Chapter 975: Rage
Author: Fingertip Madness
Ten minutes ago, at the Sparrow God Palace.
This was a space as dark as an abyss, with twelve dazzling golden gates standing tall in all directions.
In front of each gate stood an indistinct human silhouette, exuding pressure from the Sacred Realm, even the Sage level. However, judging by their state, most were projections, not their true bodies.
In the center of the space, a sacred statue floated, its hands cradling two figures.
The woman with umbrella on the left was Ke Yanqing.
On the right was an old woman draped in a fiery red divine robe. Her long eyebrows drooped, and her voice, heavy with age, was majestic. “As per Mother’s orders, we must fully cooperate with the Abyssal Saint. Therefore, if the members of the Twelve Seats have no objections, the specific terms of the transaction with the Abyssal Saint will be set as follows.”
The figures before the twelve golden gates nodded one after another, voicing their agreement.
“We strictly follow Mother’s divine decree.”
The spirit materials the Abyssal Saint required were indeed vast, so even with Mother’s command, the Twelve Seats had to discuss it. After all, the spirit materials would come from the clans behind the Twelve Seats, and considerable debate would be needed regarding who contributed more and who contributed less.
However, the Golden Sparrow Flower Clan members’ faith in “Mother” was truly pure. The Twelve Seats did not engage in excessive bickering over this matter. Many seat holders were willing to make concessions, allowing their clans to contribute more spirit materials. Moreover, with the war imminent, they could not afford the usual infighting.
“Attendant Ke, after sunrise, I’ll trouble you to make a trip to the Sumeru Gate,” the old woman said, tilting her head.
Ke Yanqing lowered her umbrella slightly, acknowledging the request.
The old woman’s name was Jin Xiangfeng, from the Jin clan. Ke Yanqing’s role was similar to that of a Saintess from the Black Moon Holy See, responsible for shaping the image and persona of the Golden Sparrow Flower. Jin Xiangfeng, on the other hand, was responsible for the expansion of the Golden Sparrow Flower clan system. However, for nearly a thousand years, the Golden Sparrow Flower had not absorbed external clans into its own. Instead, it developed ‘subordinate clans’ through marriage alliances. For example, the Mu Clan from District 51. The Mu clan woman was a dominant figure in the Spirit Song Realm, possessing a public image even more esteemed and renowned than the Black Moon Saintess. Thus, she was favored by the Golden Sparrow Flower. Jin Xiangfeng agreed to a marriage alliance between her and Ke Yanqing’s second brother, Ke Weis. However, this alliance was later abandoned with the strong intervention of the Element Holy See.
Although Jin Xiangfeng handled these minor affairs daily, she was the most senior among the three attendants, even older than the Twelve Seats. Therefore, as fellow attendants, Ke Yanqing had to show a certain level of respect to the elder.
As they spoke, the figures before the twelve golden gates gradually faded, returning to the front lines. Only An Xingjia, Madam An, and a long-haired man draped in a black robe remained.
“Everyone, please proceed to the verification hall for causal detection.” Seeing Ke Yanqing about to leave, the long-haired man smiled peacefully. “Attendants, please also stay. Under the potential threat of the Calamity’s rules, even you, as attendants, could be affected.”
Ke Yanqing couldn’t help but frown, feeling inexplicably agitated. Her younger brother had been frightened yesterday and urgently needed her comfort. She had no time to waste on causal detection here. After all, her social circle was not complicated. Besides Ke Nan and Ke Weis, there were essentially no others worth her attention. However, seeing that Jin Xiangfeng hadn’t refused and had followed the long-haired man to the verification hall, she had no choice but to follow, bringing up the rear.
The long-haired man was named Ke Zelek, also from the Ke clan. He was once an exceptionally gifted super genius, specializing in the study of causality and curses.
Standing in the center of the formation, Ke Yanqing closed her eyes and waited for two minutes. As expected, there was no abnormal reaction. Wasting time, she looked at Ke Zelek unhappily and said lightly, “Can this attendant leave now?”
In terms of clan relations, Ke Zelek was actually Ke Yanqing’s uncle. But before an attendant, he had to maintain reverence. He turned sideways and lowered his head, “Naturally, Attendant.”
Ke Yanqing stepped down from the platform. However, just as she was halfway out of the formation, her steps paused. The gentle, beautiful eyes hidden beneath her umbrella suddenly contracted.
*Tink.*
Stepping off the platform and onto the bluestone ground, her umbrella was lowered, covering her jade nose and revealing only her exquisite half-face. Her body, clad in a green qipao, tensed, trembling almost imperceptibly. However, she didn’t show any further abnormality, merely slowly turning around and looking back at the formation before her.
Ke Zelek noticed she hadn’t left and looked back in confusion. “Attendant, is there anything else you need?”
“How accurate is your causal detection?”
“Accuracy?” Ke Zelek shook his head. “This is essentially an Epic-level God Relic, combined with some low-level Spirit Robes I developed. It can barely trace causality, but if the enemy is at the Calamity level, its efficiency and accuracy will naturally be low.”
“Low accuracy?” Ke Yanqing was about to sigh in relief, but then she heard, “So, I’ve made some improvements. By concentrating the effectiveness of group causal tracing onto one person, the accuracy can approach 99%. The drawback is that it can only complete the detection of four Venerable-level existences per day.”
“So currently, only the Twelve Seats and the three Great Attendants have been screened. In the next few days, we will screen the heads of the major clans and their direct blood relatives one by one. Attendant, why do you ask?”
“It’s nothing, just curious,” Ke Yanqing said lightly, turning and walking away slowly. She walked leisurely through the starlit corridor, holding her oil-paper umbrella, her cool and aloof face expressionless. She had just recalled something. For years, she had lived with the guilt and self-blame of accidentally killing her third brother, Ke Beiwang, never finding release. Yet, why had her mood, which had been so heavy, felt lighter in the past two days compared to before? The deeper she thought, the more details emerged from her memory, and the memories of Ke Nan became even more illusory, as if they were about to break and dissipate at any moment. This filled her with dread. She would not allow these memories to fade.
Ke Yanqing lowered her gaze, looking at the golden sparrows underfoot, and said softly, “Let’s go, Little Sparrow. We won’t look for little brother for now. Let’s go to the Sumeru Gate first and complete the transaction with the Abyssal Saint.” Escaping was shameful, but very useful. She temporarily did not want to face that fear.
*Caw—* The golden sparrow let out a loud cry, turning its direction and flying east.
Just then, a faint blue light lit up on the back of her hand. It was a hidden pawn she had placed by Ke Weis, monitoring the every move of this restless second brother. The faint blue light unfurled, and a piece of information appeared: “Attendant, Ke Weis has sent three assassins to assassinate Ke Nan.”
“!” Ke Yanqing’s expression froze. She took a deep breath, controlled the golden sparrow, and changed direction again, soaring through the air at extreme speed. In that gradually fading memory, Ke Weis had indeed harbored malice towards her younger brother and had sent people to assassinate him once when he was ten years old. She didn’t expect him to still be unrepentant! A surge of inexplicable anger rose in her heart. Ke Yanqing’s expression turned cold, and then she froze again. If the speculation in her heart was true… then she had nothing to be angry about. But if it was false!
(End of Chapter)
