Chapter 754: The Sinister Heavenly Sin Divine Sword
"...Several small cities near the core territory of the Eternal Night Royal Clan were suddenly shrouded in black fog overnight. Everyone within the cities, whether powerful profound practitioners or defenseless women and children, all died horribly in the black fog... Soon, all blame pointed to the Eternal Night Royal Clan. Because when the Eternal Night Royal Clan's core profound art, the 'Eternal Night Illusion Divine Record,' was activated, black fog would coil around the body. Those who died under the 'Eternal Night Illusion Divine Record' also had blackened bodies, wreathed in black fog that lingered for several days without dissipating."
"...Subsequently, the Tianwei Sword Domain was the first to launch an attack, declaring the 'Eternal Night Royal Clan' an evil demon race that slaughtered innocent people to enhance their demonic power. Then, under the banner of protecting the Tian Xuan Continent and eliminating demons to uphold the righteous path, they allied with the other three Sacred Grounds to besiege and exterminate the Eternal Night Royal Clan..."
This was how Feng Qianhui had described the Tianwei Sword Domain's framing of the Eternal Night Royal Clan when she told Yun Che about the clan's history.
The name 'Eternal Night Illusion Demon Scripture' could be changed, but its 'dark' attribute could not. Therefore, the profound aura color of the Eternal Night Royal Clan was black...
Using such despicable means, the Tianwei Sword Domain had framed the Eternal Night Royal Clan as an 'evil demon race.'
But the Tianwei Sword Domain could never have dreamed that the Eternal Night Royal Clan, which carried demon souls or demon blood and cultivated the 'Eternal Night Illusion Demon Scripture,' could indeed be called a demon race!
Moreover, it was an ancient demon race!
"Mo Li, you said earlier that Fen Juechen's explosive increase in power was due to fusing with a demon soul. Was that demon soul the remnant soul of Ye Mufeng sealed within the Soul Sealing Coffin?" As Yun Che gradually sorted through Mo Li's account in his mind, he began to form a rough outline of the matters she hadn't mentioned.
"Back then, after the Soul Sealing Coffin was opened by Fen Juechen, Ye Mufeng's remnant soul intended to seize Fen Juechen's body. At the time, Fen Juechen carried a deep resentment, and his negative emotions were overwhelming—he was practically a perfect, heaven-sent vessel. However, Fen Juechen's willpower was too strong. When Ye Mufeng tried to devour Fen Juechen's soul, he was instead counter-devoured. At the same time, he also discovered that Fen Juechen was none other than the reincarnated Ye Huang. So, he ceased his struggle, allowing Fen Juechen to devour his demon soul in turn. With his last ounce of willpower, he transferred the source power, which he had desperately locked within his demon soul, into Fen Juechen's body, allowing him to absorb and integrate it slowly."
"Is this 'absorption and integration' also a characteristic of the Eternal Night Demon Race, or of the 'Eternal Night Illusion Demon Scripture'?" Yun Che pressed on. Because Mo Li had clearly stated that the direct transfer or inheritance of profound power was harder than reaching the heavens.
But Fen Juechen's absorption and integration of the demon source was clearly a direct transfer or inheritance of profound power. In just a few short years, he had leaped from the Spirit Xuan Realm to the Sovereign Xuan Realm. A legendary leap across five major realms!
"Of course not! Otherwise, in ancient times, how could the demon race have been routed by the divine race? The reason this was possible is, to put it simply, a very peculiar and somewhat sinister coincidence brought about by the forbidden art of reincarnation," Mo Li said indifferently. She had also been extremely shocked and confused earlier when Fen Juechen directly absorbed the demon source lurking in his body, but now she spoke with unusual calm and flatness. Clearly, the truth of the matter did not deviate from her understanding.
"Coincidence?"
"As I said just now, a thousand years ago, to imprison Ye Huang's soul and cast the forbidden art of reincarnation on him, the Eternal Night Royal Clan had Ye Mufeng split off two-tenths of his soul and merge it into Ye Huang's soul. This made Fen Juechen's soul, in essence, a combination of Ye Huang's and Ye Mufeng's souls, with Ye Huang's as the dominant one. Although this fragment of Ye Mufeng's soul and the remnant soul of Ye Mufeng that he devoured at the Soul Sealing Coffin came from the same person, they were fundamentally different. The latter was a prey devoured later, while the former was his root soul!"
Yun Che: "~！#￥%……"
"Because these two-tenths of the root soul were originally Ye Mufeng's soul, they had a perfect compatibility with Ye Mufeng's demon source. This also allowed Fen Juechen's entire soul to achieve a certain degree of compatibility with Ye Mufeng's demon source. Coupled with the complete submission of the demon source, Fen Juechen was thus able to directly absorb and integrate the power within the demon source, making it his own."
"However, this 'compatibility' was only partial. So, although Fen Juechen could directly absorb the demon source, the speed was still relatively slow. After several years, he had absorbed less than half of it. Moreover, the process of absorption—especially in the early stages—was extremely painful. Due to the existence of this 'incompatibility,' every moment he bore this power, his body and soul constantly endured a tearing pain... a pain that ordinary people probably couldn't even endure."
"...!" Yun Che fell silent. This must be what Fen Juechen referred to as 'hell.'
"At the same time, this incompletely compatible external power will also greatly reduce his lifespan. If he maintains his current state and stops absorbing further, he can live for at most another three years. If he continues to absorb the demon source, his remaining lifespan will only shorten further." Mo Li sneered: "Hmph, direct transfer and inheritance of power—nothing easy about it! If it were anyone else, faced with such a price, even if the power were ten times stronger, they would absolutely never accept it. Only someone like Fen Juechen, whose life is already shrouded in darkness, would choose this path of despair."
"So, both having two lives, you are protected by the Wheel of Reincarnation, and your fortune is so good it almost invites heavenly punishment! As for Fen Juechen... he can even be called the most tragic existence in the entire Tian Xuan Continent. Dragging a broken life and a broken soul, bearing the hatred of two clans across two lifetimes, and enduring an agony worse than death with every single breath."
"With such a price exchanged for power, he was still defeated by you, and you spared his life once more... Hmph, I'm afraid the unwillingness, humiliation, and hatred he feels are etched into his bones beyond your imagination."
"I did think of casually killing him before, but since he's so pitiable, letting him live is fine. After all, he doesn't have many years left, and with me around, no matter what, he can't kill you." Mo Li's tone shifted slightly, as if with deeper meaning: "Even without me, he probably couldn't kill you. Just let him live out his remaining life and go kill the others he wants to kill. After all, among the people he most wants to kill, you are actually relatively further down the list."
"The others he wants to kill... could it be the people of the Four Sacred Grounds?" Yun Che asked.
"Of course! After all, it was the Four Sacred Grounds that wiped out the innocent Eternal Night Royal Clan and were the root cause of his tragedy across two lifetimes. The only purpose for his existence now is 'revenge'!"
The word 'revenge' made Yun Che think of his own last seven years on the Cang Yun Continent...
The only purpose for living was revenge... Wasn't that the voice that had filled his soul every single day, night, moment, and instant during those seven years?
Perhaps, in this world, there was one person who could truly understand Fen Juechen's completely twisted conviction—and that was Yun Che.
But the difference was, back then, besides revenge, he also had Ling'er...
Only...
"When revenge becomes the sole conviction, no advice or obstacle will have any effect. But with his meager remaining life, even if his growth rate were faster, how could he ever pose a threat to the level of the Sacred Grounds, let alone achieve revenge..." Yun Che paused, then suddenly thought of something and furrowed his brow: "A thousand years ago, Ye Mufeng's power was not stronger than any Sacred Ground master. But after unleashing his demon blood, it took the joint power of all four Sacred Ground masters to defeat him. Fen Juechen is also of the royal lineage. Can he also..."
"Of course he can!" Mo Li confirmed resolutely: "Although his bloodline was reduced by thirty percent under the forbidden reincarnation art, he still retains about seventy percent. Moreover, Fen Juechen already knows the method to unlock the seal on the demon blood within his bloodline."
"And that is... the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword!"
"...No wonder he went to the Demon Sword Assembly and wanted to obtain the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword," Yun Che said softly. "So, unlocking the sealed demon blood is the key. Does that mean he will then have the ability to wield the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword?"
"No!" Mo Li shook her head: "Back then, Ye Mufeng's profound power intensity and demon blood concentration far exceeded Fen Juechen's. Even after fully unleashing his demon blood, he still couldn't wield the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword. Speaking of which..." Mo Li glanced at Yun Che: "Aren't you curious about why the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword can unleash the demon blood of the Eternal Night Royal Clan?"
"I guess... the 'demon blood' of the Eternal Night Royal Clan comes from that Heavenly Sin Divine Sword, right?" Yun Che said cautiously.
"Hmph, you guessed correctly!" Mo Li unconsciously paced to the soundproof barrier she had set up for Hong'er and looked at the sleeping Hong'er, a momentary softness flashing in her cold gaze: "According to Ye Mufeng's memories, over ten thousand years ago, the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword was accidentally found by the ancestor who founded the Eternal Night Royal Clan in a desolate place in the southern continent. When the Eternal Night ancestor picked it up, he didn't feel the sword's might but instead a sinister and eerie aura. Just as he was about to discard it, he accidentally touched a drop of black liquid on the sword's hilt... The moment he touched it, that drop of black liquid instantly penetrated into his body."
"Demon... blood!?" Yun Che exclaimed in surprise.
"After being invaded by the demon blood, although the bloodline power contained within was very weak, its level was too high. This caused a qualitative change in his profound power attributes in a short time, and even his soul was affected, drastically changing his temperament. However, fortunately, the Eternal Night ancestor himself was extremely powerful in profound arts. Although his temperament became irritable and prone to anger, it was far from the point of killing indiscriminately or losing all familial ties. Moreover, he basically retained his full rationality and was clearly aware that his personality change was due to that drop of demon blood."
"Thus, after founding the Eternal Night Royal Clan, he issued a strict decree: all his direct descendants, after birth, must take advantage of their weak bloodline power to seal at least ninety percent of the demon blood within their bloodline! Unless they faced annihilation..." (The translation continues with the rest of the chapter, ensuring no Chinese characters remain.)