Chapter 1399 - Regaining What Was Once Lost

“That's great,” He Ling softly whispered as her eyes misted up upon seeing Yun Che struggle to hold back his emotions.

Yun Che turned around and looked at He Ling. He suddenly said, “He Ling, I must have scared you just now, didn’t I?”

“...” He Ling lowered her head slightly before finally saying, “A little bit…”

“Don’t you worry,” Yun Che’s gaze was gentle and sincere, “for me, darkness profound energy is a sort of power that belongs to me and it isn’t able to twist my personality. I know what it means to possess darkness profound energy in the God Realm so I definitely won’t use this power anywhere else, and I will never let anyone know that I have this power.”

“Mn.” He Ling inclined her head, her pure and innocent eyes not containing the slightest hint of rejection toward Yun Che because of his darkness profound energy. “I’ve already followed Master for so long, so I naturally know that Master isn’t the sort of the devil that the legends speak of.”

Yun Che shook his head and laughed, “If possessing darkness profound energy means that I’m a devil… then according to the standards of the God Realm, I am indeed a devil. Eh… However, this is something I consider to be my greatest secret. If we ever return to the Dragon God Realm in the future, you mustn’t ever tell Shen Xi.”

Shen Xi possessed light profound energy, so darkness profound energy was naturally what she rejected and denounced the most. If she found out, it would be hard to predict what the result would be.

He would not find it weird if Shen Xi would want to destroy him because of it.

“Mn,” He Ling promised before she raised her delicate head to look at Yun Che. “On the day that I started to follow Master, I already said that no matter where Master goes in the future, whether you do good or evil, whether you live or you die, I will follow you forever and I will definitely not regret it.”

Yun Che gave He Ling a faint smile. He looked at her straight in the eye and spoke slowly, “He Ling, I will state those same promises I made to you once more. Your vengeance, He Ling’s vengeance, the vengeance of your entire Wood Spirit Royal Family, I will definitely fulfill it on your behalf… No, we will avenge them together. All of the hatred and enmity you feel is also my hatred and enmity.”

“...” He Ling nodded her head vigorously, and the rims of her eyes had become moist.

Yun Che glanced at Hong’er… He could not help but hold that gaze for a very long time until he finally withdrew his consciousness from the Sky Poison Pearl.

Within the darkness, the young girl slowly stirred.

She opened those colorful eyes and she was surrounded by a field of Netherworld Udumbara Flowers that were glowing with lustrous purple light. She was shrouded in that purple underworld light and even her long silver hair had gained a purple luster.

She blinked her eyes before quickly looking around as if she was anxiously trying to find something. But at this moment, the voice that she wanted to hear rang in her ears:

“You’er, you’re up.” Yun Che gave a faint smile as he sat by her side.

The young girl’s colorful eyes stared at him unblinkingly, just like they had before.

“I’m guessing that these Netherworld Udumbara Flowers can aid your recovery, so I plucked a few of them and brought them here,” Yun Che said. “I didn’t know if you’d mind or not.”

The young girl’s colorful eyes moved slightly. She stood up and tapped her delicate finger in the air. After that, the petals of the Netherworld Udumbara Flowers that surrounded her gently rose into the air before flying back into the sea of Netherworld Udumbara Flowers. As Yun Che watched in astonishment, all of the flower petals that he had plucked actually readhered to their stems and became whole Netherworld Udumbara Flowers once more.

Yun Che was completely dumbstruck by this.

The young girl lowered her finger and everything became tranquil once more, and she quietly and obediently sat in front of Yun Che like a beautifully carved porcelain doll made of the finest jade.

No matter if it was the first time he came, or this time, the girl’s gaze was never willing to leave him.  Yun Che was unable to understand the meaning behind that gaze but he could sense the intimacy she felt toward him… This was especially true when she had woken up just now, she had acted in a clearly flustered manner in order to find him.

Was it because she was far too lonely in this place so she desired the companionship of other people, or was it… because of me specifically?

She could actually… resummon Hong’er?

That black light, that sword mark, and Hong’er, who had originally been lost, had now been fully restored to him...

What exactly was going on?

Her identity, the darkness seed she gave him the last time, and the reason she existed in such a world...

You’er’s existence had always been incomparably mysterious and bizarre. There were far too many mysteries and enigmas surrounding her, but she could not speak, and it was exceptionally hard for her to make even the most basic forms of expression, so he could not obtain any answers at all. 

Though there was one thing that Yun Che was absolutely convinced about. 

And that was… it was definitely not the coincidence that he had initially thought it was that she and Hong’er looked exactly the same!

“You’er, thank you for bringing back Hong’er for me.” Yun Che squatted down and looked at the girl in front of him, but he did not know how he should express his gratitude to her. After thinking about it for a bit, he decided to ask her a question instead, “You definitely know Hong’er… correct?”

The last time he had asked this question as well. But no matter whether it was her or Hong’er, both of them had said no.

And this time around...

You’er still shook her head.

“...” Yun Che was flummoxed by this for a long time.

The last time, Hong’er had appeared without his summons and she had suddenly started bawling her eyes out in front of You’er. However, she had also told him that she did not know why she was crying and she did not know who You’er was either. And this time, the black-colored sword mark and the return of Hong’er had undoubtedly been caused by You’er… Yet You’er still did not know who Hong’er was.

Could it be that all of this had happened because of some sort of instinct that the two of them did not understand?

“It’s fine, it doesn’t matter,” Yun Che said with a faint smile. “You slept for a very long time just now, so you must be feeling very weak right now. You should take a good rest in that sea of Netherworld Udumbara Flowers that you love so much. You definitely must not suffer any damage to your spirit body.”

Back then, Jasmine had told him more than once that if one’s spirit body sustained damage, repairing it was harder than scaling the heavens.

“It’s about time for me to go back.”

Once he said those words, he saw the young girl anxiously stretch out her hand to touch the corner of his robes.

Yun Che’s voice turned even gentler as he comforted her, “Don’t worry, I will come and visit you often. I promise that the next time I visit you, it won’t take as long as it did the last time. Mnnn… How about this then? From now on, I’ll come visit you every month, is that okay?”

“...” You’er’s colorful eyes stared at him unblinkingly before she finally gave a very gentle nod of her head.

“It’s too bad that you can’t leave this place. Otherwise, I’d really want to keep you by my side so that I can always take care of you,” Yun Che said as he stretched out a hand and softly touched her image. These words came from the bottom of his heart and it was not only because You’er had saved him and Hong’er. It was even more due to that very vague and hard to describe sense of intimacy, and… a desire to protect her.

After he bid farewell to You’er, Yun Che shot straight up through this world of darkness. He left the world of darkness, left Cloud’s End Abyss and returned to the side of Cloud’s End Cliff under a beam of light, something that he had not seen in a while.

The roars of profound beasts and rioting auras greeted him, and the air was even faintly tinged with the faint smell of blood.

The current Azure Cloud Continent was perhaps even more dreadful than the world of darkness at the bottom of Cloud’s End Abyss.

Yun Che did not leave immediately. He released his divine sense, allowing it to sweep forth in all directions. After a long period of silence, he finally took to the skies, his body shining with a pure white profound light that was growing denser by the second.

“Master, are you going to ‘purify’ this place?” He Ling asked, her voice tinged with unease. Because she knew that unleashing a power as unique as light profound energy would come with the risk of being exposed… Even though, the chance of there being people from the God Realm nearby was extremely low, given Yun Che’s current condition, the consequences of being found out would be far too severe. As a result, he should not even consider taking any possible risks.

“I did spend a lifetime in this place after all,” Yun Che said calmly, “so even though I don’t really have any attachment to this place, I can’t simply sit idly by and do nothing.”

“Don’t worry, I will shrink the radius of my power and cleanse this place piece by piece. Even though I can’t solve the root of this problem and this peace won’t last for too long… this can be considered the very last thing I will do for the Azure Cloud Continent.”

As he said these words, light profound energy was already scattering down from above, pouring down on this continent that had already transformed into a disaster zone.

Just like he said, he tried his best to shrink the radius of his purification and he never released a divine aura or light profound energy that was too intense. He continued to flash through the skies of the Azure Cloud Continent, teleporting through the air and releasing his light profound energy tens of times before he finally managed to scatter light profound energy over the entire Azure Cloud Continent.

This also included the seas surrounding the Azure Cloud Continent.

Once he finished doing all of these things, Yun Che’s heart felt a lot more at ease. This could be considered to be paying back most of the blood debt that he had incurred in this place all those years ago.

Even though… the Azure Cloud Continent’s time cycle had been warped because of the Mirror of Samsara, so that those “blood debts” had also been wiped away as they had become things that “had yet to happen”. But they had only been wiped away for the Azure Cloud Continent. It was something that could never be wiped away from Yun Che’s heart.

The roars of the profound beasts had clearly grown much weaker and the malicious energy that vibrated in the air had clearly receded as well. Yun Che was unable to predict what would happen to the Azure Cloud Continent after today. However, the next time he came to visit You’er, he might just cleanse the place once more.

After he had done all of these things, Yun Che turned west and prepared to leave this place.

However, at this time, a red flash of light suddenly bloomed in front of him as Hong’er’s exquisite and petite figure appeared.

She gave a long yawn the moment she appeared as she vigorously stretched her tiny waist as well, “UWAAAH… HUNGRY! I’M REALLY HUNGRY! Master, I’m about to starve to death, so what are you waiting for? Hurry up and get me something to eat!”

“Gurgle…”

Just as she said those words, her tummy gurgled loudly with matchless coordination.

“Hong’er…” Upon seeing her vivacious and lively appearance and hearing that sweet and ethereal voice that was all too familiar to him, great waves of emotion raged through Yun Che’s heart. He took a step forward and very gently gathered her into his embrace, “It's good that you're back, I had even thought…”

Before he could even finish his moving speech, Hong’er had already struggled free from his embrace with a “whoosh”. Both her hands rubbed her belly as she cried out in a lovable but dissatisfied voice, “Wuuuuu… I’m about to starve to death already, but you still want to hug me… Hurry up and give me something to eat! HURRY, HURRY, HURRY, HURRY!”

“Eh… Okay, okay, okay,” Yun Che hurriedly nodded his head. He grabbed up a few small pieces of Purple Veined Divine Crystal and before he could even give it to Hong’er, a red light flashed before his eyes and those pieces of Purple Veined Divine Crystal had already appeared in her hand. She stuffed those crystals into her mouth like they were jelly beans, as she bit down on them with a loud “crunching” sound.

Yun Che took out a long sword that was releasing an icy-cold aura… This time, Yun Che did not even get to see the body of the sword properly as Hong’er snatched it away with a frightening speed. Her pointed little canines bit right into the sword blade and with a burst of crackling sounds, a mouth-sized gap ringed by teeth marks had appeared in the body of the originally ice-cold and flawless sword.

Yun Che had grown used to this a long time ago, but if it was anyone else, they would have been so startled by this their jaws would have dropped to their ground.

Hong’er hugged that icy sword as she wildly gnawed at it, a look of utter bliss and satisfaction filled her face. She did not even mention the period of time when she had gone “dormant”. Yun Che stood to the side while he silently watched her. He waited until she had finished eating the entire sword and patted her little tummy, a tummy which barely even bulged, in satisfaction before speaking with a faint smile on his face, “Hong’er, have you been asleep all this while?”

“Of course I have.” Hong’er burped as she spoke in a lively and spirited manner, “Hong’er’s favourite pastime is sleeping.”

“Errrrr…” Yun Che glared at her with wide eyes, “It can’t be that you’ve forgotten… everything that happened before this, right?”

“Eh?” Hong’er’s vermillion eyes blinked as she spoke, “What is Master talking about? It’s really difficult to understand.”

“That is… In the Star God Realm, when I was killed by others, you also followed me in… Eh, have you really forgotten everything?” Yun Che probed her. After He Ling had “awoken”, she had hugged him and cried up a storm due to her excitement and lingering fear, but Hong’er… seemed to be like someone who had not even been involved in that matter, bloody hell!

“Oh, of course I haven’t forgotten. It’s not like I’m a fool like Master is,” Hong’er tilted her little head as she said cheerily, “but right now, Master is well and Hong’er is also well. I’ve also eaten my fill so everything is already fine. Is there anything else that Master wants to mention?”

 “~！@#￥%…” It was at this moment that Yun Che recalled that Hong’er’s train of thoughts and way of thinking had never been the same as a normal human being’s. He scowled as he said in a very powerless manner, “Then that day, when you cried loudly and shouted that as long as I, your master, remained safe and sound, you would be obedient from now on, you would listen to everything I told you, you would no longer be wilful and no longer throw tantrums willy-nilly… Mnnm, you definitely haven’t forgotten about that either, have you?”

“Ah?” Hong’er gnawed on her fingers before her eyebrows drew an arc across her face, “Because I was simply far too hungry just now, I completely forgot about it, heehee.”

“I… knew… this… would happen.” Yun Che gritted his teeth helplessly.

“Oh that’s right, I have a secret that I need to tell Master.” Hong’er’s eyebrows remained arched as a lovable smile burst out on her tender and powdery face, “After sleeping for a really really long time, it seems that Hong’er has grown to like Master even more.”

Her body suddenly leaned forward and she used that mouth which she had just used to eat a sword, a mouth which possessed unusually soft lips, to forcefully peck him on the face. After that, she transformed into a beam of red light as she giggled and disappeared into the sword mark that lay on the back of his hand.

“...” Yun Che could not help but touch his cheek after that before he shook his head and laughed, “Ah, this little girl, who did she learn this from…”