Chapter 1712: Battle Curtain

"Finally, a breakthrough."

Qianye Ying'er appeared beside Yun Che, scrutinizing him from head to toe. "By utilizing the ancient Yin energy of the Everlasting Dark Bone Sea, you've advanced two minor realms within the Divine Lord stage in just one year. At this rate, and given that your Heretic God profound veins seem to have no 'bottleneck,' you should be able to break through the Divine Lord realm and achieve Divine Master status in about four or five more years."

"Enough talk," Yun Che said, turning directly. "Back to the Soul Stealing Realm."

Upon returning to the Soul Stealing Sacred Region, Witch Chan Yi and Witch Yu Wu greeted them, "Greetings, Devil Master."

Under a year of "dark growth," the Witches, Moon Eaters, and Yama Demons had all achieved deeper resonance with the Devil God powers they inherited. As a result, Yu Wu and Chan Yi's cultivation had made immense progress, reaching the ninth level of the Divine Master Realm. At a normal cultivation and resonance speed, such progress would take at least a thousand years.

"Where is your Master?" Yun Che asked.

"To answer the Devil Master, our Master has not been in the Sacred Region recently. However, she has received news of your breakthrough and should return soon."

No sooner had Chan Yi finished speaking than a soft, tender voice drifted into their ears: "My dear Devil Master, are you truly that impatient?"

Everyone knew this statement alluded to Yun Che's impatience for revenge, but spoken from Chi Wuyao's lips, it sounded like an intimate whisper from a bridal chamber. Yu Wu and Chan Yi's cheeks instantly flushed a faint rosy hue, and they lowered their heads slightly.

Chi Wuyao appeared, still as enchanting and beautiful as ever, but with a slight hint of fatigue. After Yun Che's coronation as Devil Master, most of his time was spent cultivating, bestowing the Eternal Calamity's blessing upon powerful individuals from various realms, and granting dark growth to his core forces. The entire strategic planning, both within and outside the Northern Divine Region, fell solely upon Chi Wuyao.

"Divine Lord Stage Ten is complete," Yun Che stated impassively. However, a faint dark aura pulsed around him. "We can begin!"

Yun Che possessed the ultimate control over dark profound energy. Such a slight loss of control was extremely rare for him. He was truly beyond impatient. During his years in the Northern Divine Region, the demon in his heart had frantically yearned to break free from his body with every passing breath.

"Very well." Without attempting to dissuade him like Qianye Ying'er had, Chi Wuyao slowly nodded. "The chess game has been set. Now, it's time to draw back this curtain of darkness."

"But before that, we need to re-evaluate all possible variables." Chi Wuyao's beautiful eyes subtly shifted. "Yun Che, for the first stage, is that still where you intend to start?"

"Yes!"

Yun Che raised his hand, and a large, gray-white cauldron instantly appeared before him. This was the Heaven Swallowing Cauldron, which Yun Che had seized while forcibly killing Venerable Tai Yin in the God Realm of Absolute Beginning. As a Divine Relic of the Eternal Heaven God Realm, the Heaven Swallowing Cauldron was considered the strongest spatial profound artifact not only within the Eternal Heaven God Realm but across the entire Eastern Divine Region. The massive dimensional formation that previously connected the Eternal Heaven God Realm to the edge of Chaos during the Crimson Calamity was constructed with the Heaven Swallowing Cauldron as its core vessel. However, the Heaven Swallowing Cauldron's core power required Eternal Heaven Divine Power to activate. In the hands of an outsider, while the cauldron could be opened, it would essentially be a useless, 'dead' cauldron.

Chi Wuyao extended her hand, moved the Heaven Swallowing Cauldron before her, and instantly put it away. Then, she softly said, "Speaking of which, there was some interesting news from the Eternal Heaven God Realm recently."

"What news?" Qianye Ying'er asked.

"The Eternal Heaven God Realm is preparing to establish a new Crown Prince, just one month from now. I was quite surprised by how quickly they're moving," Chi Wuyao said leisurely.

After Yun Che's dark resonance, even when Northern Region profound practitioners left their dark environment, they could fully control and suppress their dark aura, no longer needing to worry about losing control and being instantly detected. Because of this, the Northern Divine Region's intelligence gathering regarding other divine regions had already begun to show significant discrepancies—a fact the three divine regions were completely unaware of, and had no time to realize.

"Zhou Qingfeng?" Qianye Ying'er immediately thought of the most likely candidate, then sneered dismissively. "Just another piece of trash." Among the younger generation of the Eternal Heaven God Realm, there was no one she deemed worthy of her attention.

"Who it is doesn't matter," Chi Wuyao said with a faint smile. "After getting this news, I took advantage of it and helped Eternal Heaven publicize it widely, though it nearly exhausted Huajin. If the Devil Master has leisure, don't forget to bestow some 'dew' upon her."

"...It is indeed a good opportunity," Yun Che said coldly.

"Oh?" Chi Wuyao's beautiful eyes suddenly swirled, and her smile blossomed, instantly becoming incomparably enchanting. "So, the Devil Master doesn't object to bestowing 'dew' upon Huajin? Then later tonight, I'll have Huajin claim her reward, shall I?"

"Rewarding just one person, aren't you afraid of neglecting the other eight Witches?" Qianye Ying'er snorted softly, raising an eyebrow in a faint smile. "Why not all nine Witches together, to avoid favoritism? He'd surely be more than happy!"

"Before entering the 'stage,' I will grant them another dark resonance," Yun Che said, then turned and departed.

Chi Wuyao let out a soft "Oh?" then giggled. "He truly has no romantic inclination."

Qianye Ying'er said coldly, "Now that it's finally come to this, his mind must be filled with images from back then."

"That's also why I didn't try to dissuade him further." The enchanting smile slowly faded from Chi Wuyao's lips, and a silent chill gathered in her dark eyes. "Throughout this year, I've been observing the changes in the Northern Divine Region, weighing the possible future course of the war. Although, in terms of high-tier combat power, the Northern Divine Region is still far inferior to any of the Eastern, Western, or Southern Divine Regions. But... the curtain of war can indeed be raised. Because the core factor determining victory and ultimate fate isn't the combined strength of both sides, but... Yun Che!"

While the Northern Divine Region's upper-tier strength had undergone tremendous changes in the past year, it was still undeniably far inferior to any other divine region. Yet, Qianye Ying'er showed no surprise at the latter half of Chi Wuyao's statement. A chill also gathered in her golden eyes as she asked, "What is the external perception of Yun Che becoming the Devil Master of the Northern Divine Region?"

"A puppet," Chi Wuyao replied. "And a laughable one at that."

"As expected," Qianye Ying'er said with an indifferent smile. She admitted that if she hadn't followed Yun Che all these years and had remained a part of the Eastern Divine Region, she would have thought the same. After all, how could a junior from the Eastern Divine Region, hunted by all realms and fleeing miserably to the Northern Divine Region, be revered as "Devil Master" by the Northern Divine Region? Just because he possessed the Heretic God's legacy? No matter how 'remote and backward' the Northern Divine Region was, that was truly too ridiculous. Even if all beings in the three divine regions knew that the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor had once returned to the world, and that Yun Che also carried the Devil Emperor's legacy, they would still find it laughable, perhaps even more convinced that he was merely a "puppet."

The Eternal Heaven God Emperor was aware of the terrifying changes in Yun Che's power. While such exaggerated progress caused shock, it wasn't enough to trigger alarm. After all, the Northern Divine Region was still the Northern Divine Region; even with one or several more Divine Emperors, they would still just be a group of devil people sealed in a cage. Their apprehension towards Yun Che was about his future. However, they would never dream of the immense changes the Northern Divine Region had undergone in just a few years because of Yun Che, nor would they imagine that "the future" would arrive so swiftly.

"An unsuspecting enemy is the easiest to dispatch with a single sword stroke," Chi Wuyao said slowly, followed by a self-deprecating chuckle. "I never imagined that the Northern Divine Region's million years of lowliness would turn out to be its greatest advantage."

"Are we definitely starting?" Qianye Ying'er suddenly asked.

"Of course," Chi Wuyao said, gazing into the distance. "How could I dare violate the agreement with the Devil Master? Furthermore, I've always had a feeling," Chi Wuyao continued, "that the Devil Master has always held something back and concealed things from us, even from you and me."

Qianye Ying'er: "..."

"When he holds something back from everyone, including you and me, it's a reassuring sign of growth for him. By then, he might even bring us unforeseen surprises." Chi Wuyao smiled again. "He is so eager for revenge... But on the other hand, since revenge is so important to him, and no one knows better than him how he ended up in his current predicament, would he take this step without sufficient confidence?"

"Hmph, you certainly have a lot of faith in him," Qianye Ying'er said.

"Ah," Chi Wuyao sighed softly. "After all, he's my man. If I don't believe in him, what else can I do? Even if it's just pure willfulness, I can only let him have his way." As her voice faded, her beautiful eyes glanced at Qianye Ying'er, and she let out a soft chuckle. "Back then, Mu Xuanyin spoiled him in the same way."

"..." Qianye Ying'er suddenly extended her hand. "Give me the Heaven Swallowing Cauldron."

"Oh?" Chi Wuyao was initially surprised. When she noticed the divine light in Qianye Ying'er's eyes, she paused slightly. "Are you thinking of..."

"The blood debts and sins on my hands are already enough to send me to the eighteen layers of hell," Qianye Ying'er said coldly. "Such a task, of course, must be done by a villain like me. I possess the Anti-Profound Stone, which can alter my aura. Furthermore... if I do it, there will be no flaws exposed." Her gaze grew even darker. "Because I understand Eternal Heaven far better than you, and better than anyone in the Northern Region."

After a brief hesitation, Chi Wuyao nodded gently. "Very well."

The Heaven Swallowing Cauldron appeared and was handed to Qianye Ying'er. She pointed a finger, and a wisp of soul light flew towards Qianye Ying'er. "These are the three most suitable star realms. When do you plan to act?"

"Now!"

Her voice still lingered in the air, but Qianye Ying'er had already flown off, not in the direction Yun Che had gone, nor pausing to bid him farewell, but speeding southwards.

With a very faint sigh, Chi Wuyao whispered, "Huajin, go."

Another figure soared from a distance, following the direction Qianye Ying'er had taken.

The vast, gloomy dark star region.

Qianye Ying'er paused here. Before her lay a rather large Northern Region star realm. It was a lower star realm, relatively close to the Northern Region border, with a slightly weaker dark aura, yet it held a formidable reputation within this dark star region.

Qianye Ying'er raised her palm, and the Heaven Swallowing Cauldron appeared. Its gray-white body rapidly expanded under her infused power, growing to several miles in size. Simultaneously, an immensely oppressive might enveloped all living beings in this star realm, causing them to instinctively look up, suffocating and trembling in an unseen fear.

Although she couldn't utilize the Heaven Swallowing Cauldron's spatial divine power, as an ancient divine artifact, it served as an excellent power conduit, virtually impossible to destroy with contemporary force. With sufficient power poured in, as Qianye Ying'er gently pushed her palm, the Heaven Swallowing Cauldron transformed into a pale meteor, plummeting down and ruthlessly smashing into the star realm within her sight.

Destructive divine light and thunderous roars filled all the surrounding space. A star realm was not as fragile as a planet, but a Divine Master's power was still no less than a world-ending catastrophe for a lower star realm. The moment the Heaven Swallowing Cauldron's power erupted, the fragile star realm was instantly torn apart by countless fissures, then shattered completely in the very next instant, burying countless mountains, rivers, and living beings.

Miserable wails, the aura of despair, the scent of blood... Qianye Ying'er watched impassively, completely unmoved. Just like the Brahma Monarch Goddess who once viewed all life as mere weeds.