Chapter 1713: Dark Clouds
The sound tides in the Northern Divine Region grew increasingly fierce. Trails of dark aura rose amid fury and fervor, gradually beginning to shake the space and overturn the dark clouds above the firmament.
Yun Che raised his head, watching the dark clouds above churning and trembling in fear once again. He lifted both hands, his demonic voice covering the world:
"Since this Demon Lord has inherited the Demon Emperor's power and will, how could I allow this dark land to suffer further bullying?"
"A retreat today would be a disgrace for ten thousand generations."
"A million years is enough. It is time for the Eastern Divine Region to pay! For this Heavenly Dao to repay the million years of humiliation borne by the Dark Clan!"
Yun Che's words, like an unbreakable and undesired-to-break supreme demonic edict, deeply engraved themselves into the dark souls of every profound practitioner in the Northern Region.
As the supreme Demon Lord of the Northern Divine Region, his words were a formal declaration to the Northern Divine Region... that the dark land which had been suppressed and sealed for a million years was finally about to take that true step of defying destiny.
The Northern Divine Region had been silent for a million years. In the eyes of the world, this was the destiny that should belong to them, and they must have become accustomed and resigned to it—not to mention the qualification to resist; even the will to resist had long been worn away in this long dark history.
But behind the silence was accumulation.
If hope and opportunity truly appeared, then just a spark would easily fan their anger, and their blood would be thoroughly ignited.
And the anger and hatred accumulated generation after generation, when faced with the finally arrived opportunity to break the shackles and the hope of defying destiny, would ignite a fighting spirit... that would be more violent than anyone could imagine.
This day, this moment, and every word in the Demon Lord's vast demonic voice, would be firmly remembered in the history of the Northern Divine Region. And the countless dark profound practitioners living in the Northern Divine Region would become witnesses and participants of this history.
————
The full-region projection of the Northern Divine Region faded, but the madly boiling blood and the fighting spirit that filled their entire being, eager to be released immediately, lingered for a long time. They began to rush towards their own sects and clans... When facing the historic moment of "defying destiny", personal grudges and clan hatreds suddenly became less important, and even death suddenly ceased to be so terrifying.
Because no one doubted that if they could offer their blood to change the million-year fate of the Northern Divine Region, it would be an honor forever remembered by later generations.
In the Jiehun Holy Domain, various star realms quickly dispersed. The three king realms led the upper star realms, the upper star realms radiated to the middle star realms, and the middle star realms radiated to the lower star realms.
All profound practitioners of the Northern Region willing to join the fight to defy destiny, led by the realm king sects of each star realm, began to gather in great numbers and move southward... The pace was so fast it was almost unbelievable.
They had not forgotten their enormous advantage—the retreat path!
Non-dark profound practitioners could not penetrate deeply or stay long in the Northern Divine Region. Regardless of the outcome, they could retreat at any time... The family and children they wanted to protect would never need to worry about being caught up in this great war of defying destiny.
Thus, they could act without any scruples, with no turning back.
Across all realms of the Northern Divine Region, chaotic profound energy vortexes arose, countless spaces trembled faintly. The sustained anger, surging fighting spirit, and awakened will spread across every inch of land, showing no signs of receding or calming, instead growing more frenzied with each passing moment.
A million years, a full million years! The true dawn had finally descended in the eternal darkness. How could they have any reason to remain silent?
"Among the forty thousand star realms of the Divine Region, the Eastern Divine Region alone has nine thousand. Among these nine thousand star realms, there are nearly five hundred upper star realms. Regardless of the king realms and the most numerous middle and lower star realms, if these upper star realms alone unite under a common hatred, they will become an incredibly terrifying force."
The Northern Divine Region was shaking; all major star realms were rapidly consolidating their forces. In the Jiehun Holy Domain, the leaders of the Northern Divine Region were also making their final arrangements.
"Therefore, the first step must be swift, ideally not giving the Eastern Divine Region any opportunity to react or perceive the crisis." Qianye Ying'er said. "Among the upper star realms of the Eastern Domain, the strongest are the Shengyu, Liuguang, and Futian realms."
"Especially the Shengyu Realm, which possesses a ninth-rank Divine Lord Luo Guxie, an eighth-rank Divine Lord Luo Shangchen, and a seventh-rank Divine Lord Luo Changsheng, and their sect also has extremely deep foundations. Beneath the king realms, this is the greatest threat."
"Moreover, the three thousand years of the Zhou Tian tournament directly gave the Eastern Divine Region an additional nineteen Divine Lords and over seven hundred Divine Sovereigns. Hmph! These useless wretches didn't play any role during the Crimson Calamity, and now they've become a nuisance instead."
"If we were to act head-on, we naturally wouldn't be a match." Chi Wuyue's charming face showed no worry. "The first step we need to take now is not to crush their power, but... to crush their faith."
"For the next stage of building momentum, what method do you intend to use?" Qianye Ying'er glanced at her. "The same as before?"
"No," Chi Wuyue gave a faint, mysterious smile. "Widespread distribution of mysterious shadow stones is too slow and too deliberate. A direct proclamation... that is the simplest and most effective way."
She extended her finger, looking at the faint, dark light on her jade-white fingertip, her charming eyes curving lightly like moons. "The human heart is something easily manipulated and influenced. As long as they 'witness it with their own eyes'... isn't that right?"
The Northern Divine Region surged with darkness. From distant star regions, countless threads of dark shadows were migrating towards the Southern Border, which was originally the most empty and also closest to the three Divine Regions of East, West, and South.
The barrier of darkness, coupled with the blockade of information, left the outside of the Northern Divine Region as calm as ever, completely unaware.
The Northern Border of the Eastern Divine Region, Yin Xue Realm, the closest to the Northern Divine Region.
After the turmoil of profound beasts in the south ended with the Cang Xue Bing Lin Beast swearing submission in fear, the profound beast clan in the north, which had been restless, soon became extremely docile, not daring to show the slightest sign of rebellion.
It seemed they too had been frightened by something.
On this day, Mu Bingyun came as usual to the Minghan Heavenly Lake to speak with her elder sister about recent events. When she left the Minghan Heavenly Lake, she suddenly heard an extremely dull rumbling from the north.
Turning to look, her icy eyes slightly contracted.
Because the northern sky had somehow turned dark and gloomy.
Moreover, the darkness continued to spread, as if intending to cover the entire firmament, accompanied by a dark pressure that made it impossible to breathe.
In dozens of northern border star realms of the Eastern Divine Region, a large number of profound practitioners looked up at the northern firmament at this moment, witnessing in shock the terrifying demonic might spreading from the distant north.
"What... is that?!"
"Could it be the dark mist released by the Northern Divine Region?"
"Wait! That is... a projection?!"
Within the black mist spreading across the north, a dim star region slowly emerged. In that star region were countless scattered star realm fragments, displaying a devastating calamity that had just occurred not long ago.
"Eastern Divine Region, Zhou Tian Realm!" A low, gloomy, angry voice descended from the north. It was the voice of Yan Emperor Yan Tianxiao, carrying an unmatched Divine Emperor's might, instantly piercing through millions of miles of space. "Being a king realm of the Eastern Domain, yet for personal resentment, you used the power of the Void Cauldron to destroy three innocent star realms of our Northern Region!"
"This crime and this act are unforgivable!"
The profound practitioners of the Eastern Domain looking up at the dark northern firmament were dumbfounded. At this moment, the dark projection changed, showing the Void Cauldron in the dark star region... After a brief deathly silence, the profound practitioners seemed to wake from a dream, taking out various mysterious shadow stones to record the sounds and projections from the northern demon region.
"Our Northern Region has willingly stayed in darkness since ancient times, but... do you truly think our Northern Region can be bullied at will?!"
The projection image changed again, showing Zhou Xuzi and his son Zhou Qingchen stepping into the Northern Region. This image flashed by, not revealing the purpose of Zhou Xuzi bringing Zhou Qingchen to the Northern Divine Region.
But the mere fact that the Zhou Tian God Emperor appeared in the Northern Divine Region was enough to cause a huge uproar.
Then the image changed again, showing the Zhou Tian God Emperor and Taiyu Venerable quickly departing, along with the Zhou Tian God Emperor's venomous oath to topple the Zhou Tian realm and even the entire Divine Realm to annihilate the Northern Divine Region.
That ruthless voice, every word dark and filled with hatred, made all the profound practitioners who heard it find it hard to believe that it came from the Zhou Tian God Emperor... the god emperor who was seen by the world as the gentlest, most elegant, and as upright as a saint.
"Zhou Tian God Emperor Zhou Xuzi, I, on behalf of the Demon Lord, in the name of the Northern Region, command you to commit suicide within seven days to apologize to our Northern Divine Region! Otherwise, under the wrath of our Northern Divine Region, we will make your Zhou Tian Realm... make the Eastern Divine Region pay ten thousand times the price!"
As Yan Tianxiao's voice fell, the darkness and demonic might in the northern firmament quickly receded.
But the previous voice and projection had been completely recorded by countless profound practitioners, and their hearts were stirred for a long time.
As the star realm closest to the Northern Divine Region, they often encountered demon people who had escaped the Northern Divine Region for various reasons. Whenever they encountered them, they would hunt them all down and take pride in it.
In many star realms, the number of demon people hunted could even be touted as a lifetime achievement.
And this was the first time they had seen such a massive demonic sound and shadow from the Northern Divine Region!
What was projected was something that shocked and excited them to the point of trembling all over...
A massive juicy piece of gossip!
That's right, massive gossip.
A threat from the Northern Divine Region?
What threat could the Northern Divine Region pose? They could only hope for demon people to come out so they could increase their merits.
And this news, personally seen and heard by dozens of star realms in the northern border of the Eastern Domain, spread like exploding thunder across the entire Eastern Domain... and even to the Western Divine Region and Southern Divine Region.
Everywhere it spread, it caused tremendous turmoil.
Combined with the previously unbelievable rumors, countless speculations arose in an instant, and the Eastern Divine Region boiled from all directions.
"The Zhou Tian God Emperor really did go to the Northern Divine Region, and he really brought the Zhou Tian Crown Prince with him... So the rumors from back then were all true!"
"Every wind has a source! And those rumors originated from the north; I knew long ago they wouldn't be false!"
"So does that mean the Zhou Tian Crown Prince really died in the Northern Divine Region?"
"The Zhou Tian Crown Prince died from profound art backlash? That ridiculous rumor was never believed by many! As expected, the 'rumors' from before are the truth!"
"The white cauldron in the projection is indeed the Void Cauldron of the Zhou Tian God Realm! It must be that the Zhou Tian Crown Prince died in the Northern Divine Region, and in a fit of rage, the Zhou Tian God Realm used the spatial divine power of the Void Cauldron to destroy three dark star realms in the Northern Region!"
"Why the Zhou Tian God Emperor entered the Northern Divine Region is not important. The Zhou Tian God Realm has always hated demons like enemies; it absolutely could not be for some personal desire to ally with demons. The hatred of killing one's son is irreconcilable, and Zhou Qingchen was the Zhou Tian God Emperor's only legitimate son. No matter how gentle and detached the Zhou Tian God Emperor's temperament is, he could not let go. This act is completely reasonable."
"And the Northern Divine Region dares to call those three innocent star realms? Hahaha, what a joke! A bunch of demonic creatures that should have been exterminated long ago, and they have the audacity to call themselves 'innocent'? If not for the dark yin aura of the Northern Divine Region separating them, they would have been slaughtered long ago!"
"Well destroyed! Worthy of the Zhou Tian God Realm. Even the yin aura of the Northern Region couldn't stop the fury of our Eastern Domain's king realm!"
"And they want the Zhou Tian God Emperor to commit suicide to apologize? Hahaha... this is the biggest joke I've ever heard in my life, hahahaha!"
"Sigh... The roar of the Zhou Tian God Emperor was filled with hatred across heaven and earth. The Zhou Tian God Realm's swift establishment of a new crown prince really does seem to be, as the rumors earlier said, preparing for a strong assault on the Northern Divine Region."
"Once these lowly demon people leave the Northern Divine Region, they directly become half useless. It would be fine if they just obediently stayed in their own nest, but they actually have the nerve to bluster at the Zhou Tian God Realm and our Eastern Divine Region?!"
"What else? After all, locked in a pitiful cage for eternity, all they can do is bark wildly."
…………
It didn't take long for the rumor that the Zhou Tian Crown Prince Zhou Qingchen had actually died in the Northern Divine Region, and that the Zhou Tian God Emperor, in extreme rage, used the Void Cauldron to deeply penetrate the Northern Region and ruthlessly destroy three star realms, vowing to trample the Northern Divine Region, to spread like wildfire across the entire Eastern Divine Region.
And this was not just a rumor; there were countless repeatedly recorded projections as evidence. Whether it was the Void Cauldron, the Zhou Tian father and son, the shattered star realms of the Northern Divine Region, or the Zhou Tian God Emperor's hate-filled words... everything was extremely clear.
It was impossible to generate the slightest doubt.
Shock, astonishment... as well as excitement, elation, cheers, and countless suspicions and guesses.
Only no one truly paid attention to the murderous aura and threat in the overwhelming demonic voice.
The Northern Divine Region, suppressed for a million years and increasingly withered, withered to the point that even the lowest profound practitioners of the three Divine Regions felt pity for them. Their threat was like the angry bark of a caged dog... did that even deserve to be called a threat?
When all realms of the Eastern Divine Region were boiling over this explosive news from the king realm, they were completely unaware that the shadow of darkness was getting closer and closer to them.