# Chapter 1868: Xi and Yun
Western Divine Region, Dragon God Realm.
The Dragon God Realm of old possessed nine Dragon Gods, forty-three Dragon Lords, three hundred eight Master Dragons, and was guarded by the supreme Dragon Emperor. Secretly, it was also protected by the five Withered Dragons.
This was a force that anyone would have deemed utterly unshakable.
Now, it had fallen to the point where not even a single Master Dragon survived.
The Dragon God Realm's million-year hegemony had collapsed overnight, and collapsed completely. Under Yun Che's cruel demonic decree to exterminate the Dragon God bloodline, they couldn't even take a breath, let alone turn things around.
A Realm King realm without a Divine Lord was like a tiger stripped of its claws and fangs, with all its bones broken—its remaining might still lingered, but in truth, it was no better than a jackal.
When the Azure Dragon and Qilin arrived with the demonic decree of "obey and live, defy and die," Di Chi, Hui Long, and Wan Xiang couldn't even muster the will to resist before they had no choice but to kneel.
As for the Dragon God Realm side, it was even simpler. The Qilin Realm directly barged in and took over the Dragon God Domain, which had originally symbolized the core of the Dragon God Realm and was also the supreme sacred land of the Divine Realm.
The entire Western Divine Region trembled and shuddered.
If it had been Yun Che or Chi Wuyue arriving with their might, the various realms of the Western Region might have united in shared hatred, forming a temporary front of will.
But standing before them were the Azure Dragon Realm and the Qilin Realm, which had the best reputations in the Western Divine Region... This not only dealt another heavy blow to their will but also made their acceptance of submission several times easier without them even realizing it.
As the Western Region was in turmoil, Yun Che and Qianye Ying'er had already appeared before the Reincarnation Forbidden Land.
A massive barrier stretched ahead of them, the Dragon God aura it released so powerful that one would feel as if thousands of mountains pressed down on them even from ten thousand miles away. It was easy to imagine how much of his power Long Bai had poured into this barrier.
Yun Che's gaze lingered for a long time... Even though he had already accepted the worst outcome, his heart still pounded several times faster.
"Can we open it?" Qianye Ying'er pursed her lips, pulling him out of his daze.
Yun Che stepped forward, Phoenix Flame in his left hand and Golden Crow Flame in his right. The two divine flames merged in the darkness and instantly transformed into the terrifying Eternal Calamity Demon Flame, directly striking the Dragon God Barrier ahead.
Sssss...
Soul-shredding sounds of devouring rang out. Yun Che's arms slowly sank into the Dragon God Barrier. Then, his gaze darkened, and his flame-wreathed hands violently tore.
Crack!
The Dragon God Barrier was torn open, creating a ten-foot-long rift. On the edges of the rift, the Eternal Calamity Demon Flame twisted and continued to devour, preventing the rift from healing for a long time.
At this moment, Yun Che's brows suddenly furrowed tightly.
Qianye Ying'er's figure flickered, and she had already passed through the rift into the barrier. When she turned her head, she found Yun Che still standing outside the barrier, seemingly lost in thought as he pondered something.
"What's wrong?" Qianye Ying'er asked.
Yun Che stepped forward and entered the barrier, then suddenly said: "This barrier has always had Long Bai's Dragon Soul attached to it."
With Long Bai's death, the Dragon Soul entangled with the barrier had rapidly dissipated, but the lingering soul traces were still clear enough for Yun Che to detect.
"That's perfectly normal." Qianye Ying'er was not surprised at all. "To conceal such a big secret, it would be strange if Long Bai didn't attach his soul to the barrier."
Yun Che's brows did not relax. After a brief silence, he asked: "Qianying, in this world, is there any method to pass through this kind of soul-attached barrier without a trace?"
Qianye Ying'er shot him a glance, thought for a moment, and said: "As far as I know, there are probably three."
"First, the Void Cauldron of the Zhou Tian Realm. As the strongest spatial artifact reputed in the current era, it can pass through even multiple layers of soul-attached barriers without issue. Second, the special spatial profound art 'Shaohua Ziwei' of the Ziwei Realm."
"However, whether the Void Cauldron can pass through a barrier of Long Bai's level without leaving a trace, I can't guarantee. As for 'Shaohua Ziwei,' it seems no one in the Ziwei Realm has cultivated it for two hundred thousand years."
"Third, of course, is the Cosmic Thorn in Shui Meiyin's hands. As a Mystic Heaven Supreme Treasure and the undisputed strongest spatial divine artifact in the history of the Chaos, it can even move stars and shift moons. Passing through a mere soul-attached barrier would be child's play."
When Yun Che had revealed all the truths to Chi Wuyue that day, he had also told the same to Qianye Ying'er.
Qianye Ying'er's answer did not ease Yun Che's suspicions. He asked: "Does the Yue Shen Realm have any similar spatial secret arts?"
Qianye Ying'er finally understood: "Ah, I see. I remember you mentioned that Xia Qingyue informed you of Shen Xi's death. You're wondering why Xia Qingyue knew so early that Shen Xi was dead, given that this barrier personally forged by Long Bai stands between them?"
Yun Che: "..."
"Hmph, there's nothing strange about it." Qianye Ying'er snorted coldly. "Every Realm King realm has its own deeply hidden secrets and trump cards. It wouldn't be surprising if they had some unknown spatial secret art or artifact like that."
"Especially that woman Xia Qingyue. She has an extremely special Glass Heart and Exquisite Body. Even if she passed through Long Bai's barrier without a trace, or even did something beyond common sense, you shouldn't be too shocked... That's somewhat similar to you."
Yun Che shook his head, casting aside unnecessary thoughts, and said: "Forget it, it's not important. Let's go."
Before long, the Reincarnation Forbidden Land appeared ahead.
But the Light Barrier that had guarded the Reincarnation Forbidden Land for hundreds of thousands of years was now only a thin layer, like smoke and mist, as if a slightly larger storm would completely scatter it.
Yun Che extended his finger toward the Light Barrier. The moment his knuckle touched it, he curled and tightened his fingers.
This soon-to-be-dispersed Light Barrier was undoubtedly cruelly shattering any remaining hope or illusion in his heart.
Passing through the Light Barrier, Yun Che's footsteps stopped in place. Before him, the Reincarnation Forbidden Land was so desolate it broke one's heart.
No birdsong or butterfly dance, no sacred light swirling, no thousands of grasses and flowers—only decay and withering everywhere.
"Hoo..." Yun Che closed his eyes and let out a long breath.
From the Heavenly Poison Pearl, He Ling's barely suppressed sobbing continuously reached him.
When he had first arrived here, it was like falling into an unreal, beautiful dream. Now, that dream had shattered—and shattered so completely and cruelly.
Qianye Ying'er parted her lips, wanting to say something, but sensing the too-heavy weight on Yun Che's soul, she ultimately remained silent.
After a long time, Yun Che opened his eyes and walked slowly toward the core of the Reincarnation Forbidden Land—the very heart of that dream within a dream.
The bamboo hut that had once stood there was now nothing but a pile of withered bamboo.
The ground that had once been covered with immortal grasses and spiritual flowers was now riddled with cracks, clearly having suffered a massive force impact.
But amidst the decay and withering, a faint trace of spiritual energy reached him. Yun Che's gaze shifted sharply, and he quickly moved forward. In his line of sight appeared a cluster of strikingly beautiful and strangely discordant exotic grasses and spiritual flowers.
Carefully stepping into the flower patch, Yun Che's gaze fixed on the patch of long-dried bloodstains... The faint, wispy spiritual energy was the unique Light aura of Shen Xi.
He slowly crouched down, carefully scooped up the bloodstained soil, and placed it into a jade box.
Qianye Ying'er had been silently following behind him. Although she had often used the fact that Shen Xi had willingly thrown herself into Yun Che's arms to taunt and even humiliate her, bringing herself psychological balance and twisted pleasure, in this place and under these circumstances, she could only accompany him in silence, unable to utter any biting words.
"Shen Xi," Yun Che murmured softly. "You are not a Dragon Empress. Even if you are no longer in this world, I will never allow future records about you to be tainted with the title of 'Dragon Empress.'"
"Although I have never known what kind of feelings you truly held for me, or what kind of purpose you had, and I haven't even clarified your true identity..."
"None of that matters anymore. You are my woman, Yun Che's woman—that much I am absolutely certain of. Not even you can deny it."
"Future generations will forever remember... you as Emperor Yun's Xi Consort." Yun Che's voice trembled slightly. "Unless you stand before me and refuse, then... I'll take it as your agreement."
With this murmur, Yun Che closed the jade box, as if speaking to himself, as if making a promise.
*Hmph.* Qianye Ying'er sneered inwardly. *He hasn't even officially been crowned emperor yet, and he's already bestowing consort titles one after another!*
Just then, Yun Che suddenly sensed something. He whipped his head around and looked toward the scattered withered bamboo on the ground—there, a faint, almost imperceptible trace of Light aura emanated.
He twisted his body and instantly appeared beside the withered bamboo.
Up close, he was certain that this was no illusion. However, the Light aura was so incredibly weak that, had he not possessed Light Profound Force himself, he would have been completely unable to detect it.
And the source of the Light aura was not within the withered bamboo, but deep beneath the ground.
"Mm? Found something?" Qianye Ying'er immediately asked.
Yun Che did not speak. He spread his five fingers and carefully sent a beam of force downward.
Boom!
With a muffled sound, the ground ten zhang deep evenly collapsed. Yun Che grabbed with his hand, and as dust scattered, between his five fingers appeared a simple bamboo token, broken off from a bamboo joint.
He turned the bamboo token over. On it was carved an elegant character: 【Xi】.
He could tell at a glance that this was written by Shen Xi's jade-like finger. The touch of her fingertip had left behind faint traces of Light aura.
"Xi?" Qianye Ying'er muttered softly.
But this Light aura was not the only one. Yun Che pressed his left hand down, and as the ground collapsed again, another nearly identical bamboo token was drawn into his palm.
On this bamboo token was carved the character 【Yun】. It was equally elegant and graceful, equally flowing with Light. When his gaze touched it, he could almost feel the gentle waves of emotion in her heart as her jade finger inscribed it.
"Yun... Xi Yun... Yun Xi... Xi Yun." Qianye Ying'er narrowed her eyes and suddenly laughed lightly. "I was thinking earlier that Shen Xi might have been toying with you. I didn't expect that she actually seemed to have developed feelings for you. Those two characters 'Xi Yun' truly speak of longing across autumn waters and endless affection."
"Don't speak of her like that." Yun Che slowly gathered the bamboo tokens into his palm.
*Xi Yun...*
*After I left that year, did she truly have feelings for me...*
*Was that dreamlike year not purely one of exploitation...*
"Hmph, that was a compliment to her." Qianye Ying'er retorted in a much lower voice.
"Let's go."
Yun Che did not linger any longer. Before long, he had left the Reincarnation Forbidden Land with Qianye Ying'er.
He did not forcefully destroy the barrier that Long Bai had forged. This place where Shen Xi had once peacefully dwelled—even without her presence—he did not wish to be disturbed by outsiders.
Just as they exited the barrier, Yun Che received a sound transmission from Hua Jin.
"Reporting to the Demon Lord. My mistress said that while inventorying the Dragon God's remaining possessions, she made some 'interesting' discoveries. She requests that you move to the Dragon God Domain at your leisure."
"What is it?" Qianye Ying'er asked.
Yun Che grabbed her wrist. "To the Dragon God Domain."
"After all, the Dragon God Realm was a hegemon for a million years. I hope it doesn't disappoint me too much."