Chapter 577: Heaven Pities the Yun Clan
Yun Che’s furious roar was like claps of thunder, shaking the eardrums and souls of everyone present.
Earlier, the Helian, Jiufang, Nangong, Chiyang, Lin, Xiao, and Bai clans had all been thoroughly cursed and left speechless by Yun Che, but in everyone’s understanding, the fact that the Demon Emperor Seal was lost because of Yun Canghai was still real. It was like a fetter bound to the Yun Clan that no amount of words, reasoning, or loyalty could completely break free from.
But now, the Demon Emperor Seal had returned, and Yun Canghai’s remains had also returned.
The Demon Emperor Seal was whole and intact, while Yun Canghai’s remains were like withered, rotten wood. In the Yaohuang Palace, even the most hard-hearted person could not keep their heart from trembling at this moment. For the sake of the Demon Emperor, he had not hesitated to bring the clan’s strongest forces and rush to the Tian Xuan Continent… even though he clearly knew that this would likely cause the clan’s power to decline sharply overnight.
During these hundred years, he had endured unimaginable torment and pain, persisting for an entire century, using his life, will, and all his convictions to protect the Demon Emperor Seal that the former Demon Emperor had entrusted to him.
Every trace on his body deeply depicted what “loyalty” and “greatness” truly meant.
They all asked themselves, yet not a single one believed they could have done the same.
And during this century, while he used everything to protect the Demon Emperor Seal… the Yun Clan had been bearing severe blame and joint suppression from the other Guardian Clans, even suffering bullying. Even his title, through waves of behind-the-scenes manipulation, had been changed from “Demon King” to “Criminal.”
How could a man like Yun Canghai be a criminal!
Such iron bones, such fierce loyalty and righteousness, would make even heaven sigh with grief when seeing it. Even if there was only one person in the entire Huan Yao Realm who was not a criminal, it would have to be Yun Canghai…
Yun Canghai’s century-long infamy, the century-long guilt that the Yun Clan had endured, now seemed nothing more than the most tragic joke in the history of the Huan Yao Realm…
And in contrast, the actions of the seven clans, who had targeted the Yun Clan at every turn and personally admitted to uniting to suppress the Yun Clan a hundred years ago, were utterly vile and despicable. They always spoke of being for the Huan Yao Realm, always proclaimed their own righteousness and loyalty… but now, before Yun Canghai’s remains, they appeared incomparably insignificant and laughable. Every word they had spoken before had become a resounding slap to their own faces.
“My grandfather’s will and loyalty are witnessed by the sun and moon and proven by heaven and earth! He is worthy of the Huan Yao Realm, worthy of heaven, and worthy of the title ‘Demon King’! Use your own eyes to look well at his remains… look well at how much he has given for this Huan Yao Realm!! For the sake of the Demon Emperor, he fell into a living hell, yet never complained, and even fought to his death to protect the Demon Emperor Seal entrusted to him by the former Demon Emperor. For the Demon Emperor Seal, he suffered a century of a life worse than death, yet he still did not have a single complaint… even until his dying breath, he was still worrying about the safety of the Demon Emperor’s lineage…”
“Helian Kuang, Jiufang Kui, Chiyang Bailie, Nangong Zhi, Xiao Xifeng, Lin Guiyan, Bai Yi… this is the ‘criminal’ you call unpardonable! This is the ‘foolish man’ you mock with venomous words! When the Demon Emperor’s lineage encountered great calamity, your seven clans did not lose a single soldier or general, nor accomplished any merit. What you did was unite to slander my grandfather, suppress my Yun Clan, tirelessly spread and promote my Yun Clan’s ‘heinous crimes’ across the entire Huan Yao Realm, and even up to this day, when my Yun Clan has completely declined, you still unite to expel my Yun Clan from the Guardian Clans and insult my grandfather with every word!!”
“If heaven had not taken pity and allowed me to meet my grandfather, his reputation would have been forever defiled by you vile scum! My entire Yun Clan would have forever been unable to clear its name!”
“Where do you get the audacity, where do you get the face? What qualifications do you have, what face do you have to accuse my grandfather and judge my Yun Clan!”
“You abandoned your master, were selfish and self-interested, forgot your ancestors and betrayed your clan, framed the loyal and good, and harbored evil intentions… Compared to my grandfather, how are you fit to be the masters of Guardian Clans!! Even beasts have a trace of conscience, but you are not even worthy of being called beasts!”
Yun Che’s eyes had already become faintly moist. Yun Canghai had severed his own life force, sacrificed himself, and died smiling, just so Yun Che could escape. Until this day, he had finally done something for his grandfather, something that a grandson should do.
The faces of the seven clan masters were all unbearably ugly. Some were even red-faced with anger, their features twisted. Faced with Yun Che’s furious reprimand, all seven of them, seven Guardian Clan masters who shook the world, could not utter a single word of rebuttal… They felt as if they had been stripped naked and exposed to the gazes of the crowd. Those gazes were all full of contempt… Even those people they usually would not deign to look at were now staring at them with the most contemptuous looks.
The Yun Clan, though in decline, still stood proud with unbending backbone; the miraculously returned Demon Emperor Seal; Yun Canghai’s remains, marked with the traces of hell… What was loyalty and righteousness, what was treachery and deceit—as long as one’s eyes were not blind, they could see clearly and at a glance… surpassing a thousand words and rumors.
Even the elders and disciples of the seven clans bowed their heads deeply, not daring to meet anyone’s gaze. The feeling of shame made them sit as if on pins and needles.
“Huai Wang… what do we do now?” Zhong Wang transmitted his voice, trembling.
The situation had now completely spiraled out of control. Everything had utterly escaped Huai Wang’s control and expectations. Before today, he had imagined various kinds of unexpected events, but he never dreamed that things would develop to this point.
The earlier decisive battle being won by the Yun Clan had already shocked him greatly, but he could still deal with it. Now, however, he felt as if his scalp was about to explode. He knew that his original plan could never be realized today.
Hearing Zhong Wang’s transmission, Huai Wang took a heavy breath and forced himself to remain calm as he stepped forward and said, “Demon King Yun Canghai’s loyalty and righteousness are indeed enough to move heaven and earth… but this king has one question! Since Demon King was imprisoned by the Tian Wei Sword Domain of the Tian Xuan Continent, how could you meet him and bring back his remains?” His tone turned darker: “You are a member of the Yun Clan… why were you in the Tian Xuan Continent? And how did you get from the Tian Xuan Continent to here?”
What Huai Wang asked was also what everyone was wondering. But his dark tone clearly insinuated that the Yun Clan had some secret scheme.
Yun Che turned his gaze to the side and was about to speak when a young girl’s voice, cold enough to pierce the heart, rang out: “This empress can give you the answer to that question!”
Xiao Yaohou slowly walked down. The moment her voice sounded, it drew the attention of everyone in the hall. Her eyes were like cold stars as she said icily, “Back then, my father and Demon King both fell into the Tian Xuan Continent. Although there was no further news, we never saw their corpses. Therefore, this empress was never willing to fully believe that my father was dead, and Yun Clan Head never gave up trying to find news of Demon King.”
“Over the past hundred years, scattered information kept coming from the Tian Xuan Continent, saying that Demon King was not dead, and demanding that our Huan Yao Realm exchange the Lunhui Jing for his life. Although all the clan masters and commandery kings firmly believed it was a trick from the Tian Xuan Continent, since it concerned Demon King’s life, this empress and Yun Clan Head would rather believe it existed! As everyone knows, twenty-five years ago, Yun Clan Head and his wife secretly went to the Tian Xuan Continent… but that time, it was actually at this empress’s behest! The Lunhui Jing that Yun Clan Head brought with him was also this empress’s idea! Otherwise, given Yun Clan Head’s loyalty and righteousness, he would never have privately taken the Lunhui Jing he was entrusted to guard. Although the Lunhui Jing is the supreme treasure of my Demon Emperor clan, it is ultimately a lifeless object. If it could truly exchange for Demon King’s life, this empress would not have had the slightest reluctance.”
The eyes of the Yun Clan members were moist, their emotions stirred. Even they only now learned that everything twenty-five years ago was orchestrated by Xiao Yaohou, who had even not hesitated to let Yun Qinghong take the supreme treasure Lunhui Jing to gamble on a slim hope of exchanging it for Demon King’s life. It turned out that although she had been pressured into demoting the Yun Clan over the years, she had never truly looked down on them in her heart.
“And what happened afterward, you all know.” Xiao Yaohou swept her cold gaze forward: “When Yun Clan Head and his wife returned three years later, they were severely injured, their profound strength completely crippled, and they brought back a son. When Yun Clan Head came to this empress to confess his crime of losing the Lunhui Jing, he admitted everything to me. It was then that this empress knew that Yun Clan Head and his wife indeed had a child in the Tian Xuan Continent, but it was not Yun Xiao, whom they had brought back!”
Yun Xiao could not use Arcane Firmament, and the rumor that he was not Yun Qinghong’s son had been known throughout the city for over a decade. Even the Yun Clan never truly acknowledged him as the young clan head. Therefore, when Xiao Yaohou said that Yun Xiao was not the son of Yun Qinghong and his wife, although the eyes of those present turned strange, no one was surprised.
“Soon after Yun Clan Head and his wife had their child in the Tian Xuan Continent, they encountered a long period of pursuit. When they were at the end of their rope, they met a friend they had made in the Tian Xuan Continent. He pointed out an escape route for Yun Clan Head and his wife, but fearing that their child might meet with misfortune during the escape, leaving them without an heir, he secretly exchanged his own child with the child of Yun Clan Head and his wife.”
“Ah…”
Gasps and commotion filled the Yaohuang Palace. Xiao Yaohou looked at Yun Che and said slowly, “Yun Che, you are the child that Yun Clan Head left in the Tian Xuan Continent back then, aren’t you?”
Although she was asking Yun Che, her tone was affirmative, because there could be no other possibility. Yun Che nodded and said, “Yes. I grew up on the Tian Xuan Continent and only returned to this Huan Yao Realm three months ago.”
“Then how did you and Demon King meet? Can you tell this empress?” Xiao Yaohou asked calmly.
Yun Che said flatly, “On the Tian Xuan Continent, when I was seventeen, I became the winner of a ranking battle and was invited to watch the ceremony of a low-level elder of the Tian Wei Sword Domain sealing a demon… and that ‘demon’ was my grandfather. At that time, I did not even know my own origins, let alone that he was my blood relative. During that process, due to a sudden accident, I was forced into the Tianwei Soul-Suppressing Array that sealed my grandfather, was severely injured by him, and was then sealed together with him in a dark underground place… Later, my grandfather saw the Lunhui Jing on me and used his profound force to force out my Arcane Firmament Mark. Only then did I learn that he was my blood relative, and I also learned my true origins.”
Although Yun Che’s words were brief, they painted clear and bizarre pictures in people’s minds. The Demon King of the Huan Yao Realm, deeply imprisoned by the enemy, had actually met and recognized his own biological grandson on the Tian Xuan Continent. This was truly arranged by heaven, truly heaven pitying the Yun Clan…
Yun Che extended his hand. As he opened his palm, the unadorned Lunhui Jing pendant hung down and swayed gently.
“Ah… it really is the Lunhui Jing!” Many around exclaimed in unison.
“This Lunhui Jing has been worn by me since I was a child. The grandfather who raised me said it was the only proof for me to return to my clan and recognize my ancestors. It was also what allowed me to recognize my grandfather.” Yun Che clenched the Lunhui Jing again, lowered his eyelids, and said slowly, “My grandfather entrusted the Demon Emperor Seal and the Yun Clan Head Token to me. Then, to allow me to escape from that place, he severed his own life force to break the seal that was connected to his life force… That was only three years ago.”