Chapter 1601: Black Flame

The newly formed palace protection barrier instantly transformed into a massive dark spiderweb under the cracks, and then, in the very next moment, it utterly shattered.

The Nine Luminaries Heaven trembled violently. Under the collapsing dark energy, the power that once protected the palace instantly became a rampaging destructive force, mercilessly engulfing and devouring a vast number of Nine Luminaries Palace disciples below, causing countless casualties and filling the air with screams.

What shattered in an instant was not only the palace protection barrier but also the will and faith of everyone in the Nine Luminaries Palace.

The moment Yun Che shattered the barrier with a single finger, Honored One Cang Yu's eyes nearly popped out of his head, then glazed over with a bewildered grayness. How he wished it were all just a nightmare.

When his vision finally regained some focus, the first thing he saw was Yun Che's figure.

Yun Che stood less than three steps in front of him, his emotionless eyes looking down. Around them were the other Nine Luminaries Palace Masters, their faces ashen, pupils constricted, and bodies scorched, just like him. Yet, at this moment, they showed no trace of their former lordly bearing, looking instead like a pack of broken dogs whose faith and souls had been torn to shreds, utterly devoid of any will to struggle.

"You're lucky. I currently have no desire to waste time killing a bunch of useless nobodies," Yun Che said coldly. "You have... one last chance."

Palace Master Cang Yu's mouth opened and closed three times before he finally managed a weak voice: "I... I... will... take... you."

After speaking, what flooded his heart most was not humiliation, but relief.

Leading Yun Che and Qianye Ying'er through layers of barriers, Palace Master Cang Yu, his steps trembling, arrived before the sect's largest forbidden area. He opened the treasure vault's barrier, completely revealing the sect's accumulated wealth and greatest secrets to the two outsiders.

"Very good," Yun Che said with a glance. "You can leave."

Palace Master Cang Yu's body trembled violently. He gritted his teeth and said, "The treasure vault is full of mechanisms; if not for me..."

"Get out!"

Palace Master Cang Yu shivered and dared not utter another word, shrinking away.

As one of the Nine Luminaries Palace Masters, a Rank Nine Divine Master who once looked down on all beings, he had never in his life imagined he would one day be so humble and terrified.

Even before entering the treasure vault, the aura emanating from within caused Qianye Ying'er's golden eyes to brighten slightly. "It seems this haul should be quite good. With your inexplicable absorption ability, it should be enough for you to reach the Divine Master realm in a short time."

"Speaking of which," Qianye Ying'er said, glancing over, "judging by its aura, that palace protection barrier probably required the power of a Rank Five Divine Sovereign to break through, yet it was so vulnerable before your dark profound energy."

What crushed the Nine Luminaries Palace's faith was not Yun Che's sheer power, but his single finger shattering their protection barrier.

"It's only the nascent power of the 'Dark Everlasting Calamity,' yet it's already so dominant. If it fully matures in the future... I'm afraid all dark entities will have to submit to you?"

"Including you," Yun Che said coldly, then stepped into the treasure vault.

"That's not necessarily true!" Qianye Ying'er murmured, following closely behind.

A quarter of an hour passed... then half an hour... time dragged on dreadfully.

Half an hour passed, and Palace Master Cang Yu finally lost his patience. Mustering all his courage, he rushed to the treasure vault. There, he stood inside, staring blankly at the empty space for a very long time.

After an unknown period, he finally snapped out of his daze. He picked up his sound transmission jade and sent out what was perhaps the weakest, most powerless message of his life: "Do not send any transmissions to the Thousand Desolations Divine Sect... From now on, no one in the entire sect is to mention Yun Che's name or anything about him."

"No, it's not because I'm afraid he'll find out and return for revenge. I just have a feeling... this person is too terrifying. Even the Thousand Desolations Divine Sect might fall at his hands."

Below the Nine Luminaries Heaven, amidst the mountains, a profound ark no larger than a palm lay quietly embedded between two inconspicuous rocks. A faint, almost imperceptible, icy barrier shrouded it, completely concealing its aura.

Even profound beasts passing by would not notice its presence.

Within the world of the Primordial Profound Ark, Yun Che sat quietly on the barren ground. Large quantities of demonic crystals and jades floated around him, releasing streams of pure, untainted aura that flowed like invisible rivers into his body.

The Primordial Profound Ark's aura was low-grade and muddled, making it highly unsuitable for cultivation. However, as it was an independent world, there was no need to worry about one's aura being detected, especially when achieving a major breakthrough.

The Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor's Scripture, the Law of Nothingness: All is Void, All Spirits Return to Profundity.

What Yun Che was reading was an incomplete version of the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor's Scripture. He couldn't fully articulate what the Law of Nothingness truly was, only that he had tangibly yet vaguely touched its periphery.

He was still incredibly far from "All Spirits Return to Profundity," yet he could subtly and strangely convert the spiritual energy from profound crystals and jades directly into his own profound energy.

In the context of the Law of Nothingness, this was undoubtedly the most basic, perhaps even less than a fundamental, ability. Yet, in the eyes of the world, and in the eyes of someone like Qianye Ying'er, who had once stood at the pinnacle of the profound way, it was undeniably a power that defied the heavens.

In just twenty hours, less than two days, the bottleneck that countless profound practitioners struggled a lifetime to break through smoothly gave way for Yun Che.

In that instant, all the profound crystals around Yun Che silently shattered, and all the air within a hundred-mile radius was expelled. Yun Che's profound energy surged outwards, then rapidly flowed back in the next moment...

When everything settled, his profound vein world had transformed into an even vaster starry sky.

A profound energy world encompassing the power of a Divine Master!

Yun Che opened his eyes, and a black gleam flashed. He raised his hand, feeling the surge of energy between his fingers and the world that had once again changed. Yet, within him was only dead silence, without a ripple.

Less than a year had passed since he entered the Northern Divine Region, yet he had broken through from Rank One Divine King to Rank One Divine Master, spanning an entire major realm.

Qianye Ying'er had witnessed this entire process.

Yun Che was calm, and she was calm too... even though this should have been an earth-shattering event for any profound practitioner in any realm.

"It seems the three Divine Regions are one step closer to their doom," Qianye Ying'er said, walking over and looking at Yun Che. Her tone was quite unfriendly: "You can finally allow me to recover to the Divine Sovereign realm, right!"

Yun Che didn't respond. He raised his hands, and firelight flickered. Golden Crow Flame and Phoenix Flame ignited in his palms respectively. As his hands intertwined, they quickly merged into the immensely powerful Crimson Divine Flame.

Now, the speed at which he merged the Crimson Divine Flame was several times faster than before. Derived from Divine Master power, its destructive capability was terrifyingly many times greater.

Cupping the Crimson Divine Flame in his hands, Yun Che's gaze turned cold, and a dark glow slowly emanated from his palms.

This was no ordinary dark profound energy, but a dark glow fused with the Dark Everlasting Calamity!

The dark glow and the Crimson Divine Flame touched, instantly annihilating each other. However, in one particular instant, Qianye Ying'er felt space and her vision suddenly twist violently.

The repulsion and annihilation ceased. The dark power slowly "flowed" into the flame, gradually dyeing the crimson flame into an incredibly strange, grayish-white cluster.

"!!?" Qianye Ying'er was instantly shocked.

The flame began to flicker violently, whether in struggle or excitement. Its light cast a gray hue on Yun Che's hands and face. After a brief pause, the grayish flame slowly began to turn black...

It was at this very moment that the light in the Primordial Profound Ark's world suddenly dimmed.

As the flame gradually became a purer and purer black, the world's light also grew increasingly dim.

Fire accompanied by light was not merely a principle of the profound way; it was the most fundamental understanding and common sense in any world.

Yet, with her violently trembling golden eyes, Qianye Ying'er witnessed a flame that was distinctly devouring light!

No, it wasn't just devouring light. The surrounding space was also rapidly and intensely contracting, imperceptibly forming a swirling... spatial black hole around the black flame!

The black flame was still changing, on the verge of shedding its last traces of gray. At this moment, Yun Che's body suddenly swayed, and the black flame in his hand instantly disintegrated. He spurted a jet of blood more than ten feet away, half-collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

Qianye Ying'er remained still, her eyes filled with an astonishment that lingered for a long time.

"Haa... Haa..." Yun Che gasped for breath, taking more than ten breaths to finally calm down.

He slowly wiped the blood from his lips with his finger, but a chilling smile spread across his face.

"What... was that?" Even though she was long accustomed to Yun Che's various unbelievable traits, Qianye Ying'er was still deeply shocked.

"Just another flame I discovered," Yun Che said in a low voice, with a rare hint of excitement.

The black flame just now was not merely a fusion of dark power and the Crimson Flame. It was also a strange fusion of the Evil God's divine power and the Dark Everlasting Calamity!

The Evil God's divine power could cause Phoenix Flame and Golden Crow Flame to merge into Crimson Divine Flame, reverse laws to combine fire and ice into the impossible "Iceflame." All of these relied on the Evil God's unique elemental power, the most extreme in the chaotic world, capable of even defying laws.

And the Dark Everlasting Calamity, being on the same plane as the Evil God's divine power, should not have been interfered with by it.

Yet, the fusion just now, and that briefly appearing, dark and mysterious power that sent shivers down his spine, was clearly a fusion of the Evil God's divine power and the Dark Everlasting Calamity!

He simply didn't know why these two creation divine powers could achieve such a fusion within him, in this manner, and seemingly without much difficulty.

Just as the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor couldn't comprehend why light profound energy and dark profound energy could coexist within him.

He couldn't be sure how long it would take to master this fusion, but one thing was absolutely certain: its power would definitely surpass that of the Crimson Divine Flame!

Calming his breath, Yun Che stood up and stared at Qianye Ying'er, his gaze gleaming with undisguised lewdness: "Within six hours, I will allow you to recover to the Divine Sovereign realm. But before that..."

His figure flickered, and his palm shot out.

But he grabbed nothing but a quickly vanishing phantom.

Looking at Qianye Ying'er, who had evaded him from afar, Yun Che's eyes narrowed. "What's wrong? I won't help you recover for free!"

Qianye Ying'er scoffed, her exquisite face utterly cold: "You can defile me... but don't tear... you!"

Before she could finish, Yun Che had already forcefully pushed her to the ground. With an exceptionally loud "rip," her light blue outer robe and inner garments were brutally torn open, revealing a dazzling, captivating expanse of white skin on her upper body.

"You have no right to resist now!" Yun Che's tone was undeniable, his gaze filled with greed.

With Yun Che achieving the Divine Master realm, his strength had soared to an unprecedented level. Once his Evil God's Realm gate opened, Qianye Ying'er, before recovering her Divine Sovereign power, indeed had no power to resist him.