Chapter 1784: Overture to the Final Song
"Quietly comprehending the Dao through meditation?" Yun Che sneered. "Just another old bastard who's been hiding his tail, only jumping out when his nest is about to be overturned!"
Nan Guizhong—even though he had "passed away" many years ago, as the former Emperor of the Southern Sea, the ruler of the Southern Divine Region, how could the Divine Realm dare to forget his prestige?
And now, he had returned to the world like a myth, his imposing might, vast as the starry sky, even surpassing that of his prime. Yet what he received was not the reverent worship of all living beings, but a vision of the Southern Sea's tragic state—like a thousand-fold nightmare—and... the heartless mockery of a junior.
"Hmph, as expected." Qianye Ying'er murmured softly. She was not overly surprised that Nan Guizhong was still alive.
Those powerful figures who stood at the pinnacle of the Xuan path, having weathered countless ages of change, often had their greatest desire in their later years be to explore the world beyond the limits of the Xuan Dao. Thus, they would use "death" to seclude themselves and comprehend the Way. The history of the Divine Realm had many such precedents.
Unfortunately, they secluded themselves until their lifespans ended, and not one had ever managed to glimpse the ultimate extreme of the Xuan path.
"Yun... Che!!" Nan Wansheng slowly raised his head, wild streams of blood flowing incessantly from his seven orifices. One could imagine the depth of his fury and hatred: "This king... will personally... make you... ugh!"
His vision went black. He gritted his teeth fiercely, barely managing to suppress the surging blood that threatened to burst forth.
Though Nan Wansheng had been arrogant all his life, he deeply respected his father. With his father's status and prestige, who in this world would dare insult him so?
Nan Guizhong gave Yun Che a deep look, but then lowered his gaze and said to the Southern Sea Divine Emperor: "Wansheng, your father spent ten thousand years of effort tempering your mind, yet now it has fallen into such disarray. Even if the Southern Sea were perfectly intact today, you would still have suffered a complete defeat before Yun Che."
"...!" Nan Wansheng slowly closed his eyes and said: "Father King, your son is useless. Driven by a moment of jealousy, I activated the Sea God Cannon. This grave crime... I have no face to face the ancestors of past generations, no face to face the Southern Sea."
Nan Guizhong, however, shook his head and spoke slowly: "I have witnessed everything that happened today. If it were me, facing such a rampant and tyrannical demon, I would have made the same choice as you. Otherwise, concerning the Sea God Cannon, I would have sent a sound transmission to stop you long ago... Your defeat is not unjust."
Indeed—a forbidden power that transcended limits, the Sea God Cannon that the Dragon God had never dared to set foot in the Southern Sea because of it. Its power was actually repelled in an instant, blasting back at the Southern Sea's Divine Emperor and Divine Region... Nan Wansheng could not have imagined it, Nan Guizhong could not have imagined it, and even if all the ancestors of the Southern Sea Divine Realm had been resurrected and appeared here, they absolutely could not have imagined it.
Nan Wansheng gritted his teeth fiercely. The heaving of his chest slowly calmed, and then he lowered his head and said in a deep voice: "It was just an accident with the Sea God Cannon. The Southern Sea has not been defeated! Now that Father King is here to command, we will surely be able to cut Yun Che into a thousand pieces!"
In his spiritual sense, the auras of the Four Sea Kings had vanished, and only four traces of the sixteen Sea Gods remained. Nan Guizhong let out a long sigh... Such was the divine might of the Sea God Cannon. Truly heaven-destroying, earth-annihilating, god-slaying, buddha-butchering. But such divine might had instead been blasted back into the very lifeline of his Southern Sea.
"Xuanyuan, Ziwei." Nan Guizhong suddenly spoke. "It is fortunate that you two acted and saved Wansheng's life. The Southern Sea owes you two realms a great favor. But today, we must still rely on the strength of your two realms to assist."
The Xuanyuan Emperor and the Ziwei Emperor bowed simultaneously. The Xuanyuan Emperor said: "Elder, you flatter us. The Demon Lord Yun Che is a common enemy of our Southern Divine Region. Under the current circumstances, how could we not unite our strength!"
"That is correct." The Ziwei Emperor nodded with focused eyes.
Nan Guizhong turned his gaze to the Shitian Divine Emperor, who had not spoken, and said: "Cang Shitian, you have countless children and grandchildren who have died of old age, yet you still refuse to relinquish your imperial throne. It seems you are truly infatuated with the title of Divine Emperor."
"Hahahaha." Cang Shitian laughed loudly. "As a Divine Emperor, one can command all living beings, trample upon all worlds, follow one's heart and desires—how exhilarating! How could one bear to let it go? My state of mind cannot compare to yours, Brother Guizhong... ah no, Senior Guizhong."
"You've been babbling and blathering for half a day. Haven't you finished your dying words yet?"
Yun Che's voice pierced through like a poisonous thorn. Nan Guizhong finally turned his head. He looked at Yun Che with an expressionless face and said slowly: "The Demon Lord who has fallen to demonic calamity and plunged the world into chaos, the legendary Three Yan Mo Ancestors, the two Brahma Emperors who should have long since passed, and the Divine Maiden with her servants... Truly shocking, enough to make even gods and ghosts tremble."
"But relying on this alone to trample my Southern Sea," Nan Guizhong's voice suddenly sharpened, golden light like a blazing sun bursting from his aged eyes, "you underestimate this Southern Sea Divine Realm that has stood for hundreds of thousands of years!"
These few words sent the blood and Qi of all living beings in the Southern Sea surging. Nan Wansheng, Nan Qianqiu, and the others straightened up, their blood ignited by flames of hatred, raising terrifying waves of energy around them.
"With just the few of us, of course it wouldn't be enough." Yun Che said with a smile. "But you've already helped us clear away the biggest obstacles, haven't you? Those Sea Kings and Sea Gods, that Divine Realm—you took your most proud Sea God Cannon and personally blasted them to smithereens! Hahahaha!"
"You..." Nan Wansheng staggered violently, the boundless battle intent and flames of hatred that had just been ignited instantly crumbling into chaos.
"Ah." Nan Guizhong did not fly into a rage and attack. Instead, he let out a long sigh and said: "Elder Wugu, Brother Bingzhu, you were once the Brahma Heaven Emperors who looked down upon the universe, figures I once greatly respected. Why are you now allied with such a deeply fallen demon, a heinous villain who brings calamity to the world? Are you truly willing to commit an irredeemable sin that will last ten thousand ages?"
Qianye Wugu's expression was calm as he spoke indifferently: "In my youth, I thought I knew deeply what was right and wrong, good and evil. But as my life progressed and great changes occurred, right and wrong, good and evil became increasingly blurred."
"When the Heaven's Calamity Demon Emperor broke through the realms and appeared, it ultimately brought no catastrophe but instead fully revealed the myriad faces of mortal life. The right, wrong, good, and evil in my eyes have again been turned upside down in these few short years."
Nan Guizhong: "..."
"Guizhong," Qianye Wugu said—with his seniority, he was qualified to address him by name, "between our two sides, who is good, who is evil, who is right, who is wrong? Having been secluded from the world for ten thousand years, can you truly discern it clearly?"
"..." Nan Guizhong was silent for a moment, seeming to ponder, then said: "Enough. Given the current state of my Southern Sea, it truly cannot bear further losses."
"Demon Lord," he looked at Yun Che, his voice softening, "the Southern Sea does have some grievances with you, but there are no enmities in this world that cannot be resolved. Even if the Southern Sea has suffered severe damage, if we were to truly fight head-on, we would certainly be able to wound you three thousand times. And with three Southern Domain Divine Emperors here by our side, I believe the Demon Lord is aware of this in his heart."
"Oh?" Yun Che raised an eyebrow.
"The outcome today for the Southern Sea was caused by Wansheng activating the Sea God Cannon. It has nothing to do with the Demon Lord's party." Nan Guizhong's voice softened another degree as his hands silently clenched. "But for offending the Demon Lord, the Southern Sea will provide compensation. Please, Demon Lord, name your conditions. The Southern Sea will surely satisfy them. For the next ten thousand years, we will absolutely not be your enemy in the Northern Divine Region!"
"Father King!?" Nan Wansheng whipped his head around, and the others of the Southern Sea also had drastically changed expressions.
The Southern Sea had just suffered such severe damage and humiliation under Yun Che's poisonous schemes. And Nan Guizhong, who had just appeared... he was actually going to concede and accept defeat!
Nan Guizhong forcefully raised a hand, firmly suppressing the turbulent Qi of Nan Wansheng, his voice deep as an abyss: "Thus, the Demon Lord would not waste a single soldier, yet gain all the benefits. He leaves the Southern Sea with ten thousand humiliations and spreads the Demon Lord's prestige far and wide. Surely the Demon Lord has no objections?"
Nan Wansheng's body trembled violently, his contorted face nearly crushing his forehead bones. But in the end, he didn't say a word, because he knew that the Southern Sea truly couldn't withstand further damage. Nan Guizhong's choice was the most humiliating but the most rational one.
The people around Yun Che were simply too terrifying. And with the Sea Kings and Sea Gods mostly lost to the Sea God Cannon, even if they fought to the death with all their hatred, they couldn't possibly leave Yun Che and his group all dead here. It would only make the Southern Sea Divine Realm, already suffering a heavy calamity, even worse, and might even cause it to never recover.
But swallowing this humiliation would preserve their foundation. As for Yun Che, he could be left for the Dragon God Realm, which had been thoroughly enraged.
"Heh, hehe... no enmities that cannot be resolved? Ha... hahahaha!" Yun Che laughed, starting low then turning into a ferocious cackle. He raised his arm, a slightly crooked finger slowly pointing at the Southern Sea Divine Emperor: "Nan... Wan... Sheng..."
The face in the midst of the wild laughter suddenly twisted like a demonic ghost, and the words coming from his mouth carried a demonic murderous aura that made one's soulstrings tremble: "Back then, east of the Eastern Domain, outside Lan Ji Star—those who killed my master... you were one of them!"
The painful image that shattered his heart upon contact flashed by. Yun Che's arm trembled slightly, each word piercing the soul: "I swore back then... I would make your Southern Sea clan... not a drop of blood remain, not a blade of grass grow!"
Nan Guizhong's face finally moved drastically, because what came from Yun Che was a hatred and killing intent more bone-deep than anything he had ever felt in his life.
Absolutely irresolvable!
"With... just... you!?" Nan Wansheng said darkly. In that moment, he also clearly knew that even the most humiliating concession had become a luxury.
Sensing his own emotions slipping out of control, Yun Che took a slight breath, the corners of his mouth curling, his face shrouded in grimness: "Speaking of which, Nan Guizhong, your delaying tactics are not bad. Enough to fool a three-year-old child, I'd say."
The corner of Nan Guizhong's eye twitched sharply.
Yun Che laughed again. This time, it was a scornful sneer: "How convenient. While you were reciting your dying words, you actually bought this Demon Lord quite a bit of time."
Boom——
As soon as Yun Che's voice fell, the skies to the east, west, and south suddenly darkened simultaneously, followed by earth-shattering sounds of destruction.
Along with the booming sounds came three surges of violently erupting dark auras.
"What... what!?" The entire Southern Sea, from top to bottom, was greatly shocked. The composure on Nan Guizhong's face vanished in an instant.
The dark auras from these three directions belonged to over thirty people—a small number, but each one exuded the aura of a Divine Lord!
The strongest among them was yet another Tenth-rank Divine Lord!
They had been completely undetected earlier!
And the directions from which the dark booms came were clearly...
"Dammit!" The Xuanyuan Emperor's entire body went cold.
"How... how can this be!" The Ziwei Emperor's hands and feet were also ice-cold. "When did they..."
The dimensional arrays connecting the Ten Directions Canglan Realm, Xuanyuan Realm, and Ziwei Realm to the Southern Sea Divine Realm were destroyed by dark force in the same instant.
Thus cutting off the Southern Sea Divine Realm's reinforcements... and even its escape routes.
Demonic humans find it hard to conceal their dark aura—this was common knowledge in the Divine Realm regarding the demonic realm. But the demonic humans "purified" by Yun Che's Dark Eternal Calamity could perfectly conceal their dark aura.
This "information gap" was the most crucial factor in the Northern Divine Region catching the Eastern Divine Region off guard.
And back when they stormed the Zhou Tian Divine Realm, Chi Wuyue first lured out nearly half of Zhou Tian's core combat power, then destroyed its dimensional arrays, cutting off its path of reinforcement and escape, before engaging in a brutal yet exhilarating slaughter within the Zhou Tian Realm.
This time, Yun Che followed the same pattern. When he entered the Southern Divine Realm, Yan Tianxiao and his group also split into three routes, stealthily infiltrating far outside the Southern Sea Divine Realm.
Once the Sea God Cannon was activated and all of the Southern Sea's combat power and attention were focused on Yun Che, Yan Tianxiao and his group quickly approached the dimensional arrays and destroyed them all at once.
"The Demon Lord is safe and sound, while the Southern Sea has wounded itself three thousand!" Yan Tianxiao soared into the sky, the heavens darkened and the sun obscured: "Kill!!"
The Yan Mo and Yan Ghosts, who had just completed their array-destroying mission, instantly transformed into three bloodthirsty demon blades, stabbing into the core of the Southern Sea from three directions. Countless Southern Sea Xuan practitioners, still in a state of panic and confusion from the chain of cataclysms, were shattered and annihilated in the dark blood mist before they could even recover their wits.
"Good luck. Everything seems to be going smoothly." Qianye Ying'er murmured softly. In her jade hand, the "Divine Oracle" released a cruel black light.
"Father King, the three core dimensional arrays have all been destroyed." Nan Wansheng said through gritted teeth.
The dimensional arrays connecting the various great realms—in the eyes of the world, destroying them in such a short time was as difficult as ascending to heaven. This undoubtedly told them just how terrifying these demonic humans, who had been hiding in the shadows all along, truly were.
Nan Guizhong closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them, his gaze was clear and empty. He said faintly: "Demon Lord Yun Che, someone capable of commanding the Northern Divine Region—truly..."
"Kill!" Having successfully cut off the Southern Sea's reinforcements, Yun Che disdained to hear another word of nonsense from the Southern Sea people. He issued the bloodthirsty command of the Northern Domain Demon Lord, the same oath that had once pierced his heart:
"The Southern Sea bloodline... not a blade of grass shall grow!"
Boom!
The sky abruptly darkened, darkness pressed upon the soul. The Three Yan Mo Ancestors suddenly lunged forward. Even before their power erupted, they had cast a deep layer of oppression and fear over the shattered Southern Sea Divine Realm.