Chapter 1618: Evil Demon

"You..." Venerable Taiyin's body, which had stood proudly despite his extreme injuries, suddenly bent and began to tremble violently. His blood-stained face contorted in deep pain.

Soon, not only his eyes but also the blood flowing from his entire body clearly turned a gradually deepening dark green.

Startled, Quhui spun around and quickly moved to Taiyin's side, reaching out to support him. "Venerable Taiyin, what's happe—"

"Stay back!" Taiyin stumbled backward, sending a surge of energy that forcefully pushed Quhui away. Yet, this slight exertion caused Taiyin's face to contort violently. He crashed to his knees, trembling so much he couldn't stand again.

"Poison...it's poison!" Taiyin shrieked in agony.

Quhui had served in Brahma Heaven for so many years and had never heard a Guardian utter such a terrified cry.

"Poison...what kind of poison?" Quhui's voice trembled. At a Guardian's level, what poison could threaten them besides the ancient demonic poisons of the Southern Divine Region? The moment the words left his lips, he suddenly realized something and gasped, "Could it be...could it be the..."

"Heaven Smiting...Poison Pearl..." Taiyin's body convulsed uncontrollably, unable to stop curling in on itself. The horrific poison, which had suddenly radiated throughout his entire being, instantly filling every cell and pore with despair, completely surpassed his lifelong understanding of toxins. It immediately brought to mind the most terrifying, and only, possibility.

The Heaven Smiting Poison Pearl... Who in the Eastern Divine Region didn't know that Yun Che was the master of that profound sky supreme treasure?

Qianye Ying'er finally understood. She glanced at Taiyin's condition, opened her mouth, but remained silent.

She wanted to say that it was too risky, as the opponent was a Guardian, and they wouldn't always be so lucky... But recalling Yun Che's hatred for the Eastern Divine Region, especially for the Brahma Heaven God Realm, she indifferently swallowed the words she was about to utter.

It wasn't the right time yet, but since they had met, it was a good opportunity to collect some bloody interest.

Quhui had never witnessed the potency of the Heaven Smiting Poison Pearl, but he clearly sensed despair emanating from Venerable Taiyin's body... Yes, it was despair!

Despair radiated by the will of a Brahma Heaven Guardian!

Taiyin's kneeling body desperately tried to rise, but as the toxic aura spread, his energy became increasingly chaotic and weak. His body swayed, making it difficult even to maintain his kneeling posture, let alone stand.

That terrifying poison, like an ancient demon from the abyss, mercilessly devoured his life and everything. His power proved utterly incapable of dispelling it, let alone annihilating it.

The Heaven Smiting Poison's power was still too shallow after its recovery. Had Taiyin been in his peak state, his strength might have allowed him to endure the poison even if it erupted within him, provided there was no external interference.

But in his current state...all he could sense was death.

Yun Che stepped forward, slowly approaching Taiyin and Quhui. He dragged the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor Sword behind him, leaving dark demonic scars etched into the ground.

Quhui, the chief of the Brahma Heaven Enforcers, and Taiyin, the sixth-ranked Brahma Heaven Guardian — these two were once supremely revered figures in Yun Che's eyes.

Yet now, every step Yun Che took felt like the grim reaper's footfalls treading upon their very souls.

Such a dramatic reversal had occurred in mere years.

Behind him, the Brahma Heaven Crown Prince's life was firmly held in Qianye Ying'er's grasp.

How lamentable, how sorrowful, how utterly despairing.

They hadn't expected to encounter Yun Che here, nor could they have ever dreamed they would fall into such a tragic state at his hands so swiftly... In mere breaths, each moment unfolded as the darkest nightmare.

Taiyin attempted to muster his last remaining strength, but with the slightest movement of his aura, the already horrifying Heaven Smiting Poison, like an enraged demon, began to devour and twist his body and life even more ferociously.

His upper body crashed heavily to the ground. Beneath the toxic aura, the Primordial land beneath him rapidly dissolved. He slowly raised a hand, attempting to recall the Brahma Void Cauldron, but the moment the thought formed, the tenuous soul connection was violently severed.

The Brahma Void Cauldron was drawn into Yun Che's hand, completely enveloped and swallowed by dark demonic energy, preventing Taiyin's consciousness from penetrating in the slightest.

"Trying...to escape?" Yun Che's lips curved slightly, forming an incredibly sinister sneer that bloomed in Taiyin and Quhui's eyes.

In the past, Quhui, as the host and overseer of the Profound God Convention, had regarded Yun Che as nothing more than an astonishingly talented junior. But now, facing Yun Che's approaching footsteps, the oppressive sensation stole his breath. The fear evoked by that sinister sneer was no less potent than the presence of the Devil Emperor himself!

This oppression and fear stemmed not from Yun Che's strength, but from an indescribably profound darkness and malevolence...qualities they had once believed would never manifest in him, but which now radiated from him to the extreme.

"Yun...Che!" Taiyin lifted his head, his voice raspy like sand. "Release the Young Master, and I'll give you the divine fruit...and my life!"

Yun Che continued forward, each step imbued with a deathly aura. Taiyin's words sounded like a joke to him, and the curve of his lips grew even more sinister. "Your life? In my eyes, your life is cheaper than a dog's! You dare offer that as a trade!?"

This was undoubtedly the most humiliating remark Taiyin had ever heard. His gaze hardened, and he mustered the lifelong pride of a Guardian. "If you don't release the Young Master, I will immediately...destroy the divine fruit!"

No sooner had he spoken than Yun Che's figure in his sight suddenly blurred. A dark shadow, like a hellish spike shot from the void, fiercely pierced his body.

*Thump!!*

Grievously wounded, on the brink of death, and now afflicted by the Heaven Smiting Poison, Taiyin's divine body had become as fragile as tofu beneath the Heaven Smiting Sword. He was pierced in an instant, and dark profound energy, laced with flames, rapidly engulfed his entire body, consuming and incinerating his flesh, blood, bones, and soul...everything. This also triggered the full eruption of the Heaven Smiting Poison within him.

In his final moments, his vision momentarily cleared... He saw Yun Che's eyes, unsettlingly close.

As clear as they once were, so profoundly dark they now appeared.

*Boom...boom...*

Phoenix Flame and Golden Crow Flame spread across Taiyin, gradually merging into terrifying scarlet divine flames, incinerating his body bit by bit until it was nothing but ashes.

Behind them, Quhui stood frozen, his face as pale as a corpse drained of blood. He watched Taiyin, impaled once more by Yun Che's sword, and desperately wanted to rush forward and save him, yet his body was completely paralyzed, unable to move a single step, only shaking uncontrollably.

As the chief enforcer, a man so righteous he was almost heartless, one who had never known fear, he now felt his courage utterly shatter.

Only when nearly half of his body had been incinerated did Taiyin's final consciousness finally dissipate.

A Brahma Heaven Guardian was thus extinguished by Yun Che's sword... cut down by a "junior" whose lifespan was barely sixty years.

Yun Che flung Taiyin's charred remains away with a flick of his sword, like repulsive refuse. Then, with another sweep, he forcefully obliterated Taiyin's crumbling spatial pocket, sending its contents scattering in all directions amidst the turbulent spatial currents.

At that moment, an aura like a divine spring nourishing the heart spread throughout the heavens and earth.

The Primordial Divine Fruit!

The source of the aura, a shimmering light, was merely a speck, yet it radiated more brilliantly than any star in the heavens.

The instant the divine fruit's radiance appeared, the Brahma Gold Soft Sword wrapped around Zhou Qingchen suddenly shot out, tracing a golden arc across space millions of times swifter than a meteor. In a flash, it coiled around the divine fruit and returned to Qianye Ying'er's side.

The divine fruit's aura and starlight vanished into Qianye Ying'er's hand.

Yun Che's outstretched hand paused in mid-air, then slowly lowered as he turned... The Brahma Gold Soft Sword had already re-coiled around Zhou Qingchen, and Qianye Ying'er's aura and expression were as faint as a wisp of smoke, as if nothing had just transpired.

"Taiyin...Uncle..." Zhou Qingchen lay sprawled on the ground, his struggles completely ceased. He stared blankly at Taiyin's charred remains—nothing but burnt flesh and withered bones. He bit his tongue, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, yet he couldn't awaken from the nightmare.

The current Chaos Realm was a world without gods.

If there were any beings worthy of being called "gods," then the Brahma Heaven Guardians were certainly the most deserving of that title.

This was true not only in the eyes of the world but also in Zhou Qingchen's own.

Zhuliu was dead, not yet recovered, and now Taiyin was also dead... He died right before Zhou Qingchen's eyes, witnessed by him, at Yun Che's hands!

The world spun before his eyes, his mind a blur of grey and white. He could no longer feel even pain or fear...

His gaze slowly swept past Qianye Ying'er. Yun Che then cast a sideways glance at Quhui, who stood frozen as if his soul had been extracted, and uttered four emotionless words: "Commit suicide."

Quhui remained motionless, his lips parting and closing slightly, yet unable to utter a sound.

"Wasting time," Qianye Ying'er murmured. With a flick of her slender finger, the "Divine Edict" instantly shot out, a golden flash sweeping across Quhui's body.

There was no explosive roar of profound energy, no clang of space being rent. Barely a sound was made. When the golden light returned to Qianye Ying'er's hand, Quhui's body suddenly fragmented into nine perfectly even sections that toppled onto the ground and rolled far in different directions.

There was no struggle.

This time, the Divine Edict directly coiled back around her waist. Without the Divine Edict binding him, Zhou Qingchen remained sprawled, his body constantly trembling and convulsing, his eyes unfocused.

Qianye Ying'er turned away, disdaining to spare Zhou Qingchen another glance. Without mentioning the Primordial Divine Fruit, she simply asked, "How do you plan to deal with him?"

She was certain Yun Che wouldn't simply kill Zhou Qingchen.

The hatred in his heart was enough to fill the entire abyss of hell; how could he possibly kill this son of Brahma Heaven so easily?!

Yun Che stood before Zhou Qingchen, looking down at his pale face, and chuckled chillingly. "Brother Qingchen, this pack of dogs your Brahma Heaven raised, each one is more useless than the last."

"Uselessness is one thing, but this blood...it's truly lowly and reeks beyond measure!"

*Boom!!*

Yun Che pushed his palm backward, instantly convulsing the ground and completely obliterating Quhui's and Taiyin's bloodstains and remains into the Primordial dust.

His soul violently pierced as if by a poisonous blade, Zhou Qingchen jolted, and his eyes instantly cleared. His body trembled uncontrollably, but his mind became incredibly sharp and cold. He looked up at Yun Che, gritting his teeth. "Yun Che, my Royal Father was right, you...you've truly...become a devil!"

He didn't say "demonic cultivator" but "devil."

It was a pity he didn't realize how much of a joke his words sounded in Yun Che's ears.

Yun Che smiled, a very placid smile, seemingly devoid of anger or killing intent. He said, with a slight grin, "That's right, I am a devil. In this world, you won't find one more evil than me... Soon, everyone in your Brahma Heaven, and the entire God Realm, will learn the true extent of my wickedness."

Under Yun Che's direct gaze, Zhou Qingchen's pupils involuntarily dilated, then dilated further... Yun Che's face bore a gentle smile, yet it caused every part of Zhou Qingchen's body, every pore, to tremble and shrink in terror.

"You...kill me," Zhou Qingchen gnashed his teeth, preventing them from chattering. "My Royal Father...has always felt guilt and remorse toward you...which is why he sought to abdicate and live in peace...If I die by your hand, Royal Father can finally release that burden...And one day...he will surely personally annihilate you and avenge me!"

"He...feels guilt and remorse toward me?" Yun Che's lips twitched. He wanted to laugh, to throw his head back and roar with laughter. He had heard and seen countless jokes in his life, but never had one made him want to laugh hysterically for a thousand days and nights!

"To feel remorse even for a devil, your Royal Father is truly so great that even the heavens would weep." Yun Che reached out, grabbing Zhou Qingchen's collar. In the depths of his seemingly placid eyes, two incredibly ferocious flames burned wildly. His voice, too, became slow and faint:

"Now, I have nothing left but a heart and soul of darkness. My homeland, my loved ones, my wife and daughter—all are gone."

"And the one who bestowed all this upon me...your great Royal Father, he has countless sons and grandsons, especially a son like you, who makes him so proud."

His face slowly drew closer. "Tell me, how should I repay him?"