"Let go of me… today's the day I'm leaving this damned place no matter what!"
RUMBLE!!
There was a loud bang, and the fragile lower realm planet beneath their feet groaned in a way that suggested that it might be destroyed at any moment.
"Enough!"
Yue Wuji rebuked the Crimson Cruel Moon God while keeping a death grip on his arm, "The entire God Realm has fallen to Yun Che, and even the surviving god emperors are treading on thin ice! You are basically committing suicide if you head out there right now!"
"I would rather die than to continue living like this any longer!" The Crimson Cruel Moon God shook Yue Wuji's hand aside and uttered with bloodshot eyes. "Three years! It's been three years since we came to this god forsaken place! Do you have any idea how I've felt for the past three years!?"
"We are the bearers of the Moon God inheritance, and we were glorious beyond imagination! But today, we are forced to hide in this lower realm like dogs! No! Even a dog has more freedom and dignity than us!"
All the Moon Gods and Moon God Divine Envoys wore complicated expressions on their faces.
"This is the late god emperor's final order!" Yue Wuji rebuked with a deep frown on his face. "Everyone underestimated Yun Che and the power of the Northern Divine Region back then! If it wasn't for her plans, we would've perished to Yun Che's might a long time ago! We would've met the same end as Eternal Heaven!"
"That again? I've heard that so much I'm sick of it!" The Crimson Cruel Moon God uttered through gritted teeth, "Also, why do you think we're in this state today!? It's all because of her!"
"Crimson Cruel!" The Blue Jade Moon God stepped forward and said angrily, "You will not disrespect or slander Master!"
"Slander?" The Crimson Cruel Moon God swept his gaze across everyone's faces before jabbing a finger at them. "Do you all still think that my accusation is slander!?"
"The late god emperor was the wife of Yun Che. She might have chosen to join his enemies back then, but everyone knows that it was the only rational choice she could've made back then. You all know how many king realms Yun Che has pardoned since uniting the four divine regions. He would've pardoned the Moon God Realm as well if the late god emperor wasn't stupid and ruthless enough to attempt to kill Yun Che twice, AND destroy his star realm!
"That's why Yun Che has punished the Moon God Realm harder than any other star realm in the Primal Chaos! That's why the Moon God Realm was utterly destroyed, and why we're stuck in this—"
"Shut up!"
Chiang!
There was a blue flash, and the Crimson Cruel Moon God felt a dark green-colored blade pressed up against his throat. Yao Yue—the Blue Jade Moon God—uttered with a slightly disheveled aura, "One more word of disrespect toward Master… and I shall kill you myself!"
"But Crimson Cruel is right," another Moon God lamented. "Why are you defending her even now, Yao Yue?"
"Enough! Shut your mouth!" Yue Wuji glared at the speaker before facing Crimson Cruel once more. "You are free to commit suicide if you want… but know that you'll be dragging all of us with you to the grave the moment you reveal our location! We barely managed to escape with the Moon God inheritance intact, and now you're going to destroy it all on a whim!?"
He lowered his volume before continuing, "Just endure for a bit longer. The late god emperor told me that someone would come and take us outside. When the day comes, we'll be able to leave this place safely—"
"—and be laughed at by the entire world!" The Crimson Cruel Moon God roared, "Eternal Heaven, Southern Sea, Dragon God… they may have been wiped out, but at least they've all fought against Yun Che before!"
"However, we escaped with our tails between our legs before ever engaging Yun Che! What a joke! What a shame! Even I cannot bring myself to look at my own face with anything but scorn!"
"So what? What is more important, our pride or the Moon God inheritance?" Yue Wuji rebuked the Crimson Cruel Moon God even harsher than before. "I repeat, the reason we survived to this day isn't because we're too cowardly to die, but because we need to keep the Moon God inheritance alive! Do you really want to see our legacy severed permanently like Eternal Heaven or Southern Sea!?"
Yue Wuji had accepted the Imperial Moon Glazed Pearl from Xia Qingyue, which meant that he was the current Moon God Emperor. However, his authority obviously couldn't compare to either Xia Qingyue's or Yue Wuya's. He was incapable of truly commanding the Moon Gods.
The Crimson Cruel Moon God pushed Yue Wuji and tried to say something. Then, both his expression and his body froze as if he had been struck by lightning.
He wasn't the only one who noticed it. Everyone was looking up in shock as well.
Their living nightmare was standing just 1.5 kilometers above their heads.
"Yun… Yun… Yun Che!!"
The Moon Gods immediately summoned their powers. Whatever resentment they held toward one another was immediately tossed aside as they stood together as one. However, they still couldn't help but tremble as if they had been submerged in the coldest hell.
Standing at the forefront of the group, Yue Wuji clenched his fingers tightly enough to break them. Knowing just how deeply Yun Che loathed the Moon God Realm, he could already envision the worst case scenario in his mind's eye.
Yun Che watched them one by one. He could feel their fear, their growing despair and… their grim determination to fight until the bitter end.
"Yue Wuji," Yun Che began, "the Imperial Moon Glazed Pearl is still with you, right?"
Yue Wuji gritted his teeth and matched Yun Che's eyes without giving an inch. "So what if it is? The entire world may be in your palm right now, but this is one thing you will not have!"
"We… will live and die together with the Imperial Moon Glazed Pearl!"
"The Imperial Moon Glazed Pearl belongs to the Moon Gods. I will not take it away from you, nor will I allow anyone to take it from you." Yun Che was looking down from above, but he made sure to lighten his tone a little.
"....?" Whatever Yue Wuji or the Moon Gods behind him were expecting Yun Che to say, it clearly wasn't this.
"I came here today to make a request," Yun Che continued. The astonishment in the Moon Gods' eyes grew even bigger when they heard Yun Che using the word "request". "I cannot restore the Moon God Realm I destroyed, so… I can only build a new one and hope that it will be sufficient. I will need the aid of all of you to do this."
There was neither killing intent nor soul-shattering devilish pressure. There were only words that they couldn't believe they were hearing at all.
Yue Wuji shook his head as if to wake himself up before asking, "What… what do you mean by that?"
"I've decided to posthumously confer Xia Qingyue the title of my Empress, even though it's…" Yun Che sucked in a light breath before furrowing his brows. "The Moon God Realm was her greatest attachment. I will do everything in my power and utilize every resource that can be to restore the Moon God Realm to its former glory. If you are willing to help me, then come to Emperor Yun City in half a month."
"..." Yue Wuji's eyeballs looked like they might pop out of their sockets. He became as silent as a statue.
A long time after Yun Che and Shui Meiyin left, the Moon Gods still weren't able to regain the full faculties of their minds.
…………
"What really happened to you for the past couple days, Big Brother Yun Che?"
After they returned to the God Realm, Shui Meiyin eyed Yun Che up and down while holding his arm. "I can't help but feel like you've changed somehow."
Yun Che shook his head smilingly. "I don't want to lie to you, so I'm just going to put it like this: it might look like I was just sitting on that hill and doing nothing for the past couple of days, but I really was going through the most unbelievable experience in my entire life. It was so unbelievable that no one would believe me even if I were to tell them the truth."
"Eh?" Shui Meiyin grew even more surprised.
"I cannot tell you what it is though. As it turned out, there really are secrets that you can't divulge to anyone in this world."
He could never reveal the Ancestral God's secret.
Suddenly, Yun Che shifted his gaze and came to a stop.
It was because he had sensed Xia Yuanba.
They were in a middle star realm of the Southern Divine Region called the Nine Faces Realm. Two Divine Origin Realm profound practitioners were currently doing battle atop a vast profound platform.
One of them was none other than Xia Yuanba.
Xia Yuanba had been progressing by leaps and bounds ever since he entered the God Realm. He was now a level six Divine Origin Realm profound practitioner, and not far away from entering level seven Divine Origin Realm.
However, his opponent was a true level eight Divine Origin Realm profound practitioner.
Usually, the battle between Divine Origin Realm profound practitioners wasn't worth watching in a middle star realm. However… the sight of Xia Yuanba going toe-to-toe against an opponent two levels above him had caused the spectators' blood to boil like never before.
Xia Yuanba's roars sounded like that of a bloodthirsty beast. Again and again he was knocked to the ground, but again and again he rose to his feet to challenge his opponent again. His body was covered in wounds, but the power running through his body barely showed any signs of weakening at all. It was almost as if he would never run out of energy.
At first, Xia Yuanba's opponent had looked down on him because he was two levels weaker. That easiness gradually turned to seriousness, and then from seriousness to dread.
RUMBLE!!
Xia Yuanba roared again and charged toward his opponent once more. The power clash resulted in a rumble that almost shouldn't belong to that of a Divine Origin Realm practitioner, and for the first time, the person being blown away wasn't Xia Yuanba, but his opponent who had been dominant this entire time.
Bang!
After his opponent crashed onto the ground, he didn't climb back to his feet immediately. Instead, he backed away from Yuanba on his butt, waved his hand repeatedly and said, "Stop… stop! I forfeit! You… you're a goddamn monster!!"
The audience's roars filled the air, and Xia Yuanba finally dropped to one knee. Even so, there was no concealing the excited glint in his eyes.
"Very good." The elder responsible for the selection nodded. "Xia Yuanba, you don't need to participate in the latter elimination tests anymore. Heal your injuries and be ready to join the 22nd Court in three days."
No one objected to this decision. To battle a level eight Divine Origin Realm profound practitioner as a level six Divine Origin Realm profound practitioner until they lost their very will to fight… anyone could see that Xia Yuanba was an unparalleled genius.
"No."
Xia Yuanba was just about to give his response when a low and dignified voice spoke up. All surrounding noises vanished into complete silence, and even the elders were bending their backs a little and shouting fearfully, "We greet the great realm king."
This was an outer disciple selection test. To say that they weren't expecting the great realm king's attention would be an understatement.
"Hmph. The Tyrannical Emperor's Divine Veins are a miracle from the heavens themselves! Like I would let him be wasted in your hands." His voice grew even colder. "Xia Yuanba, you shan't be joining the outer court. Instead, meet me in the inner hall in three days."
Buzz—
Everyone felt like a million thunder bolts had just erupted beside their ears.
The realm king's meaning was clear. He was going to take Xia Yuanba as his direct disciple! It was a dream most profound practitioners present at the scene didn't even dare to dream of!
On the platform, Xia Yuanba slowly raised his head and said proudly, "Junior Xia Yuanba obeys the great realm king's order!"
High in the sky, Yun Che watched the whole scene while feeling all kinds of emotions.
When he first entered the God Realm, he too had entered the sect of a middle star realm and become the realm king's direct disciple.
After Xia Yuanba returned to his space to cultivate and recuperate, Yun Che slipped in and appeared before him.
After the initial surprise had passed, Xia Yuanba had jumped to his feet and opened his arms wide to welcome Yun Che with joy. However, he paused after just taking the first step, and his smile became a lot more restrained than before, "Brot… did you see everything? Hehehe."
He was going to address Yun Che as "brother-in-law" until his mind caught up to his mouth… he knew that he could never call Yun Che that again after learning "the truth".
"Yuanba," Yun Che watched his friend with complex feelings. "I possess the best possible resources in the entire world. I can put you in any king realm of your liking. Are you sure… you don't want me to do so?"
"We talked about this. This time, I wish to depend on my own strength." Xia Yuanba let out a chuckle. "I don't know where my stubbornness is coming from myself, but I just feel that I shouldn't keep relying on sis… er, I mean you like when we were younger. Otherwise, one day I may not even have the right to look at your back anymore."
Yun Che averted his gaze slightly from Xia Yuanba's smile.
He didn't know… that he once possessed the universe's greatest talent.
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