Chapter 1537: The Fallen Princess
“Dark…Eternal…Calamity…”
He whispered these words, then removed a black stone worn on his right hand.
The Ni Yuan Stone!
He could enter the Northern Divine Realm without alarm under the full pursuit of the three divine realms, thanks largely to the Ni Yuan Stone. Wearing it, with his altered aura and perfect disguise, even a Divine Lord within ten steps could not recognize him.
His aura returned to normal. He remained seated cross-legged on the ground, his arms slowly spreading. As his eyes closed, a pitch-black world unfurled before him. Within that dark world floated the unique laws of [Dark Eternal Calamity] and the Demon Emperor's divine art.
Jie Yuan had told him that to perfectly master Dark Eternal Calamity, he must supplement it with the Demon Emperor's Source Blood. But his first step was not to fuse the Source Blood, but to directly comprehend Dark Eternal Calamity.
This—Jie Yuan herself had said—was a Demon Emperor's arcane art that only she could cultivate, one that even the Evil God could not master!
Gradually, a thin layer of black qi began to rise from his body. This qi was chaotic, like countless dark specters struggling desperately to break free from a prison.
As time flowed slowly, this layer of black qi continued to spread, growing denser and denser, gradually rising dozens of zhang into the air, its agitation and struggle becoming more violent.
The already dim world around him grew even more silent; for a long time, not a single beast roar or bird call was heard.
Within a hundred li radius, all profound beasts fled in terror… As beasts of the dark world, their temperaments were far more savage than those of other worlds, and each was unafraid of death. But deep in their souls, a growing fear inexplicably arose. They could only flee in the opposite direction, not daring to step back even half a step.
Until, several days later, the aura that terrified them began to fade.
On Yun Che's body, the agitation of the black qi began to subside and gradually dissipate.
After another seven days, the black mist on his body completely disappeared. Gradually, even his aura and breathing weakened until they vanished entirely.
Throughout the entire process, Yun Che remained sitting by that withered tree, completely motionless, like a stiff corpse.
One day, two days, three days… He maintained a state devoid of any aura, still not moving.
A thick layer of dust had accumulated on his body, along with withered leaves that had come from nowhere.
On this day, the long-silent air suddenly trembled with an abnormal disturbance from afar.
From the distant sky, two figures swiftly approached.
It was an old man in black robes with graying temples, his body emanating the aura of the Divine Spirit Realm. Beside him was a young girl in purple robes. Under the old man's power, they moved quickly, but their flight path was somewhat erratic… Upon closer inspection, the old man was covered in blood, and as he flew, his pupils suddenly began to dilate.
Then, his body shook violently, and he plummeted from the sky with the girl, accompanied by her terrified scream.
Bang!!
The old man's body hit the ground, leaving a long trail of blood. He stopped less than twenty steps in front of Yun Che, and the dark dust he kicked up landed on Yun Che, but he remained completely unresponsive.
“Lord Qin!” The purple-clad girl landed and stumbled toward the fallen old man.
The girl had a delicate and pure face. Her hair was disheveled, and her jade-like face was stained with dust and fear, yet it could not conceal her undoubtedly innate nobility. Even her purple robes exuded an extraordinary elegance.
“Lord Qin… how are you?” Tears traced down the girl's face. Feeling the old man's chaotic and extremely weak aura, her heart felt as if it were suddenly hanging over a cliff, lost and helpless.
She knew he had been forcing himself all the way.
The old man bit the tip of his tongue sharply, and his unfocused eyes finally regained a bit of clarity. He said weakly, “Your Highness… don't worry about me. Go… go.”
“No,” the girl shook her head with tears. “If not for Lord Qin's repeated life-saving rescues, I would have… How could I abandon you?”
With that, she moved to lift the old man… She had the cultivation of the Divine Soul Realm, which in this star realm would absolutely allow her to tower over her peers. But now she was also extremely weak, nearing her last gasp.
Her gaze swept and caught sight of the motionless figure under the withered tree. But she didn't look twice, nor was she surprised… In the Northern Divine Realm, nothing was more common than a corpse.
The old man's face twisted as he struggled desperately, throwing off the profound aura the girl extended, and roared in a low voice, “Your Highness… don't act on impulse! This old servant's life is insignificant. If anything happens to you, this old servant will be ashamed before the Nation Lord for ten lifetimes… Go… go!!”
“Go? Heh, do you think you still can?”
The old man's roar was still in the air when a cold voice came from above, accompanied by a sneer of mockery.
At the sound, the purple-clad girl's pupils constricted sharply, and she turned back in terror. The old man's face instantly turned pale, his eyes filled with despair.
Five figures descended slowly from the sky, all in gray robes. Though there were only five, four of them exuded the aura of the Divine Spirit Realm. In this star realm, that was absolutely a formidable force.
The young man in the center had just entered the Divine Tribulation Realm, but he was undoubtedly the core of the five. Looking at the purple-clad girl full of fear and hatred, he curled his lips into a mocking sneer, “Princess Hanwei, you really made me search for you.”
“Ming… Yang!” The purple-clad girl clenched her jade-like teeth, her hand already gripping a sparkling purple thin sword. The blade emitted both cold energy and dark profound aura, but her body and the hand holding the sword trembled violently.
“Tsk tsk,” Ming Yang licked his lips, looking at the girl's hate-filled face as he slowly stepped closer. “As expected of the number one beauty of the Eastern Cold Kingdom. Even when angry, you look so captivating. Heh… if I let you escape, what a loss that would be. Even leveling the entire Eastern Cold Kingdom wouldn't make up for it.”
He glanced sideways at the old man on the ground, his eyes darkening. “Old Qin, you've foiled my plans time and again. It's time you faced the consequences!”
“You…” The old man struggled to rise, his body heavily wounded and nearly spent. He gathered a desperate surge of power: “Even if I die, I won't let you touch a single hair on Her Highness.”
Ming Yang laughed: “Fine! Then die!”
He waved his hand, and a strange wind blade mixed with black qi instantly struck the old man.
“Ugh!”
The old man grunted, flying sideways with a trail of blood… He was a dignified Divine Spirit Realm cultivator, but in his current state, he couldn't even withstand a random strike from a Divine Tribulation Realm cultivator.
Where he flew was exactly where Yun Che was… With a heavy thud, his body slammed into Yun Che, instantly shattering the withered tree behind him. Yun Che's body, still for over ten days, was also sent flying, tumbling to the ground.
“Lord Qin!”
The girl cried out in sorrow, rushing to the old man's side. But this time, the old man could no longer stand. Blood foam spilled from his trembling mouth, but he couldn't make a sound.
The purple-clad girl lowered her eyes, her heart filled with boundless sorrow. She knew that today's calamity was utterly unavoidable. She slowly withdrew the purple sword and held it across her snow-white neck… She would rather die than be humiliated.
But Ming Yang had anticipated her move. Almost at the same instant, the gray-robed man on his right thrust out his arm. Suddenly, a massive force slammed down, pressing heavily onto the purple-clad girl.
The suppression of a Divine Spirit Realm cultivator was something a Divine Soul Realm cultivator like her could never resist or struggle against. In an instant, she was crushed as if by ten thousand mountains, dropping to her knees. The sword slipped from her hand… Not only her body, but even her profound energy was completely suppressed. She couldn't even destroy her own vital energy.
“You…” She trembled all over, her teeth nearly shattering, but she couldn't break free by even a hair. All that approached was an abyss-like despair: “Ming Yang… you will… die a horrible death!”
“Want to die? You're willing, but how could I be willing?” Ming Yang moved his feet, slowly walking forward, his eyes narrowed into slits, releasing a greedy and lecherous dark light.
And at that moment, his gaze suddenly shifted sharply.
A figure—a figure they had thought to be a corpse—slowly rose from the ground.
“Hm?” Ming Yang frowned, and everyone's eyes instinctively turned.
Yun Che, interrupted from his cultivation, stood up. He didn't brush off the dust on his body, nor did he turn to look at anyone behind him. He simply took a step forward to find a quiet place to cultivate again. Perhaps because he had been still for so long, his steps were somewhat stiff and heavy.
Ming Yang frowned again… A suddenly revived 'corpse' wasn't uncommon in the Northern Divine Realm, where corpses lay everywhere. But this person hadn't even glanced at them after standing up. In this realm, who dared to ignore him like this!?
This feeling of being ignored made him extremely displeased. He twisted his mouth and casually issued the most foolish command of his life: “This eyesore of a brat… cripple him.”
To him, killing a passerby was no different from slaughtering a chicken or a dog.
The gray-robed man on his right didn't move his body, only swinging his arm. A pitch-black wind blade, carrying slight spatial ripples, shot straight at Yun Che… In an instant, it struck Yun Che's back.
The purple-clad girl closed her eyes, not wanting to see the tragic sight of this innocent person, implicated by her, being instantly annihilated… But what reached her ears was a loud 'clang'.
The terrible dark wind blade struck Yun Che's back, but the sound was like metal clashing. The wind blade was deflected instantly, tearing a long chasm into the ground beside him. But his back… not even his outer robe showed the slightest trace of damage.
Yun Che's steps stopped, and he slowly turned around. His dark eyes looked at five pairs of pupils that had instantly contracted in shock.
“Ah… this…” The gray-robed strongman who had just attacked froze, unable to believe his own eyes.
Yun Che raised his arm, slowly extending a finger at the one who had attacked him. From his mouth came a low, sinister murmur: “Is… living… a bad thing?”
Bang!
A flash of flame exploded before everyone's eyes.
Within the flame, the Divine Spirit Realm strongman who had attacked was instantly blasted into countless fiery fragments, then turned into drifting ashes in the next instant… Without a single struggle, without time to utter a single cry.
A Divine Spirit Realm cultivator, an absolute powerhouse in this realm, was instantly incinerated under his finger, like slaughtering a mere dog.