Liu Jiao's second wife was rather confused for a moment as she began to process the answer she received just now. It was as if she had been shocked into a dazed silence. Then she stared directly at Su Yan, who currently had a baby girl and son on her bosom. "It's interesting how such a powerful cultivator still…" Hong'er started speaking, stopping once she realized that it was out loud and not in her head.
I stopped for a moment and made moves to try and answer, but Su Yan refused to let me go. Going as far as to hold me there until she was satisfied. Su Yan did lose out on a lot of time with me, so I relented.
"Hong'er , was it?" Su Yan asked plainly, getting a nod in return. "That short speech people use to tell someone they are weak, that's what you were referring to, correct?" She asked with that smile, the one that hides a vast anger beneath it.
"Yes, go back and suck on mother's… That one." Hong'er answered as her own child began feeding away.
"Look down and tell me what you see." Su Yan said, clearly still livid.
"My precious baby, nursing happily." Hong'er answered.
"I didn't get that with my son. And I refuse to not make up for lost time." Su Yan stated. Hong'er then remembered what she had been told before. "My boy had such a difficult transformation into a phoenix because he had never been nurtured by my source. And on top of that. I didn't get to hold him as a baby. I missed so much with him. And that's why I won't let anyone say anything like that stupid phrase about him." She continued. "He is my son and I want to bond closer with him. To make up for lost time and also, he's just so cute." She finished with her take down of what she thought was a horribly stupid phrase.
"I agree, if anyone said that to him, they'd be in for one hell of a surprise when they find out he's the strongest great emperor upon achieving the realm that has probably ever lived." Flower Shadow great emperor chimed in.
That's when I stopped, I had to address that point. "No, I'm not so sure that is the case." I said, as Xia Ning Chang took the opportunity to take hold of me this time. "There was once a person who broke through to the 9th rank directly. They were in the Great Evolution Paradise and they were also its downfall." I continued.
"Wait, I thought that person had been promoted to the 7th rank first and then promoted over time." Fu Xuan spoke, speaking for everyone's confusion.
"That is beyond misguided and borders into complete hypocrisy. I would not have allied with the other Cave Heavens & Paradises if that was the case." I said, shaking my head. "I would have conquered them instead. To force them to bend to my will. As that level of incompetence is not worthy of leading anything. Make no mistake, I could still do it right now if I had to. The only two who are strong enough to stop me, wouldn't do so after hearing my explanation." I continued.
"You're right, that would be a massive oversight worthy of such a drastic change in leadership. I don't think I'd want to stop you either. The war isn't just any random spat between groups. It's for our very survival and to destroy the plague that is the Ink clan." Smiles mentioned, thinking about it.
"I see… Can you explain how you know what you say is true?" Fu Xuan asked, again the one brave enough to ask for those who didn't already know.
"Well, aside from the fact I saw that person's entire life when I fixed the Good Fortune Divine Furnace. There is a process that exists within all the Cave Heaven Paradises, that mandates every high rank open heaven be inspected by no less than 6 peers or 2 superiors. This is for the obvious reason of suppressing any issues. 8th ranks are powerful, but alone, a 7th rank does still have options to flee. Otherwise the power of a 7th rank wouldn't even be helpful on that battlefield in the slightest. Hell, I wouldn't send anyone there lest they achieve the 8th rank. Otherwise they'd just die a senseless death. Yet even still, some do." I started explaining. "Furthermore this procedure has been around since the founding of the Cave Heaven Paradises. It just ended up being convenient to use as an excuse to cover that incident up. Sad really." I added.
"But, I thought only open heaven realms can be inked, is it truly possible for lower realms to be affected?" Flower shadow asked.
"Yes, they just don't usually do it because it doesn't bode well if they are discovered. After all, it's easy to obliterate a Great Emperor and below, even for a 4th rank open heaven realm. Of course this is provided that the great emperor isn't near their home universe world. Otherwise the power dynamic changes." I answered, which wasn't the answer she wanted to hear. "And that is why it's so important to have powerful guardians protecting our people." I added, noting the discomfort the women felt. "Personally, I can create an endless barrier that purifies ink force around any universe world. The only downside is, that said world is now easy to find. But the ink force would find it anyway." I continued, which lightened the mood a bit.
"So, you know that the one who destroyed Great Evolution Paradise was a direct 9th rank… How did they get the resources… Oh." Flower Shadow asked, realizing the key point she had been missing.
"That furnace worked perfectly fine before that fall. It was also the reason that force was targeted. Damaging your enemy's supply lines is tactical warfare 101. A starving army is an easy target." I said. "And that is how they got the 9th rank resources for the person to refine. And with the help of the ink force, it wasn't an issue to handle refining them." I added, stopping the topic and then… "Now then, a brighter topic, offspring…" I finished, and then I was shut up by Xia Ning Chang shoving my face against her breast, specifically to feed on.