Chapter 2026: Abyss Qiulong
The Colorless Mysterious Steel had never been recorded in either the Guardian Yun Clan of the Illusion Demon Realm or the Tiangang Cloud Clan of the Northern Divine Realm. Not even unsubstantiated rumors or fabrications had ever existed.
In other words, this was a bizarre Mysterious Steel unique to Yun Che, unprecedented in history and unparalleled in the present.
And the aura released by this newly born Mysterious Steel was clearly...
With a thought from Yun Che, the Mysterious Steel instantly transformed, right before his eyes, into an identical copy of himself.
Unlike before, this time it was truly identical—no difference whatsoever in either appearance or aura.
This meant that this mutated Colorless Mysterious Steel could fully carry ten percent of Yun Che's power!
Yun Che's gaze fixed. Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he immediately activated the "Yanhuang" realm gate.
And when he opened the Yanhuang realm gate, his complexion and pupils showed no change, nor was there any surging turmoil of profound energy. It simply became powerful and dense in an extremely calm and peaceful manner, with not a trace of pressure anywhere in his entire body.
In other words, he could now truly maintain the Yanhuang state as a normal condition, as easily as breathing.
But to his great disappointment, although the aura of the Mysterious Steel clone changed accordingly, the power it carried remained the same as before, unaffected by the Evil God Art.
The thought of a righteous two-on-one was mercilessly extinguished. It seemed that to maximize the combat power of the Mysterious Steel, he still had to rely on the Mysterious Steel Illusionary God. With the current state of the Mysterious Steel, the Illusionary God it would produce would surely be even more powerful.
After a brief disappointment, his eyes suddenly narrowed sharply.
The most distinct aspect of the Mysterious Steel's mutation in his perception was that its connection with his bloodline and soul seemed to have undergone a qualitative change.
Although he hadn't tried it, he could feel very clearly that the range in which it could roam must be much, much greater.
"Demon Steel," Li Suo whispered softly. "But for now, I cannot recall which demon clan it originated from. I suppose such a special and powerful bloodline force must belong to a mid-tier or higher demon clan."
Yun Che did not respond. He suddenly raised his hand, reached it to the forehead of the Mysterious Steel clone, and then fiercely crushed the Abyss Core in his hand.
The dense Abyss Dust instantly scattered like collapsing water, then, guided by Yun Che's power, slowly enveloped the Mysterious Steel clone, covering every corner of its entire body, as if dragging it into an eternal dark night.
Not only its form, but even its aura was nearly perfectly submerged within.
Yun Che watched silently, a deep and terrifying strange light flickering in his eyes.
After a long time, he finally lowered his arm, and the Mysterious Steel retracted as well. The Abyss Dust, having lost its guidance, naturally dispersed. Yun Che turned around and quickly departed, disappearing into the vast gray mist in an instant.
...
Time passed.
Northern Divine Realm, Jiehun Realm.
Another pile of ancient texts and stone tablets was carefully scanned by Chi Wuyue's demon soul. The result was still nothing found.
A ripping sound!
With a tearing sound, the soundproof barrier that Chi Wuyue had casually set up was unceremoniously torn open. Immediately, a section of a snow-white, jade-like ankle, with a light golden hem swaying, appeared in sight.
"Demon Empress, now people are panicked and the world is in chaos. As the current empress consort, you've been holed up here reading these so-called ancient remnants that even three-year-olds wouldn't believe. If you don't show yourself soon, someone might guess that you jumped into the Abyss along with Yun Che."
Chi Wuyue stood up, smiling as she extended a delicate finger: "Just give me what I asked for."
Qianye Ying'er gave a light snort, and casually tossed a golden space ring into Chi Wuyue's hand.
"You could have just sent someone with such a thing next time," Chi Wuyue said, her seductive eyes shifting, half-smiling. She certainly knew why Qianye Ying'er had come in person.
"...Twenty days," Qianye Ying'er spoke, her golden eyes, containing endless grace, also became dazed and lost.
Today was the twentieth day since Yun Che fell into the Abyss of Nothingness.
With the time black tide of the Abyss... he had already spent over half a year in the Abyss.
Twenty days, once so short.
But since Yun Che left, in these entire twenty days... not a single moment of her heart had been at peace.
She had even felt the urge to jump into the Abyss of Nothingness with him no less than a hundred times.
But every time she took a step, her reason would firmly pull her back.
Moreover, the Abyss of Nothingness was now personally guarded by Jie Xin and Jie Ling; no one could get close.
"Although I planted eighty percent of the Nirvana Wheel Demon Soul in his soul sea, from the second he jumped into the Abyss, I could no longer perceive even a trace," Chi Wuyue said slowly. "What you can learn from me is only disappointment."
"If you can't calm down, why not use the resources of the Fan Di God Realm to advance the reconstruction of the Yue Shen Realm?"
"...Why?" Qianye Ying'er frowned, her expression suddenly becoming complicated.
Chi Wuyue smiled, a faint misty light appearing in her demonic eyes: "Because for his journey to the Abyss, the most perfect ending I can imagine is that he returns together with Xia Qingyue."
Qianye Ying'er turned her snow-white neck away, not letting Chi Wuyue see her eyes: "If Xia Qingyue is really alive, if they really come back together... what use is rebuilding ten thousand Yue Shen Realms? Can it offset her hatred of wanting to cut me into a thousand pieces?"
Chi Wuyue did not answer, and could not answer.
"It doesn't matter," Qianye Ying'er turned back. "You said it, five years. If he hasn't returned after five years..."
"I'll jump down with you," Chi Wuyue replied without any hesitation.
Five years in the Divine Realm was fifty years in the Abyss, the time when the next Abyss passage would open. If Yun Che hadn't returned by then... only the worst outcome remained.
"But rest assured, he must be doing very well now. Although it's only been half a year, perhaps... he has already reached a height beyond our imagination," Chi Wuyue smiled, comforting Qianye Ying'er and also herself.
"After all, that's this empress's own man; how could he be defeated by mere Abyss!"
"No, he is first my man," Qianye Ying'er snorted. "You may be the empress, but I was first!"
Quite a childish double entendre, which made Chi Wuyue momentarily smile.
"Speaking of which, have you made any progress on what you're looking for?" Qianye Ying'er asked. Chi Wuyue's words had given her some comfort, and the agitation in her heart seemed to calm down a little.
Chi Wuyue shook her head: "No. Actually, even if I found some trace, I couldn't inform him. But there's always an obsession driving me."
Qianye Ying'er rested her jade-like arms on her soft, full chest and said indifferently: "Why are you so convinced that the Yuan Huang of the Abyss is a demon from the ancient demon race?"
"Because of the Abyss Mirror and the Demon Pearl," Chi Wuyue gave a brief and direct answer.
Qianye Ying'er tilted her brow and said casually: "I think that Yuan Huang is more likely a person from the ancient divine race, and might even be related to the Fan Di Divine Clan."
"Oh?" Chi Wuyue became interested: "What's your basis?"
"Remember that person named Nan Zhaoming?" Qianye Ying'er's voice slowed. "At that time, before you arrived, Mu Xuanyin and I briefly fought him and were completely outmatched. But later, Qianye Wugu intervened to let Mu Xuanyin and me escape. At that moment, facing Qianye Wugu's golden Fan light, Nan Zhaoming's reaction... it was as if he was frozen in place, and he was repelled by Qianye Wugu's strike without any resistance."
"...!" Chi Wuyue's eyes snapped up.
"The situation was too urgent during that time for me to think carefully. But recently, I inadvertently recalled that scene. Nan Zhaoming's reaction was clearly one of terror, and not an ordinary terror," Qianye Ying'er continued. "Nan Zhaoming and Nan Zhaoguang call themselves quasi-knights, and they are barely considered subordinates of the Yuan Huang? For someone like that to be frightened to the point of almost losing their soul in an instant... it made me wonder whether the Yuan Huang's mysterious light might be similar to the Fan Di mysterious light."
Chi Wuyue's eyes narrowed tightly: "Why didn't you tell me about this?"
Qianye Ying'er rolled her eyes at her: "The subsequent chase didn't allow for a moment's respite; how could I have had the leisure to tell you this?"
"..." Chi Wuyue was silent for a long time. Then, she suddenly recalled the soft words spoken by Qianye Wugu and Qianye Bingzhu before they sacrificed their lives to save Yun Che:
*'Earlier, when we struck, the opponent seemed very wary of our golden Fan light. This person, upon seeing it, might also be so.'*
At that time, Yun Che's throat was held in Mo Beichen's grip. All her heart and soul were focused on how to save Yun Che, so she had no time to think deeply. Afterward, it was an endless escape with no breathing room...
Now recalling it, she realized with a start that she seemed to have missed something important.
"Fan... Di..." Chi Wuyue frowned deeply, falling into deep thought as she murmured.
But how could Fan Di control the Abyss Mirror... Or was my speculation about the Abyss Mirror wrong?
"Hmm? It seems I successfully confused your thoughts, so it wasn't a wasted trip," Qianye Ying'er turned around. "Take your time thinking. If by any chance... if your demon soul senses any movement regarding him, be sure to inform me immediately."
"Qianying."
Just as Qianye Ying'er was about to leave, Chi Wuyue suddenly called out to her, and then asked somewhat dazedly: "The Fan Di Divine Clan, the Star Gods, the Moon Gods... in the ancient era, they were all divine clans under the Heaven-Slaying God Emperor."
"Even they left behind divine power inheritances. So why did the Heaven-Slaying God Emperor leave no inheritance?"
Qianye Ying'er turned back, looking at her in confusion: "The Creation Gods and Demon Emperors who left inheritances are only the Evil God and Jie Tian Mo Di... oh, your Nirvana Wheel Demon Soul barely counts as one. None of the others left any inheritance. What's strange about that?"
"It's different," Chi Wuyue slowly shook her head. "Among the four Creation Gods and four Demon Emperors, the Life Creation God died from the sneak attack of the three Demon Emperors, and the three Demon Emperors and the Order Creation God died from Myriad Tribulations of Oblivion. They had no time to leave any inheritance. The Nirvana Wheel Demon Soul that I carry is strictly not an inheritance at all; it's just a wisp of soul source that the Nirvana Wheel Demon Emperor barely scattered before death, untouched by the poison's devouring."
"The Evil God was once the master of the Heavenly Poison Pearl, thus had special resistance to Myriad Tribulations of Oblivion, so he fell many years after being afflicted by it, and naturally had enough time to leave an inheritance before his fall."
"Jie Tian Mo Di returned to the world, gave demon blood to you and Yun Che, and also left behind Dark Eternal Calamity."
"All of these prove that the power and bloodline of Creation Gods and Demon Emperors can also be inherited. The three Demon Emperors and the two Creation Gods died suddenly, leaving no opportunity, but the Heaven-Slaying God Emperor Mo'e... he was the only one who died of old age!"
"He had the most ample opportunity among all Creation Gods and Demon Emperors to leave an inheritance."
"But none of the ancient records contain any information about a successor to his divine power. In later ages, no traces of his divine inheritance have been found to this day."
Qianye Ying'er's mind was full of Yun Che's situation in the Abyss, and she clearly didn't care about this as much as Chi Wuyue. She said casually: "Maybe he didn't want to? After all, the Heaven-Slaying God Emperor was known as the most upright and aloof Creation God. Perhaps he felt that no one was worthy of inheriting his divine power as the first Creation God, so he just let his Creation God power vanish with him forever."
These casually spoken words, clearly without any thought and even somewhat contrary to logic, made Chi Wuyue lift her head sharply, and her demonic pupils suddenly constricted slightly.
Chi Wuyue's unusual reaction made Qianye Ying'er frown: "What did you think of?"
Chi Wuyue did not speak... Qianye Ying'er followed her clearly dazed gaze.
It was a fragmentary stone tablet, covered with ancient dark marks, placed alone by Chi Wuyue in a small barrier.
The stone tablet was made of some unknown material, having endured an extremely long time yet still not turning to dust. The writing on it was all blurred, but it could be seen that it had been deliberately erased by force.
Only the three characters in the center seemed to have been spared, faintly discernible:
"?, Xiao, Die."
These brief three characters, having traveled through countless ages and vicissitudes with this stone tablet, still faintly exuded a sorrow that was almost piercing to the soul.
...
The vast mist sea seemed boundless.
Unknowingly, Yun Che had been staying in the mist sea for half a year.
He would stop from time to time, then move forward, heading deeper into the mist sea.
As the Abyss Dust grew denser, the Abyss Beasts appearing in the surrounding world became more powerful.
At this point, even a demigod would have to tread carefully, but he was unhurried, his gaze even more serene than the misty abyss.
At that moment, a terrifying low roar sounded from the right.
It seemed like a dragon's roar, but much more hoarse and sinister than a dragon's roar, as if coming from a despairing demon dragon chained in a purgatory blood pool, enduring ten thousand tortures.
Soon, a complete dragon silhouette appeared in Yun Che's spiritual perception.
The life aura he emitted stirred the opponent's destructive instinct. Under the abyssal dragon's roar, the pressure unleashed was unmistakably... that of the Divine Annihilation Realm.
This was a qiulong.
This dragon silhouette, he was too familiar with it. Back then in the Yan Shen Realm, it was a qiulong that forced him to defile Mu Xuanyin. This destructive aura and pressure was probably at the second level of the Divine Annihilation Realm, which was undoubtedly a considerable threat to Yun Che... but facing the approaching dragon silhouette, he showed no wariness at all, and even his slow pace didn't falter in the slightest.
Just as the abyssal dragon's might was about to descend, the dragon silhouette suddenly stopped... and then slowly lay down. Finally, as the destructive aura completely retracted, it presented a quiet prostrate form to Yun Che's right.
Yun Che finally moved. He raised his arm and flicked his finger, sending a strand of mysterious light flying toward that abyss-adapted qiulong, piercing into its Abyss Core without obstruction.
Thus, in this vast mist sea, the Abyss Dust could carry his consciousness, allowing him to easily perceive the location of this abyss-adapted qiulong.
An Abyss Beast at the early stage of the Divine Annihilation Realm was the limit he could currently control.
Since he had encountered it, of course he couldn't let it go.