Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

Not the Ajati Matriarch again!

With emotions surging in him, Meng Qi nearly cried out of shock. Xu Xuan and Ao Zhen were the Golden Couple of Jasper Lake. Xu Xuan reborn as a descendant of Wu Zhuang Guan; Ao Zhen’s father, the Donghai Dragon Emperor obtained the ginseng fruit tree by deception. A part of Wu Zhuang Guan was saved by the Ajati Matriarch, who was also known as the Golden Queen Mother of The West and had been relocated to the Lifeless Heaven. The ginseng fruit tree and flat peach garden were similar; they were both related to the lifespan of the spiritual roots of Heaven and Earth… given all the coincidences, Meng Qi was positive that Queen Mother had certainly meddled with the affairs of Wu Zhuang Guan and took the opportunity to set up this chess-like game.

Ever since the Queen Mother had acquired the Wu’Ji Seal, she left her past behind and buried the Queen Mother of The West and christened herself as the Ajati Matriarch. She had been active during a time where demons caused chaos on earth and human emperors maintained the peace of prosperity of the world. Calculating the sequence of paths of the migration of Wu Zhuang Guan into the Lifeless Heaven without considering the different speed of time between the heavens and earth, it was evident that the Ajati Matriarch was still active when she had obtained the Sea Calming Pearl. She had yet to jump out from the River of Time and enter into hibernation. Meanwhile, taking into account the fact that she was not as famous as the human emperors of the demonic saints and the things which she had done was rarely circulated, it was highly possible that she might not have reached the Nirvana Realm at that point of time.

Indeed, she had obtained the Wu’Ji seal which helped her to understand the Voidness of Primitive Da Dao and achieve enlightenment, allowing her to abandon her godly body. However, the Ajati Matriarch, a new body which was a combination of martial arts and the path of the acquired gods still needed to be trained. It had probably not been through the sea of sufferings right away and entered Nirvana Realm. She had probably merely found the correct path. Perhaps after experiencing various trials like the chaos caused by the demons and the rulings of the human emperors, she had finally took a step toward the righteous and became an actual player of the heavens and earth chess before entering into hibernation to hide from the scouring of time.

Meng Qi was an excellent piecer. His thoughts swelled, bobbing up and down in his mind.

At this point of time, a thought flashed across his mind; it was filled with terror.

The Ajati Matriarch had probably experienced the two overlapping eras where the demons were wreaking havoc on earth and human emperors were ruling the world before entering the Nirvana Realm. Meanwhile, there were two grand historic events which had happened during that point of time. This includes the demise of the Demonic Sage and the coming of age into the era where human emperors ruled the world. Meanwhile, in comparison to the long period of time which was experienced by the influential figures of the Nirvana Realm, it all happened in a blink of an eye. The human emperors subsequently died as well.

It had not been the end of the era. Viewing from the perspective of the influential figures of the Nirvana Realm who were almost non-perishable in this supreme realm, it seemed logical for the Demonic Sages to die to trigger the Battle of Spirited Mountain. On the contrary, the death of the Emperor was unbelievably plain and peaceful. He started to suspect if a huge event should have happened during that period of time.

Both of the Nirvana Realm Individual died and the Ajati Matriarch had succeeded in crossing the sea of sufferings… was there any connection between both the incidents? Could it be another mystery that perished with time? What had actually happened?

His thoughts ran wild. Meng Qi had initially thought that he had seen through all the true colors of the Ajati Matriarch, but he now felt that she was filled with mystery.

“Ajati Matriarch has mercy on us all. She relieves those in pain and we shall receive her advent when the era falls. We shall be well received to the Void Hometown…” Xu Xuan’s face was filled with admiration when he mentioned of the Ajati Matriarch. He enthusiastically spoke of the Ajati Matriarch’s virtue and power. Once he was done, he added, “Martial Uncle, please do set foot in the Lifeless Heaven for a cup of tea.”

He then pointed to the dark night sky with his right hand. All of a sudden, the heavens twisted into a brilliant blue like stained glass; white lotuses drifted from the skies, forming a celestial path that led straight to the clouds.

The Twenty Four Heavens were similar to the Nine Levels of Heaven; both were omnipresent and superior to thousands of worlds and the Real World. It was everywhere. It might explain how Xu Xuan and his companions managed to intercross galaxies.

Did he just invite me to have tea at the Lifeless Heaven? I just declared Ajati Matriarch as a rival back in the Middle Ages. If I were to go to her old nest to have a cup of tea, would that not mean that I am sending myself to the lion’s den? Meng Qi ranted in his heart. He then put on a solemn expression, “Thank you for the invitation, dear martial nephew. I still have errands to run and can only pass by your place today. I am afraid I will have to pay yet another visit to greet your elders.”

“If you have something to do, wouldn’t it be more convenient if you passed by the Lifeless Heaven to reach your destination?” asked Ao Zhen puzzledly.

Meng Qi was nearly speechless. Fortunately, he was quick-witted. The smile was still plastered on his face, “Unfortunately, the Lifeless Heaven cannot reach places like the Nine Levels of Heaven.”

“I see, Martial Uncle had other agendas,” Xu Xuan came to his senses.

There was something behind his journey that shall remain a secret!

King Fu Hai flickered his gaze. If it were not for Fa Hai’s mighty powers which were not inferior to his, he would have definitely trailed him to get to the bottom of his trip. After all, the Nine Levels of Heaven did hoard good stuff!

Seeing that he had bluffed the rest, Meng Qi asked with a smile, “How many of those scattered Sea Calming Pearls have been born?”

Xu Xuan shook his head apologetically, “These are top secret. If you are not a senior or a close friend, I will not even reveal a single word about it. However, there are not many of them who are willing to come to the present world. Those who are able to obtain it and those forces who are able to protect this top secret are rare. For example, looking at present circumstances, half of them have probably not risen yet.”

This is rather splendid… Meng Qi cheered in his mind but he then immediately remembered that the fall of the Heavens was an issue which involved the Myriad World. The ruins of the Heavenly Court was situated in the Real World. There were not many Sea Calming Pearls who were born during the Pilgrimage to the West. However, what about the deification, the real world and other universes?

Sigh, I guess it depends on fate then…

Meng Qi asked again, “Who is still in power in the four great states?”

“Martial Uncle, you practice Buddhism and have attained the powers of a Transcendent. You are almost on par with brother Fu Hai; even the Donghai Dragon Emperor can only narrowly win over you. Not many can endanger your life; those who can rarely come out as they meditate in silence. They are just the old monsters who are too devoted to achieve the mythical state of Legendary,” Xu Xuan knew his martial uncle was from the World of Gods and was unfamiliar to his universe. Thus, he elaborated in detail, “That is why these old monsters are not well known. Only demon fairies and kings talk about them; one of them is the Immortal Demon Fairy who has propelled the Aparagodaniya. Rumor has it that it is an old demon who has experienced deification and the Pilgrimage to the West. His death has prevented him from joining the Battle at Spirited Mountain. I’m afraid that it is half a step away from achieving the status of Legendary.”

I’d say it is way beyond Legendary… Meng Qi listened quietly.

“The Afflatus King from the Nanzhan State came second in line. It was said that it was once a goldfish in Buddha Taoism Yard, but it transfigured into a being capable of thinking. No one was there to guard it due the Battle of Spirited Mountain so it swept away the treasure of Pure Land, befell on Nanzhan State and crowned itself king. It could not be described as a Celestial Being. Next up was the Dongshen State’s Knowledgeable Monkey King and Beiju State’s Omnipotent Emperor. The Monkey King upheld the reputation of Huaguo Mountain and may become the next Great Sage in the future. The latter was a heretical god that escaped from the depths of the Nine Levels of Underground. It pretended to follow Buddhism but had now ditched the belief,” Xu Xuan was like a storyteller. Meng Qi took note of the Afflatus King whom he found familiar.

At this moment, King Fu Hai interrupted, “Actually, there is another old monster in the depths of Donghai. He is probably the Celestial Official who is left from the collapsed Heavenly Court. He is in fact one of the most famous Legendary Celestial Deities. However, I am not sure who he is. I only know him as the Star Master. He lives in seclusion and does not interfere with the affairs of the Exterior Realm. He seems as if he is waiting for something. If the stars have not aligned, we might not be aware of his existence.”

Xu Xuan nodded, “There are myriads of constellations in the skies. I will not be surprised if their corresponding masters have yet completely perished.”

A constellation, another name for Star Masters, is a galaxy that consists of one or more stellars.

“I have roughly understood,” Meng Qi secretly took note of those names. Although the nemeses of the Immortal Demon Fairy were not as hidden, they were still tough nuts to crack. The Afflatus King who had caused Pigsy and Monk Sha to suffer during the Battle of Waters was the perfect example. Although they were still inferior to the Tyrant who had yet became a Legend, their powers were still rather on par with the earlier saints.

Meng Qi clasped his hands and chanted the moniker, bidding his goodbyes. He wanted to get away from the Lifeless Heaven. Xu Xuan held the green Jade Box and bowed to see his martial uncle off. Ao Zhen and Ao Qing followed.

At this very moment, upon realizing that it was going further away from its food, the Demonic Peach on the back of Meng Qi’s hand panicked and struggled with all its might. It then emanated an indescribable ghastly aura which seemed to be able to ethereally shorten the lifespan of every being.

Xu Xuan who had eaten the ginseng fruit was especially susceptible to that particular aura. He started to shiver to the point that he was able to hold the box; the box fell to the ground.

Crash!

The restrictive spell of the Jade Box had been long disengaged. The cover flew open, splattering the water from Jasper Lake. A handful scoop of water had transformed into a lake of a dozen square feet; it was shrouded in Sword Rays and half a flat peach fell into it with a splash.

“Amitabha, let the fault be mine, for this heretic matter should have been well repressed. Just now, the slightest oversight resulted in its attempt to escape,” Meng Qi transferred the nimbus of the Tree of Da Dao to the back of his hand, the Demonic Peach was immediately silenced.

This is where beating comes in handy!

It was expected to use the Buddha’s Luohan to repress a heretic matter. It did not raise the suspicion of Xu Xuan and King Fu Hai; they were busy trying to save that half a flat peach.

At this moment, the rescued flat peach was drenched with water from Jasper Lake, its juicy flesh squished. The water soaked into its wine-colored nucleus, generating flesh and blood on the convexed little human who had hands and legs. It looked so realistic.

In that short span of time, the halved peach morphed into a chubby human-shaped fruit! Similarly, it only had a complete upper torso; its bottom half remained as a nucleus.

Xu Xuan was stunned, “A ginseng fruit!”

What? Meng Qi gaped. Flat peaches become ginseng fruits after being soaked in Jasper Lake?

What if the spiritual roots of the flat peaches were soaked in Jasper Lake?

Would they not become ginseng fruit trees?

What a cunningly clever undercover the Golden Queen Mother of The West had set up! Meng Qi squint his eyes slightly. The relationship between Wu Zhuang Guan and Jasper Lake was far more complicated than he had initially thought. It was one that led all the way back to Zhen Yuanzi!

This was Immortal Luya’s motive. He was trying to hint the Ajati Matriarch that he was aware about her secrets?