# Chapter 1896: The Wood Spirit's Home
Yun Che flew away from Diyun City, heading straight north alone.
"Master, where are you going?" He Ling couldn't help asking curiously.
She knew everything about Yun Che clearly, yet she couldn't recall at all what Yun Che had instructed Chi Wuyue to do.
"Not far. You'll know soon enough."
This answer only made He Ling even more mystified and curious.
Not long after, a small star realm appeared within sight.
Yun Che didn't fly past it. Instead, he flew straight toward this small star realm.
"Master, the place you're going to... is this... Ah!?"
After He Ling's second question, a startled cry followed immediately.
"This aura... these auras..."
She murmured, somewhat dazed, her voice growing faint and dreamlike in her increasingly uncontrollable excitement.
Yun Che accelerated. The originally distant star realm rapidly approached, enlarged, and gradually unfolded into a vast world before his eyes and perception.
This was a planet dyed in lush green. Even from a great distance, an excessively pure and fresh aura eagerly rushed forth, dispelling the haze of the heart and cleansing the filth of the soul.
Standing above the star realm, looking out, emerald trees, new bamboo, and verdant grass connected heaven and earth, dotted with countless exotic trees and strange flowers.
The sky here was exceptionally high and wide. The scattered clouds were pure white and flawless. In the distance, the ocean seamlessly merged with the firmament, making it hard to distinguish heaven from earth. A gentle breeze came, directly refreshing the heart and soul.
Accustomed to the mundane world stained by desire, conflict, and sin, this place seemed like a pure land forgotten by the omnipresent filth — a paradise beyond the world.
He Ling's figure appeared beside Yun Che. She stared blankly at the scene below, a mist gradually forming in her eyes. She remained lost in a daze for a long, long time...
"Sister, don't fly so fast! Sister, I can't catch up... Ah!"
A childish voice came, followed by a cry of surprise. A small figure wobbled and fell from the air, landing in the bamboo grove below.
The young girl who had been chasing him stopped, then unhurriedly turned back to the place where the boy had fallen. She put her hands on her hips, pouted her lips, and said, "Xiao E, you're so useless! When I was your age, I could fly all the way to Cui Jue Peak in one breath."
"If this were before, hmph, you would definitely be the first one the bad guys caught."
Both the boy and the girl had green hair, emerald eyes, and long, pointed ears. Their auras were as pure as the unreserved gift of nature itself.
Everything confirmed that these were two wood spirits still in their youth.
The boy wood spirit got up from the ground, grinning, "But it's different now. With Lord Yun Emperor protecting us, no more bad guys dare bully us."
This was an especially vast wilderness. In the past, they would never have been allowed to come to a place like this alone. Even with the protection of elders, they had to hide and live in constant fear every day.
Sometimes, when they woke from their dreams, they would find one... or even many family members and clansmen suddenly missing.
That was a nightmare more terrifying than any nightmare.
"So you can't let your guard down even more!"
The girl wood spirit widened her emerald eyes and spoke in a very mature and serious tone: "One of our Wood Spirit clan's principles is to always repay kindness! We must never forget that our current peace and this star realm beneath our feet were granted to us by someone! If we don't make ourselves strong, how can we repay Lord Yun Emperor's grace in the future!"
From the moment she was born, she had lived in fear and flight. Though only a little over ten years old, she had already changed countless "homes," personally experiencing... and even witnessing terrible tragedies.
Now, Yun Emperor, the sovereign of the four regions, had issued the strictest Wood Spirit protection decree in the history of the divine realm. He had even specially modified and purified this star realm and gifted it to their Wood Spirit clan.
Around the star realm, members of the Order Maintenance Bureau under Yun Emperor's command guarded day and night. Outsiders could not even approach without permission.
They no longer needed to live in fear or wander from place to place.
And they never wanted to return to that forever-frightening past.
To them, this was a fate they had never dared to dream of before, and a grace so immense they didn't know how to repay.
The wood spirit girl's words made the boy wood spirit silent for a moment. Then he gritted his teeth, struggled to stand up from the ground, and a determined look emerged on his young face: "Sister is right. If I don't become strong... then I won't be able to repay Lord Yun Emperor's kindness."
"Mm!" The girl wood spirit nodded, then said softly, "And... Grandfather said that when Lord Yun Emperor attacked the Zhou Tian Realm, the wood spirit figure that appeared in the projection was very likely the princess of the royal clan. She might be watching over and protecting us from somewhere. We must not forget Lord Yun Emperor's grace, and we must not disappoint the princess!"
The girl wood spirit was trying hard to encourage the boy, but also spurring herself on.
"..." He Ling watched silently. Mist gradually condensed into tears in her eyes, and her tears gathered into rain.
Yun Che said softly, "The divine realm is vast, but it can never surpass human desire. Even if I issued a decree ten times stricter, it would be impossible to completely prevent wood spirits from being secretly coveted by others."
"So, after destroying Long Bai and deciding on the location of Diyun City, I had Wuyou mobilize the power of various star realms across the three regions to search for traces of the scattered wood spirits. I then modified and purified this small star realm and renamed it 'Wood Spirit Realm.'"
"..." He Ling's lips moved slightly, but she couldn't speak.
"This small star realm was originally an affiliated realm of the Nanming Divine Realm. Although it's small, its spiritual qi is extremely pure and abundant. It was an important place for Nanming Divine Realm to cultivate various spiritual trees and exotic herbs."
"Moreover, it's very close to Nanming — less than an hour's distance. When you miss them, you can come visit anytime. If any accident occurs, you can also come to help immediately."
In the world below, the wood spirit siblings had already flown off side by side. In the distance, countless wood spirit auras were stirring. Their pure natural auras were freely released, no longer needing to be tightly concealed with strained nerves and hearts. And not a trace of fear or panic was mixed in anymore.
"Now, all three divine regions know of the existence of this 'Wood Spirit Realm.' All major star realms have spread the news: any wood spirit wishing to enter the Wood Spirit Realm can go to the nearest Order Maintenance Bureau, and the Order Keepers will escort them here."
He looked at He Ling, his fingers brushing away the long hair dancing in the light wind: "It's still early days, and I haven't been able to do my best yet. But one day... not too far off... I will make it so that wood spirits no longer need the shelter of this Wood Spirit Realm. They can freely enter, leave, and travel to all the places they wish to go, without fear of being harmed — only loved, cherished, and respected."
This world owed the Wood Spirit clan too much.
And he owed the Wood Spirit clan far too much.
He Ling's gaze finally moved away from the dreamlike world below. She looked at Yun Che, the watery light in her eyes reflecting the jade luster of emerald: "Master, I..."
But Yun Che suddenly reached out and touched her soft, delicate lips: "Alright, no saying things like thank you. Between you and me, that's unnecessary. Besides..."
He said softly, "Compared to your sacrifice, compared to He Lin's kindness, this little thing I did with a wave of my hand truly counts for nothing."
He knew that the one who truly gave all this to the Wood Spirit clan was not himself, but He Lin and He Ling.
"..." He Ling didn't speak anymore. She just gazed at him quietly.
"Do you want to go down and see them?" Yun Che wiped the tear stains on her cheek. "If they saw the royal princess with their own eyes and knew that the royal bloodline had never been severed, they would surely be greatly comforted and overjoyed."
But He Ling slowly shook her head.
"I am no longer the princess of the Wood Spirit clan." She looked at Yun Che, murmuring, "The revenge for my parents is fulfilled. The Wood Spirit clan has found peace and protection. I have no more lingering attachments. The me now, and the me in the future, is only your He Ling."
"No," Yun Che smiled gently. "You are only yourself. No one in this world — including me — has the right to forcibly take your freedom."
"Then... will there come a day when Master doesn't want me anymore?" He Ling's emerald eyes trembled, the shimmering watery light heart-wrenchingly fragile, enough to break one's heart.
"What are you thinking!" Yun Che pinched her cheek. "You actually believed what I just said? Someone as selfish and domineering as me — if one day you truly want to leave me, I'll tie you up and force you to stay by my side!"
He Ling broke into a tearful smile. Her delicate body leaned forward, pressing against Yun Che's chest. Her arms tightly wrapped around his waist, and she murmured extremely softly, yet firmly: "I will never leave Master... in this life... never."
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Time flowed on. Another half year passed silently.
It had only been a year since Yun Che formally became emperor, yet his authority and power had stabilized to a terrifying degree. All king realms regarded the edicts of Yun Emperor as heaven-sent. In a true sense, his word moved heaven and earth.
Rebellions in every region decreased drastically each month. The integration of the Northern Region with the other three regions was also progressing imperceptibly.
On Yun Wuxin's twenty-first birthday, Yun Che formally took her to travel the divine realm. This was a promise he had made earlier, and also a birthday gift to her.
Yun Che's starting point in the divine realm was the Eastern Divine Region. But this time, he brought Yun Wuxin beginning from the Southern Divine Region, the closest to the Lan Ji Star. He decided that after the Southern Divine Region, they would go to the Western Divine Region, then from the Western Divine Region to the Eastern Divine Region. On the way, he would also take her into the Tai Chu Divine Realm.
Finally, he would take her to the lower realm of the Eastern Domain to see the star region where the Lan Ji Star once existed.
The vast universe, the mysterious star regions and starlight, the strange races and exotic sights, the various ancient remnants or naturally formed mystic realms and small worlds...
Not long after the journey began, Yun Wuxin's understanding was turned upside down.
Only then did she realize that everything she had previously known and seen was but a drop in the ocean.
They traversed lower star realms, passed through middle star realms, and crossed upper star realms. Different planes corresponded to different lives and perspectives.
Some goals that people spent their entire lives unable to reach were merely the starting point of another plane. The disparity of worlds was vividly displayed in Yun Wuxin's ever-shifting field of vision.
Yun Che never deliberately concealed his whereabouts and aura. Wherever he went, once recognized — whether by ordinary profound practitioners or the realm kings of upper star realms — they all showed him extreme reverence and fear.
And in Yun Wuxin's world, it more completely illustrated just what an unsurpassably supreme existence her father was in the divine realm.