Chapter 1681: Yanma Three Ancestors

“Muttering… chattering… finally, fresh food has arrived.”

This was human language, yet no one would believe it came from a human. The voice was as hoarse as inferior metal grating, and as sinister as a terrifying groan from a fiend tearing at something.

“It’s an eighth-level Divine Sovereign. Could it be Yun Che, the one Yan Jie mentioned?”

This was another voice, equally hoarse and obscure, chilling to the bone.

“Hehehe… it seems there’s no mistake. But to be thrown down so quickly… hehehe… truly disappointing for an old ghost like me.”

The third voice sounded like teeth grinding, so grating and unpleasant that it made one’s heart clench with every syllable.

Far more terrifying than these three voices were three immense dark pressures, as vast as an ocean and as heavy as a myriad of mountains. These were merely three streams of naturally released dark spiritual pressure, not fully unleashed, yet they were enough for Yun Che to discern that the power of these three auras was almost on par with, or even surpassed, Yan Tianxiao, who had just made his move. No, two of them were even clearly superior!

Yan Tianxiao was the recognized number one Divine Emperor of the Northern Divine Region! In the soul message Chi Wuyao gave Yun Che, it was clearly stated that in terms of profound energy cultivation alone, she was inferior to Yan Tianxiao. Yet here, there were two presences that surpassed Yan Tianxiao, and another that was almost on par.

This astonishing discovery, enough to make the Northern Divine Region tremble for a long time, briefly surprised Yun Che. However, what reflected in his eyes was not apprehension, but… excitement like a blazing fire. As expected of old monsters who bore the primordial devil blood and had been steeped in ancient dark yin energy for hundreds of thousands of years here; they did not disappoint him! No, it should be called a pleasant surprise!

Due to racial limitations, even humans at their absolute peak could not compare to Long Bai, the Dragon Emperor of the Dragon God Realm. But these three Yama Ancestors, the two strongest among them, would absolutely not be weaker than Qianye Fantian, the number one Divine Emperor of the Eastern Region, and Nan Wansheng, the number one Divine Emperor of the Southern Divine Region! The weakest of them would also not be inferior to Zhou Xuzi, the Eternal Heaven Divine Emperor!

What immense power this was! But unfortunately, the price for their immense power and long lives was eternal confinement in this place, never to see the light of day! In Yun Che's eyes, not to mention comparing them to Divine Emperors, their lives were worse than that of ordinary livestock.

Crunch, crunch, crunch!

The sound of demonic bones being crushed approached slowly. Yun Che’s gaze pierced the darkness, and in his shadowy pupils, the figures of three fiends were reflected. That's right, fiends!

The three dark figures were all short and emaciated, their exposed skin a greyish white like ancient corpses, covering jagged, skeletal frames. Their limbs were even more withered than decaying branches… utterly devoid of any human characteristics. If they lay motionless on the ground, no one would doubt that they were three desiccated corpses, long weathered by time. Yet their moving withered legs and eyes flickering with infernal light proved that they were, in fact, living "ghosts"!

“Yan Wanchu, Yan Wanhun, Yan Wangui.” Yun Che's lips curved into a half-smirk as he softly uttered the names of the Three Yama Ancestors.

In the early days of the Northern Divine Region, it was these Three Yama Ancestors who found the devil blood and Yama Devil Arts left by the ancient Yama Devil, occupied the Eternal Darkness Bone Sea, and established the Yama Devil Realm, which dominated the history of the entire Northern Divine Region. Such achievements should shine for eternity. Yet they lived to this day, only to become these abominable, neither-human-nor-ghost figures. How tragic, pitiful, and ridiculous.

The three "corpse-ghosts" stopped their steps. Their eyes changed, and their terrifying dark pressure also showed a slight tremor, because it had been too long since they last heard their names.

Yun Che slowly raised a hand, palm facing the three. A black glow gradually shimmered: “Yun Che… you three old ghosts, engrave these two words firmly into your souls. Because this is the name of your future master!”

His low words were like an unchangeable judgment from the Heavenly Dao. But to the Three Yama Ancestors, who had endured an excessively long period of darkness and desolation, these words were undoubtedly a joke that made their souls tremble with maniacal laughter.

“Hehehe hahahaha… Guttural cackling hahahahahaha…” The overlapping laughter of the three fiends was so grating and piercing that it felt like countless sharp blades scraping against one’s eardrums. They laughed unrestrainedly, maniacally. Such a jest was like a divine nectar to them, causing every shriveled pore on their bodies to open in comfort.

“Guttural cackling hahaha… there are three crazy old ghosts here, and now another little ghost even crazier than us has come in… guttural cackling hahaha!”

“Yun Che, this name is indeed the person the brats spoke of. Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor? Eternal Calamity of Darkness? Killing the Burning Moon Divine Emperor with a single sword? Guttural muttering… indeed, all just the words of a madman. So, whose life essence will this mad young man’s be?”

“However…” The strongest Yama Ancestor extended his hand, and as his withered fingers casually twirled, immense dark vortexes immediately churned within the vast space. He stared at Yun Che, his deep-set, dark old eyes narrowing into two terrifying slits: “For a mere Divine Sovereign brat to still stand before us three old ghosts, there seems to be some trick to you.”

Guttural chuckles, “A mad brat like you wouldn’t know the meaning of fear anyway.”

The shadowy figure in the middle slowly stepped forward. With each step, terrifying waves of dark ripples emanated around him: “Brat, we three old ghosts have lived for 890,000 years, and no one has ever dared to utter such ridiculous blasphemy in front of us… Guttural chattering, I’m almost reluctant to drain you dry immediately.”

His sinister grin could no longer be described as merely ugly or evil; a single glance was enough to haunt anyone with nightmares for years. This talking fiend was the leader of the Three Yama Ancestors, and also the strongest among them, Yan Wanchu.

“890,000 years?” Yun Che also laughed. Compared to the Yama Ancestor's sinister grin, his own smile was full of deep mockery and pity: “Even three jackals with broken legs can live openly under the sun. You three old things, worse than jackals, have actually holed up here and lived for over 800,000 years. How tragic and pitiful. And you’re even proud of it? Hehehehe…”

He chuckled softly, slowly shaking his head, the pity at the corner of his mouth piercing the Yama Ancestors' eyes like a poisoned blade: “Three of the Northern Divine Region’s… oh no, the entire God Realm’s biggest, most despicable jokes, three old stink bugs buried in this putrid place, forever unable to leave. What old face do you have to cackle maniacally in front of me, huh?”

The Three Yama Ancestors had lived for an exceedingly long time, but indeed, their lives were incredibly stifling, even pathetic. However, as the founding ancestors of the Yama Devil Realm, and as tenth-level Divine Masters possessing ultimate dark power, even if they truly lived worse than mere stink bugs, who had ever dared to insult them? Who would dare to insult them?! As founding ancestors, even successive Yama Devil Divine Emperors treated them with utmost reverence, not daring to show the slightest disrespect. Possessing ultimate profound energy, they should have been impossible to infuriate with just a few words.

However, having been cooped up here for hundreds of thousands of years, even the strongest minds could not possibly remain completely sane. The souls of the Three Yama Ancestors were already incredibly twisted and volatile. Yun Che's words, the greatest mockery they had heard in countless years, piercing directly at their most painful humiliation, were undoubtedly enough to push their twisted minds into complete, mad frenzy.

“Hiss… Ugh-uh-uh-ah!” The Three Yama Ancestors' bodies trembled, their eyes emitting terrifying black light, and their mouths let out strange cries utterly unlike those of humans.

“Damn brat!” Yan Wanchu clawed with his five fingers, hissing: “It seems you don’t want a quick death!”

“Heh,” Yun Che’s smile grew even more derisive: “Just two sentences are enough to enrage you to such an unsightly state. It seems comparing you to stink bugs was an overestimation.”

“Guttural shrieks!” The old ghost on the right—the second Yama Ancestor, Yan Wanhun—could no longer bear it. His body suddenly lunged forward: “I’ll tear him apart with my own hands!”

His small, hunched body, when lunging forward, possessed an aura as vast as shifting winds and clouds, like mountains collapsing and seas overturning. The primordial devil blood inherited by the Yama Ancestors and the Yama Devil Arts they cultivated had established a strange connection between their lives and profound veins with this immense Eternal Darkness Bone Sea, which was also the source of their immortality. When their power erupted, the entire Eternal Darkness Bone Sea trembled, accompanied by the wails of countless vengeful spirits and malevolent ghosts.

Facing Yan Wanhun's lunge, Yun Che stood motionless, blood-red profound energy suddenly erupting from his body. Yama Emperor was activated!

The Evil God's dark seed, the Devil Emperor's Eternal Calamity of Darkness… he didn't need any actions or mental guidance at all. The incredibly dense dark profound energy around him surged violently into his body every single moment. Here, his Yama Emperor could undoubtedly be maintained indefinitely! No matter how wildly he consumed it, it could never compare to this even more frantic recovery speed.

The sudden explosion of the blood-red energy storm startled the Three Yama Ancestors. Yan Wanhun's movement paused for a brief moment, while Yun Che had already proactively lunged forward, delivering a direct punch to his head.

Bang!!

Yan Wanhun had clearly moved first, yet caught off guard, he was struck by Yun Che's blow. The strength, far exceeding expectations, caused his body to reel backward, but immediately, he let out an enraged hiss as the space before him violently collapsed in a burst of darkness. How terrifying was the Yama Ancestor's power. Yun Che grunted, wounded in an instant, and was sent flying backward, leaving a trail of blood. Meanwhile, Yan Wanhun had already torn through space, rushing towards Yun Che like a specter again, swinging his five fingers ferociously.

Rip!

Space was instantly ripped open with three massive black gashes, ten thousand feet long. The horrifying sight made it seem as if the entire world had been torn into four pieces. Blood mist erupted from Yun Che's body, and three deep gashes appeared on him.

Yun Che crashed heavily to the ground… but instead of being torn into four pieces as the Three Yama Ancestors had expected, he flipped back onto his feet the very instant he landed.

“Hiss!?” Yan Wanhun froze in mid-air, his widened old eyes seemingly unable to believe what he was seeing. But immediately, his deep grey pupils dilated dozens of times over.

Yun Che stood up, all three bloody gashes on his body were deep enough to show bone. One of them, nearly five feet long, stretched from his left eyebrow all the way to his right rib. This was the tearing power of a Yama Ancestor! Yet, not only was he not torn apart, he was still smirking coldly… and with that cold smirk, he slowly reached out and lightly wiped away the blood on his face.

Darkness howled, as if countless storms were raging around Yun Che. Within the eerie storm, the horrific bloody gashes on his body were rapidly healing, and healing again…

One breath… two breaths… the originally horrifying bloody gashes had already turned into a few shallow, blood-colored marks.

Three breaths… even the last bloodstains had vanished. Both internal and external injuries… completely restored to their original state.