BOOM
This was probably the most terrifying explosion the Yama Devil Realm had ever experienced since it was founded. The entire Devil Palace of Eternal Darkness was shaking, and the shockwave reached as far as thousands of kilometers away from the explosion.
“Wh… what’s going on!?” Yan Jie exclaimed in shock. But before he could do anything else, his terror was magnified tenfold by the next thing that happened.
Rumble!
Crack
Black-colored cracks suddenly appeared across the gray sky above their heads. It barely took a second or two for them to spread throughout the globe that enveloped the entire Yama Imperial District.
The central palace was collapsing, and dark storms were ravaging its remnants. But Yan Jie, Yan Tianxiao and the rest of the Yama Devils were too stunned by the black cracks above their heads to care right now.
It was because the breaking “sky” was none other than the great protective formation of the Yama Imperial District!
The core region of every star realm was protected by a powerful barrier, especially the capital city where the god emperor of a king realm resided. They were the strongest barriers in the world, and it took a gargantuan effort to break any of them by force.
It was the final rampart that separated a king realm from its enemies.
But now, the great protective formation of the Yama Imperial District, the strongest defensive barrier of the entire Northern Region… was falling apart!?
The Yama Imperial District was shaking. The hearts of every man and woman who were watching this were also shaking. Even Yan Tianxiao’s eyes were covered in red and black veins.
“Royal father!” It was at this moment Yan Wu appeared next to him and asked, “What’s going on!? Why is the Great Yama Formation…”
“...” Yan Tianxiao couldn’t say anything. He wanted to know what the hell was going on more than anyone else.
Rumble!
Another loud explosion came from the Devil Palace of Eternal Darkness, and the disastrous black storm suddenly began dissipating quickly. The cracks that covered the entire Great Yama Formation stopped just before it could collapse completely.
The nightmare ended, no, paused as suddenly as it appeared. At the same time, Yan Tianxiao and everyone else turned toward the heart of the Devil Palace of Eternal Darkness, the entrance to the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness and stared.
It was because three crooked and tiny shadows were surfacing from the entrance. Their devilish power was so terrible that the world was frozen by their presence.
Yan Tianxiao finally understood why the Great Yama Formation had almost fallen apart.
The Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness was sealed by dozens of barriers, and he was almost certain that that terrifying explosion of dark energy had destroyed them all at once.
The Bone Sea of Darkness was the most important place in the entire Yama Realm. Its last and strongest sealing barrier was directly connected to the Great Yama Formation!
That was why the Great Yama Formation was severely affected when the barrier was destroyed. Metaphorically speaking, it was like someone had drilled a huge pit into the formation.
However, the discovery only shocked Yan Tianxiao even more.
It was because everything he knew told him that such a power shouldn’t exist in the current world!
“An… cestors.”
Although Yan Tianxiao was saying his ancestors’ name, it was more of a murmur than a greeting. It was because he noticed that their auras were different from normal, although he couldn’t tell exactly what was different.
In the past, the three ancestors never left the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness without wrapping themselves in copious amounts of black energy. Moreover, the black energy grew thinner over time, so the three ancestors had to return to the graveyard before it ran out completely.
However, the three ancestors weren’t covered in yin energy right now. The dark aura emanating from their bodies was clearly their own power, the power of the Yama Devils.
Besides that, it looked like… they were the ones who destroyed the barrier?
“An… ancestors!?” Yan Jie exclaimed in shock while dropping to his knees. His movement was pure reflex.
Yan Wu also knelt on the floor and said, “Greetings, ancestors!”
The dark storm hadn’t dissipated entirely, and everyone was still in shock. However, no one dared to act rudely in front of the three Yama Ancestors, so they quickly dropped to their knees as well.
Shocked and puzzled, Yan Tianxiao himself was about to kneel on the ground when he suddenly saw a fourth figure rising from the entrance to the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness. The person stepped in front of the three Yama Ancestors before staring at him with a half-smile.
“Yun Che!” Yan Tianxiao exclaimed in shock before furrowing his eyebrows deeply.
“What!?” Yan Jie, Yan Wu, the Yama Devils and the Yama Ghosts all looked up in unison.
But before Yan Tianxiao could do anything else, a thunderous roar suddenly rattled his senses. “You disgraceful little bastard! How dare you address our master directly!?”
“...!???” To say that Yan Tianxiao was flabbergasted would be a massive understatement. The questioning words that were about to escape his throat were swallowed right back into his stomach.
It was because the man who shouted at him was the first Yama Ancestor… Yan Wanchi!
If his senses weren’t playing tricks on him, his ancestor had said something like... “our master”!?
Another roar pierced through his ears before he could make heads or tails of the situation. This time, It was Yan Wanhun pointing a finger at Yan Tianxiao shouting angrily, “Unworthy descendants! How dare you act so rudely to our master! Get on your knees already!”
“...” Yan Tianxiao, the strongest god emperor of the Northern Divine Region, the man who feared nothing and no one, was completely dumbstruck. His vision was turning black, and his lips were trembling. If this was a dream, he hoped that he would wake up right this moment.
Then, he noticed that Yun Che was standing in front of the three Yama Ancestors.
He realized that the three Yama Ancestors had bent their backs a little, lowered their heads and avoided staring at Yun Che directly after the young man had appeared… he also realized that their earlier shouts were painted by a tone of anxiety and respect that one used only when facing their god.
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Then there was that shout that tore at his soul, “our master”...
These people were his ancestors! The founders of the Yama Realm!
He was stunned; completely and utterly stunned. He couldn’t comprehend or accept what was happening no matter how much willpower and knowledge he mustered.
The rest of the Yama Devils only fared worse than the Yama Emperor.
Yan Jie, Yan Wu, the Yama Devils and the Yama Ghosts were either staring at the Yama Ancestors with stupefied expressions or blanking out on the spot. It was because the absurdity of the situation was too much for them to handle.
“Tianxiao, are you deaf!?” Yan Wangui shouted. “Kneel!”
“Kneel!” Yan One shouted again.
The Yama Ancestors’ influence ran deep in every Yama clansman’s blood, and Yan Tianxiao was no exception. Although the Yama Emperor still hadn’t recovered from his shock, he shivered and regained just enough clarity of mind to obey his ancestors’ command and drop to his knees. But who was he kneeling to, really? His ancestors, or Yun Che?
“Heh. Long time no see, Yama Emperor. How have you been doing for the past ten days?” Yun Che greeted him indifferently. “The trip to Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness has been an interesting and fruitful one for me. I must thank you for granting me entry in the first place, Yama Emperor.”
Yan Tianxiao looked up, but didn’t give Yun Che a reply. He simply stared at his ancestors—too scared to even lift their heads when Yun Che was speaking—and asked in a shivering voice, “Venerable ancestors, what… what is going on?”
“Tell them,” Yun Che ordered carelessly.
“Yes,” Yan One answered before starting, “Heed my orders, descendants of the Yama Devils! Your ancestors were trapped in the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness for hundreds of millennia, but we have regained their passion for life after accepting Emperor Yun as our master.”
Yan Two said, “As descendants of the Yama Devils, it is your natural duty to obey your ancestors’ commands. From hereon, the will of Emperor Yun is the will of the Yama Devils, and his orders are as inviolable as the Mandate of Heaven itself!”
Yan Three said, “This is a command of the highest order from your ancestors, and no descendants of ours are allowed to question or disobey it! Anyone who tries to will be treated as traitors and dealt with accordingly!”
Every word the Three Yama Ancestors uttered pierced their descendants’ souls like a nine-stage lightning tribulation.
Absolutely everyone—from the Yama Emperor all the way to the Yama soldiers guarding the furthest walls of the Yama Imperial District—was shell-shocked by what they heard. It was as if someone had injected an innumerable amount of black holes into their very souls.
Did the most respected seniors of their country, the three protector gods of the Yama Realm… just declare that Yun Che was their master!?
Not only that, they wanted the entire Yama Realm to obey Yun Che as their master as well!?
Was this a dream, or a ridiculous joke by the heavens?
“Royal father, what…” Yan Jie shot Yan Tianxiao a lost look, but he discovered that the Yama Emperor was shaking from head to toe.
He was the god emperor of the Yama Devils and the closest relative of the three Yama Ancestors. Naturally, the shock he felt was several times greater than theirs.
“Have the three ancestors… gone mad?” Yan Wu whispered softly to herself.
“My three ancestors…” Yan Tianxiao also looked up from the ground and blurted the same thing, “Have you all gone mad!?”
The rest of the Yama Devils might not dare to voice their doubts in more than a whisper, but Yan Tianxiao had no such qualms. He was practically shouting at the three Yama Ancestors.
After all, they were demanding he surrender the entire Yama Realm to Yun Che!
He had attacked himself with profound energy multiple times since the beginning. Again and again, the pain wracking his body told him that what was happening before his eyes wasn’t a dream.
If it wasn’t a dream, then the Three Yama Ancestors must’ve gone insane. He couldn’t think of a third possibility no matter how he tried.
“Tianxiao, you little brat!” Yan One shouted angrily. “You’re the current Yama Emperor! How could you, of all people, forget how to speak with your ancestors properly?”
“No, Tianxiao will never disrespect his three ancestors.” Yan Tianxiao bowed deeply before begging in a sorrowful voice, “But… you are the highest beings of the world! How can you bow to another person!?”
“The Yama Realm has stood strong in the Northern Divine Region for eight hundred thousand years, and countless people have poured their life’s blood into it to make it an invincible realm. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it is the pride of all Yama Devils, now and forever! So… why are you giving it away to another person like it’s nothing!? How… how did you even arrive at such a ridiculous decision!?”
“Ridiculous? Hmph, you fool!” Yan Two retorted. “The Yama Realm was founded by the three of us. You are all our children or grandchildren!”
“The Yama Realm wouldn’t exist if we didn’t exist. Just the same, unworthy descendants like you wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for us! Therefore, why shouldn’t we be the ones to decide the fate and future of the Yama Realm?”
Yan Three added, “Emperor Yun is the bearer of the Devil Emperor’s inheritance, and his ambition is as great as the infinite sky. Why do you think we’ve lived like dirt in the Bone Sea of Eternal Darkness for eight hundred thousand years? It was for this very day! The very reason we founded the Yama Realm was to carry him to the top and help him fulfill his ambition!”
“Have we not allowed you to enjoy the world we fought with our lives to create? Are you seriously going to go against our orders now!?”
When they spoke to Yan Tianxiao, they could barely get a sentence out without yelling a bad word at him. But the moment they spoke of their “master”, their tone immediately changed to one of unnatural reverence.
Yan Tianxiao felt like blacking out again… he couldn’t believe that he, the Yama Emperor, would feel like passing out from sheer shock.
“Venerable ancestors.” Yan Tianxiao’s tone was three-tenths fury and seven-tenths imploring at this point. He pointed at Yun Che and said sorrowfully, “It is true that Yun Che is the Devil Emperor’s inheritor, but… he is just the inheritor! He isn’t the Devil Emperor herself!”
“He hails from the Eastern Divine Region, and it is said that he was born a denizen of a lower realm. How… how can you be this foolish, my ancestors!? There is no way an insignificant boy like Yun Che possibly deserves this level of treatment from you!”
Although Yan Tianxiao was completely distraught, he never overstepped his bounds and used words that were truly rude or disrespectful. Unfortunately for him, his words hit the enslaved Yama Ancestors’ reverse scales and enraged them so much that whatever hair they had left on top of their heads was standing on end as dark energy exploded around them.
“Silence!” Yan One said loudly, “How dare you disrespect our master like this!?”
“Bastard!” Yan Two said shrilly, “Who gave you the courage to insult our master!?”
“Unfilial descendant!” Yan Three said harshly, “Kowtow and beg for forgiveness now, or we’ll cleanse your filth from the family ourselves!”