Chapter 921: Secrets of the Evil God (Part 1)
Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley.
Yun Che had already been granted permission by the Golden Crow Soul Spirit to enter at any time—a privilege that had never been granted in the ten-thousand-year history of the Demon Emperor Clan, not even to Xiao Yaohou.
Upon entering Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley, Yun Che could clearly sense that the flame aura in this independent world had weakened once again compared to the last time. Most of the volcanoes in sight had fallen silent, and even many lava flows had stopped, condensing into patches of red-hot rock.
Yun Che understood the reason. He had encountered many benefactors who had changed his fate throughout his life, and the Golden Crow Soul Spirit was one of them. The first time they met, it had left him with an impression of majesty, arrogance, and overbearing tyranny, but afterward, its bestowal and assistance had always been unreserved.
"You're here."
Before Yun Che could call out at the end of the valley, the Golden Crow Soul Spirit's golden pupils had already opened in the sky, casting an awe-inspiring and blinding golden light: "The demonic aura from the north has completely vanished, yet you return alive. It seems a miracle has indeed occurred."
"Yes," Yun Che nodded. "It can truly be called a miracle. Before heading to Cang Yun Continent, I was already prepared to die. I never expected to find power there that could defeat Xuanyuan Wentian in such an unexpected way."
"Not long ago, the dark aura from the north had clearly reached a 'divine path within the human realm'—a power never before seen in this plane. When I sensed that, I thought this world would be shrouded in the darkness he had created. After all, at that level of power, even if you had sacrificed your life to forcefully open 'Yama King' a month ago, you could never have killed him. Yet in just one short month, your profound force has undergone such earth-shattering changes. I am extremely eager to know what kind of divine miracle you encountered in Cang Yun Continent."
A flash of an eerie girl with multicolored eyes, bathed in the boundless sea of Netherworld Brahma Flowers, crossed Yun Che's mind. "Actually, in terms of overall strength, I still couldn't match Xuanyuan Wentian. What allowed me to surpass him was solely my physique. The main reason I succeeded…"
As he spoke, Yun Che slowly extended his arm. A mass of black light rapidly condensed in his palm, as thick as a distorted spatial black hole.
"…" The golden pupils in the sky suddenly constricted, and the light of the entire world fluctuated violently. This fluctuation lasted for several breaths before slowly subsiding. But the Golden Crow Soul Spirit did not exclaim or press further; instead, it fell into a sudden silence.
Yun Che withdrew his hand, and the dark profound light instantly dissipated. He continued, "In a place on Cang Yun Continent, I unexpectedly obtained another Evil God Seed… My master once told me there were five Evil God Seeds, corresponding to the five basic natural elements: water, fire, wind, lightning, and earth. But the one I got in Cang Yun Continent had a dark attribute. Moreover, the power it contained was evidently stronger than the three I had previously acquired. Not only did it allow me to fully control dark power, but it also caused an extremely exaggerated surge in my profound force."
Golden Crow Soul Spirit: "…"
"It was precisely because of this dark Evil God Seed that Xuanyuan Wentian's core technique, the Eternal Night Illusion Demon Scripture, was completely ineffective against me. He could only confront me head-on with his profound force and sword arts. Coupled with my physical advantages and Hong'er's suppression against him, I was finally able to annihilate him… But I still can't understand why the Evil God would possess a power seed with a dark attribute. Although I don't know much about the ancient era, I at least know that dark profound force is a power that the gods rejected to the point of near-hostility. It should never have appeared on a god. In all the records and legends about the Evil God, there seems to be no mention of him possessing dark profound force."
"…" The Golden Crow Soul Spirit remained silent. From the restless air, Yun Che sensed a feeling of shock.
Yun Che continued, "Earlier, when I asked why the Demon Source Pearl of Shiyue Mojun had directly fused with my profound veins, you said you couldn't explain it either. But afterward, you hesitated for a moment, as if you wanted to say something. Is it… that you know something about the Evil God possessing dark profound force?"
He possessed the Evil God's profound veins and had suddenly acquired a "forbidden" dark profound force without any preparation. He longed for an answer.
"No, not even I—not even the Golden Crow True God—ever knew that the Evil God possessed dark profound force. There were never any such rumors during the Age of Gods. The ability to wield dark profound force belongs to demons; even gods cannot possess dark profound force if they wished. My hesitation last time was because the only possibility I could think of for a profound vein capable of fusing with the Demon Source Pearl was that it possessed an extremely strong dark origin. I never expected…"
The Golden Crow Soul Spirit's voice stopped, as if it still couldn't fully accept this fact.
"That is to say, during his lifetime, the Evil God had always concealed the fact that he possessed dark profound force… No wonder. Given the gods' aversion to demons, if it were known that the Evil God wielded powerful dark profound force, he would surely have faced great ostracization," Yun Che said. He had made similar speculations after obtaining the dark seed under Jueyun Cliff that day.
"…" The Golden Crow Soul Spirit was silent for a long time.
"Is it… not so?" Yun Che was slightly taken aback by the Golden Crow Soul Spirit's reaction.
"…It should be the case," the Golden Crow Soul Spirit said faintly, trying hard to hide the slight unnaturalness in its voice. "The Evil God had great kindness toward the Golden Crow, the Phoenix, and the Dragon God, and they were considered his few friends. Yet even they never knew that the Evil God possessed dark profound force… I fear no one in the entire ancient era knew."
"To hide his power so perfectly, under heaven, only the Evil God could have done so… and he concealed it for a full five billion years."
"Five… billion years?" The unit of time spoken by the Golden Crow Soul Spirit made Yun Che look up in shock, hardly believing his ears.
"It has been a million years since the end of the Age of Gods. To you humans, a million years is an extremely long time, but to the Age of Gods, it is but a fleeting moment," the Golden Crow Soul Spirit said.
"…You just said that the Evil God lived… for a full five billion years?" Yun Che exclaimed.
His two lifetimes combined were just over fifty years, which had already made his life much richer and more colorful than ordinary people's. He couldn't comprehend what five billion years of life meant—what kind of concept that was.
"He was born in the early chaos, and his lifespan was as long as the Age of Gods. He witnessed the birth, proliferation, and flourishing of the Age of Gods, and he also witnessed its downfall. Although his personality was eccentric and strange, everything he did was never unworthy of heaven and earth. Without a doubt, he was not only the strongest god but also an extremely great god. I am shocked that he possessed demonic power, but I also understand why he chose to keep it a secret forever."
The Golden Crow Soul Spirit's voice suddenly turned solemn: "Since this is a secret he sealed for a full five billion years, let it remain sealed forever."
"I know. Aside from you, I haven't told anyone about this. Even the matter of me possessing dark profound force is known only by Xuanyuan Wentian, who is already dead," Yun Che said earnestly. "Golden Crow Soul Spirit, can you tell me more about the Evil God?"
"…" The Golden Crow Soul Spirit was silent once more for a long time before slowly saying, "I see a strong desire for inquiry in your eyes. It seems that accidentally finding the dark seed has deepened your curiosity about the Evil God."
Yun Che nodded. "After all, I have inherited his profound veins and power… Even now, I'm still somewhat at a loss as to how to deal with the dark profound force within me."
"The Evil God is gone, the gods are extinct. I should never reveal the secrets of the gods to mortals of later generations… But you are different. You have inherited the Evil God's power, and as if by divine arrangement, you have discovered a secret that was unknown even during the Age of Gods. Although you have no heart to save the world, you first slew Shiyue Mojun, then destroyed Xuanyuan Wentian, saving two continents from crisis. For this reason, I may be willing to tell you what I know of the Evil God."
"But don't hold too high expectations. The Evil God almost never interacted with others. Even the Golden Crow True God knew very little about him. I am merely a soul fragment of the Golden Crow's spirit, and what I know is even more scant."
Yun Che nodded, grateful: "Thank you for your trust and generosity. I once heard from my master that the Evil God was a very high-ranking true god in the Age of Gods, and seemed to be a somewhat special existence… What was his status among the gods?"
"No, he was not a very high-ranking true god," the Golden Crow Soul Spirit corrected. "He was the highest-ranking god!"
"Highest…?" Yun Che was deeply astonished. "Very high" and "highest" were entirely different concepts.
"Five billion years ago, chaos split into yin and yang poles, and at the center of the yin and yang, the first living being in the world was conceived. That being was called the 'Primordial Divine' by later gods."
"Primordial… Divine?" This was the first time Yun Che had heard this name. Perhaps even Mo Li didn't know it.
"The Primordial Divine was the first existence conceived from chaos. Even the 'Ancestral Heaven-Slaying Sword,' which concentrated the ultimate yang power, and the 'Evil Infant Myriad Calamity Wheel,' which concentrated the ultimate yin power, were born after the Primordial Divine. As the first life form conceived by chaos, she possessed the most original, purest, and strongest power of chaos and was the absolutely supreme existence."
"Her power connected to the entire chaos. The power of chaos was her power. As long as chaos existed, she would be eternal and indestructible. Rather than saying she was conceived from chaos, it's more accurate to say she was the consciousness of chaos—much like the spirit of a sword that a sword gives birth to."
"…" Yun Che's mouth hung wide open as he listened dumbfoundedly… It was like listening to an extremely fantastical ancient myth.
The Golden Crow Soul Spirit continued, "As time passed, her consciousness grew more mature, becoming a complete life form with high intelligence. She created language, created the method of power circulation and storage—what later became the profound force that all living things could cultivate—and created the profound arts that could maximize this power. But as the only existence in chaos, her companion was only eternal solitude."
"Moreover, her body connected and concentrated all life aura in chaos. If she existed, no other life could be conceived in chaos. Thus, after existing for a mere ten million years, she finally made a choice: to dissipate herself, scattering her life aura to every corner of chaos, allowing chaos to freely conceive countless living beings from then on—the Age of Gods thus began."
Yun Che couldn't help asking, "If she dissipated like that, later generations shouldn't have known about the Primordial Divine. Did she leave something behind before her dissipation?"
"Indeed," the Golden Crow Soul Spirit continued. "Before dissipating, the Primordial Divine left part of her memories on eight life fragments. Finally, these eight life fragments scattered into chaos space along with her dissipation. Four fragments fell into Northern Chaos, giving birth to the four great Demon Emperors who later led the demon race; four fragments fell into Southern Chaos, giving birth to the three Creation Gods who led the god race, and… the Evil God."