Liang Chen spoke about all 12 years he had spent with Qing Feng and Qing Lan, detailing the lessons they had taught him and morals they had tried to instil in him. It was the first time since their death that he had spoken so much about them in one go, not even Yan Ling had gotten to hear everything in one go, Liang Chen had spread the tale out over their many encounters.
But he kept his story focused entirely on his parents, he didn't say anything about his experiences after their passing. And of course, he didn't tell them anything about Yan Ling or the Storm Wolf disciples he had ended up picking up after he left his planet. These people might be his birth parents, but Liang Chen still wished to reduce the number of people who knew about those closest to him. The fewer people knew, the smaller the odds that someone unwanted learned of it.
There was no point in worrying about Yan Ling, her relationship with the Nine Star Demon God ensured her safety even if she had gone to a different multiverse for training. But Yi Xue and the other Storm Wolf disciples didn't have that luxury, and it would be a terrible shame if they were to die because of Liang Chen.
Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu could only let out sighs when Liang Chen finished his story, quietly thanking the departed souls of Qing Feng and Qing Lan. They hadn't been able to be with their son, resulting in the current rift between them, but at least their son had grown up in a home where he was loved dearly.
They were his birth parents, and since they couldn't be at his side, that was already the best outcome that they could wish for. But since he had finished his story, they also had an inkling as to what might follow, Ren Yazhu speaking up in hopes of prolonging their meeting.
"Re... Liang Chen, are you willing to return to the Rahu universe with us? Our race may not have been of help to you before, but I can promise you that we'll support you with everything we have."
The Rahu universe was the original universe of the Sebettu, it was where the Heaven Devouring Dragon himself was born. It was also the last bastion of the Sebettu, the only other territory they controlled being a small galaxy in Liang Chen's original universe. Liang Chen had already expected this question, but his answer here would be the same as the answer he gave when he first met someone from the Sebettu race.
"No, I currently don't have any interest in travelling to the Sebettu. Maybe someday in the future, but for now I am still busy walking my own path. And even if I do end up going to the Sebettu at some point, the end result might not be what you want, so you must be prepared for that."
His current goal was to enter Purgatory's Cradle and work towards getting his hands on Purgatory, his instincts told him that he would be missing out on something tremendous if he didn't do so. Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu accepted his words with somewhat dim expressions, but Xiao Ping was clearly quite far from having a mind as calm as theirs.
"The end result won't be what we want? It's already bad enough that you aren't trying to help our declining race return to its peak, you're even thinking about maybe hindering us?"
Xiao Ping had been lucky when she was time-shifted, she had been much older than Liang Chen when she was sent through time, and she had arrived directly in the Rahu universe. Her parents weren't around at the time since they were out travelling so they couldn't determine her true lineage immediately, but they could easily determine that she had a very pure bloodline, immediately giving her the title of the crown princess.
And another part of her that was completely unlike Liang Chen was that she was fiercely loyal to the Sebettu race. She was certain that her parents were dead when she first arrived, so she did everything in her power to work towards the revival of the race. But Liang Chen had a different way of viewing it, one of his eyebrows rising.
"When you speak of the Sebettu's peak, do you mean when Rahu was still around and the race had the strength to conquer and devour multiple universes? Is that the peak you want to return the race to?"
The Sebettu were a race that wasn't exactly well-liked, especially when they were at their peak, the number of minor universes that had fallen to them wasn't something that could be counted on one hand. These achievements were a terror to other cultivators, but to Xiao Ping and the older Sebettu, they were a mark of pride.
"Of course! Do you have any idea how much the race has suffered since it started declining, any idea how much respect and power we've lost? We used to be respected across the entire multiverse and could move around unhindered, why would we not want to return to that peak?"
How many people dared to stand against the Sebettu back when Rahu was still around to lead them? If they wanted to enter a minor universe, they did so without a problem, they had even been able to fight against some major universes without a problem. These stories were passed down through the Sebettu for countless years, invigorating the ambitions of each new descendant. But it was exactly these ambitions that Liang Chen opposed.
"If that is your end goal then we are truly fated to stand against each other. No, I don't really know how much the race has suffered since its decline, but do you know how much countless other races suffered when the Sebettu attacked their universes and devoured them? How many civilizations were brought to ruin, how many innocent and unknowing people were killed so that the Sebettu could expand as they pleased? That peak is one I won't allow the Sebettu to return to, nor any other race for that matter."
Liang Chen had chosen his path, and he would walk it no matter what sort of light it painted him in. And if the Sebettu were planning on returning to their old peak to resume their ancient wars, then they would cross paths with Liang Chen. Xiao Ping was far from pleased with the arrogance Liang Chen so casually displayed, sneering slightly.
"And what gives you the right to decide such a thing? What sort of pedestal do you stand on to decide what a race can and can't do?"
Liang Chen was different from her parents, he had already been sent through time by the time she was born so she had never met or interacted with him. As a result, she had the same feelings towards him as Liang Chen had towards his birth parents after he first learned of them, disregard. But while she disregarded Liang Chen, didn't he do practically the same to her?
"Nothing right now, but in the future, it'll be my power and wrath that give me that right."
Liang Chen was well aware of his own weakness, there were countless existences that could squash him like a bug. But the current him was able to squash past him like a bug too, so he was confident that in time, he would become strong enough to follow through on his own ambition. The heavens didn't have any wrath, so he would become that wrath in all its terror-inducing glory. Xiao Ping opened her mouth to continue arguing, but Ren Shuren waved his hand and silenced her.
"That's enough. We all have our own paths in life, we may not understand or agree with them, but we must still respect them."
Liang Chen had grown up and made his choice, and it was one that Ren Shuren and the others would have to respect. A person's path could only be decided by that person, but that meant that the person would also have to live with the consequences of the path he chose. Ren Shuren moved his gaze away from Xiao Ping when he saw that she remained silent despite her grumpiness, sighing as he turned to Liang Chen.
"You've already made your choice, so I don't think that there is any point in trying to change your mind. But I hope that we won't stand against each other in the future, I pray that we can find a compromise should things reach such a situation."
He didn't know what he was to do if Liang Chen and the Sebettu ever truly stood against each other. One was the race he had been born and raised in, but the other was his firstborn child, no matter how little they had interacted with each other.
Liang Chen nodded his head in response to Ren Shuren's words, tapping Yumao on the head and standing up from his seat. Liang Chen didn't really have too much to say to this birth family of his, so dragging the meeting out any longer was pointless. Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu also understood this, exchanging glances for a short moment before Ren Yazhu spoke up.
"We originally wanted to slowly instruct you if you were to return with us to the Rahu universe, but we can only do things differently since you are intent on following your own path. We haven't gotten the chance to give you anything before, so please accept these."
Ren Yazhu flipped her hand, seven items appearing in the air above her palm, silently hovering there. She pushed the seven items towards Liang Chen, Ren Shuren explaining the usage of them as they hovered in front of Liang Chen.
"Those four paper talismans can be considered relatively more common, your mother and I have both refined a pair. The two golden ones are defensive in nature and the two crimson ones are offensive in nature. The defensive ones can resist a person at the middle-stage of the Sovereign God realm for half a minute while the offensive ones can unleash a single attack equal to the full strength of someone at the early-stage of the Sovereign God realm. We spent a little over a million years to refine them, so make sure you use them wisely."
Liang Chen's gaze landed on the four paper talismans, which looked rather withered due to the passage of time. The sheer might contained in them shocked him, but it also allowed him to guess at exactly what cultivation realm these birth parents of his had reached after what was undoubtedly a very long life. But if these four talismans were considered more common, then he was quite interested in what the three remaining items would be, Ren Shuren quickly moving on to them.
"Of the last three items, the blue orb is a communication treasure that you can use to contact any of us as long as we remain in this universe. Your elder brother isn't in this multiverse currently, but you can contact him too when he returns here. The green orb contains everything our race has gathered about domains, it should be of great help to you in forming your own domain."
The two orbs didn't look like they were made from jade, they had a smooth wood-like texture and exuded a faint warmth. Liang Chen had already reached the Primordial Immortal realm so it was indeed possible for him to create a domain of his own, he just didn't know how he was supposed to go about doing so. As such, the green orb would undoubtedly be of help to him. Even the blue orb was extremely useful, as there weren't many communication treasures that could be used across universes.
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He was also surprised that there was apparently another sibling, an elder brother who was currently visiting another multiverse. But what he didn't know was that this elder brother of his would actually be his younger brother, he was actually born after Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu were forced to send Xiao Ping through time so if they went by date of birth, he would be the youngest sibling. Six of the items had been described, Liang Chen's gaze landing on the final item, a palm-sized grey scale.
"And this final item is a scale that comes from Rahu himself. The scale has been refined by the Sebettu and been turned into an extremely valuable information treasure, it contains our gathered knowledge about the various laws used by Rahu himself. I don't know which laws you use, but the scale even contains everything we have gathered about the law of space and the law of time, it is one of the four great treasures of our race."
If the previous items could be said to have shocked him slightly, then the description of this scale blew his mind. The Heaven Devouring Dragon had the innate law of devouring and could thus use countless laws, passing them on to his descendants. And with how long the Sebettu had been around, just how much information had they been able to gather about the various laws, how many techniques and utilizations?
This was the difference that a proper backing made. In the past, Liang Chen had studied a bandit that attacked his caravan to learn how she used her law of lightning, picking up some tricks from her. If he had this scale back then, he wouldn't have needed to do that, he could have just drawn directly upon the knowledge of his ancestors to learn much stronger ways to use his laws.
Even if this scale didn't contain anything about his other laws, just the information it had on the law of time would be invaluable to him. The law of time was an exalted law, and the way he had been utilizing it so far, without any guidance from others, could only be called wasting a great treasure.
Liang Chen looked at the seven treasures floating in front of him, his gaze drifting past them and landing on Ren Shuren. For them to be able to hand this scale to him, they definitely had an extremely high status among the Sebettu. He thought about it for a second, but eventually still stretched out his hand and accepted the various items, Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu smiling in response to his words.
"...I won't be polite about it."
"Good, it would be quite saddening if you were too polite towards us."
Liang Chen stuffed the items into his interspatial ring, he could take his time later on and go through them, there was far too much he could learn from them. The treasures alone showed that Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu truly cared for him, so Liang Chen gave them a small bow, the two adults waving his gratitude aside somewhat embarrassedly.
"Thank you."
"Don't thank us, we really haven't done anything to deserve your gratitude."
They hadn't given him any help whatsoever, neither had the Sebettu ever done so. And yet, he had been able to cultivate himself to his current realm, even upgrading his bloodline to a realm beyond that of the Sebettu. For him to manage that at such a young age, even hardening his mind to such a state, how many gruelling experiences must he have gone through?
Liang Chen storing away the seven treasures marked the unspoken end to their meeting, Ren Yazhu and Ren Shuren's gazes lingering on Liang Chen as they memorized his every feature. He didn't want to return with them, and just his expression alone also made it clear that he didn't want them to follow him around, a somewhat downcast light surfacing in their eyes.
"Goodbye, please don't hesitate to contact us if you ever need anything."
Liang Chen nodded at them and then turned around, directly walking away. Ren Shuren and Ren Yazhu weren't completely pleased with the outcome, but at least they had managed to form a small tie between them and their son, they had even been able to give him some items that should be of help to him. There would be plenty of time in the future to deepen these bonds, that was all they could place their hope in right now.
Liang Chen didn't look back as he walked, Yumao curled up on top of his head as the two returned to Moonset city. Liang Chen could feel a joyous atmosphere envelop the entire city from the moment he saw it in the distance, they were most likely celebrating thanks to the news that Shen Fei had brought along. But there was one person not celebrating, the pink-haired and yellow-eyed Shen Fei, who was waiting for Liang Chen in front of the city's entrance.
"You returned faster than expected. I actually expected your 'one or two days' to mean a week."
Shen Fei grinned in excitement as he looked at Liang Chen, his return meant that their duel was that much closer. Liang Chen also looked at Shen Fei, but he wasn't grinning, his eyes somewhat narrowed.
"How do you know where I am planning on going after this?"
Shen Fei had accurately spoken out Liang Chen's next target, Purgatory's Cradle. But that was information that he shouldn't have, only Yan Ling or the grander existences like Chang Yun should know where Liang Chen was going. He viewed this leak of information rather seriously, but Shen Fei only chuckled casually.
"That? Easy, because you're here."
One of Liang Chen's eyebrows rose after Shen Fei responded, not quite understanding the correlation. Shen Fei evidently saw his confusion, the corners of his lips curving up in an amused manner as he let out another chuckle.
"You really don't know? Heh, you must have just recently arrived from a minor universe, no? It's quite simple, there is nothing in this Heaven and Hell Dominion. When the One-Eyed Saint and the King of the Ash Lands fought here aeons ago, they destroyed practically everything else, not even a single tract of inhabitable land was left behind. Thanks to the aid of the other dominions, life can flourish here again, but the mystic lands and resource-filled areas won't just grow back like that. Only Purgatory's Cradle remains, so anyone who arrives here from the outside is inevitably doing so to enter Purgatory's Cradle. You aren't from here, yet you suddenly appeared here. Hence, you must be heading for Purgatory's Cradle, it's elementary."
Liang Chen had never heard about this One-Eyed Saint before, but he had some faint recollections about the King of the Ash Lands. Tien Huang had once mentioned that the ancestor of the Stone-Soul Scorpions was the Ash-lake Empyrean, a beast of unfathomable power that served as the mount of the King of the Ash Lands.
Just a Stone-Soul King was already a Divine Beast, so their ancestor would definitely be a tremendously strong being. Clearly, the King of the Ash Lands was a being of great power. But since it resided in a major universe ruled by someone else, Liang Chen guessed that it hadn't reached the level of a Universal Heart. Shen Fei finished his explanation, his eyes roaming over Liang Chen's body for a second before he moved straight onto the subject at the forefront of his mind.
"How long do you need to rest before we can fight?"
He could tell that Liang Chen was still drained after his battle with the Stone-Soul King, fighting him in this state would be far from as fun as fighting him at his peak. As such, rest was definitely needed. Liang Chen also didn't beat around the bush, stating it frankly.
"Three or so weeks, maybe longer, I've got a few things I'm gonna study. The battle should be even more fun for you if I manage to learn a thing or two from what I want to study so you won't reject me, right?"
He wanted to study the information about domains and laws, they would be able to further increase his strength and allow him to have more confidence when he headed to Purgatory's Cradle. Shen Fei's personality had been on full display since he first saw him, so his words were more than enough to increase the width of Shen Fei's grin.
"Heh, pushing my buttons, are you? Alright, study all you want, I'll be waiting right here and keeping an eye on you."
Liang Chen nodded his head and stepped past Shen Fei without another word, entering Moonset city once more. His plan was quite simple, he would head to the same place he cultivated previously, using the great pressure to further fuel his own law of time so that he could greatly increase the amount of time he actually had to study.
And once he was finished studying, he could use his fight with Shen Fei to properly put everything he had read into practice so that he could incorporate it into his strengths. He could study and then test it straight away, so while he didn't show it too strongly, he was rather excited at what the end result would be.