Chapter 1945: Death and Life (Part 1)

Chapter 1945: Death and Life (Part 1)

"Let go of our master!"
Amidst the sudden upheaval, the first sounds to emerge were three overlapping shrieks.
With Yun Che’s throat seized, this scene was like a knife piercing the eyes of the Three Yan Ancestors, instantly detonating all their fury and frenzy.
Yan Mo power erupted from their bodies like boiling pitch-black magma. Before they had even stabilized their forms from the previous force, the Three Yan Ancestors transformed into three rabid demons, all charging at Mo Beichen with piercing howls.

"Yun Che!"
At the same time, Mu Xuanyin let out a startled cry. Her instincts completely transcended reason, and even her rather severe injuries. In an instant, the Ice Phoenix divine power pushed beyond its limits, shaking off Cai Zhi’s small hand. Snow Princess Sword in her palm once again became the coldest, most ruthless gleam in the world, plunging resolutely toward Mo Beichen.
Cai Zhi, right beside her, couldn't stop Mu Xuanyin, because her Celestial Wolf divine power also erupted almost in the same instant. The Celestial Wolf Holy Sword descended alongside the Ice Phoenix’s cold shadow.

From another direction, Qianye Ying'er's face lost all color. She twisted in midair, but before her power could fully run wild, two thick, overwhelming forces stopped her dead in her tracks.
Qianye Wugu and Qianye Bingzhu.

"Don't get close!" Chi Wuyue's voice, carrying the demon soul, rang out at that moment.
However, whether it was the Three Yan Ancestors, Mu Xuanyin, or Cai Zhi, their actions in response to Yun Che's situation were entirely instinctive. Chi Wuyue's warning could never come in time.

Mo Beichen stared at Yun Che, locked within his five fingers, his gaze cold and still, showing no trace of emotional fluctuation.
Yun Che's pupils continued to dilate. The backlash of Divine Ashes left his body drenched in bloodstains. But compared to these injuries and the searing pain, the pale, powerless feeling was millions of times more cruel.
After Divine Ashes, he was at his weakest moment.
And at this weakest moment, he was caught in the grasp of this terrifying person who completely surpassed the known world.

His body went rigid in Mo Beichen's hand. Apart from his continuously contracting pupils, not a single finger on his entire body could move even a fraction.
Every strand of hair, every drop of blood, every cell felt as if crushed under ten thousand mountain ranges, so heavy that only endless despair remained.
Yes, despair.
And it was utterly complete hopelessness, like a vast, boundless night abyss devoid of even a single starlight.
In the past, no matter what desperate situation or powerful enemy he faced, he never retreated in defeat. Even when confronting the Netherworld Brahma Flower with a mortal soul, or taking on the entire Star God Realm alone with Divine King power.
After witnessing the destruction of the "Lan Ji Star," this was the second time his consciousness was completely filled with utter despair and powerlessness.
His struggle, pouring all his will and strength, couldn't even stir the slightest airflow under Mo Beichen's five fingers.

From his ears came the piercing cries of the Three Yan Ancestors. Three streams of Yan Mo power, terrifying enough to chill the Divine Emperors of this era, couldn't stir Mo Beichen in the slightest—only a faint, almost imperceptible sneer flickered at the corner of his mouth.
His body didn't move, but the silver armor on him bulged as he silently released the aura of an Abyss Knight.

Boom!
Even at the borders of the Eastern Divine Region, a muffled rumble could be faintly heard.
The space for dozens of miles around Mo Beichen twisted in an extremely terrifying manner, as if a discrete, fragmented small world had been forcibly cut away.
Still dozens of miles away, the furious power of the Three Yan Ancestors slammed into an invisible, formless, yet indestructible barrier.
The already severely distorted space was torn into three massive dark vortices... Then, the cries turned into screams of agony. The dark demonic light on the Three Yan Ancestors collapsed by more than half, their bodies twisted and deformed, flung backward at several times the speed they had charged.
Even the mighty Three Yan Ancestors couldn't even approach under the Abyss Knight's aura.

Clang!
Snow Princess Sword pierced into the aura, letting out a screech sharp enough to shatter souls. Mu Xuanyin's beautiful ice pupils released the most extreme coldness at this moment.
But her severe injuries, coupled with an insurmountable realm gap, meant that even exhausting all her Ice Phoenix divine power, she couldn't advance another inch.
Under the backlash that followed, Snow Princess Sword bent sharply, ice shards scattering. Mu Xuanyin fluttered down like a powerless ice butterfly.

Cai Zhi's starry eyes tightened, but she had no time to worry about Mu Xuanyin. The Celestial Wolf Holy Sword slashed straight down.
Boom!
Mo Beichen's aura caved violently, but only caved. The Abyss Knight's terrifying power then rebounded and struck back.
The Celestial Wolf Holy Sword was knocked back violently, nearly flying from her hand. Cai Zhi was thrown far away, her face momentarily pale, but it immediately deepened into a darker, more sinister shade.
Demonic light bloomed in her eyes. Behind her petite figure, a fully demonized black Celestial Wolf emerged.
The demon wolf howled at the world, pouncing down with boundless fury. When the Celestial Wolf divine power reached its peak, Cai Zhi's figure and the great sword were completely swallowed into the wolf's shadow, merging as one.

Mo Beichen glanced sideways. Facing this delicate girl who dared to challenge an Abyss Knight, he uttered a low mockery.
"Pathetic."
In his low murmur, his long hair suddenly lifted, and silver light flickered in his eyes.

Boom!
It was as if a huge world had exploded before him, releasing the catastrophic power to annihilate a galaxy.
The howling Celestial Wolf was halted in an instant, twisted in two breaths, and annihilated in three...
The Celestial Wolf Holy Sword flew into some distant star region. The light in its owner's eyes faded completely, and she plummeted into the dark space as cold as a demon abyss.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.
The Three Yan Ancestors, Mu Xuanyin, and Cai Zhi... in this world, they were existences at the highest level.
But when they struck simultaneously, within a mere turn of an eye, this was the outcome...

"Mei Yin," Shui Meiyin heard Chi Wuyue's cold voice in her ear. "Teleport them all here!"
The Stainless Divine Soul alleviated the soul pressure of the demigod power to the greatest extent for Shui Meiyin, keeping her sufficiently clear-headed.
Amidst the raging storm, the space divine power of the Cosmic Thorn was rapidly released between Shui Meiyin's fingers, quickly transferring the scattered Three Yan Ancestors, Mu Xuanyin, and Cai Zhi to her side.
But she couldn't transfer Yun Che, who was clenched in Mo Beichen's palm.

"Get off me!" Qianye Ying'er struggled violently. Demonic light churned on her body. Divine Oracle suddenly lashed out, cutting two black, broken marks across Qianye Wugu and Qianye Bingzhu.
Their power was severed. Qianye Ying'er broke free from the blockade and charged straight at Mo Beichen.
"Qianye Ying'er, get back!"
The demonic sound in her ear shook Qianye Ying'er's chaotic heart and soul violently, as if pierced by countless ice needles. Her momentum gradually stopped.
She turned around, about to speak, but her gaze trembled. She couldn't say a word, nor did she charge resolutely at Mo Beichen again.
She saw Chi Wuyue's deep demonic eyes, her calm expression, and... the trail of blood slowly dripping from the corner of her lips.

Everyone could be impulsive and emotional—except her.
Back then, Long Bai's sudden return with the Kunlun Dragon City descending upon Canglan brought an almost desperate pressure.
But it was nothing compared to this moment.
Yet the more dire the situation, the more she, as the Demon Empress, had to maintain absolute cold clarity.

"You, Yun Che?"
Mo Beichen's gaze coldly examined Yun Che's face, not even deigning to glance at the others.
Though it was a question, he knew Yun Che, clamped between his five fingers, couldn't respond. He didn't need a response either.
Crack... crack, crack!
As his five fingers slowly tightened, the bones in Yun Che's throat shattered layer by layer. But he couldn't make any sound, only the color draining rapidly from his face.

"Heh, tough bones."
Mo Beichen praised—or rather, admired—with a hard-to-suppress strange gleam in his eyes. "No wonder you carry the bloodline of the ancient Dragon God. The purity of the Dragon God bloodline in you is probably not much worse than those [Ancestral Dragons]. Tsk tsk."
"..." From head to toe, Yun Che still couldn't move a single finger, and his vision was rapidly losing color.

Chi Wuyue's demonic eyes grew deeper and deeper. She could tell that Mo Beichen's attention was entirely focused on Yun Che alone, and he wouldn't kill him.
Otherwise, with Yun Che in his current state, killing him would be as easy as snapping his fingers.
The most likely possibility was that Mo Beichen already knew about the Evil God and Demon Emperor powers, and even the Mystic Heaven Supreme Treasures that Yun Che bore.
If so, before he found a way to seize his inheritance and treasures, he would definitely not take his life.

"Yan Yi, Yan Er, Yan San, do not act recklessly!" Chi Wuyue issued an irresistible command as the Demon Empress to the Three Yan Ancestors.
Mu Xuanyin and Cai Zhi were teleported back to Shui Meiyin's side. Mu Xuanyin's injuries compounded, her aura extremely weak. But chaotic ice light swirled in her eyes as she forced herself to stay conscious.
Cai Zhi beside her was not much better.

"Save... him..." Even in such weakness, Mu Xuanyin still struggled to get up. Every word she spoke was stained with blood, piercing the heart.
"Don't worry, he'll be fine," Chi Wuyue said softly, then suddenly, a black light flashed in her eyes. The Nirvana Wheel Demon Soul plunged straight into the soul seas of Mu Xuanyin and Cai Zhi.
In their weakened state, and with no possible guard against Chi Wuyue, both went dark, their consciousness quickly sinking into stillness, falling unconscious.
Chi Wuyue's palm gently covered them, a hazy profound light shielding the unconscious Mu Xuanyin and Cai Zhi. She looked ahead and said slowly: "Now, there is only one way."

"!!" Qianye Ying'er shuddered violently, then instantly flashed before Chi Wuyue, suppressing her nearly disordered heart and soul as she urgently asked: "What way!"

"Ah... ahhh... ahhh..."
In the constantly trembling space, hoarse, painful cries rang out.
Their remaining spiritual senses detected Mo Beichen's aura. Nan Zhaoming and Nan Zhaoguang desperately made whatever sounds they could.
They didn't ask to be saved—only that Mo Beichen would let them die immediately, let them be released.
Because even if they descended to the deepest hell after death, it couldn't be this painful.
But Mo Beichen paid no heed to their sounds.
His soul and power were always focused solely on Yun Che. After personally sensing and witnessing this freak who released demigod power at the Divine Sovereign realm, he no longer had any doubt about Qi Tianli's words.
He couldn't even imagine what immense merit it would be to offer this person, bearing both the Creation God and Demon Emperor inheritances, to the Abyss Emperor.
If everyone else died, this enormous merit would belong to him alone.

"Emperor of this world? Hah!" He sneered, his gaze growing ever more intense. "I should have killed you first, but rejoice: this venerable one wants you alive. You can't die even if you wish."
"Living as tribute to the Abyss Emperor—that is your greatest meaning and glory in this life."
His gaze lowered slightly. "That old qilin said one must never underestimate or slacken against you, because you are someone who can always exceed expectations."
"So... how about this?"
In his low, cold words, a faint profound light flickered on his body.
Crack! Crackle! Crackle!
The incredibly hard dragon bones in Yun Che's body, along with all his meridians, shattered together. The sound of bones breaking was as thunderous as a thousand thunderclaps exploding.

"Separate him from Yun Che!"
The shattering bones still echoed in her ears. Chi Wuyue showed no emotion, answering with the calmest, simplest words.
But this answer directly extinguished the faint light that had just risen in Qianye Ying'er's heart. She said painfully: "We can't even get close, how can we make him let go..."
"With our power, indeed we cannot get close," Chi Wuyue's demonic eyes turned darkly. "But... the Cosmic Thorn can!"
Shui Meiyin and Qianye Ying'er both had a sudden flash of insight.
Qianye Wugu and Qianye Bingzhu also realized something and turned around.
Chi Wuyue's gaze didn't fall on Shui Meiyin, but on the Three Yan Ancestors.
"Yan Yi, Yan Er, Yan San," her voice was unprecedentedly calm. "To protect your master with your lives—that is what you most often say."
And this calmest voice issued the coldest, most merciless command of the Demon Empress: "Now, it is time for you to sacrifice your lives for your master."