Chapter 1341: The Purple Light of the Other Shore
Xing Mingzi was dead. He died just like those Star Guards who had fallen to Yun Che's sword—without a complete corpse... In fact, his death was even more miserable than most of the Star Guards.
But his death and the deaths of the Star Guards were concepts of entirely different magnitudes. It was a matter significant enough to shake the entire Eastern Divine Region.
Because Xing Mingzi was a genuine Divine Lord!
Divine Lords were the highest-level powerhouses in the Chaos Space. In a world without true gods, they were the supreme deities, beings crowned with the title of "Masters of Heaven and Earth."
Even in a powerful realm like the Star God Realm, aside from the unique Star God inheritances, there were only thirty-seven Divine Lords in this generation. On average, one would appear only once every thousand years.
In the upper-level star realms, it would take an average of ten thousand years, or even tens of thousands of years, for one to appear.
The Divine Lord power they possessed destined them to be the hardest beings to extinguish in this world. Their ultimate end would almost always be death from old age. Although Xing Mingzi was the lowest-ranking of the thirty-seven elders of the Star God Realm, he was a true Divine Lord. His death was equivalent to the fall of an upper-level Realm King, enough to alarm every piece of land and every corner of the Eastern Divine Region.
And he had not died at the hands of another king realm or another Divine Lord, but had perished at Yun Che's hands—at the hands of a junior who had just achieved Divine King status and was less than half a Jiazi in age.
What's more, it happened in his own Star God Realm, surrounded by numerous Star Guards...
Without a doubt, if this matter were to spread, even if it were spoken personally by the Star God Emperor, not a single person would believe it.
Yet such an absurdly incredible event was unfolding vividly and bloodily before their eyes.
"Our King... this..." The Star God Great Elder looked toward the Star God Emperor, but the latter showed no reaction to his words.
The thirty-seven elders of the Star God Realm now numbered only thirty-six.
They were in the middle of a blood sacrifice ritual. The ritual had already begun. To ensure the highest success rate, no distractions were allowed throughout the entire process...
But now, this ritual—so crucial to the Star God Emperor and, in their expectations, likely related to the future of the Star God Realm—seemed to have been forgotten by all of them.
Their eyes and thoughts were completely filled by that blood-soaked figure.
The scattered flames continued to burn violently, quickly consuming all of Xing Mingzi's flesh and blood, leaving not even a trace of ash behind. Yet the flames on Yun Che's body and sword slowly extinguished. The Golden Crow phantom he had just unleashed dissipated in the air. The Heaven-Defying Sword heavily struck the ground, and his body dropped to his knees, his head falling forward... with no further movement.
A very light breeze swept through, carrying away most of the bloodlust and killing intent in the air. The terrifying pressure was gone. Only that coldness and fear—which would perhaps cling to them for life—still caused all the Star Guards to uncontrollably shrink back.
"Is he... dead?"
"... "
Another breeze passed, and the killing intent and bloodlust faded a bit more. Yun Che remained motionless. His right arm was shattered, and his entire body was injured, yet there was no pool of blood gathering beneath him... His body's blood had likely already drained dry.
"Dead... he's dead!" a shout rang out, filled with trembling excitement.
Yet, facing Yun Che, who was motionless, whose aura had dissipated, and who might already be dead, these Star Guards stood still for a long time, none daring to approach.
"Why haven't you taken care of him immediately!" Seeing this group of Star Guards, who were clearly frightened out of their wits, Tianyuan Xingshen said in a deep voice.
Under other circumstances, he would have been utterly disappointed and deeply ashamed of such incompetence among the Star Guards. But at this moment, he felt no anger at all, because even he—even the Star God Emperor—felt an uncontrollable fear in their hearts, let alone the Star Guards.
Once again, he felt grateful, extremely grateful, that Yun Che was young and hot-headed, foolishly coming to die for Mo Li. Otherwise... otherwise... if he had exercised even a bit of patience, without needing too distant a future, what a terrible calamity would have befallen the Star God Realm.
He thought this and felt grateful, and the Star God Emperor and the other Star Gods felt the same.
After Tianyuan Xingshen's order, the world remained silent for a few more breaths. Then, the twelve foremost Star Guards rose simultaneously and charged at Yun Che, their profound light blooming to its peak in the shortest possible time.
Facing a "dead man" who was motionless and had lost all aura, these twelve Star Guards all unleashed their full power without holding anything back.
They were not just frightened out of their wits—they were utterly terrified!
Yun Che remained motionless, which seemed to erase the heavy fear and shadow from the hearts of these Star Guards. But just as the power of the twelve Star Guards was about to reach Yun Che, his head, which had been lowered and silent for a long time, suddenly lifted.
His gaze, as solid as fresh blood, stabbed fiercely into the eyes of the twelve Star Guards. In an instant, these Star Guards, who had already become like frightened birds, had their souls fly out of their bodies. The Divine Sovereign power that had been about to strike Yun Che was not pressed down but was withdrawn in terror... a completely instinctive withdrawal.
Yun Che did not rise. He swung his left arm, and the Celestial Wolf howled across the sky.
This sword strike had no flames, because both the Golden Crow Divine Blood and the Phoenix Divine Blood had burned out simultaneously. Yet its might and momentum were still extraordinarily formidable. It fiercely scattered the chaotic power of the twelve Star Guards, who were panicking, and the remaining aftershock swept across them, sending them flying far away.
The Star Guards behind them let out a series of strange cries, as if they had personally witnessed a sleeping demon god being awakened. Nearly half of them stumbled backward, their legs trembling.
Bang!
The Heaven-Defying Sword struck the ground again, and Yun Che heavily knelt once more, going still again. The twelve Star Gods who had been blasted away scrambled to their feet, trembling. After their shock subsided, they realized... their bodies were intact, and their Star God Armor was undamaged—they had not suffered any serious injuries!
Those Star Guards—including the Star Guard commanders Xing Ling and Xing Lou—had died in miserable ways that were still vivid in their minds. Yet they had come through the might of Yun Che's sword strike completely unscathed. After the fear, a wild joy of having barely escaped death surged within them, and the fear in their hearts dissipated by more than half.
"He's done for... he's already done for!" the Star Guard in the middle shouted excitedly. "Charge... charge!"
Yun Che's state, the safety of the twelve Star Guards, and their shouts undoubtedly shook the hearts of all the Star Guards, greatly reducing their fear. At the command, a large swarm of Star Guards pressed forward together, each wishing they could personally slay Yun Che to wash away their past shame and hatred.
As if sensing their simultaneous charge, Yun Che, still on his knees, moved again. This time, he did not stand. Only his arm, supporting the sword, lifted. It seemed that his remaining strength was barely enough to wield the Heaven-Defying Sword. His movements were extremely slow. Only when the large swarm of Star Guards had closed to within a hundred zhang did he raise his arm high, pointing his sword at the heavens.
Crack!!
A thunderclap exploded from a clear sky. The shock of that thunder almost made the Star Guards fall to the ground. Amid the earth-shattering thunderclap, a deep purple lightning bolt, from an unknown source, struck the sword in Yun Che's hand. Then it settled onto the sword and Yun Che's body, flashing and crackling violently.
The lightning that only covered Yun Che's body and his sword bizarrely illuminated the entire world in a bright purple.
This sudden change filled the approaching Star Guards with an unease, causing their bodies to jerk to a halt. In their wide-eyed vision, the Heaven-Defying Sword, pointing to the sky, slowly descended. Its movement was very, very slow, every trace of its trajectory clearly visible.
The moment the sword touched the ground, a vast purple light curtain spread before their eyes. This light curtain swept over them at a speed they could not even react to, engulfing them. The sound of thunder arrived belatedly at their ears.
BOOM——————
As if the Thunder God had descended, purple light filled the sky. A column of purple light shot upward, tearing through space and the heavens, piercing into unknown and distant star regions.
A huge thunder domain exploded centered on Yun Che's body, spreading out into a boiling sea of lightning. Endless Heavenly Tribulation thunderbolts roared, devouring everything, tearing everything apart, mercilessly engulfing the large swath of Star Guards who had charged with all their might...
Sizzle—crack—sizzle crack————
The Star God City was as if struck by a heavenly tribulation of destruction. The thunder roared deafeningly, and every strand of lightning, every flash of thunder, was a true force of the Heavenly Dao. In the boiling sea of lightning, space was completely twisted, the earth shattered layer by layer, and the Star Guards buried within had their protective profound power torn apart, their Star God Armor torn apart, their bodies and organs torn apart, and then torn into countless smaller and smaller fragments...
And whether it was the wails of the earth and space or the death screams of the Star Guards, they were all utterly drowned in the thunder.
"This... is..."
"Heavenly Tribulation Calamity Thunder!!"
Within the barrier, the eyes of the Divine Lords reflected the purple light filling the sky, their shock nearly causing their spirits to collapse.
Those who had witnessed the Battle of the Sealing Gods on site would never forget the world-shaking sea of lightning spread across the Sealing God Platform when the nine heavenly thunders fell. And the sea of lightning before them was strikingly similar to that scene... as if Yun Che, with his mortal body, had personally summoned a Heavenly Tribulation Calamity Thunder!
"He has... already fully mastered the Heavenly Dao's thunder." Tianyuan Xingshen Tu Mi's voice trembled even more violently than before.
The Heavenly Tribulation Thunder Emperor Array... The destruction array that Yun Che had derived by merging the Heavenly Tribulation Calamity Thunder with the forbidden move "Nether Prison Thunder Emperor Array" of the Yun Clan's Purple Cloud Art. This fusion had been truly completed only a few days ago in the Reincarnation Forbidden Land.
These Star Guards were the first batch of living beings fortunate enough to be buried in this Heavenly Dao thunder array.
Bang————
At the center of the lightning sea, the Heaven-Defying Sword slipped weakly from Yun Che's hand and fell heavily to the ground. Yun Che's posture, which had been kneeling for a long time, slowly tilted, and he collapsed face-first onto the cold earth.
The lightning still roared, the sea of lightning still churned, but Yun Che was motionless, the last traces of his aura dissipating silently like lingering smoke and thin mist.
No one knew how long passed. As the trembling of space ceased, the terrifying sea of lightning finally subsided, and the purple light that filled the sky quickly faded.
Sizzle... sizzle crack...
Residual lightning continued to crackle, but aside from the lingering sounds of thunder, not a single sound was heard in the world... not even the sound of breathing or the beating of hearts.
Within the vast thunder domain, aside from the remaining lightning, not a single living being was seen, not a single corpse—not even a fragment of a body. Even the ground, paved with profound stones and reinforced with profound formations, had sunk a full three chi deep.
Eight hundred Star Guards had vanished without a trace, leaving not even a shred behind.
Far in the distance, the remaining Star Guards stood there stiffly, as if all seven of their souls and six of their spirits had been drained away.
Three thousand Star Guards, only half remaining. The guarding Star God elder who had stayed behind had also been annihilated, his body and bones completely gone.
This was a nightmare that the Star God Realm would never, ever be able to forget.
. : .