Before the Gate of the Pure Land.

One after another, the great Kingdoms of God departed. Their states of mind varied, but without a doubt, all carried the excitement and intense anticipation of soon stepping into the Eternal Pure Land.

If all went smoothly, these core figures of the Kingdoms of God would not only welcome a new life, but would also become the architects and witnesses of a brand-new chapter in history.

Dugu Zhuyuan, leading a group of Abyssal Knights, personally saw them off before the Pure Land’s gate.

"Dreamless Divine Regent, do not forget the Pure Land's ten-year invitation. As this involves the shared destiny of the Pure Land and the various Kingdoms of God, I trust you will not hold back in the integration and collection of your Kingdom's resources."

"Furthermore, during these ten years, the Abyssal Monarch, the Lord High Priests, and indeed the entire Pure Land will be exerting all efforts to prepare for the opening of the Eternal Pure Land. Therefore, the Abyssal Monarch has instructed that unless it is a matter of the utmost gravity, he is not to be forcibly disturbed. If there is truly a matter of absolute necessity requiring Pure Land intervention, you may seek me out."

Meng Kongchan nodded with a solemn expression, gave a faint reply, and stepped onto the profound ship.

The profound ship flew away from the Pure Land gate, yet it did not immediately accelerate into the distance. Instead, it floated in the air, drifting neither fast nor slow. Meng Kongchan stood at the stern, his gaze fixed on the slowly receding Gate of the Pure Land.

Following them, the deathly silent silhouettes of the Eternal Night Kingdom of God appeared.

Dugu Zhuyuan bowed slightly. "Lightless Divine Regent, the Abyssal Monarch has instructed: do not forget the Pure Land's ten-year invitation..."

He was repeating the words spoken to every Kingdom of God, but halfway through, his voice suddenly cut off, and his brows slowly furrowed.

Because the pitch-black palanquin before him had suddenly exhibited an extremely abnormal fluctuation of aura... and this fluctuation was intensifying at a shocking speed, accompanied by the Lightless Divine Regent's chaotic, heavy breathing.

"Divine Regent, what has happened?" Shenwu Mingque stepped closer, her voice full of worry.

The aura's turbulence did not cease at Shenwu Mingque's voice; instead, it became even more violent. The entire palanquin was on the verge of shattering amidst the intense tremors.

From behind the restlessly swaying black curtains, came Shenwu Yanye's obscure, hoarse voice: "Xueyan... Xueyan... is that you... have you finally... forgiven me..."

The voice was still raspy, yet it carried none of her usual gloomy harshness. Within that excessively trembling voice, there was actually a faint hint of... a wretched servility that should absolutely not come from a Divine Regent, and certainly not from the Lightless Divine Regent.

"...?" Dugu Zhuyuan raised his eyes, his face full of suspicion.

"Mn?" Yun Che stood beside Meng Kongchan, gazing at the Pure Land gate from afar with him, then said thoughtfully, "Could it be, this is... that 'great gift'?"

Meng Jianxi narrowed his eyes slightly. "To dare to touch Father God's wrath, even if she is the Lightless Divine Regent... let her, within the dreamscape woven by Father God, trample the face she just gained in the Pure Land a thousand times over under her own feet!"

Yun Che glanced sideways at Meng Kongchan. He still maintained his usual peaceful and gentle appearance. But his eyes, now fixed on Shenwu Yanye, were profound as an endless silver abyss.

"Divine Regent, you... what is wrong with you?"

Shenwu Mingque was clearly frightened by this bizarre state, her voice trembling as well. Especially the name "Xueyan" that Shenwu Yanye had shouted... that was a heavenly taboo that absolutely no one in the entire Eternal Night Kingdom of God dared to mention.

Shenwu Yanye was deaf to everything around her. Her chaotic voice continued to sound from within the palanquin: "I killed your parents and so many of your clansmen... I tortured you all these years... because I thought it was impossible for you to forgive me... Xueyan... you really forgave me..."

"Xueyan... I 'see' you! I really 'see' you... Xueyan!"

The surrounding Daughters of Eternal Night instinctively recoiled, every face revealing varying degrees of horror. They had seen the Lightless Divine Regent angry and crazed too many times, but no one had ever seen her in such a state.

BANG!

With a cracking sound, the pitch-black palanquin suddenly exploded, and Shenwu Yanye's figure stumbled out.

She was dressed in black, her head covered with a heavy black veil, and she actually stumbled straight towards Dugu Zhuyuan in front of her.

"...!" Dugu Zhuyuan's brows furrowed deeply. "Lightless Divine Regent, you..."

Just as the words left his mouth, his pupils suddenly shrank. The surrounding Abyssal Knights also gasped in unison, their faces filled with incredulous horror.

As Shenwu Yanye rushed forward, the black veil on her head suddenly tore apart.

Revealing the true face of the Lightless Divine Regent, which had not been seen in the light of day for who knows how many years.

The former Shenwu Xihua, while not a peerless beauty, was definitely within the category of a "beauty."

But the person before them... no, anyone at first glance would definitely not believe this was a "person."

Her skull was completely warped, and upon the twists were more than a dozen gnarled lumps and sunken pits of varying degrees. Half of her skin was still smooth, while the other half was carved with brown wrinkles.

Most terrifying were her facial features... her left eye was tilted upwards, the brow bone pressed down, with no eyeball visible; her right eye had shrunk into a half-closed slit. Between the two eyes was a nose so sunken it was almost invisible. Her jawbone was hideously skewed, wrenching her upper and lower lips apart with less than thirty percent overlap, revealing staggered, sharp teeth—unspeakably ferocious and terrifying.

The world knew that Shenwu Yanye had miraculously succeeded in bearing the divine origin with only seventy percent of a divine essence's qualifications, but her body had suffered immense damage. After that, she never showed her true face again, even wearing a black veil when stepping into the Pure Land.

Everyone thought she was unwilling to show her true face because her lifespan had been greatly damaged and she had aged rapidly... No one had imagined that it was not just her vision, lifespan, and voice that had been completely destroyed. Her entire head and facial features had been completely twisted and deformed by the impact of the True God power back then.

In terms of facial regularity, she was even more terrifying than the Abyssal Ghosts of the Endless Fog.

On the distant Dreamweaver profound ship, even Meng Kongchan, upon first sight, subconsciously leaned his upper body back a fraction.

Just what manner of man was Dugu Zhuyuan? As a pure battle maniac and profound fanatic, he had slain countless Abyssal Beasts and Abyssal Ghosts in his life and never knew what "fear" was. Yet, under this sudden visual assault, the strings of his soul snapped. In his moment of panic, he was grabbed by both arms by Shenwu Yanye.

Behind them, the Star and Moon Divine Regents, who had been conversing and slowly approaching, and the Pray Eternal Divine Regent all stopped simultaneously, their eyes filled with shock.

"Xueyan... look! I have already used the [Secret Tome] to restore my appearance, voice, and vision! Look at me now, listen to my voice now... You've forgiven me... so none of that happened, everything can start over... Xueyan, Xueyan!"

The out-of-control power of the Lightless Divine Regent was terrifyingly strong. Dugu Zhuyuan's arms were taut and on the verge of breaking, but he felt no pain at all, his eyes filled with a terror he had forgotten for who knows how many years.

His profound energy erupted, wanting to break free, but those hands were clamped onto his arms like an iron vise. Facing the power of a True God, no matter how much he struggled, it was like an ant trying to shake a tree—completely motionless.

"This is...?" Wu Shenxing murmured in surprise and doubt. Then, he suddenly saw a faint, strange silver light emanating from Shenwu Yanye's twisted and terrifying eye sockets.

He and Wu Shenyue exchanged a silent glance.

That was clearly... the Dreamweaver Kingdom of God's Aberrant Dream Epiphyllum!

"Mon... mon... monster!" Pan Buzhuo retreated several steps, his eyes wide with terror.

Pan Yusheng's gaze turned, glancing at the not-so-distant Dreamweaver profound ship, and said faintly, "Did Shenwu Yanye provoke Meng Kongchan? Hmph, of all people to provoke, she had to go and offend that smiling plague god."

"Just a moment ago on Eden's Crown, she was screeching with arrogance, scorning all the kingdoms, so imposing. Now, Shenwu Yanye's face as a Divine Regent is probably going to be completely lost."

For soul cultivators, a loss of emotional control is the greatest taboo. As the person with the strongest divine soul among the six Kingdoms of God, Meng Kongchan usually wore a faint smile, showing no might or arrogance, appearing completely harmless. But those familiar with the Dreamweaver Kingdom of God knew very well that he either didn't get angry, or once he was truly angered, he could, while chatting and laughing, make someone wish for death without a single physical injury.

"Lightless Divine Regent, I am not Shenwu Xueyan! Let go!!" Dugu Zhuyuan tried to struggle again and again, cracks already appearing on his arms: "This is the Pure Land! Even if you are a Divine Regent, you cannot... act presumptuously!"

He did not know that his stern voice, filled with the might of an Abyssal Knight, sounded like the gentle and soft voice of Shenwu Xueyan to Shenwu Yanye's ears.

"Good... to hear you say this in this life, from now on I will never go against your will, never doubt your words, and never act willfully again. I will give you everything you want..."

One of her hands released Dugu Zhuyuan's arm, and then, in his wide-opened eyes, she tremblingly reached for his face:

"Xueyan... so many years have passed, but your appearance hasn't changed at all... Do you know how many times I've dreamt... how many times I've regretted, how many times I've hated... three parts hatred for you, seven parts hatred for myself... but when I woke up, I would forcibly inflict all the hatred on you..."

Dugu Zhuyuan's whole body trembled. He took a sharp breath and suddenly let out a furious roar... but it only managed to stir a few strands of Shenwu Yanye's hair. It did not cause the slightest ripple on her terrifying face, which was now awash in dazed intoxication. Instead, it sent the few Abyssal Knights who tried to come up and help him flying far away.

The Lightless Divine Regent's five fingers finally landed on his face. Dugu Zhuyuan's entire body instantly tensed up like a bowstring about to snap. He didn't dare to breathe, his face losing color at an astonishing speed... In his life, he had been on the verge of death several times, but his face had never been so deathly pale.

On the Dreamweaver profound ship, Meng Jianxi's face was full of confusion: "What is going on?? Doesn't Shenwu Yanye have extreme hatred for Shenwu Xueyan? A hatred so great it radiates to all men in the world. But why... is she acting like this towards the 'Shenwu Xueyan' in her dream??"

"..." Meng Kongchan frowned slightly and did not speak.

Yun Che pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "This shows that there is another possibility regarding the grudge between this Lightless Divine Regent and Shenwu Xueyan. Perhaps... Shenwu Xueyan was not heartless towards Shenwu Yanye back then. It was just that by the time Shenwu Yanye realized it, she had already made an irreversible mistake, leading her to be unable to accept the evil consequences she had personally forged. Coupled with the mental distortion caused by forcibly bearing divine power... she became what she is now."

"But," Meng Jianxi looked at Meng Kongchan: "When I first became a Divine Son and asked Father God about the past events of the various Kingdoms of God, Father God asserted that Shenwu Xueyan never truly liked Shenwu Xihua back then, but was always using him."

Yun Che, however, said, "That statement itself has a big problem."

"Mn?" Meng Jianxi's gaze turned over.

Yun Che said slowly, "Matters of the heart are chaotic and complex. Sometimes, even oneself cannot sort them out, let alone an outsider. And for Senior, as the Dreamless Divine Regent, to make such an assertion about someone else's emotional affairs can only mean one thing... Senior had a friendship with Shenwu Xueyan back then."

Meng Kongchan neither confirmed nor denied it.

Meng Jianxi thought for a moment and suddenly understood: "Father God said that to protect the final dignity of an old friend?"

Meng Kongchan withdrew his gaze, turned around, and no longer looked at Shenwu Yanye in the distance. "Gratitude and grudges have all turned to ash. He doesn't count as an old friend, but we had a passing acquaintance. I can only say that Shenwu Xueyan's ending was, in the final analysis, his own doing. The details of it, we outsiders cannot fully know, nor do we need to delve deep. It is enough to take it as a lesson."

"The Chief High Priest is approaching. It is time to go."

At this moment, a gaze that touched the soul landed on Yun Che.

His eyes subtly shifted, landing on Shenwu Yi. He saw that her gaze had already retracted, looking at Shenwu Yanye with surprise and worry. Her hand was naturally raised, her slightly tilted fingertips pointing towards her own left ear.

"..." Yun Che's gaze slowly focused.

At the same time, her lips moved slightly... an extremely light movement, yet it was reflected so clearly in the depths of Yun Che's eyes.

Seven...

Apertures...

The speed of the Dreamweaver profound ship suddenly increased, and with a roar like the nine heavens' profound thunder, it rapidly sped away, disappearing over the horizon in a flash.

The suddenly fierce storm blew against Yun Che's robes and long hair. He closed his eyes and smiled softly, his hand unconsciously covering his heart.

Seven Apertures... Although I don't know what she is talking about for now, at least, she took the initiative to respond.

Even if all the past is lost, even if the worlds are completely different. She... is indeed still her.

BOOM—

On the Pure Land, a roar that shook ten thousand souls resounded, like a gigantic, sky-sundering hammer striking a suspended heavenly bell.

Amidst the roar, the silver light in Shenwu Yanye's eyes instantly collapsed, and the shadow of a silver epiphyllum silently shattered above her head.

The Chief High Priest's raised arm slowly lowered, his angry eyes pointing straight at Shenwu Yanye: "As a Divine Regent, to be trapped in an Aberrant Dream Epiphyllum without realizing it, you are simply a disgrace!"

Shenwu Yanye violently threw Dugu Zhuyuan aside. As if not fully awake from a residual dream, her movements were stiff as she touched her own face... then she suddenly let out a shriek like a vicious ghost.

"MENG—KONG—CHAN!! THIS REGENT WILL KILL YOU!!"

"Shenwu Yanye!"

The Chief High Priest called her by name, the heavy might contained in his voice actually suppressing her terrifyingly berserk state: "The Eternal Pure Land is close at hand! This is a major event concerning the future destiny of the Abyss! The Abyssal Monarch has already issued a royal decree on Eden's Crown. Before the passage to the Eternal Pure Land is opened, all Divine Regents must preserve their divine origin to the greatest extent!!"

"During this period, if you dare to provoke a battle between Divine Regents, leading to damage to the divine origin... the Pure Land will definitely impose the most severe sanctions!"

"Whatever grudges you have, wait until you step onto the Eternal Pure Land in the future, and you can resolve them yourselves!"

A new black veil was grabbed by Shenwu Yanye and draped over her head: "Go!"

A single short word, but the violence, anger, and killing intent contained within it sent a chill down the spines of all the Daughters of Eternal Night.

Behind them, Shenwu Yi, who had been supported by Shenwu Youluan all this time, silently stared at Shenwu Yanye's back for a moment.

So... that is how it is.

A doubt she had always had was... resolved in the scenes that had just unfolded.

PS: Better translation credit to Slayer