Chapter 1458 - The True Calamity
The Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor was too absorbed in her own world. She didn’t even notice that Yun Che’s gaze had been changing slightly all this time.
The first planet created by the Heretic God?
Wait a second! Back then, the Golden Crow Spirit had purposely mentioned that the first planet created by the Heretic God was...
When Jie Yuan came back to herself, she finally noticed some slight changes in Yun Che’s gaze and aura. She asked coldly, “Speak your thoughts or ask any questions you have directly. Stop being so overcautious and acting like you have something to hide. He was nothing like you way back then!”
Jie Yuan’s criticism sounded harsh, but it unintentionally showed that her image of Yun Che had more or less overlapped with Heretic God Ni Xuan’s somewhat.
Everything had returned to dust, and even that era was a thing of the past. Yun Che was the only trace and longing she could find in this world.
Yun Che said, “Senior Devil Emperor, you are completely different from what I’d predicted.”
“Predicted?” Jie Yuan smiled indifferently. “You must have thought I would vent my anger on the world, didn’t you? The advent of the devils, the loss of countless lives, the destruction of all things living or dead… you thought that that was what a devil should do, didn’t you?”
“That is… exactly right,” replied Yun Che honestly.
It wasn’t just him. Everyone thought that of the devils, and worse… After all, a devil had always been looked upon as the most ruthless and sinful existence in the eyes of the people, much less a devil god or a devil emperor who had been holding their hatred for several million long years.
“However, this junior didn’t think what he did because you were a devil, senior. In my opinion, any living creature who suffered a ploy like that and countless years of tribulations would naturally become…” Yun Che paused for a moment before deciding to change the subject. “On the other hand, this junior could tell even from this brief contact that you’re a far better person than I initially thought, senior. It’s no wonder the Heretic God fell in love with you.”
“Heh…” Jue Yan let out an indifferent laugh. “What’s a good person, and what’s a bad person? A good person is a god, and a bad person who shouldn’t exist in the world is a devil… That was the way way back in the past, and I can see that it is still the way today. There is no way this lost land of devils would become this petty otherwise!”
Yun Che subconsciously looked to the front… So, they were currently in the Northern Divine Region, also known as the land of the devils during the Era of Gods!
“It is as you say, senior. The world today is no different from what it was before,” said Yun Che. “Today, any creature who cultivates darkness profound energy is still known a ‘devil’. Be it devil persons, devil beasts, or devil spirits, they are all hated and rejected by any non-devil creature. They are all seen as heretics that shouldn’t exist in the world.”
“That is why this Northern Divine Region—the old land of the devils—is more like a… ‘cage’ to keep the devils away than an actual divine region. It is because any denizen who tries to leave the Northern Divine Region and is spotted will be eliminated without mercy.”
“Devils are existences that must be annihilated no matter what the cost… that is the common sense of every living thing in the Primal Chaos right now; a deeply rooted belief that’s as simple and natural as the common sense that water can extinguish fire. It was like this even when I was younger… In fact, the prejudice towards devils these days may be even worse than it was way back in your time, senior.”
Jie Yuan, “...”
“Also, I’m sure you’d noticed it already, but the aura of the Primal Chaos has changed drastically since the Era of Gods. Due to the extinction of both the god race and the devil race, the power level of the Primal Chaos has plunged, and its aura has become thin and murky. The people you saw just now were the strongest people in the entire world.”
“The one with the aura of True Dragons is the strongest of them all… He might not even be worth mentioning in your eyes, but he is undoubtedly the strongest expert in the entire Primal Chaos.”
He had purposely mentioned the Dragon Monarch—the supreme ruler of the current Primal Chaos—so that Jie Yuan would understand the current level of the Primal Chaos better.
“Another change that’s still happening to the aura of the Primal Chaos is the continued decline of Primal Chaos yin energy… It might be because there are fewer and fewer creatures who cultivate darkness profound energy. As a result, the Northern Divine Region has been shrinking year after year, and it is very possible that it may vanish from the world entirely one day.”
Yun Che spoke very directly this time. These were all common sense in the God Realm anyway.
“Are you trying to divert my attention?”
“...” Yun Che’s mouth opened slightly. Jie Yuan had clearly seen through his thoughts.
“Hmph. The current world, what does the successor of the gods or devils have anything to do with me? Why would I care about their lives or deaths?”
Jie Yuan turned around and shot Yun Che a cool glance. “There was one thing you’ve been mistaken about from the start. Were you thinking that I was the reason why he had left behind his origin power inheritance at great cost to himself?”
“...Please tell me, senior.” Yun Che was astonished.
Was that… an incorrect assumption?
“There is no one who trusts and understands me more than Ni Xuan. He would know that I would never kill those who are undeserving, no matter how great my hatred and anger is!”
“If old villain Mo E hadn’t passed away, if the god race hadn’t gone extinct, I wouldn’t even have lost my mind for a second and killed those three mortals who inherited the Brahma Heaven divine power!”
Jie Yuan’s expression subconsciously turned gentle. “After all… that was my promise to him a long time ago.”
Yun Che, “Promise…?”
“He had hoped that the god race and the devil race could set aside their long time prejudice and live in peace with each other… He had hoped that the god race could gradually change their preconception of the devil race. It was a wish that I was willing to carry out, so I promised him that I would never kill a god or a mortal without good reason… It has been many years since I’d made that promise, but I still will not break my promise to him.”
Yun Che: “...”
Yun Che’s recognition of “devils” had never stayed constant all these years, but today it had been turned completely upside down.
The Heretic God had wanted the gods and devils to set down their prejudices and live together in peace. However, it was obvious that he had failed and sunk into despair… That was why the world had lost a Creation God of the Elements and gained a Heretic God afterward.
“It’s true that he left behind his inheritance to remind me to treat this new world with kindness. It is also true that I have no intention of breaking my promise. However… that promise doesn’t apply to my clansmen.”
“Your… clansmen?” Yun Che’s raised his eyebrows slightly.
“You cannot even begin to imagine how scary the world outside the Primal Chaos is,” Jie Yuan said slowly in a low tone. “Me and my clansmen may have been able to survive due to the World Piercer, but did you know about the price we had to pay?”
She extended her arm and bared the countless scars on it… Every single one of them was a ghastly sight to see.
Yun Che had seen far too many scars his whole life, but these ones had appeared on a devil emperor’s body.
Worse, they were scars that not even a devil emperor could remove...
Yun Che looked away after just a quick glance. “If you’re the only one who has returned, senior, does that mean that your clansmen have already…”
“Many have passed away one after another over the past millions of years, but some still live to this day. However… they number less than a hundred today.”
A total of nine hundred devil gods had been exiled besides the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor back then.
The fact that less than a hundred devil gods were left today meant that only ten percent of the devil gods had survived until today, but ten percent was still a number that caused a shiver in Yun Che’s heart.
Less than a hundred was still almost a hundred.
Almost a hundred devil gods were still alive to this day!?
They might not be as powerful as the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor, but… they were still true devils of the ancient times!
“If they’re still alive then… why haven’t they returned with you, senior?” Yun Che’s heart tightened abruptly.
“The World Piercer has opened a ‘spatial passage’ that connects the inside and outside of the Primal Chaos. This passage can exist for a long time without outside interference.”
The rhombus-shaped crimson crystal that had appeared on the Wall of Primal Chaos immediately entered Yun Che’s mind. So, that was the passage and not the crack on the wall like everyone thought.
The World Piercer was different from the Ancestral Sword or the Evil Infant's Wheel of Myriad Tribulations. The latter two had broken apart the Wall of Primal Chaos by force with incredibly high level power, but what the World Piercer did was to interact with its space!
In other words, the spatial power of the Wall of Primal Chaos had been switched with the dimensional divine power of the World Piercer!
What this meant was that any creature could enter or exit the Primal Chaos freely as long as that passage exists!
“The environment beyond the Primal Chaos is incomparably complex and scary. A spatial passage must be built to reach from the smaller world we lived in to the Wall of Primal Chaos. I was able to reach the wall immediately using the World Piercer, but my clansmen… will have to spend all their power in completing that spatial passage. The process should take them several months’ time.”
“Well… why haven’t you brought them all with you using the World Piercer?” asked Yun Che.
“The process should take several months’ time”, she had said… Yun Che’s heart tightened once more when he heard this.
At first, he thought that the rest of the devil gods had died away since the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor was alone… but he was wrong. The remaining devil gods would still be making their return in at most a few months’ time, even if the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor hadn’t gone back to “receive” them!
“Hmph!” The Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor said, “It took me several years to build a passage on the Wall of Primal Chaos. I had thought that the god race would definitely notice my efforts and prepare a ‘welcoming party’ for me, and I didn’t want my entire race to charge foolishly into danger and perish alongside me… I never thought that they would go extinct before us!”
Yun Che, "...”
“Also…” Jie Yuan raised her arm and looked at the glowing red spike that was the World Piercer, “The World Piercer doesn’t have much power in it anymore.”
“At first, I thought that I would be able to restore its power very quickly, but looking at the Primal Chaos’ aura today… forget several months, even several thousand years still won’t be enough to recover enough power to bring them here. They’ll have to rely on themselves.”
“They’ve been anticipating this for a very, very long time,” said Jie Yuan coldly as she stared into the distance.
Yun Che worked hard to control his emotions before saying, “When the devil gods return, please… do your best to appease them, Senior Jie Yuan. Otherwise… this world will definitely be embroiled in catastrophe.”
If this was the real reason the Heretic God had left behind his inheritance and will, then he thought that Jie Yuan would agree to it.
But contrary to his expectations, Jie Yuan said coldly, “Appease? Hmph! Do you seriously think I can appease them all?”
“Senior is a devil emperor, and the emperor of the Heaven Smiting Devil Clan no less. The reason they survived long enough to return to the Primal Chaos is all thanks to senior and your World Piercer… Therefore, there is no reason they wouldn’t obey your command if you willed it so!” Yun Che emphasized, “As senior herself said earlier, this is the Heretic God’s wish.”
“Naive!” Jie Yuan criticized coldly, “Do you even know what millions of years of hatred, torture, pain, despair, and death really means?”
Yun Che, “...”
“It is true that it wasn’t enough to twist my true nature… but the same cannot be said for either True Gods or True Devils! Everything they have suffered was enough to turn them into actual devils through and through!”
“...” Yun Che didn’t doubt Jie Yuan’s words in the slightest.
“The god race may be extinct, but their hatred must be vented somehow! No one can stop them until they’re finished venting, not even me!”
“As their emperor, I am the one who saw them all suffer, hate, turn insane, and finally over millions of years… how can I stop them after everything!”
“In fact, they were the victims who got caught in a plot against me! What right do I possibly have to stop them!”
She turned and stared at Yun Che coldly, “All I can control is myself. Since you have his power, I can promise to protect you and the people around you. But when they return, whatever they plan to do has nothing to do with me! I will not, cannot, and do not deserve to interfere with their wishes! Not even he… can overturn this outcome if he was still alive.”
“But…”
“No buts!” Jie Yuan’s voice turned even colder. “This is the absolute, most generosity I can give, not to mention that my world is already long gone. Everything I cared about has turned into dust and nothingness, so none of this is related to me any longer… The death of others shouldn’t be a concern to you either! No one could say that you haven’t done enough for the world around you, so you need not say anything more!”
“No!” Yun Che shook his head slowly and firmly. “Senior Devil Emperor, you still have some concerns in this world.”