If the Witches weren’t triggered before, they were now. A dark, soundless pressure started spreading from all six of them, their hair floating menacingly as a result. Chi Wuyao gave them strict orders not to injure Yun Che, but only Yun Che. Not once did they mention Qianye Ying’er. Their self-restraint was incredible, but Qianye Ying’er had crossed the line that shouldn’t be crossed completely. At this point, they were seriously going to attack Qianye Ying’er if she still refused to surrender the Profound Imagery Stone. The bubble was about to burst when Yun Che suddenly spoke up. “Qianying, give it to her.” His words immediately caught the Witches’ attention. The tense atmosphere also subsided a little thanks to that. But Qianye Ying’er didn’t move at all. She said coldly, “I would’ve given it to them if they begged for it the proper way, but these so-called Witches don’t even realize their proper places—” “Give it to her!” Yun Che repeated the order in a harsher tone before she could even finish speaking. Qianye Ying’er raised her eyebrows but stopped talking. Then, she surprised the Witches by pulling out a normal-looking Profound Imagery Stone and throwing it to Chanyi with a flick of her finger. Chanyi accepted the item and scanned it with her spiritual perception. A second later, the Profound Imagery Stone exploded into dark dust and vanished from the world. All the Witches started withdrawing their auras at once. They hadn’t planned for it, but they all turned to stare at Yun Che for a moment. They lived in the Soul Stealing Realm, but even they had heard of the Brahma Monarch Goddess. Her strength and status was almost equal to the god emperors, and she was supposed to be the next Brahma Monarch God Emperor before she went into hiding. One might even say that she was better than the god emperors. After all, there were dozens of god emperors throughout the world, but there was only one “Goddess”. She was crippled after the incident, but not even the Witches could deny that she had the qualification to look down on all of them. Her temper was as ferocious as the rumors suggested as well. So why was she so “obedient” in front of Yun Che!? When the six Witches, the true powers of the Soul Stealing Realm tried to force the Lady Goddess into submission, all she had to give them was arrogance and disdain. But when Yun Che gave an order... she had actually obeyed it. Most of the Witches’ understanding of the Brahma Monarch Goddess came from the Devil Queen herself. According to Chi Wuyao, one of Qianye Ying’er’s key characteristics was that she absolutely despised men. Right now though, the woman before them didn’t match that description at all. “There is only one.” Yun Che said. “I’ve never watched it or showed it to another person. You may be at ease.” He wasn’t lying. He had never watched the contents of the Profound Imagery Stone. As for Chanyi’s actual, naked body... that was a different story. “Be at ease?” Third Witch Ye Li walked slowly toward Yun Che. Right now she was the leader of the group of six, so it was her duty to defend the honor of the Witches. “I trust what you say, Yun Che. But this isn’t a grudge you can resolve just by surrendering your blackmail material! What if this had happened to a woman you care for!?” Ye Li stopped walking forward right after she finished speaking. The black fog kept her reaction hidden, but her pupils were shaking slightly. Spiritual pressure... It had nothing to do with cultivation level or aura. It was a natural, invisible pressure that one felt when they were facing an equal or superior being. Before this, the Witches had only ever felt spiritually pressured by three people in the entire Northern Divine Region: The Yama God Emperor, the Burning Moon God Emperor, and the Devil Queen herself. But every time Ye Li looked at Yun Che, she felt as if a rock was pressing down on her entire soul. It was a feeling a subject felt when they were facing their monarch; a kind of pressure, fear and respect that just appeared in one’s soul without any reason at all. She had barely taken a couple steps forward, but the pressure was several times stronger than before. When the Witches were close to one another, they could connect their minds anytime they wanted. That was why Ye Li wasn’t the only one who was feeling the pressure. The Witches weren’t afraid of Qianye Ying’er at all, but every time they faced Yun Che they couldn’t help but lose a bit of momentum... The Devil Queen’s order was definitely not the only reason the Witches acted less forceful around him. “That’s right!” Yu Wu said angrily, “You are the ones who were careless enough to let yourselves be discovered! What does it have to do with Chanyi at all? Not only did she never trouble you, she even helped you out when you were in a tight spot! But you repaid her kindness with blackmail instead! We won’t allow this to be settled lightly!” “Heh.” A sneer was the only reply Qianye Ying’er gave her. “We will speak of this after our master has returned.” Lan Ting finally broke her silence and spoke up, her gentle voice loosening the atmosphere without trying. “There is nothing more our master values than our honor. She won’t let us go uncompensated. She was the one who invited the Brahma Monarch Goddess, so she must already have something in mind.” “No.” But Qing Ying rejected her suggestion with cold eyes. “We shouldn’t trouble our master with something we can handle ourselves. Besides...” Her voice turned softer, and it almost looked as if she was sending a sound transmission to her fellow Witches. In reality, she did no such thing and didn’t care if Yun Che and Qianye Ying’er heard her threat at all. “Master hasn’t shown up yet, so it’s probably her intention to let us deal with this ourselves. Remember, master only invited Yun Che, not the Brahma Monarch Goddess... we should deal with this ourselves.” Qing Ying’s words caused a tremor among the Witches. “Oh?” Qianye Ying’er’s eyes suddenly turned misty, and her voice lazier. “What are you going to do then?” “That depends on you, doesn’t it?” Ye Li said coldly. “You either give something up that’ll satisfy all of us... or we’ll wring a compensation out of your wounded body ourselves!” “Hahahaha!” Qianye Ying’er laughed like a mad woman before sweeping her arm in front of her and summoning black stars around her fingertips. Her golden hair danced in the air like the sun. “I’ve harmed, tricked, and murdered countless people in the past, but no one has ever managed to get a ‘compensation’ out of me!” “You lowly Witches actually think you’ll be the first?!” Had both sides taken a step back and used the Devil Queen’s invitation as the key to resolve things peacefully, this clash could’ve been avoided. But who was Qianye Ying’er? She was the Lady Goddess down to her very bones. Even if she was fully crippled, she would never allow another person to look down on her. Her words were like a bucket of oil poured into the fire. Even the gentlest of the Witches, Lan Ting grew sterner and colder. “You are right. The fault is ours.” An indifferent voice stopped the Witches in their tracks before they could do anything. The speaker was none other than Yun Che himself. Surprised by his interruption, the Witches didn’t stop him as he continued, “Back when we escaped to the Northern Divine Region, neither of us was expecting to run into a Witch in a middle star realm, much less be recognized for who we are.” “Both of us had barely survived our complications, so we weren’t going to trust anyone or leave our fates in anyone’s hands. That was why we abused Chanyi’s kindness to protect ourselves.” Yun Che looked up to stare at Chanyi. “Today, we are here to cooperate with the Soul Stealing Realm. Since this is a cooperation, it would be unwise to allow such ill feelings to linger between us. Therefore, I am willing to compensate for your loss of dignity.” All the Witches were caught off guard. They seemed to find it difficult that this person with a bizarre spiritual pressure—a person who could make even the Brahma Monarch Goddess submit to his authority—would say such a thing. Qianye Ying’er frowned deeply before sneering. “Yesterday, you murdered Yan Sangeng without even sparing him a word, but now you’re going to compensate these people? Your sexism hasn’t changed since the day I met you!” It sounded like Qianye Ying’er was expressing her scorn toward Yun Che, but in reality she was reminding the fools that Yun Che was a man that had killed the Yama Ghost King on a whim. And in one hit no less! A strange silence hovered over the Soul Sky for a moment. Three full breaths later, Eighth Witch Yu Wu was the first to break the silence. She shouted angrily and aggressively, “Compensate? How are you going to compensate us? No one... no one knows if you didn’t take a peek at all! This isn’t a matter of honor to Chanyi alone, you know! This is important to all of us!” “And the Brahma Monarch Goddess’ attitude is absolutely terrible too! We’re not going to let this go lightly!” “My name is Yun Qianying!” The temperature behind Qianye Ying’er’s eyes and voice dropped several degrees lower. “Call me by the wrong name again and I won’t hold back any longer!” Once upon a time, it was the title of the greatest woman in the world. But now, all Qianye Ying’er felt every time she heard or recalled the name was irony... and shame. “My compensation will of course, satisfy all of you.” Yun Che said indifferently before sweeping a glance across all six Witches. “Are the Nine Witches ranked by their strength?” Nanhuang Chanyi wasn’t sure why he wanted to know, but she answered, “Sometimes. But for our generation, you assume correctly.” “Does this mean that you are weaker than the Eighth Witch?” Yun Che asked. Both the Ninth Witch Chanyi and the Eighth Witch Yu Wu were level eight Divine Masters, but Yu Wu’s aura was clearly stronger than Chanyi’s. “That’s correct.” Chanyi replied without hesitation, prompting Yu Wu to speak up hurriedly. “It hasn’t been too long since Chanyi inherited her divine powers. I’m sure she’ll beat me in a thousand years at most.” “A thousand years? Heh.” Yun Che acted to chuckle, but he wasn’t smiling at all. “In ten breaths’ time, I can increase your power to the point where it surpasses the Eighth Witch completely. Will this ‘compensation’ be up to your satisfaction?” Yun Che’s statement caused the air itself to freeze for a second. Everyone except Qianye Ying’er was absolutely dumbfounded by his declaration. But their shock lasted for only an instant as the atmosphere turned strange again... it was the lousiest joke the Witches had ever heard in their life. Whatever minor expectations they had earlier had transformed into greater fury. “Do you think this is a joke, Yun Che!?” Qing Ying said harshly. At the Divine Master Realm, any gap between two profound practitioners, even if they were at the same level, could be a chasm that couldn’t be bridged forever. Chanyi and Yu Wu were both level eight Divine Masters, but the Witches knew better than anyone how far apart their strength really was. So when Yu Wu said that Chanyi could surpass her in a thousand years, it was more of an encouragement from an “older sister” than actual expectation. Then Yun Che claimed he could make Chanyi stronger than Yu Wu in just ten breaths. Completely. What else could this be but a joke? Even that legendary pellet that could supposedly increase a Divine Master’s level drastically, the “Untamed World Pellet”, took several years to refine successfully, if not longer. “You’re as bad as each other!” Ye Li was absolutely furious. “Is your true goal to taunt the Soul Stealing Realm!?” “This is too much!” Yu Wu was just as angry. “To think I was stupid enough to believe you actually feel sorry for your mistake!” But Yun Che ignored them both and stared directly at Chanyi. “Do you want this compensation or not?” Unlike the rest of the five Witches, Chanyi didn’t feel like she was being lied to. It was because she had seen Yun Che and Qianye Ying’er’s strength and skill with her own eyes. Two years ago, both of them were only Divine Sovereigns. Today, one of them killed Yan Sangeng, and the other injured Yao Die. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂 “What will you be doing?” Chanyi asked quietly. Clearly, she hadn’t dismissed the claim completely. “It’s very simple.” Yun Che said. “Discard all your defenses and allow me to inject you with my darkness energy. Don’t attempt to reject or isolate my power.” “How dare you!” Butterflies started appearing behind Yao Die. It was clear she had reached the limits of her patience. He wanted Chanyi to discard all her defenses and allow his aura inside her?? This was the man who killed Yan Sangeng! It would be the same as surrendering her life into his hands! Chanyi was just as disturbed. She was about to turn down the offer coolly when a soft, melting voice suddenly appeared in her soul. “Cooperate with him on everything.” Chanyi shivered in shock as her eyes widened... It was the Devil Queen’s soul voice! “Alright.” She changed her mind and nodded at Yun Che. “There is no reason for me to reject this.” “Chanyi!?” All five Witches were shocked by her reply. Ye Li said hurriedly, “Not even the ancient gods and devils would dare make such a ridiculous statement! You can’t seriously trust him?” “I agree with you on all fronts, but he is the man master placed her trust in. Therefore, I will place my trust in him this once,” Chanyi said slowly. At the same time, she bowed her head and sent a sound transmission to her fellow Witches. “It is the will of our master.” “...” The five Witches were about to stop her by force, but Chanyi’s sound transmission caused them all to freeze in their tracks. “Alright...” Ye Li forced down her anger and confusion from her throat. As a Witch, she would never disobey the Devil Queen’s command. However, she still couldn’t understand why their master would put her trust in a complete joke like this, and surrender a Witch’s life into his hands. It was a natural reaction. No one could’ve understood this. “If this is your wish, then we can only obey,” Ye Li said. Then, she appeared next to Chanyi and said, “However, we will be watching you from close by. We will take action if he dares to try anything at all.” “Don’t worry, I trust him.” Chanyi smiled and turned slightly. In an instant, her profound energy and her profound light were completely withdrawn. Before Nanhuang Chanyi had become a Witch, she was already the most beautiful woman in the Five Nether Ruins. After she inherited a Witch’s powers, her beauty had only grown even better. “Let’s begin.” She watched Yun Che calmly. However, she was surprised that Yun Che didn’t react at all to her true appearance. Was it because he had the Brahma Monarch Goddess? She couldn’t help but think to herself. Yun Che neither spoke nor walked toward Chanyi. He simply aimed his palm at her and let out a ball of dark energy. The dark light then sped toward Chanyi. The five Witches stood next to Chanyi and watched the ball of darkness closely. Tensed and ready to act at any moment, they watched as Yun Che’s darkness energy entered Chanyi’s body without any resistance. If they sensed any malice from Yun Che at all, they would act immediately and cut off his power. But to their surprise, the darkness energy Yun Che slipped into Chanyi’s body was unspeakably weak. It was so weak that it couldn’t have hurt Chanyi even if it was a booby trap through and through... even without the protection of her profound energy, Chanyi was still a Divine Master. That wasn’t all. It was both weak and low level to the extreme. It was like the creation of a child who just got introduced to the profound cultivation. It was so terrible that even the adjective “weak” was too much. _______________ Author’s Note: (1: Yun Che is human!?) (2: Yun Che can also be considered human!??)