Chapter 2322: Returning Things to Their Original Owner

"What are your thoughts?" The Great Emperor Jiuyou usually didn't bother himself with such matters.

"How about Mirror Mountain in western Yaozhou?" Liu Qingdao asked with a smile. "It's rich in resources, and recently, many unruly monsters have emerged from its deep mountains and vast swamps, posing a threat to the people's lives."

"Killing two birds with one stone? Good." The Great Emperor Jiuyou decided. "Then we'll relocate Qixia Sect to Mirror Mountain. With their abilities, it should be easy for them to subdue a few monsters to serve as mountain guardian spirits or refine them into ethereal spirits."

Qixia Sect's first task upon joining Cang Yan was to eliminate the monster menace in Mirror Mountain, Yaozhou, while also establishing their own foothold.

A sect like Qixia, once defeated and brought into submission, would henceforth report directly to Cang Yan. After moving to its new base, it would be responsible for helping maintain local order, vanquishing demons, and also recruiting disciples. Overall, this arrangement would bring more benefits than drawbacks to the region.

He Lingchuan then asked him, "By the way, have you ever heard of 'Earth Mother'? It seems to be a giant monster."

"Earth Mother?" Liu Qingdao, truly a living encyclopedia from ancient times, pondered for a dozen breaths before replying, "That's the overlord of Mute Mountain, residing in the ancient city of Yujing."

"What's the story?"

"Its form is variable, usually appearing as a massive earthen monster, which is why it's called 'Earth Mother.' We don't know its exact age, but it must be very ancient, as it once claimed to have obtained a wisp of genuine primordial essence."

Primordial essence was something even Great Immortals couldn't obtain. The Earth Mother's claim of "genuine" indicated it wasn't acquired through methods like placenta consumption.

"What's its temperament like?"

"It's reclusive, cunning, and greedy by nature, disliking interaction with other immortals and monsters. Even Spirit Mountain invited it, but it refused."

The cultivation world certainly didn't lack reclusive immortals and monsters.

He Lingchuan rubbed his chin. "To be invited by Spirit Mountain, it must not be weak."

"Not just 'not weak'?" Liu Qingdao shook his head. "Anyone who dared to trespass on its territory never returned. As far as we know, it has killed many immortals. In ancient times, there was a notorious immortal thief who had robbed several major immortal sects, even infiltrating the Great Reversion Sect. However, that fellow coveted something in the Earth Mother's treasure vault, and then... there was no 'then'."

"The Earth Mother didn't participate in the Immortal-Demon War, meaning it didn't side with anyone and simply lived its own life. However, towards the end of ancient times, battlefields were everywhere in the human realm, and several major immortal-demon battles erupted near Mute Mountain. As the local power, the Earth Mother gained many advantages. Immortal Venerable Qianhuan once suspected it had devoured the remains of both sides."

Monsters eating monsters, or monsters eating immortals, was commonplace in ancient times. "Its appetite is so good, it can even eat Heavenly Demons?"

To He Lingchuan's knowledge, the general reaction of monsters to the flesh and blood of Heavenly Demons was that it didn't taste good.

Furthermore, lower-level monsters eating the flesh and blood of high-ranking Heavenly Demons often led to mutations and chaos, so they didn't like to try it casually.

"That's why it was a suspicion. Because after that, the Earth Mother's cultivation advanced significantly, and it developed many new divine abilities."

"You said its lair is on Mute Mountain?" He Lingchuan asked again. "I received news that it's now in Shaocheng."

"I only know that for countless years, it remained on Mute Mountain." Liu Qingdao thought for a moment. "A great monster like the Earth Mother should have a way to safely pass through the spiritual energy depletion period, but during that time, all high-level immortals and great monsters kept a low profile."

When spiritual energy declined, powerful beings had to lie low.

"It's fortunate this monster didn't emerge from seclusion on the Glimmering Gold Plain. Otherwise, dealing with it would be several times harder than dealing with Qixia Sect. And the panic it would cause would be far worse, because... it and its subordinates all eat people."

"Man-eating monsters aren't unusual." Many of the monsters that had recently emerged from seclusion on the Glimmering Gold Plain also enjoyed feasting on living humans.

"It's different." Liu Qingdao gave a wry smile. "Ordinary monsters might eat three to five people at most at a time. But when the Earth Mother eats people, it's tens of thousands!"

"Did it become a gluttonous fiend?" Cannibalism was a legacy of the ancient great monsters.

"Not quite, but not far off either," Liu Qingdao replied cautiously.

"I understand." He Lingchuan patted his shoulder. "I'm going into seclusion. You'll have to work hard again during this time."

Liu Qingdao immediately replied, "This is all part of my duty."

After the Qixia Sect interlude, the three spent a little more time clarifying their current affairs, finally able to depart.

But before their departure, He Lingchuan also summoned Old Woman Zhu to the Crimson Sky Golden Palace.

"Are you about to shed your skin again?"

He noticed that Old Woman Zhu had been constantly scratching her belly recently, appearing rather uncomfortable.

The spiritual energy concentration in the world was increasing rapidly, but Old Woman Zhu hadn't seemed to shed her skin in a long time. It wasn't just about shedding due to cultivation regression; a burrowing spider also needed to shed if its shell became too large or too small.

"Ah, yes." Old Woman Zhu admitted, "This shell is too small. I'm preparing to change into a bigger one! But it'll take at least two or three months, so it won't delay our journey!"

She had only kept it to herself because their long journey was imminent, fearing He Lingchuan wouldn't take her along for a fight.

"Has a new shell formed?" If the internal shell wasn't fully grown, the old one couldn't be shed.

"Not yet."

So He Lingchuan said, "I have a gift for you. Did Second Mother mention it to you beforehand?"

"Huh? No," Old Woman Zhu replied, first looking bewildered, then excitedly, "Bring it out, quickly!"

He Lingchuan was already the Great Emperor Jiuyou, so any gift he gave would certainly be extraordinary.

He Lingchuan smiled, turned, and walked towards the back of the hall. "Follow me."

Behind the imperial study was a garden with towering trees.

Old Woman Zhu often passed through this garden, but there was no one there now. However, in the open space ahead, there was a massive figure—

A giant furry spider!

Old Woman Zhu stopped in surprise. "This... this couldn't be?"

This giant spider was over three zhang tall, standing like a small hill. Its body was extremely stout, resembling a crab more than a spider, and each of its bristles was like a long sword.

Most importantly, the more Old Woman Zhu looked at it, the more familiar it seemed.

"This is Second Mother Zhu's largest shed skin, apart from her immortal body." Even the Great Emperor Jiuyou wouldn't touch this giant spider with bare hands. "I took it from the demon lair a long time ago."

Dong Rui, standing nearby, rolled his eyes. "Took it"? How euphemistic; he clearly stole it.

He had also been at the demon lair at that time and witnessed the event personally.

To adapt to the deteriorating spiritual energy environment, Second Mother Zhu had shed her skin multiple times, leaving her cultivation within the shells, forcing herself to become weaker.

She carefully hid all the shed shells deep within the demon lair.

At that time, the divine bone necklace had been fixated on Second Mother Zhu's shed skin. Coincidentally, when the wild boar demon King Siwen and the python demon Lord Boshan attacked Second Mother Zhu's lair, He Lingchuan seized the opportunity to steal her largest spider shell.

Upon returning to her lair and discovering the theft, Second Mother Zhu flew into a rage. She killed Lord Boshan and beat King Siwen half to death, but she couldn't get the shell back.