Meanwhile, in the upper realm, a certain snow fox was facing a rather similar torture.
The celestial realm"s reach was far and wide. While each realm had its own dominions, rulers and kingdoms, it was an unshakeable truth that the heavens governed over Earth, h.e.l.l, and the Netherworld.
The heaven"s dominion lay not only on itself and opposing realm factions, but on other hundreds and hundreds of worlds across, ancient and newly born.
The upper realm, otherwise known as the land of the G.o.ds, consisted of different worlds governed by separate rulers, all under one leaders.h.i.+p of the royal dragon clan and its leading figure, the jade emperor.
The Jade Emperor sends envoys to monitor the leaders.h.i.+p of different worlds in heaven. Making sure to abide by the realm"s laws and decisions.
The world"s rulers are all prominent clans who excelled above all. Similarly to a caste system, there is structure and balance in the cla.s.ses.
The Sovereign G.o.d acts as the leading ruler of each world. G.o.d"s word was law, not only with the backing and seal of the Jade Emperor but with a sheer difference of power.
The Sovereign Lord G.o.ds stood apart from the ma.s.ses. The measure of their strength was unfathomable.
There was only one exception to their ruling, and that was filial piety.
Even G.o.ds had parents, at least, the ones of the newer generation.
Bai Qingyue was no exception, the all-powerful, domineering Fox Lord with royal bearing and acc.u.mulated cultivation of over a dozen millennia bowed down as he greeted the Celestial Huli Jing"s matron. His own mother, Hong Meigui.
While Bai Qingyue was nominated sovereign lord of the Huli Jing realm, his mother Hong Meigui, who married into the Bai clan took charge and acted as matron ruler within a quick span of a few thousand years.
Except for Bai Qingyue, all cowered before her. Hong Meigui"s reach went far beyond the Huli Jing"s realm. As a G.o.ddess of lower clan ranking who came from the red fox clan and married into the ruling Bai clan, one would either be in awe of her accomplishments in life or find her manipulative and conniving.
But for foxes, to be called manipulative or conniving would be considered praise.
Inside the dark and empty palace halls, with stone walls inlaid with riches and gold beyond one"s wildest imagination, sat a beautiful woman with golden mischievous eyes and a smirk on her lips. In front of her stood a tall, beguiling man who could make mountains crumble and empires fall with a flick of his wrist.
The halls which were almost at all times filled with servants rus.h.i.+ng to and fro now laid barren. The luxurious sights and air of arrogance that were constant in the Bai palace for thousands of years were now void of feeling. It was to be a private family meeting on this moonless night.
All the attendants were dismissed.
Bai Qingyue was reared solely by his mother for as long as he could remember, naturally he bowed in consent to her whims and demands.
It was only until this point which he realized that even filial piety had reached its limit.
A stunningly bewitching man with a gorgeously chiselled face, owning a pair of phoenix eyes which appeared shrewd and calculating bowed his wide shoulder down in front of the ruling matron.
Atop his head twitched a pair of fluffy white fox ears, and from the lowest end of his back sprouted a majestic count of eight large tails in matching colour.
He wore his traditional white robes with the crest of the Bai clan sewn at the back of his robe. A nine-tailed leaping fox.
His silken soft hair lacking any pigment framed his lean yet muscular form like a curtain.
Although his hair covered his features, they couldn"t hide the murderous glare emitting from his golden orbs, his seductively thin lips stretched into a straight, hard line.
"Greetings, mother." His voice was of the coldest frost, lacking any hint of warmth or affectionate emotion.
The matron barked a laugh. The sound echoed in the whole like twinkling silver bells. "Glare all you want, boy. You may rule over others but for your mother, you will always be a declawed little fox cub!" Hong Meigui haughtily replied, her voice sounded young and nearly childish.
As if her son"s anger was just a mere amus.e.m.e.nt to pa.s.s her time.
Hong Meigui, mother of Bai Qingyue was known as one of the most beautiful and alluring women in all of heaven"s realm. She was a vision that would make both men and women alike lose their mind.
Her skin shone like the moon, and her lips were the colour of fresh blood. Hong Meigui"s curvaceous figure lazily sprawled on the throne Bai Lord"s throne. Curly red hair cascaded down her back like a lion"s mane. Nine orange tinted tails with a pointy milky white shade at their tips curled around her hips, with matching coloured ears tilted up.
Even the Jade Emperor once courted her and wanted to take her as a royal concubine, however, it just so happened that Hong Meigui married into the Bai clan, and wedded the Bai clan"s former Lord and sovereign.
"I will not follow through with your plan, and you cannot lock me here forever." Bai Qingyue had no intention to begin this charade. He stopped beating around the bush and went straight to the point.
Hong Meigui rose from her sit in a sudden bout of fury.
Her sheer aura caused Bai Qingyue, who lost half of his life"s cultivation from his lightning tribulation to nearly collapse onto floor and cough blood.
Even as he was about to collapse, he opposed the person he called his own mother. His body fighting her offensive force set to subdue him at every turn.
"You will submit to me, boy!" She haughtily screamed as she heightened the percentage of her strength to topple her unruly cub.
Bai Qingyue would have never fallen from his mother"s powers, having suppressed her strength many centuries ago, but with his weakened condition, she now ruled over him. Both in strength and as a parent.
"I will not marry your maternal clan"s princess. I feel nothing for her." Despite bleeding on the ground and his blood circulating backwards, Bai Qingyue"s voice was serene and tranquil, as if he was seeping warm tea and gazing at the scenery while enjoying the weather.
"Unruly child, you will marry whoever I wish for you to marry. My maternal clan carefully maintained the Red Fox"s princess for you. She has the bearing, ranking and prestige to fit and lead as your consort." Hong Meigui"s voice rang through the halls.
"It is impossible, there"s only one person I can be in this life-" Bai Qingyue struggled through the pressure, his garment shredding from the thickness of the power forcing him to bend. It felt like slices of needles in the air piercing his flesh.
"-and it"s not her." He finished his sentence through the pain.
Although he never received motherly affection from Hong Meigui, throughout all his life Bai Qingyue had always shown the proper respect a child would to his mother. When his father abandoned the clan and his mother took over after his birth, he supported her as he grew older and stood by her side when all the other elder fox G.o.ds within Bai clan frowned upon her as an outsider. When he took the role of sovereign G.o.d, he still allowed his mother to boss everyone else under him.
Certainly, it was a mistake on his part since now she was bossing him around.
Hong Meigui realized force doesn"t crack this iceberg she calls her son and changed her att.i.tude. She collapsed back on the throne, her hand clutching her forehead in exasperation. The pressure in the air ceased.
"Why won"t you listen to your mother? I only want what"s best for you. I prepared this matchmaking in advance since you were a baby." Hong Meigui sounded like a depressed princess who didn"t get to eat her favourite snack for the day.
Bai Qingyue wanted her to understand but knew all too well that she wouldn"t.
There were many fox clans in the Huli Jing realm, but the Bai clan stood apart from the others not only for its leaders.h.i.+p.
The Bai clan"s men and women were plagued with what some would call a blessing, while others would call a curse.
They were unable to be with anyone else but their fated person. The force of a political union between a fox from the Bai clan and another always led to tragedies throughout the aeons of their existence.
This tale spanned to ancient times in the primordial G.o.d realm when the Bai clan was but an insignificant tribe. They were bestowed with the bloodline curse of a fated person. The hex pa.s.sed down throughout all the generations that followed.
The last union between his mother and father was precisely one of those occasions when the clan rebelled the primaeval curse and went for a political marriage. While the Red Fox clan was lesser in terms of prestige, they held vast lands and trade routes with other nations and realms. One could label them as wise businessmen.
The Red Fox clan made a well-known name for themselves and the marriage was advantageous on both ends.
It was advantageous for all the parties involved, except his father.
Bai Qingyue did not have a lot of recollections of his predecessor, but he knew his mother fell for his father early on. It was a fruitless attempt on her part to chase him and force him into marriage with the pressure of the clans because shortly after Bai Qingyue was born, his father vanished. Leaving his weeping mother to harden her heart and lose her wits in grief. She alienated her feelings after having her husband abandon her.
It was a sad fact that Hong Meigui raised Bai Qingyue only for the sake of rearing him as a future sovereign G.o.d, and so, knowing his mother would never understand what her son was going through, Bai Qingyue explained in the simplest of terms he could manage.
"Because I won"t be able to get my thing up with anyone else except her."