Chapter 3: The Xuan Yue Goddess's Alluring Bearing

The hierarchy of the Divine Revelation Empire was starkly defined. Most who lived within the imperial city were members of the old god clan, and the closer one lived to the temple, the more exalted their status.

As the lowest of the barbarians, Di Zhongguo had done surprisingly well for himself over the years by relying on Elder Niu. He even bought a house on the outskirts of the imperial city. It was a little remote, but it still counted as property within the city.

Night was deepening. Dark, heavy clouds hung low on the horizon, oppressive and stifling, with not a single star in sight. The district’s woods were pitch-black, so dark you could not see your hand in front of your face.

Across that dark and sullen night sky, a slender figure flashed by like moonlight.

As the moonlit trail faded, a pair of delicate jade feet, white as snow and beautifully curved, came to rest silently in the woods without touching the ground. The tiny feet hovered in the air, one stacked lightly over the other like polished white jade.

The owner of those exquisitely carved feet wore a black gauze immortal dress. Her waterfall of black hair fell to her waist, a veil covered half of her small face, and the brows and eyes revealed beneath it were as delicate as a painting. Especially those beautiful eyes, which were utterly bewitching.

The place where she had stopped was a small house with lights still burning inside. Faintly, thick panting drifted from within, sounding like the household’s owner was busy enjoying himself with a woman.

This sacred fairy, who should never have appeared in such a lewd place, listened quietly to the soft moans coming from inside. Her beautiful eyes shimmered with strange light, and beneath the veil her soft pink lips curved into a playful, intoxicating smile.

In the side room of the small house, a strong man with rough bronze skin had pinned down a voluptuous naked woman and was thrusting his huge cock in and out of her with heated vigor, brutally fucking her body.

The heavily made-up woman’s face was flushed with a spring-scented red, her full breasts bouncing wildly with every fierce impact of the bronze body on top of her. The waves of flesh rolled and swayed in a way that was irresistibly seductive, while her bright red lips spilled out her desire without the slightest restraint: “Ah... so good... harder! Oh...”

“Pa-pa-pa...”

The wet, rhythmic slap of the two naked bodies striking together rang out louder and sluttier, neither of them noticing that outside the house stood a peerlessly beautiful and holy goddess, silently watching without any intention of peeping.

“Slut, does my fucking make you feel good or what!” After dozens of forceful thrusts, the sturdy man seemed to run out of stamina and stopped to pant heavily, his thick hands gripping the voluptuous woman’s breasts tightly.

In the flicker of candlelight, the two people enjoying themselves finally revealed their true faces. The man was powerfully built and broad-shouldered, but his skin had the rough, yellowed look of someone worn down by long years of sun and wind. He could not really be called ugly, but his coarse, sallow features made him look sleazy and filthy in this moment.

As for the woman beneath him, with all that heavy makeup on her face, she was clearly a courtesan.

Because this man was none other than Di Zhongguo, the one who had latched himself onto one of the elders of Divine Revelation!

Though Di Zhongguo had hooked himself to a big shot and even held an important post in the army, he was still the descendant of a lowly barbarian. In the military, that was manageable, but the moment he walked into the street, he would be despised and looked down on. Let alone finding a woman to marry and build a family with. If not for the bit of pay he received from the army, he would not have touched a woman’s hand in over thirty years.

Over the years, Di Zhongguo had spent an incalculable amount of money on women of the brothels. This little house in the impoverished mountain backwaters had only been bought because his subordinates saw that he was almost forty and still had no wife, so they scraped together what they could and purchased it for him.

“Baby, let me tell you, I went through the New Moon Baptism today.” During the break, Di Zhongguo brought up the baptism ceremony, and a foolish, lewd smile spread across his old face. “Tsk tsk, the Xuan Yue Goddess really is beautiful. No wonder she’s the most beautiful woman in Divine Revelation. Just standing there in midair made my cock rock hard!”

“Hah!” The courtesan heard Di Zhongguo daring to lust after the clan’s highest and most sacred goddess, and a sneer of ridicule curled at her lips. If she still had not been paid, she would have kicked him out long ago. Playing along, she mocked him with false playfulness. “How could our Goddess be someone like you could covet? In my opinion, you’re only fit to fantasize about her!”

“Heh heh, you’re giving me too much credit. I, Di Zhongguo, am not even worthy of fantasizing about the Goddess. I know that much myself.” With a lewd grin, Di Zhongguo pinched the woman’s full breasts, earning himself a resentful glare. Then he muttered, “Still, to be fair, the Goddess really does have a big chest. Even from so high up, you could still see that proud outline...”

“If I could touch... no, if I could just stand close enough to look at the Goddess’s tits through her clothes, I’d die without regrets!”

The courtesan was already cursing this filthy barbarian in her heart, but for the sake of the money she could only keep pretending to indulge him. She tossed him a coquettish glance and said in a syrupy voice, “You’re disgusting, having what’s in your bowl and still craving what’s in the pot... Are you rested enough? I want more...”

“You slut, I’ll fuck you right now.” Di Zhongguo squeezed her breasts hard, his old face blissed out and lecherous, clearly imagining that the soft flesh in his hands belonged to the sacred Xuan Yue Goddess herself.

Then he wrapped her legs around his waist and was just about to launch into another hard thrust when he caught sight of her little feet curled up beside her. He froze.

He pinched the courtesan’s small foot, and in his mind the floating Xuan Yue Goddess from the New Moon Baptism came back to him. Back then, her luxurious immortal dress had almost completely covered her exquisite holy body, leaving only those white-jade, delicate bare feet exposed.

Di Zhongguo was not of the old god clan, so he had not needed to undergo the New Moon Baptism. He had spent the entire ceremony secretly admiring the Xuan Yue Goddess in the sky. Those exposed jade feet shimmered faintly with moon-white light like the stars in the night sky. From that great distance, he could not make out the finer details, but even from afar, just seeing them had made his blood start to heat up.

Now, looking at this courtesan’s small foot, he only felt a fierce fire ignite in his chest. The foot in his hand was not especially beautiful, yet in his eyes it held endless temptation.

If one looked closely into Di Zhongguo’s pupils, one would actually see a pair of tiny jade feet flashing with a faint moonlit glow!

Seeing him staring blankly while holding her foot, the courtesan could not help but coo, “Dummy, what are you spacing out for? What’s so good about pinching my foot?”

The hazy, illusory jade feet in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by a perfectly ordinary woman’s small foot. Di Zhongguo felt a pang of disappointment, and with a faint note of resentment he said, “The Goddess doesn’t seem to have the habit of wearing shoes. I really want to kneel at her feet and lick the dust off them...”

“The Goddess’s little feet mustn’t get dusty!”

“Didn’t you see how she was floating when she walked? How could she possibly get dust on them?” the courtesan said.

“If they can’t get dusty, isn’t that even better!” Di Zhongguo grew wildly excited. Gently kneading the woman’s little foot, he muttered dreamily, “If I could lick the Goddess’s little feet once, I’d be willing to die for it! Even if it meant going down to the eighteenth level of hell after I died, I’d still be willing!”

The courtesan rolled her eyes. “Didn’t you just say you’d die without regrets if you got to look at her chest? Tch. Men really do abandon the old for the new!”

“That’s not quite right.” Di Zhongguo laughed obscenely. “If I were lucky enough to kneel down, to submit at the Goddess’s feet, that means I’d definitely be very close to her, right? And if I’m that close, how could I not see the Goddess’s chest?”

Di Zhongguo laughed lewdly. “Then I’d sneak a feel of the Goddess’s big tits. Even if she beat me to death, after I got to hell I could still brag to King Yama and piss him off with envy!”

Seeing that Di Zhongguo was endlessly fantasizing about their sacred Xuan Yue Goddess, the courtesan grew impatient and said in annoyance, “Stop talking nonsense. Are you coming or not? If not, I’m leaving.”

“Coming, coming!”

Di Zhongguo shook his head to clear it. What kind of person was the Xuan Yue Goddess? She was the most beautiful goddess in Divine Revelation, and maybe even the entire continent. How could a lowly, worthless barbarian like him possibly lay a hand on her? Forget laying hands on her. Seeing her even once would make his ancestors smoke with pride.

“Hey... how about you pretend to be the Goddess?” Di Zhongguo suddenly said to the woman. Fantasizing about the Xuan Yue Goddess was all fine and good in his head, but since he was not exactly incapable of fucking a woman, wouldn’t it be even better to fuck while fantasizing?

The courtesan’s heavily made-up face turned cold at once. “Get lost! The Goddess cannot be defiled!”

Di Zhongguo hurriedly forced a smile. “Don’t be like that. We’re just pretending a little, to make things more interesting.”

The courtesan did not hesitate at all. She said very seriously, “The Goddess is the spiritual leader of our god clan!”

The Xuan Yue Goddess was an indispensable spiritual leader of the old god clan. Even if the clan no longer needed the New Moon Baptism to continue life, she was still the sacred and inviolable goddess of the Divine Revelation Empire, a being no one was allowed to profane. Every clansman had to maintain the proper reverence toward her!

“In that case... that’ll cost extra!”

The courtesan said flatly. She was not an old god clan member anyway.

Di Zhongguo immediately beamed with delight and pounced on the courtesan like a hungry wolf, seizing her full breasts and kneading them hard. With every squeeze, he seemed to imagine that the soft flesh in his palms belonged to the sacred, untouchable Xuan Yue Goddess...

Before long, the room was filled with the woman’s wanton cries and with Di Zhongguo calling out Goddess this and Goddess that without pause.

Their bodies tangled, thunder and rain, then the storm faded...

Half an hour later, the courtesan took her money, swayed her slutty, snake-like waist, and walked outside. Before leaving, she even looked back to toss Di Zhongguo a coy glance, signaling that they could do roleplay again next time.

“Damn, I’m broke again. How am I supposed to get through this month?”

Di Zhongguo touched his empty pockets and resented himself for agreeing to the extra charge. After seeing the woman out, he had only just stepped back inside and not yet closed the door when his eyes suddenly widened.

There, in the redwood chair in the main hall, sat a woman in a black gauze dress, her figure bewitchingly sexy!

Even though she wore a veil, Di Zhongguo still recognized her by the dreamy moonlight radiating from her alluring body.

He dropped to his knees with a thud, his lips trembling as he respectfully said, “Goddess...”

Cold sweat the size of beans broke out on Di Zhongguo’s forehead. He did not even dare breathe too hard. He could not understand why the sacred and noble Xuan Yue Goddess would suddenly appear in his home, and he did not dare ask.

Thinking of all those lewd words he had just said about her, he grew even more uneasy. His knees on the floor had already started to tremble.

The Xuan Yue Goddess watched his terrified expression, her soft pink lips curving faintly. She let his legs on the ground shake uncontrollably until a bead of sweat the size of a bean fell from his forehead onto the floor, and only then did she lazily part her red lips. “General Di really is quite fierce~”

Just that brief sentence contained a mountain of hidden meaning, and it struck Di Zhongguo down like a thunderbolt from heaven.

Di Zhongguo collapsed fully to the floor, his back soaked through with cold sweat. He stammered, “G... G... G...” so badly that he could not even manage a complete sentence, let alone address the Xuan Yue Goddess properly.

Seeing this, the Xuan Yue Goddess almost regretted coming here. But since she was already here...

With her beautiful eyes flickering, she murmured, “Why is General Di trembling so much? If outsiders found out that one of my Divine Revelation generals is a coward, wouldn’t they laugh their heads off?”

“And besides, didn’t General Di just say that seeing me even once would let him die without regrets?”

“I’m here.”

It would have been one thing if the Xuan Yue Goddess had not said it. Once she did, Di Zhongguo only felt that the goddess’s gentle, pleasant voice was filled with killing intent. It was the first time in his life he had ever felt such terror.

Fine! If he was going to die anyway, what was the harm in looking once before he died!

Di Zhongguo steeled himself and slightly lifted his head, intending to look upon the goddess’s face before his death. His mouth opened on instinct. “This general deserves ten thousand deaths. I beg the Goddess to punis...”

His words cut off abruptly, and his strong body trembled almost imperceptibly. The reason was simple: the instant he lifted his head, his eyes caught a fleeting glimpse.

Just one look, and Di Zhongguo could no longer tear his gaze away. All fear in his heart vanished, leaving behind only one thought.

Beautiful... so beautiful...

This was absolutely the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life, a beauty so unreal, so dreamlike, it made people sink into her without even realizing it.

At that moment, Di Zhongguo felt that even the flowers in the world, even the fairies painted in scrolls, would all lose their brilliance before the Xuan Yue Goddess.

She sat elegantly in her black dress on the redwood chair. The flickering candlelight cast red glows from the wood, scattered and wavering across her black gown and across that peerless face, white as snow and jade.

At that moment, she was like a poppy blooming in the dark of night, with a power that could seize a person’s soul.

And Di Zhongguo, as though he had accidentally swallowed that gorgeous and poisonous poppy, felt his heart pounding violently. That single word, “punish,” got stuck in his throat, while the tense, shaking flesh of his face gradually twisted into a dazed, lecherous expression.

Di Zhongguo lowered his gaze slightly, intending to glimpse the slender bare feet that had once stirred his heart so violently, only to first catch sight of the beautiful leg the Xuan Yue Goddess had crossed over the other. His excitement cooled by half in an instant.

He let out a long breath and sighed, “My wish has already been fulfilled. I’ll cut my own throat now and die to atone.”

With that, Di Zhongguo even made a show of raising his palm toward his own crown.

The Xuan Yue Goddess suddenly said, “You’re already ready to die to atone?”

Di Zhongguo was stunned. His raised palm froze above his head. Hearing the implication in the goddess’s words, it was obvious she already knew what he had said and done, and he could not quite read her intentions.

After a brief hesitation, Di Zhongguo said in a low voice, “This general has already committed a crime so grave that only death can restore your innocence, Goddess.”

“Innocence?” The Xuan Yue Goddess’s red lips curled into a cold smile. She extended a snow-white jade hand and made a curling gesture with one finger, her eyes half-lidded. “General Di, the way you say that makes it sound as though you’ve already defiled my innocence.”

“Uh...” Di Zhongguo was momentarily at a loss for words.

Seeing the cowardly, trembling look on Di Zhongguo’s face, the Xuan Yue Goddess felt a trace of regret. She had thought this man might prove useful, but he was nothing more than a mere brute.

Just as she was preparing to rise and leave, she heard Di Zhongguo’s voice, and a strange glint flashed through her beautiful eyes.

“Goddess, you came here at night. Is there something you need me to do?” Di Zhongguo stood up and took a half-kneeling posture. Only now did he actually resemble a general.

As a barbarian who had managed to thrive in the military camp, Di Zhongguo at least had some sense. The sacred and noble Goddess had just finished her New Moon Baptism, and yet she had come to his residence after nightfall. She must have had something to instruct him to do.

And the fact that the Goddess had heard his filthy words without flying into a rage was proof enough.

Besides, even if this was only his own guess, he could use the excuse to keep talking and draw closer to the Xuan Yue Goddess. When the punishment finally came down, he could still fight for his lifelong wish and at least touch the goddess’s delicate, jade-like bare feet before he died, so that he would have something to brag about to King Yama afterward.

Di Zhongguo’s abrupt change in attitude did not improve the Xuan Yue Goddess’s impression of him, but since she was already here, having another layer of preparation was not a bad thing.

In her clear, pleasant voice, the Xuan Yue Goddess said lazily, “I need you to do one thing for me. Do it well, and I’ll spare your life.”

Hearing that, the heavy stone pressing on Di Zhongguo’s heart finally lifted. He hurriedly said reverently, “This general will go all out! Please give your orders, Goddess.”

“This matter is not urgent. Stay at home these next two days and wait. I will send someone over then. I do not want anyone to know about this!”

“Yes! This general obeys the Goddess’s...” Di Zhongguo had not yet finished pledging loyalty when a fragrant breeze suddenly brushed past his face.

By the time he came back to himself, the Xuan Yue Goddess was already gone, and the room had fallen empty.

Di Zhongguo let out a long breath of relief.

...

After leaving, the Xuan Yue Goddess did not return directly to the Moon Temple. Instead, she circled above Di Zhongguo’s small house, her black dress blending perfectly into the night sky.

Right now, the Star God Emperor had sent his imperial guard to besiege Lin Qingyun. It was not that she had no confidence in her husband, but rather that she feared that with so many attackers, their child Lin Jinyu might be accidentally injured in the fighting.

Earlier, during the New Moon ritual, the barbarian in the crowd had come into her line of sight. As everyone knew, the Divine Revelation Empire had been built on the slaughter of the native people.

And yet Di Zhongguo, as a barbarian, not only bore no hatred toward the Divine Revelation Empire, he had even become one of its soldiers, handling matters related to the barbarian tribes on the frontier. That alone was enough to make the Xuan Yue Goddess take notice.

She had come in the dead of night for two reasons.

First, to test Di Zhongguo’s cultivation. If his cultivation was passable, she would have him secretly go rescue Lin Qingyun.

With Di Zhongguo’s identity as a barbarian, even if the Star God Emperor noticed, he would suspect some western barbarian tribe had done it, and would not trace it back to her.

Second, to test Di Zhongguo’s attitude toward the Divine Revelation Empire...

She had not expected to arrive at such an inopportune time, only to catch Di Zhongguo enjoying himself with a woman and even hear his obscene fantasies about her.

That, however, was not necessarily a bad thing.

What the Xuan Yue Goddess was planning was not simply to rescue Lin Qingyun. Anyone could go save a person, but that would only treat the symptoms, not the root cause.

Only by overthrowing the dynasty founded by the Star God Emperor could she remain with Lin Qingyun for the rest of her life.

Killing the Star God Emperor was actually not difficult. They could simply join forces with other cultivators at the tribulation-crossing stage to surround and eliminate him. The hard part was overthrowing the regime headed by the Star God Emperor and changing the people’s beliefs.

If you walked down any street in Divine Revelation and grabbed a random person, they would say that the Star God Emperor and the Xuan Yue Goddess were fated lovers. Kill one Star God Emperor, and another successor would rise, while the Xuan Yue Goddess existed only as one and only one. In the end, she would still be unable to escape being morally blackmailed by the people of Divine Revelation.

The old god clan could live without the Star God Emperor, but it could not live without her, the Xuan Yue Goddess. Yet she had no desire to manage a nation, so the ideal outcome was naturally to kill the Star God Emperor and let Lin Qingyun take control of the dynasty, after which the only remaining task would be guiding public sentiment.

Guiding public sentiment was also very easy. The system established by the Star God Emperor was one of violent suppression, where everything was settled by force.

But he had overlooked the fact that the old god clan numbered only a few million. Under the Star God Emperor’s iron rule, the clansmen lived in luxury and comfort, so naturally they did not pay much attention to cultivation. Their overall strength was only enough to suppress barbarian tribes.

Once the people of the Heavenly Mandate human race made their move, the Divine Revelation Empire would be in danger.

The Xuan Yue Goddess’s strategy could also be called a national strategy. First, she would secretly support certain barbarian tribes and help them develop. Then, once the Star God Emperor was slain, the Divine Revelation Empire would enter a brief period with no clear leader.

At that time, the barbarian tribes could begin to challenge the empire and stir up conflict, thereby igniting the fighting spirit of the old god clan’s people and naturally guiding public sentiment.

This plan used the entire old god clan and would also spill the old god clan’s blood, but for a better future for the clan, some sacrifice could not be avoided.

The long-term comfort provided under the Star God Emperor’s rule was simply not conducive to future development.

So what the Xuan Yue Goddess wanted was not merely to let her husband stand in the light with a legitimate claim.

By supporting the barbarian tribes in secret, she would also bring them better development. That meant they needed one of their own, and Di Zhongguo, as a barbarian with fairly strong cultivation and skill, was clearly the best candidate, though not the only one.

Toppling the dynasty established by the Star God Emperor was not something that could be done overnight. Before that day came, the Xuanyue Goddess cared far more about keeping her husband and child safe, which was why she paid a visit in the dead of night to see whether Di Zhonggu could become one of her pawns.

For now, the Xuanyue Goddess was fairly satisfied with Di Zhonggu's performance, and he had a real chance of becoming her pawn.