Chapter 2822: Unknown Whereabouts

No wonder I felt something was amiss. This world has been ‘invaded’ by the universal deities! It’s just that I was in such a rush to save Chu Chuyan that it flew across my head.

He grabbed Chu Chuyan’s hand and teleported to the Lake of Hatred.

Chu Chuyan, as the successor of the orthodox faction, had dreamt of stomping the Devil Sect’s headquarters many times before. The old her would have never imagined coming here in such a manner.

It was no longer her first time experiencing it, but she was still shocked by Zu An’s ability to teleport thousands of kilometers in the blink of an eye. He'd become an enigmatic being even to her now.

She suddenly understood why the others had chosen to enter the Divine Palaces. They didn’t want to lag behind Zu An and become a burden to him.

The members of the Devil Sect were appalled to see two people appearing out of nowhere, and they immediately put up their guard. Only when the guards noticed Zu An did they finally reveal welcoming smiles.

There was no one in the world who didn’t know about the regent. On top of that, he was their saintess’ lover, and it was rumored that he had an affair with Sect Leader Yun as well.

“Where’s Sect Leader Yun?” Zu An asked.

The upper echelons of the Devil Sect exchanged meaningful looks.

You’re asking for our sect leader instead of our saintess? That confirms it. They definitely are having an affair!

“Sect Leader Yun has begun traveling in search of a higher realm.”

“Which Divine Palace did she choose?”

“I don’t think Sect Leader Yun chose any of those Divine Palaces.”

“She didn’t?” Zu An was taken aback.

“Indeed. She claimed that none of the Divine Palaces in this world were suited for her, and that she wanted to forge her own path,” a higher-up of the Devil Sect replied. “That’s what she told us to tell you when you returned.”

Zu An fell silent. He had scanned the ten Divine Palaces that had appeared in this world. They belonged to Memory, Chaos and Enigma, Annihilation, Nebula, Bliss and Desire, Order, Longevity, Reproduction, Knowledge, and Protection.

Death and Love and Beauty were conspicuously absent.

I guess the Deity of Love and Beauty has died as well.

If Yun Jianyue didn’t think any of these ten paths were suited for her, what else could she have chosen?

“As expected of Sect Leader Yun. She wants to forge her own path.” Chu Chuyan was awed.

“That sounds like her, but it's easier said than done,” Zu An replied with a bitter smile.

The twelve universal deities were lofty entities towering over the Myriad Worlds; it wouldn’t be easy to forge another path outside of theirs. It was also uncertain how the existing universal deities would take to that. The Deity of Death had died because the other universal deities thought that his path threatened them.

“I believe that Sect Leader Yun will succeed.” Chu Chuyan turned to the Devil Sect’s members and asked, “Where’s Honglei?”

“Our saintess has been selected by the Longevity Divine Palace and is currently training there.” The members of the Devil Sect felt wistful. Chu Chuyan and Qiu Honglei had been the representatives of the orthodox faction and the Devil Sect, respectively. They were once fated to be rivals, yet they were now as close as sisters.

“The Longevity Divine Palace...” Zu An wasn’t surprised. Qiu Honglei had been revived by an immortal medicine. That fortuitous encounter could be the reason she'd been chosen by the Deity of Longevity.

As the two of them walked out of the Devil Sect, Chu Chuyan suddenly said, “Ah Zu, I’d like to head home to take a look. I wonder if my parents, Huanzhao, and Youzhao have visited any of the Divine Palaces.”

Zu An nodded.

It’s about time to return to the capital.

In the blink of an eye, they teleported to the capital’s Chu manor. Thanks to Zu An, the entire Chu clan had moved to the capital. Only the second house and the third house remained in Brightmoon City to manage the family business.

But the Chu manor felt much colder than usual. Back then, one could hear Chu Huanzhao causing a commotion in the backyard even from a distance away.

Zu An scanned the Chu manor, but he couldn’t find Huanzhao or Youzhao. Even Murong Qinghe had disappeared. However, there was still a familiar face in the manor.

He led Chu Chuyan into the inner area. A shriek suddenly echoed.

Black streaks appeared on Chu Chuyan’s face. “Mother, it’s us.”

Qin Wanru, who had retreated to the wall, was both shocked and delighted. “That scared me! The two of you suddenly appeared out of nowhere!”

She quickly snapped out of it and asked with a quivering voice, “Chuyan, are you alright now?”

“Ah Zu saved me.”

Despite her cold personality, Chu Chuyan felt choked up. Too many things had happened ever since she went into closed-door training and somehow traveled across spacetime to become the Snow Lady. It felt like an eternity had passed since their last meeting.

“My good daughter!” Qin Wanru rushed forward to embrace Chu Chuyan.

The mother and daughter sobbed while embracing each other. It was a long time before they finally calmed down.

Chu Chuyan asked about what had happened to their household.

Qin Wanru replied while wiping her tears, “They have gone to the Divine Palaces to train. Your father went to the Order Divine Palace, whereas Youzhao and Huanzhao went to the Protection Divine Palace.”

“Why didn’t you go too?” Chu Chuyan asked out of curiosity.

Qin Wanru’s face reddened, but she quickly regained her confidence and replied, “This family needs someone to keep things together. Otherwise, there would have been no one to welcome you when you returned.”

Zu An and Chu Chuyan exchanged looks. They could see the amusement in each other’s eyes. Qin Wanru did have some aptitude for cultivation, but it was nowhere near enough to catch the eye of the universal deities.

“Where’s Qinghe?” Zu An asked.

Qin Wanru rolled her eyes.

He must already know what happened that night for him to be so concerned about Murong Qinghe.

“Qinghe suffered a blow when she failed the Divine Palace’s trial, so she began traveling the world to train herself up. I don’t know where she is currently.”

“She didn’t clear the trial?” Chu Chuyan was perplexed. Given Murong Qinghe’s aptitude, that didn’t seem too plausible.

Zu An was taken aback as well. He had scanned the world with his divine sense earlier but didn’t find Murong Qinghe. The only place his divine sense couldn’t penetrate were the Divine Palaces, so he thought that she was training in one of the Divine Palaces.

“We were perplexed as well. Only heaven knows what the criteria for those Divine Palaces are. Even I failed their trial,” Qin Wanru blurted out the truth.

But Chu Chuyan was in no mood to make fun of her. She noticed Zu An’s expression and asked, “Could Qinghe have gone down the same road as Sect Leader Yun?”

Zu An shook his head. “I didn’t sense Yun Jianyue in this world, either.”

If they aren’t in the Divine Palaces or in this world, could they have...

Zu An’s heart skipped a beat. He teleported to the Netherworld and opened the Netherworld Book of Life and Death. Only after confirming that their souls hadn’t entered the Netherworld did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

He returned to the Chu manor and told Chu Chuyan what he'd just done.

Chu Chuyan consoled him, “Ah Zu, you don’t need to worry too much about them. They might have entered another world like me. There are many fortuitous encounters in this world.”

“I can only hope that’s the case.” This encounter made Zu An more anxious to investigate the whereabouts of his other lovers.

Chu Chuyan followed him.

Watching as the duo vanished into thin air, Qin Wanru murmured enviously, “Now that she has her lover, she doesn’t care about me. No wonder they say daughters can’t be counted on.”

Zu An and Chu Chuyan teleported to different places, only to realize that Yun Jianyue and Murong Qinghe weren’t the exceptions. Pei Mianman, Shang Liuyu, Shang Hongyu, Yu Yanluo, Bi Linglong, Snow, and Ji Xiaoxi hadn’t entered any of the Divine Palaces either.

Even Ji Dengtu and Xie Xiu were nowhere to be found.