Chapter 1173: Chapter 20: The Third-Generation Ex Nihilo

The person who descended into the manor was none other than Jin Yanhua.

“Why did you suddenly decide to come here today? But it’s just as well, I have something to discuss with you.”

The Dragon Lady was clad in armor, having just removed her helmet. Jin Yanhua seemed as if she had just returned from the battlefield not long ago, with her cloak still stained with strange-colored blood. Her expression as she looked at An Jing was somewhat nuanced.

She had just exchanged words with You Ruhui, and now, upon arriving, she saw An Jing and Yun Yanxia playfully bickering. If she hadn’t shown up, this little girl might have been so happy that she would have run over to give An Jing a kiss.

—Really, this boy is just like his master…

Sighing inwardly, Jin Yanhua waved at Yun Yanxia, who, being the great demon king at the border of the Demon Country, gave a cheer and flapped her wings to fly over. She landed in the Dragon Lady’s arms, who then gently ruffled her head: “Although the erosion is gone, your body is still a bit weak… go rest well.”

“Mmm, mmm!” Yun Yanxia comfortably rolled her head; she also realized that Jin Yanhua had something important and confidential to discuss with An Jing, so she straightforwardly got up and flew away.

Before flying off, she turned her head back with a cheerful thanks: “Thanks a lot, Little An Jing, next time I’ll treat you to fries and a fried snake feast!”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

An Jing waved goodbye to Yun Yanxia with a smile, watching her leave the Heavenly Palace Cave Heaven, then turned to Jin Yanhua: “Sister Jin, what brings you to find me? It wasn’t mentioned in the squad communications before?”

“I just thought of it.”

Jin Yanhua scrutinized An Jing. With An Jing not concealing anything, she could easily discern that the person before her was at the ‘Divine Repository Purple Mansion’ stage, the True Person stage.

She reached out, patting An Jing on the shoulder — since An Jing was now much taller than her, she said quite emotionally: “First, congratulations on reaching the rank of True Person and establishing the foundation of the Great Dao. If not for the current busyness, I’d really want to host a grand feast for you, inviting friends and family from all around.”

“Haha, no rush, I’ll throw one after I reach the Martial Arts Divine Treasure stage too.”

An Jing laughed, and Jin Yanhua smiled and nodded: “You have the Heavenly Mandate, and the opportunities come, Immortal Martial Cultivation is a good thing. I can’t give much advice in that aspect, but you can ask Jin Yanhua more.”

“I will.”

As they conversed, they walked slowly, with Jin Yanhua leading An Jing to a pavilion. After sitting down, she seriously asked, “Over at Da Chen, the Immortal Candle Illumination Tree acted up, and the Imperial Court activated the Heaven and Sea Array, causing shockwaves that affected Embracing the Void, you surely are aware.”

“I caused it.”

An Jing didn’t plan to hide anything and even unveiled the Cave Heaven, revealing Little Qi’s aura: “It was mainly because of Him — Sister Jin, you’re aware of King Jing’s plan, right? I think you should also know a lot.”

“In the Sleeve Universe? No, but it’s at least an equivalent Great Divine Power!” Jin Yanhua wasn’t surprised that An Jing was involved. She was first drawn to An Jing’s Cave Heaven, then looked at Little Qi: “This Candle Day, similar to a dragon but not a dragon spirit, I had seen during the Nirvana War. I had a premonition back then… indeed, Heguang (King Jing) was right, Candle Day is the core of the Undying Tree.”

“You really knew, Sister Jin.”

An Jing nodded: “Gu Yunzhi has told me everything. You should know him too. King Jing and the Late Emperor intended to plant a second Undying Tree with the Heaven and Earth Core, but due to various unexpected events, they failed. Yet, it seems they still left quite a bit of karma behind.”

If An Jing had only listened to Gu Yunzhi, he might have really believed King Jing and the Late Emperor could succeed, if not for the betrayal.

But after guessing that the ‘Undying Tree’, besides the Heaven and Earth Core spirit of the Candle Day, is also ‘Creation of Heaven’s Will,’ An Jing knew that King Jing and others were likely to fail.

Because the Heaven and Earth Core spirit they wanted to nurture would at most be an ordinary Candle Day, perhaps with infinite Divine Abnormality to help the Great Chen Imperial Dynasty, but without the Heavenly Mandate, unable to truly expand the Imperial Court’s authority.

Currently, what puzzled him the most was whether, as a descendant of [the first Ex Nihilo] and thus, an offspring of the Ancestral Dragon Hall dragon, Jin Yanhua was aware of all this.

“Gu Yunzhi, huh? He indeed is Guangyun’s assistant and knows quite a bit.”

Jin Yanhua indeed knew Gu Yunzhi. She noticed the opening in An Jing’s Cave Heaven and couldn’t help but sigh: “Honestly, helping Guangyun was something I did on my own accord, but in reality, the Ancestral Dragon Hall, especially my father over there, gave quite a bit of support and… tacit approval.”

“The Ancestral Dragon transcends us dragon clan. Not just a dragon, but also Divine Wood. Our intention was to invest in Guangyun to obtain a new Undying Tree to attempt to mimic the ‘Ancestral Divine Wood’s’ power to augment the foundation of our Ancestral Dragon Hall.”

“In fact, we’ve done things like this more than once…”

Hearing this, An Jing was enlightened: “Dragon Master… the Great Chen Saint Ancestor had once apprenticed under the Dragon King. Although the Four Seas Dragon Clan each have their sects, independently established, in the end, the Ancestor Court is still the Ancestral Dragon Hall!”

“Correct.”

Jin Yanhua nodded slightly: “Only the process of cultivating the Undying Tree by the Great Chen Saint Ancestor Xuantian Sacrifice was too secretive. We only got bits of details from the fringe, which despite some gains, weren’t substantial.”

“Therefore, when Guangyun planned to open a new path, such bold and interesting affairs were naturally something our Ancestral Dragon Hall would continue to invest in.”

“That Little Qi was born at the Northern Border might also be because this place was where Guangyun acted. Although the Heaven and Earth Core is with Ruohui, it still left a trace of karma.”

—The Ancestral Dragon Hall seems like a generous angel investor type, no wonder there’s Dragon Court forces all over Embracing the Void.

An Jing understood in his heart.

What Jin Yanhua said was not wrong, Little Qi’s birth was indeed Heaven’s Will, but without King Jing’s actions, the Haihai Demon Disaster and Frost Calamity left behind, Little Qi wouldn’t have been born either. This is also a hidden karma.

However, Sister Jin, or rather, the Ancestral Dragon Hall didn’t really know that the Undying Tree of Da Chen was very likely [the second Ex Nihilo].

And Little Qi is probably the [third generation].

Indeed.

Aside from himself, the Heavenly Mandate sensing a bit, others probably would just think this was the Heaven and Earth Core spirit transformation. Not to mention the Undying Tree hadn’t fully descended and was stalled, no one knew what it intended to do.

After the Great Chen Saint Ancestor, later Emperor Xuantian Emperor might not even be too clear about this detail, shrouded by Heaven’s Will, the sooner Huai Xu Heavenly Dao would notice if more people knew and respond accordingly.

If not, the Late Emperor wouldn’t have guarded against King Jing.

Yet An Jing had a thought: “Thinking inversely, Little Qi’s birth, even my Seven Fiend Tribulation, are all responses from Huai Xu Heavenly Dao — aligning the time, it seems exactly when the Late Emperor passed away? Did the Late Emperor realize the truth about the Undying Tree before he died? Or was he killed because he realized it?”

“In that case, the turmoil within Da Chen, the secret maneuvers of civil and military officials… at least those two at the top, Lingxiao, must know something! Otherwise, they wouldn’t experiment in secret and try to seize the Imperial Court’s authority this way.”

Just not sure if the Late Emperor’s son, who invited this Heavenly Mandate to Shenjing, the Little Emperor, knew the details within.

“If he knows…”

An Jing narrowed his eyes, his mouth curling: “Then perhaps he indeed found a way to break the impasse, inviting the Heavenly Mandate to increase the attention of Heavenly Dao, using the invisible karma and Heaven’s Will as a blade to stir the grand trends, creating a chance for himself to catch a breath and break the predicament!”

“But, he got one thing wrong.”

“I am not a, Nature Master!”