Chapter 2018: Ruthlessness

The four major powers—Helian, Panxuan, Wanren, and Bailin—each occupied their own distinct territory.

Yun Che’s divine sense covered them all; not a single one of the 985 people was missing.

The thunderous roar finally ceased, and only then did everyone realize it was the sound of a storm, generated by his body, tearing through space.

What followed was a suffocating silence. The oppressive force weighing upon them was so immense that their heads felt as if they would split and their spines would shatter.

"Close your eyes," Yun Che said softly.

Yun Xi paid no heed.

BOOM!

The sound of the storm shaking the void rang out once more, but this time it exploded directly in their ears.

The Xuan practitioners of the Panxuan Sect were still in a daze, unable to recover, when the world before their eyes dramatically changed. All that remained was a golden sea of flames that obliterated all perception.

A single "Nine Suns Heavenly Fury" would have been enough to incinerate them all, but it would undoubtedly cause a massive depletion of the Qilin God’s divine source. Therefore, he opted for four instantaneous teleports.

Using the bodies of all Panxuan Xuan practitioners as a catalyst, he ignited the "Yellow Springs Ashes."

The next instant, he had already teleported above the Wanren Sect. The sky-rending screams from the Panxuan Sect didn't even have time to reach his ears.

One sword strike fractured the earth, scattering shattered bones; another caused the sand sea to swirl, mercilessly burying everything.

The Wanren Sect was utterly annihilated. They had no time to react, nor any idea why.

Even the single scream of terror they managed to utter lasted only for the briefest of moments.

Everything happened in an instant, without any warning or a single word.

The Bailin Alliance was fortunate; at least they had time to show shock and fear on their faces… but that was all.

A red lotus bloomed above them. After a moment of splendor, came eternal immolation.

Over three hundred Bailin Alliance hall masters, helmsmen, and disciples were all enveloped within the fiery lotus. Not one escaped, until they turned into scattered, mixed crimson ashes.

To Yun Che, the Bailin Young Master, the son of the Abyssal Knight, and all the others were nothing but weeds. The drifting smoke after being incinerated by his Phoenix flames was indistinguishable.

Three instantaneous teleports, three fleeting moments, finally jolted the Helian Xuan practitioners awake as if from a nightmare. They let out continuous howls of terror, then scrambled and crawled, frantically fleeing in any direction away from Yun Che. Only Helian Lingzhu remained, standing alone at the very front, her eyes vacant, as if she had fallen into a bottomless abyss.

Yun Che’s body remained still as he raised the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword. Crimson lightning surged, instantly fracturing the void as hundreds of Heavenly Dao Tribulation Lightning bolts struck down simultaneously.

CRACKLE!

The turbulent sky of the mystic realm was instantly pierced by hundreds of crimson lightning marks that lingered for a long time.

After the earth-shaking thunder, the world suddenly grew quiet. All sounds of screams, wails, and running ceased.

Beneath each lightning mark lay a figure, either falling from the sky or collapsing straight down.

They were not incinerated and retained their complete bodies, but all their meridians and internal organs were utterly destroyed by the Heavenly Dao Tribulation Lightning.

The sounds of howling wind, flowing sand, and burning fire… Besides these, there was nothing else.

No, there was still a living presence below.

Helian Lingzhu.

"Wh… why…"

She still stood there dazedly, her face drained of all color, her eyes devoid of all light, like a soulless puppet.

There was no answer. The Heaven Punishing Devil Slayer Sword disappeared from Yun Che's hand, and he raised his palm, slowly pointing it at Helian Lingzhu.

In the end, a moment of reluctance prevented him from annihilating Helian Lingzhu along with the others.

But this very moment of reluctance caused his soul intense pain.

Every warning from Chi Wu heavily pierced his heart and soul.

"Therefore, in the Abyssal World, be it friendship, master-disciple affection, romantic love, or even gratitude, they can only serve as tools for your use. Not a single trace of genuine emotion must be mixed in."

"In the Abyss, given your identity and mission, not only is mercy a sin, and not being heartless enough a sin, but even not being ruthless enough is a grave sin!"

"Any trace of reluctance or leeway could lead to your downfall, the ruin of your beloved family awaiting your return, the destruction of the myriad spirits under your command, and this world's eternal damnation!"

"When you feel hesitation, remember this: every shred of pity you show to the beings of the Abyss could become a butcher's knife hanging over the heads of the beings in this world!"

"Don't be afraid," he said calmly. "It won't hurt."

With a soft hum, Helian Lingzhu's body was instantly sealed, and then, with an incredibly faint shattering sound, transformed into scattered, desolate ice dust.

At this point, all thousand people who entered the Qilin God Realm, except for Yun Che and Long Jiang, had been killed to silence them.

Besides them, no one else would know what had happened there.

And their deaths would thus be attributed to the collapse of the Qilin God Realm.

The "God Ashes" state deactivated, and barely three tenths of the Qilin God’s source energy attached to the Evil God’s seed remained.

A heavy burden and immense backlash assailed him. Yun Che's bones and body trembled involuntarily, and uncontrollable blood surged from his fractured body and blood vessels.

Yun Che remained silent and motionless, desperately reining in his aura and silently stemming the blood flow. In the Abyssal World, he had to be ruthless; once forced to bare his fangs, he had to leave no room for error or future trouble. Yet, stripping away the facade of the Cloud Emperor, his true nature still needed to silently dissolve that rather uncomfortable sense of sin and heavy burden.

Sin… do I not have enough sins already?

He recalled his arrival in the Northern Divine Region, when his heart was filled with nothing but hatred… This was just the beginning; he would get used to it, and he had to.

His breathing gradually calmed, and he lowered his gaze to the woman in his arms…

Her gaze was as calm as stagnant water.

There was no reluctance, no discomfort, not even a hint of shock or bewilderment.

It was as if what Yun Che had just slaughtered were truly nothing more than a patch of weeds.

At the Qilin God Assembly, everyone could instantly perceive his closeness with Helian Lingzhu. Later, it became even clearer that Helian Lingzhu's leadership of the Helian delegation was undoubtedly due to him.

After that, Helian’s attitude was as if they couldn’t wait to hand Helian Lingzhu over to Yun Che in front of everyone.

The biggest obstacle to him killing Helian Lingzhu immediately wasn’t himself, but Yun Xi.

But…

Recalling when he turned Helian Lingzhu into ice dust, not a single trace of emotional fluctuation emanated from her.

After the initial surprise, his heart suddenly lurched.

These years… what exactly has she been through?

The spatial vibrations grew more intense, and spatial cracks rapidly tore open and spread directly before Yun Che’s eyes.

The Qilin God had said that this realm would inevitably collapse within three hours of its demise, but the exact moment within those three hours was impossible to ascertain. Yun Che hesitated for a few breaths between healing Yun Xi and escaping as soon as possible, ultimately choosing the latter.

"Let's go out… just pretend to be unconscious."

"..." As expected, there was no response.

He moved his arm back, shifting Yun Xi to his back, and simultaneously released the seals on his wounds, letting blood gush out. Then, he transformed into a streak of light and rushed straight for the exit.

The scorching wind howled in her ears, the sand sea behind them collapsed, and streaks of blood flowed from the man in front of her, touching her fingertips and bringing a strange… yet extremely distant warmth.

For a moment, a flicker of confusion crossed her eyes.

"Mother, in the 'knowledge' you taught me, you mentioned that every living being has not only a mother but also a father. And that mothers and fathers stay together forever. But why is Mother all alone? Do I not have a father?"

"Then… what does Father look like? Will he be as gentle and handsome as Mother?"

"You need to see that for yourself, with your eyes and with your heart."

"If Father doesn’t love Mother, then Father… will he love me?"

"Of course he will… He would be willing to do anything for you, even if it means fighting against the entire world. Because you are not only Mother’s daughter, but also his daughter."

A different warmth suddenly appeared at her fingertips. She stared, seeing that a drop of water had, at some unknown point, fallen beside the blood bead on her fingertip.

The blood bead and the water drop touched each other, and to her surprise, slowly merged as if attracted, until they formed a single blood bead on her fingertip, of the same temperature… inseparable.

The exit of the Qilin God Realm appeared in sight. Yun Che’s speed did not slow in the slightest; he plunged straight down and passed through.

BANG!!

The space shifted, and the world before him changed abruptly. Yun Che seemed unable to stop his momentum; after exiting the Qilin God Realm, he tumbled to the ground, dragging Yun Xi along and sliding for a long distance before clumsily coming to a stop.

Ximen Boyun, who was consumed by anxiety, suddenly turned his head and immediately spotted Yun Che and Long Jiang. He was just about to speak when Yun Che cried out in alarm before him: "Ximen Boyun! The Qilin God Realm is collapsing… everything is breaking apart! Hurry…"

In his desperation and panic, he called out "Ximen Boyun" directly by name.

How could Ximen Boyun care what he called him? He urgently shouted, "Where are they? How did you escape? Is the exit damaged? Bailin…"

Yun Che took a sharp breath and quickly said, "There are spatial turbulences everywhere! Everyone was sucked into them; some were instantly shredded, and those who weren't were swept away to unknown places!"

Yun Che’s words and his wounds startled Ximen Boyun. Long Jiang’s body was half-covered in blood, making it impossible to discern her injuries. However, Yun Che’s entire body was covered in lacerations, instantly revealing that he had been torn by distorted space.

"Long Jiang and I were swept to a spot right near the exit; we fought desperately and got lucky to escape!"

Ximen Boyun's body turned cold. His wide-open mouth couldn't utter a sound for a long time… Spatial turbulence! This was far worse than he had imagined—no, it was basically the worst possible situation.

After all, that was a space created by the Abyssal Emperor; its spatial level must have been extremely high. Once it collapsed and triggered spatial turbulence and spatial storms, it would undoubtedly be terrifying beyond ordinary comprehension. Yun Che took a huge gasping breath with every word, his face filled with lingering fear and trepidation. He suddenly thought of something and roared, looking up: "Ximen Boyun, what are you waiting for?! Quickly tear open the mystic realm space! The Eldest Princess and the others are still inside!"

Ximen Boyun said in a deep voice, "If I could tear open the Qilin God Realm… would I need you to remind me?!"

"But you’re an Abyssal Knight!"

"This is a mystic realm created by the Abyssal Emperor!" Ximen Boyun roared, his black hair standing on end from extreme anxiety.

Yun Che was even more furious: "If it weren't for the words 'Abyssal Emperor,' would Long Jiang and I have condescended to participate in this ridiculous Qilin God Assembly?! And as a result… we almost lost our lives inside!"

Ximen Boyun glared and said in a deep voice, "Yun Che, I don’t care what your background is. If you dare to speak ill of the Abyssal Emperor again—" "You should think more about how to save the people of the Bailin Alliance!" Yun Che unceremoniously interrupted him, then desperately sealed his wounds. "Long Jiang and I personally saw that even someone as powerful as the Wanren Sect Master was shredded by the spatial turbulence… into several pieces!" "If your Bailin Alliance people want to live, they'll have to be swept near the exit by the spatial turbulence, like us… but even if they get out, they’ll likely be half-dead! Your clan members are almost all dead, and you’re not thinking about how to tear open this mystic realm, but still have the mind to protect the Abyssal Emperor’s dignity!"

These words made Ximen Boyun's mindset explode. His gaze instantly returned to the violently turbulent entrance of the Qilin God Realm, and his hands and feet trembled violently.

Yun Che picked up Yun Xi and said resentfully, "This mere Qilin Abyss Realm almost cost me my life… I’ll never come within half a step of this cursed place again in my life!"

"Let’s go!"

BANG!!

In his anxiety, Ximen Boyun suddenly slammed a palm onto the profound formation at the entrance.

The result was no surprise: he was once again sent flying by a massive repelling force. His entire right arm remained numb for a long time, and after the numbness came waves of piercing pain.

As for Yun Che and Long Jiang, who had left in a huff, he no longer had the presence of mind to pay them any attention.

And the final outcome was predictable.

After nearly an hour of impotent rage, the profound formation at the entrance of the Qilin God Realm twisted and shattered like screeching lightning, vanishing without a trace. Before this, not a single person had escaped alive. A terrifyingly powerful spatial storm surged in the center of the Qilin God Realm, accompanied by the enraged roars of a certain Abyssal Knight.