"That child Chu Feng — when I first saw him, I thought he would surely achieve great things someday."
"But I was wrong about the extent of it."
"Who could have imagined he would achieve greatness to this degree?"
"Across the entire Martial Cultivation World, how many prodigies with extraordinary talent have there been? Yet he still became the strongest of them all," Mother Wishing God sighed.
Although, during the days she spent with Song Yun, she had always been protected — and thus had not enjoyed much freedom — Song Yun would still bring her news from the outside world.
Naturally, Mother Wishing God had heard about Chu Feng as well.
"Brother Chu Feng is the son of Jie Ranqing."
"In my eyes, his father is no simple man either. Back in the Great Thousand Upper Realm, he was merely pretending to be weak."
"With parents like those, it would be hard for my Brother Chu Feng not to be strong — let alone the fact that he is already so formidable," Song Yun said.
"Sigh… speaking of which, that child Chu Feng has had a bitter life."
"Born with such a remarkable lineage, yet because he encountered an unreasonable grandfather, he could only rely on himself every step of the way, suffering so much hardship for nothing."
When it came to his origins, what Mother Wishing God lamented was not how extraordinary Chu Feng's mother was, but rather how difficult Chu Feng's path had been.
After all, she had personally witnessed just how much he had suffered.
Before long, Song Yun brought her mother to a concealed cavern deep within the rock.
The cavern was vast and deep, like a natural palace carved from stone walls.
But upon arriving, Mother Wishing God felt a sense of unease and warned Song Yun, "Yun'er, there is a faint trace of evil energy here. You must be careful."
"Rest assured, Mother. I have been here before. There is no danger."
Hearing Song Yun say this, Mother Wishing God set aside her doubts. After all, her daughter's current strength far surpassed that of this old woman — by an immeasurable margin.
As they ventured deeper, murals appeared on the cavern walls.
Together, the murals told a single story.
"What is this?" Mother Wishing God asked, her eyes filled with curiosity.
"I studied it for a long time, and I believe I have deciphered the story it tells."
"It is about an ancient era, when there was a demonic creature afflicted with a grave illness that could not be cured, and its days were numbered."
"But this creature had mastered a demonic art — by refining the soul of its closest kin, it could cure the illness."
"And its closest kin was none other than its own mother."
"When the mother learned of this, she willingly offered up her soul, and the creature's illness was cured."
"Mother — do you find this story touching?" Song Yun asked.
But before her mother could answer, Song Yun was seized by a violent fit of coughing, and spat out a great deal of fresh blood.
The sight was just as ghastly as when Chu Feng had last seen her.
Only now, Song Yun's condition was far worse than before.
She soon collapsed, writhing on the ground in agony. Her hair was disheveled, and strange blood stained her entire body.
Mother Wishing God was frantic, but she could not restrain Song Yun at all.
It was only when Song Yun calmed herself that Mother Wishing God was finally able to help her to her feet.
"Mother, I'm fine," Song Yun said, her voice utterly feeble.
"How can you possibly be fine?"
"Yun'er, what on earth is wrong with you?"
"Are you ill?"
"Or were you injured by someone?"
"Who did this to you?"
Mother Wishing God's face was filled with worry. What mother could see her child in such agony and not be beside herself with concern?
But Song Yun did not answer. Instead, she looked at her mother and asked weakly: "Mother — if I were ill, and I needed Mother's life to cure me, would Mother be willing to give up her life?"