Chapter 1933: Once Shone Upon Dark Clouds Returning
"Let me go... I must leave this damned place today, no matter what!"
Boom!!
With a thunderous roar, the fragile lower-planet star quaked as if on the verge of disintegration.
"Enough!"
With a low, harsh shout, Yue Wuji firmly pressed down on Chijie Moon God's arm: "The current God Realm is all land beneath Yun Che's feet! Every God Emperor treads on thin ice. If you go out now, you'll be walking to your death!"
"Living like this is worse than death!" Chijie Moon God flung Yue Wuji's hand away, his eyes blood-red: "Three years, it's already been three years! Do you know how I've lived these three years?!"
"Bearing the Moon God inheritance was once an unparalleled honor. Now, I'm curled up like a dog in this lower realm... no, I'm not even as good as a dog!"
The surrounding Moon Gods and Moon Divine Envoys all had complex expressions.
"This is the late Emperor's last decree!" Yue Wuji lowered his brows and said in a deep voice: "You should know that back then, everyone underestimated Yun Che, underestimated the terror of the Northern Domain! If not for the late Emperor's arrangements, we would have long since perished by Yun Che's hand! We would have ended up like Zhou Tian!"
"Again with the late Emperor's last decree! I've heard those words enough!" Chijie Moon God gnashed his teeth: "If not for her back then, how could we have fallen to such a state!"
"Chijie!" Qingyao Moon God stepped forward and said angrily: "How dare you disrespect Master! And how dare you slander Master!"
"Slander?" Chijie Moon God swept his gaze around and pointed his finger: "Is it slander? Do you all truly not understand in your hearts?!"
"With the late Emperor and Yun Che once being husband and wife, with that connection, even when she opposed him back then, everyone understood it was a helpless yet wise choice for self-preservation. After Yun Che unified the Four Regions, he pardoned so many King Realms, let alone the Moon God Realm..."
"But she not only repeatedly tried to kill Yun Che back then, but also destroyed the Star Realm of his origin! It was precisely these ruthless and utterly foolish decisions that led Yun Che to deal the harshest blow to the Moon God Realm, causing the Moon God Realm to vanish into ashes, causing us to now only..."
"Shut up!"
Clang!
A cyan light flashed abruptly, and a blade of jade-green sword energy split through space, touching the throat of Chijie Moon God. Qingyao Moon God's aura was slightly disordered: "If you dare disrespect Master again... I'll kill you!"
"Chijie is not wrong," another Moon God said with a sigh: "Qingyao, even today, why do you still defend her so?"
"Enough, all of you shut up!" Yue Wuji glared angrily: "Chijie, if you want to court death yourself, go ahead... But once this place is exposed, far more than just you will die! Do you want to cut off this hard-won remaining Moon God inheritance?!"
He softened his voice: "Endure a little longer. The late Emperor said someone would come to receive us, to let us leave here safely. By then..."
"By then, we'll face the eyes of the entire world looking at us like stray dogs!" Chijie Moon God roared: "Zhou Tian, Nanming, Dragon God... though their realms were destroyed, at least they fought bitterly!"
"But we ran without a fight! What a great shame, what a great joke! Even I look down on myself!"
"And then? Is our dignity and honor more important than the Moon God inheritance?" Yue Wuji retorted with an even heavier voice: "I'll say it again: we have survived until now not to live for ourselves, but to preserve the hope of the Moon God inheritance! Do you truly wish for the Moon God lineage to end up like Zhou Tian and Nanming?!"
Yue Wuji had taken over the Yue Huang Liuli from Xia Qingyue and was now the current Moon God Emperor. But his imperial authority was clearly inferior to that of Xia Qingyue and Yue Wuyai, and he couldn't truly suppress the Moon Gods.
Pushing Yue Wuji aside, Chijie Moon God was about to say something more when suddenly his entire body trembled, his body and expression freezing in place as if struck by thunder.
Everyone else also sensed something and simultaneously looked up in shock.
Less than three li above them, they saw that figure that was like a nightmare to them.
"Yun... Yun... Yun Che!!"
Moon God power condensed in terror. The eight Moon Gods who had been in conflict quickly gathered together, but every one of them was ice-cold, shivering in uncontrollable fear.
Yue Wuji stood at the forefront, his ten fingers clenched so tightly they seemed about to break... Given Yun Che's hatred for the Moon God Realm, his appearance had already made Yue Wuji see clearly the ending he feared most.
Yun Che's gaze swept over them one by one, clearly perceiving their fear, and the despair gradually solidifying within that fear... as well as the desperate determination to fight to the death.
"Yue Wuji," Yun Che spoke: "The Yue Huang Liuli is still intact on you, right?"
Yue Wuji gritted his teeth, meeting Yun Che's gaze without backing down: "So what if it is? Even if you can cover the sky with one hand now... don't think you can take it!"
"We... swear to live or die with the Yue Huang Liuli!"
"The Yue Huang Liuli belongs to the Moon God lineage. I will not take it, nor will I allow anyone else to forcibly seize it." Yun Che looked down at them, but deliberately restrained a bit of his domineering edge in his tone.
"...?" Yue Wuji and the Moon Gods behind him were clearly stunned.
"I came here today to ask you for a favor," Yun Che continued. The word "favor" in his words undoubtedly shocked the stunned Moon Gods even more: "The Moon God Realm that I destroyed can never be restored to its former state. I can only... do my utmost to forge a new Moon God Realm. For this, I need your help."
Without killing intent, without the demonic might of soul-crushing, his words made them momentarily unable to believe their own ears.
Yue Wuji shook his head and said in a deep voice: "You... what do you mean?"
"I have decided to posthumously confer Xia Qingyue as Empress," Yun Che said, taking a light breath and lowering his brows: "The Moon God Realm was her greatest concern. I will use all my strength, and will spare no resources, to restore the former glory of the Moon God Realm. If you are willing to help me, come to Diyun City in half a month."
"..." Yue Wuji lifted his head high, his eyes wide, as if hearing a dream, long silent.
Yun Che and Shui Meiyin left. The Moon Gods remained dumbfounded on the spot. A long time passed, and still not a single person truly came back to their senses.
————
"Yun Che gege, what exactly happened to you these past few days?"
Returning to the God Realm region, Shui Meiyin held Yun Che's arm, continuously sizing him up with her watery eyes: "I feel like you've undergone a very wonderful change."
Yun Che smiled and shook his head: "I don't want to lie to you. Though I've been sitting still these days, I've indeed experienced many things. Moreover, they are the most bizarre things I've ever encountered in my life... so bizarre that even if I said them, no one would believe me."
"Eh?" Shui Meiyin was even more surprised.
"And in this world, there truly exist secrets that cannot be told to anyone."
The secret of the Primordial God was something he could never reveal.
At this moment, Yun Che's gaze suddenly shifted to the side, and his body halted.
He sensed Xia Yuanba's aura.
This place was a mid-level star realm called Nine Phases Realm in the Southern Divine Region. On a broad mystic platform, two cultivators at the Divine Origin Realm were engaged in fierce combat.
One of them was Xia Yuanba.
After entering the God Realm, Xia Yuanba, who had just stepped onto the divine path, had progressed rapidly. Now he was at Divine Origin Realm Level 6, not far from Level 7.
And his opponent was a genuine Divine Origin Realm Level 8.
In a mid-level star realm, a battle at the Divine Origin Realm was nothing impressive. But a Level 6 Divine Origin Realm fighting a Level 8 Divine Origin Realm... stirred the blood of all onlookers.
Xia Yuanba's roar was like a bloodthirsty wild beast. He was knocked down again and again, but rose again and again. Even though he was covered in wounds, the power erupting from him showed almost no sign of weakening, as if it were endless.
His opponent, who had a full two minor levels advantage, started off looking down on him and relaxed, then gradually became focused and cautious... and later, even began to show fear.
Boom!!
A roar rose again. Xia Yuanba pounced fiercely. The collision of power brought a thunderous sound that should not have belonged to the Divine Origin Realm... This time, amid the scattering profound energy, it was not Xia Yuanba who flew out, but the opponent who had always held the absolute upper hand.
Bang!
He crashed to the ground, but didn't stand up immediately. Instead, he sat back and waved his hand: "Stop... stop! I concede... you're simply a monster... a monster!!"
Cheers erupted all around. Xia Yuanba's proud figure finally knelt on one knee, his entire body dripping blood, but his eyes shone with excited brilliance.
"Very good," the elder presiding over the selection nodded: "Xia Yuanba, you don't need to participate in the subsequent selections. Go heal your injuries. In three days, directly enter the Twenty-Second Academy."
No one raised any objection to this result... To defeat a Divine Origin Realm Level 8 as a Divine Origin Realm Level 6 was extraordinary genius.
"No need."
Just as Xia Yuanba was about to respond, a dignified, deep voice came. The moment that voice sounded, all clamor vanished in an instant. Everyone showed reverence, and the bodies of the elders involuntarily lowered a few inches as they called out in awe: "Greetings, Great Realm King."
This was merely a selection for academy disciples... They never imagined it would draw the attention of the Great Realm King.
"Hmph, the Overlord Emperor Divine Meridian, what a heavenly-gifted marvel! How could it be wasted in your hands?" The voice grew even more imposing and cold: "Xia Yuanba, you need not enter the outer academy. In three days, come find me in the inner hall."
Buzz—
These words were like a thousand thunderclaps in everyone's ears.
Because they pointed to four words that almost every cultivator present dared not even dream of — Realm King's Personal Disciple!
On the platform, Xia Yuanba slowly raised his head and said proudly: "This junior, Xia Yuanba, humbly accepts the Great Realm King's command!"
High above the distant sky, Yun Che quietly watched the entire process, his heart filled with a myriad of emotions.
When he first entered the God Realm, he too had worshipped under a teacher in a mid-level star realm, and had become a Realm King's personal disciple.
When Xia Yuanba returned to his own space to heal and recuperate, Yun Che silently entered and stood before him.
Seeing Yun Che, Xia Yuanba was first startled, then suddenly stood up. It seemed he wanted to happily rush over as before, but as soon as he took a step, he stopped. His smile also became more reserved: "Uh... you saw all that just now, hehehe."
He had originally subconsciously wanted to call him "brother-in-law," but... knowing the "truth" of that year, that address could no longer leave his lips.
"Yuanba," Yun Che looked at him, his heart a mix of emotions: "I have the top resources in the entire God Realm. You can directly enter a King Realm to cultivate... any King Realm. You really don't want to use them?"
"It's still like I said before. This time, I want to rely on myself." Xia Yuanba grinned: "I don't know where this stubborn temper of mine comes from. I just feel that if I still keep relying on you like before... uh, always depending on you, then maybe I won't even have the right to look at your back."
Looking at Xia Yuanba's smiling face, Yun Che slightly averted his gaze.
He didn't know that his former self... had truly unparalleled talent.
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[The original line of the chapter title comes from the poem "The bright moon existed then, once shone upon the returning colorful clouds" (The bright moon existed then, once shone upon the returning colorful clouds) from "Dreaming of Immortals·After the Banquet, the Lofty Tower is Locked" by Yan Jidao of the Song Dynasty.]