Chapter 1337: Ashes
"Sis... sister-in-law..." Cai Zhi's face grew paler and paler. Everything that had happened today, every word, every scene, was churning her heart.
But Mo Li remained in a daze, her gaze fixed blankly on Yun Che, unwilling to deviate for even an instant. It was as if he was the only thing left in her world—everything else, life or death, blood or screams, had become irrelevant.
Because this was his... final radiance of life...
Why... why did it have to come to this...
Mother... brother... Cai Zhi...
Yun Che...
What... did I do wrong...
The overly thick scent of blood made the air viscous, and a terrifying aura spread wildly in the hearts of all the Star Guards. Those who had been poised to charge all scrambled backward, some even with their teeth chattering.
They were Star Guards. They had once believed themselves fearless, that for the Star God Realm and the glory of being a Star Guard, they would not fear death.
Until today, until this moment...
They could die, but... to die at the hands of such a lowborn junior, so easily, so miserably—how could they be willing? How could they not tremble with fear?
"My King..." Tianyuan Xingshen Tumi spoke, his voice twisted in a way that even the elders who had known him for tens of thousands of years had never heard. "This child... absolutely... cannot be spared!"
Earlier, he had told Xing Shendi that Yun Che absolutely must not be killed.
Now, it was "absolutely cannot be spared."
A Lower Realm origin... from Divine Spirit to Divine King in one year... from Divine King to Divine Sovereign in a few breaths... and with the power of a Divine Sovereign, unleashing strength that was likely nearing that of a Divine Lord...
This could no longer be described as a freak. At less than half a Jiazi in age, he was already this strong. If he were allowed to grow up... ten years... a hundred years... a thousand years later... what heights would he reach!?
Unpredictable—utterly impossible to predict!!
But one thing was absolutely certain: if he was a friend, it would be the greatest fortune. But if he became an enemy... it would be more terrifying than any demon!!
And given the situation today, Yun Che's hatred for the Star God Realm was etched into the very marrow of his bones! If he were allowed to live, to escape, or if any slight accident occurred later... once he matured, it would be a catastrophe for the Star God Realm that was utterly unimaginable now!
At this moment, he even felt regret... If he had known earlier about the relationship between Mo Li and Yun Che, known that Yun Che would defy life and death for Mo Li and storm the Star God Realm alone, known that the power Yun Che bore could be so terrifying, he would have tried his utmost to persuade Xing Shendi to abandon this ritual and instead treat Mo Li and Cai Zhi with utmost kindness, to make Yun Che a member of the Star God Realm.
After all, no one knew whether the ritual would succeed, and even less could they predict what the outcome would be. The latter option would not only retain two Star Gods, Tiansha and Tianlang, but also gain a power for the Star God Realm that could one day lift the heavens!
But there are no ifs in this world, and time does not flow backward. In the current situation, what they must do is utterly annihilate Yun Che, leaving absolutely no possibility or chance for survival. Compared to that, the secrets he carried were no longer important.
Tianyuan Xingshen was filled with fear, and Xing Shendi felt the same. His chest heaved as he said in an extremely low voice, "Kill... him!"
Just three words, but everyone could clearly hear the fear within them.
Making Xing Shendi... feel fear!?
Even their mortal enemy, Yue Shendi, had never received such "treatment."
"Hold nothing back! Kill him!"
Xing Shendi's words made Xingmingzi sigh with relief as well. With a single command, countless Divine Sovereign auras exploded simultaneously. The air currents over the entire Star God City were expelled in an instant, and the space itself rippled like a lake suddenly struck by a violent gale.
Three thousand Star Guards moved in unison. The profound force of three thousand Divine Sovereigns erupted at once, their momentum truly earth-shaking. The tragic deaths of more than a hundred Star Guards, the lingering fear in their hearts, and Xing Shendi's kill order left them no longer hesitant or restrained—daring not to be.
Even the Star Guards at the very rear, who might not even have a chance to strike, had their own unique, dazzling star light blazing on them.
"Ha!!"
Roars shook the heavens. Countless beams of star light rained down on Yun Che... the power of a Divine Sovereign, second only to a Divine Lord across the chaos of the universe, enough to dominate a high-level star realm and rule a middle-level one. Countless cultivators spent their entire lives not even daring to dream of seeing a Divine Sovereign, let alone becoming one.
But at this moment, every strand of star power converging on Yun Che came from a Divine Sovereign!
When he first arrived in the God Realm, still having not stepped onto the Divine Path, the word "Divine Sovereign" represented the supreme divine being, an existence so lofty he couldn't even harbor the slightest hope or aspiration.
He could never have imagined—nor could anyone else—that in just four short years, he would be standing alone, facing three thousand Divine Sovereigns!
"Wwaaaaah!!"
Yun Che's roar grew even more hoarse and terrifying. The blood light in his eyes turned even more savage. The flame on his Heaven-Defying Sword exploded, thunder howled, and with his boundless hatred, he smashed forward, tearing a bloody rift through the world that had been bleached white.
Thunder roars, phoenix cries, and screams merged into one. The Star Guards who had just approached within a hundred zhang were all blasted away, heavily wounded. The farthest one crashed directly into the Star Soul Absolute Barrier. But their nightmare had only just begun. Crimson flame blazed on their bodies, spreading in an instant, turning their fading screams into the wails of vengeful ghosts.
Yun Che's crimson flame—a fusion of Golden Crow and Phoenix flames—had shocked the world during the God Sealing War, known throughout the Eastern Divine Region. But now, experiencing it firsthand, they truly understood how terrifying and cruel it was. Their Star God Spears and Star God Armor melted like ordinary iron, and their bodies seemed to be buried in hellfire, subjected to ruthless burning—a pain they had never imagined.
"Ah... aaaah... save... save me... wwaaaaah..."
Scream after scream grew more piercing, so ghastly that even the other Star Guards couldn't understand or believe it. They frantically released their profound force, but the crimson flame clung to them like maggots on a bone, impossible to extinguish. Instead, it spread layer by layer—from armor to flesh, to bones, to internal organs, to soul—dragging them deeper and deeper into hell.
But no one could help them, because Yun Che had turned into a streak of bloody light, like a demon blade from the blood pool of hell, plunging into the trembling Star Guards once more.
BOOM—
A deafening crash shook the sky. Thirty Tianlang Star Guards, before they could even raise their hands, were buried in the exploding crimson inferno, becoming howling, weeping demons in the flames.
A despairing Evil God...
Despairing crimson flame...
Despairing tribulation thunder...
Despairing Celestial Wolf blade...
At this moment, he was no longer Yun Che, but a hell-bent Asura born from pain, rage, and desperate hopelessness! He sought not life, not escape, not hope—only hatred and death!
BOOM!!
CRACK!!
BOOM—
One sword—three Star Guards were severed at the waist... One sword—nine Star Guards' heads exploded simultaneously... One sword—fourteen Star Guards were blasted away in the bursting flames, falling into the crimson hell... One sword—seventeen Star Guards had their divine bodies shattered by the entwining thunder... One sword—a full two hundred Star Guards were sent flying at once, and the residual force knocked hundreds more to the ground, leaving them unable to advance for a long time.
Wave after wave of Star Guards charged forward. Each dazzling star light carried the power of a Divine Sovereign, enough to destroy an ocean in an instant. But what greeted them was the Celestial Wolf's roar, the explosion of flames, the howl of lightning... and flying blood and broken limbs.
Every living being that approached Yun Che, under his demonic roars, was either broken by the sword's might, burned by the crimson flames, or torn apart by the lightning. Each swing of his sword brought forth power that had reached an extreme. These Star Guards, who were clearly overwhelmingly powerful, were like grass and mustard before his blade, dying as they charged. Their Divine Sovereign bodies, if merely touched by his sword's might, were either heavily wounded or killed instantly... and their deaths were utterly miserable, not one of them left intact.
Within the barrier, the Star Gods and elders watched in a daze. Their hands and feet grew cold, their scalps tingling as if they might explode at any moment... but for a long time, not a single person could speak.
The blood and shattered bones flying in the air were the lives of Star Guard after Star Guard. They were the power of the Star God Realm second only to the Star Gods and elders. Each generation of the Star God Realm had only three thousand Star Guards. Training each one required enormous resources and effort, and every loss was a great blow.
Now, before their eyes, they were falling in droves, their blood and corpses scattered.
It was by no means that the Star Guards were too weak. In the vast Star God Realm, they were the third level of existence. It was that Yun Che had become far, far too terrifying—too terrifying to comprehend by any means!
BANG!!
Light flashed. Four Star God Spears, formed from condensed power, tore through Yun Che's crimson flames and stabbed straight at his heart... But Yun Che paid no heed. The Heaven-Defying Sword swung toward them.
The four Star Guards were shocked but could no longer pull back. Their Star God Spears all struck Yun Che's chest, but in the same instant, a force more terrifying than any nightmare swept across them. Their bodies were severed at the waist, their internal organs reduced to flying dust...
"Aaaah!!"
With a great roar, he shook the four Star God Spears off his body, blood spraying like a fountain. The raging demon seemed weakened by his injuries, and the Heaven-Defying Sword that had been slaughtering Star Guards layer after layer slowly lowered. The trembling Star Guards' gazes wavered, and then they charged with full force... It was at that moment that they suddenly felt the surrounding temperature skyrocket at an inconceivable rate. Their vision, locked on Yun Che, began to distort unnaturally.
"Fall back!!" Tianyuan Xingshen roared.
BOOM————————————
Tianyuan Xingshen was not an ordinary existence. His spiritual sense was exceptionally sharp, and his warning came at the first possible moment. But Yun Che's speed in gathering and releasing his flame was far too fast. With both the Phoenix Divine Blood and Golden Crow Divine Blood burning, and the despairing power of the Evil God erupting fully, it had reached a speed that even the Divine Emperors of the age could hardly imagine.
In a single breath, "Yellow Springs Ashes" exploded, opening a sea of crimson fire at the center of Star God City.
Flames blazed across the sky. Every place within sight in Star God City was dyed a deep, blood-like crimson. The sea of crimson fire was exceptionally dazzling, as beautiful as the glow of sunset... yet it was the most splendid graveyard in the world.
Screams and howls rose up, but these cries did not come from within the sea of fire, but from its edges—the Star Guards who had nearly been caught were retreating like madmen. Though they hadn't even touched the flames, their entire bodies felt as if they were covered with red-hot branding irons, in unbearable pain. But within the crimson sea, apart from the sound of the roaring flames, there was not a single sound of struggle or scream...
Because they had been directly melted into ash within the flames... Everyone engulfed by the fire—a full three hundred and thirty Star Guards, three hundred and thirty Divine Sovereigns—not one escaped!
By now, more than five hundred Star Guards had been destroyed by Yun Che's sword. One-sixth of the elite third-level forces of the Star God Realm—five hundred proud Divine Sovereigns who could rule a middle-level star realm—had been annihilated by Yun Che alone!
What an absurd nightmare.
The Star Guards began to retreat again, especially those near the sea of fire, as if they had just walked the edge of hell, their guts trembling and their resolve nearly shattered. Yun Che—this man now drenched in blood—what kind of demon was he? Every second he continued to exist tore another shred from their courage and belief.
Xing Shendi and the Star Gods stared through the layers of flame, their gazes locked on Yun Che. At the center of the sea of fire, he slowly fell to his knees, the Heaven-Defying Sword propping him up on the ground. Indeed, to instantly incinerate more than three hundred Divine Sovereigns, even a heaven-defying existence like Yun Che must have drained all his power.
But the sea of fire was clearly extinguishing quickly, yet the temperature of the space continued to rise at a rapid rate, and the crimson aura enveloping Star God City grew stronger with every passing instant.
They unconsciously looked up...
High in the distant sky, seven blood-red suns burned fiercely.
"N... Nine Suns Heavenly Wrath!!"
"Xingmingzi, why haven't you made your move yet!?" Xing Shendi's roar nearly tore his throat.