Chapter 1977: "Underworld Mirror" and "Demon Pearl"
"The four Creation Gods and four Demon Emperors each had their own strengths. Although there were differences in overall power, they all belonged to the same plane of existence."
"Then, how could a single Creation God use his own strength to simultaneously trap three Demon Emperors?" Immediately afterward, Chi Wuyue provided her own answer: "By relying on the Zhou Tian Pearl!" Yun Che: "..."
Chi Wuyue continued: "The Mystic Heaven Supreme Treasures in their complete state from ancient times are obviously incomparable to those at the current level."
"Heaven-Slaying God Emperor Mo E relied on the Ancestral Sword to banish the Calamity Demon Emperor and defeat the Element Creation God."
"The Evil Infant Myriad Calamity Wheel hijacked the Heavenly Poison Pearl, and the power it derived directly ended the races of gods and demons."
"The Order Creation God relied on the Zhou Tian Pearl to hold back the three Demon Emperors alone."
"This shows the status and power of the seven Mystic Heaven Supreme Treasures in that era."
"Then," Chi Wuyue's demonic eyes grew even deeper at this moment: "There arises a third inconsistency."
"Among the seven Mystic Heaven Supreme Treasures, the Ancestral Heaven-Slaying Sword belonged to the Heaven-Slaying God Emperor, the Primordial Chaos Life-Death Seal belonged to the Life Creation God, the Zhou Tian Pearl belonged to the Order Creation God, and the Cosmic Thorn belonged to the Element Creation God."
"The Reincarnation Mirror only existed in cognition and records; it never belonged to any party in that era."
"The Evil Infant Myriad Calamity Wheel was sealed by the demon race, and the Heavenly Poison Pearl belonged to the Calamity Demon Emperor."
"Thus, the gods possessed four of the seven Mystic Heaven Supreme Treasures, while the demons possessed only two, merely half of the gods' share."
"Such a distribution clearly violates the balance that the Primordial God maintained when creating the races of gods and demons as well as the seven treasures. At the same time, it would not have been sufficient to sustain the long-term equilibrium between the two races." As Chi Wuyue spoke to this point, Yun Che suddenly understood what she was trying to say.
"Are you suggesting that the ancient demon race likely possessed demonic artifacts that, while not among the seven Mystic Heaven Supreme Treasures, were close enough in power to balance the gap?"
"Exactly." Chi Wuyue slowly nodded: "At least two such artifacts. Moreover, these two are most likely a powerful spatial demonic artifact and a temporal demonic artifact." The sacred power of the Ancestral Heaven-Slaying Sword—the destructive power of the Evil Infant Myriad Calamity Wheel.
The eternal life of the Primordial Chaos Life-Death Seal—the poison eradication of the Heavenly Poison Pearl. The gods possessed the spatial supreme treasure Cosmic Thorn and the temporal supreme treasure Zhou Tian Pearl. How could the demon race lack spatial and temporal demonic artifacts sufficient to counterbalance them?
Yun Che frowned deeply, his heart filled more with doubt than surprise: "From the perspective of 'balance,' these conjectures do seem reasonable. But that era is far too distant, and no matter how one looks at it, it all seems too illusory and ethereal."
"However, the fact that you are bringing this up so seriously suggests..." Yun Che asserted: "You have obtained sufficient corroboration?" Chi Wuyue lightly nodded: "That day when I bestowed my life's memories upon you, my soul sea churned and trembled, and the Nirvana Wheel Demon Soul was also severely impacted. By chance, it brought forth a clear fragment of an ancient memory that had long been dead and silent." Chi Wuyue pointed her finger at Yun Che's brow, and within his soul sea, that mournful and despairing ancient demonic voice resounded: "If not for the loss of the Underworld Mirror and the Demon Pearl, how could it have come to this... how could it have come to this!!" This came from the Nirvana Wheel Demon Soul—undoubtedly, it was the voice of the ancient Nirvana Wheel Demon Emperor!
As the supreme Demon Emperor, this roar was filled with such painful reluctance, such grievous despair.
"Underworld Mirror... Demon Pearl..." Yun Che repeated in a low voice, his eyes full of shock.
"When speaking of the 'Underworld Mirror,' what comes to your mind?" Chi Wuyue asked. Without a doubt, Yun Che's first thought was of the strange black mirror in Mo Beichen's cognition—the one capable of piercing through the Abyss and sending them to the present world!
"Could it be..." Yun Che's gaze met Chi Wuyue's.
"Very likely." Chi Wuyue's voice slowed: "In the ancient Abyss, even the Cosmic Thorn, the strongest spatial artifact, could not pierce through it. Although the current Abyss has undergone mutations, its spatial laws still far exceed the cognition of the present world."
"During this time, I have repeatedly asked Shui Meiyin about the maximum power the Cosmic Thorn can achieve in the current world. I also went with her to the Tai Chu Divine Realm to attempt piercing the space beneath the Abyss of Nothingness with the Cosmic Thorn. The result..." Chi Wuyue let out a soft breath: "The mutated Abyss space is within the power level that the Cosmic Thorn can affect. However, given the current power level of the world, restoring the Cosmic Thorn to a strength sufficient to forcibly pierce it would require an extremely long period of time."
"Measured in hundreds of thousands of years."
"Below the Cosmic Thorn, the strongest spatial profound artifact in the present world is the Void Cauldron. But even at its limit, the power of the Void Cauldron cannot cause even the slightest ripple in the space of the Abyss of Nothingness."
"Yet beneath the Abyss, the Abyss Emperor, using that strange mirror and combining the power of numerous True Gods, can complete a piercing in fifty years."
"That is very likely the 'Underworld Mirror' in the Nirvana Wheel's soul voice—a spatial demonic artifact from ancient times that approached the level of the Cosmic Thorn!" Chi Wuyue's conjecture was extremely bold and fantastical.
Perhaps only she in the entire world could piece together such a startling hypothesis from countless fragments of information.
"If not for the loss of the Underworld Mirror and the Demon Pearl, how could it have come to this... Lost...?" Yun Che pondered for a long time. If Chi Wuyue's conjecture was close to the truth, then could the Abyss Emperor beneath the Abyss actually be...
Chi Wuyue said: "That despairing soul voice of the Nirvana Wheel Demon Emperor was clearly uttered after he finally escaped the Zhou Tian Thousand Realms but was struck by the poison of Myriad Tribulations of Oblivion."
"The meaning within his words... If the 'Underworld Mirror' and 'Demon Pearl' had been present, they would not have been trapped by the Zhou Tian Pearl. In other words, the 'Underworld Mirror' and 'Demon Pearl' were sufficient to counter the Zhou Tian Pearl, which was a Mystic Heaven Supreme Treasure!" Yun Che's brows were tightly knit as he murmured: "Lost... If such powerful objects truly existed, why would they have been 'lost'? Moreover, none of the ancient records that have survived to this day ever mention the 'Underworld Mirror' or 'Demon Pearl.'"
"The reason is simple." Chi Wuyue said: "If the 'Underworld Mirror' and 'Demon Pearl' were truly powerful enough to rival supreme treasures, their importance to the demon race would be unimaginable. Therefore, once 'lost,' the rulers of the demon race would have to do everything possible to conceal the matter."
"Otherwise, it would inevitably cause panic among the demon race and unrest among the gods."
"After all, being lost... even if stolen, there is still a chance of recovery. But falling into the Abyss, according to the cognition of that time, meant there was never any possibility of return."
"If I were in the position of the demon race's ruler at that time, I would definitely choose to conceal it with all my might, while gradually diminishing its presence and reducing the likelihood of it being mentioned or used."
"The ancient records that have survived to this day are already extremely scarce. The records concerning profound artifacts are also concentrated on the seven supreme treasures. Under the deliberate and deep concealment by the four Demon Emperors, it is reasonable that no records of the 'Underworld Mirror' and 'Demon Pearl' have survived to the present." But it was only barely "considered reasonable." In fact, Chi Wuyue had once considered a point: that as artifacts close to Mystic Heaven Supreme Treasures, the ancient records of the "Underworld Mirror" and "Demon Pearl" had vanished so completely, it was more as if they had been deliberately erased after the end of the era of gods and demons.
Because although the various Demon Emperors could control the demon race, they could never influence the gods' cognition and records of the "Underworld Mirror" and "Demon Pearl." And the one who cleaned up the final mess, the last god to fall... [was the Evil God Ni Xuan].
However, this obviously absurd conjecture did not linger in her mind for long. Because no matter how one imagined it, the Evil God Ni Xuan had no reason to do such a thing.
"As for why the 'Underworld Mirror' and 'Demon Pearl' were lost..." Chi Wuyue shook her head: "I have envisioned many possibilities, but they are all just vague conjectures. I have reexamined a large number of ancient records, but found no traces to follow. I cannot even formulate a reason that could barely convince myself."
"I think perhaps the cause of this matter has been hidden even more thoroughly. To this day, it has become an eternal unsolved mystery." Chi Wuyue paused briefly, then shifted the topic: "Back then, the Calamity Demon Emperor was ambushed by the Heaven-Slaying God Emperor and banished beyond the Chaos. Such a major event, yet the hot-tempered demon race chose a long period of forbearance, only erupting after the Heaven-Slaying God Emperor's death. This contradicts the ancient records' depiction of the demon race's temperament and is also illogical."
"However, the loss of the 'Underworld Mirror' and 'Demon Pearl' perfectly explains this."
"Because the strength gap caused by the loss forced the three Demon Emperors to endure."
"In comparison, it is instead..." The doubt that had troubled her for some time once again surfaced on her snowy countenance: "Did the Heaven-Slaying God Emperor Mo E really endure the cost of harming his own lifespan to use the Ancestral Sword and risk a devastating war between the two races, all purely because he could not tolerate the private affair between the Element Creation God and the Calamity Demon Emperor?"
"..." Yun Che could not answer. The "truth" that had previously seemed logical and even brought him moments of clarity and relief now, under Chi Wuyue's words, became shrouded in mystery once again. In this era, it seemed these conjectures would forever be impossible to verify.
Chi Wuyue continued: "The demon race's resentment would undoubtedly accumulate and expand during their forbearance, like a constantly churning volcano, always on the verge of erupting out of control."
"But the three Demon Emperors, who knew of the loss of the 'Underworld Mirror' and 'Demon Pearl,' could only do their utmost to restrain themselves, bitterly holding out for an opportunity before things completely spiraled out of control."
"And the Evil God's retreat, Mo E's death, and the Ancestral Sword losing its master were undoubtedly the best possible opportunity... The demon race's fury, which had been churning for who knows how many years, erupted completely."
"Life Creation God Li Suo was ambushed and poisoned to death, leaving only the Order Creation God among the gods."
"The three Demon Emperors Panming, Jiusha, and Nirvana Wheel evidently intended to combine their strength to crush the Order Creation God with overwhelming force, leaving the gods with no chance to recover. But unexpectedly, their combined assault was exploited by the Order Creation God, who lured them all into the Zhou Tian Pearl, trapping them within the Zhou Tian Thousand Realms." Using her own conjectures, Chi Wuyue re-painted the distant war of gods and demons.
Based on the most primitive "balance" between gods and demons, and incorporating the lost "Underworld Mirror" and "Demon Pearl," the ancient picture Chi Wuyue unfolded, though largely unverifiable conjectures, struck Yun Che's ears with a conviction he could hardly resist.
Because it explained and smoothed over far too many "inconsistencies."
Chi Wuyue turned her gaze, a faint smile on her lips: "You can mostly just listen to these conjectures. The most important reason I am telling you this is to make you aware of the existence of the 'Underworld Mirror' and 'Demon Pearl.'"
"At present, there are no records or traces of them. But since they come from the soul voice of the Nirvana Wheel Demon Emperor, they must exist."
"If they truly fell into the Abyss, then the strange mirror the Abyss Emperor used to pierce the Abyss of Nothingness is very likely the demon race's lost 'Underworld Mirror.'"
"The Calamity Demon Emperor, banished beyond the Chaos, was able to survive in the outer Chaos for a long time alongside numerous demon gods by relying on the alternate space opened by the Cosmic Thorn. Therefore, it becomes reasonable that the ancient Abyss Emperor survived in that era's Abyss by relying on the 'Underworld Mirror,' a spatial artifact approaching the Cosmic Thorn."
"And the one who holds the lost 'Underworld Mirror' and can control it suggests that the identity of the Abyss Emperor of the Abyss is very likely..."
"A descendant of some Demon Emperor!" Among the six divine kingdoms of the Abyss, the Abyss Emperor showed the most favor toward the Xiaodie Divine Kingdom, which primarily cultivates Dark Profound Force. Even the name of the kingdom was personally bestowed, which undoubtedly corroborates this point.
Mo Beichen also once said that "the Abyss Emperor is pursuing the realm of Creation God"... Unless one is a direct descendant of a Demon Emperor or Creation God at that level, they might not even be qualified to have such a thought.
Yun Che nodded thoughtfully: "I understand."
The unknown is the greatest threat. Toward another world she had never set foot in, Chi Wuyue had already done her utmost to uncover everything.
"The 'Underworld Mirror' and 'Demon Pearl' were very likely lost at the same time. If the 'Demon Pearl' is also in the Abyss, it is most likely a temporal demonic artifact." Bearing the Dark Eternal Calamity, Yun Che's mastery of Dark Profound Force was unparalleled in the world, and he was also the one most closely connected to the lineage of the Demon Emperor.
The Abyss Emperor being a descendant of a Demon Emperor... to Yun Che, this might not be bad news.