Chapter 165 Still breathing? Incredibly lucky!

The red light moved with a speed surpassing that of lightning. Fen Juechen only caught a fleeting glimpse of the crimson glare, lacking even the time to generate a conscious reaction before the red light struck the crown of his head and instantly plunged into his body.

Immediately, a sensation akin to being pierced by countless steel needles surged wildly from his soul, wringing an extraordinarily shrill shriek from his lips. His consciousness instantly shattered, and he collapsed into unconsciousness.

The red-dressed girl lowered her eyelashes slightly, her gaze cold and lucid. Maintaining her posture, she swiftly read Fen Juechen’s memories... Just ten breaths later, the crimson ray detached itself from Fen Juechen's body and vanished into thin air. His memories had been completely and thoroughly read by the girl, down to the very last detail, without a single omission.

Simultaneously, she casually erased all memories of having ever seen her.

Slowly withdrawing her palm, the girl's pupils flashed with a faint, peculiar light. She turned around, not sparing another glance at the unconscious Fen Juechen, nor launching any further attacks against him. With a gentle swipe of her snowy hand before her, a long spatial rift instantly tore open ahead of her, lingering amidst a ferocious hiss without shrinking or vanishing.

"You have lived two lifetimes, yet your destiny in both has been so tragic, so pitiful that I do not even wish to kill you."

With a cold, low murmur, the girl stepped into the spatial rift, which then vanished as it closed.

Returning to Flowing Cloud City, Yun Che quickly made his way to his small courtyard, calming his mind to recover his profound energy and injuries. His battle with Fen Juechen had been far from the desperate and perilous ordeal he had anticipated. When Fen Juechen still possessed nearly forty percent of his power, he had been overwhelmingly defeated by Yun Che's crushing momentum... Thinking back on it now, it still felt somewhat surreal.

"Jasmine, I keep feeling that Fen Juechen's state was rather strange. Is a demon profound practitioner's stamina inherently that weak after consuming a massive amount of energy?"

Yun Che waited for quite a while, but received no response from Jasmine.

Could she be sleeping? No, the demonic poison in her body had been cleansed; she shouldn't fall into a coma of completely sealed consciousness again.

Hesitating for a moment, Yun Che sank his consciousness and entered the Heavenly Poison Pearl.

Within the world of the Heavenly Poison Pearl, only Red'er was soundly asleep, entirely unaware of his arrival... There was no sign of Jasmine's figure, nor could he sense her presence.

"..." Yun Che silently contemplated for a moment. Instead of leaving the Heavenly Poison Pearl, he stood right there and waited for Jasmine to return. Although Jasmine no longer needed to rely on the Heavenly Poison Pearl, her life was still linked with his, and her soul body could not stray far from him for long. She would be back soon enough.

As expected, only a short while after Yun Che had waited, a red flash bloomed before him, and Red'er reappeared gracefully, her milky-white little face utterly expressionless.

"...Were you waiting for me?"

"You didn't go... to find Fen Juechen, did you?" Yun Che asked, his face full of suspicion.

"Hmph, you guessed correctly." Jasmine turned her face away, the corners of her lips curling upward unconsciously by a fraction, as if highly displeased that he had guessed her recent actions. "Rest assured, I didn't kill him; I merely learned some things I wanted to know from him."

"Does that mean you already know all of his secrets?" Yun Che asked in astonishment.

"Hmph, pretty much."

Yun Che's spirits instantly lifted, and he hurriedly asked, "Then how did his power come to be? What happened to him during those few years? Why would he want to obtain the Heaven Smiting Divine Sword?"

Since Jasmine said "pretty much," she must have figured out virtually everything. The various anomalies surrounding Fen Juechen had weighed heavily on his mind. Now that Jasmine knew the answers, he naturally wanted to pursue the matter to the end.

"It seems you care quite a bit about this Fen Juechen," Jasmine said indifferently.

"I'm just very curious," Yun Che said, frowning. "In the span of a mere four years, his power unexpectedly surged to such a degree—it's simply unfathomable. The profound energy he wielded was something I'd never seen before, and the Heaven Smiting Divine Sword he mentioned today is shrouded in numerous oddities. I always feel like there is a huge mystery hidden behind Fen Juechen, leaving me no choice but to dwell on it."

"More than just a huge mystery." Jasmine lowered her slender brows slightly. "The contents recorded in his memory are far more interesting than I imagined!"

Though she used the word "interesting," Jasmine's expression was unmistakably heavy.

This undoubtedly magnified Yun Che's already profound curiosity and suspicion severalfold. Earlier, when Jasmine had shouted the name "Evernight Illusory Demon Tome," her tone had been deeply abnormal. Now, it seemed the complexity of this matter far exceeded anything he could possibly imagine.

"Could this be another level that I'm not permitted to know about?" Yun Che asked cautiously. Jasmine kept many things hidden from him, and whatever she chose not to tell him, she would never reveal so much as half a word about, no matter what.

Jasmine glanced at him, then proudly turned her face away again. "Although this matter is rather troublesome to explain, since you're so eager to know... Hmph, I just freed myself from the demonic poison today and am in a good mood, so I suppose I can tell you. However, no matter who you encounter in the future, you must never reveal even half a word of what I am about to say."

*Goodness, it's that serious...* Yun Che said with a righteous expression, "There's probably no one in this world who understands me better than you. Whether I'm someone who doesn't know the gravity of a situation, aren't you well aware?"

"Hmph, when it comes to women, you've never known the gravity of anything!" Jasmine scoffed coldly.

Yun Che was rendered speechless.

Jasmine extended her arm, cupping her small hand to set up a small soundproofing barrier around Red'er... Naturally, this soundproofing barrier wasn't meant to prevent eavesdropping, but rather to avoid disturbing her peaceful slumber.

This casual gesture showcased Jasmine's almost subconscious care and protectiveness toward Red'er.

*Jasmine has always doted on Red'er, but she's always so fierce with me...* Yun Che thought with a twinge of sour envy.

"In the primeval era, it was the era of the true gods, while all other races were low and humble existences. The chaotic space was Yin to the north and Yang to the south. The Southern Chaos was the world where the ancient divine race existed, while the Northern Chaos was the world of the ancient demon race. The gods and demons each occupied half of the chaotic space. The two races repelled each other's Yin and Yang, viewing each other with hostility, yet they rarely instigated conflicts, kept their distance, and seldom interacted, living in peace as if they were two parallel worlds with contradictory attributes."

Jasmine began her narrative, but her account left Yun Che bewildered, prompting him to ask involuntarily, "Um... what does this have to do with Fen Juechen?"

"You are not allowed to interrupt!" Jasmine gave a heavy huff. "Of course these things are related to Fen Juechen."

"..."

"The reason gods and demons are powerful is because they were nurtured by the primal power of the primordial chaos and grew under the aura of that primordial chaos... That purest, most powerful, and most ultimate breath of heaven and earth from the dawn of chaos is the Primordial Chaos Qi I mentioned when I taught you the World Defying Heaven Manual. Although the heaven and earth qi you absorb via the World Defying Heaven Manual also exists, compared to the Primordial Chaos Qi, it lags behind by goodness knows how many levels—it's an absolute disparity like heaven and earth."

Yun Che naturally remembered the "Primordial Chaos Qi." Jasmine had stated back then that if the World Defying Heaven Manual could be cultivated to the tenth stage, it could invoke the ultimate heaven and earth force—the Primordial Chaos Force! However, she had also noted that with a human physique, cultivating the World Defying Heaven Manual to the sixth stage was already the absolute limit.

"The fundamental reason true gods could never appear after the Era of Gods is that the Primordial Chaos Qi within the chaotic space has long since thinned to the point where it can no longer nurture bodies and powers of the divine level. Furthermore, as the chaotic world grows increasingly turbid, the Primordial Chaos Qi will only grow thinner year by year, ensuring that true gods can never manifest again. By now, the chaotic space perhaps no longer possesses the pure and ultimate Primordial Chaos Qi of the beginning."

"In that ancient era, the true gods were supreme beings. The countless planets, starry realms, and existing minor worlds of today were partly formed by chaos itself, while a vast majority were created or modified by the true gods. Moreover, over ninety percent of the present races were also nurtured by the power of the true gods. This includes the human race, the beast race, the elf race, the Dark Nether race, the Wood Spirit race..."

"The Dark Nether... Wood Spirit... race? What races are those?" Yun Che blurted out reflexively. He had never heard of these two race names; neither the Profound Sky Continent nor the Illusory Demon Realm held any historical record of them.

Jasmine cast him a sidelong glance, seemingly irritated that he had interrupted her speech again, yet she merely let out a soft huff and finally maintained her patience as she continued: "The Wood Spirit race, much like the elf race, is a race with an extreme affinity for natural forces. They can communicate with plants and control them to a certain extent. The profound energy talent of this race is extremely low, making them humble and weak. Coupled with their unique powers and physiques, once they fall into the hands of outsiders, the consequences are exceptionally tragic... They will be enslaved and used as tools to search for or cultivate medicinal herbs. Those who suffer an even worse fate will be directly refined into spiritual medicines or medicine spirits! At the auctions in my world, Wood Spirits are frequently put up for sale. Because their numbers are dwindling and they face extinction, their selling prices are increasingly exorbitant."

"..."

"The Dark Nether race is a race capable of arbitrarily shifting forms and feeding on darkness. They possess no gender differentiation and reproduce asexually. This race is not small in scale, but they can only exist in places shrouded in gloomy energies. The upper limit of the profound energy they can cultivate independently is extremely low, yet they possess the ability to plunder the souls of living beings and drastically boost their own strength by devouring those souls."

"Feed... on... darkness?" Yun Che widened his eyes. He could comprehend feeding on vegetation, morning dew, the western wind, or even soaring winds, but feeding on darkness... what kind of concept was that??

Can "darkness" actually be eaten?

"Hmph! Ignorant!" Jasmine said with utter disdain. "With your limited exposure, perhaps you only know of the existence of humans, beasts, and demons. In this vast chaotic space, there are hundreds of large and small races. What you perceive doesn't even amount to a drop in the ocean! Not only do races that feed on darkness or light exist, but there are also races that feed on dreams, or even space. Rumored from the primeval era, there once existed a race that fed on time..."

"~!..." Yun Che's brain nearly short-circuited; he couldn't even fathom what kind of scene it was to eat dreams, space, or time...

"Forget it, you haven't even stepped out of a tiny Blue Pole Star. You probably won't understand these things in this lifetime. Talking this much to you is a complete waste of breath." Jasmine crossed her slender arms over her chest, striking an arrogant pose of looking down upon all living things.

"Yet the Era of Gods ultimately came to a complete end. And the cause of that end, I told you about long ago... It was because of a sword."

"The Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword!" Yun Che murmured softly.