Qianye Ying’er was standing on the other side of the profound ark. She was staring at a different but equally vast star region of darkness.

Chi Wuyao paused for a moment when she walked over and saw Qianye Ying’er.

Her golden hair and the belt of her skirt were fluttering slightly in midair. The secular world often used the idiom “as beautiful as a painting” to praise beautiful women, but even the side view of this particular woman could never be captured or described by something so simple.

The Brahma Monarch Goddess was a perfect creation the heavens spent all their energy and creativity on. But today, it had become the private tool of a devil of vengeance... there was probably no one who wouldn’t feel saddened by this.

“Normally, you wouldn’t move three feet away from him when this queen is around. But today, you’re standing over a hundred feet away from him. What a rare sight,” Chi Wuyao mocked lazily.

Qianye Ying’er snorted coldly in response. “His mood is at its worst every year today. I can’t be bothered to provoke him at this time.”

She shot Chi Wuyao a sideways glance. “It doesn’t look like you’re worried that this operation of yours will fail. Our opponent is the Eternal Heaven God Emperor, isn’t it?”

“This queen never underestimates her opponent.” Chi Wuyao smiled. “Herself, even less so. Plus, the Eternal Heaven God Emperor is the reason I’m this confident.”

“You’re talking about his bargaining chip.”

“That’s right.” Chi Wuyao stroked a hand down her hair, and the black fog that covered her face permanently thinned just enough to reveal the outline of a dreamy countenance. “In his opinion, his bargaining chip is something neither this queen nor anyone else could ever turn down.”

“To be honest, this queen is still surprised that he would give away something this valuable.”

Qianye Ying’er sneered. “Heh. Excluding the matter of Zhou Qingchen, he’s breaking a terrible taboo just by visiting the Northern Divine Region to deal with you. He has every reason to want this deal to succeed the first time, so I’m not going to be surprised no matter what he offers.”

Chi Wuyao looked at her and let out an exclamation of surprise. “You’re not going to ask me what he offered me?”

“If you want to talk about it, then talk.” Qianye Ying’er said expressionlessly without looking at the Devil Queen. There was no way she was going to play Chi Wuyao’s game.

The Devil Queen’s lips curled into a smile. “Aiyah, what a disobedient child.”

“If you want an ‘obedient child’ to play with, you should seek out your boy toy.” Qianye Ying’er taunted.

“Boy toy? Hehehehe...” Chi Wuyao burst into a giggle. “Back when the Clear Sky God Realm was still around, most of its power was inherited by men. But during my reign, all of its inheritors are women.”

“Moreover, do you know what this queen values the most when selecting her Witches? Their looks. To me, it weighs more than any talent or background.”

Qianye Ying’er: “...”

“Every one of my Witches’ beauty is one in a billion. From Jie Xin to Chanyi, the first all the way to the ninth, all of them had to go through a painstaking selection process. Not even the Burning Moon God Emperor’s favorite concubine can hold a candle to my Witches.”

“Can you guess the reason I went through all this?”

“...” A wave of discomfort suddenly came over Qianye Ying’er. Frowning unconsciously, she asked, “What are you trying to say?”

“What this queen is trying to say is...”

Chi Wuyao suddenly sounded a lot closer, so Qianye Ying’er subconsciously glanced sideways to see what the former was doing. She was shocked to discover that the Devil Queen’s face was mere inches away from hers, so close that she could even feel her warm breath brushing against her lips. There seemed to be stars shooting across the pupils behind the black fog. “If you ever get tired of men, you may find women more to your liking one day.”

Qianye Ying’er jumped back a step and watched Chi Wuyao with apprehension. Every bone in her body was melting against her will.

“Hahahaha!” Chi Wuyao laughed loudly as she turned away.

The next person she went to meet was Yun Che.

A storm of darkness blew persistently against his body, but Yun Che’s mind remained as calm as a pool of dead water. He didn’t turn around when he sensed Chi Wuyao approaching him from behind.

“What is the anomaly I sense in your soul!?” he asked suddenly.

Chi Wuyao stopped only when she was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Yun Che. Parting her lips slightly in a coquettish manner, she said, “This queen is honestly surprised you managed to keep yourself from asking for this long.”

They were incredibly close to each other, so the devilish voice reached all the way to the core of his soul.

Had he been another man, had he been his old self, he doubted he would be able to remain standing.

“Will you answer the question, or not?” Yun Che asked coldly.

“If it’s your question, then sure, I will.” Chi Wuyao smiled cutely at him. Now that she was alone with Yun Che, she acted more like a succubus than the Devil Queen.

Yun Che: “...”

“You have probably figured it out yourself. After all, you’re the only one who have the power to detect it,” Chi Wuyao said. “As you suspect, I have a certain soul inside of me. But unlike you, I was not so lucky as to obtain a whole soul. It’s so small you almost can’t see it. A long time ago, this soul belonged to...”

“The Nirvana Devil Emperor.”

Yun Che frowned visibly at the reveal. “I thought so.”

The Nirvana Devil Emperor was one of the four ancient Devil Emperors. They were at the same level as the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor.

Back at Soul Sky, when Chi Wuyao had addressed the three Yama Devils personally, her soul aura had actually caused a bit of fear in his Dragon God Soul.

The Primordial Azure Dragon was the emperor of dragons. Back in those days, it was a class above almost any True God.

Therefore, the soul that could strike fear in the soul of the Dragon God had to be a class above its own. It had to be a Creation God’s soul or a Devil Emperor’s soul!

Due to Chi Wuyao’s own admission, he now knew that she possessed a sliver of a Devil Emperor’s soul!

Who would’ve thought that there were other relics of the past besides the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor that survived to this day?

It might be just the wisp of a soul, but it was still the power of a Devil Emperor!

No wonder she was able to climb all the way to the impossible top despite being a common woman at the start. No wonder she was able to leave a lasting shadow in Qianye Fantian and Zhou Xuzi’s hearts even though it had been tens of thousands of years since they clashed against one another.

It might even be the source of her terrifying insight and intelligence.

“You are the only one who knows this besides myself.” Chi Wuyao smiled lightly. “You are the only one in this world I cannot look down on from above. In fact, what I possess is almost worthless compared to yours. It would be foolish to try to hide this from you.”

“Hmph. There’s no one in the world who has the right to look down on a devil emperor’s soul!” Yun Che said.

But Chi Wuyao shook her head and said quietly, “What you have inherited is the Creation God’s power, the Heretic God’s profound veins, the Devil Emperor’s power, and the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor’s origin blood. You have even cultivated their unique profound arts.”

“But the devil emperor’s soul in me is as small as a grain of sand. Not only is it completely incomparable to what you got, the most it can do...” She looked at Yun Che strangely. “...is to play a trick or two once in a while.”

“Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been trapped in this prison.”

Yun Che suddenly looked at her with a cold expression. “How did you hear about the Heretic God’s Profound Veins?”

At the edge of the Primal Chaos, he had revealed his secret in front of everyone to appease the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor. However, he only said that he had the Heretic God’s origin power. He never revealed the fact that he had the Heretic God’s Profound Veins.

Mu Xuanyin had warned him more than once to keep the Heretic God’s Profound Veins a secret even if he had no choice but to reveal his power one day. Origin power, especially a Creation God’s origin power seemed impossible to rob, so it wasn’t the worst thing in the world to reveal it. But a complete set of profound veins was a different story. Even if it was impossible to take them away from Yun Che, some would be willing to try anyway.

Besides his close friends and family, he never revealed the fact that he had the Heretic God’s Profound Veins to anyone in the Eastern Divine Region. That was why he could hardly believe his ears when Chi Wuyao spoke like it was an open secret.

“...” Chi Wuyao was actually caught off guard for a second. Then, she parted her lips slightly and whispered, “Everyone likes to know a secret, and secrets are a woman’s greatest asset. Why don’t you take a guess and see if I would be willing to part with one of mine for you?”

“Just so you know, the same rule applies to men as well.”

Rip!

An air current suddenly cut apart the space between Chi Wuyao and Yun Che. It also cut off the connection between their eyes completely.

Qianye Ying’er had appeared between the duo like a ghost to glare at Chi Wuyao frigidly. “If you like to reveal your secrets so much, you can make your women beg for it to your heart’s content! But Yun Che and I are not. Interested. In. Playing. Your. Games!”

Chi Wuyao withdrew her gaze and looked away with a sorrowful expression. She sighed. “That’s true. It’s been several months since you’ve come to the sacred region, but neither of you tried to catch a glimpse of my true appearance even once. Your heartlessness is saddening indeed.”

“Heh.” Qianye Ying’er sneered at her. “Chi Wuyao, feel free to play your cheap tricks on those lowly men all you want, but don’t think for a second that it will work on Yun Che. You will only bring shame to yourself!”

“Also, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Qianye Ying’er’s gaze and voice turned even colder. “But since the first day of our cooperation, we already told you not to entertain any foolish thoughts. You won’t want enemies like Yun Che and I!”

With her back facing Qianye Ying’er, an enigmatic smile crossed Chi Wuyao’s lips. “What a sensitive girl. You are positively growing on me, Yun Qianying.”

Qianye Ying’er: “... !?”

The darkness profound ark started slowing down at this moment. Hua Jin landed soundlessly next to her master and said, “Master, we’ll be arriving in another hour. Would you like Hua Jin to scout ahead?”

“It’s fine,” Chi Wuyao said. “Our ‘friend’ is the one who should worry about this meeting going awry, not us.”

“Okay. Hua Jin understands.”

The Witch disappeared, and the darkness profound ark returned to its normal speed. They were rapidly approaching the border of the Northern Divine Region.

Not once did Chi Wuyao worry over the fact that her movement might be seen by others at all.

“We are one hour away from our destination.” Chi Wuyao turned around to look at Yun Che and Qianye Ying’er. “Do you want me to capture you personally, or do you want to do it yourself?”

Yun Che turned away and punched himself in the solar plexus right after she was finished speaking.

Bang!

The entire ship was shuddering from the impact.

Wounds and blood spread across Yun Che’s body wantonly like tree roots, drenching half his black clothes in just the blink of an eye. He was bleeding from all orifices, and blood was positively gushing out of the corner of his lips.

“You...” Qianye Ying’er took half a step forward before she forced herself to stop.

A flash of darkness later, the blood turned dry and dark. It looked like it was several years old at least.

“You didn’t need to go this far.” Chi Wuyao looked away. “It’s highly unlikely that Zhou Xuzi would take anyone with him besides Zhou Qingchen. At most, he will bring his greatest Guardian, Tai Yu.”

“If he came alone, then all the better.”

“This is why this queen brought Jie Xin and Jie Ling today. Although there’s nothing we can do to Zhou Xuzi and Taiyu, brute-forcing our way through and killing Zhou Qingchen shouldn’t be a problem at all... are you sure you want to do this yourself?”

“...” Yun Che didn’t give her a reply. He walked past Chi Wuyao and stood at the forefront of the profound ark, hateful droplets of blood dripping through his clenched fists non-stop.

Qianye Ying’er walked next to Chi Wuyao and taunted her. “I didn’t think you would ask something that stupid. And you call yourself the Devil Queen?”

Chi Wuyao smiled back. “Plenty of men like intelligent women, but no one likes a woman who’s too intelligent for her own good. Acting foolish once in a while makes it easier to win a man’s heart... what do you think?”

“Heh, so this is how the Northern Devil Queen slept her way to the top. Very enlightening. But I can understand why it worked for you... after all, the men of the Northern Divine Region are a bunch of trash who are satisfied with being trapped in a prison.”

Qianye Ying’er retorted curtly and mercilessly before turning away... but for some reason, she couldn’t forget what Chi Wuyao had just said.