Chapter 1818: The Truth
“But,” Shui Meiyin slowly recounted, “after Senior Sister Demon Emperor cut open the crimson crack with the Cosmic Thorn back then, the power of the Cosmic Thorn was nearly exhausted, so depleted that it couldn’t even manage a teleportation over a distance as short as that one more than a few times.”
Yun Che was not surprised by this either. The crimson crack had existed for several years, and it had taken Calamity Demon Emperor those same years to cut open the Wall of Chaos. During those years, the Cosmic Thorn’s power had undoubtedly been cycling through release, depletion, and recovery.
When it finally broke through the Wall of Chaos, the Cosmic Thorn was naturally in a state of depletion, or even overexertion.
And in the current chaotic world, the recovery of the Cosmic Thorn’s power was bound to be extremely slow… just like the Heavenly Poison Pearl and the Zhou Tian Pearl.
“Not only that, but its spirit was also on the verge of death from years of power release and depletion. After the Wall of Chaos was broken, the spirit fell asleep.”
“Senior Sister Demon Emperor said that in today’s chaotic world, the aura is too turbid and thin. In such an environment, the spirit might never wake again and could very well die completely in its sleep someday in the future.”
Yun Che: “…”
Shui Meiyin’s words reminded him of the dead poison spirit of the Heavenly Poison Pearl.
Back then, although the Heavenly Poison Pearl had recovered its poison source in the Cang Yun Continent and returned to wholeness, the poison spirit had died, causing the pearl’s poison power to recover at a rate so slow it was… practically negligible.
It wasn’t until later that He Ling became the new poison spirit, allowing the Heavenly Poison Pearl’s poison power to recover bit by bit, and years later, it unleashed the “Heavenly Wound Severed Thought” that pushed the entire Brahma Emperor God Realm to the brink.
If the Cosmic Thorn’s spirit were truly to fall asleep and die, then the Cosmic Thorn’s power would undoubtedly fall silent as well.
He wondered if He Ling’s soul could resonate with the Cosmic Thorn…
A thought flashed through his mind, but he immediately dismissed it.
No, impossible! He Ling’s Wood Spirit soul could perfectly control the Heavenly Poison Pearl, and adding the Zhou Tian Pearl had already put immense pressure on her soul. She often tried, stubbornly, to resonate with the Primordial Chaos Life-Death Seal as well.
With her personality of never cherishing herself for his sake, adding the Cosmic Thorn…
Oh, wait! The thorn spirit was asleep, not dead yet… He was overthinking.
“But before Senior Sister Demon Emperor left, she didn’t want the Cosmic Thorn to leave the chaos with her forever, so she entrusted it to me.”
“Because of your Stainless Divine Soul?” Yun Che said. This was a unique gift bestowed upon Shui Meiyin in this world.
“Yes.” Shui Meiyin nodded. “The Cosmic Thorn was born at the core of chaos. In this era, [only my Stainless Divine Soul, born from the aura of chaos, can nourish and temporarily awaken the sleeping spirit of the Cosmic Thorn].”
“And I can use the Stainless Divine Soul as a connecting medium. With the temporarily awakened thorn spirit, I can forcibly activate the Cosmic Thorn’s dimensional divine power using my own strength.”
Yun Che was visibly moved. “So that means the star-shifting moon-replacing feat was accomplished this way?”
She used the Stainless Divine Soul to temporarily awaken the thorn spirit, then, through the connection between the Stainless Divine Soul and the thorn spirit, forcibly activated the Cosmic Thorn’s dimensional divine power with her own strength to complete a massive spatial transfer.
Completely transferring two planets across star domains and completely destroying two planets—the difficulty between the two was like heaven and earth.
This must have consumed a tremendous amount of her soul power and profound energy. And the greater burden was undoubtedly the already weakened thorn spirit.
No wonder Shui Meiyin had said that might have been the only miracle… Unless the thorn spirit could recover enough, if she forced it again, it might fail, and the thorn spirit might turn to ash.
Given the current state of chaos, leaving aside the possibility that the thorn spirit could die at any moment, even if it could fully recover under the nourishment of Shui Meiyin’s Stainless Divine Soul, it was unknown how many years that would take.
Shui Meiyin said, “Star-shifting moon-replacing—this was the ultimate power that Senior Sister Demon Emperor told me the Cosmic Thorn could achieve in this era after she gave it to me. At that time, I never thought I would actually have to do it one day… and so soon.”
Yun Che looked at Shui Meiyin, his heart and soul in turmoil beyond words.
“Did you start looking for a planet to replace Lan Ji Star very early on?” Yun Che asked. It was as if, before everything even happened, Shui Meiyin had long since secretly recorded the truth of that year using the Dream Heart Flowing Shadow Jade.
She said it was because her Stainless Divine Soul could, to some extent, predict danger.
“Senior Sister Demon Emperor once said something to me that I remember every word of clearly to this day.” Shui Meiyin narrated slowly, “The real demons are never the dark demons, but exist deep in the soul of every living being. So never expect to exchange your goodwill for others’ goodwill, and never overestimate the lower limits of human nature.”
“…” Yun Che now fully understood those words.
Back then, he had found Chu Yuechan, found his daughter, recovered his strength, his parents were safe, his beloved was by his side. After returning to the divine realm, he had found Mo Li, and they had decided to retire together on Lan Ji Star, never to part. The Zhou Tian Divine Emperor, whom he respected most, had personally given a public promise that no one would disturb them.
Everything was so beautiful and flawless. What he possessed then, and what he was deeply grateful for, was fate’s favor and kindness.
And then, in that innocence, he was cast into the abyss.
“At first, I thought Senior Sister Demon Emperor had suffered bitterly in the outer chaos for so many years that she would naturally see everything in the darkest and most pessimistic light. Later, as I watched Brother Yun Che become the savior divine son that everyone looked up to and respected, I was overjoyed, but I also felt an inexplicable unease growing…”
“At that time, I didn’t think, and certainly didn’t hope, for a bad outcome. But the unease in my heart still led me to start thinking about the worst possible outcome.”
“So, I became even more careful about secretly recording Brother Yun Che’s heroic acts with the Dream Heart Flowing Shadow Jade. At the same time, I began searching for a planet similar to Lan Ji Star… because, in the worst outcome I could imagine, the planet where Brother Yun Che was born was his greatest attachment and weakness, and also…”
Shui Meiyin hesitated, not continuing, but Yun Che understood her meaning.
“Speaking of which,” Yun Che took the opportunity to ask, “how did you know the location of Lan Ji Star? I don’t remember taking you there.”
Shui Meiyin lowered her head slightly but then immediately raised it, smiling lightly. “Of course, Senior Sister Demon Emperor told me. I also know that Lan Ji Star is a planet created jointly by Senior Sister Demon Emperor and Senior Xie Shen in the ancient era.”
“…” Yun Che let out a soft sigh. Recalling the emotional turmoil Calamity Demon Emperor had experienced when she saw Lan Ji Star again, he couldn’t imagine how she would react if she knew what had happened now.
In the ancient era, the planet jointly created by Xie Shen and Jie Yuan was located in the north of the chaos, near the current Northern Divine Region.
Later, during the fierce battle between gods and demons, Xie Shen moved it east to protect Lan Ji Star… At the same time, Lan Ji Star suffered severe damage during this process. Most of its continents collapsed, leaving only the last three-tenths, while the other ninety-seven parts turned into oceans.
Now, in this age, it had once again crossed star domains to arrive in the south of the chaos.
The people of the world, including all living beings on Lan Ji Star, would never have imagined that this planet, as ordinary as a grain of sand in the chaotic world, had traversed three sides of chaos.
“Finding a similar planet must have been very difficult, right?” Yun Che asked softly.
“No,” Shui Meiyin shook her head. “Because of Lan Ji Star’s characteristics, it was actually the simplest thing.”
“Oh?” Yun Che looked at her eyes, surprised.
Shui Meiyin explained, “Most planets have land, mountains, and rivers as their main bodies. Viewed from a distance in the void, they have complex, even unique topographic contours. It’s hard to find similar ones in a short time, and identical ones are almost impossible.”
“But Lan Ji Star’s composition is special. Three parts are land, and ninety-seven parts are water. Viewed from a distance in the void, it is a pure blue planet. The mere three parts of land are completely obscured by the ocean’s shimmer. Therefore, one only needs to find a star of similar size that is also mostly ocean.”
“Furthermore, Lan Ji Star is not in the divine realm. In terms of position, it is an ordinary lower realm planet with weak, turbid aura and balanced elements. Not only is it easier to find similar planets, but with the constant disturbances of cosmic aura, as long as you’re not too close, even those familiar with it would have difficulty distinguishing it.”
Shui Meiyin’s starry eyes curved slightly. “Aren’t these two points also fate’s protection for Lan Ji Star?”
“…” Yun Che stared blankly at Shui Meiyin… Back then, no matter how he thought, he could never have imagined that when everything was fine and he was looking forward to the future, there was someone silently thinking, doing, and sacrificing so much for him.
“When did you complete the exchange between Lan Ji Star and Tian Shui Star?” Yun Che’s voice softened a few degrees, and his vision unconsciously blurred.
Looking directly into Yun Che’s eyes, which were full of emotional turmoil, Shui Meiyin said softly, “It was after Senior Sister Demon Emperor left, when you were all wounded and betrayed by everyone before the Wall of Chaos, and your dark profound force was provoked.”
“When I was about to go to the Wall of Chaos to send off Senior Sister Demon Emperor, my Stainless Divine Soul sensed a deep fear… so that time, my father, sister, and I didn’t go. We stayed in the Glazed Light Realm.”
“Soon, the news arrived. You had become a demon targeted for execution by all the king realms.”
“The worst outcome I had imagined had come true, and so quickly. After receiving the news, I hid it from my father and sister, used the Cosmic Thorn to teleport to the Eastern Divine Region.”
“Even though I successfully awakened the weak Cosmic Thorn spirit with the Stainless Divine Soul, at that time, I still didn’t dare to believe I could accomplish a miracle like ‘star-shifting moon-replacing.’ But… fate must have been silently blessing Brother Yun Che. I succeeded. And the swapped positions deviated only by a negligible amount.”
“No,” Yun Che said with a smile. “It was your heart that made even the most capricious fate unwilling to let you down.”
Her starry eyes grew slightly misty, and Shui Meiyin continued, “Soon after I returned to the Glazed Light Realm, someone handed you, unconscious, to my sister. As for what happened after…”
What happened after, Yun Che knew… He woke up, heard that Lan Ji Star had been made public by the Zhou Tian Realm, and many Divine Emperors and Realm Kings rushed there… He rushed toward Lan Ji Star with all his might using the Dun Yue Immortal Palace… Then he witnessed “Lan Ji Star” being sliced apart by Yue Shen Di’s sword…
“Brother Yun Che,” Shui Meiyin stepped forward, weakly grasping his hand, her eyes filled with tears. “At that time, I couldn’t stop you from going, nor could I tell you that wasn’t the real Lan Ji Star…”
“I understand. I understand all of it.” Yun Che held her hand back.
“No,” Shui Meiyin shook her head. “What I want to say is, at that time, I knew you had a Void Stone on you, so no matter how dangerous, you could definitely escape. Most importantly, I… at that time… I hoped that you would… witness the destruction of Lan Ji Star with your own eyes…”
“I know this is the cruelest… the cruelest thing for you, but… but…”
Yun Che shook his head firmly, pulling the trembling girl tightly to his chest. He closed his eyes, suppressing the surging emotions within, and said softly, “No, you did nothing wrong. You made no mistake. You saved Lan Ji Star, saved my homeland, my family… saved everything for me.”
If Shui Meiyin had told him early on that the destroyed planet wasn’t Lan Ji Star, then while he wouldn’t have despaired or felt pain, even if he had fled to the Northern Divine Region, his heart would have forever carried worry, fear, and anxiety, making it difficult to grow quickly.
Because his homeland, his loved ones, his beloved… he could never truly and ruthlessly sever ties.
Only by letting him experience utter despair, making him lose all attachments and weaknesses, erasing all weakness and hesitation, obliterating all pity and kindness toward enemies, and frantically seeking power in the abyss of hatred could he be reborn and stand at the peak of the world as soon as possible.
And also, after regaining what he had lost, have no one who could threaten him or fear loss ever again.
What Shui Meiyin had given him was not just salvation… but true rebirth, a future without darkness.
“Meiyin.” His arms tightened, his voice gentle, every word coming from the depths of his soul. “How… can I ever repay all of this…”
So there really existed debts of love that could not be repaid in ten lifetimes, or even a hundred.
“…” Shui Meiyin shook her head in his arms, shaking violently.
She seemed to want to speak, but what came out were uncontrollable sobs.
Perhaps it was guilt and heartache for making Yun Che endure pain and despair, or perhaps it was Yun Che’s heartfelt tender words. Her delicate shoulders trembled, tears streaming down in waves, quickly soaking through Yun Che’s shirt layer after layer…
Yet she still could not stop.