Chapter 1494: The Bet
"Let me tell you!" the Evil Infant said with a hint of indignation. "In those years, it wasn't just the divine race that feared me—even those demon demons were absolutely terrified of me! They constantly used their greatest power to seal me away!"
Yun Che opened his mouth and unconsciously said, "It's only right that they feared you. After you were released, you slaughtered both the divine race and the demon race completely."
"That was the punishment they deserved!" Yun Che's words seemed to enrage the Evil Infant, who flailed about within the black light. "As Mystic Heaven Supreme Treasures, everyone admired and yearned for the Ancestral Sword. But me? The divine race feared me, and the demon race, whose power originated from the same source, also feared me! They sealed me for millions of years... tens of millions of years... keeping me forever imprisoned in a lonely, dark cage. If it were you, when you finally regained your freedom, wouldn't you be angry? Wouldn't you want to punish them!"
"..." Yun Che was momentarily stunned.
"Moreover, I only punished the divine race and the demon race—I never harmed any mortals! The so-called 'world destruction' is nothing but a slander forced upon me! In fact... back then, the brutal war between the divine race and the demon race affected countless mortals. Who knows how many mortals perished, how many races were wiped out! They deserved that punishment! If I hadn't destroyed them, and they had continued fighting, who knows how many innocent lives would have been lost and races exterminated... Why am I the one who gets labeled as the greatest villain? Damn it!"
Listening to the Evil Infant's angry words, Yun Che found himself without any rebuttal.
"Enough!" Mo Li frowned. "Get back here!"
But the Evil Infant didn't obey and continued shouting, "Even if Master gets angry, I must speak! One of the powers that sealed me back then came from that demon emperor called Jie Yuan! She was so afraid of me that if she finds out about my existence, she might seal both me and Master again! It's also very possible that, having confirmed that I pose no threat to her now, she might kill Master and forcefully take me for herself!"
"Hmph! Those greedy, despicable people who once sealed me are definitely capable of such acts!"
"No matter which possibility, you will, because of Master, have a falling out with the Calamity Demon Emperor..."
"Shut up!" Mo Li was completely enraged. "Get back here now!"
"Waa..." The Evil Infant's voice came to an abrupt halt, followed by a soft whimper full of grievance. "I... I'll be good, okay? Master, please don't be angry."
With that, the black light faded, and the voice of the Evil Infant disappeared.
But its words had heavily struck Yun Che's heart and soul.
Both the angrily spoken reason for the "world destruction" and the "possibilities" it mentioned later...
"You're worried that because of you, I might... fall out with the Calamity Demon Emperor?" Yun Che said in a daze.
The word "falling out" might not be appropriate, because he didn't even have the qualifications to "fall out" with the Calamity Demon Emperor.
The Evil Infant Myriad Calamity Wheel... indeed, there was a high possibility that even Jie Yuan deeply dreaded it. If she wanted to seal it, then without a doubt, she would have to seal Mo Li along with it.
If she wanted to seize it... Mo Li clearly couldn't voluntarily break away from the Evil Infant Myriad Calamity Wheel, otherwise she would have done so long ago. To seize it, she would undoubtedly need to kill Mo Li first.
Either way...
No! This kind of thing won't happen! Absolutely not!
"...It's better that you understand." Mo Li said. "Just as you said earlier, the Calamity Demon Emperor is now the true ruler of this world and your greatest backing. With her support, you are a king without a crown. Even though you placed a slave mark on Qianye Ying'er, the Fan Di God Realm wouldn't dare to do anything to you. But if you lose this backing, or even offend it... think about the consequences yourself!"
"Even if you insist on being willful, I won't allow it!"
Yun Che thought briefly and said, "Actually, I think your worries might be unnecessary."
"When I first learned the truth about the Calamity Demon Emperor's impending return, I was extremely anxious and terrified. But the Calamity Demon Emperor I actually met was completely different from what I had imagined. Far from being cruel and violent, she was so gentle and merciful that it was hard to believe. I could also sense that she is definitely not a greedy person."
"Moreover, due to the changes in the Chaos's energy, the Mystic Heaven Supreme Treasures of the present era are completely different from those of ancient times. Under the current law system, no matter how much the Evil Infant Myriad Calamity Wheel recovers, it can never reach its former level, let alone the level of a True God. Naturally, it's impossible for it to pose any threat to the Calamity Demon Emperor. So there's no reason for her to insist on sealing or seizing it again."
"Besides, it calls you Master. You are the master of its will. Even if it wanted to cause trouble again, it couldn't."
Mo Li: "..."
"Also, there's something that will definitely shock you when you hear it," Yun Che said. "Hong'er is actually the daughter of the Calamity Demon Emperor and the Evil God."
This statement made Mo Li whip her head around in shock. "What did you say!?"
Yun Che didn't explain immediately but instead smiled. "So, don't worry about me having a 'falling out' with the Calamity Demon Emperor or anything like that. Besides, because I saved Hong'er's life back then, she has always felt that she owes me a great debt."
"Hong'er... is the daughter of her and the Evil God?" Mo Li murmured. Even the Evil Infant, who possessed a vast amount of ancient memories, knew nothing about this.
"Furthermore," Yun Che continued, "the divine realm isn't as rejecting and intolerant of your existence as you think. For example... you should already know that Qingyue is now the Divine Emperor of the Moon God Realm. You killed Yue Wuyai, and I originally thought she would hate you for it. But on the contrary, she encouraged me to find you, hoped that I would, and even reminded me that now is the best time for you to be accepted by the world."
A complex black light flickered in Mo Li's eyes, and she said coldly, "She wasn't originally from the divine realm, so it's not surprising she thinks that way."
"My master said the same thing," Yun Che quickly added. "She said that you would be the one willing to protect me with all your power."
"And what about Zhou Tian Shen Di?" Mo Li suddenly countered. "Right now, he should be the one who recognizes you the most. But at the same time, the Zhou Tian God Realm is extremely orthodox. They are the least likely to tolerate the existence of the Evil Infant, let alone allow it to appear in the Eastern Divine Region! If they find out that you are allied with the Evil Infant... then the Zhou Tian God Realm will never be the same toward you again."
"And given the prestige of the Zhou Tian God Realm in the divine realm, their attitude toward you is far more important than you think!"
Yun Che didn't explain or refute, nor did he say he didn't care at all. Instead, he suddenly said, "Mo Li, how about we make a bet?"
Mo Li: "?"
"If I can make the Calamity Demon Emperor and Zhou Tian Shen Di accept your existence, then you'll leave this place with me and use your power to protect me."
"..." Mo Li's lips parted slightly.
"If I fail for now, I won't force you to leave with me. I'll wait until the day I succeed or until some other opportunity arises. How about it?"
Mo Li turned her head and met Yun Che's eyes. His words, and the Evil Infant's words, had not caused any trace of disappointment, anxiety, or gloom in his gaze. Instead, his eyes were filled with warmth and calm, along with a silent determination that told her he would never let her go.
Her cold, gloomy heart, which had been silent for so many years, had long since melted and thrown into chaos under his gaze. In her heart, there were too many concerns, but at this moment, she couldn't remember them, nor could she muster the strength to refuse.
"Alright..." she said, looking at her own reflection in Yun Che's eyes, gently nodding. "If you can truly do that... I will leave this place with you. From now on, wherever you go, I will follow."
She didn't mention the Star God Realm at all, because that place no longer deserved even a trace of her nostalgia or sorrow.
"This is your own words," Yun Che said, his fingers unconsciously tightening. "Hong'er and He Ling can both testify. You can't back out now even if you wanted to!"
Mo Li: "He Ling? Ah..."
With a soft exclamation of surprise, Mo Li was pulled sharply by Yun Che, falling into his embrace again, held tightly by him. Before her cry of surprise had even finished, her half-open lips were gently sealed.
The strong scent of a man settled at the tip of her nose. Mo Li let out a soft whimper, her black eyes widening, but her mind went completely blank...
In their first year together, Yun Che had once used his mouth to feed her blood, but that was to save her life, with no other intentions. This time, it was the first time Yun Che had truly kissed her.
Mo Li's body stiffened. The strange sensation on her lips made her heart race like a startled deer. After being frozen for a long while, she suddenly broke free, turned her face away, and gasped, "Yun Che... you... I... don't forget... I am... your master..."
"That ended long ago!" Yun Che chuckled lightly, directly lifting her delicate, soft body. As she was caught off guard again, he pressed his lips heavily onto hers once more, and this time it was no longer a simple touch of lips—it became much more wanton and invasive.
She was betrayed and sacrificed by the Star God Realm, and the entire world couldn't tolerate her... Good. This way, she could belong to him, and only to him, forever—
Mo Li instinctively struggled, but her resistance grew weaker and weaker. Gradually, her eyes quietly closed, her slender neck arched upward. From instinctive withdrawal to an unconscious, clumsy response, her delicate arms tightly wrapped around Yun Che's body, and a faint, alluring pink hue spread across her skin, silently dispelling even the Evil Infant's demonic aura that all beings feared.
————
Fan Di God Realm.
"Master, the young lady went with Yun Che to the Tai Chu Divine Realm. It's been several days, and she still hasn't come out."
Gu Zhu stood hunched behind Qianye Fantian, his voice hoarse and muffled.
"Is that so?" Qianye Fantian replied casually, as if he didn't care.
Having just been ambushed, completely losing face, and forcing Qianye Ying'er to be marked with a slave mark—anyone else would have been furious to the extreme. But Qianye Fantian's expression was remarkably calm and composed, as if nothing more than a trivial matter had occurred.
"Over these past few days, the news of the young lady being marked by Yun Che has spread throughout the various star realms. It's almost become common knowledge even in the Western and Southern Divine Regions," Gu Zhu said, his voice dark but his gaze unusually complex. "Even with Zhou Tian Shen Di as a witness, the entire story has spread intact. Sigh."
"Hmph, isn't that only natural?" Qianye Fantian snorted coldly. "If Xia Qingyue hadn't been fueling the flames, I would have found it strange instead!"
Hah... The divine and untouchable Fan Di Shennü, the Fandi Shennü, has become Yun Che's slave! What a great irony, what an earth-shattering joke!
Xia Qingyue, who deeply hated Qianye Ying'er, had schemed to push her to this state. How could she not humiliate her to the fullest, making a laughingstock of her for the entire world to see!
"The poison in you, Master, has been completely purified. The other eight Fan Kings have also been confirmed to be entirely unharmed. There are no more lingering problems," Gu Zhu said.
"Oh?" Qianye Fantian turned his head slightly.
"It is now possible to remove the young lady's slave mark," Gu Zhu said slowly. "When the young lady cultivated the 'Buddhist Soul Death-Pleading Seal,' her Brahma soul merged with her true soul. The slave mark placed on her would be imprinted on both her Brahma soul and true soul. If we forcibly retrieve the young lady's Brahma soul using the Brahma Soul Bell, the slave mark will lose its foundation and collapse on its own."
"Currently, only you, Master, and the young lady have achieved the perfect fusion of true soul and Brahma soul. No one in the current world understands this, including the Moon God Emperor and Zhou Tian Shen Di. Moreover, I have already 'imprisoned' the young lady's memories concerning this matter."
"Although this will cause the young lady's Brahma God divine power to be completely wasted, given her talent and comprehension, even if she inherits it again, full recovery is only a matter of time."
"There's no need to rush," Qianye Fantian said with a faint smile.
"...Every day delayed is another day of humiliation," Gu Zhu whispered.
"Did Ying'er give you the stone slab inscribed with the Heaven-Defying World Scripture?" Qianye Fantian asked.
Gu Zhu said, "Such an important item, how would this old servant have the right to touch it."
"Heh," Qianye Fantian chuckled, a strange light flashing in his eyes. "This is indeed a humiliation, but isn't it also an opportunity?"
"...So the young lady's intention was indeed to decipher the Heaven-Defying World Scripture through Yun Che?" Gu Zhu's words carried a tone of sigh.
"The Heaven-Defying World Scripture in Ying'er's hands will never be understood. She has known this all along," Qianye Fantian said. "And now, the only person who can decipher the Heaven-Defying World Scripture has appeared—that is the Calamity Demon Emperor."
"After Yun Che obtains the Heaven-Defying World Scripture from Ying'er and learns that it is an ancient Ancestral Divine Art, he will definitely go to the Calamity Demon Emperor. Because no one in this world can resist the temptation of an Ancestral Divine Art... Even a Creation God cannot, let alone Yun Che."
"If everything goes smoothly, with Ying'er absolutely loyal and not needing any guard... heh, Ying'er might gain something. Even if it's just a thread, it's still the only chance."
"But..."
"Say no more." Before Gu Zhu could finish, Qianye Fantian interrupted him. "I know full well when to remove her slave mark. You don't need to mention it again."
"..." Gu Zhu lowered his head and said no more, only his old eyes becoming unusually turbid.