NOVPUB’Haha, Zhao Chen... I trained you like my own child, but you think so narrowly. Are you so stupid not to realize what is best for you?’ Zhao Yuhan laughed at his stupidity for investing in and training such a fool and poisonous child, the treasured disciple who backstabbed him only for personal benefit.
Both of his hearts were ruptured by the cursed swords, and he couldn’t face the Purple Mountain’s seven Great Lords with his current condition. Demise was obvious, but he was sure his fate would be worse than death if he let himself fall into the enemy’s hands.
"Ha ha ha! Good!" Zhao Yuhan laughed at the sky while accumulating all the remaining energy in his body into his core dantian, preparing for a self-destruct. "Now I will destroy the Nine Heavenly Secrets Scroll and my legacy along with my body so nobody can obtain them! I shall drag you all to the deepest hell!"
"No! This is bad, he will self-destruct!" Zhao Chen rushed to escape, but the super-powerful explosion immediately engulfed everything within a two-kilometer radius.
The blinding high-intensity spherical explosion engulfed everything to dust. The mountain below was reduced to ashes, and the scenery became like an apocalyptic hell brought to the world. The 16th Rank Immortal Lord self-destructed himself with all the remaining energy in his body.
Unfortunately, the traitorous disciple managed to save himself by a hair, thanks to the great elder who protected him by sacrificing his right hand, using his body as the shield as well.
The seven Great Lords of the Purple Mountain also survived without significant injury. They remained in position inside the defensive formation erected by the seven of them.
"Find the remains. The Nine Heavenly Secrets Scroll will not be destroyed that easily." The First Lord reminded his comrades, knowing it took more than 16th Rank power to destroy the said scroll.
The Purple Mountain’s disciples soon emerged from their hiding spots to help the seven Great Lords explore the area within a radius of 20 kilometers. The villain was dead, but they believed his treasures and what they were looking for just bounced somewhere during the blinding explosion.
---
"..." Elysia covered her mouth. It might be an unrelated incident to her and her family, but the scene caused her to overthink.
The Lord of Dark Lightning was probably a sect leader of a certain sect. He took in a disciple and treated that child as his own son, nurturing that child with care. But in the end, that child chose to betray him, colluding with enemies, only because of selfishness and personal benefit.
It might be something similar to a regicide in royalty. The prince’s betrayal killed the sovereign to usurp the throne. Still, it was such a culture shock for her.
Elysia then thought if she were in that unfavorable position. She had prepared herself if one day her people would leave her, or maybe someday they would turn their back to her.
Even though some individuals would never leave or betray her, it would still be painful and sad when she thought about it.
’I won’t speak for the others, but you know that we’re yours. Even if we’re dead, we’re still your ghosts.’ Elena held Elysia’s hand with a sincere smile.
’Mm, thank you. The cultivation world is truly cruel and merciless, huh...’ Elysia heaved a subtle sigh. She almost forgot that her Goddess sisters and representative saintesses already entrusted their souls to her, sharing their glory.
If she doubted their faith, then she was truly a bad master. As for the others, her disciples, for example, held their own freedom to choose their path. She wouldn’t bound them, and she wouldn’t tie herself to this world forever.
"Sierra." Elysia called out the chief servant’s name with a commanding tone.
"At your service." Sierra bowed respectfully.
"Is such an occurrence common in the Divine World and the three mortal worlds?" Elysia looked at the distance sky.
The traitorous disciple and the injured elder exchanged something with those purple-robed Great Lords. They would take over the Yushanhui Pavilion and wished for Purple Mountain’s support, according to the agreement.
Those two betrayed their own master only to overthrow the Lord of Dark Lightning and receive the Purple Mountain’s support to rule the Yushanhui Pavilion.
It was truly a nasty scheme to overthrow the sovereign. The king was framed and killed, and then the prince ascended the throne with the support of outside forces. That scheme was relatively common, but it was really unpleasant.
"In my lifetime, I have seen many immortals rise and fall. The struggle to fight over the treasures is a common occurrence as the weak have no right to keep the high-level treasures. However, the bitter betrayal is unusual and quite rare..." Sierra pondered over it more deeply, trying to understand the Supreme Goddess’ question more thoroughly, but she wasn’t sure about the last one.
"So, that happens quite often. Does He-Dao also usually do that? Trample the weak and snatch the other’s treasures?" Elysia nodded in understanding.
"Please forgive me, my lady. But the Lord never and shall not betray or trample upon anyone as he upholds his dignity and honor greatly. He might vanquish anyone who crossed his bottom line thoroughly and mercilessly, but he never wronged the innocent. If he wished to obtain something, he always did it with a fair method. That’s why he is the Lord of Heaven, the absolute one." Sierra clasped her hands with a beaming expression, refuting gently and politely.
"He is not the absolute one. If he were one, he would not ask for our help." Ai rebuked with dissatisfaction. He-Dao tried his best to curry Elysia’s favor, so the absolute was never suitable for him.
Sierra trembled slightly with cold sweat. She forgot that she served the Supreme Goddess now, not the Lord of Heaven anymore. She immediately bowed, apologized, and corrected her statement. "My apologies for my misspoken language. You’re the absolute, the supreme one, Lady Elysia."
"Well, there’s no need to be so polite. I’m still a newly ascended Goddess. Don’t flaunt it or mention it. That’s the secret of heaven. The outsiders must not know or hear it." Elysia raised her hand.
"Understood." Sierra nodded in response.
"Woah, so that’s a battle between the Gods..." Erina returned with a large basket full of various kinds of precious stones and sparkling gems.
Mio, Vanessa, and Gio also brought their own share, but with a much bigger basket. The gleaming sparkles were truly eye-catching, but they brought them out to show them to the Goddesses.
"You found quite a lot of interesting minerals. Thank you for your help, Gio. You took the trouble to grab all the precious minerals deep underground. Come and join us for an afternoon tea party." Elysia waved her hand at Erina’s team.
"Hum." Gio nodded, feeling proud and satisfied.
"My honor~" Erina readily agreed, but she didn’t forget to show Elysia her new discoveries.
*Swoosh*
While Elysia and her family were chatting happily, many people approached quickly. Since they opened the temporary camp near the exit portal, encounters with other people were unavoidable. However, the first one to arrive was the traitorous disciple and the injured elder.
"Heavenly Palace..." Zhao Chen gasped in surprise when he found a group of ladies attended by twenty servants with the Heavenly Palace’s crest on their attires camped near the portal exit.
He thought those ladies would try to do something unreasonable like extorting or plundering, but they did nothing even though he approached the portal. Seeing their indifferent stance, he paid his respect with a martial salute and then went toward the exit portal right away.
"..." Elysia adjusted her divine veil and closed her eyes. She didn’t take another glance at the newly arrived group, letting them pass without a word.
’Do you want to punish him?’ Ai tilted her head, wondering what Elysia would do.
’No, that’s not necessary, Ai. He accumulates sins and he will suffer sooner or later. He will get what he deserves. The one he hurt the most will get back at him someday. That guy went into a cycle of reincarnation and perhaps defied the cycle to transmigrate to the mortal world due to his grudge and grievance by now.’ Elysia shook her head and opened her grimoire, checking something regarding Purple Mountain.
’If you say so...’ Ai looked at the distant sky. The others could die and kill each other, or even destroy the world. As long as they didn’t touch her family, then she didn’t care.
The Seventh Lord of the Purple Mountain led his people to the exit, but he was shocked by an unusual group of exalted figures. Therefore, he immediately landed to pay his respects. "What honor do we owe to be graced by the Heavenly Palace’s representatives in this forsaken realm?"
Elysia was still focused on her grimoire. Her Goddess sisters and heavenly servants also remained silent toward that greeting.
It took Elysia several seconds to respond to the Seventh Lord of the Purple Mountain. "Purple Mountain, you dispatched your full force for this realm exploration. Did you find what you were looking for here?"
"It’s embarrassing to mention it like that, but we failed to obtain my ancestor’s stolen relic." The Seventh Lord forced his amiable smile. He almost gritted his teeth because he thought the Heavenly Palace would ignore his greeting.
"Is that so. Then, please proceed with what you need to do."
"Well then, we shall bid our farewell. But, may I know what Heavenly Palace is doing here?"
"We’re here to wait for my people to return. They are exploring this secret realm to gain experience."
"Is-is that so... This secret realm will close twelve hours early due to some unexpected changes. Please bring out your people before the realm portal closes in thirty hours, or they will be trapped for a century in this secret realm."
"Thank you for your kind advice, sir." Elysia appreciated the advice just out of politeness. Her family would leave in eight hours, to begin with.
The Seventh Lord spoke nothing more and brought his people to come out of that forsaken secret realm.
"Master, who are they? The seated ladies did not possess the heavenly aura, but those twenty servants have Heavenly Palace’s crest." The Seventh Lord’s disciple asked out of curiosity.
"We have no right to question the Heavenly Palace’s people arbitrarily. They and those affiliated with them are unfathomable. Those ladies might look weak, but we shouldn’t compare our standards with them. Even the Lord of Heaven sometimes wandered the world as a mere mortal. Never underestimate the serene mind, even if it’s a mortal weakling." The Seventh Lord preached to his people sternly.
Everyone nodded in reply, digesting the Seventh Lord’s advice wholeheartedly.
