Chapter 1524: The Demon God's Prophecy
Eastern Divine Region, Zhou Tian Realm.
In order to search for Yun Che's whereabouts, the Zhou Tian Realm finally activated the Voice of Zhou Tian, proclaiming it across the entire Eastern Divine Region.
A day passed, but there was no news.
And throughout that day, Zhou Tian Shen Di had been sitting silently in the main hall, motionless from morning till night, not even receiving the Dragon God who was temporarily staying in the Zhou Tian Realm.
The former respect had turned into a gnashing, bone-deep anger and resentment... Yun Che had shown him kindness, but his own kindness to Yun Che was far greater.
In particular, since his return to the Chaos, he had been tirelessly laboring to save the world, and even the Evil God's Divine Power he bore was a seed of salvation... Regardless of the cause, process, or outcome, he was worthy of the title "Child of Salvation." Without him, the God Realm of today would have undoubtedly turned into a calamitous purgatory.
Similarly, without him, the Evil Infant would never have remained dormant for three full years, never making a move.
And the turning point of everything began with the palm strike he landed on the Evil Infant.
Regret?
No, he had no regrets. If given another chance, he would make the same choice. Even if the Evil Infant had blocked the Demon God's descent into the world and saved the God Realm, he would still not have missed the opportunity to eliminate that massive threat, the Evil Infant.
However, Yun Che's current situation was not what he had wished for.
"Your Majesty." Taiyu Zunzhe entered, bowing from a distance.
"Any news of Yun Che?" Zhou Tian Shen Di asked, his voice rather weak.
"None," Taiyu Zunzhe replied.
"Then withdraw," Zhou Tian Shen Di said. "Do not inquire further about Yun Che's birthplace. If we stoop to such actions, how are we any different from the demonic humans?"
"No," Taiyu Zunzhe said. "It is Mo Yu, Mo Wen, and Mo Zhi from the Tianji Realm who have come to visit. They claim to have matters of great importance concerning the safety of the God Realm and insist on seeing you no matter what."
Zhou Tian Shen Di's brows twitched slightly. The Three Elders of the Heavenly Mechanism never spoke idly; their sudden joint visit at this time was no small matter.
"Invite them in."
Soon, the Three Elders of the Heavenly Mechanism entered side by side. Their steps were hurried, completely devoid of their usual calm and graceful demeanor, and their expressions were heavy, tinged with a noticeable gloom.
Zhou Tian Shen Di had known the Three Elders of the Heavenly Mechanism for many years and shared a deep friendship, yet he had never seen them in such a state: "What has happened today that warrants your sudden visit?"
"It is about Yun Che," said Mo Yu, the head of the Three Elders. As the most special superior star realm, the Tianji Realm naturally knew all the ins and outs of the matter.
"Ah, as I expected." Zhou Tian Shen Di let out a long sigh. "Three masters, can you tell me... was what I did right or wrong?"
"Time cannot be reversed, and what is done cannot be changed, so whether it was right or wrong no longer matters," Mo Yu said. "Zhou Tian Shen Di, look at this."
With that, he pushed his palm forward. A flash of profound light appeared before him, revealing a massive white book. The book was several zhang in size, surrounded by a gentle profound light, exuding an ancient and sacred aura.
"The Heavenly Mechanism Divine Canon?" Zhou Tian Shen Di frowned slightly. "Have the three masters recently glimpsed some important heavenly mechanism?"
"No," Mo Yu shook his head, waving his hand to open the first page of the Heavenly Mechanism Divine Canon.
Back during the Mysterious God Tournament, when Yun Che had triggered the Nine Heavenly Tribulations and secured first place in the sealing ceremony, the Three Elders of the Heavenly Mechanism had excitedly shouted the words "Child of the Heavenly Dao" and proclaimed the prophecy of "Descent of the True God," shaking all profound practitioners.
Amid the doubts of the crowd of strong practitioners, they had publicly opened the first page of the Heavenly Mechanism Divine Canon... On that originally blank first page, under the simultaneous release of their Heavenly Mechanism power, the prophecy of Huan Tian Great Ancestor, the founder of the Heavenly Mechanism realm, had appeared...
The three elders stepped forward simultaneously, extending their arms. With their focused minds, their palms shone with the unique profound light of the Heavenly Mechanism realm.
Instantly, on the first page of the Heavenly Mechanism Divine Canon, the two lines of golden inscriptions—the Great Ancestor's prophecy that had been revealed to the world four years prior—reappeared:
When the Ninefold Heavenly Tribulation appears,
The True God shall return in time.
Back then, at the Feng Shen Platform, it was this prophecy that made the radiance surrounding Yun Che blinding to the point of explosion. Zhou Tian Shen Di and Fantian Shen Di had vied to take him as their personal disciple, Shitian Shen Di had wanted to bring him back to the Southern Divine Region, then Fantian Shen Di had even sought to betroth Fandi Shennü to him, and Long Huang had even publicly offered to adopt him as a foster son...
Those scenes from back then were still vivid in his mind, causing Zhou Tian Shen Di to sigh deeply. He said, "This prophecy, I have not forgotten it. That Yun Che bears the sole Creation God's inheritance of this era and will one day break the limits of this world is not surprising. The final prophecy of Huan Tian Great Ancestor has indeed not deceived people."
"No. Those two lines are actually only half of the ancestor's prophecy. There is another half," Mo Yu said, his expression grave.
"Oh?" Zhou Tian Shen Di was about to ask, but then his gaze suddenly froze.
At that moment, beneath the well-known ten-character prophecy, two more lines of golden inscriptions slowly emerged:
If he is good, then all heavens shall be at peace;
If he turns cruel, then the Demon God will massacre the world.
"!!!" In an instant of icy stillness, Zhou Tian Shen Di's face drastically changed, and he abruptly stood up.
"We saw these last two lines of the prophecy back at the Mysterious God Tournament," Mo Yu said. "But at that time, Yun Che was neither cruel nor demonic. Though his temperament was fierce, his eyes were clear, and his body bore no turbid aura. So we did not make them public, nor did we tell anyone."
"However, Yun Che's subsequent actions perfectly aligned with 'If he is good, then all heavens shall be at peace.' Even though the Demon Emperor had returned to the world, the Demon God was about to descend, and the Evil Infant had awakened, it was all because of him... The Demon Emperor was willing to leave the Chaos and block the Demon God's return, and the Evil Infant was willing to remain forever in the lower realm, refraining from conflict with the God Realm."
"The Great Ancestor's prophecy is truly divine. As such, as long as Yun Che remained in the world, all realms could enjoy eternal peace."
Zhou Tian Shen Di's lips began to tremble... Gradually, his hands and his entire body started to shake.
"And now, Yun Che has... turned cruel to the extreme and become a demon! Zhou Tian Shen Di, do you know what this implies?"
"..." Zhou Tian Shen Di's body swayed violently, and the light in his pupils gradually dimmed.
If he turns cruel, then the Demon God will massacre the world...
Yesterday, the murderous aura he had erupted with under extreme grief, anger, and resentment had alarmed everyone. And after the murderous aura came the surging dark profound energy!
It directly corresponded to the last line of the prophecy!
Mo Wen said, "We three suspect that Yun Che was not originally a demonic human and never possessed dark profound energy. Demonic humans are twisted, extremely evil spirits whose hearts are distorted, craving chaos and disaster. How could they go to great lengths to save the God Realm from calamity? His dark profound energy was born from his murderous intent yesterday."
Dark profound energy is negative profound energy. When a living being's negative emotions reach a certain threshold, it can indeed twist their own profound energy into dark profound energy... Although such cases are rare, they have occurred in the history of the God Realm.
In the higher planes of the God Realm, this is almost common knowledge.
To put it another way, Yun Che's abrupt transformation into a demon was not because he was inherently a demonic human, but because yesterday... he had been forced into it by them.
Zhou Tian Shen Di, who had just stood up, heavily sat back down, his face rapidly turning deathly pale... He did not doubt the words of the Three Elders of the Heavenly Mechanism one bit, especially the part about Yun Che not originally being a demonic human, which struck straight to his heart.
He had had multiple close contacts with Yun Che, and how many Divine Emperors and Divine Lords of the God Realm had met him face to face? If he truly possessed dark profound energy, so many Divine Emperors and Divine Lords would surely have sensed it.
Furthermore, Yun Che had been recognized by the Dragon Empress of the Western Region and had cultivated light profound energy! To cultivate light profound energy, one must possess the legendary "Sacred Body" or "Sacred Heart"... It was also Yun Che who had used light profound energy to dispel the Evil Infant's demonic aura from him, without any falsehood.
How could he have been a demonic human back then?!
It was he who had forced Yun Che—who possessed a compassionate "Sacred Heart" and, according to the prophecy, could ensure "all heavens' peace"—into becoming a demon!
"Wrong... Could I have been... truly wrong..." he murmured, utterly lost.
"Zhou Tian Shen Di, since things have come to this, debating right or wrong is utterly meaningless," Mo Yu said heavily. "Even if it was wrong... we must correct it as quickly and as thoroughly as possible!"
"We absolutely cannot allow the scenario of 'the Demon God massacring the world' to occur!"
"In other words," Mo Zhi added, "Yun Che's transformation into a demon is now a fact. So... we must use every means to kill him! Absolutely, absolutely cannot allow him to grow!"
"Ab-so-lute-ly... can-not!"
Zhou Tian Shen Di's pupils contracted. He suddenly stood up and roared, "Taiyu!"
Taiyu Zunzhe, who was outside the hall, flashed inside.
"Prepare a ship immediately!"
The previous listlessness was gone from Zhou Tian Shen Di's body. His eyes and the turbulent aura around him startled Taiyu Zunzhe, who quickly acknowledged, "Yes... Where to?"
Zhou Tian Shen Di opened his mouth and slowly uttered three words: "Lan... Ji... Xing!"
Taiyu Zunzhe frowned. It was the first time he had heard the name of that star. But then he suddenly reacted and exclaimed in shock, "Could this be the birthplace of the demonic human Yun Che?"
"Prepare immediately!" Zhou Tian Shen Di nodded slightly and said sharply, "And spread this news as quickly as possible!"
"Go at once!"
Taiyu Zunzhe acknowledged and left. Zhou Tian Shen Di's face was dark, but his body... was still trembling slightly, and he was drenched in cold sweat, as if he had just recovered from a serious illness.
Regarding the Heavenly Mechanism prophecy, within the Eastern Divine Region, those who had never truly interacted with the Tianji Realm mostly did not believe it, even scoffing at it.
But within the Eastern Divine Region, the Tianji Realm was a near-mythical existence, and the Zhou Tian God Realm, in particular, had immense faith in the Heavenly Mechanism prophecy.
Because the Great Ancestor of the Zhou Tian Realm and the Great Ancestor of the Tianji Realm were close friends back then. The first prophecy of the Tianji Realm's founder had been that the Zhou Tian Realm would surely become a king realm. In the countless years that followed, all prophecies from the Tianji Realm had come true, without exception!
Over the years, the reason Zhou Tian Shen Di had placed so much importance on Yun Che was also closely related to the prophecy of "the True God's descent."
Now, "If he turns cruel, then the Demon God will massacre the world"... How could he take those six words lightly!
Yun Che had been forced into becoming a demon by him. If that terrifying prophecy were to come true, then he... would undoubtedly become the eternal sinner of the God Realm!
...
Fan Di God Realm.
Within the Fan Heart Formation jointly built by the six Fan Kings, Qianye Ying'er, who had been unconscious for a long time, finally awoke.
The collapse of her Buddhist Soul had caused immense damage to her true soul. Although she had been unconscious for a day and aided by the Fan Heart Formation, she could not fully recover.
Qianye Fantian had been by her side the entire time. Sensing that Qianye Ying'er had woken up, his gaze finally shifted.
"Father King," Qianye Ying'er managed to rise, her voice weak, but her eyes had regained their intimidating coldness: "Ying'er made a great mistake."
The "great mistake" she referred to was using the Void Stone to help Yun Che escape while under the slave mark.
"It no longer matters," Qianye Fantian said. "Tell me, where is Yun Che's birth star?"
The moment he finished speaking, a figure flashed in like flowing light, knelt behind Qianye Fantian, and urgently reported, "Your Majesty, urgent news from Zhou Tian God Realm: To force the demonic human Yun Che to appear and be captured, Zhou Tian Shen Di personally went to his birth star, which appears to be a star in the east called 'Lan Ji Xing.'"
"!" Qianye Fantian's brow sank, and his expression turned very ugly.
He had intended to extract the location of Yun Che's birth star from Qianye Ying'er and then go there in secret... Any fool could see that a star capable of producing a freak like Yun Che must be extraordinary, likely hiding some earth-shattering secret.
But Zhou Tian Shen Di, who had originally not wanted to reveal Yun Che's birthplace, had suddenly changed his mind, thereby foiling his plans.
"Prepare a ship immediately," Qianye Fantian said darkly. "Follow where Zhou Tian goes."
Soon, a profound ship flew out from the Fan Di God Realm, chasing after the profound ship of Zhou Tian God Realm... At the same time, a large number of high-level profound ships shot up from various star realms, all heading in the same direction...
Toward the location of Lan Ji Xing.