Chapter 1437: Star God Disk
Every drop of water in the Minghan Heavenly Lake was extremely yin and cold, never freezing since ancient times, and also could be called absolutely pure and spotless.
Countless ice spirits danced above the heavenly lake, and among these ice spirits, he inadvertently noticed a faint, abnormal glimmer.
The radiance of refracted cold ice?
The waters of the Minghan Heavenly Lake would never freeze no matter how cold they were—how could ice crystals appear?
Yun Che immediately turned his body, his figure flickering as he arrived near that trace of ice light. With a single glance, he saw that beneath the surface of the heavenly lake at that spot, a fairly large piece of profound ice was floating.
The light refracted by the ice and the water's surface was very similar; if one didn't pay attention, it would be difficult to discover its existence.
This piece of profound ice clearly condensed a very high level of cold energy, and it hadn't been assimilated even within the Minghan Heavenly Lake.
Furthermore, this profound ice was not transparent; strange mist seemed to gather within it. But as Yun Che's gaze penetrated it, he vaguely saw a blurry...
...Human figure!?
What is this...
This piece of profound ice absolutely should not exist here. As the most sacred place in the Yin Xue Realm, Mu Xuanyin would never allow any foreign object to defile even a single particle of air here, let alone the waters of the heavenly lake.
But this strange profound ice could only have been placed here by Mu Xuanyin.
Rationality prevailed. Yun Che hesitated again and again, ultimately not daring to move rashly. But just as he was about to leave, his brow suddenly twitched.
This is...
Life aura!?
His gaze whipped back, staring fixedly at the blurry figure at the center of the profound ice... Not only was it a life aura, it was clearly a human life aura!
Inside, there really was a person!
And a living person at that!
Yun Che's expression changed several times in an instant. Driven by overwhelming curiosity, he finally swung his arm and hurled the profound ice far out of the pool water, landing it on the shore.
His figure flickered, and Yun Che appeared before the profound ice. His palm pressed down, and with a flash of blue light, the profound ice began to melt layer by layer... Gradually, the originally extremely blurry figure revealed its outline, then quickly became clear.
It was indeed a person.
And when the ice layer completely melted and the human figure was fully revealed before his eyes, Yun Che's eyes widened abruptly, and he even stumbled back several steps—for a moment, he simply couldn't believe his own eyes.
The figure tumbled to the ground. Not only was he alive, but he still retained consciousness, curled up there shivering violently, letting out painful, trembling gasps... And Yun Che recognized this person's build and face at a single glance!
Xing... Jue... Kong!!
The Moon God Emperor of the Four Divine Emperors of the Eastern Domain, the father of Mo Li and Cai Zhi!
Yun Che stood frozen in shock, several breaths passing before he came to his senses.
The beard and hair of the man before him were no longer black as they had once been, but rather a pale, ashen white. His skin was also a ghastly white tinged with blue.
His aura had completely changed as well. There was no trace of the Divine Emperor's imposing majesty, and indeed, no trace of profound energy aura whatsoever.
And for a person without profound energy, they would die instantly in the freezing cold of the Minghan Heavenly Lake. But within his body, an unusually rich concentration of spiritual energy was stored, barely keeping his life force alive. This spiritual energy was clearly externally imposed, forcibly making him survive the brutal cold for a long time... coupled with a body that had undergone the tempering of Divine Emperor power for many years, he truly couldn't die even if he wanted to.
Anyone who saw him would never believe he was the Star God Emperor, one of the Four Emperors of the Eastern Domain. But Yun Che stared fixedly, his teeth clenched... No matter how he changed, even if he turned to ashes, Yun Che would never mistake him!
"Xing... Jue... Kong!" Yun Che's heart was shaken, but the words that left his mouth were gritted out one by one.
Xing Jue Kong turned his head in his trembling state, saw Yun Che, and his entire body suddenly stiffened, his pupils constricting as he emitted a fearful, weak voice: "Yun... Yun Che!?"
But immediately, the fear in his eyes turned to excitement—a kind of particularly sorrowful, distorted excitement. His body, convulsing from the cold torture, desperately tried to crawl toward him: "Ghost... you're a ghost... you've come to claim this king's life... you've come to take me away..."
Yun Che: "..."
"Hurry... hurry and take me away... hurry and let me die... kill me... hurry and kill me!"
The trembling voice later turned into an impatient, hoarse scream. The almost ecstatic light in his eyes seemed to indicate that death, to him, was the most wonderful thing in the world.
"..." Yun Che's gaze shifted from shock to gloom, and from gloom to even greater astonishment.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes... no, even if he had seen it with his own eyes, perhaps no one would dare to believe that a Divine Emperor who once stood at the pinnacle of the world and ruled a vast royal realm could have fallen to such a state.
Profound energy crippled, mind deranged, unable to die...
Who could have the ability and the audacity to cripple a Divine Emperor's profound energy? Although Yun Che wasn't well-versed in the histories of the various royal realms, he could still assert that Xing Jue Kong was definitely the first Divine Emperor to be turned into a cripple.
And the one who crippled him must also be the first person to cripple a Divine Emperor...
But, looking at the miserable state of a Divine Emperor, after the initial shock, Yun Che felt not a shred of pity, only a deep sense of satisfaction.
Taking a deep breath, Yun Che looked down and said coldly: "You old thief Xing, even you have your day. It seems that the heavens occasionally open their eyes."
"I am Yun Che, that's right. But unfortunately, I am not a ghost."
"Ah..." Xing Jue Kong's mind was clearly somewhat deranged. It took him several breaths to react to Yun Che's words. He suddenly looked up, his wide eyes staring intently at Yun Che amidst his trembling: "Not... a ghost? No... no... you clearly died... turned to ashes... not even bones remained..."
"Heh!" Xing Jue Kong's trembling words made Yun Che's gaze turn grim. He suddenly stepped forward and stomped on Xing Jue Kong's hand.
Crack!
With a crisp sound, the bones from Xing Jue Kong's right fingers to his wrist shattered completely, causing him to suddenly let out a scream.
Yun Che didn't lift his foot, looking coldly at his twisted, pained face: "Now do you know if I'm a ghost or not?"
"You... ah..." Xing Jue Kong's entire body trembled, but he still couldn't believe that the person before him was Yun Che.
To others, if Yun Che returned alive, they would only think the rumors were wrong, since none of them had actually seen Yun Che die. But Xing Jue Kong had watched with his own eyes as Yun Che turned to ashes, not even a trace left.
"Heh, don't be so surprised," Yun Che sneered. "If a beast like you, worse than a pig or a dog, can live so long, why can't I live until now? But speaking of which, living like this isn't bad for you."
"You... you..." Xing Jue Kong's eyes kept bulging violently outward, as if he absolutely couldn't believe how a person who had turned to ashes before his very eyes could still be alive. Suddenly, a glimmer of light reappeared in his chaotic pupils. His other hand struggled forward and grabbed Yun Che's foot: "Kill... kill me... I caused your death... you must want to kill me... kill... hurry, kill me... hurry, avenge yourself by killing me!"
Bang!
Yun Che kicked out, sending him flying far away, and said in a deep voice: "No, living like this is perfect for you, it couldn't be more fitting. Given what you've done, letting you die a quick death would be the heavens being blind!"
"Here, you have no authority, no ambition, but you have plenty of time to regret, to atone, and to wish you were... dead... rather... than... alive!"
Even though Xing Jue Kong had already reached such a miserable state, Yun Che's words still couldn't suppress the gnashing hatred.
"Rest assured, I won't kill you. I will do as my master did and let you live well, the longer the better! This is the fate you deserve!!"
With a low roar, Yun Che raised his palm, a blue light flashing, preparing to seal Xing Jue Kong back into the profound ice.
"Wai... wait!!"
Xing Jue Kong suddenly struggled and thrashed, letting out an even hoarser roar than before: "Star God Disk... please take the Star God Disk... please... please!"
"Oh?" Yun Che's palm paused, then his gaze turned even colder. "Star God Disk? What is that thing? But do you think... I will comply with your wishes? Get back into the ice obediently!"
"It's for Cai Zhi... it's for Cai Zhi!"
Xing Jue Kong's sudden frantic shout made Yun Che's palm stop dead in its tracks at the very last moment.
Yun Che's halted gesture made Xing Jue Kong even more agitated. He stretched out his trembling hand and pointed at his own chest: "The Star God Disk... is right here... take it away... give it to Cai Zhi... hurry... hurry..."
Yun Che's brow furrowed deeply... He didn't know what the Star God Disk was, nor did he have any interest in it. Even less did he want to comply with any wishes of the Star God Realm.
But he felt a deep concern and guilt for Cai Zhi. Not only because she was Mo Li's sister, but also because... back in the Star God Realm, before Mo Li's witness and in front of her mother's spirit tablet, he and Cai Zhi had fully completed the ceremony.
Although it had a strong sense of illusion and unreality, in that sense, Cai Zhi was indeed already his wife.
He had also made a promise before Mo Li to accompany and protect Cai Zhi in the future, yet...
If it really was something very important to Cai Zhi...
Putting his palm down, Yun Che stepped forward and pointed at Xing Jue Kong's chest. Sure enough, he discovered a very small independent space within his chest cavity.
For a Divine Emperor to conceal something in a space within his own body spoke volumes about how important it was.
This space had been created by Xing Jue Kong's Divine Emperor power, and with Yun Che's strength, it should have been absolutely impossible to break. But Xing Jue Kong's profound energy had long since dissipated, and with the erosion of the cold here, the space, having lacked sustaining force for a long time, was already on the verge of collapse. Yun Che grabbed with his hand, exerting almost no effort, and his profound energy probed inside.
Within that space, there was only one object.
Yun Che pulled it out, and in his hand appeared a wheel radiating starlight.
The wheel was less than a foot in length, almost weightless in his hand. On the wheel, twelve different-colored rays of light encircled it, four of which were exceptionally dense, like burning candle flames.
Yun Che stared at the wheel in his hand, his gaze unconsciously focusing... Although those four exceptionally dense starlights were just tiny specks, neither his sight nor his perception could penetrate them.
It was as if within these seemingly tiny starlights lay a vast, boundless world.
"What is this? What does it have to do with Cai Zhi?" Yun Che asked in a deep voice.
Seeing the wheel in Yun Che's hand, the Star God Emperor's gaze was sometimes chaotic, sometimes hazy, and his expression alternately relaxed and pained: "The Star God Disk... the most important ancient divine object of my Star God Realm... With it, the Star God divine power never dissipates... and the Star God Realm... never falls..."
Every word Xing Jue Kong spoke trembled. At a certain moment, Yun Che's hand tightened sharply.
He suddenly understood what this was...
This was actually... the carrier of the Twelve Star Gods' source power of the Star God Realm!
The twelve starlights on it symbolized the divine power of the Twelve Star Gods.
And those four exceptionally dense lights were the result of star gods falling and their powers returning!
The four starlights corresponded to the dead Tian Yuan, Tian Gang, Tian Du, and the crippled Tian Kui!
The strength of the Star God Realm relied most importantly on the existence of the Twelve Star Gods! When a Star God falls or dies of old age, the corresponding Star God divine power does not dissipate; its source power returns to its carrier. Finding the next compatible person allows for inheritance again, and a new powerful Star God is forged in an extremely short time.
In the upper star realms, cultivating a Divine Lord requires exhausting all efforts, and often depends on destiny. But in the Star God Realm, there will always be the powerful Twelve Star Gods... and the same goes for other royal realms.
That is why they are the royal realms that have always stood at the pinnacle of chaos.
When Yun Che first entered the God Realm and heard Mu Bingyun and Mu Xuanyin talk about the royal realms, he learned of the existence of "inheritance" and "carriers." He never expected the carrier to be so small.
No, relatively speaking, what shook him even more was that the foundation of the Star God Realm's heritage, the very core object of its power, was now held in his own hand!
Holding it in his hand meant he held the lifeblood, the future... and the very life or death of the Star God Realm!
The Star God Disk... the most important thing in the Star God Realm, something that must never be touched by outsiders even at the cost of death, yet Xing Jue Kong had willingly handed it over to Yun Che.
Because he had no other choice.