Chapter 598: Sea of Death
"Oh? Xiao Yaohou, you seem to be in a very bad state right now. Your heart meridians are severed, your five viscera are all injured—it must be very painful, right?" Huai Wang sneered arrogantly. "I have never been able to truly get the better of you all these years, but with my father taking action personally, even you, Xiao Yaohou, are nothing but an easy opponent."
"Oh? Judging by your stance, are you still dreaming of escaping? Hahahaha..." Huai Wang burst into wild laughter. "I thought you two would be fierce enough to take your own lives, denying us the chance to kill you with our own hands, but instead, you're indulging in the most ridiculous daydream in the world. Since you want to escape, then go ahead and try! Let me see where you think you can run to, hahahaha!"
The speed at which Ming Wang appeared was far faster than Yun Che had anticipated. His gaze was icy, and his breathing grew heavy. Huai Wang's wild laughter and arrogant words stirred Yun Che's soul, and all of his mental focus was concentrated solely on Ming Wang.
"Hug me tight..."
Suddenly, Xiao Yaohou heard Yun Che's voice within her mind: "Hold me tightly. No matter what happens later, don't let go, and don't strike out... As long as you still have even a shred of consciousness, don't let go no matter what!"
"This is our... only hope of escaping! Trust me!"
Xiao Yaohou was momentarily stunned.
The situation they now faced was a true dead end. Not to mention Ming Wang—even Huai Wang alone could easily put them to death. At this point, even if Yun Qinghong were present, there would be no path to survival.
As for Yun Che, in this Huan Yao Realm, amidst such terrifying figures, no one would believe he had any chance of escaping... not even the slightest ability to struggle.
But almost involuntarily, Xiao Yaohou extended her arms, obeying Yun Che's words, and tightly wrapped them around his waist...
During the Demon Emperor Ceremony, he had repeatedly turned what everyone believed impossible into the most shocking reality, transforming all their ridicule and mockery into stunned disbelief... He alone had restored the reputation of the Yun Clan, causing Huai Wang's seemingly foolproof plan to collapse... For the first time in her life, she was deeply impressed by someone.
And now, she found herself involuntarily wanting to trust him.
Holding tightly to this twenty-two-year-old man, whose strength was feeble, yet who had risked his life to rush in and protect her, she felt her heart and soul suddenly settle down a great deal. Lost in this subtle, unfamiliar, and incomprehensible feeling, only a vague voice drifted through the depths of her heart: Is this... the feeling of relying on someone...
Ming Wang raised his hands and lifted his head to the sky: "Princess Caiyi, your Demon Emperor Clan has ruled the Huan Yao Realm for ten thousand years. It is time for that to end. After today, the Huan Yao Realm will no longer have a Demon Emperor. My son will no longer be Huai Wang but will soon ascend the throne as the Huai Emperor! As for your Demon Emperor Clan, it will not be long before you are forgotten by the Huan Yao Realm. You, Princess Caiyi, will not only be the last Demon Emperor of the Demon Emperor Era but also the ignominious endpoint of that era. Unfortunately, you will not live to see it."
"Father." Huai Wang spoke up. "Let me finish them. These two desperate wretches are not even worthy of your personal action. Especially Yun Che... if I don't kill him with my own hands, the hatred in my heart will never be satisfied."
Ming Wang glanced sideways and said flatly, "You, a mid-stage Emperor Lord, soon to be crowned emperor of the Huan Yao Realm, are actually volunteering—and so eagerly—to kill someone far younger and weaker than yourself. In front of him, you have already suffered a complete defeat in every way."
Ming Wang's indifferent words made Huai Wang's entire body stiffen, and he hung his head in shame: "I am useless..."
"No, I did not say you were wrong." Ming Wang spoke slowly. "The first person in your life to throw you into disarray, lose control of your emotions, and utterly humiliate you is a young man barely over twenty. Naturally, it weighs on you. Perhaps you haven't even realized it yourself, but your heart and soul have already planted a heart demon because of him... And only by killing Yun Che with your own hands can you completely sever that heart demon."
"Kill them!"
Huai Wang lifted his head abruptly and said in a deep voice, "Yes!"
"And! When facing someone you must kill, no matter how weak they are, even if they are already fish on your chopping board, never toy with them! If you want to kill, uproot them completely in the shortest time possible!"
"I will heed your teachings, Father!"
Huai Wang appeared in front of Yun Che in an instant, and an overwhelming aura descended, firmly locking onto him. With a faint smile and a leisurely, arrogant gaze as if looking down on two pitiful larvae, Huai Wang said, "Yun Che, a few hours ago, I was still desperately thinking about the day I would tear you limb from limb with my own hands to vent the hatred in my heart. But now, it no longer matters. I am about to become the Demon Emperor of the Huan Yao Realm. To be honest, you don't even have the right to make me hate you, let alone meet my gaze. At least when you die, you'll have Xiao Yaohou as your burial companion—you're not losing out."
"Now, go to hell and continue guarding your Xiao Yaohou!"
A flicker of ferocity crossed Ming Wang's face. He raised both arms, and with a wild laugh, a skull-shaped crimson-black flame appeared above his head. At the Heavenly Xuan Realm, even an Overlord Emperor would die upon contact.
Xiao Yaohou's profound aura surged, and she was about to disregard the consequences of shattering her heart meridians to defend herself when she heard Yun Che roar, "Don't move!!"
Yun Che's body retreated with all his strength, his right arm tightly gripping Xiao Yaohou's waist. But under Huai Wang's pressure, his movements were extremely difficult. The Fallen Demon Flame in his pupils grew closer and closer... Just as the flame was about to strike his body, he suddenly turned around, letting it slam into his back...
"Cloud-Sealing Sun-Locking!!"
Boom!!
With a deafening explosion that shook heaven and earth, the Fallen Demon Flame from Huai Wang burst apart, instantly spreading across an area of more than ten li. In a world that seemed to have become a calamitous inferno of doom, Yun Che was like a leaf swept up by a hurricane, hurled more than ten li away...
And when the figure more than ten li away came into view, the smile on Huai Wang's face froze abruptly. Even Ming Wang's expression showed a distinct change: "What!?"
A nearly full-force attack from a mid-stage Emperor Lord—let alone a Heavenly Xuan Realm cultivator—would annihilate a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand of them into nothingness in an instant, leaving not even a trace.
But Yun Che was blasted more than ten li away, yet his body remained intact. Though his aura had weakened considerably, it still existed! Moreover, his consciousness had clearly not collapsed... and he was still carrying Xiao Yaohou, flying north at a speed completely inconsistent with his profound aura.
"He... didn't die!?" Huai Wang's pupils remained dilated, unable to shrink back for a long time, unable to believe his own eyes and spiritual perception.
How could he know that Yun Che possessed the body of a Dragon God, the protection of the Great Dao Pagoda Art, and had undergone a full eighteen months of tempering by spatial storms? Even without using his profound energy to defend, an ordinary Overlord Emperor would find it difficult to harm him.
Add to that the protection of "Cloud-Sealing Sun-Locking" and its strong resistance to fire-type profound energy... Even Huai Wang's full-force strike could not take Yun Che's life!
"Hmph. Although he didn't die, he is severely injured. At the very least, all of his five viscera and six organs have been displaced, and most of his meridians are severed." Ming Wang's voice was calm, but the shock in his eyes had not completely faded. A Heavenly Xuan Realm profound practitioner had withstood a full-force attack from a mid-stage Emperor Lord without dying, and still retained the ability to escape... Even someone as powerful as Ming Wang felt a momentary chill rise from the depths of his soul.
If this man were not killed... by the time he grew to maturity, how terrifying would he become!
Fortunately, he is doomed to die today!
"Chase them immediately... kill them!" Ming Wang said in a low voice.
Yun Che pushed Phantom Lightning Extreme to its limit. Under his severe injuries, his vision alternated between clarity and blurriness, but his speed never diminished in the slightest.
They were already at the edge of the Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley, and now, beneath them, a crimson expanse stretched out—it was the lava sea that had been boiling for ten thousand years.
The three-thousand-li Sea of Death!
Warm liquid slowly trickled over Xiao Yaohou's hands. She looked down at her palms... both of her snow-white, slender hands were now completely stained with bright red blood, as if they had just been soaked in a pool of blood.
Xiao Yaohou's entire body trembled slightly.
She lifted her head and met Yun Che's downward gaze. On his face, she saw no sign of pain. Instead, beneath her gaze, he slowly smiled: "Don't worry, I'm fine."
The gentle voice, along with his warm smile, seemed to possess an indescribable magic that struck deep into Xiao Yaohou's soul, causing her to lose herself for a moment, forgetting how to speak.
"Don't you think... I'm amazing? Hehe!" Yun Che grinned. They were diving deeper and deeper into the Sea of Death, and the air brushing past them was scorching hot, tens of times beyond what an ordinary person could endure.
Xiao Yaohou: "..."
Behind them, Ming Wang and Huai Wang approached rapidly. In just a few breaths, they had halved the distance, but once they reached the skies above the Sea of Death, their speed slowed noticeably. Perhaps they guessed what Yun Che intended to do, or perhaps the Sea of Death was too terrifying for them to approach.
"He's actually going deeper into the Sea of Death!" Huai Wang gritted his teeth. He clearly could not let go of the fact that his attack had failed to kill Yun Che.
"It seems he has chosen a fierce death!" Ming Wang said flatly. "Hmph! Fine, it saves us the trouble. If they died by our hands, they would still end up as ashes in this Sea of Death anyway."
Yun Che's speed gradually slowed until he came to a complete stop. He did not turn to see how close Ming Wang and Huai Wang were but instead stared blankly at the endless crimson sea ahead: "I don't know what the chances are that this choice will allow you to survive... but this is the only choice I could think of..."
"Hug me tight... close your eyes..."
Yun Che released his profound energy, and Phoenix Flame rose, its crimson fire enveloping both himself and Xiao Yaohou's body, yet it did not bring her any burning heat—only a warmth like a gentle breeze.
Yun Che closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He wrapped both arms tightly around Xiao Yaohou in his embrace, canceled his floating profound energy, and together with her, he fell straight down... plunging silently into the Sea of Death below, disappearing without a trace into the seemingly boundless crimson sea.