Eastern Divine Region, Moon God Realm.

A ray of gentle moonlight the color of snow shone into the hall.

As a cold breeze gently blew into the hall, the hazy and ephemeral figure of a woman could be glimpsed amidst the rippling layers of muslin.

She stood by the window, her beautiful eyes closed, her long hair and purple robe fluttered gently in the wind. However, an aloof and distant nobility was radiating from this calm and quiet woman, making it hard to even look at her directly, much less profane her with any untoward thoughts.

A young girl walked into the room quietly. Dressed in light yellow palace robes, her beauty was stunning. She was so beautiful that conflict and disaster would have stalked her footsteps in any star realm.

Her footsteps were light and full of reverence, her delicate head crooked in a slight bow. The bright and pure moonlight shone on the girl’s face and svelte body, lighting up an exquisite face that reminded people of a freshly-bloomed lotus, a face that elicited feelings of endearment and tenderness in all who set their eyes upon it. Just a single glimpse at the exquisite curve of her jaw would pluck at the heartstrings of most people.

The girl came to a halt in the middle of the hall. She made a graceful curtsy and spoke in a soft voice, “Master, Jin Yue has something to report.”

The Moon God Emperor opened her beautiful eyes. Profound purple light seemed to be flickering in the depths of her eyes. “What’s the matter?”

“Reporting to Master. Lian Yue just sent us a piece of news. The Eternal Heaven God Emperor, who had left the Eternal Heaven Realm sixty hours ago while disguising his appearance and aura, has returned to his realm. However... it seems like he has sustained some pretty serious injuries. Lian Yue intentionally went to find some of the tracks he had left behind while he was returning to the realm and she found spots of blood in thirty-four different places in a short fifty kilometer radius. Furthermore... it seemed to be heart’s blood.

Her voice sounded like the happy chirping of a nightingale but it still contained the same gentle refinement that radiated from her person.

“...I understand,” the Moon God Emperor said. “His aura definitely must have been extremely agitated for him to vomit out so much blood. To the point where he even left such clear tracks. It looks like many other people have noticed this incident as well.”

“There’s one other thing,” Jin Yue said as she raised a snowy hand. There was a purple crystal jade in her hand. “This is the item that Master instructed us to obtain.”

The Moon God Emperor did not move to take the item. She swept her spiritual perception over it indifferently as she said, “Very good. Pass it over to Yao Yue and tell her to find an opportunity to pass it to【Luo Changsheng】within a year.”

“Remember, it can only fall into Luo Changsheng’s hands. No one else can know about it. We also mustn’t let leave behind any clues that he would use to connect this to us.”

“But the most important thing is... that this task must be completed within the year!”

“Yes, Jin Yue will do as instructed.” Jin Yue gave a respectful bow as she gracefully straightened her body and prepared to leave.

“Jin Yue.” The Moon God Emperor suddenly called out to her.

Jin Yue hurriedly turned around. “What instructions does Master have?”

“The item that I asked you to destroy a few days ago... Have you already confirmed its destruction?” The Moon God Emperor asked, her voice so indifferent that Jin Yue could not hear the slightest bit of emotion in it.

Jin Yue was slightly shocked by the question but she immediately bowed her head and replied, “How could Jin Yue dare to neglect Master’s orders? I destroyed it long ago.”

“That’s good then.” The Moon God Emperor slowly closed her eyes, hiding that purple light that seemed even more mysterious than the depths of the blue sea. “You may withdraw.”

Jin Yue turned around and left the hall in an unhurried manner... She had vaguely sensed that the Moon God Emperor seemed exhausted.

After she returned to her own bedchambers, Jin Yue arrived in front of her couch and opened a barrier. After that, she gently retrieved a small and delicate bronze mirror from her personal spatial pocket.

It glowed with a rather dull golden sheen and it radiated the aura of normal metal. This was a bronze mirror that could not be any more ordinary, and this sort of trinket could only be freely found in the lower realms.

As she grasped the bronze mirror in her hand, moonlight faintly glimmered on her palm. Given her power, she only needed to tap the mirror with her aura to reduce it to dust.

However, the girl’s clear eyes wavered and the moonlight in her hand started to slowly dissipate.

“If Master truly wanted to destroy it, she would do it herself instead of handing it to someone else.”

“If Master has any regrets in the future...”

She opened her palm again and the glimmering moonlight reappeared. However, this time it took the form of a small protective barrier which glowed with a warm and gentle light.

She very carefully deposited the bronze mirror in her personal spatial pocket. Jin Yue, Yao Yue, and Lian Yue were the three maidservants who were closest to Xia Qingyue. However, Lian Yue, who controlled the Moon God Realm’s intelligence network, and Yao Yue, who was one of the Moon Gods, were often abroad on missions. Hence, Jin Yue was the one who had spent the most time by Xia Qingyue’s side so she was well aware that this mirror was something Xia Qingyue had kept by her side all this while.

————

Eastern Divine Region, Eternal Heaven God Realm.

“Ke... Keh, keh...”

The Eternal Heaven God Emperor held a hand against his chest as bloody foam continued to gush from his mouth. But his actions did not alleviate the intense pain in his heart at all.

All those years ago, his beloved wife had smiled at him with tears in her eyes as she used her very last breath... to personally place Zhou Qingchen in his arms. After that, she had left his side forever. Even though he was a god emperor, he threw aside all of the dignity of his role as he wept and wailed. The pain of losing her had pierced his heart and he had thought that there could be no greater pain than the pain he felt on the day he lost her.

However, the piercing pain in his heart right now far exceeded the pain he had experienced back then.

He could only watch helplessly as Zhou Qingchen died a miserable death, without even leaving a corpse behind... and he was the one who had brought him to the Northern Divine Region... The strike he had delivered to Jasmine all those years ago had been repaid against Zhou Qingchen.

He felt as if millions of poisoned knives were ripping at his heart and soul in the most cruel manner. The pain assaulting him at this moment could not be described with any words.

Unimaginable feelings of self-recrimination, pain, regret, hatred, and resentment rolled over him... making him feel as if he was being tormented by countless demons.

“My lord...” Tai Yu half-knelt by his side, his old eyes wet with tears.

Zhou Xuzi had normally been quite strict and severe with Zhou Qingchen, but the Guardians were well aware that he actually valued Zhou Qingchen more than his own life.

Zhou Xuzi shook his head and a long period of time passed before he finally managed to speak with much difficulty. “I am alrig... alright... KEH!”

Yet another arrow of thick blood shot out of his mouth and formed a puddle on the floor. It was bright red and garish to the eye and actually resembled a beating heart that had just been ripped out of someone’s chest.

Tai Yu gave a silent sigh before his eyes grew focused and he suddenly said, “My lord, should we...”

“No, no...” Zhou Xuzi’s voice was weak and feeble but he still managed to wave his arm slowly. “We must not be rash. We can’t act rashly any longer... I’ve already led Qingchen to his death, so how can I allow our Eternal Heaven Realm to suffer for my mistake?”

“Moreover... Qingchen is already gone, so how can I allow the fact that he had been transformed into a devil become known to the world... Let’s at least allow him to pass on with a clean name.”

“I understand.” Honorable Tai Yu closed his eyes due to the pain. “But if my lord is not able to give vent to the knots in his heart, I’m afraid.... Aiii.”

“Qingchen won’t have died in vain.”

Zhou Xuzi’s eyes were lifeless, but his tired voice now contained a sinister darkness and heaviness that it had never contained before.

“The prophecy was right, Yun Che... is indeed a devil who will bring calamity to the world.”

“I still have about ten thousand years left to live, and I will devote my life... to a single purpose.”

“I will personally avenge Qingchen, I will personally... purge this world of all devils!”

This was the fiercest, most resolute vow he had ever sworn in his life.

Even if he still felt some lingering guilt toward Yun Che in the past, the only thing that remained now was a hatred that was carved into his very bones.

A few days later, the news that Eternal Heaven Crown Prince Zhou Qingchen had passed away was announced in the Eastern Divine Region. His profound energy had backfired on him while he was in seclusion, resulting in his unfortunate death.

The Eternal Heaven God Realm was draped in white. All of the realms were left in shock and countless wild guesses flew in the air.

————

Northern Divine Region, Soul Stealing Realm.

Now that Yun Che had made all Nine Witches, twenty-seven Soul Spirits, and three thousand and six hundred Soul Attendants perfectly compatible with the darkness, the strength that formed the core of the Soul Stealing Realm had undergone an earth-shaking transformation.

The truly terrifying thing about this transformation was that it had happened without anyone noticing a thing. The only way anyone would find out was if they got into a full-blown conflict with the Soul Stealing Realm. Otherwise, there was basically no way for anyone to detect the changes from their auras alone.

As time went by, this rebirth would produce greater and greater results and allow them to far exceed the devil people who once had the same aptitude as them, who were once on the same level as them.

Yet there was no way they could use their newfound advantage to swallow up the Burning Moon Realm or the Yama Realm in the next few years.

The amount of time they needed... was at least one thousand years.

One thousand years was not a very long time in the God Realm. If it only took a thousand years for the Soul Stealing Realm to grow strong enough to suppress all the other king realms, it would already be considered a miracle.

Yun Che could not wait for such a long time.

The “three years” that he had set was not part of some grand plan, it was the limit of his patience!

After he had given vent to his hatred by mercilessly killing Zhou Qingchen in front of Zhou Xuzi, he had not obtained even a moment of relief. Instead, that act had caused him to feel new and persistent agitation.

Due to this, Yun Che had chosen to remain in quiet seclusion for the entire ten days since he had returned to the Soul Stealing Realm.

His hatred was too vast, too deep. Zhou Xuzi was only one of its targets.

The barrier placed over the door distorted and a figure draped in black mist entered the hall. It was Chi Wuyao.

After taking a single glance at Yun Che’s current state, Chi Wuyao said in a merry voice, “It looks like your recovery is going well. Let me tell you, this queen has been worried sick the last few days.”

Her voice was both bewitching and seductive, but one could still hear the lovable innocence of a young girl in that voice. It even caused Qianye Ying’er’s heart to quiver rather violently. She swiftly rose to her feet and stood next to Yun Che before she asked in a cold voice, “Why have you come?”

“You’ll have to ask the man who’s beside you,” Chi Wuyao said as her brows arched up. “He was the one who asked this queen to come.”

“...” Qianye Ying’er was left momentarily speechless.

“What sort of place is the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness?” Yun Che said as he raised his head to look at Chi Wuyao.

This was a name that Qianye Ying’er had mentioned to him before they entered the Soul Stealing Realm and it was a name that had remained lodged in his mind.

“Oh?” Chi Wuyao’s beautiful eyes calmly flickered towards Qianye Ying’er before she replied, “The Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness is located at the very center of the Northern Divine Region, at the bottom of the Yama Realm. Why are you suddenly asking about such a place?”

“I heard that it is the Northern Divine Region’s darkness origin vein?” Yun Che asked... However, when Qianye Ying’er had told him about this rumor, he had dismissed it outright.

“Origin vein?” As expected, Chi Wuyao narrowed her eyes when she heard those words. She replied, “Other people might believe those words. But if you, the person who inherited the might of the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor, heard such words, it should be nothing more than a joke to you, correct?”

“The Northern Divine Region is shrinking every year. It is shrinking with every breath! If there was truly such a thing as an origin vein, it should long ago have become a dead one.”

Chi Wuyao continued, “That being said, even though it cannot be called an origin vein, it is indeed the place where darkness energy is the thickest and most concentrated in the Northern Divine Region. It is also the most important reason for the Yama Realm’s continued supremacy.”

“So where does its darkness energy come from?” Yun Che asked.

Chi Wuyao replied, “According to the primordial records, many devil gods would fall every year during the drawn-out war between the god and devil races. The devils of exalted position would have their own tombs erected for them... though those tombs have already long since been picked clean.”

It was the same for the gods as well. Most of the legacies of divine power that the divine regions have obtained, besides the few spirit remnants, have all been “dug” up by the star realms.

In fact, there were still countless people digging around in the God Realm trying to discover an undiscovered “opportunity” in this very day and age.

“However, the low-ranking devils, the biggest casualties of this war, their devil corpses were all thrown together in one place.

“As the war between the gods and devils escalated, it grew much more terrible than anyone had ever imagined it would be. More and more devils started to die and in the end, this burial ground became a huge sea of corpses and as the years flowed by, these devil corpses eventually turned into countless devil bones.”

“And that is the ‘Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness’ as we know it today.”

“It is also due to this reason that the Bone Sea is filled with incredibly dense yin energy, death energy, and resentment. The darkness energy in that place is far denser than in any other place in the Northern Divine Region.”

When she mentioned that last bit, Chi Wuyao saw a bizarre black light flash in Yun Che’s eyes.