Chapter 1961: 青影

Mo Beichen’s power of despair was terrifying. If not for the protection of the Divine Ash power, Yun Che, in his current physical state, would likely have been pulverized just like Cang Shitian. To detonate profound energy while suffering from the Sky Poison’s corrosive effects was undoubtedly extremely brutal in its consequences.

"Hiss! Arrrghhhh!"

Mo Beichen’s already wretched wails intensified severalfold, becoming as piercing as if thousands of hellish fiends were simultaneously subjected to the cruelest torture imaginable. Amidst the agonizing screams, his demigod body transformed in an instant from a pale green to a horrifying bright green. It also began to convulse and twist with alarming intensity, as if every bone and nerve had completely lost control and deformed.

The poison was corroding not only his body but also his soul and power. With bent arms, he clutched his head with one hand and frantically clawed at his ruptured chest with the other, as if desperate to tear out the venomous serpent raging within him at all costs. Pain, despair, and death consumed every part of his being. His flesh was being torn apart piece by piece, his soul gnawed away bit by bit, and his power dissipated like a breached dam.

He plunged downwards, struggling and howling in despair. As he twisted and writhed, a faint golden gleam suddenly appeared in his increasingly emerald eyes. The world in his eyes had turned into a blurry, ghostly green, and his ravaged senses rapidly became chaotic and weak with each passing moment. Yet, that golden gleam, not particularly strong amidst the calamitous aura, pierced deep into his soul like a venomous barb far more potent than the Sky Poison itself. It caused his soul, already on the verge of collapse from despair and pain, to experience a terrifying moment of clear-headedness. This was because it was the golden light surrounding Yun Che!

Violent malevolent light exploded in his pupils and the depths of his soul. Extreme pain, despair, and terror instantly gave birth to the most profound hatred. At this moment, the dignity and duty of a knight, the Abyss Emperor’s great expectations, his supreme loyalty to the Abyss Emperor—nothing mattered anymore. He only wanted Yun Che dead! Even if it meant the future Abyss Emperor would forever lose the legacies of the Heretic God and the Devil Emperor! At any cost, he wanted Yun Che to perish with him!

The agonizing screams from his throat became infinitely more vicious. He marshaled every remaining shred of will from his demigod soul, locking onto Yun Che’s aura. He squeezed out every last bit of usable power from his body, solidifying it into a seven-foot rock spear before him. The lingering clarity in his mind made him acutely aware of the consequences of forcibly unleashing power in such a state. Yet, he did not hesitate, driven only by the madness of despair!

"Die... Arrrghhhh!"

The rock spear tore through the air, rocketing towards Yun Che, accompanied by Mo Beichen’s screams, which were now several times more piercing.

On Yun Che’s body, the last flicker of golden divine light rapidly pulsed, then finally extinguished. The eighteen Southern Sea God Sources, along with the four from sixteen days prior—all twenty-two God Source powers of the ancient Southern Sea God Clan left in the present world—completely vanished. The Southern Sea lineage was, from this point, truly and eternally severed.

The Divine Ash state could no longer be maintained. As the sixth realm gate closed, Yun Che’s power aura rapidly dissipated, replaced by a backlash and burden his normal body simply could not withstand. His already tattered body suffered another severe blow. Yun Che’s life force rapidly drained away, becoming incredibly faint, and even the pain in his body was quickly fading. He wanted to turn his body, but wherever his will reached, he could no longer feel the presence of his own body.

He had never been so weak. So weak that it felt as if he could reach out and touch death, yet he couldn't even move a single finger. His body was still flying backward at an incredible speed, so fast that it seemed to tear through space, carrying away his continuously breaking flesh and even fractured bones. Fortunately, he had flown an immense distance, escaping the calamitous space filled with demigod power. Otherwise, the moment the Divine Ash power vanished, he would certainly have perished.

Mo Beichen must be dead, right? After paying such a tremendous price, how could he not be dead? Only... the price was truly too great. Are humans truly so humble before a god? And he was merely a demigod.

His soul gradually dispersed in weakness, and various thoughts flowed chaotically within his fading soul sea. Just then, a dreadful, withered light suddenly appeared in his soul sea. It carried a death aura so potent it could drag him into a myriad of deaths. In his ears, there was a piercing shriek tearing through space and countless terrified soul-cries.

Mo Beichen, his body devoured by the Sky Poison, had his usable power greatly diminished. The seven-foot rock spear was incomparably smaller than the previous ten-thousand-foot rock spear. But even a dying beast can still crush an ant with its paw. The rock spear unleashed by Mo Beichen in his dying moments still carried the lingering might of a demigod. If it struck directly, it would still be enough to instantly kill a Divine Master of the current era! In his full power, Yun Che might have been able to resist it head-on and survive, but in his current state, even if it didn't directly hit him, the mere residual force from its proximity would be enough to cost him his life in an instant.

"Yun Che!!"

"Yun Che—"

The chaotic shouts of alarm were completely swallowed by the piercing shriek of the rock spear. Yun Che quietly closed his eyes. In the end, it was still... To die in this manner, however, was truly... unwilling.

Chi Wuyao, Mu Xuanyin, Qianye Ying'er, Caizhi—the moment the rock spear shot out, their faces all turned ashen. Amidst their horrified shouts, they all struck out immediately with ice glows, devil lights, and sword qi. But the most despairing fact was that the direction Yun Che had been blasted earlier was to the west, opposite their location. With the vast distance and opposing direction, their powers could never possibly catch up to Mo Beichen's rock spear.

With no opportunity left for even a moment's hesitation, Shui Meiyin gritted her teeth, unleashing the spatial divine power of the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Divine Spear to its fullest extent. The vast distance was separated by a demigod disaster zone, not yet fully dispersed, which severely distorted sight, spiritual perception, and even laws. Furthermore, Yun Che was rapidly flying backward. A wide swath of crimson divine light covered the area, yet it narrowly missed touching Yun Che's swiftly retreating toes. Shui Meiyin's face instantly drained of all color.

"..." Under intense shock and turmoil, Chi Wuyao's devil soul wounds erupted, causing her body to fall from the sky. But before Jie Xin and Jie Ling could catch her, she forcefully twisted her body in mid-air, enduring the severe soul damage to fly forward. However, even if their speed were ten or a hundred times greater, it was destined to be impossible to fully cross that distance which, though not originally long, now felt like every inch was pure despair. They could only watch helplessly as the dreadful withered light drew closer and closer to Yun Che.

Just as the spatial tremors caused by the rock spear were about to reach Yun Che's location, a streak of incredibly fast azure light suddenly cut across the dim sky. It was a speed almost beyond the current world's limits, leaving a persistent azure ripple in its wake. The direction Yun Che was flying—west—was where the Azure Dragon Realm was located. The moment the withered yellow rock spear shot in that direction, the first reaction of all the Azure Dragons was to fly away at full speed. Yet, one azure light, moving at her absolute maximum speed, flew towards the terrifying rock spear imbued with death energy, heading directly for Yun Che, who was already enveloped by death.

"...Empress!!" Looking back at the azure figure, Azure Dragon Divine Servant Qing Ruo first froze, then let out a cry of terror. This shout caused all the fleeing Azure Dragons to suddenly look back, and they were all instantly filled with shock, because that streak of azure light was none other than the Azure Dragon Empress! In her horror, Qing Ruo disregarded everything else, straining to fly towards the Azure Dragon Empress, but could only helplessly watch as the azure light moved further and further away from her, and closer and closer to that terrifying withered light.

The withered light pursued; the azure light met it head-on. Finally, just before the withered light arrived, the azure light overlapped with Yun Che's figure a split second sooner, and her tall, proud azure form appeared between Yun Che and the rock spear.

*Pfff-boom!*

The rock spear struck the azure figure directly. In the abruptly wide eyes of all the Azure Dragons, the spearhead pierced through her heart and exited her back. Under the immense force, the azure figure, which had been rapidly moving forward, was blasted backward. She flew and collided with Yun Che at a speed even faster than his backward flight. Mo Beichen’s diminished power was still extremely terrifying, and the divine sense attached to the rock spear was locked onto Yun Che. Even after piercing the Azure Dragon Empress’s body, its residual power would still pierce Yun Che. And even if the rock spear were completely stopped by the Azure Dragon Empress, the violently exploding profound energy of the rock would still instantly affect Yun Che, taking his life.

However... the rock spear that had pierced the Azure Dragon Empress's body did not pass completely through. Instead, it remained lodged horizontally within her, as if some strange power had forcibly sealed it within her body. A sapphire-blue barrier expanded from her body, enveloping both herself and the rock spear. When it formed, it was only a few feet wide, like a water bubble that would burst at a touch.

In the not-too-distant southwest, the immobilized Qi Tianli watched the azure figure pierced by the rock spear with a dazed look in his aged eyes. He had known the Azure Dragon Empress for a hundred thousand years. Her familiar profile now showed a resolve he had never witnessed before. Water and ice belonged to the same elemental family, but very few people cultivated both. The Azure Dragon Empress cultivated both ice and water, primarily focusing on water. The ultimate master of ice in the current era was Mu Xuanyin, and the ultimate master of water was, without a doubt, the Azure Dragon Empress, Qing Que. The control ability of water-attributed profound energy was the greatest among all elements, and in the hands of the Azure Dragon Empress, it was unparalleled in the world. This unparalleled control ability was now being unleashed upon herself without reservation.

Crystalline blue light, like thousands of converging streams, flowed over the rock spear. Each stream of water light was incredibly supple and enduring, yet they converged into a flawless water barrier, completely containing the rock spear's power, and even its external power aura.

*Buzz-boom-boom-boom!*

The rock-shattering power carried by the spear was triggered and violently erupted. And that immense calamitous power, along with the thunderous roars like a collapsing mountain, all erupted within the Azure Dragon Empress’s body, sealed by the water light. Not a single trace spilled out.

Her beautiful face lost all color, and her azure robe was stained crimson. The eternally indifferent azure glow in the Azure Dragon Empress’s eyes faded like a parched jade lake, and her body slumped as her consciousness dispersed. The water barrier shattered, and the rock spear, its power exhausted, crumbled into dust. The remaining residual force merely caused a slight tremor in the surrounding few yards.

The blood-stained azure figure collided with Yun Che, yet not even a speck of blood foam was stirred from his body. Their bodies pressed against each other, their blood mingling, and together they flew far, far away in the desolate, cold wind. Until they crashed into a soft, layered water curtain hastily cast by Qing Ruo. The water curtain quickly dissipated their backward momentum, allowing them to fall, interlocked, into a gentle mass of profound energy.

"Empre—ss!!" Qing Ruo screamed as she flew closer, the azure light in her eyes completely turning into sorrowful gray. But no one answered her. Yun Che lay motionless, his consciousness still clinging on, his clouded eyes vacant. Before him was an azure robe stained with spreading crimson. Although his vision was so blurry, the spreading crimson was still searingly painful to his heart.

How terrifying was Mo Beichen's power. In just a few fleeting moments, it had crushed the aura of a Divine Emperor to the level of a dying stalk of grain. She was the Azure Dragon Empress, whom he had personally conferred the title upon, yet had always treated with indifference—Azure Consort. It was an empty title, a pawn he and the Devil Queen used to control the Western Divine Region.

Why... Why... why...?

Her last breath of life dispersed so clearly, leaving only a faint soul voice, pouring into his soul sea:

"The title... of Empress Consort... was as empty as an illusion..."

"But... in the end... I... did not... fail... you..."

"..." Yun Che’s pallid eyes trembled. His lips moved weakly, as if he was desperately trying to say something. But the endless dark night mercilessly swallowed his consciousness. As his vision and awareness completely turned to darkness, he finally succumbed and fell unconscious.