The entire Divine Kingdom fell into a suffocating silence.
Not a whisper.
Not a breath.
Just the weight of two truths that shattered the foundation of everything they thought they understood.
On one side stood Yun Che—no longer just the prodigious Divine Son of Dreamweaver, no longer the young supreme talent many admired—
But the Fog Monarch.
The shadowed sovereign of the Endless Fog Sea, wielder of abyssal beasts, and the nightmare that haunted even the hearts of Gods.
And on the other…
The man they revered above all, the absolute ruler of the Abyss—
The Abyssal Monarch.
Now revealed to be Prince Mo Su—
Son of the Creation God Mo E, and scion of the Heaven Punishment God Race.
The truth shook every soul to its core.
The heavens above remained still, projections flickering out one by one as reality eclipsed illusion.
Then—
"Oh… you know?"
A faint trace of surprise laced the Monarch's voice. Though calm, his golden eyes narrowed slightly as he stared down at Yun Che, intrigued.
But Yun Che simply returned a cold, ironic smile.
"If you know my identity… why wouldn't I know your?"
His voice was relaxed, almost conversational—
As if two old friends were exchanging secrets long buried.
Yet to everyone else…
That simple exchange was thunderous.
Beside Yun Che, a small figure clad in a flowing white dress suddenly lost all strength. Her legs buckled beneath her as if the weight of the world had finally come crashing down, not on her body, but on her very soul.
Hua Caili collapsed to the floor without resistance, her fingers—once tightly holding onto Yun Che's hand—slipping away as though even that last tether had been severed.
She didn't cry out. She didn't scream.
She simply fell, wordless, breathless—because she no longer had the strength to speak, no longer had the will to move.
Her eyes, wide and glassy, stared forward in stunned silence, yet they no longer reflected the light they once carried. Her body trembled softly, not from pain, but from the overwhelming numbness of devastation.
Tears—slow, heavy, and soundless—began to trail down her flawless cheeks as her world crumbled around her.
Everything she had believed in…
Everything she had trusted…
Everything she had clung to with unwavering faith…
Was now unraveling, piece by piece, in front of her.
And she could do nothing but sit there, broken and helpless, lost in the storm of a heart too shattered to feel.
Somehow—through the chaos in her mind, the shattering of her soul, and the pain threatening to drown her completely—Hua Caili managed to gather a final flicker of strength.
Her fingers barely moved. Her shoulders trembled. But slowly, ever so slowly, she lifted her head.
And looked at Yun Che.
But the moment her gaze met his…
Her breath caught in her throat.
Because the man before her—the man she loved more than life itself—was no longer the same.
There was no warmth in his eyes.
No tenderness.
No love.
His once radiant gaze, which always made her heart flutter, was now swallowed in a darkness so deep it felt bottomless. His eyes were pitch black, not with fury or sorrow, but something far more terrifying—resolute emptiness. Like an abyss that devoured all emotion.
His body no longer exuded the comforting presence she had clung to. Instead, it radiated only a chilling coldness, a deadly stillness that made her entire being recoil.
Even as a newly ascended god, even with divinity flowing through her veins… she felt it.
A cold so absolute, so suffocating, it pierced through her soul and wrapped around her like death's whisper.
There was no her in that gaze anymore.
And in that moment, the last fragment of strength she had mustered vanished. Her body fell limp once more, her heart too hollow to beat with hope.
And this time, even she… didn't know if she'd ever be able to rise again.
---------
Yun Che's eyes never once strayed from Mo Su.
Not for a single breath. Not even for a flicker of doubt.
The moment he gave his answer, the moment his voice echoed out into the vast silence, he had already steeled himself.
No hesitation.
No turning back.
Within his heart, his resolve had solidified like iron cast in the flames of fate.
No matter what happens today… no matter the consequences… he would do whatever it takes to protect his homeworld.
Even if it cost him everything.
Even if he had to become the villain of the Abyss itself.
The air hung heavy, suffocating. The silence that stretched across the Divine Kingdom felt like the pause before a divine calamity.
Slowly, one by one, the stunned figures began to stir from their frozen stupor. Their gazes trembled. Their hearts struggled to keep pace with what they had just heard—what they had just seen.
And then, a trembling voice broke the stillness.
It was Meng Kongchan.
But the proud Divine Regent, the man who once ruled with unwavering command, could only choke out two broken words.
"Yuan'er… what…"
His voice cracked with disbelief and devastation, and yet, even he didn't know where or how to continue.
Because the truth had struck too deep.
His son—Meng Jianyuan—was the Fog Monarch.
The being who had shaken the entire Abyss with fear.
The being whose name had become a myth of terror.
The being he had loathed to his very marrow… since the death of his son Meng Jianzhe.
The being he had cursed, hated, and dreamed of destroying.
Soon, another figure stirred from the depths of her shock. Her eyes, sharp and burning, landed on Hua Caili, still collapsed beside Yun Che—her body unmoving, her spirit shattered, like a fallen petal robbed of light.
A trembling breath escaped her lips.
Then fury consumed her.
All reason shattered in an instant.
Hua Qingying's face twisted with pure, unfiltered rage. Her heart, once steady like a still lake, erupted like a storm-tossed sea. A divine sword materialized in her hand with a flash of brilliance, its radiance humming with killing intent.
Her power surged violently—the full force of a peak Divine Limited Realm cultivator unleashed without restraint.
The next moment, she moved.
Like a bolt of divine lightning, she vanished from her spot, crossing the distance in a single breath, appearing before Yun Che.
She didn't speak. She didn't scream.
She struck.
"BOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!"
The explosion of impact shook the heavens.
Yun Che's body was hurled from the Sacred Platform like a meteor, blasted upward by the full wrath of Hua Qingying's sword.
"BANGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!"
He slammed into the upper barrier of the Divine Kingdom, the shockwave of the collision ringing out like thunder across the realm.
The entire sky trembled.
The ground cracked beneath the force.
Every gaze turned upward in stunned silence, as the rippling aftermath of that one blow echoed throughout the kingdom like a divine judgment descending from above.
"Cough… cough…"
A low, strained sound echoed from above as Yun Che slowly pulled himself from the barrier. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, the crimson streaks stark against the white of his robe—now heavily stained with red.
His body trembled slightly, his gaze dropped down, locking onto the figure below—Hua Qingying, his attacker. Yet, even after taking a full-power blow from a peak Divine Limited Realm cultivator, he still stood.
She was no longer radiating killing intent. Her sword had long vanished from her hand, her posture collapsing as she dropped to her knees, her arms tightly cradling Hua Caili, who remained limp and silent in her grasp.
Hua Qingying's entire body shook as she held the girl she loved like her life, her breath ragged, her expression twisted with anguish. Her eyes, red with grief and disbelief, looked up at Yun Che—eyes filled with pain, confusion, and fury, yet no longer the resolve to strike again.
She had poured everything into that attack. And yet… he had survived.
If there had been any doubt, any sliver of denial remaining in her heart… it was gone now.
If earlier it had seemed like madness, like a cruel joke—this absurd claim that Yun Che was the Fog Monarch, perhaps made in arrogance or jest… then now, with what they had all witnessed, there could be no doubt left.
He is the Fog Monarch.
The same being whose power shook the Abyss.
The same being even gods feared.
And he had stood among them all this time… wrapped in white robes, smiling like a son, loving like a man… and hiding an abyss deeper than any of them could comprehend.
Above the Sacred Platform, Liu Xiao stare at the injured Yun Che with pure killing intent that soar to the sky, if not for Chief Priest holding him back, he would have already rushed over toward Yun Che as well.
Yun Che's eyes lingered on Hua Qingying for a moment, calm yet unreadable, as he silently wiped the blood from the corner of his lips.
He had already resolved himself long before this moment. He knew what his revelation would bring hatred, betrayal, and heartbreak. Especially from those closest to Hua Caili. And he knew Hua Qingying better than most. He knew her loyalty, her fierce love, her unwavering protection toward Caili.
He had expected the blow.
And because of that, the moment before her sword had struck, he had already cast a protection energy over himself. He gave her no words. No judgment. No anger. Only silence.
And then, amid the sea of stunned expressions, shattered beliefs, and the suffocating tension hanging over the Divine Kingdom—
Yun Che slowly turned his gaze back toward Mo Su.
His eyes, now entirely black—deeper and darker than the abyss itself—locked onto the Abyssal Monarch once more.
"How did you know?"
Mo Su's voice broke through the heavy air like a blade of silence. Calm, composed, completely detached from the chaos that had just unfolded around them. He ignored the shock, the grief, the blood in the air—and continued their conversation as if nothing had happened.
Yun Che, standing in the air with blood still clinging faintly to his lips, slowly lowered his hand and answered in kind, his tone steady, cold, and emotionless.
"Just like how you cared for your big brother—
The Creation God of Elements, Ni Xuan—
He too… cared deeply for you."
Yun Che's abyssal eyes never wavered as he continued, his voice calm yet filled with a chilling truth.
"He left behind a soul imprint… so that one day, I would understand you."
He didn't glance at Hua Qingying.
He didn't acknowledge the broken sobs clinging to the edge of silence.
He didn't even look at Hua Caili—who still lay there like a hollowed shell, her heart and soul fracturing beyond recognition.
His coldness, his utter disregard for the pain behind him, only deepened the wound.
To Hua Qingying, it was as if her strike meant nothing, as if her fury, her grief, her desperate defense of her niece had not even scratched the surface of his heart. The hate in her eyes burned brighter, searing through reason and flooding her veins.
To Hua Caili, that silence was worse than a thousand blades. The man she had loved, trusted, waited for…and was about to be married to... didn't even turn to look at her. Didn't offer a word, a glance, a breath.
"Ah… ah… ah…"
"What… did he say…?"
"Ni Xuan… the Creation God of Elements…?"
The crowd, already shaken beyond words, now fell into another round of stunned and disbelief as Yun Che's words echoed again in their minds. Each syllable hit them like thunder, tearing through their understanding of the world.
On the Sacred Platform, Mo Su's expression shifted.
His eyes closed slowly, as if trying to shield himself from the weight of memories long buried. Deep within, scenes from countless millennia ago stirred in his soul. Warmth. Laughter. Brotherhood.
And pain.
For a long, breathless moment, he remained silent then he said.
"I'm glad Big Brother Ni Xuan still thought of me that way…" Mo Su said quietly, his voice no longer carrying divine authority, but the wistful sorrow of someone remembering a time long lost. Despite everything… even after the War of the Gods and Devils, after the heavens were torn asunder, and the Abyss became his prison and kingdom… Big Brother Ni Xuan had still thought of him. Had still left behind a trace of care.
It was a feeling Mo Su had buried for too long.
But such sentiment would not be allowed to linger.
His expression hardened again, his divine might once more coiling around him like an emperor's mantle as his voice grew cold and sharp.
"But no matter what… even as Big Brother's inheritor, your crimes won't go unpunished."
His gaze sharpened like a blade, locking onto Yun Che once more.
"Although those memories were convincing, you—at the end of the day—are someone from the Eternal Pure Land."
"No matter how clever the illusion, you could never truly be Meng Jianyuan."
Once again, the Abyssal Monarch spoke words that cut deeper than any blade. While Yun Che had previously managed to convince everyone he was truly Meng Jianyuan—making the Monarch's earlier claims seem like baseless provocation—now that it had been revealed he was the Fog Monarch, every word from the Monarch carried a weight heavier than ever before.
Yun Che is not Meng Jianyuan. He is someone from the Eternal Pure Land...
The crowd, barely recovering from one revelation after another, felt their breaths catch. Figures throughout the Divine Kingdom—powerhouses, elders, nobles—swallowed hard, their throats dry with disbelief as the truth crashed down upon them once more.
A new wave of soul-rattling shock swept across the assembly.
"...."
Yun Che remained still. He said nothing. He offered no defense. No denial.
He simply looked at Mo Su, his abyssal-black eyes unwavering, unreadable, but piercing like endless void.
And in that silence… lay his answer. A cold, unspoken confession. A truth more crushing than any roar of admission.
"....ah… ah…."
From amidst the frozen figures, a slow sound of collapse broke the silence.
Meng Kongchan, the once mighty Divine Regent, the proud father, staggered. The last thread of hope that had been clinging to his mind—his desperate wish that all of this was a lie, an illusion—snapped.
Heart. Soul. Faith.
All shattered in that moment.
His knees buckled, his aura trembled and dispersed, and his body began to fall—until another divine presence caught him just before he hit the ground. It was Meng Jianxi, who had arrived to support him. And yet… even with his son holding him, Meng Kongchan still feel all his strength being zapped away.
"Ha… ha… aha… ha…"
In Jianxi's arm, he just let out a laugh—a broken, hollow, disbelieving laugh. A laugh that held no joy, no triumph, no pride.
Only pain.
Only grief.
A sound that echoed like a ghost through the heavens, carved from the agony of a father who had given his heart to a lie.
Meng Jianxi's eyes locked onto Yun Che, and within them, there was no longer respect, no longer warm—only hatred.
A hatred so deep it mirrored that of Hua Qingying, who still held the broken form of Hua Caili in her trembling arms.
His divine power surged chaotically around him, rippling in waves he could barely contain. If not for the weight of his father in his arms, if not for the responsibility of holding together what little remained of Meng Kongchan's strength—he would have already leapt into the sky, blade drawn, intent on tearing Yun Che apart with his own hands.
His hands tightened. His jaw clenched. His very soul screamed to avenge the humiliation, the betrayal, the shattered trust.
And he was not alone.
From the other side, Hua Fuchen approached slowly, each step heavier than the last. His gaze, once proud and composed, now burned with cold fury. He looked up at Yun Che—not with shock, not with sorrow—but with seething hatred.
If not for the presence of the Abyssal Monarch—whose expression showed that he was not yet done, whose questions still hung in the air—they would have already acted.
They would have stormed the sky as one, casting judgment upon the man who had toyed with their trust and brought chaos into their beloved one's life.
Ignoring the countless piercing stares and the seething killing intent pressing in from every direction, Yun Che's voice cut through the tension like frost through still air.
"Do you know why I returned here to the Divine Kingdom once more?"
"Was it about the Well of Samsara?"
Mo Su answered calmly, without pause. After all, when his High Priests had returned to the Pure Land and reported the death of Ling Xian, they had gone over every detail of what transpired in the depths of the Endless Fog Sea—including Fog Monarch's strange actions and the questions he had asked.
"Yes," Yun Che replied, his tone flat, unsurprised by the Monarch's insight—he had already expected as much.
"Do you know anything about it?"
Mo Su's eyes narrowed slightly, but his voice remained steady.
"What do you want to know about it?"
Yun Che didn't hesitate. His answer was clear, direct, and absolute.
"Everything."
To many onlookers, the exchange between Yun Che and the Abyssal Monarch might have seemed like nothing more than a quiet conversation between two old acquaintances—words spoken without hostility, voices calm and composed amidst a storm of emotions.
But for those who understood the weight behind such words, they knew the truth.
This was not mere conversation.
This was the Monarch's final grace.
A fleeting moment of understanding, an attempt to peer into the heart of the man who had shaken the Abyss, to uncover the truth behind his motives.
It was the calm before the storm.
Because once this exchange ended, once the final answer was given, Yun Che's punishment would come.
Swift. Inescapable.
No matter how powerful he was…
No matter how terrifying the Fog Monarch had once been in the Endless Fog Sea…
This was not that place.
Here, in the heart of the Divine Kingdom—surrounded by gods, stripped of the protection of the Abyssal Dust, and with no suppression field to tilt the battle in his favor—Yun Che stood alone.
Yun Che, at this moment, truly alone is this world.