Chapter 1616: Demon
“You…” The body of Taiyin Venerable, which had stood proudly even when wounded to the extreme, suddenly bent over, then trembled violently. His blood-stained face showed deep pain.
Soon, not only his pupils, but also the blood flowing from his entire body was clearly dyed a deep, dark green.
The heart-and-soul-startled Quhui suddenly turned his gaze, quickly came to Taiyin's side, and reached out to support him: “Taiyin Venerable, what’s wrong…”
“Don’t come near me!” Taiyin stumbled back, a wave of air forcing Quhui away. But this slight disturbance of qi caused Taiyin's face to twist violently. He fell heavily to his knees, trembling, unable to stand again.
“Poison... it’s poison!” Taiyin cried out in pain.
Quhui had been in Zhou Tian for so many years and had never heard any Guardian make such a terrified sound.
“Poison... what poison?” Quhui’s voice also trembled. At the level of a Guardian, aside from the ancient demon poison of the Nan Shen Domain, what poison could threaten them? But as soon as the words left his mouth, he suddenly thought of something and exclaimed, “Could it be... could it be...”
“Heavenly Poison... Pearl...” Taiyin's body curled up, his whole body spasming uncontrollably. The poison that had suddenly radiated through his entire body, instantly filling every cell and pore with despair, was so terrifying that it completely surpassed his lifelong understanding of poison, leading him to think of the most terrifying and only possibility.
Heavenly Poison Pearl... Who in the Dong Shen Domain doesn't know that Yun Che is the master of the Mystic Heaven Supreme Treasure, the Heavenly Poison Pearl!
“...” Qianye Ying’er finally understood. She glanced at Taiyin's condition, opened her mouth, but said nothing.
She wanted to say that after all, they were Guardians, and this was too risky—he wouldn’t be lucky every time... But thinking of Yun Che’s hatred for the Dong Shen Domain, especially for the Zhou Tian God Realm, she coldly swallowed the words that were about to come out.
Although it was still far from the right time, since they had encountered them, they might as well collect some bloody interest first!
Quhui had never witnessed the poison power of the Heavenly Poison Pearl, but from Taiyin Venerable's body, he clearly felt despair... That's right, despair!
Despair released by the will of a Zhou Tian Guardian!
Taiyin's kneeling body seemed to be trying desperately to stand, but as the poison spread, his aura became more chaotic and weaker. His body swayed—not only could he not stand, even maintaining his kneeling posture became extremely difficult.
That terrifying poison was like an ancient demon from the abyss, mercilessly devouring his life and everything. His power couldn't dispel even a trace of it, let alone annihilate it.
After all, the recovery of the Heavenly Poison's potency was still too shallow. If Taiyin were at his peak, with his strength, even if the Heavenly Poison exploded inside his body, he could forcibly endure it without external disturbance.
But in his current state... the only thing he could smell was death.
Yun Che stepped forward, walking slowly toward Taiyin and Quhui. The Heaven's Calamity Demon Emperor Sword was dragged behind him, cutting a black demonic trail into the ground.
Quhui, the chief Arbiter of Zhou Tian, and Taiyin, the sixth-ranked Zhou Tian Guardian—to the Yun Che of those years, how lofty and supreme these two were.
But at this moment, every step Yun Che took was like the footsteps of the Reaper treading on their souls.
Such a dramatic change in just a few short years.
Behind him, the life of the Zhou Tian Crown Prince was firmly locked in Qianye Ying'er's hands.
What a pity, what sorrow, what despair.
They hadn't expected to encounter Yun Che here, and they never dreamed that in the blink of an eye, they would fall into such a miserable state at his hands... Just a few breaths, yet every moment was the darkest nightmare.
Taiyin tried to circulate his last remaining strength, but as soon as his aura stirred, the already extremely terrifying Heavenly Poison, like an enraged demon, began devouring and annihilating his body and life even more frantically.
Bam!
His upper body crashed heavily to the ground. Under the poison's breath, the Primordial Land beneath him rapidly disintegrated. He slowly raised his hand, wanting to recall the Void Cauldron, but as soon as his mind moved, the barely formed soul connection was violently severed.
The Void Cauldron was sucked into Yun Che's hand, and dark demonic energy completely enveloped and swallowed it, preventing Taiyin's mind from penetrating even a little.
“Want... to run?” Yun Che’s lips curled, revealing an extremely sinister cold smile in the eyes of Taiyin and Quhui.
Back then, Quhui, as the host and supervisor of the Xuan God Convention, Yun Che was just an extraordinarily talented junior. But now, facing Yun Che's approaching steps, the pressure made him completely unable to breathe. The fear brought by that sinister cold smile was no less than the arrival of the Demon Emperor back then!
This pressure and fear were not due to his strength, but a kind of deep, indescribable darkness and malevolence... something that in their eyes would never have appeared in Yun Che, was now manifested to the extreme in him.
“Yun... Che!” Taiyin raised his head, his voice hoarse as sand: “Release the Young Master, and I will give you the divine fruit... and my life!”
Yun Che's steps continued forward, each step carrying deathly aura. Taiyin's words seemed like a joke to him, and the arc of his mouth became even more sinister: “Your life? In my eyes, your life is more worthless than a dog's! And you dare to offer it in trade!?”
This was undoubtedly the most insulting words Taiyin had heard in his life. His gaze condensed, and he propped up the pride that a Guardian had carried all his life: “If you don't release the Young Master, I will immediately... destroy the divine fruit!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the figure of Yun Che in his vision suddenly became illusory. A dark shadow, like a hellish spike shot from the dark void, pierced his body fiercely.
Boom!!
Badly wounded and dying, coupled with the Heavenly Poison in his body, Taiyin's divine body had become as fragile as tofu under the Heaven's Calamity Demon Emperor Sword. It was pierced through in an instant. Dark profound energy with flames quickly covered his whole body, devouring and burning his flesh, blood, bones, soul... everything, and also triggered a full explosion of the Heavenly Poison within him.
In the last moments of his life, his vision briefly regained clarity... He saw Yun Che's eyes, so close.
As clear as they once were, now they were as dark.
Boom... Boom...
Phoenix Flame and Golden Crow Flame spread over Taiyin's body, gradually merging into a terrifying crimson divine flame, burning Taiyin's body bit by bit into ashes.
Behind, Quhui stood there in a daze, his face as pale as a mummy that had all its blood drained. Watching Taiyin being pierced through by Yun Che's sword once again, he desperately wanted to step forward and save Taiyin, but his body was completely frozen, unable to move a single step forward, only trembling incessantly.
As the chief Arbiter, upright to the point of being almost heartless, he who had never known what fear was, now felt his heart and gall almost shattered.
When his body was nearly half burned away, Taiyin's final consciousness finally dissipated.
A Zhou Tian Guardian had thus died by Yun Che's sword... died at the hands of a 'junior' with a lifespan of only half a Jiazi.
Bam!
Yun Che flicked Taiyin's remains away with his sword, like discarding disgusting trash. Then he lifted his sword again, forcibly destroying Taiyin's personal space that was about to collapse. The stored items flew out into the sky in the sudden spatial turbulence.
At that moment, an aura like a divine spring moistening the heart spread between heaven and earth.
Primordial Divine Fruit!
The source of the aura—that gleaming radiance, though just a speck, was as dazzling as any star in the sky.
And just as the divine fruit's radiance appeared, the Brahma Gold Flexible Sword coiled around Zhou Qingchen suddenly flew out, leaving a golden trail in space a million times faster than a meteor. In an instant, it rolled up the divine fruit and flew back to Qianye Ying'er's side.
The aura and starlight of the divine fruit then disappeared into Qianye Ying'er's hand.
Yun Che's extended hand stopped in midair, then he slowly turned around... The Brahma Gold Flexible Sword had already bound Zhou Qingchen again. Qianye Ying'er's aura and expression were as calm as a faint breeze, as if nothing had just happened.
“Taiyin... Uncle...” Zhou Qingchen lay collapsed on the ground, completely without struggle. He stared blankly at Taiyin's remains, which were now only charred flesh and withered bones. His tongue was bitten, blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, but he couldn't wake from the nightmare.
The current Chaos was a world without gods.
And if one must say that 'gods' exist, then the Zhou Tian Guardians are the most qualified to be called 'divine beings'.
Not only in the eyes of the world, but also in the eyes of him, Zhou Qingchen.
Zhuliu had died, and before he could recover his soul, Taiyin had died too... died right before his eyes, under his very gaze, at the hands of Yun Che!
The world spun before his eyes, his mind alternated between gray and white, and he could no longer feel pain or fear...
His gaze slowly swept over Qianye Ying'er, then Yun Che glanced sideways at Quhui, who stood frozen as if his soul had been extracted, and uttered four emotionless words: “Kill yourself.”
“...” Quhui still didn't move, his lips slightly opening and closing, but unable to make a sound.
“Wasting time.” Qianye Ying'er murmured, her slender finger flicked. Instantly, 'Oracle' flew out, a golden light swept across Quhui's body.
There was no roar of profound energy explosion, no clang of space being cut. Almost no sound at all. When the golden light flew back to Qianye Ying'er's hand, Quhui's body suddenly separated, scattering into nine perfectly neat segments, rolling on the ground, each rolling far in different directions.
Without any struggle.
This time, 'Oracle' directly coiled back around her waist. Without the lock of 'Oracle' on his body, Zhou Qingchen still lay there helplessly, his body trembling and convulsing, his pupils completely unfocused.
Qianye Ying'er turned around, not deigning to look at Zhou Qingchen again, and didn't even mention the Primordial Divine Fruit. She said calmly, “How do you plan to deal with him?”
She was sure that Yun Che would not kill Zhou Qingchen directly.
The hatred in his heart was enough to fill the entire hellish abyss. How could he easily kill this son of Zhou Tian!
Yun Che stood in front of Zhou Qingchen, looking down at his pale face, and laughed coldly: “Brother Qingchen, these dogs raised by your Zhou Tian are more useless than another.”
“It's one thing to be useless, but this blood is truly lowly... and stinks to high heaven!”
Boom!!
Yun Che's palm pushed backward, instantly turning heaven and earth upside down, completely annihilating Quhui and Taiyin's blood and remains in the Primordial dust.
His soul stabbed fiercely by a poisonous blade, Zhou Qingchen shuddered, and his pupils suddenly regained clarity. His body trembled uncontrollably, but his mind became extremely cold and alert. He looked up at Yun Che and said through gritted teeth: “Yun Che, my father was right... you... have truly... become a demon!”
He didn't say 'demon person', but 'demon'.
Unfortunately, he didn't know how big a joke his words were in Yun Che's ears.
Yun Che laughed, a very calm laugh, seemingly without a trace of anger or killing intent. He said with a smile, “That's right, I am a demon. In this world, there is no demon more evil than me... Soon, everyone in your Zhou Tian, and the entire God Realm, will know just how evil this demon can be.”
Stared straight into Yun Che's eyes, Zhou Qingchen's pupils involuntarily dilated, and then dilated more... Although Yun Che's face carried a gentle smile, it caused every part of Zhou Qingchen's body, every pore, to shrink in fear.
“You... kill me.” Zhou Qingchen clenched his teeth, preventing them from chattering in fear: “My father... has always felt guilty and remorseful towards you... that's why he wanted to abdicate and cultivate in peace... If I die by your hand, my father can finally let go of these burdens... One day... he will personally annihilate you and avenge me!”
“He... feels guilty towards me?” Yun Che's mouth twitched. He wanted to laugh, to laugh uproariously to the sky. In his life, he had heard and seen countless jokes, but never one that made him wish he could laugh wildly for thousands of days and nights!
“To feel guilty towards a demon, your father is truly so great that the heavens would shed tears.” Yun Che reached out, grabbed Zhou Qingchen's collar, and deep within his seemingly calm eyes, two extremely ferocious flames burned wildly. His voice also became slow and soft at this moment:
“Now, I have nothing but a dark heart and soul. My homeland, my loved ones, my wife and daughter, all gone.”
“And the one who gave me all this... your great father, has countless sons and grandsons, and especially, a son like you that makes him proud.”
His face slowly approached: “Tell me, how should I repay him?”