Chapter 1620: Colorful Leaves of a Thousand Petals (Part 1)

Qianye Ying’er was well aware of how difficult it was to obtain a single Grand Initial Divine Fruit.

The Eternal Heaven Divine Realm, with the special sensing ability of the Eternal Heaven Pearl, the Universe Cauldron, and guardians wielding powerful spatial divine energy, had a much greater chance of obtaining the Grand Initial Divine Fruit than others. Apart from the Eternal Heaven Realm, even the Brahma Monarch God Realm, which far surpassed the Eternal Heaven Realm in overall strength, and even the Dragon God Realm, never harbored much hope of acquiring it.

The Burning Moon King Realm, having meticulously concealed the Barbarian God’s Marrow for so long, was likely the most eager to obtain the Grand Initial Divine Fruit. Yet, after ten millennia, they hadn’t even found a trace of it.

Yun Che and Qianye Ying’er came to the Grand Initial Realm primarily to completely evade the impending pursuit from the Soul Stealing Realm and the Burning Moon King Realm. As for the Grand Initial Divine Fruit… while it was also a reason, it was clear that they merely entertained the thought of obtaining it. In their year within the Grand Initial Realm, they hadn’t even ventured a single step deep, let alone searched for the divine fruit.

Their sudden encounter with people from the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm and the discovery of information about the Grand Initial Divine Fruit was undoubtedly a huge surprise. Yun Che used Qianye Ying’er to lure Zhou Qingchen closer, aiming to exploit him: if the two guardians successfully obtained the divine fruit, they could either use Zhou Qingchen to find a weakness in the fruit or abduct him to forcefully seize it.

Both options, without a doubt, came with immense risks… because at that point, they would be confronting two guardians!

However, everything that unfolded afterward was completely beyond their expectations. Venerable Zhuliu died, and Venerable Taiyin returned successfully with the Grand Initial Divine Fruit… but he was severely injured, almost at death’s door.

Yun Che seized this opportunity to kill Taiyin and forcefully take the divine fruit. Although he still faced some risks, compared to the fruit’s immense value and the dangers they were supposed to encounter, it was virtually effortless.

“It was indeed too easy,” Yun Che said, not surprised by Qianye Ying’er’s words. “What are you thinking?”

Not only did they obtain the Grand Initial Divine Fruit, but they also eliminated an Eternal Heaven guardian! The former should have involved immense risk, and the latter should have been impossible, yet they accomplished both with hardly any effort.

“Taiyin and Zhuliu are extremely proficient in spatial profound energy, and they also brought the Universe Cauldron. Even if they encountered the Grand Initial Dragon Emperor after infiltrating the Grand Initial Dragon Realm, they should have been able to retreat safely. Unless…” Qianye Ying’er frowned slightly. “The Grand Initial Dragon Emperor anticipated their arrival and was already poised to strike, catching them off guard and cutting off their safe escape.”

“However,” Qianye Ying’er continued, “to the Grand Initial Dragon Clan, the Grand Initial Divine Fruit’s importance far outweighs eliminating intruders. If the Grand Initial Dragon Clan truly had been prepared, more of their power would certainly have been focused on protecting the Grand Initial Divine Fruit.”

“Yet, in reality, Zhuliu died, Taiyin was severely wounded, but they still brought back the Grand Initial Divine Fruit. No matter how you look at it, this doesn’t seem right.”

Qianye Ying’er slightly parted her fingers, and an ineffably rich divine aura emanated from them. It could only be the Grand Initial Divine Fruit, nothing else.

Taiyin was truly dead, and the Grand Initial Divine Fruit was not fake.

“It seems we’ve gotten incredibly lucky,” Qianye Ying’er said. “The Barbarian God’s Marrow, the Grand Initial Divine Fruit… has even fate itself, which never favored us before, now started siding with us devils?”

Yun Che remained silent, his brows slightly furrowed.

Things he couldn’t find easily acquired, people he couldn’t kill dying before his eyes…

Why did this scene feel so familiar?

At that moment, he suddenly recalled a strange yet somewhat familiar power aura that had fleetingly passed over Taiyin’s wounds.

A dark light flashed in his mind. He abruptly looked up and exclaimed, “Caizhi, was that you?!”

“?” Qianye Ying’er turned her gaze, and in that instant, the sky suddenly darkened.

An overwhelmingly domineering pressure suddenly descended, like a vast galaxy overturning in the sky, completely freezing her body and even her blood. A colorful silhouette, carrying an icy aura, swooped down abruptly. Her delicate, fair, and jade-like hand, despite its appearance, wielded world-destroying power, aiming straight for Qianye Ying’er.

Qianye Ying’er, whose strength had recovered to the mid-stage Divine Master, was so suppressed by this oppressive power that she couldn’t even breathe. Only her “Divine Decree” at her waist barely managed to fly out.

The slender fingers, so delicate one might hesitate to touch them, collided with the Divine Decree, which was capable of shattering stars. With a soul-rending whimper, the Divine Decree instantly became like a lifeless snake, its divine energy depleted, flying powerlessly aside. Qianye Ying’er rapidly retreated, a thin trail of blood leaking from the corner of her mouth.

The Grand Initial Divine Fruit, which she had been tightly clutching, also flew from her grasp, instantly sucked into the colorful silhouette’s hand.

“Caizhi!”

Watching the girl’s back, Yun Che cried out, his long-cold heart bursting with incredibly complex emotions. Especially… a surge of joy that should have been long dead.

If he still had a relative in this world, it was Caizhi.

However, Caizhi showed no reaction to his call. The colorful silhouette flickered, heading straight for Qianye Ying’er. The Heavenly Wolf Sacred Sword appeared in her hand, radiating divine might and killing intent that made heaven and earth tremble.

Seven years ago, Caizhi had fought Qianye Ying’er. At that time, even with Jasmine’s help, she couldn’t harm Qianye Ying’er in the slightest; both were injured and ultimately had to escape using Jasmine’s abilities.

Now, in just one exchange, she wounded her, shattered the Divine Decree, and seized the divine fruit.

It wasn't merely that Qianye Ying’er’s cultivation was far weaker than before; it was also because the current Caizhi was no longer the Caizhi of the past.

“Caizhi!!”

Yun Che’s expression changed slightly. His feet intertwining with the Star God Shattered Shadow and the Broken Moon Drifting Shadow, he instantly flashed in front of Caizhi, forcefully halting her formidable aura… The Heavenly Wolf Sacred Sword, much larger than her own body, stopped in mid-air, barely half a foot from Yun Che’s chest.

A few feet behind him was Qianye Ying’er.

The imposing aura solidified, yet the killing intent showed no decrease. After years apart, Yun Che and Caizhi’s gazes finally met once more, but between their bodies lay a colossal azure sword.

“Don’t kill her!”

Yun Che urged anxiously, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he choked, looking at Caizhi so close to him.

After years apart, Caizhi’s appearance hadn’t changed in the slightest. Even her clothes were still the same colorful attire that imbued her with an innocent girlish aura, as if it were their first meeting.

But her eyes had completely changed.

Her eyes, once seemingly embedded with countless colorful stars, were now as dark as a bottomless abyss. There was no longer any vibrant sparkle or charming smile, only coldness and gloom.

Her aura had also changed. As the most sensitive person to dark auras in the world, Yun Che clearly perceived that Caizhi’s Heavenly Wolf divine power had undergone mutation… No, it was no longer the Heavenly Wolf divine power recognized by the Divine Realm, but the Hate-Wrought Demonic Wolf, born from extreme distortion!

He had thought that nothing in this world could make his heart ache anymore, save for memories. But looking into Caizhi’s eyes, Yun Che’s soul felt as if it had been pierced by a poisoned needle.

In his mind, he heard the words Jasmine had said after forcefully making him and Caizhi go through a wedding ceremony years ago:

“Yun Che, I know you must find all of this absurd and ridiculous… There is an abyss in her heart, and I am doing this because I hope that in the future, you—and only you—will be able to save her.”

“If, in the future, I am no longer by her side for some reason, at least you will still be in her world, so she won’t eternally fall into the abyss…”

At that time, Jasmine knew she would soon become a sacrifice. She forcefully made Yun Che and Caizhi husband and wife in a simple, almost absurd, ceremony, all so that after her departure, Yun Che’s bright light would remain in Caizhi’s world, preventing her from eternally sinking into darkness.

But what Jasmine feared most had finally come to pass.

The Caizhi before him had become what Jasmine most feared and least wanted to see… No, with that dense demonic aura that even startled Yun Che, she had fallen into an abyss far deeper and darker than Jasmine had ever worried about.

“Cai…zhi…” Yun Che’s voice became very soft with this repeated call.

“You… want… to… protect… her?” Caizhi spoke, her voice no longer ethereal, only dark and chilling.

Before the Star God Realm’s sacrificial ceremony began, the two people Caizhi hated most were Yue Wugou and Qianye Ying’er. The former forced her foster mother to her death, and the latter caused her elder brother’s death.

Now, Qianye Ying’er was a shadow of her former self, while Caizhi was far more powerful than before. She could finally personally avenge her elder brother, Xisu.

Yun Che reached out, his five fingers grasping the blade of the Heavenly Wolf Sacred Sword… The sword glowed with a faint blue light, yet it did not harm him at all. “Caizhi, she does deserve to die. But now is not the time for her to die.”

His fingers tightened on the blade. He looked into Caizhi’s eyes and said softly, “Before the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor departed, she left me her origin blood and devil arts. And Qianye Ying’er is the best cultivation cauldron.”

“Back then, she was our enemy. Now, she and I share similar goals. For the rest of my life, I will stop at nothing to seek revenge—for my family, for Jasmine, for my master, and for myself… And she is a sharp sword, the best tool. Without her, this path of revenge would be much, much longer for me.”

Qianye Ying’er: “…”

However, Yun Che’s words did not stir a single shred of emotion in Caizhi. The Heavenly Wolf Sacred Sword suddenly erupted with sword light, shattering Yun Che’s tiger mouth and sending blood droplets flying as he was instantly flung far away.

With a wolf’s howl, heaven and earth changed color. The Heavenly Wolf Sacred Sword, overflowing with killing intent, struck directly at Qianye Ying’er.

Yun Che’s body twisted forcefully in mid-air. Using the Star God Shattered Shadow, he forcibly flashed, once again blocking the Heavenly Wolf Sacred Sword, and the Evil God Barrier instantly expanded.

Bang!!

The Evil God Barrier instantly shattered. This time, the Heavenly Wolf Sacred Sword directly touched Yun Che’s chest… and then barely stopped.

“Caizhi,” Yun Che said softly, his face calm as he once again stood between Caizhi and Qianye Ying’er. “Her life no longer belongs to her; it is completely within my control. Let her live for now. When I achieve my goals in the future, if you still wish to kill her, I will not stop you.”

Caizhi remained unmoved. Her only reply consisted of four words: “She… must… die!”

At this moment, Qianye Ying’er slowly walked out from behind Yun Che and stood beside him. There was not a trace of fear on her snowy face; instead, she wore an inscrutable faint smile.

“In just a few short years, this small wolf cub has grown to such a level, far surpassing even Xisu, who once astonished all realms. Star God Emperor Xing Juekong bore such an extraordinary daughter, yet he intended to sacrifice her—truly ridiculously foolish.”

“Heavenly Wolf Xisu did indeed die because of me. However… are you sure you can kill me?” Facing the demonic wolf Caizhi, who was absolutely capable of killing her, she merely pursed her lips, her beautiful eyes indifferent, and her voice as soft as dust, uttering the words she least should have spoken.