The projection was still ongoing.

At the Eternal Heaven Realm, Yun Che extended his hand and launched a ball of light profound energy to Xing Juekong. The latter immediately felt a surge of powerful life energy coursing around his weak body.

He looked up at Yun Che in astonishment. Even his murky, pitiful eyes had become unusually spirited.

Yun Che shot Chi Wuyao a look, but it was unnecessary. His queen would’ve understood his intention even without it. The corner of her lips curling slightly, a dark gleam suddenly flashed across her eyes.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Right now Xing Juekong was a complete cripple be it physically or psychologically. Therefore, Chi Wuyao’s dark soul energy had penetrated his soul without any resistance whatsoever.

A dark light settled in Xing Juekong’s eyes, and his features suddenly turned cold and imposing. He gripped the Star God Wheel and rose to his feet. He still had no profound energy whatsoever, but he had been an emperor for ten millennia at the minimum. Shui Qianheng and Lu Zhou actually felt just a tiny bit of pressure from him when they met his eyes.

Solemnly, Xing Juekong entered the range of the projection and shocked everyone in the Eastern Divine Region.

“The... The Star God Emperor!?”

At the Star God Realm’s auxiliary star realm, the six Star Gods—Heavenly Jade, Heavenly Demon, Heavenly Sun, Heavenly Flame and Heavenly Charm—shot to their feet in unison. “God emperor!”

This was the first time Xing Juekong had shown himself to the world after he disappeared. Neither the Star Gods nor the Eastern Region profound practitioners could understand why he had appeared by Yun Che’s side.

The star gods were both shocked and excited, especially after they saw the Star God Wheel in his hands. It was because the Star God Wheel was the lifeline of Star God Realm’s inheritance! As long as the Star God Wheel existed, the Star God Realm might falter, but never fade into the annals of history.

Thump!

The masses were still reeling from Xing Juekong’s appearance, but he then did something no one had ever expected to see from him... dropping to his right knees next to Yun Che.

He raised the core and lifeline of the Star God Realm, the Star God Wheel into the air and declared solemnly, “The Devil Master is the savior of the world, and by extension this little king Xing Juekong. Therefore, in the name of the Star God Emperor, I and the Star God Realm have decided to swear fealty to the Devil Master as thanks for his gift of forgiveness.”

“From hereon, the Star God Realm will serve the Devil Master as his servants now and forever. Anyone who defies his will is the enemy of the Star God Realm!”

“If we ever defy this oath, may the world smite us where we stand!”

His oath was completely free from pretense or reluctance. He was kneeling, but the words clearly came from the very depths of his soul.

The Eastern Divine Region realm kings and profound practitioners were stunned again. The Star Gods and the Star God Elders especially couldn’t say anything for a very long time.

Although Star God Realm had fallen from grace completely after the Evil Infant disaster, and it had been a long time since Xing Juekong had shown his face, the man was still the Star God Emperor. They couldn’t even deny his right because he was holding the lifeline of all Star Gods in his hands.

The Star God Realm was nowhere as strong as it used to be, but it still had six Star Gods and seventeen Star God Elders. No star realm beneath the king realms was its equal.

This was especially true after the Eternal Heaven Realm and Moon God Realm were destroyed by the devils. Before they knew it, only two king realms were still standing in the Eastern Divine Region, and now one of them had just sworn fealty to Devil Master Yun Che before everyone’s eyes...

This was undoubtedly another huge blow to the profound practitioners of Eastern Divine Region. It cruelly ate up whatever hope and determination they still had.

“Big sis.” Heavenly Demon Star God Rose turned to Heavenly Jade Star God Aster for guidance. The rest of the Star Gods were looking to her as well.

After the Star God Emperor mysteriously vanished, Moonflower and Shenhu were killed, and Jasmine and Caizhi were... Aster became the strongest and most well-reputed Star God in the group. Naturally, she was temporarily appointed as the leader of the Star Gods.

She slowly rose to her feet and stared at the Star God Wheel in Xing Juekong’s hands... she noticed that the starlight representing the Heavenly Poison divine power, Heavenly Origin divine power, Heavenly Strength divine power and Heavenly Slaughter divine power were missing.

The Heavenly Slaughter Star God’s divine power was missing probably because the Evil Infant Jasmine was annihilated by the devil gods after she was struck out of the Primal Chaos. Even if she somehow survived the ordeal, she was blocked by the walls of the Primal Chaos. There was no way her origin power could return to the Star God Wheel one way or another.

But why were the Heavenly Origin, Heavenly Poison and Heavenly Strength’s divine power missing as well?

Had they been passed down to their new successors already?

However, it was no time to think about this. She looked into the distance as a whirring jumble of thoughts raced inside her mind.

In the end, she recalled the day Yun Che died for Jasmine in the Star God Realm... and murmured, “It is time... to make a decision.”

In the Eternal Heaven Realm, Shui Qianheng and Lu Zhou were staring in Xing Juekong in shock and fear.

When they looked at Chi Wuyao again, they couldn’t help but feel a chill rising to their heads from the very bottoms of their feet. Every hair on their bodies was standing on end.

Xing Juekong retreated from the area being projected to the world after swearing his oath, and the black gleam in his eyes vanished all of a sudden. Then, he collapsed to the ground and stopped moving completely.

Yun Che extended his hand, the Star God Wheel flying back to him and vanishing into his hand. He resealed Xing Juekong in a block of ice before throwing him back into the Primordial Profound Ark.

While the Star God Emperor’s unexpected oath of fealty was still reverberating in the people’s souls, Shrouding Sky Realm King Lu Zhou and his son, Lu Lengchuan, quickly entered the projection. Speaking of which, the latter’s fame was almost equal to his father’s recently.

“Devil Master, the Eastern Divine Region was undoubtedly to be blamed for this disaster, but most of its denizens didn’t deserve to suffer for a crime they didn’t commit. They were just victims who were manipulated by the people who wronged you.”

Lu Zhou was addressing Yun Che, but he really was talking to the profound practitioners of the Eastern Divine Region. “If we and the Northern Divine Region continued to tear into each other like this all that will bring is endless strife and death. So I ask that you grant the Eastern Divine Region a chance to refresh our knowledge of darkness once more... or even just a chance to atone for our sins, Devil Master.”

It hurt to hear words such as “atone” and “sins” being used, but it was only natural for the loser to submit to the whims of the winner, not to mention that this was a plea for mercy, not a negotiation. Lu Zhou was begging for a chance to survive on behalf of the entire Eastern Divine Region.

“I, Lu Zhou, the Shrouding Sky Realm King, and the realm I rule will be joining the Devil Master! I am certain that the enlightened people of the Eastern Divine Region will choose to resolve their grudge with the Northern Divine Region and truly live in peace with the dark profound practitioners one day.”

He definitely deserved to be called one of the three greatest realm kings of the Eastern Divine Region. His speech was both stunning and infectious.

Shui Yingyue also walked into the projection. Since Lu Zhou had said everything that needs to be said, she simply bowed and said, “Glazed Light Realm will serve the Devil Master loyally.”

The Star God Emperor aside, no one thought that two of the three star realms that could represent the will of the Eastern Divine Region beside the king realms would swear fealty to the Devil Master as well. Even the fiercest Eastern Region profound practitioners were starting to lose sight of a reason to continue fighting.

“I have granted the Eastern Divine Region a chance,” Yun Che said in a low tone with his back facing toward the audience. “How many star realms will disappear forever into darkness seven days from now, I wonder? I am very much looking forward to the answer!”

The Eternal Heaven Projection finally shut down, and the Eastern Divine Region fell into an oppressive silence once more.

The Star God Emperor, Glazed Light Realm and Shrouding Sky Realm had submitted to Yun Che. Their example was sure to compel countless upper star realms into surrendering as well.

The resistance of the Eastern Divine Region was sure to decrease day by day. When seven days were up, even the act of resisting would be seen by everyone as foolishness.

That being said, the Eastern Divine Region hadn’t given up hope completely.

They were still hoping that the Brahma Monarch Realm would surprise them with a miracle, or the greatest upper star realm of the Eastern Divine Region, the Holy Eaves Realm would rally them under their banner and organize their final resistance.

............

After the projection was closed, Yun Che narrowed his eyes slightly before whispering, “Now that that is done, it is time to drop the final ‘straw’ on the camel’s back.”

It was at this moment three black lightning cut across the sky before landing in front of Yun Che. It was Yan One, Yan Two and Yan Three.

“Hmm? You’re back surprisingly quick.” Yun Che side-eyed them for a moment. “Don’t tell me you came back empty-handed?”

All three Yama Ancestors shivered in unison. Yan One quickly bowed his head and said, “Master, we’ve searched nearly half of the entire Eastern Divine Region, but... but we weren’t able to find even a single Moon God.”

“Not even one?” Yun Che frowned deeply before saying, “You’re not telling me that every Moon God had perished to the Devil Crystals of Eternal Darkness, are you?”

“I... I will... return to the search immediately,” Yan Two stuttered. Forget defending himself, he was too afraid to even give an explanation.

“Never mind.” Yun Che let out a cold chuckle. “If they are smart, they would’ve run as far away as their legs could take them. In that case, they might as well suffer a bit longer just like Old Dog Eternal Heaven!”

After that, he slowly turned his head and glanced in the direction of the Brahma Monarch God Realm. “After all, I have an exciting show right now.”

............

Meanwhile, the last king realm bearing the hopes of all the Eastern Region profound practitioners were still rejecting all outsiders and...

...drowning in a sea of despair unlike anything they had ever experienced.

“Cough... cough cough cough... puu!”

A jet of blood burst out of Qianye Fantian’s mouth while he was coughing loudly. The hall was silent and poorly lit, but the blood splatter on the floor was glowing an eerie green.

He raised his hands and stared at them. They had turned even whiter since two hours ago.

He then looked up and glanced at his Brahma Kings. Every single one of them was in pain and despair.

For the past day or so, they had tried absolutely everything they could think of that might work on the poison: the best Evil Repelling Divine Jade, a Great Poison Expelling Formation, and even merging their powers and expelling the poison together...

It was completely useless! All they managed to do was suppress the poison energy a little. They weren’t able to dispel even a speck of the Heaven Wounding Thought Severing Poison.

The tragedy from several years ago had repeated itself but this time, it was happening to every living creature within the Brahma Monarch Capital!

In this day and age, there was simply nothing a mortal could do to dispel the Sky Poison Pearl’s poison energy!

All their power, cunning, and wealth... was nothing but a useless joke in front of the Heaven Wounding Thought Severing Poison.

“My lord... is there truly no other way?” the First Brahma King blurted out in pain.

He couldn’t remember how many times already he had asked this question. In fact, his eyes turned darker every time he spoke.

“Heh!” Qianye Fantian chuckled grimly. “I wouldn’t have given up Ying’er back then if it was curable, would I?”

Back then, Xia Qingyue and Yun Che had to plan every step and bear a high risk just to inject a tiny amount of Sky Poison into his body.

Today, Yun Che had poisoned him and all the Brahma Kings without them even noticing until it was too late... the difference between the two incidents was night and day.

That was why Qianye Fantian knew better than anyone that the Sky Poison Pearl... was the only thing in the world that could cure them.

Carefully and gently circulating his profound energy to slow down the poison energy as best he could, he looked up and stared fixedly at nothing in particular.

Even now, he was reluctant to beg Yun Che.

He was still searching for a different possibility... or an outcome where the Brahma Monarch Realm might survive this tribulation.

While everyone in the capital was enduring the torture that was the Heaven Wounding Thought Severing Poison, no one noticed that a Brahma King was suppressing his pain and flying away from their realm in secret.

He was heading to where the Southern Sea God Emperor was.