Chapter 1822: Evil God's Prohibition
Tai Chu Divine Realm, deep within.
"Here... is the Abyss of Nothingness that Master often speaks of?"
Beneath Jun Xilei's feet lay swirling white mist. Five steps ahead, there stretched the endless, bottomless Abyss of Nothingness—a place legend said could reduce all things to nothingness.
The nameless sword on her back had long since shed its stillness and weight, still bearing an ancient aura, yet now tinged with an intangible sharpness that made it impossible to look upon directly.
"Living beings, dead spirits, breath, power, sound, light, soul... all things in the world—tangible or not—that fall into it become empty nothingness." Jun Wuming spoke slowly. "In the history of the God Realm, many Divine Lords at the end of their lives sought to probe the secrets of this abyss with their lifelong cultivation, but without exception, all returned to nothing."
"In other words, what lies beneath the Abyss of Nothingness remains unknown to this day?" Jun Xilei asked.
"Never." Jun Wuming gazed ahead, and in his turbid, aged eyes, there was even a faint trace of longing.
The unknown is the most dangerous, and often the most alluring.
Ever since he had forcibly blocked Luo Changsheng with the "Illusion Heart Sword" to save Yun Che, his vitality had rapidly declined. Now, his aged appearance was enough to shock anyone who saw him.
"Master, why have you brought me here?" Jun Xilei turned around, and when she saw Jun Wuming's face, she quickly turned away, a sharp, bitter ache spreading rapidly through her heart.
She hated herself for all her willfulness over the years... But the grace and debt she owed her master could never be repaid in this lifetime. All she could do was stay by his side without missing a step, accompany him through his final days, fulfill all his last wishes, never talk back again, and never indulge in willfulness again.
"Cough... cough..."
Jun Wuming pressed a hand to his chest, but his eyes remained fixed on the Abyss of Nothingness. He said slowly: "Your master once saw a power called 'Void' in an ancient text so old that its history could no longer be traced."
"Void...?" Jun Xilei murmured softly.
"That name is not found in the world's understanding of power. Even those Divine Lords would glance over these two utterly obscure characters. But as my life nears its end, and I face this abyss that reduces all to nothing, I increasingly believe in its existence."
"And the highest realm of our Sword Lord lineage is also the Sword of Nothingness."
"Back then, it was here that your master attained enlightenment of the Illusion Heart Sword."
Jun Wuming closed his eyes and sat cross-legged: "Lei'er, let go of all attachments, let go of the mundane world, and even more so, let go of your sword aura and sword intent. Try to place yourself within 'empty nothingness.'"
"What is 'empty nothingness'? Your master cannot explain it. Only you can find it on your own."
Jun Xilei closed her eyes as instructed, and in the silence, soon all thoughts faded into emptiness.
But... faintly, even though the Abyss of Nothingness had no objects, no light, and no sound, it seemed to be emitting an eerie howl.
Was it an illusion...
---
After Yun Che and Shui Meiyin entered the Zhou Tian Divine Realm, the Canglan Realm remained calm.
The order to postpone the all-out assault on the Dragon God Realm, after careful deliberation, Chi Wuyue chose to transmit via the Nirvana Wheel Demon Sound... Thus, no ripples were stirred, and everyone praised the Demon Lord's wisdom.
One day... two days... five days... seven days.
"The Six Star Gods of the Star God Realm have arrived and are currently with Primary Consort Cai Zhi. Would Master like to receive them?"
Before Chi Wuyue, Hua Jin reported.
"No need." Chi Wuyue stretched her waist lazily. "I have nothing to say to them. Back in the Eastern Divine Region, if not for little Cai Zhi, not a single one of them would have survived. That debt of gratitude, coupled with the guilt and shortcomings of these years, leaves them with no reason not to willingly fight for little Cai Zhi."
"How are things on the Western Divine Region side?" she asked.
Hua Jin replied: "As Master wishes, the Dragon God Realm's atmosphere is slightly restless, but they remain hidden and do not strike. The five realms of the Western Region have all become much more subdued, but they have also begun preparing for battle. Under the Dragon God Realm's command, their core forces can be mobilized quickly."
"But how much will actually be mobilized... Based on my observations, these five realms mostly expect the other four to go all out, while each secretly holds back."
"Very good. You may withdraw."
Hua Jin left. In the silence, Chi Wuyue raised her arm, pressing a jade finger lightly to her brow.
For some reason, she had felt a bit uneasy these past two days.
She pondered repeatedly but found no flaw in her plans.
---
Zhou Tian Pearl, Zhou Tian Divine Realm.
"Hmm... pfft!"
A large mouthful of blood mist sprayed out. Yun Che's complexion quickly turned from crimson to deathly pale.
"Brother Yun Che!" Shui Meiyin rushed over immediately, pressing her hands on him: "You... are you alright?"
"I'm fine, don't worry." Yun Che waved his hand, quickly calming his qi and blood and his profound energy.
"It's okay. There's still more than a year left. It will definitely succeed." Shui Meiyin comforted him.
At this moment, they had already been in the Zhou Tian Divine Realm for two years.
This was not Shui Meiyin's first time entering the Zhou Tian Divine Realm. But compared to last time, the aura in the Zhou Tian Divine Realm was several times thinner.
However, this did not significantly affect Yun Che's cultivation. He could use the Void Law to directly absorb the divine crystals and divine jades plundered from the various king realms, without relying too much on the environment.
He had thought that compared to soul cultivation, progress in profound energy should be much easier.
But then, as Yun Che's profound energy reached the peak of the tenth level of the Divine Sovereign Realm, it suddenly stopped.
No matter how hard he tried, even using the Void Law to forcibly absorb spiritual energy, he could not advance even half a step.
And before this, Yun Che's profound path had never encountered a "bottleneck."
But this time, between the Divine Sovereign Realm and the Divine Lord Realm, it was as if an immense, sky-scraping mountain had been erected. No matter how hard he tried, he could not break through...
He even gradually felt, with increasing clarity, that this "sky-scraping mountain" seemed to have never been even slightly shaken.
Failure after failure, attempt after attempt... this time, he even tried to force a breakthrough, but still achieved nothing—only severely injuring himself in the process.
"The bottleneck to the Divine Lord Realm is extremely hard to break. Back then, it took me thirty-seven years here to cross it. Father said that alone was enough to be recorded as a miracle in the history of the God Realm. So Brother Yun Che, there's no need to rush at all." Shui Meiyin gently comforted him.
"No, this is not a bottleneck at all!"
Yun Che frowned and looked up. After the forced breakthrough just now, he had finally confirmed this.
"Eh?" Shui Meiyin was puzzled.
"It's a prohibition!" Yun Che's voice was heavy, his heart a mixture of emotions.
"And it's most likely a prohibition personally set by the Evil God."
"A prohibition... why?" Shui Meiyin asked in confusion.
Yun Che frowned and said: "My Evil God's Mysterious Vein has seven special realm gates. The realm gates originally had prohibitions on them as well. Only the first five realm gates—Evil Soul, Heart Incineration, Purgatory, Heaven-Shattering, and Yama King—could be opened. The last two were forcibly sealed."
"But later, they were unsealed by Jie Tian Mo Di."
"I never thought that not only the Evil God's realm gates, but also the profound realm levels, had the same prohibition placed on them."
And this prohibition only became apparent when he cultivated to the peak of the Divine Sovereign Realm and was about to break through to the Divine Lord Realm.
Before leaving, Jie Tian Mo Di had removed the prohibitions on the realm gates, but not on the profound energy levels. Whether she had not discovered it or had done so intentionally was unknown.
"As for why..."
As his breath calmed, Yun Che's heart gradually settled as well.
"Meiyin, do you still remember the beast rampage that affected most of the God Realm from the appearance of the Crimson Rift until Jie Tian Mo Di's departure?"
"Of course I remember. It wasn't just the beast rampage; the climate and elements also became chaotic." Shui Meiyin said. She thought for a moment, then suddenly parted her lips and exclaimed in surprise: "Could it be because..."
"Mm, it should be the same reason." Yun Che said solemnly. "The current Chaos World can no longer bear the aura of the divine realm."
"When the Demon Emperor was present, all living things panicked, the Heavenly Dao trembled, elements were in disarray, and order was shaken. If those gods from beyond the Chaos were to return together, without even needing them to deliberately destroy, the world's current order and laws would collapse rapidly. The consequences would be unpredictable."
"This is also the most important reason Jie Tian Mo Di chose to leave." Yun Che sighed softly. "She didn't want to destroy the world that the Evil God had protected until his last breath—no, that he still protects even now."
"In other words, Brother Yun Che's sixth and seventh realm gates of his vein, as well as the realms above Divine Sovereign, belong to the realm of divine power?" Shui Meiyin asked.
"I don't know if it counts," Yun Che said, "but at least... it must be power that exceeds the limits this world can bear."
Back in the Fenyue Divine Realm, when he first opened the Evil God's sixth realm gate, "Divine Ashes," by sacrificing the Star God's Divine Source, even though his consciousness was hazy and drifting, he could still clearly feel the trembling of heaven and earth.
Later, Qianye Ying'er told him that in those few breaths, nearly a quarter of the Northern Divine Region had trembled.
In the Nanming Divine Realm, when the power of the Abyss God Cannon burst forth, it was also power that exceeded the limits, drawing the trembling of heaven and earth and violent shaking across large star regions.
If such a fleeting appearance could cause this, then the long-term, sustained existence of a power that exceeds the limits might have consequences far more severe than he had imagined.
"As the last god to fade away, the Chaos's aura was probably already greatly diminished by then. A new Heavenly Dao order and elemental balance had also taken shape. So he placed a prohibition on the vein legacy he left behind, preventing later inheritors from opening the sixth realm gate or breaking through to the Divine Lord Realm."
Of course, no one in the world knew the Evil God's special divine vein better than the Evil God himself.
Yun Che was currently at the tenth level of the Divine Sovereign Realm, but with the Evil God's realm gates opened to the "Yama King" state, his power already matched a tenth-level Divine Lord.
If he were allowed to break through to the Divine Lord Realm... that would inevitably surpass the limits.
The prohibition he left was precisely locked at the upper limit of power this world could bear.
"With Jie Tian Mo Di's ability, the chance that she didn't discover the profound energy prohibition is very small. If she didn't remove it, it was probably for the same considerations as the Evil God. But she deliberately removed the limitation on the realm gates, likely to allow me to make a desperate last stand in times of crisis. After all, a fleeting, exceeding-limit power is far from enough to collapse the order and laws of this world."
"If that's the case, is there really no way at all?" Shui Meiyin asked with some concern.
A prohibition left by a Creation God could not possibly be undone by the power of the present world.
"It's fine." Yun Che, however, smiled freely. "For me to have come this far in this life is already due to the Evil God's boundless grace. This prohibition is a limitation, but it is also part of his gift, and I must accept it with gratitude."
"Even though I couldn't break through the upper limit, the increase in my lower limit over these two years has far exceeded my expectations."
Yun Che stopped thinking about breaking through. He clenched his fists, stood up, and said with a faint smile: "At least now I can maintain the 'Yama King' state as a constant. That's enough!"
"With one more year left, I'll focus on training my soul."
"Ah——"
With a delicate shriek, Shui Meiyin was not very gently pushed to the ground by Yun Che.
"Alright, let's start~~"
The hem of her skirt, adorned with black jade tassels, was lifted directly to her chest, revealing a pair of long, jade-glistening, dazzlingly white legs...
(Due to a computer hard drive explosion, 99,000 words mysteriously lost... It's not my fault!)