Perhaps Dilnaz's pep talk could sway others, but on Jiyan, the effect was minimal.
"Sorry, not interested," Jiyan glanced sideways, sighed and replied—forcing her mother's ardent gaze to turn into a look of confusion.
"Mother, why don't we leave all this behind? Why don't we leave the Highest Heaven and go wander the world? The world is so vast, there is so much to see in Heaven and Earth that perhaps our lifespans aren't enough to cover it all," Jiyan asked, still not glancing at Dilnaz—almost as if she spoke to herself.
"With your cultivation, leaving this place and traveling all worlds, mortal or heavenly, is child's play. The Mountain Edge World, the Noxious Flame World, the Golden Reprieve World and so many others. We are cultivators, aren't we? So let's leave imperial strife to others and go find the secrets of Heaven and Earth. We can still grow, we can still progress. We won't have to care for who sits on what throne or follow orders of elders we don't give a shit about. If it's really for us, for you and I, why don't we just leave?" This time, Jiyan shifted her eyes back to Dilnaz's, but a forced smile stretched her lips.
Confused, Dilnaz backpedaled. But as if held in place by the change in her daughter's gaze, she stopped a few steps away.
"You don't want to, right? I understand. You can argue that you're not suited for such a life. Just like you can argue that our survival is at stake, but the truth, mother, is simpler. You're resentful. You resent that despite being the number one talent of your generation, that despite having the potential of becoming a legendary existence at the level of Silav or the Golden Crow Ancestor, Empyrean laws suppressed you.
You resent that the only thing your talent and hard work got you was the privilege of giving birth to the emperor's children. You resent the elders from seeing you as a top-grade broodmare and alliance building tool, rather than the prodigy you are. You resent all men that stand above you, and you resent me for being the living proof of your failures." Jiyan's lips curved into a gentle smile, and arms crossed behind her back, she leaned toward Dilnaz.
"It's very likely that nothing in this world can please you more than wearing my father's crown. Perhaps you'd even build your own imperial harem? Who knows, who cares? In any case, mother, please do me a favor and stop bothering me," a step away from Dilnaz's face, Jiyan said and walked out. Dazed, Dilnaz didn't stop her.
Jiyan's position in Dilnaz's heart was a tricky topic. On the one hand, she was her proudest achievement, and on the other, her shame and bitterest disappointment. Yet, in rare moments, when she peered into Jiyan's eyes, Dilnaz couldn't suppress the thought that she was the one letting her daughter down.
But as ambition and emotions battled in Dilnaz's heart, a wrinkled hand clasped her shoulder, catching her unprepared. Regaining her wits, Dilnaz turned to face the owner of that hand, an old Empyrean man with atrophied muscles that seemed to stick to his bare bones.
"Granduncle?" Dilnaz said. Once per cosmic cycle, chalk-white coffins appeared in some of the 33 Heavens' Origin Essence mines, forcing many deities into brutal clashes: the Heaven Deceiving Coffins. As long as they possessed a complete Internal Heaven, anyone could bury themselves in those coffins to avoid subsequent Cosmic Tribulations and indefinitely delay their deaths.
Still, the coffins weren't all perks no drawbacks. The longer they remained in them, the more the deities' bodies wasted away, making their awakening increasingly difficult. As the sole owners of those coffins, the hegemonic clans used them to preserve many of their Demi-Emperors and peak-stage Empyrean Monarchs—giving priority to the former. They called them Dao Reserves.
Dilnaz's granduncle, the supreme elder of the Empyrean clan, belonged to that category. The Second Emperor's brother and strongest match, he became one of the clan's Dao Reserves after losing the race for the imperial crown and was the one that spoke during Harun's challenge.
"Unable to control your child?" He asked with a deadpan look. Inwardly, Dilnaz boiled, but on the outside, she flashed a smile and bowed toward the elder.
"Welcome back, granduncle. With you here, we can curb the arrogance of the Devouring Serpent and Golden Crow clans," Dilnaz said.
"Nonsense. Silav and Golden Crow's strength kept increasing through each Cosmic Tribulation while mine barely stagnated. If it comes down to it, I am not their match. At best, I can activate our Imperial Formation to protect this domain from their reach," the supreme elder candidly said.
"That is why we must take an unconventional approach. I know the ambitions you bury in your heart. Don't you want the throne and Jiyan to succeed it? I can give you both. Convince Harun to join our Empyrean clan as a son-in-law, and not only will Jiyan not have to draw her sword, but I will have the other elders elect you as clan master," the supreme elder offered.
"If you succeed, we will retreat from the 10,000 Sect War for 3,000 years, seal our domain, protect our tokens and breed Double Pupil owners to overwhelm the 33 Heavens with. If you fail, the previous plan proceeds. Whether or not she wants to, Jiyan must fight in our name and take the Sovereign Pupils. The Empyreans have no use for an exceptional clansman that won't contribute to their glory." Following those words, the supreme elder turned heels and walked out, leaving behind Dilnaz who kept her eyes lowered to hide the scowl on her face.
…
Meanwhile, the night still went on. After Jiyan's departure, Harun collected the assassins' corpses, using them as "fertilizers" to feed his Blood Convergence Formation. Sitting crossed-legged at the formation's center, Harun extracted his four blood drops, directing massive quantities of Blood and Origin essence into them to transform their nature.
One night of refinement was all it took for Harun's Celestial Nature to rise from Elephant-Swallowing to Mountain-Swallowing serpent, making his true height increase to 90 meters. Driving the blood drops back into his body, Harun closed his eyes. Though Harun believed he could still put his Celestial Nature to use in the future, it no longer was his priority. The Blood Convergence Formation and Blood Refinement were all decoys meant to hide his true intentions from potential onlookers, and believing their curiosity satisfied, Harun moved on to the second step of his plan: the Holy Foundation.
For the typical reincarnation cultivator, the Six Incarnations Bridge was divided into six realms: the Human Realm, the Monstrous Realm, the Ghost Realm, the Infernal Realm, the Asura Realm and the Reincarnation Realm.
Each realm possessed four stages: natal, attachment, sufferings and severing. However, there were those that trod a more dangerous path, refusing to sever the attachment they built across their road—refusing nirvana to unlock a more dreadful final stage: the unyielding stage.
And this was Harun's chosen path. Knowing the dangers lying ahead, Harun resolved to build the strongest Holy Foundation possible, and fell into a meditation state to peer into his past, into the road he'd taken till now.