# Chapter 1881: Empress and Imperial Consorts
Apart from the cold and indifferent words "Proclaim the decree," Yun Che had not spoken a single word from beginning to end.
But his imperial might, in this short span of time, had been poured heavily and incomparably into the souls of all present, like the heavens collapsing and ten thousand mountains pressing down, extinguishing the last remnants of their rebellious hearts amidst extreme suffocation.
The light curtain descended from the Imperial Cloud City to the ground, and in the very first instant, two figures had already flown up—Shui Yingyue and Lu Zhou. As their blue and yellow profound energies released, they deeply carved the names "Liuguang Realm" and "Futian Realm" onto the light curtain.
The other upper star realms were also suddenly jolted awake. In an instant, a large swath of Divine Lord auras erupted simultaneously, surging toward the light curtain at the fastest speed, fearful that the Emperor Yun looking down from on high would perceive them as hesitating.
A light curtain meant for displaying loyalty—something so simple—yet it caused a crowd of upper realm kings to scramble over each other, even fighting openly and secretly for the most conspicuous positions.
One after another, the names of upper star realms were engraved on the light curtain, and through countless projections, they were displayed before the eyes of all living beings in the God Realm.
The royal realms were completely submissive, the upper star realms scrambling to be first... Even the dullest and most naive person could no longer fail to fully understand what kind of concept the words "Emperor Yun" represented in this era.
Among the crowd, however, three people hesitated to move forward, their expressions shifting uncertainly.
"Sect Master Huo, you go." Yan Wancang let out a heavy sigh. "It can only be you."
Huo Rulie shook his head. "I am not qualified to represent the Realm King."
"But you... we all must do our utmost to protect the Flame God Realm." Yan Juehai said with a complex expression. "We would risk our lives for it, let alone exceed our authority."
"Moreover, you were once the Realm King's master, and he respects you the most. At the very least... you are more qualified than us."
After a brief hesitation, Huo Rulie suddenly turned and rushed toward the light curtain, using a blazing golden flame light to carve the name "Flame God Realm" onto it.
He knew that Huo Poyun would definitely see this scene.
"Oh? Isn't this Sect Master Huo of the Flame God Realm?"
Just as Huo Rulie was about to leave, a strange, sarcastic voice rang out: "When did Sect Master Huo get promoted to Flame God Realm King? Such a momentous occasion, and this king actually hasn't heard a single word about it. Sect Master Huo... oh no, Flame God Realm King, you really aren't being very considerate."
Huo Rulie didn't need to turn around to know that the speaker was the Realm King of the Yinhuo Realm, which had a long-standing grudge with the Flame God Realm. He said coldly, "The Realm King is unwell and cannot appear in person. I am merely following the Realm King's orders to come here on his behalf."
The Yinhuo Realm King let out a cold laugh. "Unwell? Emperor Yun is the greatest emperor in the history of the God Realm, unparalleled through the ages. As the Flame God Realm King, even if he were merely unwell, even if he had only one breath left, he should crawl here to pay homage and present himself."
"And now, he sends only a minor sect master?" The Yinhuo Realm King's voice suddenly turned harsh: "This is clearly... contempt for the heavenly might of Emperor Yun! Your Flame God Realm truly has astonishing audacity!"
Under the heavy imperial might, no one dared to speak rashly. Thus, this commotion immediately drew the attention of everyone present.
Huo Rulie had never feared anything in his life, but at this moment, his soul strings snapped taut. Even the blood that usually burned like lava turned icy cold.
He felt the gazes of the realm kings, the gaze of the Divine Emperors atop the Imperial Cloud City, and the gaze of the Great Emperor Yun Che. Their divine senses must have been drawn here as well.
Killing one to warn a hundred was the best way to establish authority. The Yinhuo Realm could thereby gain merit, while his Flame God Realm would become the one to be killed...
After all, it was a fact that the Flame God Realm King had not come in person. When the realms of the Eastern Domain had previously knelt to the Demon Lord, the Flame God Realm King had also been absent. And Huo Rulie knew that in the Yinxue Realm, Yun Che had come within a hair's breadth of executing Huo Poyun.
"The Flame God Realm has absolutely no such intention!" Yan Wancang quickly stepped forward, standing beside Huo Rulie. But with the Divine Emperors above and the upper realm kings before him, this was a spiritual pressure he simply could not bear. As his heart violently contracted, he could no longer speak the words that followed.
Just when everyone's attention was drawn to this sudden minor incident, a white light suddenly burst forth from behind the crowd, hurtling straight toward the light curtain.
The power of this erupting white profound light was incomparably strong, cutting through layers of space like water currents, violently repelling the nearby upper realm kings.
"Despicable demon... unworthy of being emperor... You will surely be struck down by heaven and earth!!"
Amidst the shattered space came a piercing shriek—clearly a woman's voice, yet as ferocious as a ghost's wail, the bone-deep hatred within it making everyone's hair stand on end.
All gazes snapped back as if electrified, and the owner of the voice appeared in sight... It was a face of such fearsome renown that no realm king would dare forget it.
Luo Guxie!
Compared to her last appearance, she had become extraordinarily aged in just a short time—one year at most. Her hair was half white, dark circles ringed her eyes, and her features were twisted and distorted.
Without her powerful aura, no one could possibly have connected her to the former "Guxie Immortal."
She had used some strange method to conceal her aura, so none of the upper realm kings below had detected her presence at all.
Perhaps because the distance was too great, not even the Divine Emperors atop the Imperial Cloud City seemed to have noticed her arrival.
Although her appearance had drastically changed, her power was in no way diminished. As the former strongest below the royal realm of the Eastern Domain, her fully charged attack carried the might of crushing mountains and severing the sky.
With the crowd of Divine Emperors around Yun Che, even if he stood still, ten Luo Guxies would not be able to harm a single hair on his head.
But the light curtain laid down from the Imperial Cloud City could not possibly withstand Luo Guxie's power.
And under the gaze of countless living beings, if the light curtain bearing the names of the realms pledging loyalty were destroyed, it would undoubtedly deal a heavy blow to the heavenly might and deterrence that Emperor Yun had just established.
Everything happened too suddenly, and right when everyone's attention had been diverted. The upper realm kings wanted to stop it but had no time to act.
At that moment, atop the Imperial Cloud City, black light suddenly flashed in the demonic eyes of the Three Yan Mo Ancestors.
Luo Guxie had been waiting for the perfect opportunity, and they had been lying in wait as well.
The moment she struck, the Yan Mo power of the Three Yan Mo Ancestors simultaneously erupted, three inconspicuous black traces descending like wisps of smoke.
No one doubted Luo Guxie's strength, but before the Three Yan Mo Ancestors, she was like a defenseless child.
If the Three Yan Mo Ancestors had not been instructed by the Demon Empress not to let her filthy blood defile this grand ceremony, the three old ghosts would never have deigned to act together.
Where the three wisps of Yan Mo power passed, Luo Guxie's formidable realm-shattering force was devoured and annihilated in an instant, as easily as dispersing a puff of remnant smoke.
The sudden change, the sudden dissipation... All happened in the blink of an eye, too fast for even the Divine Lords to react.
Watching helplessly as her power, which was about to destroy the light curtain, suddenly vanished without a trace, Luo Guxie's ferocious expression froze.
Three strands of Yan Mo power, so sinister that they instantly choked her, had already violently wrapped around her body, sealing off her profound strength and meridians in an instant... Her pupils began to glow with black light, her whole body unable to move. Not only could she not use her profound strength, but even her little finger had lost all feeling in the biting cold.
Within the Imperial Cloud City, Mu Xuanyin's snowy finger gently pointed, and a shadow of an Ice Phoenix flickered briefly above Luo Guxie.
*Ding!*
A soft chime, and a deep ice-blue radiance spread rapidly over Luo Guxie's body, turning her into an ice sculpture emitting soul-piercing cold air.
Then the ice sculpture shattered, scattering into slowly dispersing ice dust... reflecting in a pair of violently contracting pupils.
Not a trace of blood was seen.
Mu Xuanyin's gaze shifted back, and her jade lips emitted a bone-chilling voice: "Clear away her corpse dust. Do not let it pollute this land."
*Whoosh!!*
As Mu Xuanyin's voice fell, several dark storms converged simultaneously, quickly sweeping the scattered ice dust toward the distant horizon until it disappeared from everyone's perception.
Not even the slightest trace remained.
Below the Imperial Cloud City, there was dead silence.
Luo Guxie, a peak ninth-level Divine Lord, formerly the strongest below the royal realm of the Eastern Domain, above all upper realm kings—her reputation and name were known to all.
Such an existence, her revenge was also incomparably terrifying and ruthless, taking everyone by surprise.
Yet it was extinguished in an instant...
Like casually crushing a grasshopper that suddenly jumped out from the roadside.
This image, so close at hand, witnessing a far superior being killed in an instant... This undoubtedly dealt a fatal impact and deterrent to the upper realm kings and the profound practitioners of the God Realm watching through the projections.
It made them see even more clearly that the power under the Demon Lord... oh no, Emperor Yun's command had far exceeded anything they could imagine.
If the powerful Luo Guxie met such an end... those resistance forces still lingering here and there, and the remaining hopes in the hearts of countless profound practitioners, were nothing but the most pathetic and foolish jokes in this world.
Futian Realm King Lu Zhou suddenly knelt deeply, his profound energy piercing his throat as he shouted loudly: "Emperor Yun's divine might overshadows the world, unparalleled through the ages. That madwoman Luo Guxie was nothing but an ant before Emperor Yun. But to dare defy Emperor Yun is the most unforgivable capital offense, and all living beings between heaven and earth should slay such offenders!"
"Since we have received Emperor Yun's protection, upon returning to our realms, we will spare no effort to eradicate such evil beings, so as not to let such petty villains disturb Emperor Yun's pleasure again."
Lu Zhou's loud roar abruptly awakened the upper realm kings who were still stunned out of their wits. They hurriedly followed in kneeling, shouting words of loyalty in a jumbled chorus. But the trembling in their hearts would not dissipate for a long time.
Luo Guxie's desperate revenge not only failed to cause Yun Che any harm, but instead was used by Chi Wuyue to establish authority. Through her instant death and annihilation without trace, they delivered the most direct and soul-penetrating deterrent.
Among the crowd, Huo Rulie, Yan Juehai, and Yan Wancang all breathed a long sigh of relief.
Their attention had been completely diverted, and no one was paying attention to the matter of the Flame God Realm anymore.
But the relaxation in their hearts lasted only a few short breaths before becoming unbearably oppressive again.
Upper star realms—in the eyes of countless mortals, they were unattainable existences.
But in Yun Che's eyes, they were fit only to become humble lands.
Huo Poyun, as the Flame God Realm King, could not have been ignorant of what consequences his stubbornness—or rather, his foolishness—would bring.
But...
Below the Imperial Cloud City, souls were shaken and faces lost color. Above the Imperial Cloud City, however, it remained stark and cold, without even a ripple in the air.
Stealing a careful glance at Yun Che's expression, then equally cautiously meeting the Demon Empress's gaze, Qi Tianli rose again and continued reading the proclamation that spread throughout the God Realm in the voice of a Divine Emperor:
"...Appoint Chi Wuyue as Empress, endowed with the authority to control the four domains, command all things, and determine life and death over all beings. To defy the Empress is to defy the Great Emperor!"
Throughout the history of the God Realm, in all its dimensions, empresses and consorts either managed the inner palace or served as role models for the world. They never interfered in governance or involved themselves in major affairs.
But Yun Che's Empress was granted nearly equal authority to his own!
"...Appoint the Demon Maidens: Jie Xin, Jie Ling, Ye Li, Yao Die, Qing Ying, Lan Ting, Hua Jin, Yu Wu, and Chan Yi as accompanying consorts to the Empress, assisting her in serving the Great Emperor."
"Appoint Celestial Wolf Star God Xing Wu as 'Star Consort,' residing in the Colored Star Palace..."
"Appoint Fantian Divine Emperor Yun Qianying as 'Shadow Consort,' residing in the Splendid Shadow Palace..."
"Appoint Meiyin Divine Maiden Shui Meiyin as 'Sound Consort,' residing in the Sound Harvesting Palace..."
"Appoint Azure Dragon Emperor Qingque as 'Azure Consort,' residing in the Azure Dragon Palace..."
"Appoint Canglan Divine Emperor Cang Shuhong as 'Hong Consort,' residing in the Shuhong Palace..."
Demon Maidens, Star Gods, Divine Maidens, Divine Emperors... every single name was a distant star that even Divine Lords dared not covet, yet all were now consorts of the Great Emperor.
"Appoint Yinxue Realm King Mu Xuanyin as 'Ice Consort,' residing in the Ice Phoenix Palace..."
As this proclamation was read, more than half of the upper realm kings below the Imperial Cloud City raised their heads in shock, but no one made a sound.
And in the already silent Yinxue Realm, at this moment, even the breathing of everyone present came to a complete halt.
Then, one pair of icy pupils after another began to widen uncontrollably, and countless jaws slammed heavily into the snowy ground.
[End of Chapter]