DDAM 8

Two streaks of light flew across the sky, one leading the other. They pierced through layers of clouds and swept past the towering Southern Heavenly Gate, before finally alighting before the palace complex nestled in the deepest reaches of the Nine Heavens.

The Heavenly Emperor’s abode, known as the Taiwei Palace, sat at the heart of the Upper Heavens. The entire structure rested on a foundation of dark cyan mysterious stone, with steps carved from white jade; lifelike five-clawed golden dragons coiled along the roof ridges, their heads lowered to gaze down at every visitor. Bronze wind chimes hung from the eaves, their clear, resonant tones carried by the celestial winds, a sound reminiscent of Buddhist chants drifting from a vast distance.

Throughout the journey, Jun Jiewu was lost in thought; he failed to dodge even when the streak of light, Li Zhuochen, nudged him repeatedly.

This was uncharacteristic of him. Li Zhuochen sent a telepathic message: “What is the matter?”

Only then did Jun Jiewu snap out of his reverie, though he remained silent as he resumed his human form and landed on the plaza before the Taiwei Palace.

Although he had told Shen Runze he would pay his respects to the Emperor, that statement had been somewhat of a pretext. He had intended to wait a few days to prepare himself before making the visit; he had not expected to be caught off guard like this.

The fact that he had once carried a child in the mortal realm had not escaped Shen Runze’s notice. How could it possibly be hidden from the Heavenly Emperor? Moreover, the Emperor had summoned both him and Li Zhuochen; given the sovereign’s protective nature…

Jun Jiewu lowered his gaze, afraid to let his thoughts wander any further.

Seeing his state, Li Zhuochen did not press the issue; he simply withdrew his light, landed beside Jun Jiewu, and walked toward the palace gates. The heavenly generals on guard had already opened the doors Read on and were waiting respectfully on either side. Jun Jiewu took a deep breath and stepped forward to follow. Li Zhuochen had rarely met the Heavenly Emperor; usually, such encounters occurred only during formal court assemblies where the immortals stood in ranked rows. The Emperor would sit high atop the nine-tiered dais, his face veiled by the beaded fringe of his crown, rendering his true nature and intentions inscrutable to the throngs of immortals below.

He had expected a similar scene upon entering the Taiwei Palace, yet he found himself taken aback.

The Heavenly Emperor was not seated upon that lofty throne; instead, he sat at a lower table, a scroll of memorials in hand, his head slightly bowed as he read. Only upon hearing footsteps did he lift his gaze.

It was a youthful face.

Without knowing his true identity, anyone seeing him would assume he was merely the elder brother of some immortal, rather than a figure of the paternal generation.

His features were refined, his profile elegant and distinct; he possessed none of the severity or imposing majesty often attributed to the Heavenly Emperor in legend. He had a pair of phoenix eyes, yet they weren’t fierce. Instead, they were kind, which made him appear approachable. His raven-black hair was bound by a jade crown; the few loose strands falling against his temples further accentuated his grace and otherworldly elegance.

Yet, upon closer inspection, one could discern a stillness and clarity deep within those gentle eyes, the kind born only of enduring ten thousand tribulations.

Jun Jiewu was also stunned. He had descended to the mortal realm to undergo a tribulation and spent decades there, a mere blink of an eye to the Heavenly Court, yet seeing the Emperor again now made him feel strange, like they had lived a lifetime apart. He remembered scenes from tens of thousands of years ago.

Ten thousand years had passed, and the world had undergone vast changes; he had grown from a child into a man, yet the Emperor’s appearance remained the same, time had left no mark upon him. The Heavenly Emperor set aside the memorial and let his gaze rest upon Jun Jiewu for a moment.

That look was not particularly piercing, yet Jun Jiewu felt as though he were being seen through from head to toe. He lowered his eyes, his back held straight.

After a long pause, the Heavenly Emperor finally withdrew his gaze and signaled the two to take their seats.

“You look thinner. Have you taken to imitating the lesser immortals and started abstaining from food?”

Jun Jiewu had only sent a sliver of his spirit down to the mortal realm; his true self had remained in the Nine Heavens all along and had only just returned to his physical form. How could there possibly be any change in his physique?

He felt a hidden meaning in the Emperor’s words but could not formulate a reply, so he simply shook his head.

The Heavenly Emperor did not press the issue, “Never mind; I knew you wouldn’t admit it anyway. You and Runze ought to balance each other out. He is a bit too fond of food, while you are a bit too restrained.”

Jun Jiewu was slightly taken aback; he wondered how the conversation had suddenly veered toward Shen Runze.

“The last time I visited his palace, he was dozing beneath a tree in his beast form. From a distance, he looked almost round enough to be a ball.” The Emperor’s tone revealed neither disdain nor amusement.

Jun Jiewu smiled helplessly. “No wonder he’s been talking about cutting back on food these past two days; it seems you gave him a warning.”

The Heavenly Emperor let out an amused snort, then stopped smiling as he changed [stolen content]the topic. “How did you find your sojourn in the mortal realm? I have yet to congratulate our Jiewu Shangshen on his cultivation breakthrough.”

Li Zhuochen listened to their exchange from the sidelines; he raised his brows slightly as an elusive smile appeared on his face. It had never occurred to him that the dynamic between Jiewu and the Heavenly Emperor would resemble nothing more than an ordinary elder and junior in the mortal realm. Their discussion was entirely devoid of the formality or distance typical of a ruler and subject.

On second thought, however, it was hardly surprising. Among the brood raised personally by the Heavenly Emperor, Jun Jiewu was aloof, Shen Runze was open and easygoing, and Qing Yuan was haughty; the princes beneath them each had their own distinct temperaments. They came in every imaginable mold, save for the timid or overly cautious.

Jun Jiewu raised his eyes; his expression remained placid, yet the corners of his lips formed the faintest of smiles. “Save your congratulations until I have ascended to your level of immortality.”

When he heard this, the Heavenly Emperor looked at him with a smile, but also with seriousness. “You certainly have a bold way of speaking.”

He paused, and the trace of amusement in his tone gradually faded. “You endured such immense suffering merely to ascend to the rank of Shangshen…”

He left the sentence unfinished; his gaze lingered on Li Zhuochen for a moment, then withdrew as his voice dropped a notch. “But let us not speak of it.”

Jun Jiewu caught that glance; his heart jolted, though he betrayed nothing on the surface.

“How is your health?” the Heavenly Emperor asked.

Jun Jiewu replied, “I have only just returned to my true form, so my soul remains unstable. A few days of recuperation should set it right. Otherwise, there are no issues.”

The Heavenly Emperor nodded. “If you feel any discomfort, have Baize examine you; do not neglect your health out of reluctance to seek treatment.”

Jun Jiewu inclined his head. “Rest assured, Your Majesty.”

The Heavenly Emperor looked at him for a moment. His expression gave no clue as to whether he was satisfied or not. After a long silence, he withdrew his gaze and spoke slowly: “When your parents entrusted you to my care, I was much the same age as you are now. In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed…”

He paused briefly. “But enough of that… I summoned you here today because there is a matter I must entrust to you.”

“In the southeastern sky, beside the Ziwei Enclosure, strange stars have been appearing frequently of late. I fear this signals unusual activity from the Demon Realm.”

Jun Jiewu and Li Zhuochen both looked up.

The world is divided into six realms: the Heavenly Realm, the Demon Realm, the Mortal Realm, the Yao Realm, the Ghost Realm, and the Cangming Realm. Each occupies its own domain, generally leaving the others undisturbed. The Heavenly Realm borders both the Demon Realm and the Mortal Realm; however, the Demon Realm has always been the most volatile of the six. Its inhabitants are bloodthirsty and combative by nature; they delight in slaughter. Ninety thousand years ago, they launched an invasion across the realms, leaving the world in ruins and bringing all existence to the brink of collapse.

That war plunged the heavens and earth into darkness, obscuring the sun and moon. Ultimately, a generation of ancient gods used their own bodies as the focal points of a formation to seal away the Demon Realm for a hundred thousand years.

The ancient gods were nearly wiped out; fewer than one in ten survived. The few powerful beings who remained sacrificed themselves to guard the seal, unable to step away even an inch. Outsiders could not enter, and those inside could not leave. They had locked themselves away alongside the Demon Realm on the other side of the barrier.

The Heavenly Emperor was the youngest among those ancient gods who had decided to seal the demon race with their own bodies. At the final moment before the formation was completed, his older siblings and peers joined forces to push him out of the barrier, entrusting their young children to his care.

Thus, the Heavenly Emperor rebuilt the Nine Heavens upon the ruins. He personally raised the children of his old friends and created a separate dwelling place for them, which became the Upper Heavens as it exists today. Now, only ten thousand years remained of the hundred-thousand-year sealing period.

The power of the seal was waning; cracks were beginning to form, and spiritual energy was leaking out. The Heavenly Emperor had to personally reinforce it at regular intervals. However, the seal could only be touched by deities of the rank of Shangshen or above; anyone with insufficient cultivation who ventured too close risked, at best, the total destruction of their cultivation base, and at worst the annihilation of both body and soul.

This was common knowledge throughout the Nine Heavens. Jun Jiewu had understood this since childhood. It was one of the reasons he was so eager to ascend to the rank of Shangshen.

Jun Jiewu asked in a grave voice, “Do you require the two of us to assist Your Majesty in reinforcing the seal?”

“No.” The Heavenly Emperor shook his head. “The recent disturbance did not stem from a flaw in the seal. Instead, a small world has spontaneously emerged at the boundary where the Celestial, Demon, and Mortal Realms meet. I probed it with my divine sense for several days and discovered that its aura… belongs to the Hehuan Secret Realm.”

Jun Jiewu’s brows twitched slightly, and the fan twirling in Li Zhuochen’s hand paused mid-motion.

“That secret realm was created by the ancient demon race specifically for the cultivation of demonic practitioners. It had not appeared once since the Demon Realm was sealed away. Yet now, after tens of thousands of years, it has resurfaced…” The Heavenly Emperor paused; his expression darkened. “Its appearance at the junction of the Celestial and Demon Realms, coinciding precisely with the weakening of the Demon Realm’s seal, is certainly no coincidence.”

The Heavenly Emperor looked at the two men and spoke in a solemn voice, “I want the two of you unauthorized copy to enter that secret realm and investigate.”

Li Zhuochen, who had been silently listening all the while, finally spoke. He sounded serious for a change: “Your Majesty, Jiewu’s divine soul has only just returned to its vessel; it remains unstable and requires recuperation. The journey to the secret realm is fraught with unknown perils, it would suffice for me to go alone.”

The Heavenly Emperor glanced at him, his expression complex as if he were weighing his words. After a moment, he sighed softly: “You are young, so you likely do not know. The reason the Hehuan Secret Realm bears that name[fcnt content=’union of joy or joining in pleasure.’] is that it was originally a place where the demons cultivated their nefarious arts of dual cultivation and vital essence absorption. Engaging in dual cultivation there, aided by secret demonic techniques, yields results far beyond the norm.”

Jun Jiewu’s eyelids twitched; just as he was about to speak, the Heavenly Emperor paused briefly before continuing: “Each time the realm opens, only a single group may enter. Once inside, no one from the outside can gain access.”

The Heavenly Emperor looked at the two of them with a solemn expression: “And those who enter… must be a pair who have shared intimate physical contact.”