Chapter 2024: Inverse Shadow

The figure before him gradually became clear, and finally, an elderly figure was distinctly etched into Yun Che's consciousness.

An... old man...

This was not Yun Che's first encounter with the existence of the Heretic God, Ni Xuan. A wisp of the Heretic God's extremely faint remnant soul had once been attached to the Water Seed. At that time, he had a brief conversation with the Heretic God. However, that wisp of remnant soul was too weak to even manifest a physical form; only an ancient voice, as if from an old man on the verge of death, could be discerned.

It was also then that he first encountered the word "mission." Not until Jie Yuan's return did he truly understand the profound meaning encapsulated in that word. Upon arriving in the Abyss, even before touching the last Heretic God Seed, Yun Che had already considered that Jie Yuan, during her time back in the world, had detected the abnormality of the Abyss through the flow of dark energy. The period during and after the complete annihilation of the battle must have been when the primordial qi underwent its most drastic changes. The Heretic God had no reason to be unaware. Perhaps he had tried to descend into the Abyss, just like Jie Yuan, but also returned without success. If his body couldn't descend, then, would the Heretic God Seeds he had cast into the Abyss carry a wisp of his divine soul, allowing him to witness whether any abnormalities had truly occurred in the Abyss?

Indeed, it was as he had thought. The moment the Earth Seed returned to the Heretic God's Profound Veins, he clearly sensed a soul awakening from its slumber.

However, the image he manifested was vastly different from what Yun Che had always imagined in his mind.

He wore a white robe, tattered and nearly ragged.

His long hair, a mix of gray and white, fell in disarray around him. His long beard was also completely white. Both his beard and hair hung straight to the ground, as if they hadn't been combed in countless years.

His face, half-obscured by his long hair, had deeply sunken eye sockets and was covered in grooves, indistinguishable as to whether they were carved by time or by poison's erosion.

And those eyes, belonging to a Creation God, even though they were merely an insubstantial soul body, still showed a distinct cloudiness.

Was this... the Heretic God, at the end of his life, after dispersing the Heretic God Seeds?

Towards the phantom figure before him, Yun Che slowly knelt in homage.

Apart from his parents and loved ones, this was the first time he had willingly and completely bowed to someone.

Because to Yun Che, the Heretic God was a benefactor and a master; moreover, he was an ancient deity who had saved all worlds, earning Yun Che's boundless respect.

"Yun Che, a mortal human, greets Senior Heretic God. At the age of sixteen, this junior was fortunate enough to receive your divine inheritance, which also changed my destiny. I am indebted for life. Now, finally seeing your true form, a great lifelong desire has been fulfilled."

The worlds encountered by different remnant souls were independent. Although the remnant soul on the Water Seed knew of Yun Che's existence, for the remnant soul attached to the Earth Seed, this was a complete first meeting.

The gaze directed at him was cloudy, but then, a gentle smile appeared on the ancient face, full of etched lines: "To be able to restore this realm, how could you be called 'mortal'?"

"I am no longer the Heretic God," he said. He turned his gaze, looking at this Profound Vein world that seemed familiar yet was now distant: "If there truly is a Heretic God in this world, then only you are worthy of that name."

Yun Che shook his head: "Before you, Senior, what qualifications do I possess?"

Ni Xuan smiled, neither confirming nor denying. He simply gazed at this world repeatedly, but there was no surprise, no attachment, or nostalgia. If there was any emotion, perhaps it was a kind of... desolation in twilight.

At that moment, Yun Che suddenly understood. What he was desperately sensing with this last wisp of spiritual consciousness was not his former power, but rather... the aura of the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor.

Within him flowed Jie Yuan's Devil Emperor blood and her Eternal Calamity of Darkness.

Yun Che's heart tightened abruptly. He had endless things he wanted to tell Ni Xuan and countless questions he wanted to ask. However, facing Ni Xuan in this state, he hesitated for a long time, unable to bring himself to speak and disturb him.

"Jie Yuan... she's back?"

The ancient voice carried a faint tremor, like a desolate cold wind.

"Yes," Yun Che replied softly. "Senior Jie Yuan pierced the Wall of Primordial Chaos with the Universe Needle and returned... It has been less than ten years since then."

"Is she... well?"

He didn't ask what had happened afterward. Even as a fading remnant soul, what he most wanted to know was still her safety. "...Senior Jie Yuan is very well, both in body and soul." Yun Che looked at Ni Xuan, letting him clearly perceive the sincerity in his gaze: "Although she bears scars from the power of the outer chaos, her body is sound and unharmed. Though her power is incomplete, a mere flick of her finger is enough to suppress all beings in the current world." He did not hide Jie Yuan's scars. The feelings between Ni Xuan and Jie Yuan had long transcended the boundaries of two races, laws, and prejudices. In their bond, physical wounds, as perceived by the secular world, were utterly insignificant. To deliberately conceal them would instead be a desecration of their feelings. "Her soul is complete and magnificent. Upon her return, hatred obscured the sky. She was filled with rage when sensing the aura of the Heaven Punishing God Emperor's subordinates. She was lost in sorrow when she heard of your death... When she spoke, she was always full of resentment towards everything, yet she chose to keep herself and her subordinate devils eternally in the outer chaos to grant peace to the current world. Millions of years in the outer chaos did not harm her soul, nor did they erase the true kindness beneath her hardened exterior. She is this junior's... she is a devil whom all living beings in this world should eternally respect and be grateful to. She is the greatest devil in the world."

Ni Xuan smiled, without surprise, and softly murmured, "Yes, because she is... Jie Yuan."

If not for such a Jie Yuan, how could he have loved her so deeply?

"Yun Che, thank you for your words... I am merely a lone soul that should have long dispersed, yet at this very end, I can feel such luxurious comfort and warmth."

Yun Che shook his head: "What this junior said is simply the truest fact. Whether it is this junior or everyone in the current world, we all bear the profound grace bestowed by you two. How can we be qualified to receive your 'thanks'?"

Ni Xuan slowly raised his head. His long hair, like withered grass, spoke of endless desolation: "My only regret is that I cannot see her again, cannot... apologize to her..."

Yun Che shook his head again: "Between husband and wife, what need is there for apologies? Senior Jie Yuan's departure was without regret or hatred. Not being able to see you again must surely be her greatest regret."

"Yes..." Ni Xuan murmured, "If I were to truly apologize to her, she would surely beat me up fiercely again, haha."

He smiled. To be beaten by her again... is now an extravagant wish he could never again touch.

A sudden heaviness settled in Yun Che's heart. Yun Che suddenly asked, "Senior Ni Xuan, regarding the events of that year and their present consequences, do you... feel hatred?"

"Hatred?" His voice was like floss: "Hatred... for whom...?"

"For example," Yun Che said very directly, "the cause of all tragedies—the Heaven Punishing God Emperor, Mo E."

The world fell silent. Yun Che waited a long time for Ni Xuan's response... He didn't even sense a trace of resentment from him. Instead, an emotion of sorrow and pain silently spread. That faint remnant soul, the sorrow it released was so oppressive, that Yun Che's soul sea became heavy, forgetting all disturbance.

"Mo E..." He softly uttered this distant, soul-aching name: "What right do I have to hate him...? Only he hates me... What right do I have to hate him...?"

".........?!" Yun Che was filled with utter astonishment.

When the name "Mo E" was mentioned, the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor gritted her teeth with hatred. If his bones still existed, Jie Yuan would absolutely dig up his grave, crush his bones, and scatter his ashes herself. And this hatred radiated to all other God Races, even the descendants of the God Races under Mo E. This showed the depth of Jie Yuan's hatred for him. Given what Mo E had done to her, this hatred was entirely normal. Furthermore, if she weren't the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor, anyone else, with millions of years of accumulated hatred, would have long transformed into a complete vengeful devil god.

But when faced with the name "Mo E," what the Heretic God Ni Xuan revealed was instead sorrow, pain, and... guilt?

The one emotion that should have been there—resentment—was entirely absent.

"Only he hates me... What right do I have to hate him?" "Why?" Yun Che asked, bewildered. "Mo E ambushed Senior Jie Yuan, causing you two to be separated. Senior Jie Yuan suffered millions of years in the outer chaos. Your child also... because of him... Even you, after that, became completely despondent, abandoning your title as a Creation God."

"The cataclysmic war between the God Race and the Devil Race was also triggered by Mo E's ambush on Senior Jie Yuan with that sword strike. Otherwise, none of what followed would have happened, and the world would still be dominated by the God Race and the Devil Race." He also wanted to say that if not for the anomaly in the world's aura caused by the annihilation, the Abyss's changes would not have been so rapid. Taking another ten thousand steps back, even if the Abyss's changes were as they are now, how could a world with the God and Devil Races in control fear the power of the Abyss's invasion?

"No, no." Ni Xuan uttered two "no"s consecutively, one weak, one heart-piercing: "All the sin lies with me, not with him... not with him. It is I who wronged him."

"My former title as the Creation God of the Elements was not abandoned, but rather, I was no longer worthy of it. My subsequent reclusion was not due to utter despair, but because I... was too ashamed to face the world."

".........?!" Yun Che was utterly dumbfounded.

What was he saying?

Why was it different from what he knew... completely different!

Could it be that when the Heaven Punishing God Emperor Mo E ambushed the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor back then... there was some other hidden truth?

He didn't hesitate to sacrifice thirty percent of his lifespan to activate the Heaven Punishing Progenitor Sword and blast Jie Yuan out of the Primordial Chaos. He didn't hesitate to destroy the balance between the two races that had lasted for countless years. He didn't hesitate to heavily damage his reputation as the First Creation God. And afterward, he didn't hesitate to sacrifice another thirty percent of his lifespan to defeat the Heretic God...

Could the reason for his extreme resolve not simply be his inability to accept the union of a Creation God and a Devil Emperor?

If there were indeed other, more profound reasons, then Jie Yuan's resentment... could it be that even she was unaware?

"Senior, what you just said is vastly different from the 'truth' I know. Could there be other reasons for what happened back then?" However, the "truth" Yun Che knew was mostly deduced by him and the Ice Phoenix Divine Spirit based on increasingly known facts, then corroborated by Jie Yuan after her return. But Jie Yuan's memory of that year only extended to the moment she was blown out of the Primordial Chaos by Mo E's sword strike.

Ni Xuan slowly said: "All the past has turned into smoke and clouds; there's no point in bringing it up again. When Mo E was alive, he refused to mention or even think about it until his death. I am the same, let alone now... Let them, along with the former world, forever fade into dust."

A deluge of complex emotions poured into Yun Che's soul sea, bringing him suffocating oppression.

He didn't want to bring it up again.

Perhaps even merely thinking about it was an unbearable agony and torment for him.