Chapter 2128: Shen Wuyi, the Unsleeping Moon
Faced with the Dreamweaving Divine Son's initiative to strike up a conversation, the Dragon Lord once again felt a bit flattered.
"Dragon Jiang?" After a brief moment of surprise, the Dragon Lord understood, but he did not answer directly. Instead, he probed, "May I ask why the Abyss Divine Son is asking about this person? Could there be some connection between you?"
"It's not really a connection," Yun Che said with a completely candid expression. "Before returning to the Dreamweaving Divine Kingdom, this junior was always wandering alone outside. Once, when I narrowly escaped disaster, I was saved by someone who called herself 'Dragon Jiang,' and then she vanished without a trace."
"After I returned to the Dreamweaving Divine Kingdom, I have always wanted to find this person to repay the debt of gratitude. However, among the dragon names recorded in the Xuanji Hall, there is no 'Dragon Jiang,' so this junior has never had a way to repay that favor. Today, fortunate enough to meet Senior Dragon Lord, I came to inquire."
"I see." The Dragon Lord relaxed and said with a chuckle, "Indeed, there is no one named 'Dragon Jiang' among my dragon clan. However, there is a dragon girl who, when wandering outside, often called herself by that name."
Yun Che's expression turned eager. "May I ask who this dragon girl is?"
The Dragon Lord replied, "This girl's name—the Abyss Divine Son must have heard of it—Dragon Xi."
A look of perfectly timed surprise crossed Yun Che's face. "Dragon Xi... that scar-faced dragon girl?"
After the surprise came gradual realization. "No wonder. I clearly felt that she was very young, yet her cultivation was astonishingly high. So it turned out to be..."
At this point, he suddenly changed the subject, a hint of puzzlement in his tone. "The name of the scar-faced dragon girl has been ringing in this junior's ears like thunder. Some time ago, this junior heard news from the Xuanji Hall that the scar-faced dragon girl had successfully broken through to the Divine Annihilation Realm. I wonder if that is true?"
"That is correct." The Dragon Lord nodded, a trace of pride flashing across his face, then quickly fading.
Yun Che exclaimed in admiration, "I have often heard that the cultivation of the dragon clan is extremely difficult. Young Dragon Lord Dragon Wangchu, with his ancestral dragon bloodline and talents that overshadow the entire clan, still took five jiazi to reach the Divine Lord Realm. Although he has advanced rapidly in recent years, he has yet to touch the Divine Annihilation Realm. Yet Dragon Xi, at barely two jiazi of age, has achieved demigod status."
"At least in the records of the Xuanji Hall, this is an unprecedented miracle for the dragon clan. With such a stunning dragon girl, why didn't the Dragon Lord bring her to this Pure Land gathering?"
The expressions of Dragon Chixin and Dragon Qianxin behind the Dragon Lord both became complicated.
The Dragon Lord gave a bitter smile and said, "The Abyss Divine Son may not know this, but my dragon clan has always been dominated by the ancestral dragon lineage. Under me, the only direct successor of that lineage today is Wangchu."
"Dragon Xi's talent is unparalleled—in the entire history of the dragon clan that I have witnessed, no one can match her. Moreover, she carries the ancestral dragon bloodline. However, she belongs to an outside clan, and to this day, I have been unable to trace the origin of her ancestral dragon bloodline."
The Dragon Lord's gaze was hazy, and his tone carried self-mockery. "Wangchu's talent in the Xuan path is passable among the dragon clan, but compared to the Divine Sons... heh, if I were to bring him here, he would only become a laughingstock."
"This junior understands." Yun Che nodded knowingly. "The Young Dragon Lord did not come, so naturally, there is no reason to bring other juniors."
"It is shameful to say, but that is indeed the case." The Dragon Lord gave another light sigh.
The Dragon Lord had known countless people in his life and had long become indifferent to everything outside of inheritance. But the man before him possessed a miraculous divine rank, held an exalted status, yet had a gentle countenance, composed demeanor, calm without arrogance, and a character that valued gratitude and loyalty. This rare combination made the Dragon Lord, at first meeting, feel a surge of goodwill. He took the initiative to say:
"Don't laugh at me, Abyss Divine Son, but I have tried more than once to adopt Dragon Xi as my foster daughter. Yet every time, I was rejected, and the refusals left no room or hope."
He added with self-deprecation, "If only it had worked out, I might have been able to bring her to this Pure Land in the capacity of a foster daughter and let the Abyss Emperor see her in person. Alas."
"Why is that?" Yun Che's face showed the most natural bewilderment. "For a daughter of the dragon clan, shouldn't that be an unparalleled honor?"
"For others, indeed. But this child Dragon Xi..." The Dragon Lord shook his head. "Her personality is extremely reclusive, and her nature holds a kind of inexplicable stubbornness. She is unwilling to have contact with anyone, nor does she show any courtesy to anyone. For decades, it has always been this way, and I am no exception."
Yun Che seemed to ask casually, "In that case, wouldn't she be disliked in the dragon clan, with a difficult situation?"
"Not to that extent." The Dragon Lord smiled faintly. "Because of her eccentric personality, I specially gave her a remote area and ordered that no one may approach without her permission. As a result, over the years, she either goes out to train or stays in her own place. The entire dragon clan knows her temperament and never takes the initiative to provoke her, so everything has been peaceful."
Whether it was an illusion or not, after saying these words, the Dragon Lord felt that Yun Che's aura seemed to soften a little.
Yun Che raised his hand and made a respectful salute. "I thank Senior Dragon Lord for generously informing me. Since I know that Dragon Jiang is Dragon Xi, this junior must choose a day to visit the Ancestral Dragon Mountain Range to seek a meeting. May I ask if it would be convenient for the Dragon Lord?"
The Dragon Lord quickly raised his hand. "It's a trivial matter. The Abyss Divine Son need not be so formal. If the Abyss Divine Son comes, my dragon clan will be more than welcoming at any time. However, given Dragon Xi's temperament... the Abyss Divine Son should be mentally prepared."
"Whether she sees me or not is entirely up to her. This junior will never force it, nor will I impose." Yun Che's face was completely calm. Then, as if naturally, he asked, "Speaking of which, during my brief encounter with Dragon Jiang... er, Dragon Xi, I seemed to notice that she was searching for something."
"..." The Dragon Lord's brows twitched slightly.
"Does the Dragon Lord know anything about this? If she has not yet found it, this junior will spare no effort to help her search, to repay the favor."
The Dragon Lord did not deny it. "Dragon Xi is indeed searching for certain foreign objects. However, this matter involves some of her secrets. Even I, as the Dragon Lord, cannot speak of it without authorization. I ask the Abyss Divine Son to forgive me."
"This junior overstepped."
Yun Che caught a glint of something unusual in the depths of the Dragon Lord's eyes. He had doubts, but he could not press further.
The information he had obtained from the Dragon Lord matched what he had learned from the Xuanji Hall over the years.
The Dragon Lord was quite fond of Dragon Xi, having tried many times to adopt her as his foster daughter... He allowed Dragon Xi to have her own private land, forbade anyone else from approaching, and never allowed anyone to bully her.
At least she was safe there, with enough freedom and the protection of the Dragon Lord.
At this moment, Yun Che's respect for the Dragon Lord was not feigned in the slightest. It carried a deep-seated reverence and gratitude from the bottom of his heart.
Suddenly, the surrounding atmosphere congealed, and even the voices grew softer.
Yun Che's gaze involuntarily shifted, passing through layers of clouds and mist, colliding with a quickly approaching cluster of black shadows.
Meng Jianxi swiftly came to Yun Che's side and said in a low voice, "It's the Eternal Night Divine Kingdom. Yuan Di, no one in the Eternal Night Divine Kingdom, including the Wu Ming Divine Venerable, needs to be greeted. It's best not to get close at all."
"...Yuan Di?"
Not receiving an immediate response, Meng Jianxi looked at Yun Che with slight surprise, only to find his eyes strangely vacant.
Aware of his own abnormal state, Yun Che turned his gaze back and nodded. "Understood. However, the divine pressure of this Wu Ming Divine Venerable... is quite peculiar."
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!!
He inexplicably heard the sound of his own heart beating, incredibly violent.
What is this...
Is it the oppressive feeling brought by the arrival of the Wu Ming Divine Venerable?
No...
Even when sensing the gaze of the Abyss Emperor, even when facing the High Divine Officials, it was never like this...
His hand unconsciously touched the place over his heart.
What exactly...
In this world of the abyss, what thing could make my soul tremble so much...
He let out a long breath, but the violent pounding of his heart still could not calm down. Instead, it became more intense, bit by bit.
"It can probably be considered a kind of hateful aura that rejects everything. Naturally, it makes people uncomfortable." Meng Jianxi did not notice Yun Che's strangeness and explained in a low voice.
Where everyone's gazes converged, the black shadows had already stepped onto the top of the Eden clouds, appearing especially stark in this excessively pure white world.
The accompanying aura was like the cold spring of the Nine Netherworld pouring down from above, chilling everyone's body and inexplicably sending shivers down their spines.
Unlike the cold, oppressive darkness divine pressure released by the Qiheng Divine Venerable, this was a bone-chilling, soul-piercing cold, as if, invisibly, the poisonous fang of a deadly snake was pressed against one's throat.
The younger generation of the divine kingdoms shivered violently.
The Eternal Night women walked without sound, their expressions completely indifferent, like a group of souls draped in black robes. In the middle, surrounded by them, was still the same black palanquin.
Even when stepping onto the Eden cloud top, the Wu Ming Divine Venerable remained seated inside, not showing her true face, as had always been the case.
And the Abyss Emperor never took issue with it.
The other Divine Venerables naturally did not bother to pay attention or comment.
But this time, almost at the same instant, the gazes of the six Divine Venerables—Jue Luo, Heart-Painting, Dreamless, Heavenly Star, Vault Moon, and Qiheng—all converged on the woman to the right of the palanquin.
The same was true for the strong of the divine kingdoms. Along with the abruptly shifting gazes came expressions of varying degrees of shock.
To the right of the palanquin had always been the position of the Eternal Night Divine Maiden.
Twenty years ago, the previous Eternal Night Divine Maiden, Shen Wuqing, was deposed, and the successor Divine Maiden took the name Shen Wuyi. This was known to all the kingdoms.
But until now, no one had seen this successor Divine Maiden in person. Even the news about her was scarce.
And the few rumors that did exist were extraordinarily exaggerated and bizarre, defying belief. One glance was enough to know they were false.
It was rumored that the previous Divine Maiden, Shen Wuqing, had been executed in recent years... This rumor was highly likely true.
It was rumored that Shen Wuyi was found by the Wu Ming Divine Venerable among an outside branch of the Shen Wu bloodline, and when found, she was only half a jiazi old, yet already at the peak of the Divine Lord Realm...
It was rumored that Shen Wuyi had taken only a short span of less than three years to cross the demi-divine annihilation realm and directly achieve demigod status...
It was rumored that Shen Wuyi's current cultivation had reached the fifth level of the Divine Annihilation Realm...
The earliest group of people who knew of Shen Wuyi's origins had all been silenced by Shen Wuyanye for unknown reasons. The only thing that could be confirmed was that during the journey when Shen Wuyanye brought her back to the divine temple, she was encountered by the eyes of a certain divine kingdom, and her cultivation was indeed at the peak of the Divine Lord Realm.
But such cultivation at only half a jiazi of age... was absolutely impossible.
To cross the demi-divine annihilation realm and four small realms of the demigod level in just twenty years to reach the fifth level of the Divine Annihilation Realm was even more of a fantasy. Even the most absurd bragging wouldn't dare go that far.
But...
Now, this Eternal Night Divine Maiden, whom Shen Wuyanye had hidden away for twenty years, had finally appeared before the world. The Xuan path aura she released...
The sixth level of the Divine Annihilation Realm!
"Divine Annihilation, level six... How... is that possible?" Meng Xuanji, the master of the Xuanji Hall, which controlled the largest intelligence network of the Dreamweaving Divine Kingdom, muttered in a daze.
"What... what!?"
Meng Jianxi cried out in shock.
Not long ago, Meng Jianxi had routinely summarized intelligence on the various Divine Sons and Divine Maidens for Yun Che. When mentioning the Eternal Night Divine Maiden, he had joked that the rumors claimed her cultivation might have reached the fifth level of the Divine Annihilation Realm.
He clearly remembered the twitching at the corner of his mouth when he obtained that intelligence, and when he told Yun Che about it, his tone was also mocking. He even joked that the Xuanji Hall's intelligence capabilities sometimes left much to be desired.
But he never dreamed that the Eternal Night Divine Maiden standing before his eyes would be even more astonishing than those absurdly laughable rumors.
"Could it be... that the intelligence about her being at the peak of the Divine Lord Realm back then was false?"
He murmured involuntarily, as if only then could he convince himself to accept it.
In his distraction, he had no time to notice Yun Che's eerie silence, nor his completely unfocused pupils.
Yun Che stared blankly at the woman in black. The sounds around him grew more and more distant. All colors silently faded, twisted, and vanished... The world gradually turned into a formless, pale white, leaving only those eyes that entered his soul through his pupils.
Those eyes had once burst into his life as a stunning beauty, the most sorrowful and painful teardrops at the bottom of his soul, the eternal dream that haunted him...
Moreover, they were the miracle and extravagant hope he endlessly craved.
Suddenly, without any warning, they appeared again in his pupils, in his life.
Only now, those eyes were as cold as a frosty pool. When they met his gaze, they did not stir the slightest ripple, nor did they reflect his image.
It was her...
It wasn't her...
He felt an unprecedented loss of control over his body and an even more uncontrollable drift of his consciousness.
"Yun Che... Yun Che! What's wrong with you!? Calm your mind and focus your spirit! At any time, you must not show a flaw!"
The voice of Li Suo rang in his sea of consciousness, growing more urgent with each word.
Her emotional expression had become increasingly clear.
But this time, it could not calm the storm in his sea of consciousness.
She had never seen Yun Che in such a soul state before. It was as if he had suddenly floated away into a too-fantastic dream. His reason wanted him to wake up, but his longing feared that the dream would burst like a bubble...
"Hmph!" Pan Yusheng suppressed the unusual look in his eyes and snorted coldly. "The Wu Ming Divine Venerable schemed to hide her for twenty years. It seems she wanted to give us all a big surprise. Quite the effort."
"Surprise, huh!? Do stinking men like you deserve it!?"
The harsh voice that came from the palanquin made the younger generation wince in pain, some almost covering their ears.
"Wuyi, today, let the world remember your face and name! And make sure they... never forget!"
The voice of the Wu Ming Divine Venerable cut into everyone's soul strings... especially the younger ones who had never seen her before. They had been mentally prepared, yet still could not believe that a person's voice could be so terrible.
"Yes, Mother God."
In response to the varied gazes of the crowd, Shen Wuyi stepped forward slowly. When she stopped, the black veil over her face fell silently.
"Eternal Night Divine Kingdom, Shen Wuyi, first meeting with the various Divine Venerables and seniors of the divine kingdoms. I humbly seek your guidance."
The true face of the Eternal Night Divine Maiden appeared before their eyes, and in an instant, gasps filled the air.
Boom——
In Yun Che's world, it was as if billions of stars had shattered at once.
Women of the Eternal Night Divine Kingdom were only permitted to wear the simplest, plainest black clothes, without any adornment, without a trace of makeup.
Because in the eyes of the Wu Ming Divine Venerable, elaborate clothes and makeup were nothing but tricks to please men!
How could the Wu Ming Divine Venerable allow it? How could she tolerate it!
Thin clouds spread like frost, cascading over the long black sleeves and skirt, stirring up a layer of shattered silver-like halos. And yet those black clothes were so plain, even crude, but at this moment, they appeared incredibly magnificent and luxurious.
Because their wearer was beautiful like a celestial painting brushed by divine light—a beauty too stunning, too extraordinary.
The white clouds seemed drawn to her, brushing lightly against the icy jade and bones of her neck. Every inch of her skin seemed to flow with a faint light, each strand more translucent than moonlight.
Her eyes were as beautiful as glass that had crushed starlight, yet they were so cold and distant, like a lone moon reflected in a frosty pool. Even when facing a group of Divine Venerables, they did not stir the slightest ripple.
She wore no makeup at all, yet her lips were a pale cherry that no expensive rouge could replicate, like a touch of red in the snow, piercing the heart and soul at a glance. But even as they pressed together, they held the same distant indifference.
"So... beautiful..." This was a whisper from Hua Caili. She stared dumbly. Though the woman wore all black, she was like an ice fairy under the moon, breathtakingly beautiful and unreachably distant.
"There is such a woman in this world..."
Sha Xing muttered under his breath.
The pride of a Divine Son drove him to try to look away, but despite the twitching at the corners of his eyes, he failed to do so.
Gulp!
Gulp!
The sounds of swallowing throats rose and fell. Even the gazes of the various Divine Venerables showed a momentary daze, let alone the young juniors.
Before today, they would never have believed that in this world, there existed a woman whose appearance could rival that of the Heaven-Breaking Divine Maiden.
Even more unbelievable was that she came from the Eternal Night Divine Kingdom.
None of them doubted that even without any cultivation, she could topple the entire abyss world with her face alone.
Meng Kongchan withdrew his gaze and said to Yun Che, "Yuan'er, this woman's appearance is actually not inferior to Caili's. Truly astonishing. However, she is still a daughter of the Eternal Night. You absolutely must not be swayed by her appearance and..."
Before he could finish, he suddenly realized something and turned sharply to look at Yun Che.
Only then did he notice that Yun Che's pupils had dilated to nearly cover his entire eye sockets.
His aura, his soul breath, his body... all were in violent upheaval, almost on the verge of collapse.
In an instant, Meng Kongchan shifted to Yun Che's side and said urgently, "Yuan'er, what's wrong with you?"
"..." Yun Che exhaled a difficult breath of turbid air, then reached out and grabbed Meng Kongchan's wrist. "Senior, I need a barrier... ten breaths... twenty breaths will do."
In a flash of astonishment, Meng Kongchan asked no further questions. He turned his palm over, and a barrier from a true god enveloped Yun Che, completely isolating everything inside and out.
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