The realm where the Dragon Lord emerged is naturally off-limits to others.
Within the Nine Heavens, Zhaoling, who had received the new Dragon Lord's request to visit for the seventh time, looked at the kneeling celestial servants below with a grim expression.
"My Lord, I already told you to turn down the Dragon Clan, why is he here again?" Zhaoling slammed her hand on the chair in anger, her beautiful eyes practically spitting fire. "Just tell the Dragon Clan that it's not time for the Immortal Realm Grand Ceremony yet, and tell them to wait."
The golden dragon she once captured, whose memories she erased, and which she used as provisions for her son's bloodline awakening, turned out to be a rare dragon prince. What she never expected was that this dragon was actually the culprit behind her son's impending marriage.
This is truly a case of someone who spends all day hunting eagles only to have their eyes pecked out by one!
Unfortunately, although the Nine Heavens are still nominally the ruling land of the Immortal Realm, since the previous emperor passed away, there has never been a solitary ruler.
Seeing that the Nine Heavens was about to fall into the realm of heaven and earth, Zhaoling came up with a way to create a solitary destiny for the ruler.
She was relieved that her son's fate of being alone had not been completely broken. Her immediate priority was to sever any possibility of him being separated from the golden dragon, and then have the Fate Clan come to assist him again.
It's alright. Of the three thousand minor worlds, since the Cangling Continent isn't an option, this time she needs to find a more secure place.
Upon hearing her plan, the Immortal Realm secretly lamented their situation and regretted having allowed the Little Heavenly Lord to be born on the Cangling Continent. They had taken advantage of the Cangling Heavenly Dao's gradual decline to block its path to ascension to the Upper Realm, using a thousand years to lay out a grand scheme so that the Little Heavenly Lord could ascend through merit.
It is true that the Little Heavenly Lord ascended to heaven through merit, but who knew that he unknowingly broke the scheme set up by him and Prince Zhaoling, and in the end he did not hesitate to use his own bloodline and soul to reopen the world.
This cycle of cause and effect is truly peculiar, and human effort seems particularly laughable in its presence.
What Ling Mingjun didn't expect was that Tianjizi from the Cangling Continent was also a reincarnated member of the Ming Clan, and now, after ascending, he had become a highly sought-after newcomer in the Ming Clan.
The small Cangling Continent is a place where hidden talents abound.
A terrible silence fell between them.
Zhaoling leaned back in her chair, a sense of helplessness washing over her as she thought of Mingxu's current state.
As time passed, the scene of their encounter under the peach tree overlapped with the later situation where the man voluntarily wore the nine chains, making it difficult for her to distinguish between reality and the past.
The prince glanced at her furtively, and after a moment of silence, he spoke carefully: "Your Highness, there is actually another way."
"What method?" Zhaoling rose slightly and leaned over to look at him. "Tell me."
“That is to make Little Heavenly Lord voluntarily sever all feelings and love.” Mingjun recalled the records he had seen in his clan, “Before this new Immortal Realm was established, our clan recorded that there was an Immortal Venerable who went to the lower realm to undergo tribulation, using the emotional roots of others as a pill, and after ascending, he embarked on the path of ruthlessness.”
"The only uncertainty is that the latter half of the record was destroyed, leaving only the moment when the immortal venerable successfully ascended again."
In fact, even the Fate Lord was unsure what happened to that Immortal Venerable afterward. However, the records of the Fate Clan were undeniable, and the theory behind this method was sound. The only uncertainty was what would happen to him afterward.
Upon hearing this, Zhaoling frowned and fell into deep thought.
But the tranquility of the hall was broken by a fairy maiden who rushed in. She entered the hall and knelt down with a thud, her voice trembling as if she had seen a ghost.
"Your Highness, the Dragon Lord of the Dragon Clan has arrived!"
The ruler looked displeased. "So what if you're here? Is it worth being this afraid?"
The fairy maiden looked up, her face streaked with tears, and said, "He... he said he was coming to marry the young Heavenly Lord!"
Chapter 109
The Princess Zhaoling in the Ninth Heaven shattered a pillar in the Huachao Palace to pieces. Her face was ashen, her face as cold as a morning flower.
The fairy maid who had delivered the message earlier was trembling with fear, but the Nine Heavens were indeed not what they used to be. After venting her anger, Zhaoling glanced at the people kneeling on the ground and simply waved her hand to let them go.
The celestial maidens and servants breathed a sigh of relief and quickly withdrew like flowing water, leaving only the Lord of Destiny behind.
"The Reincarnation Formation of the Fate Clan is still active. Your Highness, may I allow the Little Heavenly Lord to give it a try?" The Fate Lord was still unwilling to give up and asked respectfully, "Although this method is risky, once it succeeds, the Little Heavenly Lord's fate of being a lonely ruler will not be affected by the movement of the Red Phoenix Star."
However, Zhaoling did not immediately agree. The image of Fu Mingxu's face, which was slightly furrowed even in his sleep, appeared in her mind. "There is no guarantee that it will succeed. I need to think about it."
The Lord of Fate reminded her at the right moment: "Your Highness, there are less than two months left in the Immortal Realm Grand Ceremony. The peculiarity of that Reincarnation Array is that no matter how many thousands or tens of thousands of years you stay inside, it is only a blink of an eye in reality."
On the surface, the Immortal Realm Grand Ceremony is a grand celebration for all immortals, but when immortals gather in droves and various forces emerge, the competition is nothing more than for the management of the Immortal Realm's territory and the allocation of resources.
When the Emperor was alive, the Nine Heavens always held the top spot, overwhelming everyone with absolute superiority. Unfortunately, two hundred years ago, the Emperor passed away in accordance with the will of Heaven. Zhaoling did not want to tarnish the reputation of the Nine Heavens at the next Immortal Ceremony, and also wanted to better take over the Nine Heavens. Therefore, he used the power of the entire Ming Clan, using his own Zhuzhao bloodline as the foundation, to create a son destined to be a solitary ruler.
Her memories of the past on the Cangling Continent were still fresh. She always believed that as long as she severed the Heavenly Ladder, and with the Heavenly Dao weakening, the entire Cangling Continent would become her son's stepping stone, helping him ascend to immortality as the solitary ruler.
However, her son did ascend to heaven, but in a way that was completely unexpected.
Zhaoling's heart was in turmoil. She did not give the Emperor a direct answer, and instead sent him away.
As for the Dragon Lord's desire to marry Xiao Tianjun, she only snorted coldly and made no other reaction.
But the thought of the grand ceremony in the celestial realm still gave Zhaoling a terrible headache.
...
The Nine Heavens were shrouded in celestial energy, and the Luoguang Palace, where the Little Heavenly Lord was housed, was guarded by numerous immortals.
Nine days after his ascension, Fu Mingxu awoke from his coma. However, due to the damage to his soul, he remained in a dazed state, and since he had only been awake for a short time, no one noticed.
The hall was filled with various magic arrays. Even though he was so exhausted that he refused to move, the operating magic arrays could still deliver pure immortal spiritual energy into his body.
Fu Mingxu truly experienced the feeling of cultivating even while lying down, with his cultivation level constantly rising rapidly.
During a drowsy spell, he heard his mother sitting to his side, rambling on and on, which confirmed his suspicions.
The Cangling Continent suffered this calamity, and it was truly because of itself.
Fu Mingxu sat on the bed and sighed. After waking up this time, all his hidden ailments disappeared. Feeling refreshed, he also understood that his mother would not let the matter rest because of the so-called "lonely master's command".
On the day he fully awoke, he got up and pushed open the palace door.
Facing the guardian immortals who were all looking at him, he said calmly, "I'm awake. Where is Mother?"
Zhaoling arrived in haste, and the mother and son were speechless for a moment.
But Fu Mingxu broke the silence between them and suddenly said, "I want to plant a peach tree."
Zhaoling was taken aback, unsure how to respond.
“Father said he has never blamed you.” Fu Mingxu looked at her quietly, his eyes filled with deep affection. “Mother, the cycle of cause and effect has its own laws of heaven and earth. I have already repaid the debt I owed to Cangling Continent. I don’t know what your plans are, but every sip and bite is beyond the reach of heaven. What I have never wanted is a life of solitude or the Nine Heavens Emperor.”
His mission to become the sole ruler had been broken, and he was certain his mother would do something more for him. Rather than wait, he simply stated his refusal clearly.
“Immortals have long lifespans and countless methods of seeking the Dao.” He looked into Zhaoling’s eyes and said, word by word, “But using the fate of others to achieve one’s own is certainly not the right way. Even if you succeed, the laws of heaven and earth will take it away through another means.”
He sighed deeply and asked softly, "Mother, will you listen to me?"
The matter of Cangling Continent is over, and the scheme his mother laid out has been completely broken. If he wants to achieve his original goal, he will definitely have to find another way.
Zhaoling looked at the face that resembled her memory and felt a sense of confusion. All her actions were for the sake of the Nine Heavens. Only the appearance of a true emperor destined to rule alone could silence the immortals and extinguish their ambitions.
Seeing her silence, Fu Mingxu knew her choice. He took two steps back, his handsome features seemingly shrouded in a light mist. "If Mother insists on this, I have nothing more to say."
"To atone for the sins committed because of me, and to reopen the world of Cangling Continent, the Zhuzhao bloodline and the merman bloodline within my body have withered as a sacrifice."
After saying that, he turned his back and stopped looking. He was dressed in a blue robe, and his soft hair was tied up with a blue ribbon, with the ends hanging down his back.
As dawn broke, the golden crow soared above the celestial realm, its gentle light filtering through layers of celestial energy and spilling into the half-open Luoguang Palace. Fu Mingxu lowered his long eyelashes, his expression gentle, as if his earlier words were merely an explanation of the actual situation to Zhaoling.
But Zhaoling clearly saw the affection in his eyes gradually disappear as his words fell, until his eyelashes drooped and were no longer visible.
He was silently resisting her.
The joy of their reunion that she had imagined did not materialize; instead, the atmosphere between mother and son was tense, almost like a battle of wits. Zhaoling opened his mouth, but for a moment, he didn't know how to speak.
Finally, she simply said, "You should get some rest."
Upon hearing the sound of the main hall doors closing, Fu Mingxu's straight back suddenly relaxed, his brows furrowed, and his expression revealed a sense of melancholy.
He peeked out through the crack in the door and saw that half of the usually heavily guarded immortals were gone.
It seems his mother has no intention of locking him up.
Fu Mingxu breathed a sigh of relief. He had been sleeping soundly in the Luoguang Palace for a long time, and he could only learn about many things from his mother's unintentional words.
However, he didn't know what was happening on the Cangling Continent now, or whether any cultivators had ascended to the Heavenly Ladder after the world reopened and it appeared.
Han Tao, do you think he's dead?
Did he ascend to heaven?
Looking at the wisps of white mist outside the hall, Fu Mingxu knew it was a sign of the excessively dense spiritual energy here. He didn't push open the door and walk out immediately, but stood there in contemplation for a while before turning around and casually choosing a magic array to sit cross-legged and cultivate.
Time flies, and by the time he finally stepped out of the Luoguang Palace, a month and a half had passed.
The grand ceremony in the celestial realm will be held one day later.
Because Fu Mingxu spent all his time in Luoguang Palace, he was unaware of what was happening outside. Leaning against the railing, he watched the palace maids coming and going with utter boredom, and asked the guard beside him, "Has anything unusual happened lately?"
The guard, hidden within his armor, spoke with a mechanical, uninteresting tone: "Nothing."
Fu Mingxu immediately understood that this was not a matter of non-existence or existence, but rather that his mother did not want him to know.
The more this happened, the more suspicious he became.
"Let's go." He was still dressed in a blue robe, as if this celestial realm was no different from other places in his eyes. "I'll go and see the grand occasion of this celestial ceremony."
It's a once-in-a-century event, after all; it'd be good to go and see the excitement. Besides, since his mother sent word early this morning that he should be there at the start of the ceremony, there must be some reason why he couldn't refuse.
Led by the guards, Fu Mingxu walked briskly, occasionally pausing to admire some celestial plants.
Tsk, I've been sleeping too long and haven't refined pills; my hands are itching.
The busy fairy maidens and attendants bowed to him. At first, Fu Mingxu felt uncomfortable, but after walking for a while and seeing more and more people bowing to him, he became numb to it.
The Immortal Realm Grand Ceremony takes place only once every hundred years, and it is always hosted by the Nine Heavens. The ceremony is not confined to a fixed location; it usually takes place in top-tier secret realms where treasures can be found. This is the first time it has been held directly within the Nine Heavens.
Fu Mingxu was unaware of all this, and his eyes held a rare curiosity as he walked. But he also noticed that the further he went in, the more tense the guards became, giving him the illusion of delivering treasure into a demon's lair.
When they reached the arched bridge leading to the grand ceremony, the guard suddenly drew his weapon.
Fu Mingxu was puzzled until he saw a strong wind rise, and the wind, carrying the aura of immortals, instantly disrupted the fairy maidens' arrangements.
He squinted in the wind, paused when a familiar aura appeared, and then felt a tightening around his waist, and his whole body was lifted into the air.
At the same time, Zhaoling rushed over with Fu Yangxu, but they were unable to stop it.
A hot breath brushed against his ear, and Han Tao's voice, filled with deep longing, said, "Mingxu, I'm here."
Ignoring the shouts from his men, Fu Mingxu slowly raised his head, his eyes meeting Fu Mingxu's, which were filled with turbulent emotions. "I know."
He knew that as long as he was alive, Han Tao would eventually find him.
He only needs to stay in one place safely and peacefully, and the golden dragon will eventually descend upon him.
But Han Tao was dissatisfied with his overly quiet attitude. All the longing that had been building up in his heart for a hundred years burst forth upon seeing the person before him. The hand gripping his waist tightened, the burning heat of his palm seeping into his bloodstream through his skin.