Chapter 1971: This Departure, Hard to Foretell Stars and Moon (Part 2)
Feng Xue'er's cultivation was only at the initial stage of the Divine Path, but the Phoenix Divine Aura on her body was rich and absolutely pure, not at all inferior to Huo Poyun's Golden Crow Divine Aura, causing the soul seas of the Three Flame God Sect Masters to be completely overturned.
"Xue'er," Yun Che turned to look at her, his gaze extremely gentle. "You can still change your mind. You really don't need to do this for me..."
Feng Xue'er smiled and shook her head. "This decision of mine is by no means a sacrifice. It is what my heart wishes, where my soul is directed."
"I was born bearing the grace of the Phoenix, yet I have not repaid even an inch. For me, this is undoubtedly the most suitable and the best destiny. If the Phoenix God knew, it would certainly be extremely pleased."
She beamed. "If it can also slightly make up for Brother Yun's regret, that would be even better."
She stepped forward and said, "This junior Feng Xue'er, born in a distant lower realm. In my youth, fortunate to receive the blessing of the Phoenix Soul. Now I wish to become a person of the Yan Shen Realm, to pour out the Phoenix Divine Flame I bear for the Yan Shen Realm. I hope the three Flame God seniors will accept and fulfill this."
Feng Xue'er's extremely gentle words fell on the ears of the Three Flame God Sect Masters, each word like a dream.
They knew what this meant, yet they barely dared to believe it.
The aura on her body made them clearly know that she was, startlingly, the Phoenix version of Huo Poyun.
If she entered the Yan Shen Realm, that would undoubtedly mean that the hope of their Yan Shen Realm, which had just been extinguished, would be completely and utterly reignited!
And her identity was the Imperial Consort of Yun Emperor. The benefit to the Yan Shen Realm was incomparable to that of Huo Poyun.
"This... is this real?" Yan Juehai looked at Feng Xue'er... He wasn't asking, but muttering in a daze.
They had just lost a Golden Crow Divine Son, and heaven bestowed a Phoenix Divine Maiden.
It was of his Phoenix lineage!
Heaven knows, as the Phoenix Sect Master, how envious and jealous he had been of Huo Rulie over the years.
Feng Xue'er slightly inclined her body and said to Yan Juehai, "This junior has heard from Brother Yun that Senior Yan has been the Sect Master of the Yan Shen Realm's Phoenix Sect for thousands of years, and your understanding and attainment of the Phoenix Ode Scripture are unparalleled in the world. I wonder if this junior can be fortunate enough to worship you as my master."
Yan Juehai's eyes trembled violently, and he hurriedly stepped back half a step, his voice trembling: "No no... how could I be worthy or dare. You are the noble and supreme Imperial Consort, the chosen successor of the Phoenix God. How could I be your master."
"A teacher has no rank of seniority; the one who masters it becomes the teacher." Yun Che said, "Sect Master Yan, in this world, only you are qualified to be Xue'er's master."
He turned around and said seemingly casually, "If you are Xue'er's master, then in the future, the children of me and Xue'er will naturally belong to the Yan Shen Realm."
Yun Che's few short words were undoubtedly a heavy promise that would benefit the Yan Shen Realm for eternity.
Obviously, regarding Huo Poyun's death, he was far from as calm as he appeared.
Bang!!
Yan Wancang, Yan Juehai, and Huo Rulie all knelt on both knees at once, the sound heavy and ear-shaking.
"Yan Shen Realm... thanks Yun Emperor for the great grace!"
Tears splashed from their eyes, each word trembling in their hearts. The heavy gloom that was originally thick enough to never disperse in a lifetime, in this instant, turned into a brilliant and dazzling flame light.
"No need." Yun Che did not turn back. His chest heaved as he spoke slowly, "It is this world that owes your Yan Shen Realm."
……
"Sect Master Huo, do you hate me?"
Outside the main hall, Yun Che said to Huo Rulie.
"Yun Emperor, why say that?" Huo Rulie lowered his head. "The grace of Yun Emperor today, even if we were ground to dust and bones, it would be hard to repay..."
"You know what I mean." Yun Che interrupted him, looking directly at him.
Facing Yun Che's gaze, Huo Rulie still shook his head.
"That was Poyun's own choice. Moreover..." Huo Poyun showed a smile and said, "When the nine skies darkened and the jade shattered into flames, I mourned for him, and I am even more proud of him."
"Although, he was the Yan Shen Realm King for only a few short years. Yet he burned the Golden Crow Flame into the memories of all living beings in the world, and will surely be inscribed in history. As his master and half-father, how could I not be proud of him."
A smile on his face, but tears already in his eyes.
Yun Che nodded, said no more, and turned to leave.
"Yun Emperor." Huo Rulie called out to him.
Yun Che stopped and turned his head.
"We... do we really still have a future?"
He asked the heaviest question for the current world.
Without any hesitation, Yun Che said in a voice that brooked no doubt, "Of course. The Abyss will not get its wish. Poyun will not have died in vain."
"Good!"
Huo Rulie nodded heavily. "With these words from Yun Emperor, we will have no more stray thoughts or distant worries. We will devote all our heart and strength to assist the Phoenix Divine Maiden, and even ten thousand deaths will bring no regret!"
…………
After leaving the Yan Shen Realm, Yun Che quickly arrived at the neighboring Yin Xue Realm.
Mu Xuanyin's injuries had not yet healed, and she had already learned the news that Yun Che was about to go to the Abyss. After all, Chi Wuyue rarely hid anything from her.
Facing Yun Che, she did not stop him, did not offer any advice, nor showed any worry. Instead, she quietly hugged him... for several consecutive hours, like a most ordinary sick and weak woman.
Walking out of the Ice Phoenix Holy Hall, Yun Che did not leave immediately. Instead, he stood quietly in the snow for a long time, fully feeling the baptism of the wind and snow.
That world called the Abyss has no refreshing wind, no pure rain, no tranquil snow.
After leaving today, I wonder when or which year I can again bathe in wind and snow like this.
Or perhaps, this will become the last white bloom in his memory...
A slender female figure walked from afar. The snow curtain was like a rainbow, but could not hide her elegance at all. Her jade face was exquisitely beautiful, surpassing snow, her every step like a celestial fairy in a painting.
Mu Feixue.
She saw Yun Che and immediately stopped in the snow curtain, quietly looking at his profile.
A moment later, she lightly bowed, and her lotus steps silently moved away without making a sound to disturb his stillness.
"Feixue."
At that moment, Yun Che suddenly called out her name.
"..." Mu Feixue's footsteps abruptly froze there. The snow under her feet sank into a shallow mark.
"I'm going to a very far place."
He looked at Mu Feixue's back. "So, the current me dares not give you any promises."
"You... are you willing to wait for me?"
The cold wind blew, but there was no sound. The whole world, together with Mu Feixue's figure, seemed to have frozen there for a long time.
"If I return safely, I hope I can be fortunate enough to bind your remaining life."
Yun Che still looked at her back, his voice slow and gentle. "If I never return..."
"I will wait." Amidst the flying snow, her voice came, each word like jade falling on ice lotus. "No matter how long... until my face withers and the eternal snow melts."
She did not ask where he was going, what he was going to do.
She did not ask if his words were sincere, or carried a trace of pity.
For her, his words and gaze at this moment were the eternity that poured into her entire life.
…………
Here was the location of the newly born Moon God Realm.
It was still being rebuilt. Only, even the atmosphere here had become much more oppressive.
The shadow from the Abyss had gradually permeated every corner of the God Realm.
He looked from afar, until his figure was noticed by a woman coming from a distance.
"Yun Emperor?" Her lips parted slightly, momentarily unable to believe her eyes.
Yun Che turned his eyes and smiled at her. "Jin Yue, it's been a while since we last met."
Jin Yue's hands unconsciously tightened on the skirt band at her waist, and she dared not meet his gaze, speaking nervously and timidly, "You... are your injuries healed?"
Back then, Yun Che had torn her clothes with a sinister smile and planted a demon mark... The shadow that scene left on her had obviously not dissipated to this day.
"It's fine." Yun Che's gaze swept over Jin Yue, then he let out a light breath and said, "I originally just wanted to take a look here. Since I met you... it's actually a good opportunity."
As his words fell, his figure flickered and he had already moved in front of Jin Yue, extending his palm to her.
"Ah!" Jin Yue gave a startled cry, her body instinctively shrinking back. Only then did she see that in Yun Che's palm was precisely that bronze mirror left by Xia Qingyue.
Her beautiful eyes trembled violently, because that was something she valued as her life, yet had been ruthlessly taken away by Yun Che.
"Take it." Yun Che's palm moved a bit closer.
Jin Yue's gaze lingered on the bronze mirror for a long time, unable to move. She slowly reached out her hand, but for a moment didn't dare to believe or touch it. "You... are you really returning it to me?"
"Yes, this is originally the thing she left for you." Yun Che said, "When everything in this world abandoned her, defiled her, and even she herself wanted to erase her own existence, only you fiercely guarded her final traces."
"Otherwise..."
He said sincerely, "In this world, only you are most qualified to possess it."
"..." Jin Yue finally reached out, took the bronze mirror from Yun Che's hand, and then pressed it tightly against her chest.
His heart seemed to suddenly empty a section. Yun Che did not regret it, but smiled slightly and turned around to leave.
"You..." From behind him, Jin Yue's voice suddenly sounded. "Are you going to do something dangerous?"
"Could it be... that Abyss?"
A woman's heart is sometimes terrifyingly sharp.
Yun Che did not deny it, and praised, "Quiet and gentle, loyal and persistent, intelligent and delicate, no wonder Qingyue liked you so much."
Yun Che's words were undoubtedly admission. Jin Yue raised her eyes, then immediately lowered her gaze. "If it weren't for this, how could you bear to return it to me."
Her head lowered a bit more, and her voice dropped a lot. "That place must be unimaginably dangerous. Really... do you have to go?"
"Yes, I have to go. If I go, there is still hope. Otherwise, I can only close my eyes and wait for death."
Yun Che's voice was calm and level. Having said this, he was about to leave, but seeing Jin Yue's fingers tightly guarding the bronze mirror trembling ceaselessly in extreme agitation, he felt a thousand parts moved, a thousand parts pity, and finally spoke, "Moreover, she... might also be there."
A brief silence, then Jin Yue abruptly raised her head, her beautiful eyes as if ten thousand starlights were shattering in chaos.
Her lips trembled open and closed, as if wanting to utter the sound of "she", but no matter what, could not voice it.
She wanted to hear Yun Che personally, truly call out that name, not a delusional dream she had imagined.
"The Abyss of Nothingness has long since changed. Falling into it does not necessarily mean annihilation, but falling into that world called the Abyss."
"Then, Qingyue who fell into the Abyss of Nothingness, she might... might not have been devoured by the Abyss, but safely exists in the world beneath the Abyss."
"Even if only for this reason, I must go."
"..." Jin Yue's body wavered, tottering. Mist of tears instantly blurred her eyes, making her unable to even see the figure of Yun Emperor so close.
"Protect it well. Perhaps one day, you two will meet again. Then, you can personally return it to her."
"..."
"Alright." After who knows how long, she finally uttered a voice like a dream. "Mistress must... must still be alive... Please... you must... must find her..."
In her blurry vision, Yun Che's figure had already disappeared.
Only the bronze mirror on her chest gave her the warmest touch in this world.
…………