The Mother of Hell suddenly appeared, shouting provocations at the Lord of Heaven.
Then, she left just as abruptly, not even giving the Lord of Heaven a chance to reply. It was as clean and sudden as a rude boss barging into an office, venting a fit of rage on their subordinates, and then leaving without another word.
While the Mother of Hell's mental state was certainly worrying, there was something else far more concerning right now.
And that was the so-called "gift of Hell" she had mentioned in her final shout.
No one would ever believe a gift from Hell was a good thing. Chen Xu didn't think so, and neither did the Lord of Heaven.
Especially the Lord of Heaven. The supreme god-king, who usually sat high above as if everything was within his grasp, was now frowning. It seemed the current situation had slipped somewhat out of his control.
First, Hell had suddenly revolted, swallowing the Blank Zone and combining blankness with corruption to create a terrifying field magic.
With the appearance of Hell's field magic, the first to suffer would be his Heavenly Pantheon, the Heavenly Expeditionary Force stationed on the front lines, and his precious generators of faith.
Second, the other thing that had slipped out of his control was the attitude of the undead—or rather, Chen Xu's attitude.
This ally of his own choosing seemed to have discovered something and was now deeply on guard against him.
Consequently, the Lord of Heaven did not linger. Instead of trying to explain anything to Chen Xu, he simply dissolved his projection and returned to Heaven.
Long experience confronting the Mother of Hell had taught him that while she might be mad, one must never underestimate her capacity for action.
This Dao Lord-tier lunatic was a pure woman of action who did exactly what she said. If she said she would shove her claws up your backside one second, she would absolutely do it the next, without waiting even a single moment.
Chen Xu was actually somewhat surprised to see the Lord of Heaven leave.
He had thought the Lord of Heaven would stay to chat and probe him, trying to see just how much of the inside story Chen Xu had uncovered.
To his surprise, the Lord of Heaven was incredibly decisive and left immediately.
Such a swift retreat also made Chen Xu begin to worry about how much of a commotion the Mother of Hell would cause next.
Would she hatch multiple blood-red suns emitting the power of corruption to spread Hell's corrupt gospel across the myriad worlds?
Or would she use the powerful, rapid erosion of the Dao of Blankness to forcibly convert worlds, creating a series of hells outside of Hell throughout the myriad worlds?
Chen Xu could not guess which path the Mother of Hell would choose. It was entirely possible she would take a route he had not even considered.
“Oh, it breaks my heart! That Lord of Heaven is such a wasteful spendthrift! His family business is massive, so he looks down on the world origin of a large world, but I certainly don't!”
“How could he just destroy it like that? Even if he destroyed it first and then absorbed it, it wouldn't have hurt so much to watch!”
Seeing that the Lord of Heaven had left, the Blue Star Heavenly Dao let go of his restraint and began to complain, beating his chest and stamping his feet in deep regret.
Chen Xu could actually understand his feelings. As a newborn world with independent consciousness, the Blue Star Heavenly Dao's growth rate was already considered extremely fast.
Even in the myriad worlds, compared to his world-class predecessors, he could be considered a favored child of heaven.
But unfortunately, an unreasonable existence like Chen Xu had emerged on Blue Star.
Compared to Chen Xu's rate of growth, Blue Star's development was as slow as a snail's.
Because of Chen Xu's growth, the humans of Blue Star and the Blue Star Heavenly Dao had been able to witness the diversity of the myriad worlds ahead of time.
But at the same time, it also made the Blue Star Heavenly Dao realize just how dangerous the myriad worlds were.
First, Chen Xu had taken the moon from the Immortal Island, then the Akhan world had been shattered to pieces by several Eternal Rank powerhouses, only to be refined by Chen Xu in an instant.
All of this made the newborn, fragile consciousness of the Blue Star Heavenly Dao yearn to become strong.
That was why, after devouring all the world fragments, the Blue Star Heavenly Dao had set up an expedition mode, solely to continue devouring world origins and accelerate his growth.
Chen Xu understood him, which was why he hadn't outright forbidden him from conducting expeditions. He only told him to show some restraint, be more steady, and not get carried away. He warned him not to provoke trouble and to start with worlds that had no extraordinary powers.
Chen Xu walked over, patted the Blue Star Heavenly Dao on the shoulder, and gave him a friendly piece of advice.
“Unique-tier, Dao Lord-level powerhouses—like the Lord of Heaven and myself—will sense it whenever someone mentions our names.”
Hearing this, the Blue Star Heavenly Dao's body instantly tensed up.
“But don't worry. Knowing the Lord of Heaven's character, he probably won't trouble you over it.”
Hearing this, the Blue Star Heavenly Dao breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could fully relax, Chen Xu continued.
“But if it were the Mother of Hell instead, it would be hard to say.”
Instantly, the Blue Star Heavenly Dao's face turned grim once more.
Seeing this, Chen Xu was speechless. This guy was a total coward physically, yet his mouth remained incredibly stubborn.
It seemed a youth-lock system was indeed necessary. Children really shouldn't play too many games; there were too many trash-talkers online, and kids were too easily corrupted.
After discussing with the Blue Star Heavenly Dao and Kunpeng how to share Dao principles through authority, Chen Xu returned to the Undead Dao Court.
Since the Mother of Hell had already issued her warning, he naturally had to make preparations.
Although the target of this warning was Heaven, no one could predict how the Mother of Hell would act. Being prepared was always better than being caught off guard.
First, the Red-tier and Rainbow-tier Black Knights were dispatched by Chen Xu to the worlds projected by the Necrotic Archmage Tower to serve as a defensive reserve.
At the same time, the front-line undead-demon battlefields were consolidated, ensuring that each battlefield had an Undead Yin Lord stationed to oversee it.
The remaining Black Knights gathered in the Undead Dao Court, forming an emergency squad ready to reinforce any battlefield at a moment's notice.
However, just when Chen Xu and the Lord of Heaven thought they would face Hell's tempestuous retaliation, Hell fell into complete silence.
All the demons retreated into Hell, and the myriad worlds welcomed a rare period of peace.
Yet, not everyone enjoyed this tranquility. Heaven, the undead, and even the Immortal Dao and Martial Dao felt uneasy in this bizarre silence.
The longer the peace lasted, the more it indicated only one thing: the Mother of Hell was brewing an unprecedented scheme.
...
In a subordinate world of the Heavenly Pantheon, on a flat farmland, a group of people wearing coarse cloth and heavy shackles on their hands and feet were working in the fields.
These people were handsome and physically strong; even with shackles, their work pace was not slow at all.
In the distance, many priests holding holy scriptures kept watch over them.
Although the priests wore warm smiles on their faces, their physical posture showed they were deeply on guard against the group working in the fields.
For these people were redeemers. They were the descendants of the fallen ones, with demon blood flowing through their veins, though it had not yet been awakened.
Initially, the Heavenly Pantheon had adopted a policy of total extermination toward the fallen ones.
It wasn't until a certain Saint arose and introduced her redemption policy that the descendants of the fallen ones were allowed to bask in the mercy of the Lord of Heaven and obtain salvation.
Unfortunately, whether it was the Saint or the Lord of Heaven, it was all merely for the sake of faith.
Judging from the plight of these redeemers, it was clear that the so-called salvation was nothing but a sham. It was merely a vanity project for the Heavenly Pantheon, a story template used to promote their gospel to the outside world.
The higher-ups of Heaven knew this, and the redeemers themselves were acutely aware of it.
As long as they could live, even if it meant living like slaves, no one wanted to die. That was exactly what Leoric thought.
He was the son of a duke, and the first half of his life had been spent in carefree, overbearing luxury.
It was only when Heaven descended and the holy light illuminated the world that he discovered his father was actually a fallen one who had sunk into Hell.
At that moment, he realized that he wasn't born with Herculean strength; it was simply his demonic bloodline at work.
No wonder he had been able to bully others with ease, defeating those self-righteous knights with a single punch each.
But once Heaven arrived, his father was naturally executed, and he himself was trapped here under the watch of a group of priests, laboring day after day, doing the work of commoners.
Although Leoric, having enjoyed a life of wealth, was resentful, he was even more terrified of death.
He could only pray that perhaps one day Hell would defeat Heaven, and he would be able to escape this misery.
Immersed in such fantasies, Leoric finished his day's labor. After wolfing down a few mouthfuls of bland food that tasted like pig slop, he returned to his quarters.
Yes, it was a single room.
This wasn't because Heaven had a conscience, but rather out of fear that the redeemers would gather. After all, when too many people got together, uncontrollable sparks were bound to fly.
Leoric lay on his bed, closed his eyes, and began another round of fantasies.
He imagined demons descending from the sky, blazing hellfire burning the fields to ashes, and the priests watching over them being skinned and dismembered by demons, just as he used to do to others.
Just as Leoric was lost in his fantasy, a gentle, kind voice echoed in his mind.
“My child, my poor child. Under Heaven's torment, you have grown so thin and weak.”
Instantly, Leoric bolted upright in bed. He whipped his head around, looking in every direction, and even walked out of his room to check his surroundings.
After confirming that no one was there and that Heaven's surveillance hadn't been upgraded, Leoric lay back down on his bed.
The moment he lay down, that gentle, motherly voice echoed once more.
“My poor child, pray to me. Pray to the great Mother of Hell! I shall grant you power. Within your veins flows the blood of demons, flows my very blood!”
“My child, pray to me! Use this great power to tear apart and slaughter those who imprison you!”
“Tear apart... slaughter...”
Leoric murmured continuously, a faint red light flickering in his eyes as his heart pounded furiously.
...
In the Undead Dao Court, Chen Xu looked at the Nephalem before him, his expression solemn.
“The Mother of Hell has contacted you through your bloodlines?”
Rate on N.U.
