Chapter 1297: Seeking Death
Boom!
A massive explosion rang out as the Celestial Wolf Holy Sword flashed with blue light. A single "Primeval Fang" locked onto Qianye Ying'er, crashing down with devastating force.
Every sword strike from the Celestial Wolf Prison God Scripture carried immense power. As the second sword of the Celestial Wolf, Yun Che's hand-formed Primeval Fang had heavily wounded two Divine King-level imperial princes. But this time, under Cai Zhi's blade, it unleashed true, overwhelming heavenly might.
A wolf's howl shook the void, and a vast cerulean wolf silhouette emerged in the sky above... Compared to the faint wolf shadow that flickered behind Yun Che, a ten-thousand-zhang azure wolf loomed behind Cai Zhi, its pupils like a blood-red hell, its maw yearning to devour the heavens. As the Celestial Wolf Holy Sword swung, the colossal wolf charged at Qianye Ying'er with world-annihilating sword might.
Qianye Ying'er did not move. She raised a single hand, and a golden halo materialized out of thin air, instantly checking the Celestial Wolf's sword power... Almost in the same instant, a red streak tore through space like a shooting star, aiming directly at her throat.
Qianye Ying'er's gaze sharpened. Her body, shimmering with golden light, turned slightly.
In that moment, a vast expanse of surrounding space was twisted into a horrifying "S" shape... This was not the space of the lower realm or the God Realm, but the space of the Tai Chu Divine Realm! It possessed nearly the highest spatial laws in the world. To distort it so drastically required extremely terrifying power—and the accompanying tearing force was undoubtedly unimaginably fierce.
Within the twisted space, Cai Zhi and Mo Li's powers nearly dissipated instantly. Both were hurled far in opposite directions.
"How... is she so strong?" Cai Zhi's solemn face showed unconcealable shock. It was her first time witnessing Qianye Ying'er's terror. Without using full force or revealing a weapon, an invisible pressure made it almost impossible for her to breathe... She was undoubtedly stronger than all the Star Gods except Xing Juekong.
"She has always been this strong," Mo Li said coldly. Though her killing intent and hatred for Qianye Ying'er had reached an extreme, her icy reason constantly reminded her: let alone her and Cai Zhi, even if two more Star Gods joined them, killing Qianye Ying'er would be a fool's dream.
The only thing she and Cai Zhi could do now was to hold her back as long as possible, giving Yun Che the chance to escape as far as he could.
She took a breath, her figure flickered slightly, and vanished into the air like a ghost... When she reappeared, she had split into seven afterimages, each trailing a fatal residual light...
"Star God Brilliant Annihilation Slash!"
The sisters' minds were linked. At the same moment, Cai Zhi's Celestial Wolf sword might also descended. The eldest princess and the youngest princess of the Star God Realm—the two youngest Star Gods—joined forces for the first time with all their strength, encircling the most terrifying woman in the Eastern Divine Region: the Fandi Shennü...
The Dun Yue Immortal Palace had already reached the pinnacle of speed among contemporary mystical vessels. Yet Xia Qingyue still felt it was far too slow.
She had been holding Yun Che, kneeling on the ground, maintaining the same posture for a long time. Her heart was filled with coldness and anxiety. Even someone as normally calm as ice could not achieve a single moment of tranquility now.
In the years she had spent in the Divine Realm, her heart had indeed been very peaceful—a detached, desireless peace. When Yun Che, whom she had long believed dead, appeared before her, she took him away... That choice was not born of thought or reason, but from instinct.
Though that choice had burdened her with an immense sense of guilt—so heavy that she planned to atone for it for her entire life.
Perhaps she did not truly understand why she had instinctively made that choice. But at least, seeing Yun Che, whom she thought had parted ways with her forever, standing alive before her eyes, her long-dormant soul seemed to regain new life... That feeling was very clear, clearer than any soul sensation she had experienced in all those years.
Yet, after just one short day, she plummeted into an abyss again—from a beautiful dream, harshly cast into the most terrifying nightmare.
The Buddhist Soul Death-Pleading Seal...
Among the memory fragments given to her by the Yue Shen Di, the memories concerning the "Buddhist Soul Life-Death Seal" carried an extremely powerful trace of fear. For a being like Yue Shen Di to be so terrified by it... that was enough to imagine how dreadful a curse it was.
And now, it had descended upon Yun Che, whom she had only just "regained after losing."
Yun Che had remained unconscious, but the pallor on his face had not faded in the slightest. His teeth were clenched tightly together. Every organ and every muscle on his face was tense, even twisted... All of it testified to the cruel torment he had endured.
Then, a flash of golden light flickered across his body, and streaks of golden patterns emerged.
Like a desperate beast awakened from a nightmare, Yun Che let out a hoarse scream. His whole body convulsed violently, tumbling from Xia Qingyue's embrace and hitting the ground hard. There, he writhed and howled in unspeakable agony...
"Yun Che!"
Xia Qingyue was startled. She immediately moved forward, but Yun Che's body was thrashing wildly. His limbs twisted and flailed. The moment she got close, he violently shoved her away.
Those who have never experienced it can never understand the torment Yun Che was enduring at this moment.
At times, his entire body curled up and trembled, as if he had been thrown into the deepest icy hell, pierced by countless frozen spikes and venomous spears. The next moment, it was as if his flesh had been torn, his bones shattered, and he was hung over the flames of purgatory, cruelly scorched...
Every torment and cruelty that humans could imagine—or could not imagine, or dared not even conceive—was ruthlessly inflicted upon Yun Che every moment, every instant...
"Aaahhh... Aaahhh!!!"
"Ughhh... Aaahhhhh!!!"
In just a few breaths after waking from his coma, Yun Che's entire body was drenched in cold sweat. All his blood vessels bulged and writhed hideously. His limbs pounded against the ground and everything around him like a madman, then clawed at his own body... In an instant, his body was covered in bloody scratches. In another blink, it was already a mess of torn flesh.
"Yun Che... Yun Che!!"
Watching Yun Che gouge bloody furrows into his own flesh, Xia Qingyue's soul trembled. She could no longer care about anything else. Forcing her profound energy, she threw herself onto Yun Che... Though Yun Che could not use his profound power in this state, his physical strength was immense. Combined with his desperate struggles, his hands slipped from Xia Qingyue's grip and clawed wildly at her body.
One of his twisted, contorted hands grabbed her left arm tightly. The other clawed at her chest, seizing a soft mound firmly in his grip...
Xia Qingyue's face showed pain, but she did not struggle free. Instead, she closed her eyes and held Yun Che's trembling, convulsing body tightly.
Drip...
Drip...
A few drops—icy yet somehow warm—fell from nowhere, silently landing on the bloody furrows Yun Che had torn into his own chest, merging with his blood. In that instant, a hint of clarity briefly surfaced in Yun Che's bloodshot eyes...
Through his blurred consciousness and vision, he saw his left hand gripping Xia Qingyue's arm, his fingers sunk deep into her flesh, leaving five bloody holes on her flawless jade-like arm. Half her sleeve was already stained red. His right hand was buried deep in her left chest. Beneath the torn moon-white robes, her moon-like snowy skin was completely deformed, marked with five shocking red lines...
She had not dodged. She had not made a sound. She just held him tightly.
His pupils dilated sharply. His hands, trembling even more violently, exerted all their strength to retract. He opened his mouth and let out a sound even more hoarse and grating than a ghost's wail: "Qing... Yue..."
"Kill... me..."
Having suffered countless injuries throughout his life, having tread the edge of life and death numerous times, having even faced the torment of soul-separation without flinching—under the "Buddhist Soul Death-Pleading Seal," Yun Che used the last of his consciousness to utter those three words: seeking death.
"Yun Che..." Xia Qingyue shook her head. "Don't say those three words. I have a way to save you. I will find a way..."
"Kill... me... Aaahhh!!!"
Qianye Ying'er's earlier words—he had heard every single one clearly through his agony, not a single word blurred. The pain he suffered far exceeded the soul-separation torment of the Netherworld Brahma Flower. At least the latter could be overcome with willpower. But the torture of the Death-Pleading Seal shattered all his will and faith. It was something no human—nor any living being—could endure.
To live forever under such agony, death was the greatest release.
Only Qianye Ying'er could undo it. He would rather die!
As he uttered those three words for the second time, the light in his eyes dimmed rapidly... His eyes, once as red as blood, were now covered with a layer of dull, turbid light.
The will to die!
Xia Qingyue's chest tightened. Her right hand, which had been holding Yun Che, suddenly released and struck Yun Che's face hard.
"Slap!!"
The slap rang out sharply. But compared to the torment of the Buddhist Soul Death-Pleading Seal, the pain from that slap was negligible... Yet it struck Yun Che's soul mightily, causing his pupils to focus and even the spasms in his body to pause for a moment.
"Yun Che, listen to me..." Xia Qingyue's voice trembled with coldness. "You are Yun Che. You are not some weakling who can be broken so easily! Back then, you did not die at Tian Jian Villa. You did not die in the Primordial Mystic Ark. What reason do you have to be defeated by a mere curse seal?!"
"Do not forget how many people in the Tian Xuan Continent are waiting for you... Do not forget that I betrayed my mother and my adoptive father for you... And do not forget who gave you this pain. You must repay it a thousandfold! So you must live... Never speak those three words again..."
Xia Qingyue took a deep breath, forcing herself not to let a single teardrop fall, but finally shook her head. "Only you know how much pain you are in. To you, these words might just be useless empty talk... But nothing in this world is absolute. The Buddhist Soul Death-Pleading Seal is not only solvable by Qianye. There is someone with the most special power in the world. My adoptive father said her power can purify and remove all filth and curses in the world... So she will definitely be able to break the Buddhist Soul Death-Pleading Seal on you! Definitely!"
"We are going to find her now. Just a few more hours... A few more hours. Please, you must hold on. She can definitely save you..."
Yun Che's body continued to convulse and tremble wildly. Streams of cold sweat poured from every part of him. But the dullness in his pupils faded little by little. Even his screams were suppressed by sheer force, his teeth clenched so hard they seemed about to shatter...
Xia Qingyue's heartstrings finally relaxed a little. She lifted Yun Che's upper body to her chest and whispered softly, "If it hurts, cry out. There's only me here. No one else."
Yun Che's long-suppressed screams burst forth like a dam breaking, echoing through every corner of the Dun Yue Immortal Palace.