Chapter 1665: Burning Moon's Scheme
"Master, where are you going?" He Ling asked nervously.
"Burning Moon," Yun Che replied.
"But..."
He Ling raised her eyes... The world within the Heavenly Poison Pearl was tinged with a faint black hue.
She did not continue.
Perhaps, compared to Qianye Ying'er or Chi Wuyue, she was the one who understood Yun Che the most.
She was connected to Yun Che by life, not only experiencing everything he did, but also sensing his soul at all times.
The Burning Moon Realm—that was a King Realm of the Northern Divine Region!
Just Burning Moon God Emperor Fen Daojun alone was one of the three most supreme beings in the Northern Divine Region. Even with the Dark Eternal Calamity upon him, Yun Che was absolutely no match for him.
However, she was acutely aware that at this moment, there was no way to stop Yun Che or make him turn back.
Passing through stretches of pitch-black star regions, skimming over countless dark stars, the Burning Moon Realm, which they had just left not long ago, reappeared in his sight.
His speed slowed slightly, and the black light in his eyes also gradually faded... but the darkness in the deepest part of his pupils grew even more chillingly cold.
Entering the Burning Moon Realm, traversing layer after layer, he landed before the Burning Moon Royal City.
The barrier of the Burning Moon Royal City had already been sealed... Although, no matter how strong a dark barrier, it was as good as nothing before him.
"This is an important ground of the royal city. Without permission, no one is allowed to approach. Violators will be killed!"
As soon as Yun Che landed, a strong and authoritative voice came from afar, carrying an intimidating aura.
Yun Che looked ahead and spoke calmly: "Please inform Burning Moon God Emperor that Yun Che has come to pay a visit."
After a brief silence, a startled voice rang out: "Yun... Yun Che!?"
The several clashes that had taken place in the Burning Moon Main Hall earlier were all at the Divine Lord level, undoubtedly shaking the entire Burning Moon Royal City. Although not much time had passed, news had already quietly spread throughout the royal city—especially the name Yun Che.
Afterward, the Moon Devourers and Burning Moon Divine Envoys who were outside were urgently recalled. Even the least perceptive person in the royal city could smell an unusually strong strange atmosphere.
"Wasn't it said that the Demon Empress and he just left..."
"Could it be a fake?"
"Regardless of whether it's true or false... quickly send a sound transmission to the Chief Commander, and have him inform the God Emperor!"
Burning Moon Main Hall, the atmosphere was especially oppressive.
The Moon Devourers of the Burning Moon Realm were different from the Demonesses of the Soul Plunder Realm. The Demonesses served only the Demon Empress, while the Moon Devourers each had their own territories to govern. So on ordinary days, unless something earth-shattering happened, they were rarely forcibly recalled.
And such an emergency recall was even rarer.
In just one hour, all Moon Devourers and Burning Moon Divine Envoys had returned to the realm! Some had even used long-dormant dimensional profound arrays at great cost to rush back as quickly as possible.
In the great hall, Burning Moon God Emperor sat upright in the main seat, his expression extremely calm, but his entire body unconsciously released a suffocatingly oppressive aura.
Below, a group of unusually quiet Moon Devourers, Burning Moon Divine Envoys, and several dozen imperial princes and princesses of the highest status stood with grave expressions.
"My King, is this matter really that serious?" a Moon Devourer who had just returned asked.
Fen Zhuo—he was ranked second among the Moon Devourers, second only to Fen Daocang in strength.
In the Burning Moon Realm, there were no Tenth-rank Divine Lords below the God Emperor. However, compared to the Ten Yan Mo of the Yan Mo Realm and the Nine Demonesses of the Soul Plunder Realm, the Moon Devourers of the Burning Moon Realm had an absolute advantage in numbers.
Twelve of them!
Fen Daocang glanced at him and said in a voice as deep as an abyss: "If you had seen it with your own eyes, you wouldn't have said that."
Fen Daocang had not only witnessed it with his own eyes but had also been personally suppressed by two Eighth-level Divine Lords. At the time, he was filled with resentment and humiliation, but now that the shocking revelations of "Calamity Demon Disaster," "Heaven's Calamity Demon Emperor," and "Dark Eternal Calamity" had been dropped, looking back, it was no longer so hard to accept.
What replaced it was an endless heaviness.
Fen Zhuo's gaze shifted, and he noticed that those Moon Devourers who had stayed in the royal city all had expressions of unprecedented gravity on their faces.
"Have all those sent to spy on the Soul Plunder Realm been withdrawn?" Burning Moon God Emperor asked.
"Reporting to my King, they have all been recalled. Not a single one remains."
Burning Moon God Emperor slowly exhaled.
The Moon God Emperor was not fond of conflict, especially after the rise of the Soul Plunder Realm, which surpassed even the Pure Heaven Divine Realm of yesteryear. He had never wanted to provoke the Soul Plunder Realm.
But he had never been so obviously and intensely wary.
A Burning Moon imperial prince said: "Is the power on Yun Che really the power of the Heaven's Calamity Demon Emperor? Could it be that the Demon Empress is putting on a show? Or perhaps the Dark Eternal Calamity on a mortal is actually not that powerful. For example, that Fandi Shennü was utterly vulnerable under your hand, Father King."
"Naive," Burning Moon God Emperor said coldly. "Do you think I would misidentify the power of a Demon Emperor? It is far more powerful than you can imagine. What those two demonesses displayed was perhaps merely the tip of the iceberg of the Dark Eternal Calamity's power. After all, what you saw were merely the two weakest demonesses and an Eternal Calamity Demon Formation."
"According to ancient records, the Heaven's Calamity Demon Emperor was the first demon created by the Primordial Divine. His dark power is called 'Primordial Darkness.' The changes in the demonesses are certainly far more than simply perfectly mastering darkness."
Everyone held their breath.
As Northern Divine Region God Emperors, their understanding of the ancient Demon Emperor far surpassed that of ordinary people.
"As for that Fandi Shennü..." Burning Moon God Emperor frowned slightly. "She seemed to be in some sort of condition. Her true strength is far more than what you saw."
"My King, what should we do now?" Fen Zhuo asked. "If the Dark Eternal Calamity is truly that terrifying, and the demonesses, soul spirits, and soul attendants have all undergone transformation under it... if the Demon Empress has intentions to invade our Burning Moon, wouldn't we... find it hard to withstand?"
Everyone present understood how euphemistic the words "hard to withstand" were.
With the help of the "Calamity Demon Disaster," the two weakest demonesses could suppress the strongest Moon Devourer.
If those two terrifying great demonesses came, with their dark transformation and the same "Calamity Demon Disaster," even all twelve Moon Devourers together might struggle...
Burning Moon God Emperor's gaze turned to the person sitting next to Fen Daocang.
This was a man who looked to be in his thirties or forties, dressed in white, with black hair and no beard, wearing a wide-brimmed hat. His skin was much fairer than other Moon Devourers, and he exuded no air of authority, his posture serene and refined.
Anyone who saw him would never guess that he was one of the twelve Moon Devourers of the Burning Moon Realm.
"Teacher, what is your view?" Burning Moon God Emperor asked.
Fen Daoqi—in terms of cultivation, he ranked seventh among the twelve Moon Devourers.
But beyond being a Moon Devourer, he had two special identities.
He was the teacher of the Burning Moon God Emperor, and also the strategist of Burning Moon!
Burning Moon God Emperor had always held him in great respect. Even as a God Emperor, he still addressed him as "Teacher."
Fen Daoqi stood up and said: "Daoqi was not present to witness it in person. However, based on what my King has said, in the near future, we must absolutely not touch the Soul Plunder Realm, not even test it, to avoid giving the Demon Empress an excuse to seize upon."
Burning Moon God Emperor slowly nodded: "And in the long term?"
"There are only two paths." Fen Daoqi paused, his voice becoming unusually heavy: "First, kill Yun Che."
"Difficult," Burning Moon God Emperor said. The cunning Demon Empress would certainly protect Yun Che to the utmost: "And the second?"
Not only difficult, but also extremely risky. After all, he had just said that they must absolutely not touch the Soul Plunder Realm now.
"As for the second, I believe it is already in your heart, my King." Fen Daoqi smiled slightly and then said one word: "Win."
Everyone exchanged glances, then fell into thought.
Burning Moon God Emperor slowly rose and said, looking ahead: "If we can win Yun Che, we will surely gain the Northern Divine Region in the future. With perfect dark compatibility, even if we break away from the Northern Divine Region, his dark profound force probably will not weaken."
"That means we will have the foundation and capital to truly break out of the cage and stand on equal footing with the other three Divine Regions."
These words made everyone's expressions drastically change.
"Even harder," Fen Daocang said. "The Pure Heaven God Emperor was no ordinary figure, and yet he fell at the hands of the Demon Empress. When it comes to dealing with men, I fear no one in the world can match the Demon Empress. From start to finish, Yun Che showed no emotion; his expression was cold and stiff. It's possible even his soul has been seized by the Demon Empress. How can we win him?"
"No," Burning Moon God Emperor shook his head. "The Demon Empress can seize any soul in the world. But Yun Che, who bears the power of the Heaven's Calamity Demon Emperor... is absolutely impossible."
He was certain of this.
"Teacher, do you have any way to possibly bring Yun Che into our Burning Moon?" Burning Moon God Emperor asked again.
"To bring him in is nearly impossible. But to win him..." Fen Daoqi smiled faintly and uttered a single word: "Lust."
Most people frowned slightly, unimpressed, except for Burning Moon God Emperor, who narrowed his eyes.
"This seems like the least feasible method," Fen Daocang said, looking at Fen Daoqi with surprise that someone as wise as him would say such a word. "When it comes to seducing men, who in the Northern Divine Region can compare to the Demon Empress? Right now, that Demon Empress is surely serving Yun Che day and night, making him comfortable, huh!"
"And there's also the Fandi Shennü by his side... it's said that in terms of appearance, she rivals the Dragon Empress of the Western Divine Region as the number one beauty in the Divine Realm!"
His words were clearly sarcastic, but anyone could hear the deep jealousy and resentment in them.
Fen Daoqi, however, shook his head slightly and said: "What we can give, the Soul Plunder Realm can also give. But 'lust' can come in a thousand different forms."
"The biggest reason he entered the Soul Plunder Realm should be his greed for the Demon Empress's beauty—that is to say, 'lust' works on him."
"The Demon Empress and the Divine Daughter, our women of Burning Moon indeed cannot compare," Fen Daoqi said objectively. "But when it comes to 'lust,' sometimes 'novelty' and 'quantity' can be more important than 'quality.'"
"Especially... it is said that Yun Che is less than sixty years old, at an age when he is most susceptible to the temptation of women and most prone to tiring of the old and seeking the new."
Fen Daocang's eyes flickered as if enlightenment dawned: "You mean?"
"The Demon Empress's temperament is extremely domineering. Even if she truly is willing to offer Yun Che as Emperor and herself as Empress, she will certainly not allow Yun Che's power to surpass hers."
"Therefore, her control over Yun Che—especially regarding women—will be extremely autocratic and overbearing. On our side, we can exploit this gap to tempt him..."
Fen Daoqi shook his head and sighed: "It sounds crude and ridiculous, but it seems to be the only possible method."
"Although the chance of using this method to make him abandon the Soul Plunder Realm and enter our Burning Moon is minuscule... it will be enough if we can just divert some of his attention to our Burning Moon. After that, we can make long-term plans."
Since he had already "fallen" into the Demon Empress's hands, it would be extremely difficult—almost impossible—for them to win Yun Che himself over. What could be done was to win over part of his heart and mind... The more they won, the smaller the crisis for Burning Moon.
Everyone looked at Burning Moon God Emperor's expression and knew that he agreed with Fen Daoqi's words, or perhaps he had already thought the same.
Only... the core members of Burning Moon, the supreme existences of the Northern Divine Region, had gathered here in full, and the only conclusion they reached was to forcibly seduce him!
What the hell...
"Zhuo." Burning Moon God Emperor suddenly spoke.
Fen Zhuo stepped forward and bowed: "Your Majesty, please give your orders."
"Seven days from now, you will personally go to the Soul Plunder Realm and deliver a heavy gift to Yun Che." Burning Moon God Emperor's eyes flickered.
"Yes." Fen Zhuo responded. "What is this heavy gift..."
Burning Moon God Emperor closed his eyes, his voice carrying a note of gravity: "Fen Hehuang."
"Wha... what!?" Fen Zhuo raised his head sharply, and everyone present showed expressions of shock.
Fen Hehuang—the young princess of Burning Moon, known throughout the Northern Divine Region. Her face was like jade, her bearing like an immortal. She was the treasure of the Burning Moon Realm and the most beloved daughter of Burning Moon God Emperor.
In the face of everyone's shock, Burning Moon God Emperor showed no change of expression and continued: "Remember to avoid the Demon Empress as much as possible. It would be best if Yun Che accepts her. If he doesn't, force her to stay. Even if she is sent back later, it doesn't matter, as long as he has seen her."
Men understand men best. Even though Yun Che already had the Demon Empress and the Divine Daughter, he would not refuse other superior beauties... Moreover, he was certain that there was no man in the world who would not be moved upon seeing Fen Hehuang.
"But... but..."
"No buts." Burning Moon God Emperor turned his back. "Since she is my daughter, she must have the resolve to make sacrifices for the Burning Moon Realm."
Fen Zhuo's lips trembled slightly. If one looked closely, his fingers were also trembling incessantly. In the end, he closed his eyes deeply and bowed his head: "I... obey your command."
At that moment, a presence approached rapidly, and a hurried voice came from afar: "Burning Moon Guard Chief Commander Fen Zhou requests an audience with His Majesty... I have an important matter to report."
Burning Moon God Emperor was in a very bad mood, but he did not lose his temper. He said calmly: "Speak."
A figure halted abruptly before the hall, knelt, and bowed his head: "At the royal city gate... Yun Che requests an audience with His Majesty."
The name "Yun Che" made everyone in the hall sharply turn their heads. Burning Moon God Emperor spun around: "What did you say!?"