Chapter 1686 - Eternal Despair (1/2)
It was as if the three Yama Ancestors were possessed by an evil spirit. The ones who should be trying their hardest to protect Yama Realm wanted to give it away to an outsider. Worse than that was when Yan Tianxiao had decided to rebel against them, the first person to betray him was none other than the son he valued the most, the one he titled “Yama Crown Prince” himself. Not even in his wildest dreams could he have seen this coming.
“Crown Prince… have you gone insane?” Ninth Yama Devil Yan Tu bellowed.
Yan Tianxiao rushed to Yan Wu’s side and gathered his powers. After suppressing her wounds in the shortest amount of time possible, he finally turned around to face his own son. But he didn’t say anything. There was no anger in his eyes, only deep disappointment and sorrow.
Yan Wu slowly rose to her feet. Her face was pale, and her body was shaking. When she wiped away the blood at the corner of her lips, she glared at Yan Jie with eyes that looked like they were spitting fire.
“Yan… Jie!”
This was the first time she addressed her older brother with his name. “You… animal!”
A series of expressions flashed across Yan Jie’s face in an instant. “The ancestors’ orders are as great as the Mandate of Heaven! Without the venerable ancestors, there would be no Yama Devils or us! You are the animal who tried to disobey your ancestors and overthrow them!”
If Yan Jie was panicking when he attacked Yan Wu, then he had calmed down fully after he finished shouting his piece… in fact, he had never been this cool-headed in his whole life.
He was even starting to feel that he had made the boldest, wisest and most ruthless choice he had ever made in his life!
An overcautious and overly compassionate person could never achieve anything big! He would not let this opportunity slip by him due to some misguided sense of compassion!
“Traitorous… son!” Yan Tianxiao muttered before letting out a long sigh.
He understood why Yan Jie had made such a choice.
Yan Jie was incredibly talented, and he was the inheritor of the power of the Yama Devil. He was unanimously chosen as the Crown Prince, and for a time it looked like his future was bright and limitless. No one had any doubt that he would become the next god emperor at the time.
But after Yan Wu was born, she was able to inherit the power of the Yama Devil at a very young age and grow to become a level ten Divine Master in just three thousand years. Her achievements had overshadowed his completely.
Yan Jie was deeply wary and afraid of his overachieving sibling while Yan Tianxiao saw it as a trial for his son to overcome, a motivator that would drive him to greater heights.
If he could endure the pressure coming from Yan Wu and hone himself into a fine blade, he would become a greater crown prince than he already was.
That was why Yan Tianxiao pretended to be partial toward Yan Wu in front of Yan Jie. He even went so far as to spread rumors that he would withdraw Yan Jie’s status and make Yan Wu the Crown Princess instead.
Unfortunately, judging from Yan Jie’s performance for the past couple of years, his son hadn’t lived up to his expectations. He was starting to feel that he had overestimated Yan Jie’s scale of ambition and endurance. But that didn’t mean he had given up on him. On the contrary, he remained optimistic that his son would eventually grow into a man he could be proud of.
Now, however…
What a sorrowful ending this was.
“Good, very good.” Yun Che’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits as he praised Yan Jie. “You truly are the Yama Crown Prince.”
Yan Jie bowed quickly and said, “Thank you for your praise, Emperor Yun. It is only natural that a descendant obeys his ancestors’ will. Besides, Emperor Yun is the incarnation of the Devil Emperor and the heavenly way’s gift to the Northern Divine Region. Supporting you is the same as supporting the heavenly way!”
After that, he turned around to face his people again and said, “Royal father, sister, everyone. The ancestor’s will should always be obeyed, the heavenly way’s will even more so! Do not stray from the righteous path any longer!”
Both his attitude and his words were clearly harsher than before.
For the past few years, Yan Wu had beaten him in every department. Although he was the Yama Crown Prince, everyone including himself thought that he was vastly inferior compared to Yan Wu. Every time he faced her, he couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of shame.
But now, the chance to escape all of his shackles had arrived!
The invincible Yama Ancestors had thrown in their lot with Yun Che. The Yama Devil Nether Crossing Cauldron had fallen into Yun Che’s hands. And behind Yun Che, there was the Soul Stealing Realm and the Burning Moon Realm he just captured a week or two ago.
Although he couldn’t understand the reason the Three Yama Ancestors were acting the way they were, it didn’t take a genius to figure out who had the advantage here. On Yun Che’s side, there were the Three Yama Ancestors, the Yama Devil Nether Crossing Cauldron, the Soul Stealing Realm and the Burning Moon Realm. On the Yama Realm’s side, their three protectors had defected and their lifeline was stolen...
It was clear that Yun Che had the upper hand through and through!
When the Three Yama Ancestors had suppressed Yan Tianxiao in an instant and displayed an unbelievable level of power, Yan Jie’s last vestiges of doubt were completely extinguished.
He knew the importance of being the first person to throw in his lot with his conquerors.
He also knew that the best way to prove his loyalty was to provide or demonstrate an unquestionable proof!
That was why he had attacked the strongest Yama Devil in the realm besides his royal father with all his power… it was both to demonstrate his loyalty and to vent the years of jealousy and frustration he had been secreting deep inside his eyes.
“Thankless dog!” Yan Tianxiao cursed before letting out another sigh. “This king thought that there is no one better than him the art of commanding the hearts of his men, but… even the greatest can miss the most obvious sometimes.”
He raised his spear again after his lamentation ended. This time though, he was pointing his weapon at his own son, not Yun Che.
“Heh. Yan Tianxiao, your son is a lot smarter than you are,” Yun Che ridiculed before adding in a low tone, “Cripple him.”
The anger in his royal father’s eyes and his amazing power caused Yan Jie to tense up like a taut string. However, the ruthless determination in his eyes only grew greater than before.
When Yun Che said the words, “cripple him”, Yan Jie thought for sure that he was ordering the Three Yama Ancestors to cripple his own royal father. That was why he was shocked to find three tremendous pressures enveloping him from behind.
Shocked, he tried to circulate his power and resist. However, the three dark powers behind him were so great that his power was forced back into his profound veins before he even managed to unleash them. His limbs were locked in a vice-like grip, and he couldn’t move even a muscle.
He was a Yama Devil. He was absolutely stronger than the average level nine Divine Master.
However, his opponents were the Three Yama Ancestors!
If Yan Tianxiao was the one who was caught by the three Yama Ancestors, not even he would be able to break free without considerable effort, much less Yan Jie.
“Emperor Yun, what… is the meaning of this!?” Yan Jie gritted his teeth and struggled with all his might, but no matter how much strength he used, he wasn’t able to move even half a finger.
It wasn’t just Yan Jie. Everyone else was caught off guard by the unexpected turn of events as well.
“Heh.” Yun Che let out a sneer but didn’t look in Yan Jie’s direction. “It’s one thing to not defend your people when they are in grave danger, and another to be the first person to betray them and even attack your own sister, especially when you’re the Crown Prince.”
“You really think that a dog like you deserves to serve me!?”
Face twisting, Yan Jie tried to defend himself. But before he could say anything, his pupils suddenly widened in horror. “Wha… what are you doing!”