Chapter 460: Chu Bamboo: ? Nuwa, What Do You Mean the Celestial Court God Is My Child's Mother?

“You don’t know…” Nuwa’s voice turned cold again. Then, as if she realized something, she paused.

“Speak!” Chu Bamboo suppressed the turmoil in his heart, his tone clipped.

Nuwa’s one good eye flickered, still seemingly torn with hesitation. But her mouth, completely out of her control, ignored the struggle in her eye and spoke: “He who bears the filth of the nation is worthy to be called its sovereign.”

Chu Bamboo’s brow twitched as he calmly processed this. ‘This sentence comes from Chapter 78 of the *Tao Te Ching*. It means that only one who can bear the nation’s humiliation is fit to be its monarch. It embodies the sense of duty and magnanimity a leader should possess… But clearly, what Nuwa means here is—’

“This is the grand ritual established by your *other* good son, King Wen of Chu!” Nuwa said unhurriedly.

‘King Wen of Chu… the founding monarch of the Great Chu… So he’s also my so— The hell he is!’ Chu Bamboo thought.

Can someone please explain what’s going on? Chu Bamboo truly couldn’t keep his composure this time.

Nuwa paused to organize her thoughts. “It channels the world’s pollution, which is then borne by the Emperor… The stronger the Emperor’s cultivation, the more pollution he can bear! The world, in turn, becomes more stable… Of course, this means the Emperor himself suffers immense pain and may even make foolish decisions in his old age…”

The eyelid on Nuwa’s one good eye drooped, as if it had given up the struggle. Her voice now held a hint of reckless abandon.

“If I’m not mistaken, King Wen, King You, Emperor Che Shi, and… Su Zheng—the one who reconquered and unified the entire world, standardizing weights, measures, and the written script—were all existences of extreme power…”

“With the exception of Su Zheng. On the verge of succumbing to senility… he made a decisive choice to abdicate in favor of a worthy successor and venture beyond the stars… As for the others, they all basically… King You even directly ruined his entire nation because of it.”

Chu Bamboo stood stunned for a long time before finally letting out a laugh of release. But his laughter was tinged with so many emotions: surprise, bewilderment, and a dazed sense of unreality.

“This is truly… beyond anything I could have imagined!”

Nuwa gazed calmly at Chu Bamboo. “Since you weren’t prepared… things are about to get very difficult.”

Chu Bamboo closed his eyes, silent for a long, long time. He finally managed to sort through his chaotic thoughts.

“…So, is that the real reason that unworthy descendant, Su Po, doesn’t cultivate?” Chu Bamboo shot back. He recalled seeing Su Po tied to Su Buqun’s back as they fled and realizing… ‘That guy might actually just be a mortal.’

He’d been wondering about it! Now, he felt like everything was starting to make sense.

“Yes!” Nuwa nodded. “As a mortal, the pollution naturally isn’t channeled into him… In fact, because of this trait, a Mortal Emperor is effectively immune to the pollution…”

“Huh?”

“It’s simple. The pollution that would have gone to the Mortal Emperor… flows into the nation instead, to be shouldered by the entire populace.”

Chu Bamboo: “…”

‘This is absolutely insane,’ Chu Bamboo thought.

‘No wonder Su Po seemed to know everything, even though he never cultivated…’

“Are there also measures in place to protect a Mortal Emperor from being killed by a Transcendent…?” Chu Bamboo asked, his expression blank.

“There are…” Nuwa considered. “This was also part of King Wen’s design… Any Transcendent who disrespects the Mortal Emperor will have their pollution deepen… Of course, this only applies to disrespect shown to the Emperor’s face. Simply complaining in private has no effect…”

“If one dares to directly attack or harm the Emperor… well, that goes without saying… And if one kills the Emperor… any being who has not yet achieved godhood will almost certainly lose control!”

“…Fine! That’s not important right now.” Chu Bamboo rubbed his throbbing temples, struggling to get the conversation back on track. “So… explain to me just what is going on with these two ‘convenient’ sons of mine?!”

‘Wait… was it some kind of cryogenics? Did they freeze my children and send them to the future? But if they really had that tech, why didn’t Lin Xin Bamboo just set up some “support the future” initiative? Package up a bunch of us transmigrators from the past and send us all to the future to reboot civilization? Instead, she just throws my two sons over… What the hell is wrong with her…’

“Sperm and egg synthesis!” Nuwa’s cold words were like a bucket of cold water dumped on Chu Bamboo, the realization dawning on him belatedly.

‘That’s right. Since they had my reproductive cells, that means the Royal Families of both the Great Chu and Daqian… are my descendants! The source of both bloodlines would naturally trace back to a child synthesized directly from those cells.’

‘I just never imagined…’

“…Nuwa, you’re a ruthless one,” Chu Bamboo said, his voice laced with the sound of grinding teeth. His feelings at that moment were a chaotic mess.

He was finally starting to piece things together… ‘Nuwa clearly used my sons as tools to suppress the chaos!’

‘What were the circumstances surrounding the Great Chu Dynasty? It was founded during the collapse of the Celestial Court… a time when all order had broken down!’

A profound look entered Chu Bamboo’s eyes. ‘According to the history books I’ve read, if the age of the Celestial Court was the age of myth, then the Great Chu existed in the transition from myth to the Mortal World.’

‘Even though the myths were full of superstitious nonsense… now that I know the truth, I can read them, work backward, and still glean a lot of key information—’

‘King Wen of Chu had it incredibly hard. He faced masses of common people who had nothing but faith, with little culture or strength… At the time, there were even large numbers of savages…’

‘He faced the Ten Thousand Races, who, after the collapse of the Celestial Court, tried to launch a counter-offensive, retake the world, and turn humanity back into a food source!’

‘He rose from the ruins, inherited the legacy of Nuwa’s First Base, quelled the chaos, and established various Vassal States, creating the foundational system of the Human Race’s feudal hierarchy! He became King Wen of Chu, the Emperor of Chu revered by all the Dukes…’

‘And as for Daqian, the situation was even more telling!’

‘King Chu You was a tyrant. He forced the Dukes to send all their primary heirs to his palace, even turning these heirs into his personal harem… He frequently made outrageous declarations, claiming they were all one big family and that the Vassal States should be unified under his direct rule—’

‘The Dukes were pushed to their limits. Some even allied with the Northern Barbarian Race, allowing them past the border, which led to the rise of the Alien Race’s regime, the Da Che.’

‘Though the Da Che ruled for less than a century, the culture of the entire land was nearly wiped out… and its bloodlines were corrupted! The firstborn child of every married woman was required to be a descendant of a member of the Twenty-four Banners…’

‘This even led to the rise of a tradition: killing the firstborn, just to ensure their own bloodline’s purity!’

‘The Grand Ancestor Emperor of Daqian, wielding his Three-foot Sword, swept across the land and pacified the realm in a mere six or seven years. He standardized the weights, measures, and the written script, establishing the first truly unified nation. His accomplishments are too magnificent to describe in words…’

‘He left behind a single, enduring assessment: “Of all nations founded since ancient times, none possesses greater legitimacy than Daqian!”‘

‘Those two…’

“…Alright.” Chu Bamboo rubbed his brow. “Can you tell me who the mothers of these two children were… no, I mean the source of the ova! Or were they just chosen at random?”

Chu Bamboo had only been asking casually, but he was stunned to find that Nuwa had actually fallen silent.

“?” Chu Bamboo’s gaze sharpened.

“…The mother of the first child is Guan Qianyu!” Nuwa suddenly blurted out.

Ripples stirred in Chu Bamboo’s heart, but he wasn’t overly surprised. ‘After all, we were husband and wife in one life, maybe even several… A biology genius my good brother so admired! It’s even possible this Miss Guan was involved in this whole plan to recreate humanity…’

“So, the problem is with the second child’s mother, isn’t it!” Chu Bamboo laughed. ‘She’s obviously trying to change the subject!’

Nuwa remained silent.

“…I’m very curious. What kind of problem are we talking about?” Possibilities flashed through Chu Bamboo’s mind as he murmured to himself, “Is it a problem with her bloodline? Could the maternal line be from some high-ranking progenitor of the Ten Thousand Races…? Don’t tell me… No, that’s unlikely!”

Chu Bamboo’s brow furrowed. ‘A sensitive identity, so sensitive it can’t be spoken of… The most likely answer is one of the Ten Thousand Races! But even if that were the case, that’s just something you couldn’t say publicly… because it would undermine the legitimacy of Daqian’s founding!’

‘But no matter what, as the father, don’t I at least have the right to hear it?’

“…It was a Divine Being, wasn’t it?” Chu Bamboo’s words were sharp and decisive.

And then…

Nuwa’s face became utterly glacial. Even her one remaining good eye was suddenly tinged with inky blackness.

Chu Bamboo: “???”

‘What the hell…?’

Before the baffled Chu Bamboo could say another word, black light erupted and swept over him once more.

…

「In the Seventeenth Base.」

Chu Bamboo’s scalp tingled. “Seriously… what did I do to set her off this time?”

‘This is insane! She just went completely dark… From the looks of it, she’s obviously fallen into a state of pollution…’

‘Nothing this crazy happened last time!’

‘But on the other hand…’

“So it really was a Divine Being?!” Chu Bamboo’s expression froze. ‘Nuwa looked like I’d struck a nerve. The answer is obvious… which means the next question is…’

“But who could it be?” Chu Bamboo was baffled. He thought about the various Divine Beings he knew of. He even irreverently wondered if it was Nuwa, or perhaps… *cough, cough*… ‘But considering they’re both artificial intelligences, the probability is low!’

“The Confucian Saint? Surely it’s not the Buddha Saint… that would be terrifying!”

Chu Bamboo broke out in a cold sweat. “But I don’t even know if they’re male or female… The only female Divine Beings I know are Nuwa and… huh?!”

Chu Bamboo froze. He was drenched in a cold sweat, his mind a complete blank.

Because he’d made a shocking discovery… he knew of one other female Divine Being.

“…The Celestial Court God!”