Chapter 1355: Dreaming Back to Tian Xuan
The news of the Moon God Emperor's fall sent another massive tremor through the Eastern Divine Region, already shrouded in the shadow of the Evil Infant, and deepened the fear of the Evil Infant even further.
Countless profound practitioners, like headless flies, driven by fear and even a conviction of certain death, frantically searched for traces of the Evil Infant everywhere. The various king realms had almost dispatched their entire forces. They had to take advantage of the Evil Infant's severe injuries to find and annihilate her in the shortest possible time.
But as the days passed, countless profound practitioners scoured almost every inch of the Eastern Divine Region, yet they still found no trace of the Evil Infant... not even a single shred.
Each passing day meant the Evil Infant could recover a bit more. The anxiety festering in the hearts of the Eastern Domain's profound practitioners, especially those from the king realms, grew with each passing day, and the shadow deepened...
Compared to this event, which could very well determine the fate of the Eastern Divine Region, the near-destruction of the first king realm in the Eastern Divine Region—the Star God Realm—was, conversely, not a concern for most.
The once-king realm had been reduced to a ruined wasteland of scorched earth. The residual demonic energy continued to devour everything. The sky was abnormally dim. If anyone set foot here, they would never believe this had been the Star God Realm; they would only think they had stepped into the dangerous, barren, and dark Northern Divine Region.
"We have searched most of the Star God Realm. Only on the periphery did we find some survivors... a total of... no more than a few thousand people, and most of them are afflicted by residual demonic energy."
Before the Star God Emperor, the Grand Elder of the Star God Realm said in a gloomy tone.
"What about the subsidiary star realms?" the Star God Emperor asked.
Tian Xuan Star God Zi Wan said, "That battle triggered a large-scale cosmic storm. The surrounding star regions were severely affected, and all the subsidiary star realms suffered heavy damage."
"..." Xing Juekong closed his eyes, then weakly raised a hand: "All elders, continue searching. Zi Wan, you notify the other Star Gods and try to find a suitable subsidiary star realm."
"Yes."
Zi Wan glanced at the Star God Emperor and said with concern, "My King, your injuries..."
"No matter." Xing Juekong said indifferently: "Go."
Zi Wan's lips moved. She wanted to ask if they should search for traces of Celestial Wolf Star God Cai Zhi... but in the end, she abandoned that thought.
For something like that, even if it were a biological father, forgiveness would be impossible...
The remaining six Star Gods and seventeen elders left again. Xing Juekong sat rigidly in place. These past few days, he had been like this, barely even standing.
"Cough... cough..."
He clutched his chest and coughed painfully. The seemingly endless black bloody froth once again scattered across the blackened ground before him. Although the Evil Infant Myriad Calamity Wheel had only recovered an extremely tiny fraction of its power, the level of its power was far too high. The invading demonic energy, like countless devils, continuously devoured his body and life force within him.
With his Divine Emperor body, he should have been able to barely suppress it and recover slowly. But the current state of the Star God Realm, and the root cause of it all, made his heart and soul unsettled and restless. The mental oppression and torment far surpassed that of his physical body. After a few days, his injuries had not only not improved, but had worsened by several degrees.
His recovering Divine Emperor's power could not even keep up with the speed of the residual devouring.
He wanted to calm his mind, but when he opened his eyes, he saw the scarred land of the Star God Realm; when he closed his eyes, he saw Mo Li's infinitely hateful, dark eyes...
Back then, he had told Zhou Tian Shen Di that he would rather die here. But if things continued like this, he might very well die here. Now, he had to find a place where he could calm his mind, but he couldn't go to Zhou Tian... As a generation of Divine Emperor, how could he live under someone else's roof!
The subsidiary star realms of the Star God Realm were his only choice.
"Ugh..."
The demonic energy flared up again. Xing Juekong pressed his hand to his heart, desperately trying to suppress it. After a series of changes in his expression, he finally spat out a mouthful of almost completely black blood with a "wa" sound.
His complexion finally improved a little. After a fit of heavy breathing, his aura also calmed down slightly.
However, at that moment, from the empty space ahead, a streak of ice-blue cold light suddenly burst forth.
This glimmer of cold light truly shot out from the void, less than a zhang away from Xing Juekong's body.
It was a flawless, icy white sword with a shimmering blue light. Like a flash of flowing light, it stabbed toward Xing Juekong's heart... A distance of one zhang was utterly meaningless against this blue light that arrived in a flash.
Xing Juekong's pupils abruptly contracted, but his body, which had become countless times heavier, and his depleted profound veins were completely unable to react in time. A streak of cold light pierced his heart, coldly running through his Divine Emperor body.
"Ugh!"
Xing Juekong's eyes bulged. In his pupils, which had contracted to their limit, a figure of a woman in ice-blue was reflected. The sword that had pierced his Divine Emperor body was held in her hand.
"You..."
Shock, terror, disbelief... He had never seen such icy-cold eyes before, cold enough to freeze the entire world into a frozen hell.
Although he was severely injured, with greatly reduced profound power, and his mind was in turmoil... he was still the Star God Emperor. He had not sensed her presence at all, and she had approached within a single zhang!
Soundless, traceless, a merciless sword from the void... Not to mention his current state, even at his peak, he might not have been able to dodge it.
She had eyes cold to the extreme, and a face that could outshine all the snow and ice in the world.
"Yin... Xue... Realm... King... Ugh!"
The difficult words left his mouth. A layer of ice crystals quickly formed around the Snow Princess Sword, freezing his body, organs, blood, profound energy... and even his profound veins, sealing off all hope of struggle for this weakened Divine Emperor.
Mu Xuanyin made no sound. She stared at him coldly, the icy light in her eyes filled with a hatred that wished to grind him into the tiniest dust in the world.
As early as a day ago, she had arrived here, hiding far away with Moon-Breaking Shadow Flick, waiting for the opportunity she wanted.
Finally, just now, all the Star Gods and elders had left, gone so far that her spiritual sense could no longer perceive a single person. She raised the Snow Princess Sword and thrust it toward this emperor of a king realm who dominated the Eastern Domain, before whom all living beings bowed, and whom no one dared to offend except the Evil Infant.
Layer by layer, the ice silently condensed. From the inside out, the Star God Emperor was completely and utterly frozen, frozen to the point where even his aura could not escape.
She did not pull out the Snow Princess Sword. A gust of cold wind carried the ice that had sealed the Star God Emperor, and she flew away with him into the distant distance.
............
............
Yin Xue Realm, Minghan Heavenly Lake.
Bang!!
The Snow Princess Sword flew back. The ice crystal sealing the Star God Emperor fell heavily to the ground, shattering into flying ice dust. Freed from the ice seal but not from the icy nightmare, the Star God Emperor lay paralyzed on the ground, his body trembling and curling up, unable to stand, barely able to control his body...
He had never known that cold could be so terrifying.
His Divine Emperor profound veins were tightly suppressed and sealed by a surge of cold energy, unable to release even a trace of profound energy. He couldn't understand... Although his profound energy was greatly diminished, the Star God source power was still there. Why could a Yin Xue Realm King, whose profound power was still less than a mid-stage Divine Lord, freeze his profound veins to such an extent?
Even more incomprehensible was what reason and courage a mere realm king of a middle-rank star realm had to make a move against him, a realm king of a king realm, and even take the great risk of bringing him here... Was she not afraid of the consequences!
"Do... you... know... who... this... king... is..." This short sentence came out extremely fragmented amidst the violent trembling of his body. He struggled desperately, but his frozen profound veins could not release even a shred of power, not even enough to slightly dispel some of the cold energy.
"Are you not afraid... that... this king... will... annihilate... your... Yin Xue... Realm..."
His words did not move Mu Xuanyin in the slightest. She was only colder than the Minghan Heavenly Lake: "Xing Juekong, you forced my disciple Yun Che to his death, forced the Evil Infant's power to awaken... yet you tell the world that he died at the hands of the Evil Infant..."
Every word she spoke pierced the heart, every word was filled with hatred. Her hand gripping the Snow Princess Sword trembled violently, and the icy light floating on the blade gradually approached the point of losing control: "You... de... serve... ten... thousand... deaths!"
"..." Xing Juekong was stunned in the ice cold. He could imagine that the only way Mu Xuanyin could know these things was if she had planted a soul crystal on Yun Che. His frozen, blue and purple lips trembled as he said in disbelief: "Just because... Yun Che died because of this king... just because... of a mere little disciple of your Yin Xue Realm... you... actually... want to kill... this king!?"
Mu Xuanyin's jade teeth bit slightly: "A mere little disciple of Yin Xue Realm... yes, in the eyes of you Divine Emperors, he was just... a young profound practitioner of humble origin... no matter how outstanding, insignificant... but do you know... do you know..."
Her breath was in complete chaos, her voice trembling, and she could not continue. The Snow Princess Sword, carrying her hatred, which she desperately suppressed but still crumbled, stabbed toward the Star God Emperor, deeply plunging into his dantian.
Under the Snow Princess Sword, the frozen blood could not spill. Xing Juekong also felt no pain.
"Star God Emperor... those three words should be the most important thing in your life." Her chest heaved violently: "You destroyed my... most important... Yun Che... I... will destroy your... Divine Emperor's power... let you know what kind of pain this is!!"
"..." Xing Juekong, curled up in the cold, let out a twisted, low laugh: "Destroy my Divine Emperor's power? Just... you?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the Snow Princess Sword thrust into his body suddenly burst with a dazzling icy light, as brilliant as a deep blue star exploding. At that moment, the Star God Emperor's expression changed drastically... His nerves, already frozen to numbness, now clearly felt countless steel needles piercing into his profound veins, tearing, shredding, and grinding the profound veins protected by Tian Kui Divine Power to pieces... and then shredding them again...
His remaining spiritual sense told him that this was clearly a force... almost not inferior to his peak state!!
If it were the power of a mid-stage Divine Lord, even in his current state, the profound veins protected by the Star God source power would almost certainly not be truly destroyed. But now, the force invading his profound veins was a power so strong he could not even dream of it. His body convulsed and twisted wildly. The terror on his face was ten times, a hundred times greater than before: "No... spare me... no!! I am the Star God Emperor... no one can treat me like this... No... I can promise you anything... no... no... Ugh ahhh!"
Bang!!
With a detonation and wildly refracting icy light, Xing Juekong's profound veins—the profound veins of a Divine Emperor—were shattered into complete dust, so completely that recovery would be eternally impossible.
Faint star lights floated up from his body... that was the source power of Tian Kui Star God. Having lost its vessel, it scattered toward the distant sky, eventually dissipating into nowhere.
"..." The Star God Emperor lay paralyzed on the ground, looking up at the gradually fading Tian Kui star light, his gaze nothing but dead gray and despair.
His profound veins were destroyed. The Tian Kui Divine Power that had accompanied him his entire life was gone...
For a profound practitioner, the cruelest thing is undoubtedly the abolition of their profound power.
Even crueler than that is the destruction of their profound veins.
Xing Juekong... one of the Four Divine Emperors of the Eastern Domain, on this day, at this moment, directly fell from the highest peak of the Eastern Divine Region to the lowest level of a useless cripple.
And it was a permanent crippling.
This was a thousand times... ten thousand times... crueler than death.
"Kill me... kill... me..." He stared at the colorless sky, muttering in a daze. In his eyes, there was no longer any trace of brilliance, only gray despair and death wish.
"Kill you?" The Star God Emperor's miserable state still could not quell the hatred in her heart. She said coldly: "I indeed... desperately want to tear you into pieces. But... you are not worthy... you are not worthy of a clean death!"
The heaving of her chest became more and more intense. Her already ample chest seemed about to burst through her snowy robes. On her ice-cold, peerlessly beautiful face, a hint of ferocity slowly appeared—perhaps something she had never shown in her life: "I won't let you die. I will let you live, and live well!"
"Here, this is the Minghan Heavenly Lake of my Yin Xue Realm, the place where Yun Che stayed the longest! I will freeze you here, so that every moment, every second, you will suffer the pain of ice blades piercing your heart! Your Divine Emperor body and the spiritual energy here will make it so you can't die even if you want to! You will live here forever... kneel here forever... repent to him... atone for your sins to him!"
Crack!
In the ear-splitting sound of ice crystals condensing, Xing Juekong's body was sealed within the ice. In the ice crystal, he knelt facing the Minghan Heavenly Lake. His colorless pupils reflected a nightmare that would never wake...
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Another space.
Consciousness slowly revived. He felt the presence of his own consciousness, and gradually, the presence of his body as well, though it was incredibly heavy.
Where is this?
Is it heaven, or hell?
Heh... someone like me must be going to hell, right.
Aches and pains came from all over his body. His eyelids were especially heavy. He tried to open them, but a faint light harshly stabbed his eyes.
He instinctively wanted to reach out to block the light, but couldn't lift his overly heavy arm; only his fingers moved slightly.
"Ah!"
At that moment, a girl's startled cry came from beside him.
"Brother benefactor... you're awake... you're awake, right!?"
It wasn't an illusion. It was indeed a girl's voice, close to his ear, trembling with excitement and urgency.
His lips twitched slightly. He wanted to say something, but only a hoarse, faint murmur came out.
And it was this hoarse sound and the struggle of his fingers that made the girl beside him cry out in surprise again. She suddenly ran off, her too-hasty steps apparently tripping over something. Then came her shout, tinged with a sobbing tone: "Dad... Mom... Brother... come quick! Brother benefactor is awake... Brother benefactor is awake!"
"..." He struggled to open his eyes.
Where is this?
If it's hell, why is there such a real, ethereal girl's voice?
Could it be... heaven?