In the Yama Imperial District, even the lowliest guard possessed terrifying strength.
Astonis.h.i.+ngly enough, the ebon spear which shot toward Yun Che contained the might of a Divine King. The sharp sound of air breaking apart was as terrifying as the hoa.r.s.e wail of an evil spirit.
It was obvious that the Yama Imperial District was even more tightly guarded and controlled than the capitals of the other king realms.
If a person approached the capital of the Soul Stealing Realm or the Burning Moon Realm, the guards would first suppress them with their aura and give them a warning. However, when they approached this Yama Imperial District… the guards would immediately attempt to kill them, no questions asked!
Yun Che came to a sudden halt as the dark spear swiftly grew larger in his eyes… before it struck him right in the forehead.
Buzz!
It did not pierce through his body and the a.s.sailant did not even hear the sound of darkness rapaciously devouring the intruder. Instead, the spear of darkness disintegrated into a cloud of fine black dust the moment it hit Yun Che between the eyes.
The air suddenly froze and the person who was hiding in the shadows suddenly found it hard to breathe. At this moment, Yun Che slowly stretched out a hand and made a grasping motion.
A shocked and terrified cry of misery rang in the air as a human figure swiftly flew out of the darkness and into Yun Che’s waiting hand. He struggled wildly as Yun Che firmly caught hold of him.
It was a small and shriveled middle-aged man and the black skeleton markings on his body were a symbol of his exalted status in the Northern Divine Region. However, only fear could be found on his face now that he had fallen into Yun Che’s clutches. His darkness profound energy seemed to be trapped in an invisible cage and he could not circulate even the teensiest bit of it.
Yun Che flipped his palm and heavily smacked the middle-aged man in the chest with the back of his hand… A “cracking” sound rang in the air as all of his bones and internal organs were destroyed. The man sank limply to the ground and went silent forever.
Yun Che started walking forward again and he nonchalantly trod on the dead man’s right leg. When he stepped down on that leg, the mighty thigh bones of a Divine King were snapped like a branch of rotten wood. After he walked past the corpse, it had already been shattered into hundreds of pieces, yet not a single trace of blood could be seen on the ground.
The air grew thick and heavy as the auras which were pressing down on Yun Che suddenly rippled with panic. But after that, all of the auras grew colder and more sinister than before.
This was the Yama Imperial District, there was nothing in this universe that could pose a threat in this place.
“Hmph, it’s been many years since someone last chose to die like this.”
“He dared to kill someone from the Yama Imperial District. I don’t care who he is, but he’s going to be the most pathetic set of bones in the Bone Sea by the end of today!”
As those deep voices rang out, the air suddenly grew cold and hundreds of ice-cold killing intents focused on Yun Che’s body. Yun Che stared into the s.p.a.ce in front of him and he could just barely make out a gigantic skull in the distance.
This was the skull of a primordial devil and it was several kilometers wide. The gaping mouth of this devil’s skull was the main gate of the Yama Imperial District.
He stopped once more. His eyes were calm and indifferent as he said, “Tell the Yama Emperor that Yun Che has come to visit him.”
Once he uttered the two words “Yun Che”, the already frigid air utterly froze and all of the auras which were locked onto Yun Che suddenly grew sluggish for a moment.
This was because the two words “Yun Che” had practically flipped the Northern Divine Region upside down over the last few days.
It was said that Yun Che had obliterated the Burning Moon Emperor with a single slash of his sword. When he unleashed that attack, the spatial tremors it had generated were so powerful that the entire Yama Realm could feel it.
While all of these things could still be called rumors… no one could deny that the vast Burning Moon Realm had fallen into the hands of the Devil Queen in the span of a single day! It was a terrifying fact that was plain for all to see!
Yun Che possessed the power of a Devil Emperor… Yun Che had killed the Burning Moon G.o.d Emperor using the power of a True G.o.d… The surviving Moon Eaters were so shocked and frightened that they did not even dare to attack him after that… Yun Che was going to be made the emperor of the Soul Stealing Realm...
These rumors reverberated through every corner of the Northern Divine Region like heaven-shaking peals of thunder. As a fellow king realm, the Yama Realm had received news of this before everyone else. They were also undoubtedly the ones who had managed to verify most of these rumors...
They confirmed the death of the Burning Moon G.o.d Emperor and the fact that the Burning Moon Realm had fallen without a single shot being fired… Even though the Yama Emperor had not chosen to do anything the last few days, there was no way he had kept his composure.
And right now, the person who had personally killed the Burning Moon G.o.d Emperor, who had stirred up huge waves in the Northern Divine Region and caused this uneasy mood to settle over the Yama Realm, had now appeared in the heart of the Yama Realm.
And it seemed like he had come alone as well!
After a suffocatingly long period of silence, a tremulous voice finally rang in the air. “Hurry… Hurry up and send a sound transmission to the Great Commander!”
--------------------
Yan Tianxiao was the Yama Emperor, one of the three emperors of the Northern Region. He was also publicly acknowledged as the number one G.o.d emperor in the Northern Divine Region.
The surname Yan was not the name of any particular clan. In fact, the surname Yan had come about when the grand ancestor of the Yama Realm had obtained the Yama Devil’s legacy and conquered the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness. After that, he changed his surname to Yan and became the grand ancestor of the newly-established Yan Clan.
Because it was located within the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness, the Yama Imperial District had been bathed in the dark yin energy of the primordial devil bones since its inception. As a result of this, it was the best place in the Northern Divine Region to cultivate darkness profound energy. This was also the biggest reason for the Yama Realm’s dominance in the Northern Divine Region.
As this era’s Yama Emperor, Yan Tianxiao’s strength was immeasurable and he took great pride in his power and position. However, there were two more things that he held dear to his heart and those were his son and daughter respectively.
Yama Crown Prince Yan Jie and his eighty-seventh daughter Yan Wu.
A tall figure slowly walked into the cold and lonely Yama Great Hall. He was dressed all in black and his skin was as dusky as a corpse. He fell to one knee and said, “This child greets royal father.”
Yan Tianxiao had been quietly standing in the same spot for many hours. He had not even moved an inch. The voice that rang out behind him caused him to open his eyes but he did not turn around to face the owner of that voice. Instead, he asked in a dry and calm voice, “How is it going?”
Those four short and simple words contained a terrifying imperious might that could shatter a person’s soul. Furthermore, this imperious might, which Yan Tianxiao released subconsciously, was much heavier than it usually was.
The recent rumors and the upheaval of the Burning Moon Realm had clearly unsettled Yan Tianxiao. He was far less calm than he looked.
The black-robed man replied respectfully, “Reporting to royal father. I have indeed confirmed that the spatial shockwave that occured four days ago spread out to nearly thirty percent of the star regions in the Northern Divine Region. The spatial shockwave also caused countless cracks to appear in the Burning Moon Realm in the s.p.a.ce of a few short breaths.”
The person who was speaking was the Yama Crown Prince Yan Jie. But he also wore one other hat. He was one of the Ten Yama Devils and he was known as “The Devil of Calamity”! He was ranked fourth among the Ten Yama Devils in strength.
Ten thousand years ago, not long after he had inherited his Yama Devil powers, he had been made the Yama Crown Prince and had become the undisputed heir to the throne of the Yama Emperor… However, his position of crown prince had come under threat in recent years and his position was becoming more and more precarious as the years went by.
This was also why he had been particularly active in the Northern Divine Region for the last few millennia as he sought to prove himself in all areas.
“It was true that none of the eleven remaining Moon Eaters resisted after Fen Daojun and Fen Daozang died. In fact, the very first person to submit was actually… Fen Daoqi himself.”
“Him?” Yan Tianxiao’s eyebrows sank slightly.
Fen Doaqie was the Burning Moon Realm’s imperial advisor, he was the person that Fen Daojun respected the most… and also the person that Yan Tianxiao was wariest of.
Fen Daoqi had been called the brains of Burning Moon. His judgement was impeccable and he always sought to maximize Burning Moon’s benefits.
There was also one more thing that he had yet to mention, and it was also the most important detail:
Fen Daoqi was extremely loyal to the Burning Moon Realm.
Such a man had actually been the first to bend his knee to the Devil Queen?
Just how much of their convictions and beliefs had been destroyed during that event!?
“In a few short days, all of the Burning Moon Realm’s core a.s.sets have fallen into the hands of the Soul Stealing Realm. The main reason for why it has gone without a hitch is precisely Fen Daoqi. He was not only the first to submit, he is also doing his best to merge the Burning Moon Realm into the Soul Stealing Realm. It’s as if… his loyalty toward the Burning Moon Realm has completely transferred to the Soul Stealing Realm in the span of a single day.”
“However, the likeliest scenario in this case is that he had his ‘soul stolen’ by the Devil Queen.”
“No.” Yan Tianxiao directly reb.u.t.ted him. “A man like Fen Daoqi is the sort of person that is least likely to have his soul stolen. Because his mind is so cold and rational that even this king has not been able to find any weaknesses in him that I can exploit.”
“There can only be two reasons for his actions. The first is that he could not find any value whatsoever in putting up a last, desperate struggle… The second is that the Soul Stealing Realm had something that he intensely desired.”
His eyebrows sank as he muttered to himself, “It looks like this king will have to go take a look at the Burning Moon Realm myself.”
At this moment, the sound of footsteps rang out in the air once more.
Compared to Yan Jie’s sombre and respectful att.i.tude when he stepped into the hall, this person practically seemed to be skipping.
In the entire Yama Realm, there was only one person… that dared to behave in such a manner in front of the Yama Emperor.
The Yama Emperor’s eighty-seventh daughter—Yan Wu.
But she also went by another t.i.tle. A t.i.tle that was far grander than “princess”! She was one of the Ten Yama Devils and she was known as the “Yaksha”!
And her strength ranked number one amongst the Ten Yama Devils!
She was also the only other level ten Divine Master that the Yama Realm had in this current era!
Yan Wu was tall and willowy and her long hair cascaded to her shoulders. She wore a tight-fitting suit of light armor that was as black as midnight and hugged her two exceptionally long and slender legs.
Because of the Yama Devil Art, her skin was also dusky and it shone with a corpse-white sheen. However, her features were exquisite and coolly elegant, so her ashen complexion actually lent her a bewitching sense of beauty.
“Royal father, royal brother.” She stopped next to Yan Jie as she sketched a bow towards her father. Even though she was a woman, she was a full half a head taller than Yan Jie.
At this moment, Yan Tianxiao, whose back had faced Yan Jie this entire time, turned around. His imperial bearing vanished and a gentle smile floated up on his face. “Wu’er, you’ve come.”
“It looks like Little Wu has come back with some good news,” Yan Jie said with a faint smile on his face.
The Yama Emperor had many children and Yan Wu had been a child borne to him by one of his concubines. Thus, no one had paid any attention to her and the difference in her status and Yan Jie’s status at that time was like the difference between the heavens and the earth.
However, when she started cultivating the profound way as a child, she displayed an incredibly prodigious talent at cultivation. In fact, when she reached eleven years of age, the power of the Yama Devils had reacted to her.
After she inherited the power of the Yama Devils, her cultivation still continued to soar. In the short span of three millennia, she had surpa.s.sed Yan Jie, who had held the power of the Yama Devils for nearly ten thousand years already. After that, she managed to take one more step forward in her cultivation. It was a step that shook the Yama Realm, no, a step that shook the entire Northern Divine Region… because she had become a level ten Divine Master.
If not for the fact that there was someone as terrifying as Chi Wuyao suppressing her, she would have already been crowned the Northern Divine Region’s “G.o.ddess”.
And her existence undoubtedly threatened Yan Jie’s position as Crown prince.
Even though the Yama Realm had never had a female emperor before, there had… never been someone like Yan Wu either.
“What did the venerable ancestors say?” Yan Tianxiao asked.
Yan Wu shook her head as she replied, “The venerable ancestors are completely unconcerned about this matter.”
“Unconcerned?” Yan Jie said with a heavily furrowed brow.
“I said everything that I needed to say.” Yan Wu said as her brows knitted together. “However, the three venerable ancestors reacted indifferently. In fact… it seemed like they did not believe my words.”
“The one thing they truly refused to accept was that a power that could kill a G.o.d emperor in a single instant had appeared in this universe. They were convinced that they would have already touched this domain of power if it existed. Especially since they have dwelled in the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness for hundreds of thousands of years.”
Once she said that, Yan Wu’s eyebrows arched slightly. “Royal father, to be very honest with you, I don’t quite believe it either. And I won’t be able to believe it unless I see it myself.”
Yan Tianxiao lapsed into a deep silence. A long period of time pa.s.sed before he finally spoke, “No matter whether we believe it or not, Fen Daojun is dead and the Burning Moon Realm has fallen. Those are the undeniable facts and it all happened within the span of a single day! So this matter must be…”
Yan Tianxiao suddenly stopped midway through his sentence and his eyebrows suddenly sank.
“What happened?” Yan Wu quickly asked.
“A transmission has come from our main gate… Yun Che has arrived.” Yan Tianxiao said slowly, his eyes flas.h.i.+ng as he spoke.
For the first time in his life, he actually felt like he was “at a loss”.
He had still not gotten over the shock he had received from the Burning Moon Emperor’s death and the Burning Moon Realm’s surrender. But before he could figure out what had happened, before he could even start to investigate Yun Che… he had actually shown up on his doorstep!
“What!?” Yan Jie and Yan Wu’s expressions dramatically changed.
“Did the Devil Queen come with him?” Yan Wu asked.
“He came by himself.” Yan Tianxiao’s brows sank even further. “According to the reports I received, Yun Che had also ventured into the Burning Moon Realm by himself before it was turned upside-down.”
“But this isn’t a bad thing.” Yan Tianxiao’s voice grew low and deep. “Since he’s already come, this king wants to see just what sort of man he really is!”
“No!” Yan Wu said as she slowly raised her head to look at Yan Tianxiao. Her eyes glimmered with dark light as she continued, “Let me test him first… Royal father, we should also do one more thing. We need to prepare a most excellent tomb for him! After all, we can’t let him come away from this trip empty-handed.”
“Hahahaha.” The Yama Emperor had been briefly stunned by Yan Wu’s words, but he suddenly erupted into laughter after that. “You are indeed my, Yan Tianxiao’s, daughter. You really do possess the demeanour and att.i.tude that this king possessed in his early days.”
“...” Yan Jie laughed along with him, but the hands he held behind his back silently tensed up.