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Helian Jue felt like his chest was about to explode. He hadn’t been this angry even when Zhuai Liancheng and Ximen Qi were jumping all over his face.

“You did win my empire some dignity, however temporary it might be, so I won’t kill you yet.”

Helian Jue mouthed the perfect excuse as he forced down the rampaging energy in his heart.

“But just because I’m not going to kill you, doesn’t mean that the Qilin Worship Alliance won’t! Rather than provoking me, you should be searching for a way out of the grave you dug for yourself!”

“Now get out of my face, and do not even entertain the idea that the Helian Empire will try to protect you. I’ve already shown you my greatest mercy by not escorting you to the Qilin Worship Alliance this instant!

Clap!

Clap!

CLAP!

Yun Che praised loudly as he clapped, “As expected of Your Majesty! Nothing you\'ve said so far has exceeded my expectations one bit!”

“You don’t need to worry about my safety though. After all, the Qilin Worship Alliance and the three sects aren’t nearly as stupid as a certain someone. I highly doubt they’d dare to touch me before investigating the nobody who absolutely trounced their so-called ‘genius’ without a scratch.”

Yun Che literally didn’t exist in this universe until days ago, so the Qilin Worship Alliance and the three sects’ efforts were destined to end in failure. Naturally, this would make them even warier of him. If Helian Jue could put two and two together, surely they could as well.

“Also, the Qilin Abyss Conference is near, and the Qilin Worship Alliance is planning to replace your dynasty as soon as it’s over. There is little chance they would start something during such a sensitive period.”

“In fact…” Yun Che smiled dangerously. “They will probably try to recruit me as they investigate me.”

“...” Helian Jue’s mouth visibly twitched at this.

It was at this moment the wind blew loudly outside. The next second, a tall, muscular man and a bunch of imperial guards rushed into the main hall. It was the crown prince of the Helian Empire, Helian Linglang.

“Father! Lingzhu!” He landed beside Helian Jue and Helian Lingzhu and inquired about their health in a worried voice, “Are you alright? I’m sorry I’m late. I came as soon as I heard that someone had barged into the palace.”

Yun Che sneered. Zhuai Liancheng and Ximen Qi were anything but inconspicuous when they announced their arrival, and there was no chance the crown prince hadn’t heard about it until just now. This could only mean that this piece of shit had hidden himself until the duo had run away.

He truly was Helian Jue’s son!

It was a literal miracle Helian hadn’t been annihilated ages ago!

“Everything’s okay now, brother,” Helian Lingzhu said perfunctorily. Even the kind-hearted woman couldn’t be bothered to pretend that she meant her consolation. It showed just how little she thought of her own brother.

“Good.” Helian Linglang let out a long sigh of relief when he suddenly noticed Yun Che. After observing his profound aura closely, he put on a stern face and asked, “Who are you?”

Yun Che paid him no attention whatsoever. He said indifferently, “Since the emperor doesn’t welcome me in his empire, it would be impudent of me to stay any longer. Thankfully, I have repaid at least a sliver of the favor I owe the First Princess.”

He shot Helian Lingzhu a long look before saying, “Take care.”

He then turned around and slowly walked toward the exit.

“Yun… Che.” Helian Lingzhu took a step forward but she was murmuring instead of calling out his name like before.

“Oh right. I almost forgot.” Yun Che suddenly paused in his tracks and said, “The character ‘Jue’ means ‘an incomplete jade’. I’m sure it’s your seniors who came up with the name, and they were subtly warning you not to be overly secure in your throne, and that even the moon waxes and wanes at times. “However, this is obviously at odds with your way of conduct. Instead, I would suggest that you change your name to ‘Funuo’, meaning ‘a promise that will last for eternity’. Who knows, the change might actually save you Helians and ensure that you will last for another eternity to come? Heh.”

A cold smile later, Yun Che finally left the main hall and took off into the sky.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” Helian Linglang exploded in anger, “How dare you criticize my father’s name! Men—”

“Shut up!” Helian Jue cut him off with an angry shout of his own. It was such a surprise that Helian Linglang hurriedly bowed his head and could not say anything for a long time.

Helian Lingzhu’s eyes kept chasing after Yun Che’s back. She would not look away until he was completely gone from her eyes. A long time later, she bit her lip as if she had finally made up her mind before chasing after him.

Surprisingly, Helian Jue didn’t stop her this time.

“Hmm… hmm!”

He slumped little by little as he clutched his heart. By now, he was on the brink of blacking out. Considering his temperament, it was a miracle that he managed to hold on until now. Helian Linglang hurriedly supported him.

“Funuo… Funuo…” He muttered as he stared blankly into the distance. He was actually ruminating over the name Yun Che left behind very seriously.

A promise that will last for eternity… an incomplete jade… did my given name really alter the Helian’s fate?

At the back, Mo Cangying could not stand this unsightly behavior any longer and said emotionlessly, “Why don’t you flip the two words around, Your Majesty.”

Fu Nuo to Nuo Fu?

Nuo Fu…

Nuo Fu (Coward)!?

Helian Jue’s eyes bulged when he finally made the connection. The energy he just barely suppressed until now instantly flooded his heart like a broken dam.

“Pwack!”

He spat out another jet of blood and finally blacked out.

…

…

Everywhere was yellow and gray as Yun Che flew away from the imperial palace.

He still hadn’t acclimatized to the abyssal dust yet, but the uncomfortable, sticky feeling was decreasing by the hour. As for its invisible corruption, he could barely feel it anymore.

The Qilin Abyss Realm, the Qilin God Realm…

Both realms were the places where the earth element of the entire Abyss was most active.

It was almost like destiny… or perhaps it was destiny.

Countless thoughts were flying through his mind right now.

When the Heretic God had tossed the Earth Heretic God Seed into the Abyss back then, was it really just because he didn’t want his successor to own the complete Heretic God Profound Veins and overload Primal Chaos?

It was thanks to her extraordinary affinity with the dark element that the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor had noticed that something was wrong with the Abyss. As for the Heretic God, he possessed an unusual affinity with all the elements—Water, Fire, Thunder, Wind, Earth and Dark—except Light. Of course, his dark affinity must be inferior to the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor’s, but if he really thought about it, the chances he would notice that something was wrong with the Abyss should be way higher than the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor’s.

He could not have investigated the Abyss even if he noticed the Abyss’ transformation a long time ago. After all, not even the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor could make it down. In that case, did he toss the Heretic God Seed into the Abyss because…

That was where Yun Che’s thoughts ended because he was almost out of time. He muttered under his breath,

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One.”

“Young Master Yun Che!”

Helian Lingzhu’s urgent cry rang from behind. When Yun Che came to a stop, Helian Lingzhu had already caught up to him. She looked a little red with urgency.

“Have you come to see me off, First Princess?” Yun Che asked while smiling at her.

Instead of shaking or nodding her head, Helian Lingzhu responded with a question of her own, “Are you… really going to leave?”

“Of course,” Yun Che replied, “I have seriously offended your father to put it mildly. Any other emperor would have imprisoned or killed me for what I did. Naturally, I couldn’t stay any longer.”

“Speaking of which, do you blame me for treating your father that way, First Princess?”

Helian Lingzhu shook her head without hesitation. “I know better than anyone what my father is. Your words were humiliating, but they were also the truth. If only we had someone who could force him to do the right thing at the start, then maybe we wouldn’t be…”

Her voice turned sorrowful, and Yun Che’s eyes took on a tinge of sympathy. “The reason you traveled to the Endless Fog back then… was it because of the Qilin Abyss Conference?”

“Yes,” Helian Lingzhu nodded. “The Qilin God Realm is a sanctuary of cultivation, breakthrough and opportunity for all profound practitioners who cultivate earth profound arts. It is vital to the growth of the current and future generations.”

“Back then, the Helian Empire was the indisputable ruler of the Qilin Abyss Realm. The imperial family was the one who got to decide who entered the Qilin God Realm, and who didn\'t. It was the sects who had to do everything in their power to curry favor with the imperial family so that their outstanding juniors could get in.”

Those glorious days were long gone and beyond reach.

“After the Boulder Profound Sect, Thousand Blade Sect and Fiery Sand Sect rose to power, the Helian Empire slowly but surely lost their absolute control over the Qilin God Realm. It\'s how the Qilin Abyss Conference came to be.”

“The point of the Qilin Abyss Conference was to decide how the Qilin God Realm was ‘divided’ among the four factions. The ranking decides how many people a faction gets to send into the Qilin God Realm, and the participants were the juniors below six hundred years old.”

“The Helian Empire must have ranked last for the past couple generations then,” Yun Che said directly.

“You are correct,” Helian Lingzhu’s sorrow deepened. “When the throne was passed down to my father, it was like he had completely given up on changing the empire’s fate. He completely stopped all pursuits for improvements and sought only ease and comfort. One could say that he was like a mouse before the three sect masters.”

“Then… Mo Beichen happened, and he became more despondent than ever before. No matter how the three sects tested him, his only response was tolerance and more tolerance. Even if they crossed the line, he only dared to criticize them behind their backs.”

From being the masters of an entire realm to being satisfied with just a small corner of the world. It was both tragic and despicable.

Helian Lingzhu continued, “As of late, the Qilin Worship Alliance had been growing stronger and stronger, and he had advised my father multiple times that the Helian Empire might lose the right to enter the Qilin God Realm completely if a new major faction were to rise to power. If that happened, the Helian Empire would lose their future permanently.”

“However, my father said that the Qilin Worship Alliance is only focused on religion and not ambition. Even if they did rise to power and become a threat, the three sects would do the dirty work for them. His reason was that the three sects would tolerate a fifth faction sticking their nose into their control over the Qilin God Realm even less.”

“My father has always been like this. He always seeks comfort and stability, and he always leaves the initiative in another’s hands… Worse, when the opportunity of a lifetime actually fell into his lap, he ordered the men to stop protecting Mo Beichen’s wife and daughters claiming that the empire cannot ‘set a bad precedent’.”

Her eyes were filled with tears as she confessed her true feelings to Yun Che, all of them. She had never felt such a strong desire to confess even when she was facing Mo Cangying, the senior brother she relied on and trusted the most.

“In fact, I had heard the news that the Qilin Worship Alliance might be joining the Qilin Abyss Conference a month ago. However, my father refused to believe me, citing the same reason we didn’t defeat the Qilin Worship Alliance when we could. My brother, the crown prince usually just does whatever my father says, so… the only thing I could do was to seek a breakthrough.”

“If the Qilin Worship Alliance did join the Qilin Abyss Conference, and if I succeeded in becoming a Divine Master, then the worst case scenario could’ve been prevented—or so I thought…”

Tears started rolling down her cheeks freely. “But reality was so, so many times worse than I could have imagined.”

“I… literally can’t see a future for the Helian Empire anymore.”

She was tired. She had done everything she could to save her country, but things just kept getting worse no matter what she did.

Yun Che raised a hand and evaporated the tears on her cheeks with a bit of crimson flame. Its warmth crept into her bitter, cold heart despite her despair.

“The outcome may not be as bad as you imagine,” Yun Che said smilingly, “At the very least, you do not need to give up the Qilin Abyss Conference as your enemies demand.”

A surprised Helian Lingzhu whispered, “Is there really hope? The Qilin Worship Alliance is not the upstart we thought they were. They’re a great power that could make even the three sects submit to their will, not to mention that the Abyssal Knight witnessing this Qilin Abyss Conference hails from the Qilin Worship Alliance as well… I just don’t see any hope that we can change this.”

He looked into Helian Lingzhu’s eyes and asked, “Do you trust me?”

Helian Lingzhu faced his clear, mirror-like eyes and nodded without hesitation. “Of course I do.”

“In that case, I want you to do everything in your power to convince your father to take part in the Qilin Abyss Conference. After that, you can just leave it to me.”

Yun Che was warm and collected. No one thought that the Helian Empire could produce a miracle, and yet he made it sound like the impossible was but a trivial matter to him.

Helian Lingzhu’s lips parted. For a moment, she couldn’t say anything.

“I’m not doing this just to repay your favor, of course,” Yun Che said honestly, “I’d like to enter the Qilin God Realm as well.”

The Qilin God Realm was created by the Abyssal Monarch himself, and an Abyssal Knight would be overseeing the Qilin Abyss Conference the entire time. It would be insanely risky to try and sneak into the place. Therefore, entering the Qilin God Realm the proper way was possibly his only viable option.

Helian Lingzhu didn’t ask why Yun Che wanted to enter the Qilin God Realm or how he was going to defend the Helian Empire’s right to enter it. She simply looked away from his eyes and whispered, “You have no feud with Ximen Qi, and yet you had deeply humiliated him and almost destroyed him. Did you… really do it just to repay me?”

She was an imperial princess, and yet for as long as she could remember, she could never raise her head high in front of the three sects. It was always humiliation after humiliation over and over again.

No one, not even her own father, had ever defended her like this until Yun Che showed up.

“... Not completely, no,” Yun Che answered. [1]

Those three words were all it took to spark endless imagination. An unspeakable joy bloomed inside Helian Lingzhu’s heart, and she almost couldn’t stop her joy from showing on her face. After she finally managed to push down her emotions, she looked up at Yun Che’s face and declared unblinkingly, “Okay. I will do my best to change my father\'s mind. If he refuses to listen, then I’ll… speak with my ancestor.”

“Also… you’re not going to leave anymore… right?”

“Mm!” Yun Che nodded.

In fact, Yun Che had a backup plan even if Helian Lingzhu failed in her persuasion. One of the reasons he shamed Helian Jue mercilessly a while ago wasn’t because he wanted to shame him—a spineless emperor like Helian Jue wasn’t worth his spit even if he was a Half-God—but because he wanted to anger the man.

The energy Mo Beichen left behind was afflicting Helian Jue’s heart. Naturally, the emperor wanted to avoid being angry as much as possible.

Zhuailian Cheng and Ximen Qi had done half of his work for him, after he added insult to injury, Yun Che could tell that he was on the verge of completely losing control. It took him all of his power just to keep Mo Beichen’s energy at bay.

One more push was all it would take to tip him over the edge, so he did just that. He had purposely gifted Helian Jue the words “Funuo”. When he figured out the words’ true meaning, he was almost certainly going to black out from rage.

As Yun Che had personally inspected his heart earlier, he knew that the emperor could not take too much “excitement”, and today had just been one excitement after another. By his estimate, the last push should be enough to drive him to the verge of death. He would literally die if he did not receive treatment.

And who would he seek out during his most desperate moment?

At the beginning, the emperor had rejected him unquestionably.

But now… Now, there could be a real negotiation.

Before Helian Lingzhu left, she exchanged sound transmissions with Yun Che and gave him a place to stay. It was the outer hall she usually cultivated in, near the border of the imperial palace.

In the distance, Mo Cangying wobbled as if he wanted to dash over to Yun Che and say something. However, he quickly withdrew to his hiding spot and, several breaths later, left in silence.

Yun Che turned away, and the warmth and tenderness in his eyes turned into ice.

This was the third day since he came to the Abyss.

The first step he had been planning before he came in had been achieved sooner than he anticipated.

The Qilin God Realm was most likely the place where he could attain the complete Heretic God Profound Veins and finally break through his limits.

Assuming that everything went well, then he would truly become…

The Heretic God of this era!

1. subtext: Indeed, I did it only because the motherfuckers indirectly drove Mo Beichen to the surface and killed He Ling, and speaking of which, don’t think I’m done with your empire. Your father will die, your brother will die, Mo Cangying will probably die a heroic death so as not to raise suspicions, and I will control your whole empire so that one day I can destroy your world. And you’ll never even realize I’ve been manipulating you this whole time.