Chapter 1300: Seeking Death

Boom!

With a thunderous crash, the Heaven Wolf Sacred Sword pulsed with blinding blue light, and a 'Savage Fang' attack locked onto Qianye Ying'er, striking down with immense force.

Every sword technique from the Heaven Wolf God Art of Hell was incredibly powerful. The 'Savage Fang,' the second sword technique, when performed by Yun Che using his hand as a sword, had severely wounded two God Emperor Princes. But under Caizhi's sword, this same technique unleashed true, boundless heavenly might.

A wolf's howl shook the air, and a colossal azure wolf silhouette suddenly appeared in the sky. Unlike the faint wolf shadow that flickered around Yun Che, behind Caizhi stood an immense azure wolf, tens of thousands of feet tall, its eyes like blood-filled hells, its maw seemingly capable of devouring the heavens. As the Heaven Wolf Sacred Sword swung, the colossal wolf, bearing the sword's world-ending power, lunged straight at Qianye Ying'er.

Qianye Ying'er remained motionless. She simply raised one hand, and a golden halo appeared out of thin air, instantly halting the Heaven Wolf's sword might. Almost at the very same instant, a red streak tore through space like a fleeting meteor, aiming directly for her throat.

Qianye Ying'er's eyes narrowed, and her body, glowing with golden light, subtly shifted.

Instantly, a large section of the surrounding space was directly twisted into a terrifying 'S' shape. This was not the space of the lower realms or even the God Realm, but the space of the Primordial Profound Realm, which possesses nearly the highest-grade spatial laws in existence. To distort it to such an extent required extremely terrifying power, and the resulting tearing force was undoubtedly terrifying to the extreme.

Within the twisted space, Caizhi's and Jasmine's powers almost instantly disintegrated, and both were flung far away in different directions.

"How could she be... so powerful?" Caizhi's serious expression held unconcealable shock. This was her first time witnessing Qianye Ying'er's terrifying might. Qianye Ying'er hadn't used her full strength or even drawn her weapon, yet an invisible pressure made Caizhi almost suffocate. She was definitely more powerful than all the Star Gods, with the exception of Xing Juekong!

"She is that powerful," Jasmine said coldly. Although her killing intent and hatred for Qianye Ying'er had reached their peak, her cold rationality constantly reminded her: not to mention her and Caizhi, even if two more Star Gods joined them, trying to kill Qianye Ying'er would be a fool's errand.

The only thing she and Caizhi could do now was to delay Qianye Ying'er for as long as possible, allowing Yun Che to escape as far as he could.

In a single breath, her figure flickered and vanished into thin air like a ghost. When she reappeared, she had transformed into seven afterimages, each carrying a deadly, fading light...

"Star God's Annihilation Slash!"

The two sisters were connected in thought, and Caizhi's Heaven Wolf sword might simultaneously descended. The eldest and youngest princesses of the Star God Realm, the two youngest Star Gods, unleashed their full combined power here for the first time, to besiege the Brahma Monarch Goddess—the most terrifying woman in the Eastern Divine Region.

The Moon-Eclipsing Immortal Palace's speed had reached the pinnacle for profound vessels of its era, yet Xia Qingyue still felt it was far too slow.

She had been kneeling on the ground, holding Yun Che, in the same position for a long time, her heart completely filled with coldness and anxiety. Usually, her mind was as calm as ice, but at this moment, not a single second could she find peace.

During her years in the God Realm, her heart had indeed been very calm—a detached, desireless tranquility. When Yun Che, whom she had believed dead for many years, reappeared before her, she took him away. This choice was not born of deliberation or reason, but from instinct.

Although this choice burdened her with an extremely heavy sense of guilt, so profound that she thought of atoning for it with her entire life.

Perhaps she didn't truly understand why she instinctively made this choice, but at least, seeing Yun Che—whom she had believed separated from her by life and death—alive before her eyes, her long-dormant soul seemed to regain new life. This feeling was clearer than any emotional experience she had had in years.

However, only a single day had passed before they plunged straight into an abyss, falling from a beautiful illusion into the most terrifying nightmare.

The Brahma Soul Death-Wishing Mark... In the fragments of memory the Moon God Emperor had given her, the recollections of the 'Brahma Soul Life-Death Mark' carried incredibly strong traces of fear. For an existence like the Moon God Emperor to be so terrified of it, one could only imagine how dreadful a curse it was.

Yet, it had fallen upon Yun Che, whom she had only just 'recovered.'

Yun Che remained in a coma, but the paleness on his face hadn't faded in the slightest, and his teeth were still clenched tightly. Every organ and muscle on his face was tense, even distorted, all revealing the cruel torment he had endured.

Just then, a golden light suddenly flashed on his body, and golden patterns emerged.

Like a desperate beast startled awake from a nightmare, Yun Che let out a hoarse shriek. His body convulsed violently, and he fell heavily from Xia Qingyue's arms, then writhed and howled in agony on the ground.

"Yun Che!" Xia Qingyue cried out in alarm and rushed forward, but Yun Che's body was thrashing wildly, his limbs flailing and struggling in distortion. As soon as Xia Qingyue approached, he violently pushed her away.

Anyone who hadn't experienced it could never understand the kind of pain Yun Che was enduring at this moment.

At times, his whole body curled up and trembled as if he'd been thrown into the lowest depths of a freezing hell, his body pierced by countless ice-thorned poison spears. The next instant, it was as if his flesh had been torn, his bones shattered, and he was being cruelly burned alive over the fires of purgatory.

Every imaginable, unimaginable, and even unthinkable torment and torture from all the world were mercilessly inflicted upon Yun Che, every breath, every moment.

"Arghhh… Aaaarghhh!!" "Ughhh... aaaahhhhhh—!"

Within just a few breaths of waking from his coma, Yun Che's entire body was drenched in cold sweat. All his blood vessels were alarmingly bulging and writhing. His limbs thrashed wildly against the ground and everything around him, and he continuously clawed at his own body. In an instant, his body was covered in bloody marks, and in another, he was a bloodied mess.

"Yun Che... Yun Che!!" Watching Yun Che claw bloody gashes into his own body, Xia Qingyue's soul trembled. Disregarding everything else, she forcefully channeled her profound energy and threw herself onto Yun Che. Although Yun Che couldn't use profound energy in this state, his physical strength was already immense, and combined with his desperate struggles, his hands suddenly broke free from Xia Qingyue's control, frantically clawing at her.

One of his contorted, struggling hands tightly gripped her left arm, while the other reached for her chest, seizing a soft mass firmly in his grasp.

Xia Qingyue's face showed pain, but she did not break free. Instead, she closed her eyes and held Yun Che's trembling, convulsing body tightly.

Drip... Drip... A few drops, cold yet warm, inexplicably fell onto the bloody gashes Yun Che had carved into his own chest, mixing with his blood. In that instant, a sliver of clarity appeared in Yun Che's bloodshot eyes.

Through his hazy consciousness and vision, he saw his left hand gripping Xia Qingyue's arm, all five fingers buried in her flesh, creating five bloody holes in her flawless, jade-like arm. Half of her sleeve was already stained with fresh blood. His right hand was deeply embedded in her left chest; beneath her torn moon-robes, her snow-white skin, radiant like the full moon, was completely deformed and bore five shocking red marks.

She hadn't avoided him, nor had she uttered a sound, simply holding him tightly.

His pupils dilated, and his hands, trembling with even greater intensity, desperately pulled back. He opened his mouth, uttering a voice more hoarse and grating than a ghoul's: "Qing... Yue..."

"Kill... me..."

Yun Che, who had suffered countless injuries in his life, walked the line between life and death countless times, and even faced the pain of soul separation without fear, now, under the 'Brahma Soul Death-Wishing Mark,' used his last shred of consciousness to utter those three words, begging for death.

"Yun Che..." Xia Qingyue shook her head. "Don't say those words. I have a way to save you, I'm certain I can..."

"Kill... me... Aaaarghhh..."

He had heard Qianye Ying'er's earlier words clearly, not a single one blurred by his pain. The agony he endured far surpassed the soul-separating torment of the Underworld Brahma Flower. While he could at least overcome the latter with willpower, the torture of the Death-Wishing Mark was shattering all his will and belief. It was simply not something any human, or any living being, could bear.

If he were to live forever under such pain, death would be the greatest release. And since only Qianye Ying'er could remove it, he would rather die!

As he spoke those three words for the second time, the light in his pupils rapidly dimmed. His eyes, originally crimson like blood, were now clearly clouded with a dull, grey haze. A will to die!

Xia Qingyue's chest constricted. Her right hand, which had been holding Yun Che tightly, suddenly let go and slapped him hard across the face.

"SLAP!!" The slap was incredibly loud, but compared to the torture of the Brahma Soul Death-Wishing Mark, the pain it caused was utterly negligible. Yet, it harshly struck Yun Che's soul, causing his pupils to contract and even his body's convulsions to pause for a fleeting moment.

"Yun Che, listen to me..." Xia Qingyue's voice trembled slightly with a chilling edge. "You are Yun Che, not some useless wretch who can be easily defeated! You didn't die at Heavenly Sword Villa back then, nor did you die in the Primordial Profound Ark... What reason do you have to be defeated by a mere curse mark?!"

"Don't forget how many people are waiting for you in the Azure Cloud Continent... Don't forget that for your sake, I betrayed my mother and my adoptive father... And most importantly, don't forget who inflicted this pain upon you. You must repay it a million times over! So, you must live... you can never say those three words again..."

Xia Qingyue took a deep breath, desperately holding back her tears, but ultimately shook her head. "Only you know how much pain you're in. Perhaps these are just empty words to you... But nothing in this world is absolute. The Brahma Soul Death-Wishing Mark isn't something only Qianye can remove. There's someone who possesses the most special power in this world. My adoptive father said her power can purify and remove all defilements and curses in the world... So, she will definitely be able to remove the Brahma Soul Death-Wishing Mark from you... She definitely will!"

"We'll go find her now. Just a few more hours... just a few more hours, please, you must hold on. She will definitely be able to save you..."

Yun Che's body continued to tremble and convulse wildly, cold sweat streaming from every part of him. But the grey haze in his eyes gradually dispersed, and even his screams were suppressed, though his teeth remained clenched so tightly they seemed on the verge of shattering.

Her heartstrings finally relaxed slightly. Xia Qingyue held Yun Che's upper body against her chest and softly said, "If it hurts, scream it out. It's just me here, no one else."

Yun Che's agonizing screams, which he had desperately suppressed, instantly burst forth, echoing through every corner of the Moon-Eclipsing Immortal Palace.