Chapter 1996: The Daughter of the Divine Lord

The trope of a hero saving a beauty is clichéd and overdone, but undeniably very effective, especially for a maiden untouched by worldly defilement. Because the purer the white silk, the easier it is to leave a mark, and the first mark is always the hardest to erase.

Of course, from the silver-clad man's perspective, what was unfolding before him was a comical farce. A peak God Monarch, likely a powerful figure in this Lin Yuan Realm. Yet, before him, he was just a clown deliberately inviting trouble… because he had no idea who he was provoking.

The outside world truly held some interest.

"Where did you crawl out from, you bug?" he said, his gaze lowered dismissively. It was a naturally condescending look, requiring no effort.

"Again?" Yun Che's smile was even more disdainful. "Indeed, a bug sees everything as a bug. The stench radiating from your entire body almost made me vomit from ten miles away, but you do have a rather clear self-awareness."

The maiden's lips unconsciously curved upward for a moment. Yun Che had never lost a verbal battle, and insulting others came naturally to him. But for the maiden, who had grown up in a perfect environment, this was entirely new. So this was another way to curse someone.

The silver-clad man's expression suddenly darkened.

"Get lost!" Yun Che raised his hand, the flames in his palm now carrying more deterrence. "Maliciously scheming and bullying others by relying on your power, vile people like you are the ones who should be purged first from this Abyss world."

Suddenly noticing the maiden was still behind him, he looked back again, his voice lowered and tinged with urgency: "Hurry and leave!"

"Heh, hehehe," the silver-clad man chuckled. "Do you know who you're talking to?"

Yun Che's lips twitched slightly. Truly birds of a feather; even their lines were identical.

"You want me to get lost?" The silver-clad man closed his folding fan, and a strange ripple appeared around his slightly lowered eyelids. "Do you believe that with just a twitch of my finger, you'll obediently kneel and kowtow until you die!"

"Is that so?" Yun Che showed no weakness, the crimson flames in his palm shooting up a zhang high. "If you don't get lost now, you might not even get a chance to kneel!"

The maiden secretly stuck out her tongue, but she found it deeply amusing.

"Fine!" The silver-clad man extended his finger and lightly pressed it downward. Instantly, Yun Che's knees violently buckled, forcing him to his knees.

The maiden frowned. She extended her jade-like finger, shaping it into a sword. But before the sword glow could form, she was astonished to find Yun Che's partially bent knees actually stopped, and then, little by little… slowly straightened.

The sword glow at the maiden's fingertip halted, and a hint of surprise appeared between her brows. He, with a God Monarch realm cultivation… resisted the opponent's soul pressure?

Astonishment also appeared on the silver-clad man's face. He visibly frowned, then his gaze deepened, and a strange light, several times brighter, suddenly appeared in the depths of his pupils.

"Kneel!"

*Crunch!*

Following the silver-clad man's low shout was not the sound of knees hitting the ground, but… the grinding of teeth as if they would shatter. Yun Che's body was trembling, his features violently distorted, and sweat poured from his forehead in an instant. Clearly, he was enduring immense pain. But his leg bones and spine remained straight, and even the crimson flames in his hand refused to extinguish. Furthermore, he even pushed his other trembling arm backward, creating a wave of air as if to push the maiden far away: "Quickly… leave! This person… is extremely… dangerous."

The maiden: "..."

A deep look of astonishment flashed across the silver-clad man's face, then turned to anger as a furious, strange light suddenly appeared in his eyes. But just as his soul power erupted, a piercing snapping sound suddenly echoed. A line of green appeared between the silver-clad man and Yun Che, severing space and completely cutting off the soul pressure exerted on Yun Che.

Yun Che's body swayed violently, and he retreated while clutching his chest. Then, with a "shocked" expression, he looked at the maiden who had walked to his side.

The silver-clad man's pupils lost their color for an instant, and he stumbled back a step. Then, sharply looking up at the maiden, after a brief moment of surprise, a playful smile returned to his lips: "Not bad. To be able to sever my soul threads with your sword intent, you've truly given me a great surprise."

This time, it was the maiden's turn to step in front of Yun Che, a jade-like sword glow shimmering faintly at her fingertips. Her words, a warning and a soliloquy, came from her lips: "Punishing evildoers is also a form of cultivation."

"Evildoer? Hehehe, hahahaha." The silver-clad man straightened his posture, laughing with confident arrogance. "Little sister, do you know… who I am?"

The maiden's lips parted slightly. "Your surname is Meng."

Yun Che: "..."

The smile instantly froze on his face. The silver-clad man frowned. "How do you know?"

"The way you circulate your soul power is very similar to Meng Jianxi, and your external aura also has similarities," the maiden answered calmly and directly. "You two should be of the same clan."

When the three words "Meng Jianxi" entered his ears, the silver-clad man's eyes visibly flickered for a moment, and his expression showed extreme loss of control.

"You..." The silver-clad man's tone changed. "You know my… younger brother?"

"Younger brother?" The maiden's starry eyes slightly shifted as she thought of a phrase to attack her opponent: "Such a disrespectful way to refer to him. Given Meng Jianxi's personality, he'd surely be very displeased if he knew."

Just this seemingly unthreatening remark to an outsider actually made the silver-clad man's upper body violently tremble.

"Oh, I know," the maiden suddenly realized. "Someone who calls Meng Jianxi 'younger brother', your name should be… Meng Jianzhou!"

The silver-clad man… Meng Jianzhou's expression changed again, his eyes narrowing sharply. All his lewdness, arrogance, and confidence were replaced by shock: "Who are you? Who exactly are you!"

Just then, a grey figure suddenly descended from the sky, appearing like a phantom beside the silver-clad man. A terrifying and peerless aura enveloped the area, causing Yun Che's soul to instantly congeal as his gaze fixed on the grey figure. This was precisely the terrifying aura he had sensed earlier!

This was an old man with a rigid, cold face, wearing a grey robe, with short hair and a long beard. This person, who was secretly guarding, suddenly appeared. Yet, with such an aura, he appeared without any oppressive might, not even stirring a ripple of air… as if fearing to disturb something.

Meng Jianzhou had not expected the old man to appear so suddenly. He opened his mouth, full of surprise… but before he could utter a word, his arm was seized by the old man: "Go!"

"Uh? Wh—"

"Shut up! Go!!"

*Whoosh!*

Profound energy surged, carrying the two rapidly away, and in an instant, they vanished from sight. How terrifying was the profound energy burst of a Divine Extinction Realm expert. Yet, the currents it generated were intentionally, or rather, carefully confined to within a few feet, without affecting the maiden or Yun Che in the slightest. Not even a strand of hair was stirred.

Yun Che's gaze subtly withdrew. Someone who surpassed Mo Beichen, yet just now… he fled like a frightened dog!

He quietly glanced at the maiden. As expected, how could someone with such appearance and divine charm, clearly pampered and protected to the extreme, be unprotected when first venturing into the mortal world? He had not detected them at all, which was indeed because the opponent was already so powerful that his spiritual senses were not even qualified to perceive them.

"Are you… alright?" The maiden's voice sounded in his ear. Her pair of dazzlingly beautiful, glazed eyes fell upon this reckless yet remarkably resilient man, and she hesitated whether to heal his soul's wounds. That was Meng Jianzhou's soul pressure… he miraculously withstood it, but he must be injured, right?

Yun Che straightened his body, a clear paleness on his face, but said very calmly: "I am fine. It seems I meddled unnecessarily. Farewell, fairy sister." After speaking, he smiled faintly at the maiden, then turned and left without hesitation.

The maiden's fair wrist instinctively lifted. Just like that… he left?

Yun Che didn't look back; his speed only increased. Soon, their auras could no longer sense each other.

"Auntie, this person is so… so… so special," the maiden said, finding a seemingly apt description. "You always told me to be wary of everyone who approaches, because every one of them surely has ulterior motives. But look at him. He tried so hard to save me, and his soul was even injured, yet he just left. Not to mention plotting, he didn't even ask for my name."

"Indeed, there are still many good people in this world."

Her beautiful eyes rippled gently, and she smiled charmingly, as if the encounter with Meng Jianzhou and the grey-robed elder earlier was nothing more than a speck of dust that couldn't affect her heart. What she spoke of instead was Yun Che.

"The world has a hundred forms, and people have a thousand faces," an ethereal, immortal voice resonated in her mind. "It's not surprising to encounter any kind of person, and don't easily make judgments about anyone."

"I know," the maiden replied with a shallow smile.

"This place has no value for staying long. Let's leave."

The maiden thought for a moment and said: "Auntie said that the Lin God Realm, where the last qilin resides, only opens once every ten jiazi. We were so lucky to just happen to catch it. It would be a huge pity if we didn't go see it."

"As you wish," the immortal voice did not object. Her cultivation experience, naturally, she should decide for herself. At this moment, her curiosity was stirred by all sorts of novelties. Forcibly suppressing it would only hinder her complete understanding of the world. Of course, she would have to bear all the consequences… She had already been reminded that the restrictions at the entrance of the Lin God Realm were personally set by the Abyss Emperor. The consequence of persisting was that she would have no way to enter it when the time came.

Yun Che walked a great distance before all expression faded from his face and his brows slowly furrowed. This surname instantly made Yun Che think of the Divine Master with the surname "Meng" among the Six God Nations: The Dream Weaving God Nation – Divine Master Wumeng – Meng Kongchan!

"Profound practitioners of the Dream Weaving God Nation are extremely skilled in soul cultivation…" Chi Wuyao's description of the Dream Weaving God Nation was etched in Yun Che's mind. That silver-clad man, seemingly named Meng Jianzhou, might actually be… the son of a Divine Master! With such a status, it would be perfectly reasonable for him to have a Half-God realm expert protecting him when he was alone outside.

Then, that maiden… The maiden who made the Half-God elder flee in terror, not daring to utter another word… She mentioned a name: Meng Jianxi. Meng Jianzhou, as the son of a Divine Master, upon hearing this name and it being referred to as his "younger brother" by the maiden, actually showed extreme apprehension. The greatest possibility… that was the name of the Divine Child of the Dream Weaving God Nation! And the maiden mentioned this name without any qualms, as calm as a clear spring. Then her identity…

His steps halted. He suddenly thought of someone Chi Wuyao had emphasized to him.

"Speaking of which, what could be extracted from Mo Beichen's dissipating remnant soul were only the most basic understandings and his deepest memories. Even the marks of the Four Divine Officials were too blurred to discern. Yet, he had a particularly deep memory… of this Heaven-Folding Divine Maiden."

"I could even capture a not-so-blurred shadow from his thin remnant soul."

"You mean… between him and this Heaven-Folding Divine Maiden…"

"Of course not. Even if Mo Beichen was a respected Abyss Knight, he wasn't qualified to interact with the Heaven-Folding Divine Maiden. He merely caught a distant glimpse of her when the Heaven-Folding Divine Maiden went to the Pure Land."

"And that distant glimpse was enough to be etched in his memory for life."

A strange light suddenly flashed in Yun Che's eyes. She is… the Heaven-Folding Divine Maiden of the Heaven-Folding Divine Nation!?

He turned around, looking towards the distant dark sky. If his conjecture was not mistaken, then this turn of events was truly a huge, unexpected pleasant surprise. He just wondered if this tiny seed could bloom into a brilliant flower of surprise in the future.

Outside Helian Imperial City, two figures rapidly flew, their wildly surging profound energy creating rumbling thunder-like sounds. Meng Jianzhou's face was violently aching from the space tears. He asked again: "Uncle Zhe! What on earth happened… "

"Shut up! Don't ask!" The grey-robed elder's expression was terribly grave. He now only wanted to flee this place with all his might, the farther the better, wishing he could tear through dimensions.

In an instant, the sounds in their ears suddenly vanished. Even the scenery before their eyes rapidly faded in color, leaving only a gradually deepening green glow. This sudden strange change left Meng Jianzhou utterly bewildered, completely unaware of what was happening. Meanwhile, the old man tightly gripping his arm instantly turned pale, his body dragged as if by an invisible hand, rapidly coming to a halt.

And… a wisp of a green shadow, ethereal as a fairy illusion.

The grey-robed elder's mouth opened; he clearly wanted to say something, but couldn't utter a single sound, as if his throat was tightly constricted.

"Meng Kongchan's sons are truly more promising than the last." The ethereal voice from the green shadow was bone-chilling. "Since he can't teach his son well, I'll teach him for him!"

A green flash, silent and traceless. Yet, in the next instant, it brought forth Meng Jianzhou's horrifying shriek… and his entire left arm, scattering blood as it flew.