“Master!” Seeing Yun Qingxue’s anger, Daise immediately lowered her head and knelt on the ground. “This servant dares not!”
Yun Qingxue sighed softly, bending down to help Daise up from the ground. “I know you’re worried about me, but don’t worry, I know my limits! Just stay here and take care of my father, my master, and my senior brothers. Wait for me to return!”
“This servant can handle everything here alone. Let Adai and Liuli accompany you, Master!” Daise tried to negotiate.
“No need. Huanling is with me. If anything happens, her illusion skills are enough to help me escape!” With that, Yun Qingxue flew out of the Wanzhi Palace of the Flower and Wood Clan without looking back.
Outside the Wanzhi Palace, the grass was lush and green. Yun Qingxue found a secluded spot and quietly chanted a spell. With her current strength, she could now travel to the Divine Realm on her own!
That’s right! She was going to the Divine Realm to rescue the trapped soul of her mother! If she hadn’t known her true origins, she might have remained indifferent. But now that she knew, it was absolutely impossible for her to do nothing.
Her mother had risked her life twice to protect her. Such kindness was something she, as a daughter, could never repay in this lifetime… Now, being asked to stay calm—she couldn’t! The mere thought of her mother sacrificing herself for her made it impossible to remain composed.
She was going to the Divine Realm to save her mother—no matter the cost!
The gate to the Divine Realm slowly opened under the influence of Yun Qingxue’s spell. Beneath her feet, a pattern drawn in azure light appeared. Within the pattern, eerie wisps of black energy seeped through…
Yun Qingxue paid no attention to this. She continued chanting, feeling her body slowly rise into the air. Suddenly, a burst of azure light flashed, and the pattern on the ground, along with Yun Qingxue, vanished from the spot.
A dazzling light filled her vision. When she opened her eyes again, the scenery before her had completely changed. She remembered that a hundred years ago, when the Purple Song Sage had sent her and Jinlin to the Divine Realm to gather herbs, they had landed in this very place.
But now, a century later, the land beneath her feet was no longer as vibrant as it once had been. Everything was scorched and withered…
Following the path in her memory, Yun Qingxue made her way toward the palaces of the Divine Realm. On the desolate, ruined land, an occasional patrol of Divine Realm soldiers passed by.
Yun Qingxue frowned. She recalled that a hundred years ago, there had been no such patrols here. It seemed the impending war between gods and demons had indeed tightened the Divine Realm’s defenses…
Carefully avoiding the patrols, Yun Qingxue walked until she reached the edge of the scorched land. Beyond it lay a sea of clouds. At the center of the sea stood the Divine Emperor’s palace, as majestic and towering as it had been a century ago.
But…
Yun Qingxue noticed that the once-sacred sea of clouds, which had been pure and flawless, now carried faint traces of black and purple energy… The once-holy Divine Realm was now permeated with an aura of corruption and desolation…
Without dwelling on it further, Yun Qingxue continued to evade the Divine soldiers, moving closer to the palace where her mother was imprisoned. The closer she got, the more her heart raced with anticipation and tension…
There, locked away, was her mother—the woman who had risked her life for her time and again!
The no-longer-sacred clouds drifted slowly. Suddenly, Yun Qingxue felt a hand grasp the hem of her robe from within the mist. Instinctively, she gathered energy at her fingertips, ready to strike.
“Is it the Flower King?” A hoarse, aged voice emerged from the clouds.
“Who are you?” Yun Qingxue asked coldly, on guard.
The clouds parted slightly, revealing an elderly face.
“It’s you?” Yun Qingxue was surprised. The one who had grabbed her was none other than the ancient banyan tree spirit she had encountered a hundred years ago during her last visit to the Divine Realm.
“It truly is the Flower King…” The old banyan tree spirit seemed far more aged than before. His wrinkled face twisted into a bitter smile at the sight of her.
“Why are you hiding here?” Yun Qingxue asked.
At her question, the old banyan tree spirit burst into tears. “Dead… they’re all dead…”
Yun Qingxue frowned. “What do you mean? What happened?”
“Wuuu…” The old spirit sobbed quietly. “All living beings aspire to the Dao, hoping one day to ascend and transcend mortality, to join the ranks of the immortals… They say the life of a god is blissful… but they don’t know… they don’t know that becoming a god doesn’t guarantee eternal freedom…”
Yun Qingxue’s frown deepened. “What exactly happened? Why has the edge of the Divine Realm, once lush with trees, become so desolate?”
The old banyan tree spirit wiped his tears. “It’s all the Divine Emperor’s doing! Not just us plant spirits, but many other gods have fallen victim to him! The supreme ruler of the gods, yet he practices some demonic art—absorbing the cultivation and power of other immortals in an instant… So many have suffered. After enduring countless trials to achieve immortality, they meet their end in ashes…”
The old spirit’s voice grew more desolate. “My companions… almost all of them were slaughtered by the Divine Emperor in a single night. Only this old bones managed to escape, hiding and barely clinging to life…”
Yun Qingxue’s heart pounded in shock. The Divine Emperor, absorbing others’ power? Just how deranged was Fantian?
“What will you do now?” she asked the old spirit.
Instead of answering, the banyan spirit wiped his tears again and asked, “Why has the Flower King returned to the Divine Realm?”
“For the previous Flower King,” Yun Qingxue replied without hesitation.
The old spirit gasped. “The previous Flower King? But she… didn’t she…”
“She’s alive. The Divine Emperor has imprisoned her soul. I’ve come to take her back.”
“Is that so… To think even the Divine Emperor has fallen so far into darkness!” The old banyan tree spirit’s eyes burned with determination as he looked at Yun Qingxue. “This old one wishes to accompany the Flower King! Please do not reject me!”
Yun Qingxue studied him. “Rescuing the previous Flower King is dangerous. You—”
“Flower King!” the old spirit interrupted, laughing bitterly. “This old one is already clinging to life—what do I have to fear? If we succeed, I’ll follow you back to the Xuanling Continent. If we fail, at most I’ll lose this wretched life!”
“Very well.” After a long moment, Yun Qingxue nodded.
Together, they stealthily approached the palace where Lan Xuechen was imprisoned. The area was eerily quiet, with no guards in sight. But Yun Qingxue knew this only meant the defenses were even more formidable—Fantian must have laid something far more dangerous here.
Closing her eyes, she tapped into the power of the Flower King’s Seal to sense her surroundings. A powerful divine barrier surrounded the palace—one she couldn’t easily breach. Yet, giving up was not an option. Her mother was inside that barrier!
“Old Banyan, do you know the Divine Emperor’s current whereabouts?” Yun Qingxue asked after a moment of thought.
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