Chapter 1538: Black Eternal Darkness

The North God Region is the smallest of the four God Regions in the God Realm, roughly half the size of the East God Region and one-fifth the size of the West God Region. If the God Realm were divided into ten parts, the North God Region would occupy only one. The number of star realms is naturally the lowest. Even so, due to the continuous dissipation of chaotic yin energy, the North God Region's territory has been steadily shrinking.

Yun Che's understanding of the North God Region was basically limited to concepts like "Land of Devils" and "Demon Realm"; he knew almost nothing else. However, this completely unfamiliar world had become his only refuge. This was because the North God Region was shrouded in chaotic yin energy—also known to the world as dark demonic energy—which the other three God Regions were absolutely unwilling to approach or set foot in. It wasn't just that they didn't want their lifespan and profound energy eroded by the dark demonic energy; it was also because, while they hated the "devils," they were also hated by them in return. Here was the devils' home ground; within the chaotic yin energy, their dark profound energy would exert its maximum power, whereas profound practitioners from the other three God Regions would be greatly suppressed upon entry. If discovered, their fate would undoubtedly be the same as that of a devil found by profound practitioners from the other three God Regions outside the North God Region.

Upon entering the North God Region, the dark demonic energy here did not cause Yun Che the slightest discomfort, neither physically, profoundly, nor mentally. Walking through the omnipresent darkness and silence, he even felt a strange sense of comfort, and his heart was colder and clearer than ever before. An unfamiliar world, without an inch of familiar land, and not a single acquaintance—he was truly alone.

After entering the North God Region, Yun Che did not stop but continued to go deeper. The three God Regions' search for him was undeniably frantic. After a long and fruitless search, those from the King Realms might potentially venture into the North God Region to look for him. However, even King Realm individuals would at most only enter the borders of the North God Region, making deep penetration almost impossible. Therefore, he was delving as deep as he could into the North Region. He had to save his life... for him now, nothing was more important.

He traversed one star realm after another, passed through star regions, and scene after scene of the North God Region entered his dark pupils.

The ecosystem of the North God Region was completely different from that of the East God Region. It was filled with death and gloom, rarely seeing sun or moon. What was most prevalent was constant slaughter: dark profound beasts fighting each other, and profound practitioners fighting each other. In the East God Region, conflicts were often due to interests or grievances, but here, conflicts were solely for survival. Indeed, survival. In this dark and cruel world, only the strong could survive. They would stop at nothing to become more powerful, fighting to the death for extremely limited resources, leaving corpses strewn everywhere. Yun Che viewed all of this with indifference.

As he delved deeper, the dark demonic energy became noticeably denser and purer, and the level of the star realms also increased. Finally, another month passed, and Yun Che set foot in his first Middle Star Realm of the North God Region. He didn't know his current position within the North God Region, nor the name of the star realm he was in. Although it was a Middle Star Realm, the presence of living beings was still exceptionally sparse; even walking through the shadowy, dark jungle, he couldn't feel any vitality.

Unconsciously, Yun Che arrived in a desolate mountain range. Dark profound beasts became more numerous here, and in the darkness, pairs of bloodthirsty eyes stared at him. However, upon meeting Yun Che's indifferent gaze, all these ferocious eyes immediately trembled. Following this, they slowly retreated, then fled in terror, going very far away.

"Screech!" A terrifying tearing sound erupted—the sound of sharp claws ripping through the air. A hundred-zhang-long dark giant eagle swept over Yun Che's head, its dark talons, gleaming with soul-piercing cold light, snatched up a dark profound beast frantically fleeing ahead, then soared away towards the distant north.

Yun Che's steps halted at this moment. He walked towards a withered tree ahead, sat down on the ground, and closed his eyes without setting up a barrier. Soon, his breathing completely quieted... On his chest, the dark profound formation left by Jie Yuan before her departure glowed with a faint, dark light.

As the faint dark light emanated, Jie Yuan's figure appeared within Yun Che's mind. She looked at Yun Che as if standing right before him.

"Heh," she let out a low, emotionless chuckle, seemingly mocking, yet also sorrowful: "You finally triggered the devil mark I left behind. It seems you've truly been pushed to your limits." However, she would never have imagined that this devil mark had been triggered by Yun Che's extreme fury and malevolence just moments after she left the Primal Chaos. Although the activation of this devil mark exposed his dark profound energy to everyone, giving the three God Regions a legitimate reason to kill him, given the attitude of the three First God Emperors towards Yun Che, they would have found other legitimate reasons anyway. The activation of this mark merely brought everything forward.

"Within this devil mark is sealed the dark profound art, 'Dark Everlasting Calamity.' It is not a core profound art of my Heaven Smiting Devil Clan; rather, it belongs solely to me. My clansmen cannot cultivate it. Even Ni Xuan, who surpassed me in affinity and control over dark profound energy, could not cultivate it."

"But if it is you, there is certainly a possibility of success."

She did not state the reason.

"You possess Ni Xuan's profound veins, granting you an extreme affinity for and control over dark profound energy. Therefore, 'Dark Everlasting Calamity' can allow others to ascend to heaven in one step, yet its growth in power for you will be extremely limited. Its might is also far inferior to the 'Divine-Devil Forbidden Tome' that Ni Xuan and I co-created... which is also known to you as the Evil God Art."

"However, if you can perfectly master 'Dark Everlasting Calamity,' you will absolutely be able to... control all devils in this era!"

"Becoming the true... and only Devil Emperor!"

This was a memory left by Jie Yuan; every word came from her mouth, beyond doubt.

"Aside from 'Dark Everlasting Calamity,' all the demonic arts I cultivated in my lifetime are contained within. You may choose and cultivate any of them!" The demonic arts cultivated by the Devil Emperor throughout her life—how powerful, how intricate. For others, cultivating even one would be a lifelong challenge, yet she left all of them... because she knew better than Yun Che himself what a monstrous anomaly he was. A monstrosity that surpassed even the Evil God Ni Xuan!

"Within the devil mark, there are three drops of my origin devil blood. They can strengthen your devil body and devil soul. If you are eager to swiftly increase your cultivation in a short period, refining them can also significantly boost your profound cultivation. However, it is best not to do so."

"While refining them can make you ascend to heaven in one step, slowly and perfectly integrating them with your body will yield benefits a hundredfold greater in the future. The lower your profound cultivation, the greater the sublimation of your body and profound veins will be from integrating the origin blood. Therefore, for a period of time, you should instead suppress your cultivation as much as possible. I trust you understand every word I've said." The soul-voice left by Jie Yuan was very specific and detailed. Although she had always been exceptionally cold towards Yun Che, in reality, she consistently held a special concern for him, perhaps because of the Evil God Ni Xuan, or perhaps because of Hong'er and You'er.

"The origin of dark profound energy is chaotic yin energy, and 'Dark Everlasting Calamity' is also an extreme yin profound art. My origin devil blood is, moreover, extreme yin blood. Both are more suitable for females. Therefore, to cultivate 'Dark Everlasting Calamity' most quickly, you need to find an excellent woman to serve as a cultivation cauldron. Two of these three drops of extreme yin origin blood are already your limit; the third drop is for the cauldron's use!"

"This woman must still possess her primordial yin, have extremely high profound cultivation comprehension and control over profound energy, and most importantly, her profound energy must be of the utmost purity! If you can find such a woman, it is best to directly abolish her cultivation. If she is made to dissipate all her profound arts, leaving only the purest, untainted original profound energy, what she gains in the future will be immeasurably greater than what she loses!"

With his eyes closed, Yun Che's palm slowly lifted. Above his palm, three pitch-black blood beads floated. The three blood beads shimmered with a faint, dark light that wasn't intense, yet it caused the entire world to suddenly darken. Opening his eyes, his pupils reflected the three intensely deep dark glows. Without any hesitation, he forcefully directed two of the blood beads towards his chest.

The instant they touched his body, the two dark blood beads, like mercury pouring onto the ground, seamlessly merged into his physique without any obstruction. With an indescribably strange muffled sound, a layer of dense and chaotic dark mist suddenly surged from Yun Che's body, and his pupils emitted two incomparably faint black lights... as if transforming into two dark abysses capable of devouring everything. This was no ordinary blood; it was the Devil Emperor's origin blood! If it were to directly enter another person's body like this, even a contemporary King Realm God Emperor would instantly be devoured into ashes by the terrifying and unparalleled power of the Devil Emperor. But he was Yun Che. His profound veins possessed the world's most extreme affinity for dark profound energy... regardless of the level of darkness. Moreover, the origin blood was not just core essence blood; it also possessed its own soul... its spiritual essence also had an affinity for Yun Che, derived from Jie Yuan. Yun Che's body convulsed violently in pain, yet his face was frighteningly calm... He had already experienced the world's most extreme pain and despair; what was this mere physical agony? Just a few breaths later, the agitated black mist began to slowly dissipate, gradually fading away along with the black light emanating from his pupils. Two drops of Jie Yuan's Devil Emperor origin blood thus... simply and easily came to exist within Yun Che's body, without any further rejection.

It was unpredictable... Even Jie Yuan herself could not have predicted what kind of mutation her Devil Emperor origin blood would cause in Yun Che once it completely fused with him, given his Evil God profound veins. Nor could she predict how long her desired "perfect integration" would take. Tens of thousands of years? Thousands of years? Hundreds of years... or...?

Although the Devil Emperor origin blood had entered his body but had not yet truly begun its slow integration, Yun Che suddenly felt an enormous change in his perception of this world. His spiritual sense penetrated more darkness, extending twice as far as before. In particular, his perception of dark auras became incredibly clear, almost allowing him to distinctly capture the flow of every dark element. That was the Devil Emperor's origin blood... even the slightest interference from it would have a considerably immense impact on any living being in this world.

Yun Che's body became completely still. Within his mind and soul, Jie Yuan's voice continued to resound.

"Although I cannot personally witness how you were forced to trigger the devil mark, there is one thing you must remember: Had you not carried his power and will, and had it not been for your salvation and care for Hong'er and You'er, I would never have made the decision to leave the Primal Chaos and betray my clan. Therefore, for the chaotic world you inhabit, you are the undisputed savior, especially for the God Realm. Everyone owes you a life; no one has the right to betray you."

"Therefore, if you seek revenge, cast aside all hesitation, kindness, and pity! Even if you slaughter all living beings in this era, you need not feel any guilt! This is what they owe you!"

"Finally, there are two things you should perhaps know."

"The current Primal Chaos World harbors an enormous secret and a monumental hidden danger."

The words "enormous" and "monumental" in the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor's mouth were certainly not to a degree that ordinary people could imagine or comprehend.

"This enormous secret, I cannot tell you, nor am I qualified to. But if it ever 'comes to light,' you will surely be the first to know. This is also another reason why I left the Primal Chaos and blocked my clansmen's return."

"As for that monumental hidden danger..."

In the world of his mind and soul, Jie Yuan's shadow slowly raised her hand. On her fingertip, a star-like black glow flickered: "This memory fragment bears a seal I placed. One day, when you have perfectly integrated my Devil Emperor origin blood and can perfectly master 'Dark Everlasting Calamity,' you will naturally be able to easily remove its seal!" This sealed memory fragment was what Jie Yuan referred to as the "monumental hidden danger."

"Yun Che," the dark star-like glow in her hand drifted to the deepest part of Yun Che's soul, and Jie Yuan's voice softened: "Back then, Ni Xuan, due to extreme disappointment and desolation, abandoned his Creator God title and retreated into seclusion. And you... if you experience a similar situation, I don't want you to be like him, holding onto light despite bearing darkness. I hope you can reclaim what you've lost... a thousandfold."

"At the very least, Hong'er and You'er must not be like they were back then—one forever abandoning her lineage, and the other forever confined to solitude and darkness."

"This world is not worthy of betraying my daughters and you. Therefore, after seeing this world more clearly, I want you to firmly remember these seven words..."

"'Rather betray the heavens, than betray yourself!'"

Jie Yuan's figure vanished from his soul world. Yun Che opened his eyes, and his indifferent, stagnant pupils seemed to have become even darker.