Chapter 5 — Nine Lives as a Living Potion

The only condition is that you must sever your current maternal bond, take your own life to transform into a wandering spirit, and only then can you truly cultivate the Nine Revolutions Reanimation Great Art.

As the last words left my lips, a fierce, fanatical gleam of excitement ignited deep within the eyes of Shen Ming Er.

Hurry! Pass on this great art to me!

Xie Meng Hua turned her head in utter disbelief to stare at her most cherished eldest daughter. It was only then that Shen Ming Er snapped back to reality, casting an awkward, guilty glance at her mother.

Mother, please do not overthink this. Your daughter wishes to cultivate this secret mystic art solely to attain an immortal vessel and save Father from the brink of death.

Before the echo of her voice had even faded, Shen Ling Xiao stepped forward, a cold, derisive sneer twisting his lips as he looked at her.

Elder Sister, do you honestly believe you have the comprehension to master the Nine Revolutions Reanimation Great Art?

Besides, Father simply does not have the luxury to wait for you over all these years.

Without missing a beat, he forcefully suppressed the wild fervor burning in his eyes and pivoted to look directly at me.

Niao Niao, hand this technique over to your fourth brother. After all, I hail from an immortal cultivation sect, and my cultivation speed will undoubtedly multiply tenfold.

By then, there will be no need for you to trouble yourself with saving Father. I shall rescue him with my own hands.

With nothing more than a tiny, glittering piece of bait, I had instantly shattered this seemingly harmonious family of hypocrites into a chaotic mess of competing greed.

Ha.

I let out a low laugh. The sound reverberated through the vast, empty hall, carrying a chilling and terrifying undertone. As my laughter grew louder and more piercing, Xie Meng Hua lifted her pale, bloodless face, her eyes filled with bewildered confusion as she stared at me.

Niao Niao, what are you laughing at?

The laughter cut off abruptly. My voice dripped with biting frost.

I am laughing at you for living yet another lifetime and still remaining utterly oblivious!

I am laughing at you for walking through a second life and yet failing to see through their true, repulsive faces!

I am laughing at myself for harboring such foolish, delusional fantasies that you would ever genuinely repent and treat me with sincerity.

Indeed, enduring prolonged abuse truly breeds a pathetic, Stockholm-like loyalty within a person.

Now, at long last, I finally understand the true meaning of genuine affection.

Leave. I will never return with you.

Xie Meng Hua departed, trailing her band of mad, grasping children in her wake. By the very next day, a scandalous rumor swept through the capital: the reigning Empress was pregnant with a demonic child. Enraged officials from the Imperial Censorate forced their way into the throne room, risking their lives to submit a desperate remonstrance, begging the Empress to banish me back to the Shen family. Yet the Empress merely frowned slightly, her slender fingers gently smoothing the shimmering cloud-brocade held by the chief lady-in-waiting.

Unacceptable. The color is far too garish.

It will strain the eyes of my little daughter.

Your Majesty! Are you even listening to this old minister?

Xie Meng Hua is, after all, the widow of a loyal minister. Public opinion will always favor the weak and aggrieved!

The Empress arched an eyebrow, a cold, mocking smile playing on her lips.

Simply because of a few loose-lipped gossips flapping their worthless jaws, am I expected to slaughter my own flesh and blood?

Minister Li, tell me, what is the prescribed punishment for openly slandering and discussing the imperial household?

The veteran official, who had just been risking his life to admonish the throne, fell instantly silent. He knew this Empress too well, having watched her grow from childhood. If she were genuinely enraged, the Shen family would undoubtedly be washed in a river of blood. Days drifted by in a tranquil haze. Every single day, the Empress instructed the imperial kitchens to prepare all the dishes I loved most. As she ate, she would constantly murmur to herself.

Eat a little more. Your constitution suffered far too much damage. It has been three whole months, and you have only grown this much.

Snug and warm within her womb, I was happily digesting a delicious meal when I froze in sheer astonishment. Those exact words were something Xie Meng Hua had once spoken to all her other children. I alone had never been deemed worthy of hearing them. Day by day, I grew beneath her tender nourishment. Whenever she found a moment of leisure, she would recount countless tales to me. Yet the only story I had ever known before was the tragic legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, the one Xie Meng Hua used to tell. When she reached the end, I had once asked in utter confusion.

Imperial Mother, you are telling the story wrong.

The Weaver Girl did not bring her children along when she ascended to the celestial realm. She and her children could only reunite once every year on the seventh night of the seventh moon.

To my surprise, she had gently stroked her own belly at those words and chuckled softly.

The version your mother tells is the correct one.

If your mother wishes to ascend to the immortal realms, she will unquestionably take you with her.

And if the deities above refuse to permit it, then your mother simply will not go.

A profound stillness washed over me as I whispered in awe.

So... this was the true story all along.

At that exact moment, the Imperial Preceptor arrived. He stepped forward, carefully and respectfully taking the Empress's pulse. The Empress looked at him with a grave, searching gaze and demanded.

Well?

The Preceptor bowed his head.

The little princess's divine soul has stabilized entirely, perfectly fusing with Your Majesty's primordial Phoenix Divine Fire.

However, Your Majesty, once you relinquish the Phoenix Divine Fire, you will be no different from an ordinary mortal.

The Empress maintained her usual demeanor of utter indifference to the mundane world. Yet every action she took, every word she uttered, sent waves of extraordinary warmth flooding through my heart.

I have no intention of going out to brawl in the streets; what need have I for such divine might?

If the divine fire I was born with can nurture my daughter's damaged soul, then it has more than fulfilled its purpose.

Since my daughter's soul is now fully stable, does that mean I am finally free to deal with Xie Meng Hua's household?

Snug within her womb, swelling with profound emotion, I froze once more. I knew it! With the Empress's unforgiving temperament, how could she possibly have tolerated them for three whole months? So she had merely been terrified of disrupting my earthly ties and causing a karmic backlash. Now that my soul was firmly anchored, nothing stood in the way.