Chapter 1689: Submission

Yan Tianxiao continued to stare blankly at the sky. In a world where all light had been swallowed, his face was a ghastly white.

"The struggles you attempt are, from beginning to end, nothing more than pathetic jokes to me."

Under the demonic might that could obliterate everything, Yun Che's words felt incredibly piercing and soul-stabbing. Yan Tianxiao struggled to turn his head back, clutching his Yama Devil Spear tightly. "My Yama Devil descendants will never yield, even in death! If you wish to claim my Yama Devil Realm... you must first step over my corpse!"

"Claim your Yama Devil Realm?" Yun Che sneered dismissively. "Yan Tianxiao, not only are you naive, but your hearing also seems poor. Your three ancestors wish for you to honor me as your master; they never said anything about taking your Yama Devil Realm!"

Yan Tianxiao was slightly taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"Hmph!" Yun Che looked down, his words shaking their souls. "What I want is to be the Emperor of the Northern Region, not merely the Emperor of the Yama Devil Realm!"

Yan Tianxiao gasped in shock.

"The Yama Devil Realm will remain the Yama Devil Realm, and you, the Yama Emperor, will remain the Yama Emperor. But above all of you, above the darkness of the Northern Divine Region, I will be the master!"

Yun Che slowly lowered the arm he had raised, his palm pointing at Yan Tianxiao. "Now, tell me, are you prepared to pledge allegiance to the Lord of Darkness who will undeniably change the fate of the Northern Divine Region, or will you allow this Yama Devil land... to be forever buried in the abyss!"

Yan Tianxiao stood frozen, and all the Yama Devils present were similarly stunned.

First, he offered utter despair and a dead end, then suddenly presented immense hope and a turning point. Yun Che had done this with the Yama Ancestors, and he was doing the same with the Yama Devil Realm.

Choosing to surrender meant the Yama Devil Realm would no longer be the supreme power of their era; instead, there would be someone new, reigning above them.

This person had convinced the Three Yama Ancestors to willingly become his servants, and with a mere wave of his hand, he had pushed the Yama Devil Realm to the brink of death. Pondering this, he indeed seemed to possess such qualifications.

Beyond that, the Yama Devil Realm would not change hands; the Yama Devils would remain Yama Devils, the Yama Ghosts would remain Yama Ghosts, and even the Yama Emperor would still be the Yama Emperor.

If this were truly the case, then why should they engage in a completely pointless struggle that would result in everyone's death and the destruction of the Yama Devil Realm?

All eyes converged on Yan Tianxiao. These gazes no longer held resolve or battle intent; instead, they were filled with silent persuasion.

"Father King..." Yan Wu murmured softly. Even she, with her cold and stubborn nature, felt a clear shift in her resolve.

If there had been even a ten percent chance of success in this struggle, perhaps more than half of the Yama Devils would have chosen to fight to the death.

But if it was merely pointless death, a meaningless annihilation...

And surrender would yield a result far better than they had initially imagined.

Yan Tianxiao's chest heaved, his eyes trembling. The world around him gradually fell silent, leaving only the sound of his own ragged breathing.

The Three Ancestors, the Yama Devil Crossing-Nether Cauldron, the Devil Emperor's inheritance, the ability to instantly command the power of the Everlasting Darkness Bone Sea, the futility of resistance leading to certain death, the very existence or destruction of the Yama Devil Realm...

Finally, he let out a long breath, furrowed his brow, and looked up, his voice as deep as the ocean. "Yun Che, answer me one question."

"Between you and the Devil Queen, who is the pawn?"

Yan Tianxiao asked a question so sharp it made everyone hold their breath.

There was no lack of provocation in his inquiry.

"Hah, a good question." Yun Che smiled. "In her eyes, I am a unique and irreplaceable pawn. However..."

A black gleam flashed in his hand, revealing a crescent-shaped dark magatama.

"Burning Moon Devil Jade!" Yan Tianxiao instinctively stepped forward.

The Burning Moon Realm had fallen and was controlled by the Soul Stealing Realm. Yan Tianxiao had always assumed the Burning Moon Devil Jade had fallen into the hands of the Devil Queen Chi Wuyao. He had never expected it to be in Yun Che's possession.

On his left was the Yama Devil Crossing-Nether Cauldron, and on his right, the Burning Moon Devil Jade. Different dark black glows silently merged before Yun Che, deeply reflecting in the eyes of everyone present.

"Now, the lifelines of both the Yama Devil Realm and the Burning Moon Realm are in my hands." Yun Che's lips slowly curled into a grim smile. "Guess... who will be next?"

A prolonged silence descended; the air grew cold, and all living beings felt suffocated.

Clang—

The Yama Devil Spear slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground, its resonant clang echoing long in their souls.

His final resistance finally crumbled.

Yan Tianxiao's face remained ashen, but his posture slowly lowered, and he dropped to one knee.

This time, he not only bowed towards the Three Yama Ancestors but, as the Yama Emperor, also knelt... beneath Yun Che's gaze.

"I, Yan Tianxiao, Emperor of the Yama Devil Realm, pledge to follow the will of my ancestors and bow... to Emperor Yun as my master! I will devote the full might of the Yama Devil Realm to support Emperor Yun as the Emperor of the Northern Region!"

He cast one last glance at the dark power still pervading the sky, capable of completely annihilating the Yama Devil Imperial Realm at any moment. Then, his head slowly bowed. "Should I break this oath, may heaven and earth utterly destroy me!"

His words were tinged with a bloody resolve, and an Emperor God's oath carried immense weight.

Moreover, with the ancestors present, Yama Devils and Yama Ghosts at his side, every living being in the Yama Devil Imperial Realm heard it clearly.

The Yama Devil Realm, which had proudly stood in the Northern Divine Region for over eight hundred thousand years, welcomed a momentous change in its destiny today.

However, the Yama Devils did not react with excessive intensity, for they had fully witnessed, heard, and felt everything Yan Tianxiao had.

Under these circumstances, they had no other choice.

When the Three Yama Ancestors and the Yama Emperor all bowed before Yun Che, the other members of the Yama Devil Realm had no further grounds or reasons to resist.

Led by the Yama Devils and Yama Ghosts, they suppressed their profound energy and their already crumbling battle intent, bending their knees and bowing alongside Yan Tianxiao.

Subsequently, from the Everlasting Darkness Devil Palace to the entire Yama Devil Imperial Realm, all living beings bowed down, then gazed from afar at their new master... the new master above the Yama Emperor.

Yun Che surveyed the scene from above, a cold smile on his face, and lightly pushed his arm upwards.

Instantly, half of the pervasive dark energy surged back into the Everlasting Darkness Bone Sea, while the other half flowed towards the Yama Devil Grand Array, which was covered in countless cracks.

Rumble...

Amidst the thunderous roar, the cracks in the Yama Devil Grand Array rapidly vanished. In a mere ten breaths, it was fully restored, and all remaining dark energy returned to the Everlasting Darkness Bone Sea, with not a single trace escaping or going out of control.

Such mastery was so perfect it sent shivers down their spines.

Yan Jie, paralyzed on the ground, struggled to lift his head, looking at his kneeling father and the other bowing Yama Devils. His eyes completely dulled to an ash-gray.

Having chosen betrayal, he had lost even the right to surrender.

Yun Che lowered his arms, and everything became still. He looked at the people bowing at his feet, at the vast and boundless Yama Devil Realm, and a cold, dark glint flickered in the depths of his eyes.

The power of the Everlasting Darkness Bone Sea, under his command, could bring the Yama Devil Realm to despair and collapse, yet simultaneously, under his hand, it could become the Yama Devil Realm's most formidable protective force.

With him and the Everlasting Darkness Bone Sea present, no one would ever be able to breach the Yama Devil Realm.

Anyone who approached the Yama Devil Imperial Realm would easily be consumed by the power of the Everlasting Darkness Bone Sea that he wielded!

This included the Soul Stealing Realm, and even Chi Wuyao!

Back in the Burning Moon Realm, Chi Wuyao had privately suggested to Fen Daojun that Yun Che would be crowned Emperor in the Soul Stealing Realm, with her as Empress.

When he had left the Soul Stealing Realm this time, Chi Wuyao had specifically mentioned that she would prepare the coronation ceremony before his return.

Ha... Yun Che looked up at the sky, his heart filled with chilling coldness.

During this time, Chi Wuyao had tirelessly built up momentum for him in the Northern Divine Region, focusing on him as the "inheritor of the Devil Emperor's will." Her goal was to use his influence to unite the hearts of the Northern Divine Region's profound practitioners, making his subsequent coronation a natural progression.

What a joke. How could he let Chi Wuyao have her way again!

In the past, while he had always been wary of Chi Wuyao, he also held a significant degree of trust in her. He had spared no effort in "reforming" and "training" the Devil Queen.

Especially after the matter of killing Zhou Qingchen, his trust in Chi Wuyao had doubled. He had even revealed a small portion of his plan for the Yama Devil Realm to her.

But he realized he was still too naive.

Compared to Fen Daojun, she was... the true culprit who caused Qianye Ying'er to lose her unborn child!

She was more deserving of death than Fen Daojun!

For her own purposes, she would resort to any insidious means, just as the rumors claimed!

Coronation?

An excellent idea, and a necessary step for him.

But not in the Soul Stealing Realm, here in the Yama Devil Realm!

And after his coronation, his next target would be the Soul Stealing Realm!

The next person he would kill would be Chi Wuyao!

Luring her into the Yama Devil Imperial Realm, using the power of the Three Yama Ancestors combined with his own command over the Everlasting Darkness Bone Sea... killing her might not be too difficult.

The Everlasting Darkness Imperial Hall.

The divine emperor's throne, once exclusively belonging to the Yama Emperor, which others couldn't even approach, was now occupied by Yun Che.

Behind him, Yan Yi, Yan Er, and Yan San stood guard.

Below, Yan Tianxiao and the assembled Yama Devils stood, adopting similar deferential postures, but their gazes differed.

"What? Are you planning to find an opportunity to kill me?" Yun Che squinted at them, his tone cold and mocking, an unsettling, wicked aura emanating from him.

"My Lord overthinks," Yan Tianxiao stated calmly. "Whether willingly or unwillingly, I... we have already bent our knees and submitted, and we will not go back on our word. We will certainly obey our Lord's commands."

Yun Che had effortlessly commanded the power of the Everlasting Darkness Bone Sea to hover over the Yama Devil Realm. The mere thought of that scene still sent chills down their spines.

Unless they found an absolutely foolproof opportunity, they would never dare provoke this ominous star who controlled the Yama Devil Crossing-Nether Cauldron and could easily destroy the Yama Devil Realm.

In a way, the Yama Devil Realm was born from the Everlasting Darkness Bone Sea, and it became the Northern Divine Region's foremost King Realm due to the dark advantages the Bone Sea bestowed. Yet now, unexpectedly, it had become the very source of potential calamity that could annihilate the Yama Devil Realm at any moment.

"Hmph, as if you brats would dare," Yan Yi coldly snorted.

"If not for master's magnanimity, for your great disrespect towards him, I would have long since butchered every single one of you!" Yan Er said in a deep voice.

"Enough!"

Yan San was about to speak, but Yun Che's two calm words made him quickly swallow back what he was about to say. He stood quietly, head bowed, not daring to breathe.

The Burning Moon Realm's surrender was half due to being awed by Yun Che's "divine might" and half due to Chi Wuyao's enchanting devilish sounds.

The Yama Devil Realm's surrender, however, was entirely due to being overawed by the irresistible "divine might" Yun Che displayed using the Eternal Calamity of Darkness.

As for which was more reliable, it was difficult to judge.

Yan Tianxiao secretly let out a breath. For him, a Divine Emperor, accepting someone as his master was naturally difficult to adapt to in a short time. He asked, "Regarding my Lord's coronation and the imperial title..."

"There's no rush for that. Before then, there's much to be done." Yun Che interrupted him, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. He suddenly shifted his gaze. "Yan Wu, come here."

Yan Wu tensed up, her brows furrowed, but she remained rooted to her spot.