Qianye Ying’er hesitated for a very long time, but in the end she reached out and took what was most likely the last Untamed World Pellet in the world.
When they were traveling to the Soul Stealing Realm, she had asked Yun Che what his “trump card” was. She didn’t ask on a whim. At the time they were about to face the scariest woman in the Northern Divine Region and the king realm she reigned, so it was only natural that she wanted some a.s.surance.
She now knew exactly where Yun Che’s confidence had come from.
However, now that his one-time trump card was gone, he was a.s.saulted by a huge sense of insecurity.
The Soul Stealing Realm was supporting them because they were in a “cooperative” relations.h.i.+p. From the beginning until now, Yun Che and Qianye Ying’er had only truly had each other to rely on.
Yun Che was very aware that he was an independent and uncontrollable element. Knowing Chi Wuyao’s personality and modus operandi, he knew that she would never allow anyone to supplant her authority or operate beyond her control. It had always been just a matter of time before they fell out with each other.
Previously, he had filed these risks under long term concerns and focused on the immediate issues at hand.
But now that he had lost his trump card, he couldn’t ignore it any longer.
“Alright.” Qianye Ying’er nodded slowly before tightening her grip on the Untamed World Pellet. “If I can return to my original realm with this, then all the better. I have one question though… why aren’t you worried that I will grow beyond your expectations and slip out of your control this time?”
Yun Che frowned. “I told you already, your power… belongs to me and me alone.”
“Hmph. I’m the one with the power, not you. It’s not up to you to decide.” Qianye Ying’er turned away slightly. “Your sudden confidence makes no sense at all.”
Yun Che didn’t say anything.
He had spent many days and nights with her. He knew her a lot better than before.
Once, he hated her guts because of her cruelty and malice. Once, he swore that he would kill her in the cruelest fas.h.i.+on imaginable.
But when he saw her crying soundlessly on the darkness profound ark, when her tears. .h.i.t the innermost depth of his soul… the part he thought was dead a long time ago...
What does it take to see through a person completely?
Once upon a time, he thought that Xia Qingyue would never harm him; thought that he would respect Zhou Xuzi to the end of time; thought that he would hate Qianye Ying’er for as long as he lived...
Everyone’s image in his life had completely flipped.
“Actually,” Qianye Ying’er said suddenly. “I don’t think you need to watch out for Chi Wuyao too much… but you’re not going to listen, are you? It is just my baseless intuition after all.”
“We’re still going to cooperate with Chi Wuyao, but it’s time we develop a power that belongs to us alone,” Yun Che declared quietly and coldly.
“How?” Qianye Ying’er asked. “Forget a power base, we don’t even have many acquaintances in the Northern Divine Region.”
“You’ll see them when it’s time,” Yun Che said quietly.
Qianye Ying’er was surprised, but she didn’t prod further. Pursing her lips slightly, she replied, “Alright. I look forward to it.”
“Refine the pellet in the Primordial Profound Ark… in fact, you should go right now,” Yun Che said. “The first pellet took you half a year to refine. Now that you’re stronger, this one should take you a month at most. It’s also the perfect amount of time for you to recollect yourself.”
Qianye Ying’er turned away immediately. “What do you mean, recollect myself? I’m very calm, thank you very much!”
Yun Che: “...”
The Primordial Profound Ark appeared, and Qianye Ying’er put a hand on the entrance. But before she entered the vessel, she asked quietly with her back facing toward Yun Che, “Were you serious when you talked about ‘the future’ back then?”
“Heh…” Yun Che smiled indifferently before closing his eyes. “I just thought that it would be a shame to kill a perfect toy like you too soon. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“...” She didn’t turn around to retort. Her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but Qianye Ying’er vanished into a wisp of red light instead. She had gone into the Primordial Profound Ark.
The room turned silent once more, but Yun Che didn’t remove the barrier.
Still in a sitting position, Yun Che suddenly called out a name. “He Ling.”
The wood spirit girl appeared before him and asked, “What do you need, master?”
He said, “I need to go to the Yama Realm for something important very soon. After that, I need you to do something for me.”
“Please speak, master.”
The way he was talking worried her a little.
Yun Che stared into her gorgeous jade pupils and said, “Please dual cultivate with me.”
“Huh?” He Ling thought she heard wrong for a second. Then, she stumbled backward with widened pupils. “M-master… wh-what are you saying?”
The Wood Spirits were the purest living creatures in the world. Although He Ling’s soul was overflowing with hatred—which was at least on par with Yun Che—that didn’t change the fact that she was the last descendant of the Wood Spirit Royal Family.
Yun Che wasn’t surprised at all by her reaction. He said seriously, “I need your racial aura to understand the Law of Nothingness further.”
“M-my aura? T-the… Law of Nothingness?” He Ling was now both shocked and confused.
Still staring at her eyes, Yun Che nodded slightly and said, “The Wood Spirit Race was the first race ever created by the Creation G.o.ddess of Life, Li Suo. Therefore, your race’s life aura is the oldest of them all. Moreover, you are a member of the royal family, so dual cultivating with you should allow me to understand the Law of Nothingness at a deeper level.”
“And if I can do that…”
Yun Che opened his palm to reveal the Burning Moon Exquisite Devil Jade, the devil origin object he robbed from the Burning Moon Realm.
Two black puffs of light hovered above the jade, and they were slowly returning to it. They were the powers of the strongest Moon Eater, Fen Daozang and the Burning Moon G.o.d Emperor, Fen Daojun.
He Ling could sense Yun Che’s thoughts and desires clearly through their life connection. Biting her lip and looking down at her feet, dark green hair hiding the blush on her cheeks from view, she whispered, “I… I will obey.”
Yun Che said, “I won’t force you if you don’t want to.”
He Ling shook her head. “From the day I became the Sky Poison Poison Spirit, my life has only had two meanings: my revenge, and you, my master. I… I will do anything you want, master.”
She was biting her lip firmly. Her sash was threatening to break at the seams because of how hard she was holding onto it.
She was nervous, she was afraid… but she didn’t mind having s.e.x with Yun Che at all.
Her body might be as pure as a piece of blank paper, but her soul… she had seen far, far too much since she became the Sky Poison Poison Spirit.
Yun Che nodded before softening his voice. “He Ling, we will take revenge for you and change the fate of your clansmen after we return to the Eastern Divine Region… I promise you that they will never have to hide themselves again.”
“Mn.” He Ling mumbled in agreement before meeting his eyes again. She still sounded a bit timid, however. “But master… wh-why bring this up all of a sudden?”
“It’s because Chi Wuyao turned out to be far scarier than I could possibly imagine.”
Yun Che frowned and lowered his voice further, his memories of the Burning Moon Realm replaying themselves in his head. “It’s highly possible that she learned of Qianying’s pregnancy a while ago.”
“Ah?” He Ling let out a soft cry of surprise.
“Qianying isn’t the kind of person who would allow this to happen, but ever since she entered the Soul Stealing Realm, she started changing, acting and behaving very oddly. Chi Wuyao… has to be the reason why Qianying didn’t control herself and allowed herself to become pregnant.”
Yun Che’s frown grew deeper and deeper. “She was the one who asked Qianying to fight Fen Daojun. It could just be a coincidence and I’m overthinking things, but how do you explain the Soul Sky Wars.h.i.+p appearing at that exact moment?”
Yun Che slowly clenched his fists. His eyebrows were scrunched together into a murderous frown.
“Are you saying that… everything that had happened was part of the Devil Queen’s plan all along?” He Ling’s mouth fell open slightly. “But how could she possibly have known that you had the power to kill the Burning Moon G.o.d Emperor?”
“She didn’t. There’s no way she could possibly have known,” Yun Che said slowly. “She used this to make me direct my anger at the Burning Moon Realm. By doing this, she was able to find out what my trump card is, force me to use it and deal a heavy blow to the Burning Moon Realm all at once. From her standpoint, she was killing several birds with one stone.”
“She probably didn’t expect me to kill Fen Daojun, but the end result was the same. I used up my biggest trump card to deal a severe blow to the Burning Moon Realm… and the Soul Sky Wars.h.i.+p showed up just in time to maximize the profits.”
Chi Wuyao’s intelligence, cunning and most of all, her understanding and control over the human heart were so terrifying that even Yun Che was afraid. He was growing more and more certain that the eyes Chi Wuyao hid behind her black fog could see through a person’s soul like a hot knife through b.u.t.ter.
Not only was Qianye Ying’er subtly influenced by her, he himself… had acted exactly as she planned thus far!
As great as it would be to have an ally like this, she wouldn’t leave him alive after they were done using each other. It was because he was a threat to her life and her status… although she wasn’t alone in this regard. All the G.o.d emperors in this world were like this.
That was why he needed to bring forward his preparations.
“Maybe… maybe she mobilized the Soul Sky Wars.h.i.+p because she’s worried about your safety?” He Ling suggested weakly.
“Heh.” Yun Che chuckled before replying, “The Soul Sky Warhip is the flags.h.i.+p of the Soul Stealing Realm. Even mobilizing it would put the entire Northern Divine Region on alert, much less flying it right into the heart of the Burning Moon Realm. It was as good as a declaration of all-out-war.”
“The Witches might be stronger than the Moon Eaters thanks to Eternal Calamity of Darkness, but it would be a pyrrhic victory at best. If the Burning Moon Realm somehow manages to drag out the war, it would damage their roots and alarm the Yama Realm into action. Can you imagine how much worse the situation would become if they decided to turn it into a three-way battle?”
“Therefore, there’s absolutely no way she would mobilize the Soul Sky Wars.h.i.+p unless she was confident in her chances! You think she would do this for me?” A cold smile crossed Yun Che’s lips. “Why is a realm king called a realm king? It’s because the ‘realm’ comes before the ‘king’! So why would the Devil Queen mobilize her main wars.h.i.+p to save a collaborator that’s destined to be a great threat to her in the future?”
Suddenly, he caught himself and stopped smiling. His eyes turned blurry as he murmured, “No, that’s not right… there was a realm king who risked everything for me. But she’s already…”
Yun Che abruptly shook his head and banished those memories to the darkest depths of his mind. Recovering himself, he continued. “Moreover, the Soul Stealing Realm isn’t exactly close to the Burning Moon Realm, so she must’ve mobilized the Soul Sky Wars.h.i.+p long before I went back to the Burning Moon Realm… meaning that everything I did afterward was almost exactly what she was expecting to happen.”
Yun Che’s explanation caused He Ling to grow tenser and tenser. Her impression of Chi Wuyao was now painted over by a color of terror. She sneaked a glance at the brooding Yun Che and asked, “So… wh-when do you want to… you know…”
She bit her lip, but she wasn’t able to squeeze the words out of her throat no matter how she tried.
“We’ll do it after we return from the Yama Realm.”
Yun Che rose to his feet and put on a new set of clothes. Then, he declared. “In fact, I’m going to head there right now! This time, I’ll give her no chance to react to my actions!”