human nature.
Lonely, pure, transcendent, insoluble in worldly joy, as if only half a shred of obsession remained in her entire life.
Once the obsession was gone, she wouldn't turn back.
But someone was unwilling, wanting to keep her.
"Mother..." Chen Ran was calling her. He was in great pain, his whole body tormented by the curse. It was unknown whether his call was a plea for mercy or a sincere desire for her to stay.
But no matter what, Divine Maiden and Chen Ran were ultimately a strange existence to behold.
Was she really his mother?
For all this, childbirth and even descendants were merely pawns. Yet, they were also her kin.
There was no emotion in Shen Luo's eyes. She merely said sparsely, "Before you, I had three children."
Chen Ran was stunned.
"One was due to the curse and was bound to die prematurely. Two, because they did not retain the bloodline, keeping them was useless."
"Humans, Celestials, or the Demonic Spirit Race – regardless of victory or defeat, it's all a matter of means. The strong are revered. If they are annihilated, they are annihilated. There's nothing much to argue about right or wrong. I originally thought I could get through it."
With a flick of her fingertip, a green-haired turtle was suddenly pulled out from the pond in the courtyard.
The turtle shell shattered, and a wisp of a soul was extracted by her and pinched between her fingertips.
It looked like the form of a man.
A'Diao and Toilet: Holy crap, the peerless pretty boy Chen Gui!!!
His soul was actually hidden in this turtle?
A'Diao subconsciously touched her finger, vaguely remembering something from her childhood...
Xu Ye was also stunned. She had visited this courtyard several times since childhood and had even prodded this old turtle back then. However, it was A'Diao who had flipped the turtle over with a stick the most times.
Her health was poor, confined to the old residence. Day after day, she liked to flip the turtle for fun. The turtle always tried to escape, and once even bit A'Diao's finger.
At that time, the old lady would sit nearby reading, seemingly unconcerned.
But later, she saw this old turtle being thrown into a slop bucket by a matron and soaked for several days.
Unexpectedly... this turtle was Chen Gui, sealed inside for three hundred years.
He knew everything, yet could do nothing, only watch as the Chen family bloodline was tormented one by one, watch everything proceed according to Shen Luo's plan. It must have been a living hell.
And his torment also showed that Shen Luo's inner aversion had not dissipated. Now, it was about to end.
"But I am not a god, after all. I also have malevolence, also have aversion. I always remember how she died, how Chen Gui deceived her, making her regretful and pained before her death. So from the very beginning, I never intended to let anyone with Chen Gui's bloodline survive. Therefore, your true nature doesn't matter."
As she finished speaking, her soul burned down to its last wisp. But with a point of her finger, Chen Gui's soul was extinguished, not even given a chance to say a word.
And Chen Ran's body began to burn.
He was struck by these words and was thus destroyed.
This scene was simply horrifying. No one had expected this development; even Dantai Zongming was shocked.
This person was ruthless to the core – ruthless to herself, trampling on dignity and everything, and even more ruthless to others, leaving no remnants.
"Father!!!" Xu Ye still couldn't hold back and took a few steps forward to stop it, but was pulled back by A'Diao.
She was so calm, never doing anything futile, because it couldn't be stopped.
Bloodline curse.
Shen Luo cursed her own descendants.
A'Diao held Xu Ye back, watching Chen Ran's life being taken, and asked, "Grandmother, have you ever thought of giving up? Not even once?"
A seemingly casual tone.
Her disposition was profound; Chen Ran's death wouldn't cause the slightest ripple in her. Similarly, she didn't seem to have much attachment to this grandmother of hers.
From this perspective, the cultivation of her personality was extremely successful.
Shen Luo paused, looking at A'Diao for a moment. Perhaps at that instant, they both thought of the days long ago when they sat together on the couch, reading books and eating snacks...
Why did A'Diao like to eat snacks?
Because she had been doted on by this person in her childhood; the latter loved to feed her snacks.
That was one of the ways A'Diao later instinctively thought she could obtain happiness.
In this world, perhaps only Shen Luo understood her. But it seemed there was no going back.
The scheming was real, the plan was real, being a pawn was also real. But true and false, after so long, it became hard to distinguish.
Shen Luo averted her gaze and smiled, "No."
Then she turned to ash and annihilated.
Clean and decisive, leaving no room.
The moment she died, the curse's strongest effect erupted.
Immediately after, the souls of Dantai Zongming and the others were also tormented by the curse... Just like the crushing destruction A'Diao had once experienced, their souls also vanished into thin air, leaving only tattered and rotten corpses.
And at the same time...
Far away in Kyoto, Chen Xun also burned to ashes on the sofa.
Everyone in the living room fell deathly silent upon seeing this scene.
Xu Zhaoyin took a deep breath, her hand holding the coffee trembling slightly.
She still did it.
That terrifying woman, she still did it.
However, Xu Zhaoyin looked at Chen Yang. The latter was dazed and confused, seemingly fine, but a five-pointed star was spinning on his chest, as if transforming something.
"What, what's going on!! Where's Chen Xun?" Xie Yuqing was agitated and anxious, scared to tears. She touched a handful of ashes on the sofa, crying and shouting, and even took out her phone to contact A'Diao, but a hand from behind pressed down on hers.
Several people looked up and saw another Chen Xun appearing behind them.
This person said nothing, calmly twisted his neck, took off his head, and pointed at it with his finger.
"I was prepared long ago. I turned myself into an intelligent being... This way, I can live longer."
"How about it?"
Before Xu Zhaoyin could say anything, Xie Yuqing and Chen Yang, mother and son, both rolled their eyes and fainted from fright.
Xu Zhaoyin: "..."
Chen Xun: "?"
In the silence, the two of them moved the mother and son to the sofa. Xu Zhaoyin let out a breath, calming herself. "I thought she would spare you."
Chen Xun shook his head. "No, she doesn't have much affection for humans. But she couldn't tolerate a single descendant of Chen Gui, who caused her sister's death, to survive. Anyone with the bloodline would die, especially me – I resemble Chen Gui too much. She tolerated me for so many years only because I was useful to A'Diao."
If only she had been a little more lenient, like she was with Xu Zhaoyin and her daughter, he could have survived.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
Being born a descendant of Chen Gui was an original sin. Yet Shen Luo could only choose the Chen family. No matter how transcendent her temperament, there was still aversion in her heart.
In the entire Chen family, from beginning to end, only A'Diao was an exception.
That person would not be moved by anyone's emotions, except A'Diao's.
Shen Luo died just like that. From her appearance to now, less than a dozen minutes had passed. She cursed the three imperial clans and eliminated the last remaining group from the Arbitration Council.
Everything, ended just like that?
The Four Great Demon Kings and the vast Demonic Spirit horde were now trembling, looking at the majority of human experts who had survived, and at A'Diao, whose expression was obscure and hard to read.
They wanted to retreat, but A'Diao suddenly looked over.
Suddenly, her hand moved.
"Not good, resist..."
The Demon Kings and Monster Kings were about to resist when they saw A'Diao attacking the Celestial-Demon's side. She wanted to retrieve or destroy the Celestial-Demon's corpse, but she was a step too slow.
A mysterious lurker leaped out of space and swallowed the corpse in one gulp.
Qu Xia'er and the others had a thought.
Was it that traitor? The traitor planted in the human world by the Supreme Demon King!
And this traitor was terrifying. After swallowing the Celestial-Demon's corpse, he was unafraid of the residual curse power, madly digesting it and revealing his appearance.
He was seen bowing slightly to A'Diao in a salute.
"Your Highness A'Diao, Wu Xie has been impolite."
The real "big oriole" had arrived, having lurked for too long.
But the others found it hard to accept – the Chen family's old matriarch was Shen Luo, so who was this eunuch from the Tang Song Imperial Palace? So incredibly fierce, swallowing a Celestial-Demon body in one gulp and even digesting it.
These days, one by one, were all big shots so good at pretending?
A'Diao narrowed her eyes, clenching her fists. "It's you. You forced yourself to wait until she left before jumping out. It must have been hard for you."
Wu Xie smiled. "I had no choice. She is the Divine Maiden, after all, and has always been formidable. Actually, three hundred years ago, although the human race's faults were underestimated, her greatest weakness was her sister. Always yielding and compromising, which led to disaster. She regretted it too much to bother staying in the mortal world any longer, so I could only wait until she was disheartened. Otherwise, I really wouldn't have dared to come out."
This eunuch had previously appeared refined, scholarly, and with an extraordinary demeanor. Yet, at this juncture, he still maintained a humble and lowly appearance, making people feel he was being hypocritically modest.
A'Diao privately thought that in the whole world, only her own "green tea" style of humblebragging was the cutest; all others were just contemptible.
So she made the first move.
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