Although somewhat surprised.
He remained fearless.
Let alone that the Immortal Mansion had long been refined by him.
Even if it hadn't been, with his cultivation, he wouldn't fear a Level Nine Demon Emperor.
Even if the seventh layer of the Immortal Mansion held demon race powerhouses.
With his strength, he could suppress them.
Demonic energy surged forward.
But before it could leak out, it was blocked by the immortal energy emanating from Chen Nan.
At the same time.
He entered the seventh layer of the Immortal Mansion.
This layer was much smaller than the sixth.
In the center, a burly old man in a black robe sat cross-legged.
He looked listless and very weak.
However.
Chen Nan sensed the aura of a Zhuyuan Pill on him.
"Why did you eat the pill I refined?"
Chen Nan was bewildered.
The old man weakly said, "Only by giving this divine pill to this old man can I help you open the gate to the seventh layer of the Tongtian Tower."
Chen Nan: "So, you are the gatekeeper here?"
"Yes."
Chen Nan was surprised; he hadn't expected a gatekeeper on the seventh layer.
He was very curious how long the old man had lived here.
The old man waved his right hand.
A black wooden box appeared before Chen Nan.
It was sealed.
"This is what you want," the old man said, then closed his eyes to recover his cultivation. "A drop of blood will break the seal."
Chen Nan broke the seal.
Upon opening the wooden box.
An ancient goatskin scroll appeared. When unrolled, ancient text met his eyes.
He had seen this script in the True Dragon Treasury of Yan Country and could understand it.
The content of the goatskin scroll was simple.
It was related to the collapse of the Heavenly Court.
The Heavenly Court collapsed, and order disintegrated.
A sage, to protect Earth, created eighteen small worlds on it.
And then, eighteen divine talismans were cast within these eighteen small worlds.
These were to reinforce Earth's defenses.
These eighteen divine talismans were refined by a sage.
Obtaining a divine talisman would allow one to comprehend the laws of a sage and become a sage.
Upon reading this.
Chen Nan's skin crawled.
He transmitted his soul to Qing Long: "Long Long, is what's written here true?"
"Can one become a sage by obtaining those eighteen divine talismans?"
"Indeed," Qing Long replied. "When I was severely injured, I was escorted by a sage to the ninth small world."
"Besides me, there was also a Life Talisman."
"That Life Talisman is now in your hand, it is Ye Hongyi from back then."
"If you refine the Life Talisman, you can comprehend the Great Dao of Life."
"However, is it necessary to do so?"
"You already control four laws. As long as you cultivate them to the extreme, you can become a sage."
Chen Nan felt like crying.
Back then.
He had obtained two divine talismans!
Though one was used to suppress the passage of the demon race.
Thinking of this.
His heart felt like it was bleeding.
Even though he didn't need to rely on divine talismans to become a sage himself.
He could have gifted them to his loved ones!!!
However.
This news was also very important to him.
There were still sixteen divine talismans on Earth.
After dealing with the Human Emperor, he had to return to Earth no matter what.
To obtain those sixteen divine talismans.
"This is bad, the Empress seems to be failing," Qing Long's voice was grave.
Chen Nan frowned.
A sense of displeasure arose in his heart.
He didn't like the Empress.
But the Empress was, after all, the mother of his child.
If she died.
Wouldn't his daughter become a child of a single-parent family?
Without further thought.
He immediately left the Immortal Mansion with Nie Yao.
Just as he pushed the door open, preparing to go to the Empress's chambers, Ling Yanran ran over in a panic: "Brother-in-law, sister is bleeding uncontrollably, please hurry and save her."
Entering the Empress's chambers, he saw her sitting cross-legged on the Phoenix bed.
Her complexion was sallow, and there was a trace of blood at the corner of her mouth.
Her cultivation, which was originally at Level Seven Immortal Emperor,
had now dropped to Level Five Immortal Emperor.
And it was still declining.
"There's no hope," Qing Long sighed. "The Empress, fearing she had harmed the fetus by clashing with the demon race powerhouse, cut her own cultivation to give birth prematurely. This itself injured her foundation."
"Not to mention her laws being shattered during the previous fight with that Demon Emperor, it's like adding frost to snow."
"Ask her if she has any last wishes."
Qing Long's words made Chen Nan's face turn ashen.
He disliked the Empress.
He only hated her.
But she had given him a daughter.
They already had an unbreakable bond.
He didn't want to see the Empress die.
He didn't want his daughter to be motherless.
"I'm sorry... I don't have milk, so I had someone find a wet nurse." The Empress looked at the wet nurse feeding the baby in the distance, her eyes full of self-reproach.
As a mother, she had no milk.
She had to rely on others to help feed the baby.
She felt so inadequate.
She weakly said, "I'm not going to make it. Before I die, I hope you will name our daughter."
"If there's an afterlife, I'll be able to find her."
Chen Nan: "Let's name her Chen Nian."
"Nian, as in 'missing'? That's a good name," the Empress managed a weak smile, and a bit of blood flowed from her mouth.
Her cultivation had dropped to Level Four Immortal Emperor.
Once it fell to the True Immortal realm, she would be consumed by the Yin Extreme Law.
This was the greatest drawback of mastering laws.
If one didn't master laws, even falling to the True Immortal realm wouldn't endanger their life.
"I know."
"You won't accept my apology now."
"But... I still want to say sorry."
"I don't know why I acted like that towards you in the Land of Creation."
"After returning, I thought about it for a long time."
"Was that woman really me?"
"Why did I do such a thing?"
She wore a bitter smile, full of self-reproach.
"Then, one day, I had a sudden realization."
"I understood why I had done such a thing to you."
"Although... you'll be angry when I say it."
"But I'm about to die, you should forgive me, right?"
"I am the aloof Empress."
"To maintain the Empress's dignity, I had to act high and mighty."
"As a result, I had no friends."
"All I had was the power to control the lives and deaths of all beings."
"But this power couldn't bring me happiness or joy."
"It wasn't until I met you that I understood that a person could experience joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness all at once."
"It was precisely because of this that I acted out of character and hurt you."
"However..."
"It's meaningless to say this now."
"I only hope that after I die, you will take good care of Niannian as she grows up."
"If she asks about me... I hope you can embellish our story."
"Wah..."
The infant in the swaddling clothes seemed to sense something.
And let out a loud cry.
Chen Nan gritted his teeth and said, "Why should our child be raised by me alone?"
"I once swore."
"That one day, I would repay you a hundredfold for what you did to me."
"If you think death can escape due punishment."
"Then I advise you to give up that idea!"
As he spoke.
The Life Talisman appeared in his hand.
And was directly infused into the Empress's body!