Chapter 1938: The Choice
At the center of the Divine Realm, at the edge of the entrance to the Tai Chu Divine Realm.
With a violent distortion of space, seven shadows from the Abyss emerged from the Tai Chu Divine Realm, appearing in this Divine Realm space that overlooked the current world—also the domain under Yun Che's control.
"Divine... Realm..."
Mo Beichen murmured, slowly looking around, sensing everything around him. The colors in his pupils were fixed, making it hard to distinguish sorrow, joy, or sadness.
"Such low and fragile laws, such filthy aura—is this really where the Divine Clan and Demon Clan once lived?" Nan Zhaoming's eyes were seventy percent excited, thirty percent disdainful.
"The Divine Official once said, according to the Time Wheel of this world, only about a million years have passed since the extinction of gods and demons." Mo Beichen closed his eyes and murmured, "In just a million years, it has declined to this extent. It shows how lowly and wretched the beings of this world are."
"Such lowly beings, yet they occupy this land of gods and demons and the inheritances they left behind, enjoying this world without any Abyssal Dust. Heh... chuckle..." Nan Zhaoguang's muttering was mixed with the sound of grinding teeth. "Ridiculous... hateful!"
And these words also caused an uncontrollable wave of mania and brutality to rise from several of them.
"The Yuan Emperor is compassionate and merciful, and most of all does not tolerate evil strife, bullying, and indiscriminate killing," Mo Beichen said. "That the Abyss is so peaceful now is all thanks to the Yuan Emperor's grace."
"Although this place is lowly, it will become a territory under the Yuan Emperor's rule. I know the anger in your hearts. But when the Yuan Emperor arrives in glory, what he will want to see is this place bowing in welcome, not trembling in fear after a bloodbath."
Mo Beichen glanced sideways. "This is also the Divine Official's warning. As pioneers bearing boundless glory, we will be forever remembered in history. Therefore, whether for the Yuan Emperor or for ourselves, we must restrain our desires and do what must be done."
Mo Beichen's words made the other six's expressions turn serious.
Nan Zhaoming exhaled slightly and said, "The passage is complete. In another fifty years, the Yuan Emperor can gather the power of the gods and descend here. Fifty years may be short, but in this world where Divine Lords are supreme, with our power, we can fully control it in just a few years. Before that, a proper release is not unacceptable."
"Fifty years? Hmph." Mo Beichen snorted coldly. "Have you forgotten the Time Black Tide?"
Nan Zhaoming frowned first, then his expression changed. "Could it be..."
Mo Beichen raised his hand, revealing a black wheel in his palm. "For every batch of pioneers, the Divine Official grants a Time Wheel to calibrate time. See for yourselves."
The wheel was covered with black patterns, faintly emitting dark light. Beneath these black patterns was sealed an absolutely independent time domain.
Within the time domain, a star-like bright light was quickly moving, like a firefly caught in a violent storm.
"Ten... times..." Nan Zhaoming's face quickly turned grim. "That means... only five years left!?"
He closed his five fingers, and the black wheel vanished from Mo Beichen's hand. "There is another matter you'd best remember."
Mo Beichen turned to face the six, his gaze cold and stern, with a heavy deterrent force. "The Divine Official once said a very profound thing: This place is a homeland—for the Yuan Emperor, for us."
"But the word 'homeland' means entirely different things to the Yuan Emperor and to us."
"So, no matter how much resentment you hold in your hearts, no matter how lowly this place seems in your eyes, you'd best not act recklessly!"
The implication: Perhaps the Yuan Emperor values this place even more than the Abyss.
The originally irrepressible excitement and ferocity on the six were forcibly suppressed, and Nan Zhaoming and Nan Zhaoguang quickly cooled down.
"Understood," Nan Zhaoguang said. "Thank you, Knight Lord, for your guidance and warning. Then, what should we do next? Please instruct us, Knight Lord."
Mo Beichen turned his gaze westward. "The Tai Chu Divine Realm exists independently from the Divine Realm. The dragon I killed earlier should have been the ruler of the Tai Chu Divine Realm, not of the Divine Realm."
"According to what the outsiders said, the Divine Realm is led by the Western Divine Region, which is led by the dragon clan that inherited the Dragon God's bloodline and calls themselves the 'Dragon God Clan.' Their leader bears the title 'Dragon Emperor,' meaning the supreme emperor of the Divine Realm."
"Emperor?"
This word made the six's expressions change drastically, as if they had heard a great taboo.
"In the era of the Yuan Emperor, who dares to call themselves Emperor!"
"Just this one word... deserves a thousand deaths!" Nan Zhaoguang said angrily.
Mo Beichen continued, "I will go alone to the Western Region. The East will be left to you."
As he spoke, his figure was already far to the west, resolute to the extreme. Only his cold, majestic voice still trembled in the hearts of the six. "The Yuan Emperor seeks dominion, not cleansing. Those who bow will live; those who defy will die! No indiscriminate killing, and no abuse of those who do not resist!"
"As pioneers, your glory will extend to a thousand generations. Do not let this supreme glory be tarnished by momentary desires!"
"Don't disappoint me."
"Yes!" The six bowed respectfully towards the west, and only when his aura completely disappeared from their perception did they straighten up.
...
The starry sky was vast and brilliantly dreamlike, without the life-devouring Abyssal Dust or the black mist of lingering souls.
This world, which to the beings of the Divine Realm was just basic reality, had only ever existed in the most beautiful dreams of Mo Beichen's life.
His figure moved westward, gradually slowing down unconsciously. He raised his hand, and every inch of space his palm touched, every wisp of aura he felt, was so luxurious that he still couldn't fully believe it was reality, not a dream.
The Western Divine Region was close at hand, and the chaotic dragon breath clearly entered his perception. But at that moment, his steps stopped.
He silently looked west, his originally cold gaze gradually losing color. Then his shoulders began to tremble, until his entire body was shaking violently.
"Zhen'er, Long'er..." He spread his hands, and from his slightly opened lips came a hoarse, choked voice. "See? A world without Abyssal Dust... a world where not a trace of Abyssal Dust exists... Your father didn't lie to you... Your father did it... Your father really did it... Do you see it..."
"If... if only it had been a few years earlier... If... only..."
With no one else around, he let his tears fall freely, sobbing uncontrollably.
...
The trembling of space finally began to ease, then seemed to calm down completely.
But the shadow that hung over them was still suffocatingly heavy.
Yun Che was actually not unfamiliar with this kind of spatial vibration.
In the Northern Divine Region, when he sacrificed the power of the Four Star Gods to activate Divine Ashes...
In the Southern Divine Region, when the Abyss God Cannon released its ancient divine might...
And when the entire Chaos trembled and nearly shattered as the Jie Tian Mo Di returned to the world...
Without a doubt, something that could trigger such spatial shock and heavenly trembling was a power that transcended the limits of the current world.
It also mercilessly crushed everyone's last shred of hope.
"Brother Yun Che, what do we do?" Shui Meiyin tightly grasped Yun Che's wrist with one hand, while the other hand already held the Cosmic Thorn between her fingers, red light flickering and flowing.
"How many more long-distance spatial transfers can the Cosmic Thorn's remaining power perform?" Chi Wuyue asked.
"It depends on the range," Shui Meiyin said urgently. "If it's a small-scale cross-star domain transfer, we can do about twenty times in a row. But if it's a large-scale transfer that includes many people at once, it might exhaust the divine power after just a few times."
And a cross-star domain transfer of an entire planet like that time was no longer possible.
"..." Chi Wuyue said nothing more, waiting for Yun Che's response.
Everyone understood that if they really chose to retreat, given Yun Che's personality, he would never choose to leave alone.
Moreover, with his personality and his current status as the Cloud Emperor, was it really possible for him to make that choice?
"Demon Empress," Yun Che finally spoke. "Send messages to all regions to monitor their movements. If encountered, do not offer any resistance."
"Understood." Chi Wuyue nodded, without any trace of surprise in her expression.
"Also, under these circumstances, there are two people who can no longer be trusted," Yun Che added.
Chi Wuyue opened her lips and slowly said those two names: "Qi Tianli, Cang Shitian."
"The former has always drifted with the current, prioritizing self-preservation, following the strong. The latter... without this Abyss calamity, he would be the most loyal dog. But now, he will surely bite his master and bark!"
The Qilin Realm, led by Qi Tianli, was now the head of the Western Region, and Cang Shitian was the commander of the Maintainers, with his claws and connections extending throughout the entire Divine Realm.
They were both people entrusted with heavy responsibilities and power by Chi Wuyue. However, no matter how prescient she was, she could not have foreseen this...
"Yun Che!?" Jun Xilei suddenly raised her head. "Are you thinking of..."
Yun Che looked calmly into her tear-filled eyes. "When great calamity falls from heaven, if the emperor flees without fighting, that is an eternal disgrace that can never be washed away. My descendants, everyone by my side, will also..."
"No! You can't... you can't!" Jun Xilei shook her head heavily, her fingers gripping Yun Che's hand turning white. "Yun Che, listen to me. I watched my master die because of them. My hatred for them is thousands of times greater than yours."
"But they are absolutely not people you can face head-on. This has nothing to do with dignity or honor! Your temporary retreat is not fleeing; it's preserving the only hope. You... can do that, right?"
"..." Chi Wuyue's demonic eyes slowly swept over Jun Xilei, and she sighed inwardly: As expected, another one.
If not for this extreme crisis, given Jun Xilei's extremely proud and stubborn nature, she might never have shown such emotion in front of Yun Che.
Facing the Little Sword Lord whose emotions were in such chaos for the first time, Yun Che's expression and eyes were terrifyingly calm. He looked directly into Jun Xilei's eyes and said, "Don't worry. I'm not simply going to die for the sake of so-called imperial dignity. Although these people are terrifying, I..."
He raised his head slightly, a cold light flashing in his eyes. "I may not be without the power to fight."
"If it truly becomes impossible, we can use the Cosmic Thorn's spatial divine power to escape," Chi Wuyue added very calmly.
"...Mm." Shui Meiyin lightly nodded. She understood that since Yun Che had decided and Chi Wuyue complied, anything she said would be useless.
"Moreover, I have been thinking it over, and perhaps things are not as bad as we imagine."
Yun Che: "..."
"Why do you say that?" Cai Zhi asked.
"Outsiders? No, we have simply returned to where we belong."
Chi Wuyue repeated the words from the Abyss shadow in Jun Xilei's memory. Her eyes glowed with demonic light as she slowly said, "In the Age of Gods, the power at the god level was too great. Divine wars would inevitably shatter heaven and earth. Even the scattered power from a true god's fall would cause catastrophic disasters. Therefore, according to records, when the divine and demon clans executed gods or demons who had committed unforgivable sins, they often chose to cast them into the Abyss of Nothingness, reducing them to nothingness to avoid divine calamities."
"If the Abyss of Nothingness had undergone a change long ago, and was no longer a pure world of annihilation, then those true gods and true demons cast into the Abyss of Nothingness in ancient times might not have been annihilated by the Abyss. Instead, a portion of them, relying on their powerful divine and demonic bodies, survived in the mutated Abyss and passed down their lineage."
"In other words, these people are likely not native to the Abyss, but descendants of those ancient gods and demons who committed grave sins."
"And the essence of the Abyss is after all a world of annihilation. No matter how it mutates, it cannot completely eliminate the existence of annihilation elements. The 'Abyssal Dust' they repeatedly mentioned is likely this persistent force of annihilation. The living conditions in the Abyss world are naturally extremely harsh. Therefore, the beings of the Abyss have been desperately trying to open a passage between the Abyss and the Abyss of Nothingness, to come to the present world without the power of annihilation."
"Today, they succeeded."
"Although these are all just my speculations," Chi Wuyue said, "the actions and words of those seven deeply match this."
"Descendants of... ancient gods and demons?" Chi Wuyue's words made them immediately think of the many strange things those people had said.
"..." Yun Che's expression flickered. What Chi Wuyue said was exactly the same as what he had been thinking.
In ancient times, true gods with unforgivable sins were often annihilated in the Abyss of Nothingness. Even... the Dragon God Realm's Dragon God secret records clearly state that the son of the Heaven-Slaying God Emperor Mo E, Mo Su, was cast into the Abyss of Nothingness by Mo E himself for committing a great sin.
The Abyss of Nothingness, which should have only held destruction and nothingness, had produced extremely terrifyingly strong beings. Yun Che couldn't help but think of those true gods from ancient times who should have been annihilated.
The Abyss, which had been silently mutating since ancient times, had ultimately spawned a terrible calamity that erupted today.
And these were just seven people, just pioneers... only the beginning.
"If this place is truly seen as a homeland, and a new land where they can leave the Abyss, then there is a high chance they will not excessively trample and destroy it."
"However," she looked at Yun Che, "to the fate of the current world, this is a blessing in the midst of misfortune. But for you, it changes nothing."
At that moment, Yun Che turned slightly. A flash of mysterious light appeared before him, spreading into a small sound-transmitting formation.
From within came Qianye Ying'er's voice:
"Yun Che, what was that spatial disturbance just now? For some reason, I have a lingering sense of oppression that I can't shake off."
"Nothing much," Yun Che said casually. "Just a few uninvited guests at the Tai Chu Divine Realm. You stay at the Fan Di Divine Realm. Don't leave no matter what happens. I'll be there soon."
With that, before Qianye Ying'er could respond, the sound-transmitting formation dissipated between his closing fingers.
Yun Che lowered his arm, looked up at the sky, his eyes as cold as the Abyss.
Qingyue, looking back on this life, every step I took to ascend to heaven was on your blood and wounds. You pushed me to the pinnacle, but buried yourself in the Abyss.
The land I live in holds all the sorrow, blood, and tears of your life.
How could I allow others to trample and defile it!
Bang——
Yun Che's black hair suddenly flew up, and a terrifying wave of air violently exploded from his body. The Imperial Cloud City domain fell into instant dead silence.
...
7017k