A dimmed sound rang and then, two Evil Qi rays descended from the sky as though two asteroids fell down, landing at the peak of the mountain.
The mountain was pitch dark but the shape of the mountain looked just like floating clouds around. Under the dim light of the Evil Realm, it looked extremely mysterious.
That was the Evil Realmâs cluster cloud mountain.
Pressing onto the floor with one hand, Su Yun stopped his inertia. It took him a while to regain his momentum. When he looked up to the surroundings, he realised it was dead silent. Beneath him was a golden ray that was spinning.
Cheng Xie laid beside him, looking pale. In his eyes, there was grievance.
Seeing him in that state, he thought about the spirit fruits that were hung on the trees in Soulless Forest and immediately, he thought about Li Chong Tian who gave his all without any fears. Suddenly, Su Yun was very curious about the âEvil Emperor Xin Wuâ.
What kind of being was him. Why would these people give their all for him?
âCheng Xie!â
Su Yun swallowed his breath and muttered to Cheng Xie: âDonât be sad anymore. Destroy this seal now or else the greedy evil being will pass through the teleportation array and find us. Once heâs over, we canât run away anymore! All our efforts will go to waste.â
âI understand.â
Cheng Xie wiped his face to curb the sadness. Getting up, he bound a few ingredients that were on the golden array and took them up. Without all the ingredients, the seal of the array stopped moving right away. It was broken.
Cheng Xie threw those ingredients aside and sat down.
âIt is finally over!â
Carrying a piece of huge rock, Su Yun heaved a sigh of relief.
Although there were some accidents along the way, but the plan was going smoothly.
He raised his hands and took a good look at the Divine Crown. He sensed a faint Qi in the Divine Crown. Then he shook his head and walked over to Cheng Xie.
âThe Divine Crown is in our hands. Now, you should do as you promised. Tell me the way to leave the evil realm, Cheng Xie!â
âThe methodâŚ.â
Cheng Xie looked up at Su Yun and mumbled: âI donât know. But my master knows it. Resurrect my master and he shall instruct you on leaving the Evil Realm.â
âWhat?â Su Yun was taken aback. He looked furious.
Indeed, with Cheng Xieâs powers, it was a bit too much to ask him to facilitate him leaving the Evil Realm. If it was not for Cheng Xieâs help, Su Yun might not be able to survive that long. Technically, Su Yun was not at a disadvantage. On top of that, his cultivation level had increased tremendously in such a short period of time. Even when the Monarch Occult Force was activated, the Evil Spirit Essences would not have mature so quickly without Cheng Xieâs ingredients and treasures that nourished it to become the Evil Spirit Qi.
Thinking about it, Su Yun said nothing more. He handed the Divine Crown to Cheng Xie directly.
Carefully, Cheng Xie took it in his hands and took a deep breath in before he placed the divine crown on the ground.
Then, he took his broken blade out. Looking at the blade, he sliced his left wrist.
Swish!
How could a wrist win a blade? Obviously the wrist was broken and the evil blood splattered all over the bladeâs body.
Su Yunâs heart sank.
Like molten lava, the evil blood dissolved the blade, turning the blade blood red and finally, into a molten state of metal.
âActually, this blade isnât my weapon. It was merely a pretense that I had cultivated. In the broken blade hides an ingredient that I had been cultivating very hard for. It is the beginning for the Divine Crown. Iâve made it specially for my Master through the teachings of a manual kept in the shrine. With it, master can leave the Divine Crown easily without any restraints.â
As Cheng Xie explained, the broken blade was completed dissolved. Bloody red crystals then fell out from the broken blade.
Quickly, Cheng Xie picked them up. With his hands shaking, he picked the Divine Crown and carefully, he stuffed the crystals into a small opening on the Divine Crown.
Su Yun stared closely to this scene.
The crystals penetrated gradually. With a clatter, it was completely penetrated. In that moment, all the black mist surrounding the Divine Crown disappeared and turned into a greyish substance.
After about 3 seconds, the Divine Crown rose. Around it was a wave of Qi which encapsulated the crown tightly. The Qi wave grew and twisted before it formed a silhouette of a person. The Divine Crown was seated on top of the personâs head.
That was such a weird, mysterious scene.
âMaster.â
Seeing the silhouette of this person that was gradually materializing, Cheng Xie kneeled on the ground passionately and exclaimed. His face was full of tears as he choked on his words.
Evil Emperor Xin Wu!
After being in slumber for so many years, he was finally resurrected after so long!
Su Yun looked at this person quietly. Using the Heavenly Scale Divine Eye to analyse, he was surprised to find out he could not study this opponent. It was as though this opponentâs cultivation level was too high to even be detected. Also, it was as though the opponentâs Qi did not have Profound Spirit Qi?
âYoung lad, look no further. Iâm a mere spiritual being. I wonât have any Profound Spirit Qi. I will only possess some spiritual energy.â
A crisp, clear sound emerged from the silhouette.
Su Yun was shocked.
Spiritual being? Just like the Sword Elder?
He looked at the translucent spiritual being. As this person stepped onto the floor, he straightened his back. He looked just about in his thirties and was extremely gracious without much dignity. It was hard to believe this was the killer god from the Shrine of Evil Spirits.
âThanks for saving me, young lad! I, the Evil Emperor Xin Wu will remember this gratitude!â
The silhouette opened his mouth but the tone of his voice was not icy cold. On the contrary, there was a tinge of warmth.
âPlease donât be. Iâve saved you merely because I hope you can help me leave the Evil Realm and send me back to Sky Martial Continent! If you want to thank someone, just thank your guard. Without his help, you might not even have seen the light of day.â
âI understand!â
Evil Emperor Xin Wu nodded. Looking at the emotional Cheng Xie, he walked over and with his translucent body, he helped him up.
âAlthough the Shrine of Evil Spirits canât triumph, but I have no regrets because I have the most loyal servants in the Evil Realm. Youâre not just my guards. Youâre my brothers.â
Evil Emperor Xin Wu was not a prideful man at all. There was gratitude in his voice.
âMaster!â Cheng Xie cried.
Seeing this, Su Yun finally understood the personality of the Emperor. If he wanted loyalty, martial arts and bloody wars would never do the job. Maybe, the Emperor was loyal too and placed friendships as his top priorities and hence, the guards were so loyal to him.
âDonât be sad, Cheng Xie. Although your cultivation level is very weak now, you must remember, you were once a strong martial artist! Maybe we might no longer be as glorious as before but we used to have it, didnât we?â
The Emperor comforted.
âYes, master!â Cheng Xie took a deep breath in and calmed himself down.
âWhere are the rest?â
âThey all died in the fight just now. Li Chong Tian captain had passed on! The evil, greedy being is coming for us now!â
âThat greedy wolf!â
Evil Emperor Xin Wu clenched his grip tight.
He was annoyed that he was of no match to Greedy Wolf Evil Lord in his current state.
âMaster, letâs look for a place with treasures and plan to build a kingdom together. With masterâs abilities, we can start a war with Greedy Wolf again!â Cheng Xie stated.
Then, the emperor fell silent. After a long moment, he shook his head: âIâm just a soul who has nothing left. How can I start again? Cheng Xie, I appreciate your loyalty but I canât do it. My capabilities canât match up to your loyalty.â
âMaster, please donât ever say such words. Itâs my honour to be able to serve master! Master, there are so many secret methods in the Evil Realm, Iâm sure master can live in a new body. We might still have chance.â
Cheng Xieâs eyes dulled a bit as he muttered.
âIs there really a chance.â
Hua la!
Just then, the Divine Crown on the Emperorâs head burst with a black radiance. The black radiance shot straight up into the sky and into the far distant, forming a sky high black bridge. Nobody knew where the bridge led to.
When the Emperor saw this, his face changed.
âScheming! Truly scheming! I have failed in this manâs hands!â Evil Emperor Xin Wu was discontented as he said with his teeth gritted.
âMaster, what, what is happening?â
Cheng Xie stared at the black bridge in shock as he asked his master.
âHe has laid a seal on this Divine Crown!â
âWhat? Since when did he⌠Did he do that?â Cheng Xie was stunned: âIf he had set a seal, why, why didnât he just take it away? Isnât the Divine Crown his ultimate goal?â
âYou donât understand, Cheng Xie. Leaving a seal and taking an object are two different concepts. With his methods, he could have finished everything in the Shrine of Evil Spirits. Or even maybe when you retrieve the Divine Crown, he had laid this seal secretly. He is truly unmatched!â
âThen, then, master, what shall we do? Letâs, letâs escape now!â
Cheng Xie said in fear.
âEscape?â The Emperor only shook his head: âThereâs no way to escape. Once I leave the Divine Crown, Iâd die. If I donât leave the Divine Crown, then I shall never leave this bridge. With our powers added up, we can never eliminate this seal! Iâm afraid today marks the end of my life.â
âMaster, no, no, no way. Youâve just gotten back. I want you to lead us again. I want you to bring back those glorious days!â Cheng Xie was screaming his lungs out. He looked so sad.
The Emperor remained speechless.
He turned his gaze to Su Yun who was looking calm. Then he revealed a bitter smile: âYoung lad, I didnât expect I myself to leave as soon as we just met.â
âIâm very sorry.â Su Yun muttered.
âI donât care what drove you but youâve saved my life no matter what. Even if Iâm going to die. Before I die, I have just one more thing to complete and I hope youâll help me!â
âMaster Emperor, please tell me!â
âAlright!â Evil Emperor Xin Wu nodded and said: âFirst, I hope that I can kill this greedy Wolf Evil Lord and take revenge for my Shrine of Evil Spirits. That is my wish! Iâm not a good person. No matter how much I have sinned, I must kill him!â
It sounded so scheming and sly.
âYou canât do it now in your current state! Unless you can escape Greedy Wolf Evil Lord smoothly!â
âI canât. But even though I canât do it, you can!â
Evil Emperor Xin Wuâs words confused Su Yun. Without waiting for Su Yun to process and reply, he continued: âSecondly, itâs something that I want to do. Young lad, youâve saved me. As a form of gratitude, I will aid you in leaving the Evil Realm! Itâs actually very simple to leave the Evil Realm. You just need to find the the origin source of the void. There are so many sources of the void in the Evil Realm. But according to what I know, thereâs a particular one that is just at the door of the Evil Sword Sect. It is guarded by the evil sword guards. You can plead for them to open the door and let you head back to Sky Martial Continent. But, without a pure cultivation level, you will never be able to walk out of the Evil Realm. So young lad, Iâm not only just telling you how to leave for sky martial continent. Iâm going to bestow you my talents and cultivations.â
When Su Yun heard that, he looked at the Emperor in bewilderment. He turned to Cheng Xie at his side and said anxiously: âEmperor, Cheng Xie is just here. Why donât you pass your talents to you? Why are you giving it to me?â
âHe has fulfilled his destiny. That is more than enough. If I pass these talents and cultivations to him, he will not be able to maximise its potential. On the contrary, you! You have a strong talent, human! If you get what I have! I believe you can bring back the glory of the Shrine of Evil Spirits! Accept the Divine Crown! Help me kill the evil being!â
He said lightly and extended his arms to reach for the Divine Crown.
Cheng Xieâs eyes were dull. His knees on the floor and his head on the floor. He dared not look up but he was not crying or shouting anymore. He knew the Shrine of Evil Spirits was falling, but a new Shrine of Evil Spirits could be created.
Su Yun stared at the translucent, pale palms as his heart thumped fast and hard.
What was controlling everything? Maybe it was just fate.
Da!
With a light ring, the Divine Crown was taken off.
In that moment, the spiritual body of the Emperor was instantly turning into pearls of vapour.
He smiled at Su Yun. Holding the Divine Crown in his hands, he waited for the young ladâs reply. Even when time was running out.
Su Yun did not hesitate. Taking a deep breath in and the Death Sword in his hand, he went down on one knee in front of Evil Emperor Xin Wu.
âFrom today onwards, youâre the king of the Shrine of Evil Spirits!â
Evil Emperor Xin Wu smiled and bestowed the Divine Crown on Su Yunâs head lightly.
Then, the Divine Crown changed and turned into a ray of dragon-like seal on Su Yunâs forehead. A surge of energy and strength burst forth from the seal and into his body.
In that split second, the translucent spiritual body completely dissipated into the air and floated with the wind into the night sky full of stars.