Chapter 1731: Falling Moon (1)
The desperate strike of the Taiyu Venerable, the manifested Zhou Tian Taizu. The final radiance of their lives not only failed to reclaim even a sliver of light for the Zhou Tian Realm, but instead revealed to the world even more darkly the terror of the Northern Domain demons.
Even the Zhou Tian Taizu's final, tragic self-destruction of his profound veins was rendered into something almost laughably empty by the power of the Three Yan Ancestors.
Yan Yi, Yan Er, Yan San... these three terrifying elders who left the Zhou Tian Realm utterly powerless to retaliate and completely dominated the Eastern Domain's myth from start to finish—from this day forward, they were destined to appear in the nightmares of countless profound practitioners.
Outside the Zhou Tian Realm, Zhou Xuzi slowly stood up. He showed no violent reaction to the Taizu's passing. Everything that had happened today had long turned his heart to dead ashes.
"Father King!"
With a sorrowful cry, Zhou Qingfeng hurried over. At his side were the other three Guardians, and behind them, thirty Zhou Tian elders and a group of Arbiters.
Undoubtedly, this was still a massive force—half of the Zhou Tian Realm's core power. Especially... the Zhou Tian God Emperor still lived, and the future Crown Prince as well.
But the Zhou Tian Realm had been occupied by demons, the Zhou Tian Pearl had been seized by demons. Though they still lived, their foundation and soul had already been buried and destroyed.
"Master, should we... fight our way back to the Zhou Tian Realm now?" one Guardian asked.
When he said these words, there was no battle intent, only gloom... and a hint of despair.
Their clansmen, their families, their descendants...
"Why haven't the Brahma Emperor, Moon God, Star God, and Saint Universe sent anyone to rescue us? Have they been entangled by the demons as well?" Zhou Qingfeng said, half indignant and half fearful.
The Zhou Tian Realm was visible to the Eastern Domain because of its projection array.
Had the other king realms suffered a similar fate? If so, how terrifying were these demons?
"Let's go." Zhou Xuzi looked into the distance, his eyes vacant.
"Go where?" Zhou Qingfeng asked.
Far away, across several star realms, Chi Wuyue's lips moved slightly as she whispered, "Long Shen Realm."
"To the Xi Shen Domain, the Long Shen Realm." Zhou Xuzi said slowly, his gaze turning westward.
The Zhou Tian Realm could not be returned to. This was the best place he could think of in his darkness... with absolutely no sense that his will was being interfered with in the slightest.
"No matter how strong the demons are, they wouldn't dare touch the Xi Shen Domain. I have a long-standing friendship with Long Huang. That place is the best haven to recover and rebuild." Zhou Xuzi sighed.
When grief, hatred, and pain reached their extreme, all that remained was a hollow emptiness.
"But living under another's roof... in the end... in the end..." The Guardian turned his face away, unable to continue.
Yesterday, they were Guardians proudly overlooking the present world. Tomorrow... would they have to leave their ancestral land and live under another realm's roof?
Moreover, the Eastern Domain was currently suffering a calamity. Though their departure would preserve themselves, they would surely bear a lasting infamy.
They would rather fight back into the Zhou Tian Realm, using their Guardian bodies and all their Guardian power to fight the demons to the death.
"Heh..." Zhou Xuzi let out a bitter laugh. "The ancestral land and the Zhou Tian Pearl are both lost. What do we have left? If even we die, the Zhou Tian Realm will truly be annihilated."
"Even if we must live under another's roof, even if we must bear infamy... only by surviving can we rise again, and only then can we take revenge!"
When the last word fell, a strange light finally flashed in his eyes—not the usual peaceful divine light, but a terrifying dark gleam.
"Qingfeng," he raised his hand and patted Zhou Qingfeng's shoulder, "enduring humiliation and bearing a heavy burden, clinging to a miserable existence, is far harder than sacrificing one's life and perishing together. The former is not cowardice; the latter is... Do you understand?"
Zhou Qingfeng clenched his fingers. After a long time, he finally nodded with difficulty, his gaze becoming resolute as well. "Good... Your son is willing to follow you, Father King, to the Xi Shen Domain's Long Shen Realm. The day we return, we will surely reclaim the Zhou Tian Realm and avenge today's shame!"
While the entire Eastern Domain was witnessing the tragedy of the Zhou Tian Realm, no one knew that the Zhou Tian God Emperor and many powerful figures outside the realm had quietly changed their course of action. Instead of fighting back to the Zhou Tian Realm, they concealed their figures and auras, evading the perception and sight of the demons and Eastern Domain profound practitioners, and headed toward the Xi Shen Domain.
In another place, Chi Wuyue slowly raised her eyes, a mysterious, cunning light hidden deep within her pupils.
At that moment, she received a sound transmission from a demoness: "Master, there has been a change in the Yin Xue Realm's situation."
Chi Wuyue was not surprised. "Ignore the other areas of the Yin Xue Realm. But the Bing Huang Realm where the Bing Huang God Sect is located... let no one step half a step into it!"
"Yes!"
Above the Bing Huang Realm, the demoness Chan Yi put away her sound transmission demon jade, her divine sense completely enveloping the vast Bing Huang Realm.
When the Northern Domain demons fully invaded the Eastern Domain, her task was rather special and singular...
Protect the Bing Huang God Sect!
Because Chi Wuyue knew that was the last "pure land" in the Eastern Domain in Yun Che's heart—not to be trampled upon.
————
In the Zhou Tian Realm, the slaughter continued. The projection profound array remained open as well.
Reports of battle from various star realms kept arriving. Yun Che had not moved for a long time, as if waiting for something.
"Qianying," Yun Che suddenly spoke, "still no movement from the Long Shen Realm?"
"...None." Qianye Ying'er shook her head, glancing at him sideways.
"..." Yun Che said nothing, a slight frown on his brow.
He had originally thought that as long as he appeared, given Long Huang's morbid obsession with Shen Xi from years past, he would definitely spare no effort and personally come to the Eastern Domain at the first opportunity to slay him.
Shen Xi was the only one who could—and surely would—drive Long Huang to lose his mind.
But the situation was not as he had anticipated.
"However, there is a piece of news, true or false unknown," Qianye Ying'er said. "In the Long Shen Domain, Long Huang has not been seen for some time. There are rumors that he is in seclusion."
"Seclusion?" Yun Che sneered, his voice cold. "He still needs seclusion?"
Fen Daoqi's figure flickered, and he knelt behind Yun Che. "Master Demon Lord, these Zhou Tian dogs will soon be cleaned up. But many have also escaped. Should we disperse our forces to pursue and kill them?"
"Now is not the time to disperse our forces," Yun Che said in a deep voice. "But once the situation stabilizes, all remnants of the Zhou Tian Realm must be completely purged! Especially the Zhou Tian direct line—not a single one is to be left alive! I don't want to create another Fen Juechen."
"...!?" Fen Daoqi looked up, his face full of astonishment.
Fen... Juechen?
His mind spun rapidly, searching through the Fen Yue lineage's eighteen generations and then all those surnamed Fen in the Fen Yue King City, and even quickly scouring through all the small-time Fen-surnamed thugs outside the city. He could not find anyone named "Fen Juechen."
For a moment, he was panicked and asked cautiously, "This Fen Juechen... might I trouble the Master Demon Lord to clarify?"
Yun Che glanced at him sideways. "In this world, it's not just your Fen Yue lineage that uses Fen as a surname. That is not something you should be concerned about! Once the cleanup is done, immediately confiscate the Zhou Tian Realm's resources—the faster, the better!"
"Yes! Fen Daoqi takes his leave." Fen Daoqi immediately let out a long sigh of relief and quickly withdrew.
At this moment, a black light flashed in Yun Che's eyes. The sound transmission he had been longing for finally arrived.
"Reporting to the Master Demon Lord, the 'task' at the Yue Shen Realm is ready."
In a distant star region, outside the Yue Shen Realm, the demoness Hua Jin merged with the darkness. As she transmitted, her raised left hand held a special barrier—invisible and soundless.
The Dustless Barrier!
Back then, the Primordial Divine Marrow discovered by Yun Che and Qianye Ying'er had been hidden within a Dustless Barrier.
Absolute isolation, absolute silence... Had it not been for the Heavenly Poison Pearl, Yun Che would have never discovered the Primordial Divine Marrow back then.
Such a perfect barrier is undoubtedly extremely difficult to form. The Pure Land Divine Realm back then could form one, and the current Jiehun Realm naturally could as well.
And the Dustless Barrier in Hua Jin's hand was more than a hundred times larger than the one that had hidden the Primordial Divine Marrow!
Without a doubt, to form this massive Dustless Barrier, the Jiehun Realm had paid a heavy price.
And the soul connection of this Dustless Barrier was not directed at Chi Wuyue, but at Yun Che.
"Excellent." Yun Che smiled, his voice low. He put away the sound transmission card and said to Qianye Ying'er, "Qianying, go lure out Yue Shen Di."
The person Yue Shen Di hated most was Qianye Ying'er. No one could lure him out more easily than her.
"Do you need to bring them?" Qianye Ying'er gestured toward Yan Yi, Yan Er, and Yan San with her eyes.
"No need!"
Perhaps because it was someone he had to personally slay no matter what, or for some other complicated reason, Yun Che refused without any hesitation, and his figure had already flown out, heading straight for the vast star region.
————
While the Eastern Domain was in chaos, no one knew that in the Shengyu Realm, which had not been invaded by demons, another kind of chaos was unfolding.
Boom!!
Without any warning, a sky-shaking explosion rang out. The grand hall of the Saint Universe Sect suddenly shattered, and two figures flew out from within. Two terrifyingly powerful Divine Lord forces collided, nearly overturning the entire massive sect.
The entire sect was shaken. Countless figures gathered.
High in the sky, the Solitary Evil Immortal—the number one figure beneath the Eastern Domain's king realms, Luo Guxie—had a face as calm as water, her gaze cold with a hint of complexity.
And opposite her stood none other than her elder brother, the Saint Universe Realm King, Luo Shangchen.
Facing Luo Guxie, Luo Shangchen's face was horrifyingly dark, his eyes showing a terrifying red—a kind of sinister and murderous intent that no one had ever seen before!
His arms and his entire body were trembling, and his aura was chaotic to the extreme.
Before him, this was his own blood sister, the anchor of the Saint Universe, the one who had cultivated Luo Changsheng—Luo Guxie! Yet his manner was as if he were facing an irreconcilable mortal enemy.
"What... what is this?" Everyone assumed demons had invaded, but faced with this scene, they were all utterly bewildered.
The fierceness and murderous intent permeating the air were chilling to the bone. The Grand Elder of the Saint Universe steeled himself and stepped forward, using the gentlest tone possible: "Sect Master, Solitary Evil Immortal, could this... could this be some kind of misunderstanding?"
"KILL!!!"
Luo Shangchen's response was a blood-filled, shrill cry. He pointed at Luo Guxie, every finger trembling as if about to shatter: "Kill her! Kill her! Kill her!!!"
"Heh, kill me? Hahahaha!" Luo Guxie burst into wild laughter, flicking her long sleeves, sending all the nearby Saint Universe disciples flying far away. She stared at Luo Shangchen's blood-red eyes: "With you, a useless piece of trash, wanting to kill me? In this lifetime, that's nothing but a fool's dream!"
The Grand Elder of the Saint Universe was stunned, at a loss. Everyone in the Saint Universe was completely frozen.
What was happening? What in the world was happening?!
Just yesterday, they had jointly held a sect assembly to discuss whether to go to the Northern Domain to suppress the demon calamity and greatly enhance the Saint Universe's prestige. How could they suddenly now...
They were blood siblings after all. What irreconcilable hatred could there be to drive the Saint Universe Realm King to lose all reason?
At that moment, an aura familiar to everyone approached rapidly.
Luo Changsheng.
When he arrived and saw the madness and murderous intent raging between Luo Shangchen and Luo Guxie, his first reaction was not to step forward to stop, question, or counsel them. Instead, he suddenly froze in place.
Those eyes, usually as gentle as the moon and as clear as water, began to shrink—and the shrinking grew increasingly violent.
"Changsheng, you're here!" The Grand Elder of the Saint Universe, as if seeing a savior, quickly said, "Quick! Quick, persuade your father king and your mas...ter—?"
As he spoke, he suddenly noticed Luo Changsheng's extremely abnormal state.
And behind him, at that moment, Luo Shangchen's voice rang out, filled with deep pain and grief, every word hoarse and bleeding: "He is not Changsheng... He is not Changsheng!!"