HSSB849: His mother’s origins
Two Exalts had conversed between the heavens and earth of the World beyond Worlds outside this foreign dimension. Only the two of them had been able to hear their conversation, Yan Zhaoge not having been able to hear it.
Still, it was naturally better for him to be facing the Northeastern Exalt, Liu Zhenggu, than the Eastern Exalt.
After all, from the attitudes of Li Cheng, Xiang Yiyang and the rest, it could basically be confirmed that the eastern Vast Heaven Territory’s Remote Cloud Mountain’s Clear Light Locale’s lineage was not all that friendly towards Xue Chuqing.
Her son, Yan Zhaoge, would be implicated by this as well.
While Yan Zhaoge did not know how the Northeastern Exalt Liu Zhenggu felt about Xue Chuqing, a great battle had just occurred outside earlier.
From how the combatants had seemed evenly matched, the one who had clashed with Liu Zhenggu had a similar cultivation base to his.
As this was where the boundary between the eastern Vast Heaven Territory and the northeastern Sky Heaven Territory lay, the other combatant had most likely been the Eastern Exalt.
From how he had been willing to get into a fight on Xue Chuqing’s behalf, Liu Zhenggu most likely held the opposite attitude towards her and her son, Yan Zhaoge, from the Eastern Exalt.
From the looks of it, the Northeastern Exalt Liu Zhenggu was likely someone whom he could trust and get to know.
Of course, there was also the possibility that the two were in collusion, deliberately trying to win his trust as their schemes ran deep.
Still, the possibility of this was extremely low.
If what Li Cheng and the others said was true, it would not be difficult for experts on the level of Exalts to find Xue Chuqing’s whereabouts.
Oracle Divination was not omnipotent. If there was a huge difference in their cultivation bases, predicting their movements would be harder than ascending to the heavens.
It was just because peak experts of this level had been restricting one another that the Eastern Exalt had only been able to dispatch his disciples to go searching for Xue Chuqing’s whereabouts outside.
Now that he had personally hurried over here, he had instantly been obstructed by Liu Zhenggu, another Exalt.
This effectively proved that the northeast and the east were on opposing sides in this matter.
Therefore, as Liu Zhenggu’s gaze suddenly flickered and he appraised Yan Zhaoge’s appearance in earnest, Yan Zhaoge smiled calmly and cupped his hands towards him, “My mother is Xue Chuqing, possessing the name of Kunlun’s Snow Crane. Perhaps the Northeastern Exalt has seen my mother before, therefore finding my appearance to be somewhat familiar.”
Liu Zhenggu stared intently at Yan Zhaoge for a while before suddenly laughing loudly, “Haha! To this old man, she is still a lassie, but if she has already wedded, it is normal for her to have a child.”
“It is just that I had not thought that the young lady from back then has already been a mother for many years.”
He was not intentionally acting all senior here. Liu Zhenggu’s age and seniority amongst the Ten Exalts were indeed on the high side.
Xue Chuqing aside, even before Yan Zhaoge’s Grand Master, Yuan Zhengfeng, had been born, Liu Zhenggu had already been famed throughout the World beyond Worlds for rather a long time.
Looking at Yan Zhaoge, he clicked his tongue in admiration, “This old man seems to have heard of your name some time before this. You are indeed outstanding, not just relying on the Extreme Yang Seal and other treasures alone. Still, shouldn’t you be in the southeastern Yang Heaven Territory?”
Yan Zhaoge smiled, “When out adventuring, I temporarily left the World beyond Worlds and entered extradimensional space. Upon my return, I landed in a wound of the sky nearby.”
Liu Zhenggu slowly shook his head, “If not for having met you in this foreign dimension, this old man would really dare not confirm that you are related to that little lassie, Xue Chuqing.”
His gaze quickly scanned the area, “Your mother isn’t here?”
Yan Zhaoge smiled wryly, “She had already left when I entered. To be honest, I have been searching for her all this while.”
Liu Zhenggu made an affirmative noise, “If she does not want to let you find her, it would indeed be very difficult for you to do so.”
Yan Zhaoge probed, “I wonder if the Northeastern Exalt knows of my mother’s whereabouts? If so, can you tell me about it? It is not just me; my father misses her greatly as well.”
From the looks of it, this Northeastern Exalt indeed saw Xue Chuqing favourably with his attitude towards Yan Zhaoge correspondingly being very friendly as well.
He responded rather patiently, “This old man too does not know of her whereabouts. At most, if someone tells this old man her whereabouts and this old man goes to look for her, she would be unable to foresee it and evade it. From what this old man knows, she often changes her location.”
Looking at Yan Zhaoge, Liu Zhenggu ultimately sighed, “It might not be that she does not miss you, but that she is unable to meet you. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for you to live in peace all these years.”
“She is still unable to divine information on you and your father through Oracle Divination or even project this from those other people who are related to you.”
“Some people who are looking for her are similarly proficient in projection and divination. With their skill at sieving out such secrets, they have specifically been waiting to obtain clues from these areas.”
“If that lassie does not divine information on you, unless those who are looking for her come into direct contact with you, it would be hard for them to know about your relation to her.”
Yan Zhaoge nodded, having heard some things about divination before.
He asked, “Are many people looking for my mother?”
The purple-crowned old man chortled, “That’s right. Not just those of Clear Light Locale, there are many other people looking for her as well. Still, Clear Light Locale is rather more persistent on this.”
Glancing at Yan Zhaoge, Liu Zhenggu smiled, “Killing so many Clear Light Locale disciples at once, you are ruthless indeed, also possessing great strength.”
Yan Zhaoge said softly, “They slandered my mother as having stolen some kind of treasure, which is why they are pursuing her.”
Liu Zhenggu said, “Since you have already used the word ‘slandered’, there is no need for this old man to speak more on this.”
Yan Zhaoge asked, “Then, I would ask the Northeastern Exalt-why are there so many people all looking for my mother?”
This time, Liu Zhenggu did not answer him as he only said, “You should ask her about it yourself when you see her. If she feels like she can tell you, you will naturally become aware of it.”
The lofty Northeastern Exalt was actually treating this subject like a deep taboo.
Even as Yan Zhaoge felt a bit surprised, he also felt interested in this.
Still, a warning bell simultaneously tolled within his heart.
This here was most definitely no minor matter.
Also, this matter might be related to Sikong Qing, Yue Baoqi, Li Cheng and the other lookalikes…
While Yan Zhaoge’s expression did not change, he was inwardly thinking, “The Eastern Exalt has even accepted Li Cheng as a disciple. Still, from the looks of it, even he and the Northeastern Exalt know nothing of the relationship between junior apprentice-sister Sikong’s lot and my mother, not having connected them together.”
The Eastern Exalt should long since have discovered the rune within Li Cheng. Still, he probably did not have access to other such lookalikes.
Even with many of these runes gathered together, one would still be hard pressed to comprehend the meaning contained within, much less when they only had one or two of these runes on hand.
Since the Southeastern Exalt was unwilling to speak more on this, Yan Zhaoge did not continue to press him on this matter.
“I wonder it was the Eastern Exalt who also arrived just now?” Yan Zhaoge asked.
Liu Zhenggu said, “That’s right. Still, this old man has already persuaded him into leaving.”
“It has been hard on the Northeastern Exalt. This Yan thanks you on my mother’s behalf,” Yan Zhaoge said.
At Golden Court Mountain, Yan Zhaoge had already heard Mu Jun, Chen Zhiliang and the others mentioning this.
The lineages of the Northeastern Exalt and the Eastern Exalt actually ultimately stemmed from the same source. Both of them could be considered as part of the direct lineage of one of the past Four Imperials of Daoism, the Southern Extremity Longevity Emperor.
Liu Zhenggu smiled, “You need not try to wheedle something out of this old man. Telling you about this is fine.”
“Your mother’s legacy originates from the same source as that of this old man and Clear Light Locale. Your mother’s lineage once produced numerous experts as it was stronger than our two lineages.”