Chapter 1554: 千叶千影(中)

In the vast Northern Divine Realm, Yun Che knew no one. Today, he had truly taken his first step into this new reality. A familiar aura, one that should not exist in this world, suddenly reached him.

And the owner of this aura could absolutely not be here.

But…

As Yun Che appeared, the aura seemed to sense him. With violent tremors of the ground and space, nearly half of the royal city instantly crumbled. All obstacles between them, living or inanimate, were annihilated. A black figure descended from the sky, landing in the center of the palace city, directly in front of Yun Che.

It was a woman.

She was clad in black, practical for concealment, and her attire was stained with dust and scars. Yet, it could not conceal the astonishing beauty of her physique. Her hair was a luxurious golden, though significantly duller than Yun Che remembered.

A black half-mask covered her face. Concealing her looks had long been her habit, for her beauty was so stunningly perfect, so exquisite it could topple empires and bring ruin. This was heaven's greatest blessing upon her, yet also her greatest curse.

Even with her face obscured, her chin and lips, sculpted like precious jade, remained so perfect as to seem ethereal.

This was someone Yun Che knew—someone who, according to his understanding, should never have appeared here.

Qianye Ying'er!

Yun Che gazed at her, and she gazed back at Yun Che. Loud noises erupted around them as countless palace guards and profound practitioners swarmed forward. The Eastern Cold Kingdom Lord also arrived swiftly with his Eastern Cold Guards. The entire royal city was on high alert, as if facing a formidable enemy, yet the two of them remained motionless, as if frozen in place.

Yun Che and Qianye—one had been branded by the other with the Brahma Soul Death-Wishing Mark, leaving him unable to live or die; the other had been branded by the former with a cruel slave mark, losing all dignity and enduring a lifelong shame.

Both hated the other immensely, wishing they could personally grind them to dust.

One was once the world-renowned Child of Salvation, while the other was the Brahma Emperor Goddess who stood at the pinnacle of the current age. Yet, both had suffered the cruelest betrayals, forced into the dark expanse of the Northern Divine Realm.

Though the Northern Divine Realm was far smaller than other divine realms, it was still an immensely vast region comprising thousands of star realms.

Yet, in this immense Northern Divine Realm, they had met—as if by destiny, or perhaps a bizarre jest from fate.

Yun Che's hands clenched, and dark profound light blazed across his body, quickly deepening into a vibrant crimson.

The sudden burst of profound energy violently repelled Dongfang Hanwei, who stood beside him, along with all the swiftly approaching city guards and profound practitioners.

Qianye Ying'er possessed power comparable to a Divine Emperor; Yun Che's strength, even at its absolute limit, could not possibly threaten or affect her in the slightest. Yet, as the air currents surged violently, Qianye Ying'er's body noticeably swayed.

She watched Yun Che silently. Finally, she slowly extended her hand, but what emerged from her palm was not profound energy, but a slowly coalescing soul crystal.

Yun Che stared.

Gradually, the soul crystal materialized in her pale palm. The instant it fully formed, Qianye Ying'er's body swayed again. Her beautiful eyes closed weakly, and she slowly collapsed, falling unconscious and silent.

Behind her lay the ravaged royal city and countless corpses.

The Eastern Cold Kingdom Lord arrived, and seeing the formidable invader suddenly collapsed on the ground, he let out a sharp sigh of relief. "Seize her!" he roared.

At the Eastern Cold Kingdom Lord's command, the Eastern Cold Guards swiftly advanced. However, after only a few steps, they all froze, their faces contorted with profound terror, daring not to move closer.

They could not possibly withstand the aura Yun Che was unleashing with his full power.

Dongfang Hanwei continually observed Yun Che's expression. In a hushed voice, she tentatively asked, "Senior Yun, is this person... someone you know?"

Yun Che did not reply. He stepped towards Qianye Ying'er, his profound energy showing no sign of receding.

When he was just a few steps away, his brow suddenly furrowed.

In her unconscious state, Qianye Ying'er's aura was incredibly fragile—so weak that Yun Che could clearly perceive its condition.

Under what circumstances would a powerful profound practitioner suddenly faint? It would either be due to unbearable severe damage to their body or soul, or a sudden release of mental strain after a prolonged period of desperate hardship.

Qianye Ying'er was undoubtedly one of the people who hated him most in this world. Yet, she had appeared in the Northern Divine Realm and had suddenly fainted right before him.

With a flick of his finger, the soul crystal Qianye Ying'er had condensed before losing consciousness fell into his hand. A segment of her memory then unfolded in his mind.

The profound energy around him dissipated. Yun Che seized Qianye Ying'er, and with a blur, brought her into a cultivation chamber. The door and barrier sealed shut simultaneously.

Everyone exchanged glances, but no one dared to question his actions.

However, unlike Yun Che, she possessed no ability to control dark profound energy. In this dark realm, her life and profound energy were constantly being devoured by the pervasive dark aura. To completely escape pursuit, she had to push deeper and deeper, and the further she went, the faster and more merciless this consumption became. Moreover, her profound veins had already been severely damaged by Qianye Fantian, causing her profound energy to continuously dissipate. Every day, every moment she spent in the Northern Divine Realm had been a nightmare.

What sustained her was a soul-consuming hatred, an unwavering obsession for revenge, and that singular glimmer of hope: Yun Che!

With her profound veins destroyed, she could never exact revenge with her own power. In this world, Yun Che was the only one with as much reason to kill Qianye Fantian as she did, and the only one with the potential to succeed. She now understood clearly what it meant for hatred to consume everything. Perhaps more than anyone else in the world, she comprehended the depth of malice and the demonic resolve that would fester in Yun Che's heart after being betrayed by the world and losing everything.

If he could escape the pursuit of the three divine realms, then the Northern Divine Realm was the most likely place for him to flee. He inherited the Heretic God's divine power, and his future potential would undoubtedly surpass everyone in the current era—this was also the hidden reason he was not tolerated by the world. With his dark profound energy, he could also flourish in the Northern Divine Realm; given enough time, he would certainly gain the ability to kill Qianye Fantian!

The very person who had once trampled her dignity, the one she wished to grind to dust, had now become her last hope and fervent desire. How tragically ironic. She had initially believed that finding Yun Che in the vast Northern Divine Realm would be akin to finding a needle in a haystack, and that her current condition might not even last until that day. Yet, less than a day ago, in this dark land known as the Eastern Ruins, she had actually heard the name "Yun Che."

"Hmph," Yun Che sneered. "Ridiculous. You are one of the people I want to kill most in this world. You actually ask me for help? Give me a reason!"

Qianye Ying'er's soul crystal clearly recorded everything. She had willingly sacrificed all dignity to save Qianye Fantian, only to be abandoned by him in return. Even more cruelly, she had discovered that the father she had always revered was the true murderer of her mother, and her entire life had merely been a pawn in his manipulative schemes.

Betrayal, nothing but betrayal... How pathetic and laughable that the dignified Brahma Emperor Goddess should suffer such a fate!

"Before the Wall of Primordial Chaos... I saved you," Qianye Ying'er said. "Had I not sent you away with the Void Illusion Stone, you would have died by Xia Qingyue's sword."

"That reason is not enough!" Yun Che said coldly.

Qianye Ying'er slowly closed her eyes and stated softly, "Please... bestow the slave mark upon me again. I am willing to be... your slave forever!"

Her Brahma Soul was already gone; if a slave mark were implanted again, it would be an eternal, unbreakable bond!

She was actively seeking to be "bestowed" with the slave mark.

Yun Che looked at her and suddenly burst into cold, wild laughter. "Hahahaha... Qianye Ying'er, who once scorned everything, has actually debased herself to actively beg for slavery... How magnificent, how laughable... Hahaha... Hahahahahahaha!"

Qianye Ying'er's lips and knuckles were incredibly pale, but her eyes remained fixed on Yun Che, not wavering for a single instant.

"However, what a pity..." Yun Che shook his head, each word dripping with mockery. "You are no longer the awe-inspiring Brahma Emperor Goddess, but a stray dog whose legs were personally broken by your father! Your profound strength is gone, your profound veins are half-crippled. Your cultivation has fallen to the early Divine Sovereign realm; you probably can't even kill me. What use would you be to me as a slave?"

"My body," Qianye Ying'er said, raising her arm. Slowly, she removed the black half-mask from her face, fully revealing before Yun Che's eyes the angelic countenance that had once captivated his soul at first sight.

At that instant, the light in the entire space seemed to dim.

"'The 'Dragon Queen Goddess,' known to all under heaven,'" she began, her beautiful eyes—capable of making the heavens, stars, and all flowers pale in comparison—staring directly into Yun Che's. Each word from her exquisite, jade-like lips was as ethereal and tragically beautiful as mist: "As a man, do you not wish... to make the 'Goddess' coveted by all men in the world, become your exclusive plaything, to be defiled as you please?"