After Transmigrating as a Wealthy Woman: Don’t You Dare Touch My Baby! [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 97

The entirety of the scene was captured within a small tortoise shell in the Heavenly Realm (Zhongtian Realm).

A massive beast with the body of a tortoise and the tail of a serpent sat submerged in a jade-green lake. To him, the vast, boundless lake seemed like nothing more than a spacious bathtub. This was the residence of Xuanwu, one of the Four Directional Gods: the Black Tortoise Lake.

“Phoenix, your youngest has already reached her youth phase. She grows so quickly.”

Standing by the lake’s edge, the giant bird with magnificent iridescent wings smiled. “She has found her own serendipity.” However, the Divine Phoenix did not understand how a mere human cultivator had obtained so much Spirit-Soul Grass. Such a plant, born from the concentrated essence of heaven and earth, was rare even in the Heavenly Realm. Yet, that human had fed Jiu Jiu an abundance of it.

“She grows fast, but she has inevitably drawn the greed of other human cultivators,” the Phoenix continued, looking out over the vast, hazy lands below. “Like that cultivator named Qinghe-zi, who fed his inner demons with his own soul and dared to dream of using Jiu Jiu’s flesh and blood to ascend. I had decided that if he successfully reached the Demon Realm, I would manifest a projection of my spirit to the lower realm to make him suffer a fate worse than death. Fortunately, it was a false alarm. Jiu Jiu is safe.”

The Black Tortoise remained motionless. “Reckless. For a God to descend is a catastrophe for the Demon Realm.”

“Brother, your reprimand is just,” the Phoenix replied.

“Phoenix, why have you come here?”

“I am here to inform you that the monster we four gods suppressed in the Heavenly Realm has grown much stronger recently. The creatures on the Phoenix Terrace have already been heavily corrupted by it. We must find a way.”

“Have you spoken with the other two?”

The Phoenix closed her golden eyes and said solemnly, “Brothers Golden Dragon and Qilin believe we should combine the power of the Four Gods to seal off the Cultivation Realm. As long as there are no more ‘Ascenders,’ the monster will cease to grow stronger.”

The Heavenly Realm had always been a forbidden zone for the Immortal and Demon worlds because a monster was suppressed there.

The Four Gods were eternal, existing since the dawn of time. Originally, they lived happily, flourishing with their kin. But one day, their beast-children began to die mysteriously. Legend said they were invaded by “The Mara”—a mass of black mist that existed even before the Four Gods. It was the collective manifestation of all evil thoughts and desires.

It was a common misconception that when a cultivator ascended, their inner demons were struck away by heavenly lightning. In truth, those stripped-away evils gathered in the Heavenly Realm to become part of the Mara. The more people ascended, the stronger the Mara became. Now, even the combined strength of the Four Gods could only barely suppress it.

If the Mara continued to grow, the day would come when the Gods would no longer be its match, and the six realms would face total annihilation.

They had tried to find a savior. The Phoenix had flown across the six realms but found no one. Thus, sealing the Cultivation Realm and cutting off the path to Ascension was the only way. However, this meant the world would stagnate; spiritual energy would dissipate, and the path of cultivation would vanish forever. It was a dead end either way.

“Phoenix, your youngest is still in the Cultivation Realm,” the Black Tortoise asked heavily. “After the seal, how will she return?”

The Phoenix sighed. “Let her stay there.”

“And what of the Golden Dragon and Qilin?”

“After the seal is set, the Upper Three Realms will unite to Slay the Mara.”

The Tortoise paused. “Slay the Mara… can the combined strength of the Immortals, Demons, and the Heavenly Realm truly kill it?”

“We do not seek a total victory,” the Phoenix said, stepping on a wisp of black mist at her feet, crushing it easily. “Even if we must perish with it, we must try. Only if the Mara is destroyed will mortals and cultivators have a future.”

“So, you would rather risk leaving your youngest in the lower realm?”

The Phoenix smiled sadly. “She is still small. She doesn’t need to know all this.”

In the Cultivation Realm, Zhu Xingtong suddenly felt a sharp pang in her chest.

“What’s wrong?” Zhong Ying opened her eyes, looking at the little phoenix sitting close beside her.

“Cub, how long will it take for you to reach the Ascension Stage?”

“What happened?”

Zhu Xingtong bit her lip and looked toward the sky. In the far north, a sphere of light appeared, nearly invisible to the naked eye. She knew what it was.

“A God-level Restriction… the Great Sealing Array,” Zhu Xingtong muttered. “Once the array is complete, no one can communicate with the upper realms or the Heavenly Dao. Ascension will be forbidden. All cultivators will lose their chance forever.”

In the original plot of the book she wrote, this was the final act. The Four Gods would use their essence blood to seal the world to destroy the Mara—the final boss. In the original story, the protagonist, Zhong Ying, was supposed to lead this fight. But why was the plot jumping to the end now? Her “cub” hadn’t even reached Ascension yet; she was only at the Spirit Severing (Hua Shen) stage!

What Zhu Xingtong didn’t know was that her own brush with death had triggered this. To protect her daughter from the greed of the upper realms, the Mama Phoenix had decided to trigger the seal early.

But without a God-level protagonist, the Four Gods couldn’t win. Zhu Xingtong was panicking—she had written the boss to be far too powerful for anyone but a “God-tier” Zhong Ying to defeat.

Suddenly, Zhong Ying heard the System’s voice:

[Force Majeure detected. World line has shifted. Re-evaluating Ultimate Mission difficulty…] [Difficulty: HELL. Evaluation: Host is currently unable to complete the task.] [Note: Favorability with the “Big Boss” (Zhu Xingtong) has reached 100/MAX. System has authorized an early exit. Would the Host like to leave this world without completing the mission ‘Ascend to Godhood’?]

“The reward is 10,000 gold coins. I need that to return to my original world and reverse time,” Zhong Ying thought. She wasn’t one to give up. “Is there any other way?”

[Scanning… To complete the mission, the Host must reach Godhood within one month. Warning: If the Mara consumes this world, your soul will be eroded, and you will never return home.]

Zhong Ying looked at the little phoenix, who had now transformed into her human form. “Zhu Xiaobao, this world is going to be destroyed. The System wants me to leave.”

Zhu Xingtong’s heart sank. Leaving was the safest choice. “Then… what do you think?”

“I don’t want to go,” Zhong Ying said, her eyes burning with intensity as she pulled Xingtong into her arms. “I want to finish this mission so we can go back to our world together. I want to grow old with you. I don’t want to gamble on whether I’ll find you in the next world. I have a feeling… if I leave now, I might never see you again.”

Zhu Xingtong remained silent. She knew this was her last book. There was no “next world” written for them.

“So, what’s the plan?” Xingtong whispered.

“I need my little phoenix,” Zhong Ying smiled, holding her hand. “If we can do this in a month, we go home together. If we can’t… I’ll have the system pull us out at the last second. Deal?”

Zhu Xingtong puffed out her chest. “Fine! This Phoenix can spit out three gold spirit stones at a time now! I’ll make sure you reach Godhood in a month! Now, praise me!”

“You’re the best,” Zhong Ying laughed, leaning in as Xingtong stole a quick kiss.

Zhu Xingtong vowed to herself: I’m the author. No one touches my cub. You want to reach Godhood? I’m a professional at making that happen!