# Chapter 1878: The Enthronement Ceremony (Part 1)
Mu Xuanyin's words made Yun Che feel relieved more than guilty.
He suddenly grabbed Mu Xuanyin's hand and smiled gently. "The relationships between women are truly subtle. I always thought you would never forgive her... but it turns out you not only don't hate her, you actually seem to have some mutual appreciation."
"Having truly experienced life and death allows one to suddenly see many things clearly. Like what actually isn't important, and what actually is important." She murmured softly, then weakly tried to pull her hand away, but Yun Che held it even tighter.
"Then about the Ice Phoenix Divine Spirit, you no longer hold any resentment either, right?" Yun Che turned his gaze toward Minghan Heavenly Lake. Without the Ice Phoenix Divine Spirit's presence, the cold air of Minghan Heavenly Lake had dissipated by nearly half in just these few short years.
Mu Xuanyin shook her head. "Without the Ice Phoenix Divine Spirit, there would be no Bing Huang God Sect, nor my second life. I owe her an immeasurable debt of gratitude that cannot be repaid in ten thousand lifetimes. What right do I have to resent her?"
Yun Che slowly closed his eyes and sighed softly. "It's the same for me... all grudges have been settled, but some debts of gratitude can never be repaid. Now, the only repayment we can offer is to quickly have many children who inherit the Ice Phoenix bloodline. Just ten or eight of our children would be enough to turn Yin Xue Realm into a true king realm that all beings look up to!"
Mu Xuanyin: "..."
......
While Yun Che was staying in Yin Xue Realm, the surrounding star realms, upon hearing the news, all frantically came to pay their respects, but were all turned away at the door.
The winds of change across the Eastern, Western, and Southern Divine Realms continued to shift. The demonic might represented by the two words "Demon Lord" pressed down like a massive black floating boulder, making it difficult for everyone to breathe amidst their unease.
All king realms of the three divine realms had bowed to the Demon Lord, and one by one, region by region, the upper star realms also knelt...
The momentum stirred by this wind of change did not alleviate the oppressive demonic might above in the slightest; instead, it grew heavier day by day, until it was impossible to overturn.
Those resistance forces that were already weak barely managed to stir up a few ripples before being instantly overwhelmed.
Two months later, at the Ten Directions Canglan Realm.
Under the light profound formation left by Yun Che, Cang Shuhao's life pulse had been nearly fully restored, and her vitality had increased dramatically far beyond what was imaginable.
Cang Shitian and Rui Yi, who had been attending her side, were shocked by her transformation almost every day. In contrast, Cang Shuhao herself remained as calm as ever.
But recovering from illness and having the Canglan royal bloodline was far from enough. To possess the most basic qualification to become the emperor of Canglan, she must inherit the Canglan Divine Power.
Today, Yun Che once again set foot in the Ten Directions Canglan Realm, precisely for this purpose.
It was the same place as when he first met Cang Shuhao, but the cold air was no longer there.
Cang Shuhao knelt on the ground, while Yun Che stood before her, his finger pressing against her brow. On the back of his hand floated the Canglan Divine Pearl, the Divine Legacy Artifact of the Ten Directions Canglan Realm.
Strands of blue light, like flowing water, surged from the Canglan Divine Pearl, flowing through Yun Che's palm toward Cang Shuhao's brow.
Cang Shitian and Rui Yi watched from afar, hardly daring to breathe. Especially Cang Shitian, whose shock was beyond words.
As the Canglan God Emperor, the Canglan Divine Pearl had been in his hands all these years. So he was undoubtedly the person in the world who understood the Canglan Divine Pearl best... But at this moment, searching through all his knowledge, even ancient memories, he could not understand how Yun Che could forcibly guide the power of the Canglan Divine Pearl.
That was the Divine Legacy Artifact of his Ten Directions Canglan Realm, a relic of the ancient true gods! Canglan Divine Power could only be bestowed when it was recognized; none of the previous Canglan God Emperors, no matter what means they tried, could forcibly interfere with its power.
The same was true for the Divine Legacy Artifacts of other king realms.
Cang Shitian's heart trembled, and his expression turned complicated... It was hard to imagine just how many terrifying secrets Yun Che still concealed.
To have forced such a terrifying freak into becoming an enemy and a demon — thinking back, the actions of those God Emperors and Realm Kings led by Long Bai and Zhou Xuzi back then were simply the height of stupidity.
With the power of Dark Eternal Calamity, Yun Che could easily achieve the "grafting" of dark power. Tian Guhu, who bore the Yama power, was a product of this process, and it didn't even require him to possess the Yama bloodline.
The consequence of such forced grafting was a drastic shortening of lifespan.
The forced alignment of the Canglan Divine Power was achieved through the Void Law. However, his understanding of the Void Law was ultimately too shallow and ethereal, and his ability to forcibly interfere with the Canglan Divine Power was far inferior to his domineering control over dark power.
Therefore, this forced alignment not only required the corresponding Canglan bloodline but also caused an even more severe loss of lifespan.
It didn't last too long. After just one hour, with a resonant hum from the Canglan Divine Pearl, the blue light dispersed. Yun Che's finger abruptly withdrew from Cang Shuhao's brow. He let out a soft breath, then turned aside with an indifferent expression.
Cang Shitian's body trembled as he quickly stepped forward: "Demon Lord... how is it?"
At that moment, Cang Shuhao slowly opened her eyes, and a pure, flawless Canglan divine light reflected in her beautiful pupils.
Cang Shitian's gaze abruptly shifted... Accompanying the Canglan divine light was a sudden release of Canglan divine aura from Cang Shuhao's body!
"Miss..." Rui Yi called out softly, joy mingled with a hint of heartache. She knew the price Cang Shuhao had paid to obtain the Canglan Divine Power.
Cang Shuhao slightly bowed her head and whispered, "The Demon Lord's grace, Shuhao can only repay with the rest of her life."
"No need. It's just a mutual exchange of what each needs," Yun Che said in a deep voice. As he spoke, he secretly glanced at Cang Shuhao from the corner of his eye.
While the forced alignment of ancient divine power caused severe lifespan loss, it also undoubtedly came with immense pain. Under such pain, even the iron-willed Tian Guhu had previously contorted his face, trembled all over, and sweat profusely.
Yet Cang Shuhao showed no change in expression from beginning to end. She was as calm as if she were not enduring the agony of her body splitting apart, but rather bathing in a gentle breeze.
Such willpower... it was almost hair-raising.
"As expected of the Demon Lord," Cang Shitian said, barely containing his excitement. "Such a miracle can only be accomplished by the Demon Lord. Although Shuhao has hidden her heart and secluded herself from the world over the years, she has always secretly observed the various realms and has read countless ancient texts. Once she becomes the Canglan God Emperor, she will be far from a mere empty title. The Canglan Realm under her governance, and her influence over the entire Southern Divine Realm... will certainly not disappoint the Demon Lord!"
"Is that so?" Yun Che responded coldly. "Cang Shitian, prepare the succession ceremony. The sooner, the better."
He suddenly turned his head and said to Cang Shuhao, "You should understand that all I want is a vase. And a vase should act like one. Besides, with your current lifespan..."
"Shuhao now bears the Canglan Divine Power, so my lifespan is naturally far greater than before. Perhaps it is no less than my brother's," Cang Shuhao suddenly spoke, interrupting Yun Che's words. "But no matter how long the future years may be, Shuhao dares not forget for a moment that everything is the Demon Lord's grace, nor will I forget the promise I just made."
Yun Che: "..."
Cang Shitian quickly interjected, "Under the Demon Lord's divine might, all beings in the world dare not disobey. Shuhao is someone who values gratitude and righteousness extremely highly. I, Cang Shitian, am willing to stake my life as guarantee that no matter what the future holds, Shuhao will never harbor the slightest disloyalty toward the Demon Lord. Otherwise, without the Demon Lord needing to act, Shitian will personally clean up the household."
Cang Shitian spoke these words with absolute conviction. Having witnessed Yun Che's terrifying and unfathomable nature time and again, he understood better than anyone that in the current situation, loyalty to Yun Che was the wisest choice... Disloyalty? That would be irredeemable stupidity.
Yun Che gave Cang Shuhao a deep look, then turned and left.
"Farewell, Demon Lord!" Cang Shitian quickly followed, his demeanor extremely humble.
"Miss!" As soon as Yun Che and Cang Shitian left, Rui Yi hurried forward to carefully support Cang Shuhao. Only then did she notice that Cang Shuhao's entire body was soaked with sweat, indicating just how much pain she had silently endured earlier.
Cang Shuhao slowly raised her hand, sensing the surging Canglan Divine Power within her. She smiled gently. "Like this, I can take on my brother's title of God Emperor... Life is like a dream, yet even more surreal than an illusory dream."
"Miss, can you tell me..." Rui Yi's voice dropped low, trembling slightly. "How much longer is your lifespan?"
If it had been reduced by twenty or thirty percent, she could still accept it. But Qianye Ying'er had previously said that forcibly aligning with the Canglan Divine Power would drastically reduce her lifespan to... even less than when she was weak and frail before.
Facing Rui Yi's worry and anxiety, Cang Shuhao smiled gently and did not hide the truth. "I hope I can hold on through the tenth Jiazi."
"..." Rui Yi stood there, unable to speak for a long time.
"Rui Yi, don't grieve for me. This is not a loss or injury to me, but a true grace." Cang Shuhao lifted her head high and spoke leisurely. "The words 'God Emperor' may be empty titles in the eyes of the Demon Lord and countless others, but to me, they represent rebirth."
"One day ruling the world is worth more than ten thousand years of clinging to life. And these divinely granted ten Jiazi... I am destined not to waste them. At the very least, I will ensure that future generations forever remember the name Cang Shuhao!"
The faint blue light in her eyes had at some point condensed into a piercing cold star. From her pink lips softly spilled tender whispers: "That hidden web left for my brother... now I shall personally draw it closed."
---
Western Divine Realm, Azure Dragon Realm.
Chi Wuyue slowly walked out of the Azure Dragon Emperor's bedchamber. Hua Jin, who had been waiting for her, slowly revealed her figure.
"Still no results?" Glancing at Hua Jin's expression, Chi Wuyue said softly.
"Reporting to Master," Hua Jin bowed her head. "The forces mobilized across the three divine realms this month are several times more than last month. The Nanming remnants have been completely purged. The Dragon God bloodline has also been cleansed. The remaining young dragons are all half-crippled. Only the Moon Gods... remain untraceable."
"How strange." Chi Wuyue frowned slightly.
The force that annihilated the Yue Shen Realm was certainly not enough to kill all the Moon Gods. But the bizarre thing was that afterward, there was no trace or aura of the Moon Gods anywhere in the world.
"Hua Jin speculates that they either fled to a distant lower realm or... faced with the current irreversible situation, they feared falling into our hands and suffering humiliation, so they voluntarily discarded their Moon God divine power to protect themselves."
Chi Wuyue fell into deep thought... Fleeing to a distant lower realm was indeed the most likely possibility. But for beings like the Moon Gods, unless pushed to an absolute dead end, they would never willingly descend to a lower realm, a plane that would greatly degrade their dignity.
The Yue Shen Realm was destroyed. As Moon Gods, their most natural reaction should have been furious revenge... But from that moment on, all the Moon Gods had completely vanished.
Could it be that they had directly fled to the lower realms from the very beginning?
"..." Chi Wuyue remained silent for a long time, her brow furrowed in confusion.
"Master, should we expand the search range and continue hunting?" Hua Jin asked.
With Yun Che's enthronement ceremony approaching, the Nanming remnants and Dragon God bloodline had been purged, and resistance forces were swiftly being crushed, posing no threat.
But the mysteriously vanished Moon Gods had instead become the greatest factor of instability.
After a brief silence, Chi Wuyue said, "No. For now, suspend the search for traces of the Moon Gods. You will accompany me to the Southern Divine Realm to devote all efforts to preparing the enthronement ceremony."
"As you command!" Hua Jin accepted the order, then added, "Another matter: to the south of the Eastern Domain, Luo Guxie's hiding place has been discovered."
"Oh?" Chi Wuyue turned her gaze, then smiled faintly. "Don't touch her. Withdraw all those watching her as well. And definitely do not prevent her from sneaking into the enthronement ceremony."
"Master means?"
"I was just worrying about how to use blood to establish our authority at the ceremony," Chi Wuyue said, a black light gleaming in her eyes. "Such a suitable tool... how could we waste it?"
...
Amid the ongoing turmoil of demonic clouds, half a year had passed since the fall of the former overlord of the divine realm, the Dragon God Realm.
Starting from the fifth month, the auras of the Eastern, Western, Southern, and Northern Divine Realms had been continuously shifting. Countless star realms and innumerable auras surged toward the same direction in the Southern Divine Realm.
And now, Yun Che's enthronement ceremony — the monumental ritual that would determine the supreme ruler of the divine realm's future and the fate of generations to come — had finally arrived.