Chapter 88 Will he let those two children go?

"It's just that the priest didn't expect that even so, he could still gather a clone through a wisp of remaining spiritual consciousness... This is the priest's fault and has nothing to do with Xiaoqing."

"The priest will ask to go to the Ninth Heaven to explain the reason to the Heavenly Dao and will not let Xiaoqing be punished."

Shang Youqing slowly closed his eyes, the corners of his dry and cold lips twitched slightly, and he spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Father, you don't have to take all the blame for me. I devoured the killing barrier myself, and I gave him the amulet containing spiritual energy. And... those two children, I wanted to give birth to them myself..."

The priest frowned. "But you didn't know his true identity before."

"Yes," Shang Youqing chuckled. "I was so foolish."

She felt the chill seep into her skin again, so cold that she had to slowly hug her thin knees and legs. With lowered eyes, she asked, "Ever since I was cultivating in Wutong Mountain, his spiritual consciousness has been targeting me, right?"

"Xiaoqing,"

Shang Youqing chuckled, burying her face between her knees. Her shoulders twitched slightly as she asked in a suppressed voice, "If, I mean, if I can atone for my sins and kill him, will Heaven spare those two children?"

The priest remained silent, not immediately answering.

Shang Youqing found it difficult to speak, but what could she do?

Those were the two little phoenix babies she had conceived and given birth to. No matter

how much pain and hatred she felt, she couldn't bear to do that to her own flesh and blood.

Shang Youqing clenched his fingertips, the tears on his face soaked his knees and legs, and his cold voice trembled even more, "What about me, I don't want the child anymore. Can God forgive the child?"

The priest sighed and said.

"Now that Ying Shixue's clone has returned to his original form, those two... their dragon vein genes will also be awakened. Furthermore, they carry your divine bloodline, making them even more likely to become gods in the future than Ying Shixue himself. The Heavenly Dao will never tolerate them, much less allow them to grow up."

The priest spoke, slowly stepping forward and placing his hand on Shang Youqing's head, gently patting him. "More importantly, Ying Shixue is no longer the same Ying Shixue he once was. He's even more difficult to kill now than he was then. Besides, the sea is the most vast territory in this world, and no one knows where he might be hiding now."

"Xiaoqing, the priest simply asks you to recuperate well in Kunlun Mountain. I'll take care of the rest."

Shang Youqing's emotions gradually calmed down after hearing this. She slowly released his hand, calmly wiped the tears from her cheeks, and took a deep breath. When she raised her face again, her expression had returned to its calm state, save for some redness around her eyes.

She looked at the priest, her voice still hoarse, but her refusal was clear.

"No, Father, I'll go to the Nine Heavens to receive my punishment myself."

"Xiaoqing—"

"Of course I know the Father is reluctant to see me punished. I was still a child when the Father left, so in his heart, I was probably just a little phoenix in need of protection. But I'm grown up now, and I don't want to hide behind the Father."

Shang Youqing straightened her clothes and got down from the couch, her expression becoming even more calm and indifferent. "I was the culprit who caused him to escape from Kunlun Mountain. I have nothing to be ashamed of."

The Father couldn't stop Shang Youqing's desire to go to the Nine Heavens and wanted to take her there himself, but Shang Youqing refused again.

She knew that if the Father went with her, he would definitely plead for her, but she didn't want to implicate him.

After a moment of silence, the Father, facing Shang Youqing's resolute attitude, pulled a bottle of elixir from his sleeve and handed it to her, saying,

"Let Cheng Huang accompany you."

During the years the Father had been asleep, Cheng Huang had been stationed at the Kunlun Mountain Temple, following only the Father's orders.

Summoned by the priest, Cheng Huang transformed into a divine beast, allowing Shang Youqing, whose tail feathers had been severed and whose flight had yet to be restored, to ride on it to the Ninth Heaven.

The priest watched Shang Youqing's retreat from the Kunlun Mountains, but he couldn't truly sit idly by as he had promised.

He paused for a long moment at the Snow Mountain Temple, finally concealing his true form and following.

"

Phoenix, you look deeply saddened."

On the way to the Ninth Heaven, Cheng Huang occasionally turned his fox-like head and saw Shang Youqing sitting quietly on it, her gaze occasionally wandering into the heavens.

Unable to bear it any longer, he spoke to her.

Shang Youqing gently grasped the two symmetrical half-moon horns on the back of its head, still absentminded, "Really?"

"Yes... When you were little, whenever the priest went down to the mortal world on business and had no time to play with you, it was always me who accompanied you everywhere. Back then, every time you went to the flower realm of the Ninth Heaven, you were so happy that you insisted on picking a few flowers to bring back to the priest. But I just took you over the flower realm, and you didn't even look at it, you were still in a daze."

Shang Youqing listened to Cheng Huang's words and couldn't help but recall some of the past. Then he slowly lowered his cheek, hugged Cheng Huang's furry head, and whispered.

"Cheng Huang, I made a mistake."

Cheng Huang asked curiously, "Was it a serious mistake?"

"Yes."

"Then you should admit your mistake to the Heavenly Dao. The Heavenly Dao is not unreasonable."

Shang Youqing didn't say "good" or "no", but simply fell silent again.

Cheng Huang escorted her to the Nine Heavens' Spiritual Gate of Order and patted her head. "Go, go. Cheng Huang will wait for you here."

The Spiritual Gate's thousands of steps couldn't be climbed by air, so Shang Youqing had to climb them step by step.

Perhaps because her tail feathers had been broken, Shang Youqing felt a sharp pain in her ankles with each step, as if bones had cracked.

Each step was difficult, yet she showed no sign of stopping.

Halfway up the stairs, her ankles, beneath her sleeves, were bleeding from the white flesh and bones, dragging behind her on the steps, inch by inch, like blood lotuses.

Shang Youqing's will remained calm, and she finally reached the sacred tree outside the Spiritual Gate.

Kneeling beneath the tree, she confessed all her sins.

She knew that the energy in the tree's roots would convey the way of heaven to her.

Shang Youqing knelt there for days and nights.

During this period, the nine-day cold current was like a dense mass of blades that penetrated every pore of her body. She could not resist it, but she knelt upright all the time.

Her body was supported almost entirely by her spiritual consciousness.

Therefore, she did not know which day it was.

The sacred tree that had been standing motionless in front of the spiritual gate finally slowly dropped a golden leaf.

At the same time, a sacred, long voice without ups and downs echoed at the high spiritual gate.

"Phoenix, the fault that caused Ying Shixue to flee Kunlun Mountain is not entirely yours."

"But you - you should never have given birth to those two evil creatures."