Chapter 136: The Unreliable Chen Mi and the Origins of the Empress

Chen Xing was astonished to hear this voice. He turned around quickly and saw his younger sister, Chen Mi, standing not far away, her face filled with bitterness.

Chen Xing could see that beneath the bitterness on her face lay guilt and regret, but there was even more joy.

He walked slowly toward Chen Mi and was suddenly stunned. He then shook his head, tenderly stroked her hair, and asked softly, "What is it? Why did you say that just now?"

"Brother, I'm sorry!" Chen Mi gently leaned her head against Chen Xing's shoulder, her face full of guilt.

Chen Xing was taken aback, then smiled: "It’s fine. Isn't it just breaking the seal? If it's broken, so be it! It saves you from complaining about me every day."

Chen Mi stood up straight, shook her head, and said, "It's not about that!" She looked toward the Empress, her eyes filled with deep remorse.

The Empress, having seen Chen Xing’s sister arrive and witness their intimacy, had been feeling envious. Now, seeing Chen Mi looking at her with such profound guilt, she was confused. She did not know this girl, and she could not understand why she would look at her with such an expression.

Chen Mi walked slowly to the Empress and asked softly, "What is your name?"

The Empress hesitated, then lowered her head, feeling downcast. After a long while, she spoke slowly: "I have no name. My brother has called me 'Nannan' since I was little."

Hearing this, the guilt in Chen Mi’s eyes deepened. After a moment of thought, she grabbed Chen Xing and said imperiously, "Brother! You name her!" Her tone allowed for no objection.

Chen Xing was bewildered by Chen Mi’s behavior. He thought for a moment and sighed. He channeled his Dao laws and released the mental seal he had placed upon himself. He was truly overwhelmed by his sister’s antics, and to get to the bottom of the matter, he finally lifted the seal. After all, now that Chen Mi’s seal was already broken, keeping his own was meaningless.

The moment the seal was lifted, his divine sense connected to the Heart of the World, and the River of Time and Space flowed through his mind. In a single thought, he understood everything.

He looked at Chen Mi helplessly. She had already sensed the fluctuations of his divine sense and knew he had lifted the seal. She ducked her head, made a face, giggled, and ran to the side, taking the two little ones from Meng Chen.

Chen Xing pointed his finger at her twice and said with a bitter smile, "You! You really know how to cause trouble for me!"

Having said that, he ignored Chen Mi and turned to the Empress, saying gently, "Alright! From today on, you are my sister, and I am indeed the brother you have waited for all these years."

The Empress's eyes lit up, and just as she was about to speak, Chen Xing raised a hand to stop her, signaling her to be quiet for a moment. The Empress nodded obediently and said nothing.

After pondering for a moment, Chen Xing said, "There is a poem that says: 'Zhuangzi’s morning dream is lost to the butterfly; the sorrow of spring is entrusted to the cuckoo.' How about I name you Ningdie? Chen Ningdie."

To his surprise, the Empress shook her head and whispered, "I don't want your surname. I used to share a surname with my brother, Chu. I want to be called Chu Ningdie!"

Chen Xing didn't mind. He said casually, "Fine! Then that’s decided. From now on, you are Chu Ningdie, and Little Nannan will still be Little Nannan. When she grows up, I will give her a name too!"

However, Chen Xing did not notice that Chen Mi was watching them with a strange look in her eyes.

"Brother! I want to know why you suddenly became certain that you were the person I had been waiting for?" The Empress, now Chu Ningdie, finally asked.

Chen Xing sighed, looked at Chen Mi once more, and said gently, "Since you have found your brother, why dwell on such things? From now on, you and Little Nannan should just enjoy a beautiful life, and let me make up for all the years I have owed you both. Is that alright?"

Chu Ningdie’s eyes, like clear water, were filled with longing for the future, but she eventually shook her head: "Ningdie does not need compensation. Brother, just take care of Little Nannan! I want to continue cultivating! I want to catch up to your footsteps; I never want to experience that kind of helplessness again." Her eyes were filled with determination.

Chen Xing pulled his resilient sister into his arms, feeling a surge of pity. He couldn't help but turn to glare at Chen Mi.

As it turned out, when Chen Mi awakened the consciousness of the Dao Venerable of the Mountain and Sea World, she feared Chen Xing would settle accounts with her, so she fled into the Chaos and wandered for many years. During those lonely years, she missed her parents and her brother dearly. Out of boredom, she used the energy of Chaos to manifest two little dolls, one resembling Chen Xing and one resembling herself. She fused a drop of her own blood and a drop of Chen Xing’s blood—which she had obtained by chance—into the dolls, giving them a sliver of intelligence to serve as companions to soothe her longing.

However, being a careless person, she accidentally lost the two dolls. She didn't pay them much mind and continued to wander the Chaos until she finally decided to return to the Primordial World. After reuniting with her family, she had long forgotten about the dolls.

She did not know that the two dolls, formed from the energy of Chaos, had accidentally passed through a spatial rift and arrived in this world of *Shrouding the Heavens*. There, they dissolved back into chaotic energy, carrying that sliver of blood and consciousness, and fused into the embryos of the Ruthless Empress and her brother, who were still in their mother's womb.

In truth, the Ruthless Empress and her brother were not biological siblings, but under the influence of that blood, they met by fate and became brother and sister. Unfortunately, the brother died at the hands of others before the blood could fully integrate. After his death, the drop of Chen Xing’s blood, lacking its original intelligence, returned to Chen Xing’s true form.

Some say the Empress was peerless throughout the ages, transcending her mortal origins to achieve the Chaos Body and fighting her way to invincibility. But in the end, it was because she had fused with that drop of Chen Mi’s blood that this peerless Empress was born.

Chen Xing did not want Chu Ningdie to know this. Given her pride, she would never accept that she, like Little Nannan, was merely an appendage of someone else.

Chen Xing sighed inwardly. The Primordial Pagoda within his body vibrated, severing the karma between Chen Mi, Chu Ningdie, and Little Nannan. From this moment on, all three were their own individuals, with no such thing as being an appendage.

Chen Mi, who had been holding the two little ones, suddenly felt the connection between herself and Chu Ningdie vanish. She understood immediately that her brother had intervened. She gave Chen Xing a look of gratitude, walked up to Chu Ningdie, and said softly, "From now on, you are the sister of me and our brother. You no longer have to bear everything alone. If anything happens, let our brother handle it for us!" She then glared at Chen Xing and huffed indignantly, retaliating for the look he had given her earlier.

Chen Xing couldn't help but smile bitterly, saying nothing.

Chu Ningdie nodded and bowed to Chen Mi: "Ningdie greets you, Sister!"

Chen Mi hurriedly placed the two little ones into Chen Xing’s arms and reached out to take Chu Ningdie’s hand, saying, "We are family, no need for such formalities!" She then pulled her aside to whisper.

Seeing that the matter was finally settled, Chen Xing looked at the two little ones in his arms. With a thought, the two little ones slowly opened their eyes.

Upon seeing Chen Xing, little Chen Chen jumped out of his arms, put her hands on her waist, and glared with her little eyes: "Daddy! You are not allowed to hold the little vixen!"

Chen Xing was left bewildered by this nonsensical remark. What did she mean? When had he been holding a little vixen?