Chapter 1552: Qianye Qianying (Part 2)
In the vast Northern Divine Region, there was no one he knew. Only today had he truly taken his first step… and a familiar aura should not exist in this world.
Moreover, the owner of this aura had absolutely no possibility of appearing in this place.
But…
As he appeared, that aura seemed to sense something. The ground and space trembled violently, and nearly half the royal city split apart in an instant. All obstacles between the two, whether living or dead, were annihilated. A black shadow descended from the sky, landing in the center of the palace city.
It landed before Yun Che.
It was a woman.
She wore black clothes suited for concealment, stained with dust and wounds, yet still unable to hide the astonishing beauty of her body. Her hair was a luxurious golden color, though much duller than Yun Che remembered.
Her face was covered with a black half-mask… concealing her appearance had long become her habit. For her face was too stunningly perfect, beautiful enough to topple heavens and bring calamity to the world—this was Heaven’s greatest gift to her, and also her greatest curse.
Even with her face covered, her chin and lips, carved like jade, remained perfectly near illusory.
This was someone Yun Che knew… someone who, in his understanding, had no possibility of being here.
Qianye Ying'er!
He looked at her, and she looked at him… Around them, noise erupted. Countless palace guards and profound practitioners swarmed in, and the Lord of the Donghan Kingdom arrived hurriedly with a group of Donghan Guards. The entire royal city seemed on edge, yet the two stood motionless, as if frozen in place.
Yun Che and Qianye Ying'er—one had once been inflicted with the Buddhist Soul Death-Pleading Seal by the other, unable to live or die; the other had been inflicted with a cruel slave mark by the former, losing all dignity, becoming a lifelong disgrace.
They both hated each other to the core, wishing to grind the other's bones to ashes.
One had once been the Savior Divine Son praised by the world; the other had stood at the pinnacle of the age as the Fandi Shennü. Yet these two people had both suffered the cruelest betrayals and been forced into this dark region—the Northern Divine Region.
Though the Northern Divine Region's territory was far smaller than the other divine regions, it still contained thousands of star realms, vast beyond measure.
But in this boundless Northern Divine Region, they had met—like fate, or like a bizarre joke played by the heavens.
Bang!
Yun Che's hands clenched. Dark profound light blazed across his body, quickly tinged with an increasingly dense blood red.
The suddenly erupting profound aura heavily knocked back Dongfang Hanwei beside him and the hurriedly arriving city guards.
Qianye Ying'er possessed power comparable to a Divine Emperor. Yun Che's power, even pushed to its limit, could never pose the slightest threat or influence to her. Yet, as the airflow raged, Qianye Ying'er's body noticeably wavered.
She looked at Yun Che, silently watching, until finally, she slowly extended her hand. But what she released from her palm was not profound energy—it was a slowly condensing soul crystal.
Yun Che: "..."
Gradually, the soul crystal took shape in her pale palm. The moment it was fully formed, Qianye Ying'er's body wavered again. Her beautiful eyes closed weakly, and she slowly collapsed… falling unconscious, with no further sound.
Behind her lay the royal city she had shattered, along with countless corpses.
The Lord of the Donghan Kingdom arrived and saw this fearsome invader suddenly fall unconscious. He breathed a sigh of relief inside and bellowed, "Seize her!"
At the Lord's command, a group of Donghan Guards quickly advanced… but after a few steps, they all froze in place, deep fear on their faces, not daring to move forward.
How could they withstand the aura Yun Che was releasing at full force?
Dongfang Hanwei kept watching Yun Che's expression. She spoke softly, tentatively: "Senior Yun, this person… is she someone you know?"
Yun Che didn't answer. He stepped toward Qianye Ying'er, his profound aura showing no sign of restraint.
When he was only a few steps away, his brow twitched sharply.
The unconscious Qianye Ying'er's aura was incredibly weak… weak enough for Yun Che to clearly sense.
Under what circumstances would a powerful profound practitioner suddenly faint? Either the body or soul had suffered unbearable injury, or after prolonged hardship and despair, the mind suddenly relaxed.
Among those in this world who hated him most, Qianye Ying'er was definitely one… She had appeared in the Northern Divine Region, and fainted before him.
He pointed a finger, and the soul crystal Qianye Ying'er had condensed before fainting fell into his hand. A segment of Qianye Ying'er's memories reflected in his mind.
His profound aura dissipated. Yun Che grabbed Qianye Ying'er, and with a flicker of his figure, brought her into the cultivation room. The door and barrier closed simultaneously.
Everyone looked at each other in confusion, but no one dared to ask anything.
————
Qianye Ying'er was unconscious for a long time. Even in her unconscious world, it was shrouded in gray darkness.
Her eyelashes fluttered. After a brief stillness, her beautiful eyes snapped open, and she sat up abruptly. Her gaze met Yun Che's pitch-dark eyes.
Qianye Ying'er's body froze, and the profound energy that had just surged slowly settled… She had once been a slave by Yun Che's side, familiar with his aura and gaze. But now, the man before her—his aura and his eyes had completely changed. Though familiar, they felt incredibly foreign.
Her chest rose and fell. Facing Yun Che… she slowly bent her knees and knelt before him.
"Help me… take revenge." Her voice was soft, but the hatred within it instantly congealed the space.
She had knelt before Yun Che before—when she had been imposed with the slave mark.
But now, this Divine Maiden, who once held the highest status and the proudest dignity in the world, knelt before Yun Che of her own will.
"Take revenge for you?" Yun Che's lips curled, a mix of mockery and ridicule: "Kill Qianye Fantian for you?"
"You can definitely do it," Qianye Ying'er's body trembled. "In this world, only you… can do it…"
That day, after being sent away from the Fandi Divine Realm by Gu Zhu, she began a desperate escape. Her Fan God Divine Power had dissipated, her profound veins had been destroyed by Qianye Fantian, and she had completely lost her shadow-concealing power. With the power of the Fandi Divine Realm, no matter where she fled, she would eventually be found.
Except for the Northern Divine Region!
Qianye Ying'er was never one to easily accept her fate. She resolutely stepped into the Northern Divine Region… in terms of time, even before Yun Che.
But she was not Yun Che. She had no ability to manipulate dark profound energy. In this dark land, her life and profound power were being devoured by dark aura every moment. To completely shake off pursuit, she had to venture deeper… The deeper she went, the faster and more brutal the devouring became.
Coupled with the fact that her profound veins had been severely wounded by Qianye Fantian and were in a state of leaking profound energy, every day, every moment in the Northern Divine Region was a nightmare.
What sustained her was the hatred that filled her heart and soul… and the obsession for revenge, along with the only glimmer of hope:
Yun Che!
With her profound veins destroyed, she could never take revenge with her own power. In this world, aside from herself, the person with the most reason to kill Qianye Fantian and the future likelihood of doing so was Yun Che!
She clearly understood what it meant to be filled with hatred for heaven and earth… Perhaps she understood better than anyone the resentment and demons that would breed in Yun Che's heart after being betrayed by the world and losing everything.
If he could escape the pursuit of the three divine regions, then the Northern Divine Region was the most likely place for him to flee.
He inherited the Evil God's power, and the upper limit he could reach in the future would certainly surpass everyone alive… And this was also the underlying reason he could not be tolerated by the world. With his dark profound power, he could also grow in the Northern Divine Region. Given enough time, he would definitely have the ability to kill Qianye Fantian!
The one who had trampled her dignity, whom she wished to grind to ashes, had become her last hope and desperate desire… How tragic and ironic.
She had thought that searching for Yun Che in the vast Northern Divine Region would be like looking for a needle in a vast ocean, and her condition might not even allow her to last until that day.
But, less than a day ago, in this dark land called Dongxu, she actually heard the name "Yun Che."
"Heh," Yun Che laughed coldly. "How ridiculous. One of the people I want to kill most in this world is you. And you're asking me to help you? Give me a reason!"
Qianye Ying'er's soul crystal had clearly recorded everything. She had abandoned all dignity to save Qianye Fantian, only to be abandoned by him in return… Even more cruelly, she learned that the father she had always deeply respected was the one who had truly killed her mother, and her entire life had been nothing but a chess piece under his control!
Betrayal, all betrayal… The great Fandi Shennü, to have such a day—how pathetic and laughable!
"Before the Chaos Wall… I saved you," Qianye Ying'er said. "If I hadn't sent you away with the Void Stone, you would have died under Xia Qingyue's sword."
"That reason is not enough!" Yun Che said coldly.
Qianye Ying'er slowly closed her eyes, then spoke softly and faintly: "Please… reimpose the slave mark on me. I am willing to be your slave… forever!"
Her Fan Soul had been lost; if the slave mark was imposed again, it would be an eternal slave mark… never to be undone!
And she was the one actively begging to be "granted" the slave mark.
Yun Che looked at her and suddenly burst into laughter, ice-cold and unrestrained: "Hahahaha… The Qianye Ying'er who once looked down on everything has stooped so low as to beg to be someone's slave… How wonderful, how ridiculous… Hahaha… hahahahaha!"
"…" Qianye Ying'er's lips and fingers were deathly pale, but her eyes stared straight at Yun Che, without a moment's deviation.
"But, what a pity…" Yun Che shook his head, his words dripping with mockery. "You are no longer the Fandi Shennü who once dominated the world. You are now a mangy dog whose legs have been broken by your own father! Your profound skills are completely lost, your profound veins half ruined. Your cultivation has now fallen to the initial Divine Sovereign realm. You probably can't even kill me anymore. What use would having you as a slave be to me?"
"My body," Qianye Ying'er raised her arm, slowly removing the black half-mask from her face, fully revealing to Yun Che's eyes the celestial countenance that had once made him lose his soul at a single glance.
In that instant, the light of the entire space dimmed.
"'Dragon Empress Divine Maiden'—the whole world knows of her." Her eyes, beautiful enough to outshine heaven, earth, stars, and ten thousand flowers, stared directly into Yun Che's eyes. Every word from her exquisite jade lips was like misty rain, dreamlike and poignant: "As a man, don't you wish… that the 'Divine Maiden' all men in the world yearn for… would become yours alone, a plaything you can toy with as you please?"