Instead of examining the “brand new” world around her, You’er followed Hong’er into the Sky Poison Pearl. Soon, both of them had fallen asleep.

It would be a long time before either of them got used to the new shape of their souls.

You’er was now a half-human, half-sword like Hong’er, but at least her soul was finally complete. Given enough time, she would eventually regain her emotional expression, speech, sense of touch, sense of smell, and even a real body. She would be truly alive.

“With this, I have no more regrets,” Jie Yuan whispered to herself.

But is that really true? Do I really have no more regrets in this world...

“What did you say, Senior?”

Jie Yuan’s whisper was so soft that Yun Che didn’t hear her fully. However, the indistinct voice that entered his ears still felt different from usual.

Jie Yuan looked at him solemnly and indifferently. “Now, Hong’er isn’t the only one who shares your life. You’er is part of you as well. From here on, my daughters’ fate, our daughters’ fate is in your hands.”

Yun Che said seriously, “Don’t worry, Senior. I swear I’ll…”

“Hmph. That is unnecessary.” Jie Yuan interrupted him before he could finish. “There’s nothing more laughable than promises in this entire world. I’m doing this not only because you are my only choice, but also because I trust you.”

“Okay.” Yun Che nodded and said, “I won’t disappoint you, Senior.”

The supreme Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor had just placed her daughters’ fates on a mere mortal like him. This had to be the biggest, heaviest trust in the entire world, not to mention the pressure that came with it.

“In that case, it’s time for me to fulfill my promise.” Jie Yuan then proceeded to say in an indifferent tone something that would shock Yun Che completely, “I will destroy the pa.s.sage on Wall of Primal Chaos with the World Piercer and prevent my clansmen from returning. They’ll never be able to harm the current Primal Chaos.”

“...” Yun Che stared at her blankly for a very long time.

Jie Yuan… was saying that she would prevent those devil G.o.ds from ever returning!

If that was true, then of course they wouldn’t be able to hurt anything within the Primal Chaos!

Yun Che would never imagine such an answer from her. No one would ever believe it was true.

After all, Jie Yuan was practically betraying her own people for the sake of the current world!

At Jie Yuan’s level, the people of the Primal Chaos were nothing more than lowly mortals. Just like the tiniest of ants, she could flick a finger and decide the life and death of all mortals and star realms.

No one doubted that her clansmen, the people who had suffered with her for millions of years outside the Primal Chaos were more important to her than anyone and anything in this world!

But now… she was saying that she would abandon her own clansmen by her own hands!!

“Senior… you… you’re… serious about this?” Yun Che sounded a little strained.

“Do you remember what I said the first day I came?” Jie Yuan said slowly without any change in her expression. It was possible that she had made up her mind a long time ago. “At the time, I told you that I wouldn’t hold them back from venting their hatred on the world. I couldn’t even if I wanted to.”

“...” Of course he remembered everything she said.

“Although I am the Devil Emperor of the Heaven Smiting Devil Race, and my order is basically the mandate of heaven…” Jie Yuan hid a sigh before continuing, “Their souls are ultimately weaker than mine. The million-year long pain, hatred, and despair twisted their minds a long time ago, and all of them have transformed into pure demons of hatred.”

“If they were allowed to return, they would vent everything onto this world like madmen. No one, not even me will be able to stop them.”

“Moreover, more than ninety percent of my clansmen lost their lives outside of the Primal Chaos, and the ones who did survive are at their limits. Even the ones with the longest remaining lifespan… only have about ten thousand or so years left.”

“If they’re going to spend the rest of their lives committing sins and ravaging this fragile world, then I might as well…”

Jie Yuan suddenly stopped as if she couldn’t bear to speak any longer. She turned away slightly to hide a tiny flash of pain.

Yun Che didn’t interrupt her once during her explanation. Her promise hadn’t just dragged the Primal Chaos away from the brink of the abyss, it had pulled it right back into the heavens. He could already imagine in his head how happy the people of the G.o.d Realm would be once they heard all of this.

Yun Che should be overjoyed himself, but right now he was more stunned than anything.

He never imagined that Jie Yuan would be willing to sacrifice all her clansmen for a world that had once betrayed her, and now had almost nothing to do with her whatsoever...

She wouldn’t be able to face her clansmen after this, and more than that herself. Her pain would no doubt be bigger than anyone else’s.

This was her reply, the reply of a devil, the emperor of devils herself no less!

He couldn’t even begin to express how stunned he felt.

“You may return to those people now. You may as well set them at ease sooner rather than later,” Jie Yuan said. “When the time comes, I will return to where I came from and destroy the spatial pa.s.sage… I am the only one who can destroy it. Once it is destroyed, there will never be another spatial pa.s.sage like this.”

“...” Yun Che gave her an unnaturally stiff nod before saying, “Okay.”

“I’ll be entrusting Hong’er and You’er to you. Don’t forget your promise to me… if you dare hurt or abandon them, I’ll never forgive you no matter where I am, alive or dead!”

“Don’t worry, Senior. I will…” He was about to swear a solemn oath again when he suddenly noticed something wrong with Jie Yuan’s words. Then, he frowned and blurted in astonishment. “Senior, where… where are you going? Aren’t you going to stay by Hong’er and You’er’s side?”

“Where else?” Jie Yuan smiled before looking toward the distant east with black pupils. “I’ll be staying with my clansmen, of course.”

Shocked again, Yun Che said hurriedly, “Senior, you…”

“I was the reason they were exiled from the Primal Chaos.” Jie Yuan knew what Yun Che was going to say, so she shut him down coldly before continuing, “The reason they managed to struggle this long outside of the Primal Chaos was so that they could return one day. However, I will be betraying them and extinguis.h.i.+ng their only hope.”

“My sin is already unforgivable. How can I abandon them a second time after what I’m about to do to them?”

“...” Yun Che stared blankly at Jie Yuan. She was shrouded in darkness, and her face was riddled with scars that even she couldn’t remove with her power. Her eyes were so scary that no one would ever dare to stare her straight in the eye.

She was supposed to be the scariest, most unforgivable devil in the world. Even the worst of them all because she was the emperor of devils, but...

“You don’t have to do this, Senior.” Jie Yuan’s resolve had completely overturned his knowledge of the devils again. “It’s because of the World Piercer that your clansmen were able to survive to this day. They wouldn’t even have the chance to return to thr Primal Chaos if it wasn’t for you. You… you don’t owe anyone anything, Senior.”

“Also, both You’er and Hong’er need you.”

Once, he dreaded the return of the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor.

But now, he was shocked to find that he didn’t want her to leave at all.

“I’m not just leaving the Primal Chaos to keep my clansmen company.” Jie Yuan sounded as calm as ever. “Yun Che, tell me… Do you think I belong in this world?”

“...” For a time, Yun Che couldn’t give her an answer.

“Both the aura and the laws of the Primal Chaos are several levels weaker than they used to be. Neither my power nor my existence are sustainable by the current laws of the Primal Chaos. I’m sure you noticed how my return has caused profound beasts to riot on a larger and larger scale, and the law and order of many planets and star realms to crumble one after another.”

“I’ve been able to keep the laws of the Blue Pole Star from crumbling during my time here, but… the same can’t be said about the laws of the nearby planets. In less than two months, nearly ten thousand planets have encountered a complete collapse. Half of them are completely void of life. This terrible, terrible sin is without a doubt mine to bear.”

If a True G.o.d was born in this world, they wouldn’t disrupt the natural laws because they were a creation of natural order. But Jie Yuan was an “outsider” who came from outside the Primal Chaos, and her power was simply too much for the laws of the Primal Chaos to bear.

Even worse, the disaster she caused just by existing was bigger than any normal person could possibly imagine.

“If I stay here, it’s impossible to tell how long it’ll take the Primal Chaos to get used to my existence, and how many more star realms and planets will perish because of me.”

“Since I’ve decided to sacrifice my clansmen for this world, I should definitely not remain in this world either.”

“This is my decision, and I’m not changing it. This is the best for me, Hong’er and You’er, you, and all the people in the Primal Chaos.”

Jie Yuan’s voice entered Yun Che’s ears and resounded inside his mind, refusing to fade.

Yes, this was the best outcome. The devil G.o.ds wouldn’t be returning to the Primal Chaos, and the Devil Emperor herself had promised to leave once and for all. It was such an impossible, happy outcome that it was practically dream-like.

So why wasn’t he happy with such an outcome? Yun Che took a while to calm himself before asking, “When will you be leaving?”

“Nine days from now,” Jie Yan said. “Any later than that and it might be too late.”

If the devil G.o.ds successfully reached the wall entrance and flooded into the Primal Chaos, then not even the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor would be able to stop them.

“...” Yun Che fell silent once more.

“Did my image suddenly grow much bigger in your heart?” Jie Yuan asked.

Yun Che nodded before asking, “You are a devil. Why are you willing to go this far for ordinary mortals who have nothing to do with you?”

“Heh, devil he says…” Jie Yuan smiled. “Yes, I’m a devil… but I’m also a devil who’s worthy of him.”

“...” Yun Che smiled before saying gently, “That’s right. I finally understand why the Heretic G.o.d broke the worst taboo to be with you, and why he abandoned the t.i.tle of Creation G.o.d after he lost you. You are definitely worthy of him. You’re more worthy of him than anyone else in the entire world.”

At this moment, his respect for Jie Yuan far outstripped his fear of her.

Jie Yuan didn’t react to Yun Che’s soulful words, however. Suddenly, she asked Yun Che a question, “Answer me, Yun Che.”

“Do you think that this world is worth my sacrifice?”

Yun Che looked up and said, “If I was you, I wouldn’t be able to answer that question, Senior. But as a selfish mortal of the Primal Chaos… I believe that it is worth it.”

“The current Primal Chaos is undoubtedly lowly and weak compared to the old world. It has also developed its own stable laws and mature rules of survival, stable planes and worlds since the pa.s.sing of the G.o.ds and devils. I won’t deny that there are many despicable and dark corners in this world, and some are more than enough to drive a person into despair, but ultimately I believe the good in this world ultimately outweighs the bad... If nothing else, I believe that it is worth everything I have to protect.”

Jie Yuan appeared unnaturally attentive as she listened to his answer. In the end, she stared at Yun Che and said, “Good. I hope that you’ll be able to believe this for as long as you live. But…”

Her pupils suddenly flashed black, and her voice turned deeper. “Remember this, Yun Che. If you hadn’t saved Hong’er back then, if you hadn’t taken care of You’er for the past few years, I would never have given up my grudge so quickly. If you weren’t a man worthy of my trust and the future of Hong’er and You’er, I would never have arrived at my decision today. So you are the one who saved this world! There is no one deserves to be called the ‘Messiah’ more than you do!”

“You must never forget this!”

His rescue of Hong’er from the Primordial Profound Ark was a fateful encounter. The reason he made a point to visit You’er frequently was because You’er had saved his life once. However, he never imagined that his accidental encounter with them would change the entire fate of the Primal Chaos and save countless lives.

“But there are a few things that I can’t put down.”

“Such as?” Yun Che asked in confusion.

“To this day, I cannot be sure if this world is worth sacrificing my people. I am even less sure if this world you saved won’t betray you one day.”

“To betray you is to betray my daughters. To betray you and my daughters is to betray everything I’ve sacrificed to protect this world!”

“Therefore…”

Jie Yuan’s eyes abruptly turned sharp, and she hit Yun Che in the heart as the world darkened around them...