Divine Emperor of Death

"…"

The Celestial Transcendent was deep in thought, but his hands appeared to have a mind of its own, healing Clara with utter focus. His light energy flowed into her soul sea, restoring its original appearance and even regenerating her soul essence despite what he claimed— that he wasn't good at healing soul essence.

Within a few minutes, Clara's eyelids quivered.

She didn't open her eyes but felt a hand on her forehead. A faint layer of light energy clouded her mind as she forgot what had happened, but it all came rushing back to her, causing her eyes to shoot wide in an instant and launch two fingers into the air.

They were like a pair of snakes snapping at a pair of eyes.

The Celestial Transcendent was still deep in thought, but he almost instinctively reacted on feeling the killing intent, dodging the eye stab as he moved his head to the side. Glancing at the frail yet sharp index finger and the middle finger radiating the penetrating aura of a sword, his brows twitched as he moved back.

Only after he moved did Clara slap where his face was with the back of her hand, but he was no longer sitting there. Her hand hit nothing.

Clara's gaze flickered. He moved so fast that he was like an afterimage. She sat up, searching for Xiaolan, who suddenly flew towards her and flapped her wings.

"Clara, stop~ This is the Celestial Transcendent. You cannot be disrespectful to him. He healed you back to health."

Her mind was hazy, and she couldn't remember what had happened properly, which caused her to frown.

The Celestial Transcendent opened his mouth, "You strained your soul too much that a part of your memory before you lost consciousness would've been thrown into the realm of obscurity. You can try to recover them, but aren't you a feisty little girl attacking me without a warning? My eyeballs would've been gouged out from my eyes if I wasn't careful."

He sighed, looking like he had escaped death, as his expression was one of bleakness.

But inwardly, he guessed that this experience had made her manifest her Celestial Seed into a perceivable form. With more struggles, he guessed she would eventually be able to perceive it by herself and finally understand her calling.

However, he also knew that the Celestial Seed was only detectable by someone who had a Celestial Seed. In other words, only he and the other seven Celestial Seed masters would be able to detect a similar aura from Clara. But right now, the aura Clara's Celestial Seed gave off was so small that it didn't make much of a difference to him if it was present or not.

He could still end her life with a single wave of his hand. He could nip the bud before it grew, as it would only endanger his position in the future.

"My apologies. My brother taught me if anyone is too close for comfort after you lose consciousness in a fight, aim for the eyes or the soul in between. It always almost gets them before they're aware that you're awake."

Clara quickly recovered her bearings and stood up, her hairstyle, robe, and veil all restoring themselves as she used her martial energy to groom herself.

"What's that? Should I increase your big brother's calamity class?"

The Celestial Transcendent shuddered. What was a big brother teaching his little sister?

"…"

Clara went silent, slowly remembering the parts she had forgotten. Her gaze flickered as she finally came to understand that this man in front of her was truly the Celestial Transcendent and not some powerful young master posing to be one.

Her lips moved, "If we're wrong, we can always apologize and compensate after gaining the upper hand. That's also his words."

"Saying that won't decrease his calamity class."

"…"

Clara's lips twitched. She was seen through.

The Celestial Transcendent chuckled, dropping his hands before he folded his arms.

"Alright, your crimes are siding with an Anarchic Divergent and still being sympathetic towards him in not revealing his location. At least, that's what I heard from Elluro Coldwing. Do you have any defense on your side?"

"None."

Clara instantly replied, her eyes not containing a hint of hesitation. From the side, Xiaolan reminded her to be more flexible, but Clara didn't lose ground. She stood firm, not intent on lying or fooling around anymore. She felt it was beneath her and her physique.

"Arrest me and punish me accordingly. I won't betray my family, but if you want me to hunt other Divergents and the evils roaming at large, I would be glad to do so. I need to get stronger."

"That's troubling…"

The Celestial Transcendent frowned.

On one side, Clara wouldn't go scot-free for siding with an Anarchic Divergent. She wasn't being flexible either. Furthermore, she wanted to go out by herself to hunt evil.

All of this didn't align with her safety.

He could only imagine the repercussions if she died. The heavens would be mad. The Divine Emperor of Death would be mad. The both of them might throw numerous calamities at him and the human race, leaving him with full of headaches.

"Look, I'm like a respected Guest Elder in the Heavenly Guardian Consortium, and my words have weight, but if you don't compromise, I can't speak for you. You have to give their location or get punished, which would only delay your cultivation."

The Celestial Transcendent spoke as he put his hands forth, shaping his palms into a sphere as he kept it on his left side.

"Or—"

He moved the sphere to the right side and raised his brows, "You can become my personal disciple and get rid of all scrutiny as you come under my protection."

"…!" Xiaolan flapped her wings, her beak wide as she looked from one face to another.

Clara was also shocked. Her eyes narrowed, knowing exactly what kind of opportunity this was. Countless beings would even go as far as to get fourth-tier karmic sin for this position if the Celestial Transcendent actually allowed slaughter.

"W-What's in it for you?" She uttered, her voice breaking.

"One, I promised a mad lad that I would protect you. Two, you are my archnemesis."

"…?" Clara reeled her head back. What did he mean by archnemesis!?

How was she, a mere Immortal Emperor, even a nemesis to someone above the Empyrean Stage!? Clara felt her head tremble.

The Celestial Transcendent continued to explain, "I want to nurture you so you can oust me from this stupid position faster. In the legends, it is said that the Twelve Paragon Magical Beasts didn't die but exited the Three-Layered Universe after sacrificing their soul essence as a form of toll, so I'm now looking forward to following in their footsteps. I can finally exit the Three-Layered Universe and live freely or die a gruesome death outside."

"…"

Clara was absolutely speechless that her expression sank considerably. She was unable to control her expression, feeling a cold chill seeping her spine as though she realized she heard what she shouldn't have heard.

On the other hand, the Celestial Transcendent looked absolutely uncaring. His lips curled into a bold smile.

Since the heavens don't want him anymore, he didn't see the need to stand on ceremony either.

For some reason, the next Celestial Seed was standing in front of him, something he might never see until it burst into fruition according to the old records of the previous Celestial Transcendents of this Galaxy, which meant he absolutely had the advantage as he could end it right here.

However, he didn't feel the need to do so.

He had entered an invisible binding contract with the heavens the moment his Celestial Seed fully matured, so it was impossible for him to leave it or the heavens to abandon him until a new Celestial Seed sprouted.

If Clara was his archnemesis, then she was also his savior, depending on his intentions, which were to leave this universe and improve further.

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