Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 448: There Is A God?

It didn’t take long before Phoenix City began recovering from the aftermath of the clash between three Sages.

All the responsibilities of securing the city in this vulnerable time fell on Ryujin, who kept his title as the City Lord and the Phoenix Lord.

Meanwhile, Ember had solidified her existence in Phoenix City; she didn’t need to do much after this incident. With the Alliance Leader gone, the power was again divided between two people.

She could’ve capitalized on the situation and devoured all of the influence the Alliance previously held, but conquering this city wasn’t her intention.

Her mind was occupied by something else entirely. Not every day would you see the Celestial Phoenix interact with another being so casually.

’Unless it is someone from the Land Above Realms, the Phoenix wouldn’t even bat an eye...’ Ember mused, staring at the boy who for the first time expressed his inner turmoil.

In front of her stood the boy she knew was special the day they had met, but to carry around a cat from the Land Above Realms? This was beyond her expectations.

In the room, Rai sat in a relaxed posture on the side while the trio stood behind Ozul. If they didn’t know better, no one would think that Rai and Ember had just returned from a full-blown clash against other Sages.

"Can you explain now?" Ember spoke up, bringing everyone’s attention to Ozul.

But Ozul simply stared at her dead in the eye, "Do I look like I can explain?" It didn’t matter to him that he had just witnessed her strength capable of leveling mountains on whims.

Rai interrupted while chuckling to himself, "Have I mentioned before how much I like your guts?"

Everyone ignored him. His personality didn’t allow anyone to take him seriously in conversations.

"That cat-"

"Her name is Jinx," he added.

Ember played along, "Alright, that cat named Jinx. Did you not know she was... uhm this important?" She almost hissed out the word ’this’, emphasizing her feelings.

Ozul took a deep breath. He didn’t like being questioned like this, but he too had a few queries of his own, so he forced himself to answer, "Well, I had my doubts."

Of course, he knew that Jinx was strong from the moment she had saved him from Old Gu’s subordinate. But at that time, he couldn’t gauge that man’s strength to compare.

As for the fact that Jinx was called ’Mother’ by the Celestial Phoenix, Ozul conveniently left that part out.

From everyone’s reactions to the scene of a cat interacting with the Phoenix, he didn’t want to see what would happen if they knew that Jinx was even higher up in the hierarchy.

"I should’ve known," Ember muttered to herself in contemplation. After all, there was an uncanny sort of wisdom in those heterochromatic eyes of Jinx yet she exuded no extraordinary presence.

Someone could only escape her Scarlet Eyes if they were too powerful for her to grasp, but she didn’t want to consider that possibility. It was her own arrogance keeping her blind.

"But it seems like that Jinx really has an extraordinary relationship with the Celestial Phoenix. I haven’t, in all my life, seen or heard of her being so intimate with anyone," Ember said.

Ozul shrugged, there was no way he was going to mention their relationship. It would only bring more attention to himself.

"Anyway, what did the Phoenix tell you? I’m really curious."

"And why would I tell you?" Ozul answered with a question, keeping his face expressionless.

"..."

"Pfft!" Rai burst out in laughter again as Ember glared at him, forcing him to hold himself back.

Turning toward Ozul, she threatened, "I can force you to."

"You won’t."

"..."

"Hahaha!" Rai again started laughing, "He’s got you all figured out!"

Ozul knew she wouldn’t do it even before all of this, much less now when it was known that his cat was friends with the Celestial Phoenix.

Ember sighed, feeling more helpless than when she was fighting against two Sages at the same time.

"Can you tell me about the ’Land of God Emperor’?" Ozul began seeing that Ember wasn’t asking now. That’s supposedly where he would find his answers.

She raised her eyebrows and almost hissed back, "And why would I answer you?!"

"It’s what the Phoenix told me..." Ozul answered almost instantly.

"..." Ember didn’t know it was possible for her to be so irritated by someone other than Rai. ’If you were going to talk about it anyway, then why refuse before!?’

It wasn’t just Rai, but even the trio were stifling their laughter in the back.

Meanwhile, Ozul seemed almost oblivious to why they found it funny. They were obviously having a serious conversation.

Ember couldn’t hold herself back for long since the topic of discussion was more serious than it had started out, "The Phoenix mentioned ’Land of God Emperor?’"

To which, Ozul nodded slightly.

Ember leaned back, pondering whether to tell him or not. After all, even she didn’t dare venture into those lands. But looking at the resolute and firm look in Ozul’s eyes, she knew he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Sighing, she began her explanation, "There are many Realms scattered across the void that there’s not even a count. The further one searches into the void, the more infant Realms that you will come across. And that excludes the broken Realms such as yours.

I say infant because beings in these Realms have either yet to begin cultivation or only recently stumbled upon this path. The further you move from a certain point in the void, the more backward a civilization is found."

"A certain point in the void?"

Ember nodded, "That is the so-called Land of God Emperor. There are many names for this dimension. Some call it ’Land Above Realms’ while others name it ’Holy Land of Providence.’ The names differ, but they all represent the same thing.

It’s well-known that all other Realms revolve around this place. In fact, the Realm of Abezan is among the 8 nearest Realms to this Land Above Realms. Except for these 8 Realms, the others haven’t yet discovered this truth beyond space."

Everyone absorbed this information with interest. Who wouldn’t be interested in a world even greater than the one they were residing in?

"So, this Realm is one of the oldest ones to come into existence?" asked Raven with interest.

Ember gave her an approving nod and answered, "Exactly. And that means.."

"... this ’Land of God Emperor’ could be the origin of all existence," Ozul finished her sentence. He remembered that the Celestial Phoenix had called it the ’origin of all’, and only now it made sense to him.

Suddenly, Raven recalled the first time they were brought to this Realm. The man had loudly proclaimed something about the ’Holy Land of Providence’ being the only heaven.

"A... God resides in that place?" she asked hesitatingly. The concept of a deity in her mind was far too lofty and mysterious than something like this.

Ember’s answer wasn’t satisfactory, "I was of the strict opinion that these were only legends, but if the Phoenix mentioned God Emperor to him, there must be some truth to it."

"Why are you bitter?" Ozul suddenly asked; he could feel her emotions. This topic elicited strong emotions in her.

In response, she gave him a long look before replying, "The man who had destroyed my Mind’s Eye was from this ’Land Above Realms’ as well. He proclaimed himself as one of the 7 Heavenly Virtues. Even the Celestial Phoenix wasn’t sure who was stronger between the two of them..."

The implications were clear; if 7 other people held the same title, then that place couldn’t be underestimated.

Not to mention, if there was an existence such as a God Emperor who owned the Land Above Realms, one could only imagine his strength.

Even Rai was in serious contemplation at the mention of these people. The trio felt a cold chill in the back of their spine, a mountain-like pressure weighing on their psyche.

They were utterly helpless and powerless in the face of these beings, a reality that tore deep into their pride and ego.

’Is Old Gu from that place as well?’ Ozul suddenly thought of the old man and his subordinate who had almost killed him.

But he couldn’t be so sure. He distinctly remembered that the man from the Immortal Sect was conversing casually with Old Gu back when they were brought to this Realm.

’The old man wasn’t hiding his identity to have fun with mortals beneath him... was he?’ but the more he thought about it, the more uncertain he felt.

He focused on himself, a sense of urgency was suddenly reignited in him. This was a feeling that he had begun to lose with the passage of time.

But now that he finally had a clue to his identity, it felt as if he could just reach out to it if he tried enough.

His emotions were strong enough to crack the cold exterior of his face.

Ember was enamored by the smile that could bewitch any seductress. "Damn brat!" she mumbled under her breath.

She hurriedly turned toward the trio to distract herself, "You three are really lucky. I couldn’t have convinced that bastard to let you into the trial. But the Phoenix wants you herself, so Ryujin can’t stop it now."

Glancing back at Ozul, she berated, "I don’t even want to know how you managed to do that."

"Oh? What is this trial?" Blaze asked with excitement in his eyes.