Chapter 1678: Bone Sea Abyss
“Heaven's Calamity Demon Emperor?!” Yan Tianxiao's reaction was quite strong, seemingly intimidated by the title “Demon Emperor.”
Yun Che said: “Before leaving, the Heaven's Calamity Demon Emperor mentioned that there is a place in the center of the Northern Divine Region gathering dense dark yin aura, possibly formed by the accumulation of countless ancient demon bones, which is the most suitable place in the current world for cultivating dark profound force.”
“Thus, does Emperor Yan understand?”
Yun Che’s intention was clearly to borrow the Eternal Dark Bone Sea as a cultivation ground.
What he brought up was still the name of the Heaven's Calamity Demon Emperor.
Whether true or false, his invoking of the Heaven's Calamity Demon Emperor undoubtedly showed his considerable desire to enter the Eternal Dark Bone Sea. After all, it was indeed the most suitable place in the entire Chaos Space for cultivating dark profound force.
“This...” Yan Tianxiao still had a hesitant expression on his face. Suddenly, he turned his head and asked: “Jie’er, has the barrier of the Eternal Dark Bone Sea been sealed?”
Yan Jie immediately understood and stepped forward solemnly: “Reporting to Father King, the patriarch has not been in seclusion these past few days, and has ordered your son to enter and train for four hours each day, so the barrier has not been closed.”
Yan Tianxiao lightly exhaled and said: “It seems this is also heaven’s will.”
“Brother Yun, since it is the wish of the Heaven's Calamity Demon Emperor, breaking the rules for this occasion is not unacceptable. But as for the three patriarchs... perhaps we still need to see their intent.”
“Good.” Yun Che nodded, a faint satisfied smile finally appearing on his stiff and cold face: “Then many thanks to Emperor Yan for granting this.”
“Hehe, Brother Yun need not be so polite.” Yan Tianxiao said with a chuckle: “If you don’t mind, why not first stay at my...”
“No need.” Yun Che raised a hand: “Let’s go now.”
Yan Tianxiao did not say much more and nodded slightly: “Very well, this king will personally accompany Brother Yun there, and it will also be convenient to inform the three patriarchs.”
He waved his hand at Yan Jie and Yan Wu: “You have no more business here. Withdraw.”
Thus, under the personal guidance of the Demon Emperor of Yan Mo, Yan Tianxiao, he led Yun Che straight to the entrance of the Eternal Dark Bone Sea.
One of them showed a hidden urgency, while the other displayed obvious hesitation. But in truth... both of them were looking forward to approaching the Eternal Dark Bone Sea.
The temperament of Emperor Yan was very different from that of the Burning Moon God Emperor. He acted with extreme domination and decisiveness, fearing no one, no matter what, and could even disregard any consequences... because the Yan Mo Realm he commanded and backed was utterly unshakable.
This was the case until he heard of Yun Che’s arrival and before meeting him.
But when facing Yun Che, his dominance, even his imperial might, was firmly suppressed.
Yan Tianxiao was not ignorant of what kind of aura, posture, and expression to display toward what kind of person and situation.
However, as the number one emperor of the Northern Divine Region, this was the first time he had been forced to switch to such a posture in an instant.
Yun Che was indeed the first person in the history of the Yan Mo Realm to step in alone, yet Emperor Yan dared not rashly show hostility or test him.
The already deceased Fen Daojun, the fallen Burning Moon, the Demon Emperor’s inheritance, Yan Wu who was scared to her soul trembling, and Yun Che being alone yet utterly fearless, instead showing a cold and arrogant, confident posture...
With these connected, how could Emperor Yan dare to act rashly?
In reality, if Yan Tianxiao were to turn around and strike with a single palm now, with his powerful Divine Emperor power, even if Yun Che wasn’t half-dead, he would be severely injured.
This was the Yong’an Demon Palace, filled with countless experts. If surrounded, although Yun Che had the ability to escape with Dark Eternal Calamity and Moon-Breaking Shadow Flick, there was also the possibility of falling and dying.
But under layers of foreshadowing, this dangerous possibility had become very low. Emperor Yan now had no courage to act rashly, nor any necessity.
The Eternal Dark Barrier and the Yan Cry Great Array gave Yun Che the chance to “foreshadow,” and even if they hadn’t, he would have created his own opportunity.
After all, in this world, only he truly understood Dark Eternal Calamity. Its power could, in many areas, easily shatter people’s understanding of darkness. No matter if it was Yan Mo or Emperor Yan, they would all be shocked to their souls flying beyond the heavens.
The entrance to the Eternal Dark Bone Sea was located at the very center of the Yong’an Demon Palace.
Entering a dark hall, a bone-chilling cold yin aura rushed toward them. Ahead, dozens of dark profound arrays were piled together, and at the center of the arrays, they pointed toward a pitch-black, bottomless abyss.
Releasing his spiritual sense, within the unsealed abyss, a stunningly dense dark yin aura rolled and churned like a storm, accompanied by terrifying sounds like demon wails and ghost cries.
“Here is the entrance to the Eternal Dark Bone Sea.”
Yan Tianxiao stopped, his face solemn, displaying the reverence of the Yan Mo people toward the Eternal Dark Bone Sea.
After all, it was the Eternal Dark Bone Sea that had made the Yan Mo Realm, which spanned the history of the Northern Divine Region, what it was.
But beneath his solemn exterior, dozens of thoughts were already racing through his mind.
On the way leading Yun Che here, he had not asked Yun Che any questions. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to test Yun Che, but rather that he was afraid of revealing some flaw that would make Yun Che alert and no longer approach the Eternal Dark Bone Sea.
Obviously, he was overthinking.
“As expected of the yin aura of ancient demon bones. Truly extraordinary.” Yun Che stared into the abyss leading to who knew where, murmuring as if to himself.
“Naturally,” Yan Tianxiao said: “Otherwise, how could it be worthy of attracting the attention of the Heaven's Calamity Demon Emperor?”
He had already brought Yun Che here. The distance of a mere thirty zhang ahead was the wide-open entrance to the Eternal Dark Bone Sea. But Yan Tianxiao’s mental string was not relaxed.
Since Yun Che had come here, there was no reason he didn’t know about the three indestructible Yan Ancestors within the Eternal Dark Bone Sea.
Once sealed and killed within the Eternal Dark Bone Sea, facing the three indestructible ancestors whose power could recover extremely quickly, even with heaven-defying abilities, one would surely die.
Even if one could truly release power beyond the limits of the current world, they would be drained to death.
This point, Yun Che, and even the Soul Plunder Realm side, could not be unaware.
Therefore, Yun Che simply could not be completely defenseless.
Countless thoughts quickly flashed through Yan Tianxiao’s mind, before being annihilated in an instant, leaving only a faintly flickering, ruthless cold light in his eyes.
“Brother Yun.” Yan Tianxiao showed hesitation and said to Yun Che: “Regarding entering the Eternal Dark Bone Sea, this king naturally has no objections. But as for the three patriarchs...”
“Is Emperor Yan worried that the three Yan Ancestors won’t allow it?” Yun Che’s gaze remained fixed straight on the entrance to the Eternal Dark Bone Sea, seemingly too lazy to care about Yan Tianxiao’s words. A not-so-obvious excited black light flickered in his pupils.
“Brother Yun doesn’t know this.” Yan Tianxiao sighed lightly, quite emotionally: “This Eternal Dark Bone Sea was originally left by the three ancestors...”
Boom!!!
The word “ancestors,” mellow yet tinged with melancholy, had not yet faded away when Yan Tianxiao’s palm heavily slammed into Yun Che’s lower ribs.
True to being the number one Divine Emperor of the Northern Divine Region, there was no warning before the strike, and the speed of the attack exceeded the reaction limit of any living being.
Yet, even with such a sudden and swift strike, its might was still as vast as the covering sky. The divine might that erupted in an instant caused the heavens to violently shake.
Pff!
A large spray of blood foam burst out. Yun Che fell like a shooting star, with a piercing sound of breaking air, plunging toward the dark abyss ahead.
The blood foam scattering in the air made Yan Tianxiao slightly stunned, but his movements had no delay. He flipped his palm, and dozens of massive profound arrays simultaneously descended, firmly sealing the entrance of the Eternal Dark Bone Sea.
Rumble—
The dozens of profound arrays rapidly operated and connected, their light merging into one. Finally, they linked with the core protective array of the Yan Mo Emperor Domain, becoming the most despairing sealing barrier in the Northern Divine Region.
Thus, Yun Che was firmly sealed inside this “grave” from which there was no escape upon entry.
The eruption of Emperor Yan’s power and the sound of the profound arrays closing alarmed the entire Yong’an Demon Palace. The many Yan Mo who had known of Yun Che’s arrival quickly surged over.
What they saw was only Yan Tianxiao standing there and the completely closed profound arrays, with no trace of Yun Che.
“Father King, did it succeed?” Yan Jie asked urgently.
“Mm.” Yan Tianxiao responded indifferently.
“That’s good.” Yan Wu breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Then she noticed the abnormality in Yan Tianxiao’s expression, frowned, and asked: “Father King, did some other situation arise?”
“No,” Yan Tianxiao shook his head. He reached out, looking at the bloodstains he had absorbed into his palm, and said: “We were tricked by him.”
“What?” All the Yan Mo’s eyes shook, their mental strings suddenly taut.
“Hmph, you misunderstood.” Yan Tianxiao clenched his hand, turned around, and looked at Yan Wu: “Wu’er, what you saw should have been the special ability displayed by the Dark Eternal Calamity he inherited from the Heaven's Calamity Demon Emperor.”
“Since it is a Demon Emperor’s power that has never appeared in the world, of course there would be things beyond cognition.”
“As for his own strength... Hmph!” Yan Tianxiao gave a heavy snort: “Although it far exceeds the boundary of Divine Sovereigns, it is far from enough to fear. Even this king was tricked by him!”
“What... do you mean by that?” Yan Wu said.
Yan Tianxiao raised his own hand, covered with bloodstains from Yun Che: “Just now, this king struck at extreme speed, with at most two-tenths of my power. I intended to use his unpreparedness to knock him off balance, then strike with full force, while simultaneously activating all profound arrays to forcibly shake him down into the Eternal Dark Bone Sea.”
“But with just that palm, he was not only directly blasted down, but also suffered not-light injuries... How utterly outrageous!”
Thinking of his previous fear and the amiable posture he had tried so hard to display, Yan Tianxiao’s clenched hands made a “crack” sound from his knuckles... That was simply the greatest humiliation of his reign.
All the Yan Mo frowned deeply. Yan Jie said: “So, all his previous posturing was...”
“Hmph, being alone and arrogant and rude—these instead made us more wary.” Yan Tianxiao said coldly: “No wonder he came so quickly. It turned out to be using the lingering might of the Burning Moon’s fall!”
“The power that killed Fen Daojun was clearly not his normal power, and it was very likely something he could only use once in his lifetime. He nearly played us, and played the Demon Empress as well!”
If he had not been decisive and ruthless enough to directly blast him down with a palm, who knows how long he would have been led around by the nose.
Looking at the bright red bloodstains on Yan Tianxiao’s palm, Yan Wu’s gaze tightened. She quickly recalled the previous scenes of Yun Che breaking the Eternal Dark Barrier and silencing the Yan Cry Great Array...
At the time, the scene was indeed shocking, making her soul tremble endlessly. But thinking back now, his two strikes did not carry obvious profound energy fluctuations. Instead, they seemed more like a special “trick power” beyond the realm of understanding.
“I see.” Yan Wu said softly, a humiliated expression on her face: “But I have to say... his guts are indeed extremely bold.”
“To accomplish a great deed, facing my Yan Mo, how could he not have such guts?” Yan Tianxiao’s words were not lacking in praise.
“In that case, there’s no need for the three patriarchs to make a move. But that’s fine too.” Yan Tianxiao’s eyes flashed repeatedly: “The Eternal Dark Bone Sea has no escape. After the three patriarchs subdue him, maybe we can... force the secret of Dark Eternal Calamity out of him.”
“If we can strip his Demon Emperor inheritance from him, even better!”
——————
In the darkness, Yun Che’s body descended rapidly, but a long time passed, and he still hadn’t reached the bottom.
The wind howled in his ears. The deeper he went, the denser and more violent the yin aura became.
Hatred, resentment, death qi, murderous intent... rolled in with an extremely thick stench of decay, rushing madly toward him. Anyone in this situation would believe they were falling into the legendary abyss of purgatory.
“Cough... cough, cough!”
Yun Che coughed lightly, each cough bringing out a little blood foam.
Although the breakthrough in the Great Dao Pagoda Art had once again transformed his body, that was still the power of a Divine Emperor. Without full defense, it was still impossible to completely withstand.
If it had been any other eighth-rank Divine Lord, they would already have been shattered to pieces.
An injury of this degree would normally heal quickly for Yun Che. But as he fell into the Eternal Dark Bone Sea, the surrounding excessively dense dark profound energy surged into his entire body, causing his injury to heal at a speed several times faster than usual.
As he descended, the healing speed continued to increase.
A quarter of an hour... half an hour...
Yun Che did not deliberately speed up his descent; he let his body fall freely. A full three-quarters of an hour later, with a heavy thud, his feet landed heavily on the bottom of the abyss.
This place was not absolute darkness. Gazing out, countless demon bones emitted a grayish phosphorescent light. These faint lights did not dispel the terror; instead, they made it more oppressive and sinister.
The shapes of these demon bones varied. Some skulls alone were as large as a thousand zhang and still quite intact, while others had turned into broken dark fragments.
The dark yin aura here was so dense it was nearly tangible, making Yun Che feel as if he were immersed in surging water. Without needing to focus and guide it, the dark energy stormed into every corner of his body like a gale.
The injury blasted by Yan Tianxiao’s powerful Divine Emperor power healed completely within just three breaths of landing on the ground.
Tat!
“Heh... hehe... hehehehe...”
The sound of moving bones and a sinister, twisted grin were terrifying in this gray world of dead bones.
Yun Che’s gaze slowly turned. Facing the direction of the laughter, his face showed not fear, but a sneer... filled with cruelty.