Chapter 1340: Ashes

"Sister... brother-in-law..." Caizhi's face grew even paler. Everything that had happened today, every word spoken, every scene witnessed, was overturning her very soul.

But Jasmine remained dazed and lost. Her gaze was fixed blankly on Yun Che, refusing to waver for even a moment. It was as if his presence was the only thing left in her world. Everything else—life or death, blood or screams—had ceased to matter.

Because this was his... final spark of life...

Why... did it have to end like this...?

Mother... Brother... Caizhi...

Yun Che...

What... did I do wrong...?

The overwhelmingly thick smell of blood made the air feel viscous. A terrifying aura was wildly spreading and growing within the hearts of all the Star Guardians. Those Star Guardians who had been poised to advance now frantically retreated; some were even trembling uncontrollably.

They were Star Guardians. They had once believed themselves fearless, willing to face death for the Star God Realm and for the glory of being a Star Guardian.

Until today, until this very moment...

They could die, but to die at the hands of an extremely low-born junior, and to die so easily, so miserably... How could they accept that? How could they not be terrified and tremble?

"My King..." Heavenly Origin Star God Tu Mi spoke. Even the elders who had known him for tens of thousands of years had never heard his voice so distorted. "This child, absolutely... cannot be spared!"

Previously, he had told the Star God Emperor that Yun Che must absolutely not be killed.

Now, it was "absolutely cannot be spared."

Originating from the lower realms... going from Spirit to Divine King in a year... raging from Divine King to Divine Sovereign in mere breaths, then wielding Divine Sovereign power that likely approached that of a Divine Master...

This was beyond what could be described as a monster. To be like this before even thirty years of age... If he were allowed to grow... in ten years... a hundred years... a thousand years... what heights would he reach?!

Unpredictable, utterly unpredictable!!

But one thing was absolutely certain: if he were an ally, it would be a blessing. But if he became an enemy... he would be more terrifying than any demon!!

Given today's situation, Yun Che felt only profound, bone-deep hatred for the Star God Realm! If he were left alive, if he escaped, or if even a slight accident occurred later... in the future, once he matured, it would be a catastrophe of unimaginable scale for the Star God Realm!

At this moment, he even felt regret... If he had known earlier about Jasmine and Yun Che's relationship, if he had known Yun Che would disregard life and death to force his way into the Star God Realm for Jasmine, if he had known the power Yun Che wielded could be this terrifying, he would have certainly used all his might to persuade the Star God Emperor to abandon this ritual, instead treating Jasmine and Caizhi with utmost kindness to ensure Yun Che became an ally of the Star God Realm.

After all, no one knew if the ritual would succeed, and if it did, the outcome was even more unpredictable. The latter approach, however, would not only preserve the Heavenly Slaughter and Heavenly Wolf Star Gods but also secure a power for the Star God Realm that could prop up the heavens in the future!

However, there were no "ifs" in this world, and time would not flow backward. In their current predicament, what they absolutely had to do was utterly eradicate Yun Che, leaving him no... not even a sliver of possibility or chance to live. Compared to that, the secrets he held were no longer important.

If the Heavenly Origin Star God was terrified, how could the Star God Emperor be any different? His chest heaved as he uttered in a profound, low voice, "Kill... him!"

Just three short words, but every person clearly discerned fear within them.

Making the Star God Emperor... feel fear?!

Even the Moon God Emperor, whom he considered a mortal enemy, had never received such "treatment."

"Hold nothing back! Kill him!"

The Star God Emperor's command also brought a sense of relief to Star God Emperor Ximing. With a single order from him, countless Divine Sovereign auras erupted simultaneously. All the air within the entire Star God City was instantly pushed away, and the space itself rippled like a lake surface suddenly struck by a gale.

Three thousand Star Guardians moved in unison, three thousand Divine Sovereigns unleashing their profound energy simultaneously. The sheer power of their combined aura was truly earth-shattering. The miserable deaths of over a hundred Star Guardians, the lingering fear in their hearts, and the Star God Emperor's kill order ensured they would no longer, nor dared to, hesitate or hold back.

Even the Star Guardians positioned at the very back, who might not even get a chance to strike, radiated the dazzling star-glow unique to their Star God Realm.

"Haaaa!"

Roars shook the heavens, as countless star-lights plummeted directly towards Yun Che... Divine Sovereign power, second only to Divine Masters in the entire Primal Chaos, was a force capable of running rampant in upper star realms and reigning as kings in middle star realms. Countless profound practitioners spent their entire lives, not to mention achieving Divine Sovereign, but even seeing one was an unimaginable luxury.

Yet at this moment, every single streak of star power nearing Yun Che originated from a Divine Sovereign!

When he first arrived in the God Realm, for him, who hadn't even stepped into the Divine Dao, the words "Divine Sovereign" represented supreme deities, beings so lofty that he couldn't even harbor a sliver of hope or yearning to reach that level.

He couldn't have imagined, nor could anyone have imagined, that in just four short years, he would stand alone, facing three thousand Divine Sovereigns!

"Uwaaaaaaah!!"

Yun Che's roars grew even more hoarse and terrifying. The bloody glow emanating from his eyes became more ferocious. Flames erupted from the Heaven Smiting Sword, thunder roared, and carrying his boundless hatred, he slammed forward, tearing open a blood-red curtain in the world that had been illuminated a dazzling white.

Thunder, phoenix cries, and screams merged into a single cacophony. All Star Guardians who had just approached within a hundred *zhang* were blasted away, every one of them severely wounded. The farthest one directly slammed into the Star Soul Barrier. But their nightmare had only just begun: crimson flames burned on their bodies, spreading across them in an instant, turning their fading screams into the wails of vengeful ghosts.

Yun Che's crimson flames, a fusion of Golden Crow Flame and Phoenix Flame, had displayed world-shaking might during the Conferred God Battle, known to everyone in the Eastern Divine Region. But only by experiencing it firsthand now did they truly understand how terrifying and cruel it was. Their Star God Spears and Star God Armor melted as quickly as common steel, while their bodies were mercilessly incinerated as if buried in the raging fires of purgatory—a torment they had never imagined possible.

"Ah... ahhh... Save... save me... waaaahhhhhh..."

The screams grew more agonizing than the last, so piercing that the other Star Guardians found them incomprehensible and unbelievable. They desperately unleashed profound energy, but the crimson flames clung to them like maggots, impossible to extinguish. Instead, they spread relentlessly across their bodies—from armor to flesh, to bone, and then to their internal organs and souls—dragging them into deeper and deeper layers of purgatory.

However, no one could help them, because Yun Che had already transformed into a bloody streak of light, like a demonic blade from a purgatorial blood pool, piercing into the trembling Star Guardians once more.

Boom————

With a deafening roar, the heavens trembled. A full thirty Heavenly Slaughter Star Guardians, before they could even raise a hand, were buried within the exploding crimson inferno, transforming into wailing, screaming devils consumed by the flames.

The Despairing Evil God...

The Despairing Crimson Flames...

The Despairing Divine Calamity Lightning...

The Despairing Heavenly Wolf Sword...

At this moment, he was no longer Yun Che, but an Asura of the Other Shore, born from agony, fury, and deathly despair! He fought not for life, not for escape, not for hope, but only for hatred and death!

Boom!!Rip!!Boom————

With one strike, three Star Guardians were severed at the waist... With one strike, nine Star Guardians' heads exploded simultaneously... With one strike, fourteen Star Guardians flew out in exploding light, falling into crimson purgatory... With one strike, seventeen Star Guardians' divine bodies were shattered by the binding lightning... With one strike, a full two hundred Star Guardians were simultaneously blasted away, and the lingering power knocked hundreds of Star Guardians behind them to the ground, leaving them unwilling to advance for a long time.

Wave after wave of Star Guardians charged forward. Each dazzling star-light carried the Divine Sovereign power capable of instantly destroying a vast sea. But what greeted them were the roars of the Heavenly Wolf, the explosion of flames, the crackling of lightning... and a sky filled with flying blood and severed limbs.

Every living being that approached Yun Che, under his demonic roars, were either shattered by his sword's might, incinerated by the crimson flames, or torn apart by lightning. The power unleashed with every sword swing was terrifying to the extreme. These clearly exceptionally powerful Star Guardians were like mere blades of grass offering themselves to death under his sword. Their Divine Sovereign bodies, upon being touched by his sword's power, were either severely wounded or instantly killed... and their deaths were utterly tragic, with not a single complete body left behind.

Within the barrier, the Star Gods and elders watched in a daze. Their limbs gradually turned cold, and their numb scalps felt like they could explode at any moment... Yet, for a long time, no one could utter a word.

The blood and shattered bones flying through the air represented the lives of one Star Guardian after another. They were the Star God Realm's power, second only to the Star Gods and elders. In each generation, the Star God Realm only had three thousand Star Guardians. Each one required immense resources and effort to cultivate, and each one that fell was a tremendous loss.

Yet at this moment, before their very eyes, they were being slaughtered in droves, blood splattering and bodies piling up.

It wasn't that the Star Guardians were too weak; they were third-tier existences in the vast Star God Realm. Rather, the current Yun Che was far, far too terrifying... terrifying beyond comprehension!

Bang!!

Light flashed as four Star God Spears, their powers converged, tore through Yun Che's crimson flames and thrust directly towards his heart... But Yun Che ignored them, his Heaven Smiting Sword slamming forward.

The four Star Guardians were greatly alarmed, but it was too late to withdraw their power... All four Star God Spears struck Yun Che's chest, but at that same instant, a force more terrifying than a nightmare swept over them. Their bodies were severed at the waist, and their internal organs were annihilated into scattered dust...

"Ahhhh!!"

With a furious roar, he shook the four Star God Spears from his body, and blood spurted forth. The enraged devil seemed to weaken slightly from his injuries, and the Heaven Smiting Sword, which had been slaughtering Star Guardians layer by layer, slowly lowered... The terrified Star Guardians' eyes flickered, and then they charged forward with all their might... It was also at this moment that they suddenly felt the surrounding temperature rapidly surging at an incredibly terrifying rate, and their vision, focused on Yun Che, began to distort unnaturally.

"Retreat!!" Heavenly Origin Star God roared.

What a being the Heavenly Origin Star God was; his spiritual perception was extraordinarily sharp, and his warning roared out instantly. However, Yun Che's speed in condensing and unleashing flames was simply too fast. With the dual burning of Phoenix Divine Blood and Golden Crow Divine Blood, and the complete eruption of the Despairing Evil God's power, it was so rapid that it surpassed the imagination of all Divine Emperors of the current era.

In just a single breath, "Nethergale Ashes" erupted, unleashing a crimson sea of fire in the center of Star God City.

Flames filled the sky; every visible part of Star God City was dyed a deep, blood-like crimson. The crimson sea of fire was extraordinarily resplendent, as beautiful as evening clouds reflecting in the sky... Yet it was also the most magnificent tomb in the world.

Sounds of ghostly wails and wolf-like howls filled the air, but these wails did not come from within the sea of fire. Instead, they came from its edges, from the Star Guardians who had narrowly escaped its direct impact, frantically retreating. Though they hadn't touched the flames, their entire bodies felt as if covered by searing hot irons, causing them unbearable pain. Within the crimson sea of fire itself, apart from the roaring inferno, not a single sound of struggle or scream emerged...

Because within the sea of fire, they had already been directly melted into ashes... All those engulfed by the flames—a full three hundred and thirty Star Guardians, three hundred and thirty Divine Sovereigns... not a single one escaped!

By this point, over five hundred Star Guardians had been annihilated by Yun Che's sword. The third-tier power of the Star God Realm, five hundred proud Divine Sovereigns who could rule as kings in middle star realms, had been extinguished by Yun Che alone... a full one-sixth of their total!

What an absurd nightmare.

The Star Guardians began to retreat once more, especially those near the sea of fire, who felt as if they had just walked the edge of purgatory, their courage almost shattering from fear... Yun Che, this man suddenly drenched in blood, what kind of devil was he? Every moment he continued to exist tore their souls and beliefs a little further apart.

The Star God Emperor and the other Star Gods' gazes pierced through the layers of flames, fixed intently on Yun Che. In the center of the sea of fire, he slowly knelt, the Heaven Smiting Sword also propped heavily on the ground... Indeed, the power to incinerate over three hundred Divine Sovereigns in an instant, no matter how heaven-defying Yun Che was, should have drained all his strength.

However, even as the sea of fire rapidly extinguished, the temperature of the space continued to rise quickly, and the crimson pressure shrouding Star God City surged with every passing moment.

They instinctively looked up... High in the distant sky, seven blood-red suns were blazing.

"Nine... Nine Suns of Heaven's Wrath!!"

"Ximing, aren't you going to act?!" The Star God Emperor's roar nearly tore his throat.