Yun Che felt as if he had plummeted into a bottomless abyss. For the first time in his life, he was being toyed with—crushed in every conceivable way. The terror that was Mo Su grew like a monstrous shadow in his heart, swelling into a wall so vast and impenetrable it felt like it would seal away his soul forever. Mo Su had become a demon rooted in the depths of his spirit.
"Yun Che! Yun Che! Wake up!"
Li Suo's voice rang urgently through his mind, laced with worry and fear. She could sense Yun Che's consciousness slipping, his will eroding like sand in a storm. Desperately, she poured her light profound energy into him, trying to jolt him awake.
"What's… happening to me…" Yun Che muttered faintly.
His consciousness drifted, sinking into a sea of darkness. His mind went blank. He let his body continue to fall. Somewhere inside… he had chosen to escape.
There was a whisper in the back of his mind, a cruel and insidious voice:
Give up. You can't win. You're facing the son of the Creation God—the most powerful being in this world. There's no hope for you.
"Wake up!" Li Suo cried out with all her might. "Don't forget why you came to the Abyss! The Demon Queen, Qianye Ying'er, Mu Xuanyin, Shui Meiyin, Caizhi… they're all waiting for you in the God Realm! And Xiao Lingxi, Feng Xue'er, Huan Caiyi, Cangyue, Su Ling'er, Chu Yuechan… they're waiting too! Don't forget—Xia Qingyue and Shen Xi are here in the Abyss, waiting for you to save them!"
Li Suo's voice roared within him, more turbulent than ever. Once the God of Creation herself, her soul remained powerful even after losing her memory. Her will should have been unshakable…
But Yun Che was different. Since her awakening, everything Li Suo saw, felt, and believed in was tied to him. His soul was the anchor of her existence. His survival… meant everything.
As the names of the women he loved echoed in his mind, Yun Che's consciousness began to return.
I am the Demon Lord Yun Di! I am the hope of the God Realm… I cannot fall here!
Mo Su furrowed his brow slightly, sensing the sudden spike in Yun Che's spiritual fluctuations.
"Ah!"
With the roar of an ancient dragon, Yun Che's soul violently surged back to the surface. He had clawed his way out of the abyss. The moment had been unimaginably perilous—he had almost been lost forever, swallowed by the Sea of Souls.
"You carry the dragon soul of the Ancient Blue Dragon," Mo Su said, watching with interest. "You've cultivated the Dreamweaving Divine Canon, and your body bears the Evil God's Veins. No wonder you could withstand a soul attack like that."
Earlier, when Mo Su's piercing words struck Yun Che's heart, they had almost shattered him. In that instant, a devastating soul shock had invaded his being, seeking to drag him into eternal darkness and tear open every one of his secrets.
But Mo Su had felt something familiar just now… a radiant power. The power of the ancient God of Life. Though he already knew Yun Che wielded light profound energy, feeling it firsthand was something else entirely. Such a sacred aura… only those with a holy heart or body could possess it.
"Your plan failed," Yun Che said, his body drenched in sweat, but his eyes steady and unyielding. He even sneered.
A mortal at the fourth level of the Divine Lord Realm resisting the soul invasion of a True God—it was nothing short of a miracle.
"Failed?" Mo Su smiled faintly. "Not quite. At least now I know my suspicions were right. That's enough for me. Tell me the truth about what happened back then, and perhaps I'll spare your life. Just give me one good reason not to kill you. You only get one chance."
His tone remained calm, even casual. There was no trace of frustration. To him, Yun Che was still an ant—a defiant one, perhaps, but not worth taking seriously. No one had dared to challenge his authority in countless years, and now this weak little insect stood before him, trembling yet stubborn. It was amusing, if nothing else.
If Yun Che hadn't carried the inheritance of the Elemental Creation God, Mo Su wouldn't have bothered talking. This brief reprieve was a courtesy extended for Ni Xuan's sake—nothing more. And when Yun Che had revealed the truth behind the Heavenly God Emperor Zhutian's betrayal, Mo Su had granted him another brief window to speak. A rare mercy.
"The Black Tide of Time in the Abyss… it appeared because of you," Yun Che said coldly. "Because you broke the time laws of this world. You used the Nirvana Reverse Wheel Pearl to forge an eternal zone of stillness—the Cradle."
"And you did it for one reason: to keep Pan Xiaodie alive. She took the fatal blow from the Zhutian Ancestral Sword for you, didn't she? Your feelings for her surpass everything. So much so that you're willing to sacrifice the entire Abyss to save her."
"You've become twisted—paranoid. You no longer care about the lives of others. The people of the Abyss fear you, but none dare speak the truth. Even the four Priests closest to you follow blindly, executing your will without question."
Yun Che stared at Mo Su, eyes filled not with fear, but with cold pity. Like he was staring at a lunatic.
Mo Su took a slow breath, and in that moment, he gained a new understanding of Yun Che's insight and will. He had underestimated him.
No one had ever dared to speak to him like this. Very few even knew what he had done over the years. Not the Six Nations, not the Seven Gods. But Yun Che had pierced through to the truth in mere moments. It was terrifying.
"Go on," Mo Su said, intrigued. This young man… might yet surprise him again. And he hadn't felt surprise in a very long time.
Yun Che's expression darkened. Mo Su hadn't denied a single word. That meant he was right. And the truth… was worse than he had feared.
"You're searching for the coordinates to enter the World of Life at any cost. Because you want to find another world to keep Pan Xiaodie alive. You don't care about the collapse of the God Realm's laws. All that matters is keeping her alive."
"That's your obsession. That's the real reason you won't give up."
Mo Su chuckled.
"Yun Che… I'm impressed. It's no wonder my brother chose you as his heir. You're every bit worthy of the Heretic God's legacy. Courage, insight, conviction… you've got it all."
"But you've misunderstood. Half of what you said is true. The other half… isn't."
Yun Che frowned. There's more to this?
"I do want Xiaodie to live. As you guessed, she's inside the 'Cradle' right now. If she leaves… she'll die."
"But my obsession with returning to the God Realm isn't just for her. My true plan is to link the World of Life and the World of Death—merge their laws, and restore the order that once ruled the ancient God Realm."
"I don't want to destroy the God Realm. But the Abyss… it's no longer safe for her. I have no choice but to find another way."
"Truth be told, everything is different now. I thought the God Realm was still under the rule of my father—the God of Creation—and the demons. I thought things would be as I left them."
"But it's a new world now. The only way to protect both realms… is this. At the very least, it might delay the inevitable end."
Mo Su exhaled softly. These were words he had never shared with anyone. And strangely, speaking them now brought him a measure of peace. He was, after all, the son of the Creation God. Even twisted by time and grief, he had not become a monster without a heart. He had simply made impossible choices.
"Even if your plan somehow works," Yun Che said, his tone ice-cold, "it's still an illusion. Pan Xiaodie will never return to who she once was."
He was surprised by Mo Su's humanity… but he could not agree with his methods.
"Do you think I want to do this?" Mo Su's voice trembled, almost hysterical. "If there were even the slightest chance Xiaodie could recover, I wouldn't be so desperate."
"The meaning of my existence… is to accompany her to the end. Even if the laws collapse, even if I must sleep beside her in eternal darkness—so be it. I will take Heaven's punishment without regret!"
He had been holding back for so long. Finally, he let it all out.
And then—
"What if I told you…" Yun Che said softly, "that I might have a way to save Pan Xiaodie?"
(End of Chapter)