Chapter 1820: The Last Heaven-Defying World Scripture
Three things, Yun Che agreed to all of them.
Shui Meiyin closed her eyes, and her tear-stained cheeks seemed to gain a bit of peace of mind.
"I will do it, all of it." Yun Che promised once more.
She bit her lip forcefully, and finally, with tears and a smile, she said, "Mm! Thank you, Brother Yun Che."
"What is there to thank?" Yun Che reached out and pinched her snow-white, perky nose. "If we're going to say that word between us, I could say it to you from now until I'm a million years old and it still wouldn't be enough."
Shui Meiyin: "..."
This day, for Yun Che, was without a doubt another rebirth.
After another long while, both of them gradually calmed down, both in emotion and in the tides of their hearts. They did not linger in the Seven Star Realm any longer. Rising, they followed the path they had come, flying back in the direction of the Ten Directions Canglan Realm.
Although, with the Cosmic Thorn, they could return in an instant. But first, they had to save the extremely precious power of the Cosmic Thorn for when it was truly needed. Second, doing so would avoid creating a break in the trail of their aura.
"Looking back now, the timing with which you brought the Huanxin Liuying Jade was especially clever. The Eastern Divine Region's battle line had just begun to be built when it directly collapsed, and it never recovered afterward. And this time, the timing of telling me everything—though you were struggling and hesitating—was, at least in my eyes, also the most perfect."
Yun Che held Shui Meiyin's hand, a faint smile on his face. And that smile was completely different from the one he'd worn on the way here.
"Just now, I was actually still very worried. But seeing how Brother Yun Che is now, I believe that the future will surely be the best, the very best outcome." Shui Meiyin also smiled happily.
"By the way, let me make a guess." Yun Che suddenly spoke. "Did you, a long time ago, once use the dimensional divine power of the Cosmic Thorn to secretly approach the Northern Divine Region?"
Shui Meiyin was slightly startled, but she didn't immediately deny it. Instead, she said with a smile, "Why do you ask that?"
"About a year and a half ago, we began to engineer the opportunity to attack the Eastern Divine Region. At that time, Chi Wuyue lured Zhou Xuzi to the border of the Northern Divine Region, and I killed Zhou Qingcheng in front of him."
"Afterward, the Demon Empress told me about a strange matter: she had detected a fleeting aura at that moment. And she was certain it was no illusion."
"But she released all of her spiritual perception yet could never find it again, no matter what." Yun Che looked sideways at Shui Meiyin. "The Demon Empress possesses an extremely special demon soul, powerful enough to shatter the Dragon God Soul of the First Dragon God, yet she could not find an aura she had already sensed. This troubled her for a very long time... I suspect even now, she hasn't been able to let it go."
"Thinking about it now, the most likely possibility for that aura is you. After being detected, you instantly used the Cosmic Thorn to distance yourself. Then, even for the Demon Empress, finding you would be impossible."
"Am I right?"
Even though he said it was a guess, Yun Che was certain in his heart. Because disappearing without a trace under Chi Wuyue's perception—there should be no other possibility besides this.
"...Hee hee." Shui Meiyin suddenly laughed softly. She averted her eyes, looking ahead. "So Brother Yun Che discovered me. It really was me. But I couldn't show myself then, so after being discovered, I quickly escaped."
"Sure enough." Yun Che also laughed. "Let me guess again. Long Bai... was it also you who lured him away?"
When the Northern Divine Region launched its full-scale assault on the Eastern Divine Region, Long Bai had very conveniently left the Long Shen Realm just a few days before, and still hadn't returned even now.
This matter had already been confirmed as not being the work of Chi Wuyue or Qianye Ying'er... They would have dearly loved to, but had no way to accomplish it.
And the one who could foresee the timing of the Northern Divine Region's attack and, just before that, use some special method to lure Long Bai into the Tai Chu Divine Realm—the most likely candidate was Shui Meiyin. After all, she had just admitted that she occasionally used the Cosmic Thorn to "spy" on the situation in the Northern Divine Region.
And it was in a way that left no trace.
"Mm, Brother Yun Che guessed correctly again." Shui Meiyin admitted very directly. "At that time, I felt that the Long Shen Realm would be the biggest variable and threat. And Long Bai holds absolute supreme authority in the Long Shen Realm. If he weren't there, then as long as the Western Divine Region wasn't directly touched, the Long Shen Realm probably wouldn't act rashly."
"But it seems like Brother Yun Che isn't the least bit afraid of the Long Shen Realm. Did I... do something unnecessary?"
Yun Che smiled and shook his head. "Before today, I wanted to meet Long Bai as soon as possible. But now... fortunately, you lured him away early. Otherwise, the situation would definitely be completely different now. Thinking about it, I'm actually a bit scared."
He looked at her profile, deeply moved. "Meiyin, in this life of mine... fortunately, I have you."
When they first met, she was only fifteen. During the God-Sealing Battle of the Xuan God Assembly, facing her terrifyingly powerful Stainless Divine Soul, he had to use a despicable method to defeat her... He thought she would despise and loathe him, but afterward, she clung to him like a lovesick fool, ignoring her sister's warnings and her father's anger.
And at that time, she had given him quite a headache.
But that infatuation, even after three thousand years in the Zhou Tian Realm, had never faded.
Now, she had saved his fate, his soul... and everything.
He dared not imagine what state he would be in now if he had never met her in this life and never been fortunate enough to have her heart.
"Then, what method did you use to lure Long Bai into the Tai Chu Divine Realm for so long that he still hasn't come out?" Yun Che asked. He was genuinely deeply curious.
"This..." Shui Meiyin hesitated slightly, then said, "The method is very special, a bit hard to explain. If Brother Yun Che really wants to know, then mightily defeat Long Bai and ask him yourself."
"Oh, right, I have something to give you, Brother Yun Che."
Perhaps she had suddenly remembered, or perhaps she wanted to steer away from this topic she didn't want to explain, Shui Meiyin stopped. She clasped her hands together, and a faint light appeared. In front of her, a pitch-black stone slab materialized.
It was about three feet in length and width, perfectly square, and entirely pitch-black. And atop that blackness was covered with an even deeper, more profound layer of eerie patterns.
A faint but indescribably mysterious aura emanated, causing Yun Che's heart to stir violently.
This feeling...
His hand touched the stone slab, his fingertips tracing along the strange patterns.
This special kind of trajectory, this intangible feeling of profundity...
Tai Chu Divine Script?!
Could it be...
"This thing, was it given to you by Jie Tian Mo Di?" Yun Che raised his head abruptly and asked.
"Mm, Senior Demon Empress asked me to give it to you at the right time," Shui Meiyin replied.
Yun Che's heart began to pound uncontrollably with excitement.
Tai Chu Divine Script, left behind by the Demon Empress—this was the part of the Ancestral Divine Art that Jie Tian Mo Di had in her possession!
In other words, what the current era calls the Heaven-Defying World Scripture!
In ancient times, it was precisely because of this part of the Heaven-Defying World Scripture that Jie Tian Mo Di was ambushed by the Heaven-Slaying God Emperor Mo E and expelled from the Chaos.
He had thought that this part of the Heaven-Defying World Scripture had been taken out of the Chaos along with her. It turned out that, like the Cosmic Thorn, it had been entrusted to Shui Meiyin.
Strange... why didn't she give it directly to me, but instead had Shui Meiyin pass it on?
This doubt flashed through his mind.
He reached out and took the stone slab engraved with the Heaven-Defying World Scripture. Adding it to the two parts he already had, the three would combine into the complete Heaven-Defying World Scripture, the complete Ancestral Divine Art.
And it was something that, even in the age of the gods, had never been whole!
This was truly the first time in all of history!
Suppressing his excitement, he still voiced the doubt in his heart: "When Jie Tian Mo Di gave it to you, did she say anything special?"
Shui Meiyin thought for a moment and said, "She said she wished she had never possessed this thing."
Yun Che: "..."
He didn't get the answer he wanted, but those words of Jie Tian Mo Di contained an endless bitterness that outsiders could never understand.
The Void Law that Yun Che had mastered was realized from the two parts of the Heaven-Defying World Scripture in his possession.
It was a very special, very ethereal understanding. Because he himself didn't know how he had comprehended it, nor to what level.
Now, with the Heaven-Defying World Scripture complete in his hands, he wondered if he could grasp a clearer, more profound Void Law through this complete Ancestral Divine Art.
However, he couldn't read the Tai Chu Divine Script. The only one in the world who could decipher it was Xiao Lingxi.
And right now, of course, he couldn't appear before her.
Putting away the black stone slab, Yun Che temporarily put it out of his mind and said to Shui Meiyin, "Meiyin, after we return to the Ten Directions Canglan Realm, can you promise me one thing..."
...
Returning to the Ten Directions Canglan Realm, the water-blue sky entered Yun Che's eyes and soul like a beautiful painting.
The colors of the world, the sounds in his ears—everything was completely different.
Sensing his aura, the Three Yan Ancestors immediately rushed over at their fastest speed and stood respectfully before him: "Greetings to the master on his return to the realm."
Yun Che was lightly holding the tricolored Liuyin Stone at his neck, a warm, faint smile on his lips. The voices of the Three Yan Ancestors made him unconsciously look up, but the smile didn't fade.
In that instant, all three Yan Ancestors' bodies shook, and they fell to their knees as if in a panic.
"M-m-m-master, please calm your anger! This old servant deserves... deserves to die ten thousand deaths!" Yan Yi kowtowed, his hunched body almost entirely pressed to the ground, trembling all over.
"This old servant knows his wrongs, please punish me, Master." Yan Er trembled even harder than Yan Yi.
"This old servant is incompetent and stupid, actually making the master angry. I deserve ten thousand deaths. Master, please mete out punishment, and by all means, don't hurt yourself from anger." Yan Yi banged his head heavily on the ground multiple times.
"..." Yun Che's mouth twitched. He immediately realized it was the smiling expression he'd just had that had frightened them.
"Get up."
He gently put down the Liuyin Stone he had held in his palm for so long. Yun Che waved his hand. "Go find a cool spot and stay out of my sight."
As Yun Che walked away, the Three Yan Ancestors stared at each other with wide eyes, three faces full of confusion.
After sending voice transmissions to Chi Wuyue, Qianye Ying'er, Cai Zhi, Yan Tianxiao, and the others, Yun Che stood in the center of the Canglan King's Hall, closed his eyes, and said softly:
"He Ling, prepare to open the Zhou Tian Divine Realm."
Soon, He Ling's excited voice came: "Master, you've finally... come to your senses!"
"Mm." Yun Che nodded with a smile.
"Before today, I only wanted to tear Long Bai apart in the most brutal, most cruel way possible. Every extra day of waiting was agony, and I was willing to pay any price."
"But now, it's completely different."
As he said these words—even when mentioning the name "Long Bai"—the smile still lingered at the corners of his mouth.
Before his eyes appeared the figures who had returned to his life. He closed his eyes and said, "Even if the time in the Zhou Tian Divine Realm is only three years, even if it were three hundred years, three thousand years, I will endure it."
"Because, the Long Shen Realm... Long Bai no longer deserves for me to risk my life against him!"
Crack!
He clenched his fists, and his voice gradually turned ferocious. "I will use the safest method and the most assured power to... grind... him... to... death!"