Chapter 146

Chapter 146: Shen Sheng (4000 words, two-in-one)

Lava Heart Cave.

Zhao Qionman waited for her husband to return.

During these days, Zhao Qionman was constantly in a state of anxiety.

Zhao Qionman often had nightmares, dreaming that her husband died outside and would never come back.

And this kind of dream wasn’t just once or twice—it happened many times. Every time she had such a dream, the ominous premonition in Zhao Qionman’s heart grew stronger.

As time passed, Zhao Qionman’s belly grew larger.

Although the branch master of Black God Sect—Qi Hui—sent some spirit fruits and monster meat every day to nourish Zhao Qionman’s body, and didn’t let her maintain the magic array,

Qi Hui even prepared a personal maidservant for Zhao Qionman to take care of her daily life.

This Qi Hui seemed like a decent person, as if he still had some conscience.

But Zhao Qionman absolutely didn’t think Qi Hui had a change of heart.

Zhao Qionman always hated Qi Hui and didn’t have any change in opinion about him because of her current treatment.

Zhao Qionman knew that Qi Hui treated her well completely because the child in her belly had great value to him.

Qi Hui wanted to see what exactly would happen when her child was born.

Every time she thought about this, Zhao Qionman’s mood became extremely complex.

She didn’t know what her child would face after being born.

Her child might face endless torment, or even be raised into a demon who kills without mercy.

No matter what, her child’s future path would definitely be very difficult, and might even endanger the world.

But Zhao Qionman couldn’t bear to let the child in her belly disappear.

This was the only offspring of herself and Shen Sheng.

When a cultivator enters the Cavern Realm, it becomes very hard to bear children.

This was her only child, possibly her last one…

As time passed day by day, Zhao Qionman’s belly grew bigger.

Zhao Qionman hesitated and struggled every day because of the child in her belly.

One day, Zhao Qionman made up her mind. She didn’t want her child to suffer various pains in the future, nor did she want her child to be raised into a merciless demon.

Thus, in the room, Zhao Qionman set up a magic array that could make the child in her belly leave quietly and painlessly.

Zhao Qionman wouldn’t let her child go alone; she would accompany the child.

If her husband returned and found her gone, he would be freed from this burden…

However, just as Zhao Qionman was about to activate the array, she felt the child in her belly kick her forcefully.

This sudden fetal movement made Zhao Qionman freeze on the spot instantly.

Zhao Qionman felt the existence of this little life for the first time.

“What should I do? What should I do, my child? I’m sorry, mother really doesn’t know what to do. I’m sorry,” Zhao Qionman collapsed on the ground, crying uncontrollably.

All that filled Zhao Qionman’s heart was an overwhelming despair.

At the same time, Qi Hui, who was standing outside the door ready to act, turned around and left.

Qi Hui knew that after this, Zhao Qionman wouldn’t harm the child in her belly anymore.

He could now be completely at ease.

In the blink of an eye, another four months passed.

Zhao Qionman felt something was wrong with her consciousness.

She wanted to attack others, wanted to destroy everything.

She wanted to crush everything into powder!

One day, Zhao Qionman eventually lost her mind and attacked several disciples of the Black God Sect in the Lava Heart Cave.

This incident alarmed Qi Hui.

Qi Hui quickly arrived at the scene and found that Zhao Qionman was like a monster, her eyes blood red.

Finally, Qi Hui stopped Zhao Qionman. To prevent her from further losing control, Qi Hui bound Zhao Qionman with chains.

Special people were assigned to feed her every day.

After this incident, Qi Hui had Zhao Qionman’s spiritual veins and acupoints locked to prevent her spiritual energy from going berserk, which could rupture her meridians and affect the birth of the child.

Eight months had passed since she became pregnant, and Zhao Qionman’s belly was already quite large. Moreover, Zhao Qionman felt that her child might soon meet her.

To ensure Zhao Qionman could give birth smoothly, Qi Hui specially captured several midwives and medical cultivators.

Zhao Qionman spent each day in anxiety.

Qi Hui, on the other hand, patiently waited.

Just as Zhao Qionman had thought, Qi Hui indeed wasn’t the type who would “treat you as a friend, so I didn’t report your pregnancy.”

Qi Hui simply wanted to see what kind of thing would be born from the first human who fused with a monster and a regular woman.

Nine months and one week later, Zhao Qionman’s stomach ached unbearably, and amniotic fluid continuously flowed out from under her.

Two medical cultivators and three mortal midwives helped deliver the baby.

The delivery process was very long, lasting a full day and night.

An ordinary mortal woman would have died from difficult labor long ago.

Fortunately, Zhao Qionman was a cultivator, with much higher endurance than mortal women, and there were medical cultivators using rare treasures to prolong her life.

Qi Hui waited outside for the birth of this child.

“Waaa waaa waaa…”

With a cry, Qi Hui quickly entered the room and immediately checked on the child.

When the child was washed clean, Qi Hui carefully examined it.

It was a little girl, a human.

At least from appearance, it was a human.

But this little girl had a pair of horns on her head, which was the only characteristic of a monster.

After the little girl stopped crying, she slowly opened her eyes. They were blood red, like two red rubies.

So far, this little girl was the one with the least monster characteristics among all the human-monster hybrids Qi Hui had ever seen.

That’s right, she hadn’t undergone any fusion.

She was naturally conceived, with monster blood flowing through her veins.

The little girl looked at Qi Hui.

Qi Hui looked at the little girl.

Their eyes met.

Suddenly, a sentence popped into Qi Hui’s mind—”This is the first and possibly the last life to be born in the Baiwa City branch.”

Qi Hui extended his hand. The medical cultivator hesitated for a moment but carefully placed the little girl in Qi Hui’s arms.

Holding the infant in his arms, Qi Hui felt for the first time how fragile life could be. It seemed that if he exerted even a little force, she would be crushed.

Qi Hui carried the little girl to Zhao Qionman’s bedside.

The extremely weak Zhao Qionman looked at her daughter, gently stroked her, and her eyes were filled with tenderness.

“Take one last look, give her a name. From today onward, she will be a member of the Black God Sect. I’ll take her away and raise her personally,” Qi Hui said to Zhao Qionman.

Zhao Qionman gently caressed her daughter’s cheek. She knew she couldn’t stop him. As a mother, she didn’t know what awaited her child.

“Sheng Sheng, Shen Sheng Sheng…” Zhao Qionman said.

The sound is homophonous with ‘life,’ continuous sounds, unforgettable, and echoes.

“Good.”

Qi Hui picked up Sheng Sheng and turned to leave the room.

“Qi Hui!” Zhao Qionman used her last bit of strength to call his name.

Qi Hui stopped his steps. “What is it?”

“Don’t hurt her, please…” Zhao Qionman pleaded.

Qi Hui ignored Zhao Qionman and walked out of the room with the child.

After giving birth to her child, Zhao Qionman’s mental state didn’t improve much.

Because of carrying Shen Sheng Sheng, Zhao Qionman was affected by the monster bloodline, which was irreversible.

Zhao Qionman would enter a frenzied state at irregular intervals.

Therefore, Qi Hui continued to lock Zhao Qionman with chains.

Zhao Qionman didn’t know if she could recover, nor did she know how she and her husband could take their child away when he returned.

Currently, Sheng Sheng was absolutely a treasure for the Black God Sect, and Qi Hui would absolutely not allow her to be taken away.

Fortunately, Zhao Qionman could see her daughter every few days.

For Zhao Qionman, “waiting for her husband to return” and “being able to visit her child” were her only hopes.

“All I want is to be with my husband and child, to live a simple life. Is it really that difficult?” Zhao Qionman realized that even the simplest happiness of mortals was so far away from her.

Until one day, when the life lamp symbolizing her husband’s life in the Lava Heart Cave was completely extinguished, Zhao Qionman was on the verge of collapse.

“You bastards! Bastards! Bastards!”

Zhao Qionman kept struggling and cursing.

Zhao Qionman didn’t blame the cultivator who killed her husband. For her husband, death might be the best release.

Zhao Qionman hated the Black God Sect!

It was all because of the Black God Sect that she and her husband ended up like this!

It was all because of the Black God Sect that they were separated by life and death!

It was all because of the Black God Sect that her child became like that, and she could only see her child every few days, and could only hold her for less than half an hour each time.

After Shen Sheng died, whenever Qi Hui brought Shen Sheng Sheng to see Zhao Qionman, he no longer let Zhao Qionman hold her.

Who knows if Zhao Qionman would lose her mind and commit suicide with her daughter?

A few more years passed.

Qi Hui watched Shen Sheng Sheng grow day by day.

Compared to ordinary children, Shen Sheng Sheng was more aggressive. Sometimes she really acted like a monster, showing a defensive posture when encountering danger or stimulation.

Due to the influence of the monster bloodline, Shen Sheng Sheng’s intelligence developed slower than that of ordinary mortal children.

But unlike monsters.

Monsters’ intelligence reaches a certain level and then stops, with a low upper limit.

However, Shen Sheng Sheng’s intelligence had no upper limit and gradually increased, albeit slowly.

Given enough time, Shen Sheng Sheng might grow up to be no different from ordinary people.

Qi Hui discovered that besides being able to cultivate like a normal cultivator, Shen Sheng Sheng could also use some monster skills.

What surprised Qi Hui even more was that Shen Sheng Sheng’s monster skills were even stronger than those of ordinary blood bat beasts.

Blood bat beasts are merely ordinary sixth-stage monsters, equivalent in strength to ordinary Cavern Realm cultivators, and cannot spit fire.

Yet, Shen Sheng Sheng could emit black flames.

Qi Hui consulted ancient texts to understand what was happening.

Monsters can evolve.

However, this evolution is not like the regression to ancestral traits of the demon race.

The regression of the demon race occurs through cultivation or through the inheritance of ancient divine beasts, thereby purifying their bloodlines.

Monsters can only inherit the remains of other monsters, such as heart magic cores. Even if their ancestors or parents were powerful monsters, they cannot regress through bloodlines.

They may become somewhat unique and stronger at most.

After evolving, although the wisdom of monsters does not increase, their strength increases significantly.

That blood bat beast likely obtained some strange opportunity and evolved in an unusual direction.

If not, then there is only one possibility—the ancestor of that blood bat beast had the bloodline of a powerful monster, and this bloodline manifested in Shen Sheng Sheng, allowing her to undergo bloodline regression like the demon race.

Currently, according to Qi Hui’s knowledge, there are only three types of monsters that can emit black flames.

One is the ancient dragon, which has disappeared from sight. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be called “ancient.” Whether it is extinct or not is unknown, as the world is vast, and ancient divine beasts occasionally appear. Who can guarantee that dragons are extinct?

One is the meteor king snake, of which there are still a few existing in some secret realms of the world.

The last one is the black flame butterfly.

Qi Hui looked at the girl crawling around on the ground, chasing pebbles to play with, wondering whether he should send her back to the Black God Sect.

The value of this girl was too great. With her contributions, he could already obtain the Black God Sect’s Zi Wu Lotus and attempt to enter the Jade Pudding Realm.

Even in the worst-case scenario, he could become an official of the main headquarters.

As for what treatment the girl would receive after being sent back to the main headquarters, it had nothing to do with him.

“Awwu…”

Just as Qi Hui was making up his mind, the little girl crawled over to Qi Hui.

“What is it?” Qi Hui asked calmly.

Soon Qi Hui realized that this two-year-old girl, unlike other toddlers, couldn’t understand his words.

She couldn’t even speak.

“Die” The little girl uttered a syllable.

“Hmm?” Qi Hui focused.

“Die Daddy” The little girl reached out, holding a lizard in both hands and handed it to Qi Hui.

“What did you just call me?” Qi Hui stared directly at the little girl.

“Die Daddy?” The little girl tilted her head, perhaps not even knowing what the pronunciation meant to her.

“I’m not your die die.”

Qi Hui took the lizard from the little girl.

“Your die die is already dead. I am the one who killed your father.”