Chapter 756: The Strange Divine Sword of Heavenly Punishment

The several small cities surrounding the core territory of the Everlasting Night Royal Family were suddenly enveloped in black mist overnight. Everyone in these cities, from powerful profound practitioners to defenseless women and children, died tragically in the black mist. Soon, all fingers pointed towards the Everlasting Night Royal Family, because when their core profound art, the 'Everlasting Night Illusion God Record,' was activated, black mist would swirl around the user. Those who died under the 'Everlasting Night Illusion God Record' also turned black, shrouded in mist that wouldn't dissipate for days.

Following this, Heaven's Might Sword Region was the first to launch an attack, labeling the Everlasting Night Royal Family as evil devils who massacred innocent people to enhance their demonic power. Then, under the guise of protecting the Profound Sky Continent and eradicating evil, they allied with the other three Sacred Grounds to besiege the Everlasting Night Royal Family.

This was the frame-up Heaven's Might Sword Region orchestrated against the Everlasting Night Royal Family, as Feng Qianhui had described it to him years ago.

While the name 'Everlasting Night Illusion Devil Manual' could be changed, its 'dark' attribute could not; thus, the profound energy of the Everlasting Night Royal Family was black. Using despicable methods, Heaven's Might Sword Region branded the Everlasting Night Royal Family as "evil devils."

However, Heaven's Might Sword Region could never have dreamed that the Everlasting Night Royal Family, who carried devil souls or devil blood and cultivated the 'Everlasting Night Illusion Devil Manual,' could indeed be called devils! Moreover, they were ancient devils!

"Jasmine, you previously said Feng Juechen's power surge was due to integrating a devil soul. Could that devil soul be the remnant soul of Ye Mufeng sealed in the Soul Sealing Coffin?" As Yun Che mentally pieced together Jasmine's narrative, he also formed a rough understanding of things she hadn't explicitly mentioned.

"Back then, after Feng Juechen opened the Soul Sealing Coffin, Ye Mufeng's remnant soul originally intended to possess Feng Juechen's body. Feng Juechen carried extremely deep hatred at the time, his negative emotions were at their peak, making him a perfect, heaven-sent host. But Feng Juechen's willpower was too strong. When Ye Mufeng tried to devour Feng Juechen's soul, he suffered a backlash. Simultaneously, he discovered that Feng Juechen was none other than the reincarnated Ye Huang. So, he gave up resisting, allowing Feng Juechen to absorb his devil soul. With his last bit of willpower, he transferred the source power he had desperately locked within his devil soul into Feng Juechen's body, allowing him to slowly absorb and integrate it."

"Is this 'absorption and integration' also a characteristic of the Everlasting Night Devil Clan, or the 'Everlasting Night Illusion Devil Manual'?" Yun Che immediately asked. Jasmine had clearly stated that direct transfer and inheritance of profound energy were incredibly difficult to achieve. However, Feng Juechen's absorption and integration of the devil source was clearly a direct transfer or inheritance of profound energy, allowing him to cross five major realms, from the Spirit Profound Realm to the Sovereign Profound Realm, in just a few years—a truly mythical feat!

"Of course not! Otherwise, how could the Devil Clan have been defeated by the God Clan in ancient times? The reason this was possible, simply put, is a very special and somewhat bizarre coincidence created by the Reincarnation Forbidden Art," Jasmine said calmly. She had previously been very surprised and confused that Feng Juechen could directly absorb the devil source hidden in his body, but now she spoke with extraordinary tranquility, clearly indicating that the truth did not fall outside her understanding.

"A coincidence?"

"As I said, a thousand years ago, to imprison Ye Huang's soul and apply the Reincarnation Forbidden Art, Ye Mufeng split off twenty percent of his soul and integrated it into Ye Huang's soul. This made Feng Juechen's soul essentially a fusion of Ye Huang's and Ye Mufeng's, with Ye Huang's being dominant. Although this thread of soul from Ye Mufeng and the remnant soul he swallowed from the Soul Sealing Coffin both came from the same person, they are fundamentally different: the latter was a prey consumed later, while the former was his root soul!"

Yun Che: "!#￥..."

"Because these twenty percent of the root soul were originally Ye Mufeng's soul, they had a perfect compatibility with Ye Mufeng's devil source. This also gave Feng Juechen's entire soul a certain degree of compatibility with Ye Mufeng's devil source. Coupled with the devil source's complete submission, Feng Juechen was able to directly absorb the power from the devil source and make it his own."

"However, this 'compatibility' is only partial after all. So, although Feng Juechen can directly absorb the devil source, the process is still relatively slow. Even after several years, he has only absorbed less than half. And the absorption process... especially the initial stage, is incredibly painful. Due to the 'incompatibility,' his body and soul are constantly enduring tearing pain while carrying this power... a kind of pain that ordinary people probably couldn't even bear."

"..." Yun Che fell silent. This must be the "hell" Feng Juechen spoke of.

"At the same time, this incompletely compatible external power will drastically shorten his lifespan. If he maintains his current state and stops absorbing, he can live for at most another three years. If he continues to absorb the devil source, his remaining lifespan will only shorten further." Jasmine sneered, "Hmph, direct transfer and inheritance of power is not so easy! If it were anyone else, facing such a price, even for ten times the power, they would absolutely not accept it. Only someone with a bleak life like Feng Juechen would choose this desperate path."

"So, you both have two lives, but you are blessed by the Samsara Mirror, your luck is so good it's almost an act of divine wrath! As for Feng Juechen... he can even be called the most tragic existence on the entire Profound Sky Continent. He drags a broken life, a broken soul, bears the hatred of two clans across two generations, and endures pain worse than death every single moment."

"Yet, the power gained at such a cost was still defeated by you, and you spared his life once more... Hmph, I fear that kind of unwillingness, humiliation, and resentment must be ingrained to a degree you can't imagine."

"I did consider killing him offhand before, but since he's so pitiful, it's better to let him live. Anyway, he doesn't have many years left, and with me here, he can't kill you no matter what." Jasmine's tone subtly shifted, with a hint of deeper meaning. "Even without me, he probably couldn't kill you. Let him keep his remaining life to kill others he wants to kill. After all, among the people he most wants to kill, you are relatively low on his list."

"The others he wants to kill... could they be people from the Four Sacred Grounds?" Yun Che asked.

"Of course! After all, it was the Four Sacred Grounds who annihilated the innocent Everlasting Night Royal Family, and they are the root of his two tragic lives. His only purpose in living now is 'revenge'!"

The word "revenge" made Yun Che involuntarily recall his last seven years on the Azure Cloud Continent.

His only purpose in living was revenge... Wasn't that the voice that filled his soul nearly every day, every night, every moment, every instant during those seven years? Perhaps, in this world, there was one person who could truly understand Feng Juechen's completely twisted conviction at this moment... and that was Yun Che. But the difference was, back then, besides revenge, he also had Ling'er...

It was just...

"When revenge becomes the sole conviction, any advice, any obstruction will be utterly useless. However, with his remaining short life, no matter how fast he grows, how could he possibly threaten the Sacred Ground level, let alone seek revenge..." Yun Che paused, suddenly thinking of something, and frowned. "A thousand years ago, Ye Mufeng's strength wasn't greater than any Sacred Ground Master, but after releasing his devil blood, it required the combined efforts of all four Sacred Ground Masters to defeat him. Feng Juechen is also of the royal lineage. Can he also..."

"Of course he can!" Jasmine responded with certainty. "Although thirty percent of the bloodline was damaged by the Reincarnation Forbidden Art, about seventy percent remains. Furthermore, Feng Juechen already knows how to unlock the sealed devil blood in his bloodline."

"That is... the Heaven Smiting Devil Sword!"

"...No wonder he went to participate in the Devil Sword Convention and sought to obtain the Heaven Smiting Devil Sword," Yun Che whispered. "So it was to unlock the sealed devil blood. Since the key to releasing the devil blood is the Heaven Smiting Devil Sword, does that mean he'll be able to wield the Heaven Smiting Devil Sword afterward?"

"No, he can't!" Jasmine shook her head. "Ye Mufeng back then, both in profound energy intensity and devil blood concentration, far surpassed Feng Juechen. Even after fully releasing his devil blood, he still couldn't wield the Heaven Smiting Devil Sword. Speaking of which..." Jasmine glanced at Yun Che. "Aren't you curious why the Heaven Smiting Devil Sword can release the Everlasting Night Royal Family's devil blood?"

"I suspect... the Everlasting Night Royal Family's 'devil blood' comes from that Heaven Smiting Devil Sword, doesn't it?" Yun Che said cautiously.

"Hmph, you guessed correctly!" Jasmine unconsciously paced to the soundproof barrier she had set up for Hong'er, and as she looked at the sleeping girl, a fleeting softness appeared in her cold eyes. "According to Ye Mufeng's memory, over ten thousand years ago, the Heaven Smiting Devil Sword was accidentally found by the Everlasting Night Royal Family's ancestor in a barren land in the southern part of the continent. When the Everlasting Night ancestor picked it up, he felt no power from the sword, but rather a strange, eerie aura. As he was about to discard it, he accidentally touched a drop of black liquid on its hilt... The moment he touched it, that black liquid instantly permeated his body."

"Devil... blood!?" Yun Che exclaimed in surprise.

"When the devil blood entered his body, although the bloodline power contained within was very weak, its level was too high, causing a qualitative change in his profound energy attribute in a short time, and even affecting his soul, drastically altering his temperament. Fortunately, that Everlasting Night ancestor's profound energy was already extremely strong. So, while his temperament became irritable and prone to anger, it was far from becoming ruthless or bloodthirsty, and he largely retained his complete sanity, clearly knowing that his temperament change originated from that drop of devil blood."

"Thus, after establishing the Everlasting Night Royal Family, he issued a strict decree: all his direct descendants, upon birth, must take advantage of their weak bloodline power to seal at least ninety percent of the devil blood within their veins! It was never to be unsealed unless they faced utter destruction—a tradition upheld for ten thousand years across all generations. That Heaven Smiting Devil Sword also became both a 'sacred object' and a 'forbidden item' for the entire clan, guarded for generations. No one in the clan, except for each generation's Everlasting Night King, was allowed to approach or touch it, let alone let it fall into outsider hands. The name 'Heaven Smiting Devil Sword' was also given by the Everlasting Night ancestor, signifying that anyone who rashly disturbed it would be committing a sin that invited divine wrath!"

"Then, what about the Everlasting Night Illusion Devil Manual? Where exactly did it come from?" Yun Che asked.

"Also from the Heaven Smiting Devil Sword!" Jasmine's brows slightly furrowed. "The Everlasting Night Illusion Devil Manual was obtained from the sword by the Everlasting Night ancestor who found it, and he removed the character for 'devil' from its name, renaming it 'Everlasting Night Illusion God Record.' As for how it was obtained, it's not mentioned in the Everlasting Night Royal Family's inherited memories, clearly indicating they didn't want later generations to know. It was also with the help of the diluted devil bloodline and the Everlasting Night Illusion Devil Manual that the Everlasting Night Royal Family, in a very short time, attained the highest level of power on the Profound Sky Continent."

"Devil blood... Everlasting Night Illusion Devil Manual... they all came from the Heaven Smiting Devil Sword! So where did the Heaven Smiting Devil Sword come from? Why does it contain devil blood and devil arts from a clan that was wiped out a million years ago?" Yun Che asked with a solemn expression. He believed this was likely the key to everything.

Jasmine's delicate face was also filled with solemnity. "That is precisely what concerns me most. Before the Everlasting Night ancestor found it, there was no record whatsoever of the Heaven Smiting Devil Sword on the Profound Sky Continent; it seemed to appear out of nowhere. Neither the Everlasting Night Royal Family nor anyone else knows its origin. However, we should know the answer soon..."

"In two months, when you go to the Supreme Ocean Palace, while you investigate the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest, also attend the Devil Sword Convention! I want to see what exactly is hidden within that Heaven Smiting Devil Sword! I only hope that whatever is inside hasn't dissipated over these ten millennia!"

Jasmine's voice was slightly low because the reappearance of devil blood and devil arts from a clan extinct for a million years would be a sensational event, even in the God Realm. However, her expression was very resolute and calm, because in the Profound Sky Continent, even if she could only exert a very small portion of her power, nothing could escape her control.

"I understand." Yun Che nodded, then took a deep breath, falling into long contemplation as he processed everything Jasmine had told him that day.

"What are you thinking about? Do you suddenly feel that the world you've seen in both your lives is utterly insignificant?" Jasmine asked, tilting her exquisite, doll-like face, her tone and posture aged beyond her appearance.

"I'm thinking about... Feng Juechen," Yun Che said, looking up at the vast white world within the Sky Poison Pearl. "He is indeed as pitiful and tragic as you said. His most pitiable aspect is that he, who believed he had nothing left, no family, only hatred, was fated to find his father's soul from his previous life. But this father gave him not the warmth of kinship or a reason to live, but rather used him as a vessel—even a tool—for revenge."

Ye Mufeng's remnant soul recognized Feng Juechen as Ye Huang. He must have known that by transferring his memories and devil source to Feng Juechen, the latter would gain immense power but also endure unimaginable pain and have his lifespan drastically shortened to only a few years, turning him into a mere shell consumed solely by "revenge." A thousand years ago, they spared no expense, even defying ancestral decrees, to perform the Reincarnation Forbidden Art on the deceased Ye Huang, solely to let him live and preserve a trace of the Everlasting Night Royal Family's bloodline. Yet, a millennium later, Ye Mufeng's remnant soul personally destroyed all that, utterly ruining the son they had painstakingly saved. This is absolutely not something a father should do.

"Now, if Feng Juechen succeeds in his revenge, he likely won't have any attachment left to the world," Yun Che murmured with emotion. Just as he finished speaking, Xiao Lingxi's image flashed before his eyes... Maybe, also...

Jasmine naturally understood Yun Che's implication and sneered. "When Ye Mufeng released his devil blood a thousand years ago, his soul underwent a qualitative change, and his temperament naturally shifted dramatically. His remnant soul then endured a millennium of torment. In his will at that time, revenge became far more important than his son! This is the 'devil'—the 'devil' that twists human nature!"

"Devils... they truly are terrifying," Yun Che sighed helplessly. "That guy, Feng Juechen... I still hope he can live a few more years. Otherwise, my little aunt, with a heart softer than cotton, will be sad for a long time."

"Also, what he hates most should be Heaven's Might Sword Region. In that regard, he and I share a common enemy... and we can add Sun and Moon Divine Hall to that list."