As Shen Wuyi spoke, her moon-like eyes captured every subtle change in Yun Che’s expression and gaze. But from beginning to end, she saw no trace of surprise from Yun Che.

"This is also what puzzles me most."

Past sorrow surged in his heart. Though it had faded, it still brought a lingering ache. He softened his voice, slowly speaking: "Back then, after learning that another world existed beneath Abyss of Nothingness, amidst fear and unease, there was also a sudden surge of ecstasy... because that might mean you still had hope of survival."

"But, this glimmer of hope was completely extinguished after I personally fell into Abyss."

"When I leaped into Abyss, I was in my peak state, and fully prepared. In terms of protective power, I was slightly superior to you at that time, and in terms of physical strength, I far surpassed you. Even so, spatial turbulence of Abyss passage was still a terrifying nightmare for me. Every moment made me feel as if my body had been completely torn apart."

"At that time, I had to despairingly realize that you, severely injured and exhausted, could not possibly survive in such spatial turbulence... not to mention several days and nights, perhaps even a hundred breaths would be difficult to sustain."

"After arriving in this world, I repeatedly tried to search for your name... merely unwilling to admit, unable to let go of my unwillingness."

Shen Wuyi listened quietly, her jade face serene, never interrupting.

"So, when I saw you on Pure Land, you cannot imagine how incredibly unbelievable and ecstatic I was at that moment."

Smile bloomed on his lips, as if he had returned to that unforgettable moment: "In God Slumber Forbidden Zone, I mentioned our marriage contract because I thought that your state at that time allowed you to safely pass through Abyss passage. The only possibility was that when you fell, it was as if blessed by heaven, and you did not encounter any spatial turbulence. If so, that marriage contract, hidden in your clothes, might have survived... or even remained completely intact."

"Blessed by heaven?" Shen Wuyi finally spoke, but with a faint sneer: "You, a person who, with your own strength, would fight against fate even if it meant certain death, actually believe in such a thing as 'blessed by heaven'?"

"I believe."

Yun Che uttered these two words without hesitation, his gentle voice carrying a resolve akin to faith: "I believe even more that this heavenly blessing will always accompany you, eternally unceasing."

His eyes seemed to be lightly scorched by something, making Shen Wuyi unconsciously avoid Yun Che’s gaze at this moment. Her mind also seemed to freeze for a very brief time.

She was extremely calm and self-controlled. She never allowed her thoughts to be swayed by anything... But, world in her memory had never been cast with such a gaze, nor had she ever felt such tender affection...

Too unfamiliar, indescribable, and somewhat difficult to adapt to.

"But I do not believe." She replied: "I only believe in myself."

An unsurprising answer... Even Xia Qingyue, who knew she was a "tool of fate" back then, did not follow predetermined fate, but her own choice... falling into Abyss was an utter liberation from and resolute defiance of words "fate."

Yun Che’s toes slightly moved. He wanted to get closer, but ultimately restrained himself. As he said, how Xia Qingyue safely fell into Abyss, besides too vague "heavenly mandate protection," he could not think of any other explanation.

He could only helplessly say: "I know these words are indeed hard to believe. Your doubts are completely reasonable. But I have not exaggerated or deceived in slightest..."

"No need to explain, I believe."

Cold light in her eyes slowly receded. She calmly said: "Deception requires a reason, and also bears risk of being exposed. Astute as you are, there is no reason to awkwardly create such a useless lie, one that can be easily exposed and has so many loopholes."

"In my judgment, it should actually be true."

Yun Che’s lips curved slightly upward, saying with endless emotion: "Indeed, you are still you."

He knew very well that Shen Wuyi’s response was by no means trust in him, but her belief in her own intuition and judgment. She was Xia Qingyue, yet had no memories belonging to Xia Qingyue. And for current Shen Wuyi, he was merely a person she had only met a few times, calling him a "stranger" would not be an exaggeration.

But it did not matter. She was still alive, which was a luxury like a dream; her choice to fight alongside him dyed his originally gray path with too beautiful colors.

"However, even for you, being forced to become Divine Maiden of Eternal Night Divine Kingdom, these past twenty years must have been exceptionally difficult."

He asked question that had always lingered in his heart: "I have always wondered, where were you for twenty years before becoming Eternal Night Divine Maiden? During this time since returning from Pure Land, I have been unable to find any information about you twenty years ago. Even in Xuanji Hall, there are no relevant traces."

"Were you deeply hidden by Ignorant Divine Sovereign, or... in another place?"

Yun Che’s tone gradually changed, because he suddenly noticed that as he spoke, Shen Wuyi’s brows were slowly furrowing, a gradually deepening surprise and confusion.

"Twenty years before becoming Eternal Night Divine Maiden? What do you mean?" Her gaze was deep and probing.

Yun Che also unconsciously frowned, and said seriously: "Time you leaped into Abyss was four years before me."

"And with time black tide of Abyss World, four years in our world meant forty years had passed in Abyss World. This means that when I arrived, you had already been in this world for forty years." "And you became Eternal Night Divine Maiden twenty years ago, so for twenty years before that..."

He did not continue, because Shen Wuyi’s emotional changes were completely outside his expectations... the overflowing doubt was actually several times heavier than his own.

Her brows were tightly furrowed, her eyes faintly rippling, then gradually deepening with his words, like a misty galaxy, hazy and indistinguishable.

After a long time, she whispered: "When I opened my eyes, saw first ray of light in this world, and had first wisp of consciousness in this life, I was already in Eternal Night Divine Kingdom."

"And in first year after I woke up, I was already conferred title of Eternal Night Divine Maiden."

"At least in my cognition, in my memory, there is no 'twenty years before' you speak of."

"...?" Yun Che suddenly froze, his consciousness briefly chaotic, and aura around him solidified for a few breaths.

Then, he slowly shook his head, saying with extreme certainty: "Absolutely... im... pos... sible."

"Scene of you leaping into Abyss would appear in every dream of mine thereafter. No matter what, I could not possibly misremember such a simple and clear time. And under time black tide of Abyss, there is indeed a tenfold difference in flow rate, which also cannot be wrong."

At least, Yun Xi’s age perfectly matched time black tide.

"..." Shen Wuyi did not answer, and could not answer.

Because her cognition and memory were indeed only twenty years. Her astonishment was no less than Yun Che’s.

And in his perception and judgment, his appearance did not seem to be lying, nor fabricating.

On Eden Cloud Peak, after Yun Che learned that Shen Wuyi was Xia Qingyue, he once whispered a question to Li Suo... Based on information he knew about Shen Wuyi at that time, when she first became Eternal Night Divine Maiden, twenty years ago, her cultivation was only at Divine Master Realm Level Ten.

And when she fell into Abyss, her cultivation was also at this level.

He was deeply puzzled at that time: with Xia Qingyue’s talent and aptitude, how could her cultivation not have progressed at all for entire twenty years from her fall into Abyss to her becoming Eternal Night Divine Maiden?

He had briefly considered many possibilities... And now, Shen Wuyi’s answer to him was that she simply did not have those twenty years!?

What... was going on??

"Where did Ignorant Divine Sovereign find you?" Yun Che thought of something, and suddenly asked.

"Mist Sea, but it was not she who found me." Shen Wuyi corrected: "It was actually Shen Youluan who rescued me in Mist Sea. At that time, I was in a coma, in a deep part of Mist Sea that, with my cultivation at that time, I should never have entered."

Deep part of Mist Sea... that was a place only Divine Emperor Realm practitioners dared to venture.

"Shen Youluan felt compassion, rescued me from Mist Sea while I was in a coma, brought me back to Eternal Night Divine Kingdom, healed my injuries, and originally intended to safely send me away after I recovered and woke up."

"But before I woke up, Ignorant Divine Sovereign discovered that I possessed Nine Profound Exquisite Body. Thus, I fell into Ignorant Divine Sovereign’s hands. She gave me name 'Shen Wuyi,' forcibly chose me as perfect Divine Successor, and naturally, person who saved my life changed from Shen Youluan to her."

"Including that marriage contract, it was also accidentally discovered by Shen Youluan when she rescued me, and she risked hiding it for me out of compassion. But under Ignorant Divine Sovereign’s overwhelming power, she could not tell me truth, but that did not prevent me from gradually seeing everything with my own eyes."

Yun Che’s brows furrowed even more. He had briefly explored deep part of Mist Sea once, but retreated in haste after a short time, never daring to venture deep again.

How could she have been sleeping there back then?

And those twenty years that mysteriously disappeared, could not have been spent entirely sleeping in deep part of Mist Sea...

Space fell silent again for a long time. Shen Wuyi raised her eyes from her contemplation, looking at Yun Che’s sometimes slightly moving, sometimes confused expression, and parted her lips: "It seems you find it hard to solve."

"More than hard to solve..." Yun Che’s brows remained furrowed for a long time. The twenty years from Xia Qingyue’s leap into Abyss to her becoming Shen Wuyi seemed to have been forcibly dug out, leaving no trace of their existence... This was more than an unsolvable doubt; it was a bizarre defiance of cognition.

Coupled with how she safely passed through Abyss passage...

What exactly happened to all this?? Or what was hidden...

Shen Wuyi said coldly: "Even hearts of mortals are hard to fathom, let alone world secrets involving space and time. Since it is an unsolvable past doubt, there is no need to trouble your mind with it. Perhaps one day, truth will inadvertently surface on its own."

Upon hearing this, Yun Che also decisively cast aside his chaotic thoughts: "You are right. Compared to how to safely return to our homeland together, these past matters are insignificant. So, Qing... Wuyi, what does this 'Dragon-Coiling Seven Profound Crystal' that never existed actually mean?"

Shen Wuyi did not answer directly, her eyes containing a profound pool that was hard to fathom: "You might as well guess."

Yun Che said: "I guess... it is related to 'Secret Canon' that Shenwu Yanye screamed out when she fell into a dream that day."

She tilted her head, giving him a deep look: "Although, you, who can defy cognition and control Abyss Dust, are person in world most likely to see through this situation, to be so accurate indeed makes me look at you with new eyes again. Thus, I am even more interested in your plan."

She slowly said: "In God Slumber Forbidden Zone, you said you used despicable means to make Heaven-Folding Divine Maiden fall for you, to cause alliance of Dream Weaving, Heaven-Folding, and Senluo Kingdoms to fall apart, burying a hidden line of enmity."

"At first, I found it absurd and ridiculous. Because even if magnified tenfold, it is ultimately just emotional injury and betrayal. What if three Divine Sovereigns become sworn enemies? What if three Divine Kingdoms truly turn against each other? At most, they would block communication with each other. Could mere junior emotional grievances really cause disaster to a nation??" "Now it seems, your methods should not be so shallow."

"Of course, all this is just a prelude and an introduction." Yun Che organized his thoughts slightly, and actively explained: "Reason why my identity as 'Meng Jianyuan' is flawless is because Dreamless Divine Sovereign Meng Kongchan firmly believes I am Meng Jianyuan, and no matter what, will have no doubts."

"Oh?" Shen Wuyi’s eyes narrowed in surprise.

Yun Che gave him facts without concealment: "Simply put, I used Divine Sovereign Hua Xin’s extreme concern for his daughter to induce him to send me to Dream Weaving Divine Kingdom. Meng Kongchan personally cast a dream on me to confirm that I had no ulterior motives towards Hua Caili. I used this as an opportunity. When Meng Kongchan cast his soul power on me, his soul domain wide open and unguarded, I used a wisp of ancient devil soul to counterattack his soul, implanting cognition 'I am Meng Jianyuan.'"

"And three blank spots, where 'suggestions' can be implanted at any time."

Yun Che’s words were undoubtedly shocking. Meng Kongchan was, without dispute, existence with strongest Divine Soul among Six Divine Kingdoms. Counterattacking his soul, implanting cognition and suggestions that could be activated at any time... probably no one would believe it even if someone dared to say it.

Shen Wuyi’s aura showed a slight ripple of emotion, but she did not question or sneer. Instead, she calmly said: "It is indeed a method no one would ever dream of, so inconceivable that even if you told truth, probably no one would believe it."

"You specifically mentioned this. Is core of your plan centered on Meng Kongchan?"

Yun Che did not answer directly, but said with extreme certainty: "Details of it, I cannot explain in a short time. What I can guarantee is..."

"Within five years, Divine Kingdom will surely fall into chaos!"

Shen Wuyi’s moon-like eyes slightly narrowed, her long lashes trembling slightly, as if in surprise, or perhaps contemplating something.

"There is one more important thing." Yun Che continued: "I originally intended to use power of Pan Xiaodie Divine Kingdom to stir up chaos in Eternal Night Divine Kingdom. But now, since that is your dwelling place and place of your planning, I will naturally change it."

"Stir up Pan Xiaodie Divine Kingdom?" Shen Wuyi’s eyes showed ripples of surprise again: "Pan Xiaodie Divine Kingdom is most loyal to Abyss Emperor, and least likely to contend with outsiders. I am very curious, what could stir..."

Her voice suddenly stopped, cold ripples appearing in her beautiful eyes: "Could it be... Pan Buwang?"

Yun Che smiled and nodded, pleased with their telepathy: "Exactly."

Shen Wuyi’s lips moved slightly, a subtle expression flashing across her face: "Although I do not know how you will achieve this, but... no need to change it."

"Eh??" Yun Che was slightly startled.

"That is power of a Divine Kingdom after all. If it can be used, how can it be wasted? If you can truly stir up disaster, then I also have my own way... to divert trouble to east."

"Good!" Yun Che did not ask for details, only nodded heavily.

Neither of them knew how other would do it, yet they gave each other complete trust... For Yun Che, this was too simple and natural; for Shen Wuyi, since she had made her choice, she would never regret or hesitate.

Shen Wuyi turned her gaze to barrier behind her.

A quarter of an hour was too short. Unconsciously, it was approaching too quickly.

"Since I chose to go to certain death with you, I will naturally not just wait. As for what I will do... you will soon know."

After speaking, she had already turned and walked away. For her, retrieving Dragon-Coiling Seven Profound Crystal and stating her choice on this trip was enough. As for future, she would observe and act, even if it meant death, it would not be in vain.

"Wuyi!" Yun Che subconsciously raised his hand to call out to her, his fingertips slightly curled, then slowly lowered. His voice was soft, filled with deep concern: "Shenwu Yanye is too terrifying and dangerous. No matter what you do, you must first protect yourself."

Shen Wuyi’s steps did not stop. She said faintly: "Madmen are indeed terrifying, but they are also easiest to deal with, are they not?"

"Everyone says becoming Eternal Night Divine Maiden is a great sorrow. In reality, most of time, I am extremely grateful that I drifted to Eternal Night Divine Kingdom."

As last word fell, her figure had already stepped outside barrier. Her expression had completely returned to its clear and indifferent state, showing no joy or sorrow, untainted by mortal dust.