Chapter 33: The Battle's Aftermath
New characters in this chapter:
Sky Empress (2.0): Quan Liang's wife. She is an immortal from the Sky Clan. An arranged marriage between her and Quan Liang was made. To make sure that she still had Quan Liang's attention, she tried to bear his children.
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Every surviving member of the war had gathered in the main plaza in the Sky Clan per order of the Crown Prince. The ones who stayed were whispering between themselves how had the battle gone since no one had seen the Sky Emperor or the War Deity.
The Sky Empress cradling the second prince appeared next to Si Ming who was already mourning for his friend. He knew that Zhan Luo would have never sent Ruo Yin with a soldier if he could send her on his own.
"Lord Si Ming, do you think their sacrifice was worth it?" the Sky Empress suddenly spoke. Her eyes looked hollowed and lifeless as she cradled the second prince in her arms.
"They always put the safety of their loved ones first..." it was the only thing that Si Ming could say.
The Sky Empress then stood there silently waiting for her son to give the speech. The Crown Prince, Quan Liang, was still young. The last memory he had with the Sky Emperor was of them fighting because he did not want an arranged marriage with the daughter of one of the officials of the Sky Clan. Yet, the Sky Emperor insisted and wedded them.
Even when going to battle the two of them were still fighting. Quan Liang was completely ignoring his father. Thinking back, if he had not been so stubborn, the Sky Emperor would not have needed to throw himself in front to protect him and he would not have died. "I don't care marrying her...If it would bring you back," Quan Liang thought as he cleared his throat to address the Sky Clan.
That is when he understood the weight of the Sky Emperor's title. It was not that his father was cruel. It was just that he needed to think about what benefitted the Sky Clan first. His family came second.
"Members of the Sky Clan, as the Crown Prince, I want to announce the departure of my father, the Sky Emperor. It was a tragic event, but he died protecting this clan. Also, with him were gone many courageous members, like the War Deity. He was the one responsible to put the Ten Thousand Spirit Stone to sleep. It isn't a permanent solution, but I promise you we will find a way to completely destroy it," Quan Liang remained silent for a few seconds so the crowd process the news. He heard murmurs everywhere. He knew that they felt restless that such a young and inexperienced immortal was going to be named Sky Emperor. He knew that from now on he could not falter or waiver in his decisions.
"We may have killed the Demon Lord and most of his troops that decided to revolt with him, but his general still escaped. I know that I'm still young to be the Sky Emperor, but please trust me. This is not time for us to doubt. We need to prepare so that the next time, we won't lose our dear ones again!" Quan Liang said the last part with all the confidence he could muster.
The crowd looked at him with doubts still, especially the generals, but after a few minutes reflecting on the Crown Prince's speech, they started cheering and the whole crowd followed.
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Two hundred thousand years had already passed since that tragic day. The Crown Prince, now Sky Emperor, made a treaty again with the Demon Clan. Both clans return to the seeming peace as before.
Exactly on the same day of the peace treaty, one of the concubines of You Xie gave birth. To prevent another Demon Lord like You Xie, the Demon Clan needed to accept that the new Demon Lord was going to be schooled by members of the Sky Clan. The truth was that the new Demon Lord was only by title. The real rulers of the Demon Clan were the Sky Clan.
As for the Sky Empress, she stayed secluded inside her manor and rarely made an appearance or accepted visits.
After a few thousand years of marriage, Quan Liang accepted his wife, and she finally bore him a son, but since the child was always sick, they tried again for another child to no avail. The actual Sky Empress desperately went searching for Si Ming since he was rumored to be capable of medicine.
One day when Si Ming was just sitting in the same pavilion where lotus flowers bloomed, the Sky Empress came by.
"Lord Si Ming, I come here with a request. Do you know how to make me pregnant with His Highness' child again?"
Si Ming was surprised by her request. He knew how gossip had said that he was capable in medicine, but it was just because he was studying how to maintain Ruo Yin's spirit in the pill while finding a host.
"Please I beg you, please! This is the only thing I could do for His Highness!" The Sky Empress begged Si Ming as she kneeled.
Si Ming knew the dangers of giving her Ruo Yin's spirit. If she spilled a word about how she got pregnant, the Sky Emperor would know that he had used a forbidden spell two hundred thousand years ago and his death was imminent. In another part, he knew Ruo Yin's spirit could last any longer as a pill. She needed to be reborn soon.
"Fine, I will give you a pill. Swallow it and you will bear a baby girl. There is one condition though, you should never say how you got pregnant," Si Ming said.
The Sky Empress with teary eyes then looked up to Si Ming, "Whatever you ask."
Si Ming then gave her the pill with Ruo Yin's spirit in it and hoped that no one would know about it.