"Venerable Gods, Sha Xing and Xian Yue would like to see you," long after Yun Wuji left, a voice came from outside the Divine Temple.
Although the guards outside did not stop them, the two Godbearers did not dare to step inside without permission.
However, even after waiting for a very long time, they received no response.
Sha Xing and Xian Yue exchanged glances before the former spoke again, his tone more careful than before, "Lord Supreme Ones, Sha Xing and Xian Yue respectfully request an audience."
Time once again passed, but no response came. Usually, the moment either of them requested a meeting with the Divine Regents, an answer followed almost immediately. That alone showed how much the two Divine Regents doted on them.
Unlike the Divine Regents, Sha Xing and Xian Yue were not twins. In fact, they did not even share the same parents. However, they had grown up together and were chosen as Godbearers at the same time.
Over the years, their compatibility and "balance" drew ever closer to perfection. By today, they had already reached the level once held by the former miracle twins. Naturally, the femboy Divine Regents were quite impressed with them.
Sha Xing frowned slightly as he reached out to push the door, but Xian Yue stopped him. "What are you doing?"
"Something does not feel right. Even if the Venerable Gods entered seclusion or left the Kingdom, they would at least have informed us." Sha Xing pushed the temple door open and stepped forward. "Venerable Gods, please excuse this disciple's rudeness."
As Sha Xing moved inside, Xian Yue followed closely behind. He had no intention of leaving his partner alone. If punishment awaited them, then they would face it together.
"Venerable... ones?" The scene inside shocked the two Godbearers. The thrones were empty. The Divine Regents were nowhere to be seen, and what truly caught their attention was the jade floor.
As the Divine Temple of the Star and Moon Divine Kingdom, it was built from the most luxurious and precious materials the Kingdom could gather. The floor and walls were forged from Divine Jade and reinforced with formations. The floor alone was so tough that even a Divine Limit Realm profound practitioner would need considerable effort to damage it.
However, at this moment, multiple holes marred the floor, along with long and deep, sharp marks spreading across the jade, reaching all the way to the walls.
"What happened here?! Where are the Divine Regents?!" Xian Yue's face turned ugly as he spread his senses, scouring every inch of the Divine Temple, but he could not find any trace of the Divine Regents.
Aside from their first exchanges, which caused the damage within the Divine Temple, the entirety of the fight between Yun Wuji and the femboys took place inside the Omnipresent Domain. That domain limited the destruction and erased most remaining traces.
"..." Sha Xing stood rooted to the spot, his heart shaken. With a trembling voice he did not even realize he was using, he said, "Let's inform the Star Sovereigns and Moon Sovereigns first!"
"Right," Xian Yue forced down his chaotic emotions and answered. He immediately sent a sound transmission to all the Moon Sovereigns. When he finished, he asked in a low voice, "Do you think something could really have happened to our masters?"
"Impossible! No matter what happened, our masters are True Gods! Nothing in this world can hurt them except for the Pure Land." Sha Xing shook his head firmly, trying to console his partner. "My guess is that some audacious fool provoked them and, perhaps miraculously, escaped. They are probably chasing him now."
No one in this world could harm the Divine Regents aside from the Abyssal Monarch, and even then, it would not go unnoticed. Besides, there was no reason for him or the High Priests to do something like that.
As for the possibility that the two Divine Regents had fought each other, that was even more impossible. Everyone in the Kingdom believed that no one in the entire Abyss could be as close to each other as they were. The bond between them was so strong that they would gladly sacrifice their own lives for one another.
"Where are the Divine Regents?" A few seconds later, the Star and Moon Sovereigns arrived and asked urgently.
The two Godbearers recounted what they had found upon entering, which quickly turned the faces of the Sovereigns grim.
"This is bad! Euuh... Haah... Euuuh... The Divine Regents!" At this moment, the Sovereign responsible for guarding the Soul Hall rushed in. His aged face, which usually held an unparalleled calmness, was now ragged, replaced with a deep expression of fear and terror. He could barely control his chaotic aura as he stumbled and fell face-first. But he did not care about any of that. Staring at the gathered group, he roared, "The Divine Regents' soul crystals have broken!"
"..." Total silence fell over the Divine Temple. Everyone felt as if a trillion lightning bolts had struck them brutally, leaving them stunned. The pupils of the Godbearers constricted, their faces turned ghastly pale, and their breathing grew shallow. It was not just them; everyone felt as if their own ears were betraying them.
"What did you say??!! Say it again! Say it again!" One of the Star Sovereigns grabbed the old man by the collar and roared at him with a trembling voice, his entire body shaking violently.
"The soul crystal... the soul crystal broke!" the old man repeated.
"Impossible! Impossible! This can't be! He must be lying! It has to be a lie!" The Star Sovereign threw the old man aside and shot out of the temple, rushing to the Soul Hall to see for himself.
Others followed him. They would rather believe the old man was pranking them than accept this grim reality, even though deep down, all of them were already ninety-nine percent convinced.
"..." Less than half a minute later, their fragile hope was cruelly shattered by the scene before them.
"The Divine Regents are... they... Are they really dead?" a Moon Sovereign whispered in despair.
"Ridiculous! How dare you curse the Venerable Ones!" Another Moon Sovereign roared, shoving him to the ground. He pointed at the broken crystals and shouted, "The destruction of the crystals does not mean the Divine Regents are truly dead! There are countless examples in history where crystals were destroyed, yet their owners survived! Besides, we have not seen their bodies!"
"Unless I see their bodies with my own eyes, I will never believe that the Venerable Ones are dead!"
"That's right! How could the Supreme Ones die?! They are True Gods! Who could harm them in this world?!" Others voiced their agreement. Even if they did not fully believe it themselves, they had to believe it. They needed something to cling to, the only thing keeping them from breaking down and falling into madness.
"What should we do? Should we inform the Pure Land?" Sha Xing, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke.
"Inform the Pure Land?"
"Yes. We should seek the Pure Land's help. Perhaps they have some method to track their whereabouts," Xian Yue added.
...
Pure Land, Eden's Crown.
The Pure Land was unquestionably the most purest realm in the entire Abyss, and this place was the purest sanctuary within the Pure Land itself.
The only color one could see in this place was pure, flawless white. The clouds below and the sky above held not even the slightest speck of impurity, no matter where one looked. The air especially felt as if it had been cleansed by the purest spring. Forget Abyssal Dust; one could not even find a speck of ordinary dust here. Such a place was exceedingly rare even in the God Realm.
If the Pure Land was the highest realm in the Abyss, then Eden's Crown was the highest place within the Pure Land. It was also the residence of the Abyssal Monarch. Beyond the countless layers of clouds stood a lofty structure known as Eden's Temple.
It was the highest place in the entire Abyss. Pure white outer walls, a simple square-shaped palace, and square-shaped doors without a single decoration or engraving. Its design was stripped to an extreme purity. Inside, there was only an endless expanse of pale white walls and a light gray floor. Nothing else existed beyond that.
"Wu Shenxing and Wu Shenyue have gone missing?" A man dressed in a pale, spotless long shirt blended almost seamlessly with his surroundings. Almost, because a black bracelet on his wrist set him decisively apart from everything else in this world.
His handsome countenance looked as if it had been carved from mutton-fat jade. Every feature was sculpted with such grace and refinement that even a girl could not hope to possess them.
He was the Abyssal Monarch.
His back was facing a tall, massive, and formidable figure; he was almost three meters tall, and the pressure he carried within him was indescribable. Not even a ten-kilometer-tall giant of a mountain could hope to measure up to even one-ten-thousandth of his pressure.
His identity was the second-highest authority in the Pure Land, the Chief Priest. With his head slightly lowered, he answered, "That is what the people from the Star and Moon Divine Kingdom reported. They said that their soul crystals were also destroyed."
"The soul crystals destroyed?" Mo Su turned around. Even when confronted with news that would shake the hearts and souls of everyone in the Abyss, his expression did not change in the slightest. "This matter warrants investigation. If the two of them have gone missing or truly died, it would be a serious hindrance."
"Do you want me to go and handle it myself?" the Chief Priest asked, his face as expressionless as his master's.
"Yes... Oh? What is she doing here?" Mo Su was about to answer when his attention shifted to the red aura approaching the temple. "Ling Xian is visiting. This is a rare occurrence."
"..." The Chief Priest said nothing, calmly watching the old woman as she entered.
"I heard about what happened," Ling Xian said. She was an elderly woman dressed in a crimson red gown.
As she walked, her flowing crimson dress trailed along the ground, its cuffs and hem embroidered with intricate flame patterns. The designs on her back formed magnificent wings, faintly shimmering with crimson light, making every movement of her garment resemble the phantom of a Vermilion Bird spreading its wings. "I have matters to attend to outside, so I can help you with the investigation as well."
...
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