Covering the sky: Starting from the Golden Crow of the Holy Cliff

Chapter 148 Zhang Xiaofan, Daughter of the Candle Dragon
After a transformation, Zixia even exuded wisps of imperial aura, with seven-colored light surging around her. Behind her, a woman of unparalleled beauty appeared, sitting quietly in the Immortal Pool, serene and peaceful, as if she did not belong to this world.

Yan Ming's mind stirred, and he realized he was being watched. He subconsciously stood up.

"This is... the soul light of the Western Queen Mother?!"

Fortunately, the phantom merely swayed within the sacrificial soil, without any unusual movement or the release of its past life's Dao fruit; otherwise, everything would have been in vain.

It seems only a small amount of soul light has awakened...

Yan Ming understood and breathed a sigh of relief. But then he thought again that Zixia in the third level of Sendai probably couldn't withstand much Emperor-level material.

In the novel *Covering the Sky*, Yan Ruyu used the heart of the Azure Emperor from the Four Extremes to become a Quasi-Emperor.

Even if the remains of a complete imperial corpse could be fused by later generations, how much of it would be consumed?

“Perhaps in the future, a dark Western Queen Mother will still emerge from the Immortal Ruins…” Yan Ming’s eyes darted around, having some understanding of the sacrificial soil that had merged with the Earth Mother’s womb.

In the past, only beings buried in sacrificial soil could become dark, such as the Heavenly Emperor's son and the Dark Fire Child.

There is another path, which Yan Ming calls the 'ordination' system.

The so-called "receiving the talisman" refers to the forced aggregation of sacrificial materials into a talisman, which is then incorporated into the living.

This method has an extremely high failure rate. Of the hundreds of thousands of Vulcan crows who voluntarily embarked on the path of evolution at Sacred Cliff, only two or three successfully received the ordination and evolved into Dark Golden Crows.

In comparison, capturing the alienated geniuses is still more efficient.

Now, the evolved sacrificial soil can support the living. The vast death energy within it is all condensed in the red soil material, forming an eternal parallel line with the life-giving immortal liquid, containing the true meaning of life, death, decay, and prosperity.

During this time, Yan Ming observed the sacrificial materials and also carefully studied the several scriptures hidden therein. Starting with Taiyin and Taiyang, he was deeply moved. Unknowingly, he broke into the fifth level of the Saint King realm, and his primordial spirit was further sublimated. He was only one step away from opening up the Sendai realm and stepping into the limit of a single secret realm.

The palace maids standing nearby, including Yi Qingwu and Ye Tong, became increasingly reserved, noticing that Yan Ming's aura had changed and was now much stronger than before.

"How long has it been since your last breakthrough? You've already broken through again." Even Long Nu was stunned. These days, Yan Ming had kept her by his side, supposedly because he valued her, but in reality, it was a form of house arrest.

Now, witnessing her opponent break through two minor realms in a very short time, the ancient princess remained silent for a long time. Her fair white hand inexplicably fell to her abdomen, stroking her skin through the silk tapestry.

From a mother's perspective, it is truly a good thing for her child to have an amazing father!
Because in this way, the next generation will be even stronger.

No woman doesn't want her child to be outstanding, exceptional, and gifted!
If one's daughter inherits some of the other man's genes, plus one's own imperial blood...

"No, how could I have thought that..." The dragon girl's lips moved, feeling dizzy and almost losing her balance. She was completely disoriented and felt saddened by her own thoughts.

On the day she fell into hell, witnessing herself bleeding, she secretly vowed to take revenge.

How long has it been since?

Has she gotten used to this kind of life?
How could he forget that person's rudeness, insults, and trampling on the Wanlong Nest lineage?

However, she also couldn't accept it if Yan Ming were to die right now, because he was the father of her child.

All she wanted was to imprison that person, to torture him slowly, and make him regret everything he had done in the past...

"I'm not even sure I can kill him anymore?! Why is this happening... Did you do this?" The Dragon Girl lowered her eyes, her hair obscuring her beautiful face. Her face remained calm, but her heart was filled with endless torment.

As time went on, the little one developed its own consciousness and began to influence its mother.

"He is our enemy. We are one. You and your mother are both of the dragon lineage. You are my children and should listen to me," the dragon girl transmitted her voice.

As a first-time mother, she was a bit clumsy and didn't know how to interact with her baby, let alone whisper gentle words.

A strict mother!
This image was successfully established even before the daughter of the Candle Dragon was born.

Compared to someone like Yan who weaves one beautiful dream after another for their unborn child, Wanlongnu's level is at least a hundred thousand miles behind.

Seeing that the princess was in a bad mood, the two maids exchanged a glance, asked her in a low voice but got no answer, so they had no choice but to help the princess leave.

They have been the Dragon Girl's attendants and guards since ancient times, and they have a deep bond with each other.

However, the Dragon Girl witnessed two maids who, in an attempt to save her, risked their lives and died tragically in the Chaos Dragon Nest, their blood flowing everywhere.

They were later reborn, becoming even stronger. One of them even crossed the line to becoming a demigod, but they were no longer the same two people from before.

The body is not the spirit!

“This is a morgue. If I give birth to a child, I will die... and then a new spirit will be born to replace me.”

What will her future be like?
Dim and hopeless... That demon only valued her ancient imperial princess aura and enjoyed the pleasure of being superior to noble ladies.

Even so, she would not bow her head, flatter, or use her beauty to please others; this was not her path.

Yan Ming did not hear the Dragon Girl's lament.

In fact, he had some feelings for the dragon girl and admired the soul inside that body.

Yan Ming's favorite moment was when his opponent turned his head midway through the battle, his hands on the ground, and his face was covered with tears, yet his eyes held a primal ferocity, as if he wanted to devour him whole.

If you lower your head, he will feel that you have lost some of your luster and become uninteresting.

In the world of desire, thresholds are something that cannot be avoided.

In the Perfect Era, the Immortal Kings of the Immortal Realm were high above, indifferent even to True Immortals, looking down upon the ages. Only Immortal Kings and Immortal Kings of the same level could move them.

For someone like Ao Sheng, who is involved in the cause and effect of ancestral spirits, he acts decisively. For such an existence, killing a giant of the spirit-sacrificing path and extinguishing its lineage can bring a certain sense of satisfaction.

As for other things, even if multiple True Immortals were to be born within the clan, it probably wouldn't cause him much of a ripple.

Similarly, Yan Ming's threshold for female beauty is also extremely high.

In terms of beauty, she was surrounded by stunning beauties such as An Miaoyi (titled Anlan Palace Master), Yan Ruyu (titled Qingyi Palace Master), and Yi Qingwu (titled Yuechan Palace Master, meaning the fairy of the moon palace).

In terms of constitution: Jiang Tingting has the Taiyin constitution, Zixia has the Xiantian Daotai constitution, and Ye Tong has the Taiyang blood constitution.

In terms of status: there are ancient princesses like Wanlongnu and Hei Anhuolin'er...

Human desires, once broken free of their shackles, become a vast ocean, utterly uncontrollable. Yan Ming could clearly sense that his desires for women were beginning to diminish, a significant turning point being the Qinglian Incident.

That day, he and Yan Ruyu slept side by side. Halfway there, Lian Nu, unable to withstand the onslaught, fainted.

Qin Yao and the other little fairies were extremely nervous and couldn't help but want to relieve the princess's worries, but he lost interest and stayed with Yan Ruyu for the night.

He only summoned Yi Qingwu to relieve his pent-up desire after returning home the next day.

On a few occasions, he sought out other people, but it was only to alleviate his desires, without any other extra thoughts. As for feelings, they were illusory; such a thing simply did not exist.

Without unforgettable memories and a body that one genuinely likes, how can there be feelings between a man and a woman?
In this respect, Yan Ming rose too fast. If we're talking about similar memories, Yan Ruyu is one of them. She cared about him, worried about his demise, and was willing to give up the Chaos Green Lotus regardless of her own safety.

The other one... should fall on the fifth generation of Yuan Tianshi's Daoist partner.

It was because of her that the Yaochi Holy Land sided with the Holy Cliff and leaned towards the Immortal Ruins, becoming a member of the Imperial Artifact Alliance, and the two sides were of one mind and one heart.

However, she doesn't seem to be doing too well lately...

As the first inhabitants of Shengya, Zishan Village has always been treated with preferential treatment.

Besides the Silver Blood Twin Emperors already known in Shrouding the Heavens, another unparalleled genius has emerged from Zhang Lin's descendants. He has an extremely high affinity for the Dao of Death, and is skilled at exorcising ghosts and demons. In recent years, he has risen to fame and is known as one of the new generation's twin stars, along with Yao Chen of Holy Cliff.

(Yao Chen: Jiang Chen, the direct descendant of Jiang Taixu, has an extremely high talent for alchemy. Due to the independence of the Hengyu Clan, many members of the Jiang Clan gradually adopted Hengyu as their pseudonym and no longer used the surname Jiang. Therefore, when they travel outside, they use Yao Chen as their pseudonym.)

That young prodigy surnamed Zhang had mediocre talent in the early stages, but while traveling in the Northern Region, he accidentally entered a tomb and soared to great heights.

Only after he rose to prominence did the world come to know of this ancient figure who had been buried by the dust of time.

The principal wife of the Fifth Generation Celestial Master, a princess from an ancient kingdom in the Central Plains ten thousand years ago, abandoned her homeland for Zhang Lin, went into seclusion beside Purple Mountain, and bore him children...

Ten thousand years have passed, and her tomb had long been destroyed and sunk into the earth's veins. It wasn't until Zhang Xiaofan encountered danger and accidentally entered the underground palace that he received a gift from a Dao Slayer and a black ring from the tomb—a strange object given by the Source Celestial Master on his wedding night—that the ancient history of the past came to light.

Zhang Lin not only has the unwavering love of the previous Jade Pool Saintess, but also the unwavering devotion of a princess who will follow him through thick and thin...

As the descendants of the Zhang family rose rapidly, they joined the ranks of the Taiyin Golden Crow within the Sacred Cliff and ranked highly in the Seven Lineages Grand Competition of the Sacred Cliff. Soon after, a dispute over the 'Great Ritual' broke out within the village.

Should my late grandmother be buried with Zhang Lin's ancestor?
There are differing accounts within the Zhang family regarding this matter. The most outstanding Silver Blood Twins, Wang Shu and Lei Bo, remain silent. Both of them have advanced to the Sendai Secret Realm within more than ten years and are the most outstanding young generation in the village.

However, even the Silver Blood, known as the uncrowned emperor, paled in comparison to Zhang Xiaofan.

The Zhang, Lei, and Wang families can all be considered descendants of that ancestral grandmother. Their current hesitation stems from their concern for the opinion of the sage in Yaochi.

But in the eyes of the Zhang family's prodigy, this was not a problem at all!

On that day, at the ancestral temple, he strongly advocated returning to one's roots and tracing back to the origins, mentioning the principles of being a person and a subject, the most important of which is not to forget one's origins.

"Today, if we abandon our ancestors for wealth and status, we will surely ruin the village's long-standing traditions."

“If the heart is not upright, the clan will perish!”

"He will surpass the Ancient Sage King without needing to curry favor with the Sage of Yaochi!"

Ultimately, with the approval of clan chief Zhang Wuye, the memorial tablet of the late ancestor was also carried into the ancestral temple to accompany Zhang Lin, and the two coffins were buried together.

Zhang Xiaofan later became the Qilin son of the Zhang family, mastered the inheritance of the Source Book, and his Source Dao cultivation progressed by leaps and bounds. He was respectfully called a 'quasi-Celestial Master' by the world, and everyone was optimistic that he would become the Source Celestial Master in the future.

After undergoing moral transformation, Zishan Village flourished and embarked on a different path.

However, this puts Tavia Yeung in an extremely awkward position.

How will she handle this situation?

Most obviously, she bestowed divine objects upon Zhang's descendants multiple times at the beginning, and even went so far as to open a passage to Yaochi (Jade Pool) so that some village girls could enter the sacred place. This was entirely out of love for Zhang Lin, extending her affection for his descendants to him.

But with the change of the memorial tablet, she remained silent for a long time, staying alone in the small house on the sacred cliff, and had not gone to the village for a long time.

Later, Yan Ming invited her to Earth, and she quickly replied, subsequently settling on a celestial island...

A living person has to be ranked after a dead person, even if they pass away ten thousand years later, they can only be ranked third. Not only can she not accept this, but Ye Fan and Zixia also find it hard to accept.

Sometimes, living is not just about yourself. When you're in a certain position, you need to adopt the appropriate posture, language, and behavior.

She is a saint, the ruler of Yaochi, and the actual owner of the Immortal Tears Green Gold Pagoda.

As her power and status grew, more and more people attached themselves to her, and they all looked at her with great anticipation.

At least compared to the Zhang family, the Ye family kept a low profile. After learning about some things about Beidou, Ye Fan's parents went to visit the Three Immortal Islands.

The legend of the Queen Mother of the West has been circulating in ancient Eastern countries for a long time!
The Big Dipper truly has a Jade Pool, and the Queen Mother of the West does indeed reside there, but that noble Queen Mother can only stand respectfully beside the female saint.

In mythology, only the goddess Nuwa could be considered an exception.

Faced with such an ancestral deity, Ye Fan's parents were uneasy. After entering, they ignored other people's advice and insisted on kowtowing to the immortal with a grateful heart.

They didn't know the specifics, but they felt that their son's safety in Beidou was largely due to his saintly mother.

Later, Ye Fan's parents even said: "From now on, Xiao Fan is your child. You can hit him or scold him as you please. It is his good fortune to have a mother-son relationship with the Holy Mother."

And so, Yang Yi became Ye Fan's supreme mother.

The Zhang family has a Xiao Fan, and the Ye family also has a Xiao Fan.

The impact of both individuals was profound, but the outcome for Tavia Yeung was quite the opposite…

"That child had a very difficult past and harbored resentment in his heart. It was only because of his late grandmother that he changed his fate. I hope you will forgive him, fellow Daoist." These were the words left by Taiyin Jinwu, signifying that Zhang Xiaofan had entered the core circle of Sacred Cliff.

The Path of Death has produced many Quasi-Emperors and Supremes in the past, but there has been no Quasi-Emperor of the Path of Death in the Golden Age of Shrouding the Heavens. Perhaps Zhang Xiaofan can make up for this deficiency.

Yang Yi simply nodded in response, not mentioning Zhang Lin again. But in the quiet of the night, she would sigh and fall asleep gazing at the cold moon…

(End of this chapter)