Xinzi's words crippled Yaochi's psyche. She wanted nothing less than to enable Yongye to put her son on the throne. But if she refused, Canghai died. Canghai didn't deserve to die, and certainly not due to her miscalculations.
Pride vs. interest, heart vs. reason, as her eyes went back and forth between Xinzi's and Canghai's spark, Yaochi floundered and brought her hands to her chest. A swirl of divine light flashed between her palms, and to the assembly's shock, Empress Yaochi summoned her Divine Seal, letting it drift towards Xinzi.
The young master caught it in the palm of his hand, and at that time, Yongye's past teachings echoed in his mind.
'If there is one thing—just one—that you can't afford to give up, then your enemies can later use it to bring you down. Zhen'er, an absolute being has no use for a heart, and with me to lead the way, you will become absolute.
Divine Mother will never give you love and refuse to let you indulge in it because love is a poison that will corrode your greatness.
Zhen'er, the Supreme Dao is heartless. It encompasses all aspects of creation, understands them to perfection, yet still manages to detach itself from sentimental corruption. Only when you manage to comprehend all emotions and desires to their root, to manipulate them as you see fit, yet still be able to maintain absolute detachment, will you truly be...complete.'
As the past reminder ended, Xinzi's fist tightened on the Empress Seal. Another bang rocked Canghai's spark, and to Yaochi's shock, it vanished from the scene.
"You...youuuu!"
"Don't worry, I just sent him to a safe place. Canghai will have a new body, a new life, one controlled by my design. I hope that from now on, I can count on your support.
Gangs and warlords. Even in Heaven, we still have to deal with gangs and warlords. How unfortunate," Xinzi sighed, and as Yaochi recovered from these oppressive circumstances, the young master turned to face the assembly.
"Now, fellow lords and ladies of the Celestial Paradise, open your ears and listen. I know that you all despise me. Yes, I was born of with unprecedented powers and matchless potential. My background is the most illustrious of the Celestial Paradise—of all paradises, even. But at the end of the day, I am a bastard. The illegitimate product of the greatest deities' love affair.
Just hearing it fills you with disgust. Saying it makes you revolt. Because we are in the Celestial Paradise, a more austere and inviolable place than the Holy Paradise' Pure Lands." Here, Xinzi paused, and though his expression didn't fluctuate, one could discern the mockery in his words.
He was correct. No one would ever say it out loud, but even on Yongye's side, there were some that saw the circumstances of Xinzi's birth as an affront to all that the Celestial Paradise represented. Not just born of vulgar coital matters, but produced in the most revolting of illegitimacy.
But Yongye is supreme, and before her Shenzhuo was—his prestige enduring despite 10,000 years of puppet life.
So, irrespective of how they felt, these deities had to look past Xinzi's illegitimate birth. Of course, the likes of Yanglong couldn't care less. But they would always be a minority.
"But it doesn't matter. None of it does. I am Hengye Zhen, the greatest of this time. If you refuse to let me inherit the Nine Jade Crown, then so long as I breathe, the Celestial Paradise will not have another Crown Prince."
This wasn't a threat, but a guarantee built on Xinzi and the Hengye clan's invincibility. With Yun Canghai gone, a Crown Prince had to be selected, and so long as Xinzi existed, no one else could occupy that seat.
"But, if you quietly let me receive the crown, after exploiting the benefits for one million years, I don't see why I can't give it back to you. In any case, Nine Jade Crown or not, one million years from now on, being a prince will not be my priority."
The implication was clear. With or without the Nine Jade Crown, Hengye Zhen's growth was unstoppable. And it wouldn't take one million years for his cultivation to leave all present deities in the dust.
The Yongye vassals marveled at their young master's dominance. The opposition grumbled in rage. But no amount of rage could alter the truths that Xinzi spewed. Here, Yanglong's eyes flashed with a callous glint.
'Do it. Since things have reached this point, at the very least, we have to guarantee the success of our original plan.' Yanglong sent mental messages. And as Gods and Goddesses floundered under the oppression of this brutal mother and son pair, three old men raised their hands, with their eyes staring at Yongye up above.
"We have an offer," they said. The only three humans on the scene, whether they wanted to or not, these men stood out. And on their silver robes, one could see a rotating taiji diagram. These old men, Kongtian, Kaitian and Tongtian, the three Heavenly Dukes, received their names and titles from Heaven itself, and were in usual times, the Heavenly Emperor's closest assistants.
"Oh? Go ahead. Like I said before, I am not the concerned party," Yongye said, and relaxed her suppression, enabling the three to stand up.
They stepped forward, walking past the deities to stand face-to-face with Xinzi.
"We can let you inherit the Nine Jade Crown and become the next Crown Prince of Heaven. In fact, we can even support your eternal monopolization of that position. But first, we need you to do one thing. One thing that brings you 1,000 times the advantages that the Crown Prince seat can offer. One thing that to you has absolutely no drawback," the one that stood in the middle of those three, Duke Tongtian, said.
'Here it comes.' Xinzi thought. For a Great Desolation World citizen, the name Tongtian was hard to forget. After all, the man who founded the Celestial Hall back there was also named Tongtian. And in heaven, he had another title: Celestial Grandmaster of the Formation Dao.
Xinzi expected Yanglong and the dukes to offer a poisoned gift but didn't think that said gift could be related to the Crown Prince position.
"Go ahead, make your offer. Let's see if it's truly as advantageous as you pretend."
"It's simple, really. You just have to receive the Supreme and Unfeeling Grand Dao," Tongtian said, and alongside his fellow Heavenly Dukes, stretched his hand out.
Infinite levels of divine power erupted from the three dukes' palms, coalescing in a jade-white stone that hovered before Xinzi. Immediately, and for the first time since he returned to Heaven, his eyes twisted in fear.
"What?" Not just Xinzi. Tongtian's words and the apparition of that stone sent the Celestial Assembly into another uproar. Yanglong's lips curled into a fiendish grin, and he glanced towards Yongye, who stayed as composed as ever.
"Lord Zhen, receive the Supreme and Unfeeling Grand Dao, become the Incarnation of Heaven's Glory, and to say nothing of a measly Crown Prince seat, even the Divine Throne can be yours. But Lord Zhen, do you dare to receive that supreme power?"
