Chapter 1969: This Journey, Hard to Foretell the Stars and Moon (Part 1)
"It was my husband's eyes that told me everything." Cang Shuhe's voice was gentle, but in her watery eyes, uneasy ripples silently stirred.
"The Abyss... the Abyss of Nothingness!?" Rui Yi exclaimed in shock: "But that place... that place..."
The Abyss of Nothingness—in the cognition of the people of the God Realm, it was etched with absolute void and death. The higher the plane, the more so.
Yun Che said: "The Demon Empress seized some of Mo Beichen's cognition and memories. Beneath the Abyss of Nothingness, there is indeed another world. Falling into the Abyss of Nothingness does not necessarily mean death; instead, one falls into this world called the Abyss."
Yun Che's explanation was plain and brief, but both Cang Shuhe and Rui Yi deeply understood that this truth, which transcended cognition, often meant a terror that likewise transcended cognition.
"But... even if... one could really reach that world through the Abyss of Nothingness, a single Mo Beichen was already so terrifying. Once you get there, wouldn't you..."
Rui Yi's voice trembled slightly. As she spoke thus, she finally realized that in her anxiety, these words had already overstepped her bounds. She quickly lowered her head and fell silent.
Cang Shuhe glanced sideways at Rui Yi, then parted her lips to say: "Since my husband has this intention, he must have already made up his mind."
Yun Che reached out his hand, and the stone tablet left by the Evil God appeared before Cang Shuhe's eyes:
"...My Evil God Art was derived from forbidden methods and is also a forbidden power. It does not lie within the rules of the Heavenly Dao, nor can it be compared to mortal profound arts. If one obtains all the elemental cores and cultivates to the mortal 'Divine Lord' realm, though it is not the divine realm, one can unleash the power of the divine realm."
"Gods and demons have perished, and the order of the world has collapsed. Now, the trend of divine energy dispersing has slightly diminished, and the newborn order grows increasingly peaceful. If the power of the divine realm were to be born again, it would inevitably stir the newborn order, bringing calamity to the mortal world and its beings. If one's heart and mind are crooked, it would become a great disaster for the world."
"Therefore, I sank the [Earth] core into the Abyss, forever severing it from the world, forever eliminating the future calamity."
…………
"If one obtains all the elemental cores... one can unleash the power of the divine realm." Cang Shuhe softly recited these words, a strange light immediately flickering in her watery eyes: "These are the words left by the ancient Evil God?"
"Correct." Putting away the stone tablet, Yun Che said solemnly: "The Evil God's Mysterious Vein I now bear is incomplete. It lacks one power core. That power core was thrown into the Abyss of Nothingness by the Evil God before his death."
"This is also the reason why I cannot break through to the Divine Lord realm no matter what."
"And if falling into the Abyss of Nothingness does not mean death, but instead leads to that world called the Abyss, perhaps I can find that power core there, making my Evil God's Mysterious Vein complete. Thereby..."
Yun Che raised his hand, his eyes gathering dark light: "Possessing the power of the divine realm."
"I carry the dual inheritances of the Creation God and the Demon Emperor. My growth, my ultimate peak, shall surpass all beings of this world, and even the Abyss!"
Cang Shuhe looked at Yun Che and spoke softly: "Yes. My husband, no matter which world, shall tower above all beings of all realms."
But Yun Che gently shook his head at this moment, as if giving a self-deprecating smile: "Though I say this, there are far too many uncertainties. So... Shuhe, I want to hear your advice."
A long silence ensued, then Cang Shuhe said softly: "When does my husband plan to set out?"
"Within ten days," Yun Che replied.
"!!" Yun Wuxin's eyes shook violently. Her lips opened and closed several times, then she bit her lip hard, barely managing not to make a sound.
"The next time the Abyss opens a passage to this place is only five years away," Yun Che said slowly, stating this extremely cruel truth—a truth too cruel to tell the world.
He didn't even have time to hesitate, let alone make meticulous plans.
"I understand." Cang Shuhe's expression was calm as water, showing no sign of shock. Her voice was still as gentle as a gentle ripple: "Does my husband still remember what I said back then?"
Yun Che: "?"
"Compared to power, these eyes of yours, which are so easy to arouse curiosity and make one fall into them, are the best weapon." Cang Shuhe looked into Yun Che's eyes, with the same gaze as back then, the same infatuation as back then.
"..." Those words had indeed left a deep impression on Yun Che. Back when Cang Shuhe had said them, her sea-like eyes shimmered with a hazy, beautiful misty light, just like her endlessly mysterious and profound soul.
Her advice was nothing but this one sentence.
"When you first arrive in the Abyss, my husband, who is unmatched in this world, will inevitably become lonely and weak," Cang Shuhe narrated leisurely. "But I believe that the path of the Abyss will be somewhat difficult for my husband, but not hard. Because my husband's strengths go far beyond his ever-growing power."
……
Yun Che and Yun Wuxin left. Cang Shuhe gazed affectionately at Yun Che's back, seeing him off for a very, very long time.
"Miss," Rui Yi finally spoke, her voice uneasy: "I... I... I'm a little scared."
Cang Shuhe smiled: "Back when my life was withering, you decided to accompany me to death, without a trace of fear. Back when you were angry at my husband for slighting me and rebuked him with harsh words, you also showed no fear. Why are you afraid now?"
"How can the past and present be the same?" Rui Yi said mournfully: "Miss has finally recovered and just begun her true life, yet why must it be so... full of twists and turns?"
She looked in the direction Cang Shuhe was gazing: "When Lord Yun goes, who will accompany him? At least the Demon Empress will surely be by his side. That would make people much more at ease."
Cang Shuhe shook her head: "He will definitely go alone."
"!!!" Rui Yi was stunned and flustered.
"Rui Yi," Cang Shuhe turned around: "Come with me to a place."
"Where?" Rui Yi asked subconsciously.
Cang Shuhe smiled gracefully: "To prepare some nice things and fun things for him."
"Huh?" Rui Yi was taken aback.
"As for the Abyss, we know almost nothing," Cang Shuhe said. "But the seven emotions and six desires are universal in any world, any plane, for any living being. There are many things that can help him, while he grows, to make more friends and attract more girls."
Rui Yi's beautiful eyes widened. She stared at Cang Shuhe's smiling face: "Miss, are you... really not worried or afraid at all?"
"Since his mind is made up, what point is there in worry and fear?" Cang Shuhe continued smiling. "To me, my greatest worry is whether he can safely reach that world called the Abyss after falling into the Abyss of Nothingness."
"If he can safely arrive, I won't be so worried about what happens after."
"Why?" Rui Yi asked, puzzled. That terrifying Mo Beichen was merely a "Guardian Knight" in the Abyss—what kind of terrifying, heart-stopping world must that be?
"Because my husband, our Lord Yun, is only half a Jiazi old," Cang Shuhe said, her eyes hazy. "Who would believe that a person of half a Jiazi became the first unparalleled emperor of the God Realm in just a few short years? And which proud and arrogant strong person would truly be on guard against a 'child' of only half a Jiazi?"
"The Demon Empress will surely teach him to make good use of this."
…………
Leaving the Ten Directions Canglan Realm, Yun Wuxin could no longer restrain herself. She tightly grasped her father's sleeve, her voice trembling with too much unease: "Father, are you... really going there?"
Yun Che looked into his daughter's eyes and said very calmly: "I have no other choice."
"..." Yun Wuxin's eyes trembled even more, not knowing what to say.
He squeezed Yun Wuxin's hand: "Beyond having no choice, I am also willing to go."
Yun Che raised his head and turned his gaze toward the dim sky: "Wuxin, by my side, I have you all to accompany me; behind me, I have countless followers; beneath my feet, there are even more countless submitters and worshipers."
"But in truth, subconsciously, I have always felt that I am alone."
"The inheritance of the Demon Emperor and the Creation God makes me, at the cognitive level, subconsciously look down on everything. Especially after I became the Lord Yun, standing alone at the peak, all things seemed low and insignificant."
"Father naturally has the right to be so, and everything is something Father deserves," Yun Wuxin said.
Yun Che smiled faintly: "Perhaps that's how everyone sees it. And the cognition that accompanies it is... what others can do, I can do. If even I cannot do it, then no one in the world can."
"For example, facing this sudden Abyss calamity, I originally thought that if even I was so powerless, then this world had no hope left."
"I was wrong." Yun Che's gaze dropped, looking at the boundless space beneath his feet: "This world has never been just mine alone. Its fate has never been something I alone could decide."
"Without Yan Yi, Yan Er, Yan San, and the two Qianye seniors risking their lives to save me, I would have already died at Mo Beichen's hands."
"Without Meiyin's spatial divine power, even escaping would have been a luxury."
"Without Cang Shitian and Huo Poyun, with my strength alone, I would have only met the most despairing end."
"And even... without the Demon Empress, I, bearing the name of Lord Yun, would not have the ability to control this world, and everything would only swing in long-term chaos and unrest."
"No, that's not true, that's not how it is." Yun Wuxin instead held her father's hand, shaking her head vigorously: "In this world, there are indeed too many things that only Father can do, and Father is the most qualified to be emperor. The core of resolving this calamity is also Father! You can't deny yourself like this."
"What are you thinking?" Yun Che reached out and rubbed the top of his daughter's head, laughing: "When have I ever denied myself? I, your father, am unmatched in the world—no one can deny that. I just realized some things I had to realize."
Yun Wuxin quickly raised her hand to protect her soon-to-be-messed-up black hair, muttering: "I'm not a child anymore."
Yun Che continued: "What moved me the most was Cang Shitian."
"In the eyes of the world, he is unruly and wild, the most despicable and least worthy God Emperor. Facing disaster, he wavers, he submits first. In the years under my command, the most common title the world gave him was spineless lackey."
"And he never uses the might of Canglan to suppress others' mouths, nor does he ever defend himself. Because he has never deigned to care about the gaze of the world."
"But when faced with invasion from the outside, those who were righteous and proper in normal times bent their knees without a fight. Yet Cang Shitian, whom they called spineless, used his life and the future of Canglan to uphold the hardest, most unyielding pride of this world."
"And made countless people who prided themselves on their pride never dare to mention the name Cang Shitian for the rest of their lives."
He reached out and held his daughter's slender shoulders, lowering his voice: "Cang Shitian is a subject of the emperor, and even more so, a citizen of this world. If he can do this, then I, as the emperor of this world, should even more shoulder the responsibilities of an emperor."
"So, Wuxin, my daughter..." He smiled: "I have long been unworthy of being a good father, but at least I still have the chance to be a somewhat worthy emperor, right?"
"..." Yun Wuxin's lips trembled. Before long, her eyes misted over, and tears streamed down her snow-white face.